Chapter 14: Awakening
June 11, 2682; 0031 Hours
Remnant, 600 Meters Underground
Ivan grabbed a White Fang fighter by the neck, crushing his windpipe with ease. The adrenaline that the suit was pumping into him was exhilarating, giving him energy he had never thought possible. He casually tossed the limp corpse aside as the three Promethean Soldiers funneled out of his cell behind him. The Forerunner constructs fell into formation behind the SPARTAN, allowing him to take the lead. "Kill any White Fang you see!" Ivan ordered. "Capture Emerald Sustrai and the Bull Faunus… they're mine."
"Yes, Reclaimer!" The Promethean Soldier Captain responded, leading his fellow androids down one direction. Ivan moved through the cramped, concrete hallways of the facility. An alarm had been blaring the entire time, only serving as a minor nuisance to the SPARTAN. As Ivan rounded the corner, he came face-to-face with a group of eight White Fang, all of them looking at him with fear.
"What is that?!" One asked, pointing his rifle at the massive suit of silver armor standing before him.
Before any of the Faunus could fire, Ivan charged forward, propelling himself with his armor's newfound strength. He slammed into the first Faunus before him with incredible force, sending the unprotected body slamming into a wall. He reached out with a spare hand, taking another Faunus as a shield, forcing his comrades to pepper him across the chest with Pulse Rifle rounds. Ivan tossed the limp body towards the remaining White Fang, sending two more to the floor. Ivan used his Light Rifle, sending hard light bolts through the torso of two more White Fang, quickly bashing another across the head with the metal rifle. He grabbed the final White Fang Fighter by the face, slamming the back of his head into the concrete, sending cracks spalling across the surface of the wall, accompanied by the sound of cracking bone. Before the two knocked-over Faunus could right themselves, Ivan quickly put a bolt of hard light into their heads, keeping them on the floor.
As Ivan continued walking, rather casually given the circumstance, he could make out the sounds of the Promethean Soldiers taunting the White Fang. "You ain't got shit!" One of them shouted, followed by a burst of Hard Light bolts. Before the SPARTAN could react, he saw the flash of a swinging blade fill his vision. Much to his surprise, and sense of humor, the blade simply shattered as his armor's shields flared into existence. Ivan looked to the Faunus, laughing audibly as he slotted a bolt of hard light into his head. Ivan let the body slump to the floor as he continued walking.
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June 11, 2682; 0042 Hours
Remnant, Emerald Forest
Yang, Blake, Weiss, and Ruby sat in the back of a Pelican with Agent Thorne, Fireteam Omega, and a few ODSTs. "What can you tell me about this facility?" Thorne asked, looking to Blake.
"It's massive." Blake said. "Goes almost a kilometer underground, and the prisoners were usually housed in the dead center of the facility. The only way to get in is if it opens from the inside."
Thorne scoffed, reaching over to a communicator. "Captain Peters, please prepare a low-yield MAC Strike on these coordinates." Thorne said. "Thank you." Thorne tossed the communicator aside, turning back to the passenger deck. His cocky grin was amplified by the sound of something large entering the atmosphere at high speeds, creating a sonic boom unlike anything the girls had ever heard. A few seconds later, they heard the sound of an impact in the distance. "We're in." Thorne said.
After a moment, the Pelican landed, allowing the rear door to open up. Team RWBY found themselves in the center of a massive hangar, with dozens of Bullhead VTOL aircraft. There were dozens of White Fang in the hanger as well, all of them turning to face the newcomers that had just blasted through their roof. If they had more time to closely inspect the 'hangar', they would have seen it to actually be an old decommissioned missile silo. The ODSTs and SPARTANs funneled out of the Pelican, firing their weapons at the unshielded White Fang. Four more Pelicans and two Phantoms descended through the hole in the ceiling, releasing twenty SPARTANs, forty ODSTs, and ten Marines. The two Phantoms released twenty Sangheili warriors each, all of them carrying an array of weapons. One commonality among all of the Sangheili was their Energy Swords clasped at their hips. All of them were Ultras.
The Marines, SPARTANs, and Huntresses cleared the hangar with ease, only one of the Marines experiencing any wounds. "Reinforcements are two minutes out." Thorne said, reloading his SMG. "Sweep the facility, weapons free!"
Team RWBY continued along with Agent Thorne and Fireteam Omega, working their way through the facility. What they found confused them rather greatly. They found that the White Fang seemed to be advancing deeper into the facility, as opposed to meeting the UNSC attackers head-on. The numerically superior UNSC/Swords of Sangheilios forces continued pushing deeper and deeper into the facility, leaving fallen White Fang behind them, while Winter's Atlesian Specialist team moved in the opposite direction, sealing any exits.
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June 11, 2682; 0053 Hours
Remnant, 530 Meters Underground (Unknown Location)
Ivan's fist crashed through a metal door, ripping it form the frame. He stepped through, finding two White Fang fighters, trying to hide from his onslaught. He had lost count of his kills, but his Promethean helpers were kind enough to constantly update his datalink with their kill counts. Surprisingly, the one with just a Bolt Pistol and Hard Light Blade had twelve more kills than the Soldier Captain.
The two Faunus before him appeared to be barely younger than him, and completely without any means to attack him. Ivan reached down, grabbing one by the neck and hoisting him up to stare into his eyes. "Emerald Sustrai and the Bull Faunus… where are they!?" Ivan asked, tensing his grip on the Faunus's neck.
"T-T-They left…" He responded. "They left before the alarms went off!" He said, trembling in the SPARTAN's iron grip.
"A shame." Ivan said, tossing him back down and priming his Light Rifle. He slotted two bolts of Hard Light through their heads. He turned to leave, walking towards the sounds of battle that were raging not far away.
As Ivan walked, he came upon a very defendable position being manned by White Fang. As he turned to face them, they opened fire with massive heavy machine guns. Ivan instinctively threw his arm up, surprised to find a blue Hard Light Shield deploy from his wrist. The rounds harmlessly bounced off, but his shield began to waver under the attack. He began walking towards them, causing the rounds to ricochet into the walls around him. As Ivan neared, he swung his arm out, causing the MG to flare upwards towards the ceiling. He used the opening to lower the shield, grab the gunner by the neck, and slam him into the ground. Ivan grabbed his Light Rifle, firing into the Faunus fighters with calculated and ruthless efficiency.
Ivan lowered his weapon back into a low-ready position, scanning the area as he walked. Much to his surprise, he began to make out the faint noise of automatic gunfire, the distinct rattling noise of MA5Es sounding off from somewhere above him. He quickly gathered himself, ordering the Prometheans to regroup with him, and set off again, searching for the sounds of gunfire.
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June 11, 2682; 0100 Hours
Remnant, 430 Meters Underground (Emerald Forest)
Yang sent a powerful punch into the stomach of a White Fang fighter, knocking him out cold. Blake let her blade dance around, slicing through White Fang with ease. Weiss began moving forward with her sister, engaging the melee fighters that the White Fang sent against them. Ruby was hanging back, choosing to use Crescent Rose's sniper rifle mode to pick off the White Fang from a distance. Thorne and his forces were sticking to cover, occasionally returning fire whenever they had an opening.
After the short firefight, the team of Huntresses, Marines, and SPARTANs were able to start descending deeper into the facility. The Swords had gone off to another sector of the facility to comb it for any hostiles, and were reporting success across the board. As Ruby walked, she heard the distinct sound of someone taunting another fighter. "Ha ha!" A strange, almost metallic voice shouted. "Bring it this way, I got ammo for all of you!"
Ruby looked over to Thorne, who looked equally confused. After descending a short flight of stairs, all of the eyes went wide. They saw a collection of at least sixty White Fang, all of them torn apart by some sort of gunfire. There were small scorch marks on the wall, along with small, silverite cylinders on the ground. Thorne ducked down, picking up one of the strange metal canisters. He examined it, Ruby was able to make out a faint orange glow coming from it. "Forerunners?" Thorne asked, his words barely audible. "What the hell?"
"What?" Ruby asked, looking to the ONI Agent.
"Ancient aliens…" Thorne said, giving a brief description. "What's a Hard Light Power Cell doing here?"
As if to accent Thorne's confusion, another burst of familiar-sounding gunfire sounded off from their level. It carried the distinct noise of Hard Light weaponry, followed by the sounds of agony. Thorne nodded for everyone to follow, which they did obediently.
As they walked through the hallways, the Marines keeping their weapons in a ready position, they came across more groups of devastated White Fang, many of them simply killed by brute force. As the sound of Hard Light weapons fire drew closer, it suddenly stopped. As they slowly rounded the corner, Thorne, Team RWBY, Winter, and Fireteam Omega found themselves staring at three massively tall metallic constructs. They looked almost like Atlesian Knights, but much taller and made of an alloy which nobody, other than Thorne, had ever seen before. They had a blue underglow to their plates, along with blue, almost fire-like eyes, which stared at them intently. Suddenly, all three of the androids raised their weapons, aiming intently at the UNSC/Huntress forces. Before Thorne could give the order to fire, a strangely familiar voice sounded off from somewhere behind the three Prometheans. "Stand down!"
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June 11, 2682; 0108 Hours
Remnant, 413 Meters Underground
Ivan walked behind the Prometheans, finding Team RWBY, Omega, Winter, and Thorne all looking at him. "Ruby?" Ivan asked, looking down at the redhead, as she was the first one he saw.
"What are you?" Ruby asked, looking at the massive visage of armor before her. It stood at almost nine feet tall and carried an incredibly advanced-looking weapon.
"Ruby… It's me." Ivan responded, lowering his weapon and attaching it to his back. "Stand down." He ordered to Prometheans again, this time they actually tossed their weapons back into Slipspace.
"Ivan?" Ruby asked, stepping forward.
"Are you okay?" Weiss asked, stepping up beside Ruby.
"I'm alright for now." Ivan responded. "I'm probably gonna need to get to a hospital after this is over."
"Why?" Yang asked, stepping forward with Blake. All of the Marines lowered their weapons. A moment later, a lance of Sangheili Ultras rounded the corner behind Thorne, all of them staring at the Forerunner Combat Skin in awe.
Ivan sent the order for his helmet to move to the back of his head, allowing his face to be revealed. Everyone's jaw practically hit the floor when they saw that his right eye was almost completely destroyed, along with most of his face. He had cuts all along his cheeks, forehead, neck, and nose. His nose was bent in two places, and he was missing a good portion of his hair. Ivan gave a wince as his armor's medical systems stopped dulling the pain. "And that's just my face." He let the helmet fall back over his face again, all of the tiny Forerunner Alloy plates locking back into their proper place. "The only reason that I can move my right arm is because of the armor. Almost all of the tendons and muscles are torn."
"Oh my god…" Blake said, her eyes filled with regret. "The White Fang did this?"
"They did, but Emerald ordered it." Ivan said, clenching his fist in anger. As he did, the familiar black energy materialized around his fist. He let out a sigh, allowing the energy to dissipate into nothingness.
"What was that?" Winter asked. "Was that your Semblance?"
"Indeed it was." Ivan responded. "I can manipulate Slipspace itself. That's how I got the armor."
"Wait…" Thorne said. "You called Forerunner armor into Real Space?"
"Yes I did… with a bit of help."
"How?" Thorne asked.
"A Forerunner Ancilla named Soleia." Ivan responded. "She, apparently, helped the armor find me. She's been pretty silent ever since, though."
"Only because you seemed more intent on finding this 'Emerald' girl." Soleia responded, manifesting herself from a Hard Light projector on Ivan's helmet. She had the appearance of a human woman in her late twenties with long black hair, blue eyes, and very pale skin. Were it not for the eyes, Ivan could've mistaken her for Blake.
"Whoa…" Thorne managed. "An actual, stable Forerunner AI…"
"In the Hard Light." Soleia joked, gesturing to herself. "And to answer your question more in-depth; Reclaimer Chesnokov has a very… special genetic code." Soleia looked to the SPARTAN. "You carry the genetic imprint of Forerunner Admiral Echo of Wandering Stars. This armor was always around you, I simply assisted it in forming to your body."
Thorne's jaw nearly hit the floor. "A SPARTAN carries the genetic imprint of an ancient Forerunner?"
"Many humans carry an Imprint." Soleia responded, matter-of-factly.
"I think Soleia can give you a history lesson later." Ivan said. "For now, I'd like to finish up here."
"Negative, SPARTAN." Thorne said, composing himself again. "You're going to Firebase India for medical treatment. But… you can go to Beacon first, if you'd like."
"Why?" Ivan asked.
"You said Emerald ordered this?" Thorne asked, smiling slightly.
Ivan grinned beneath his helmet, nodding.
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June 11, 2682; 0205 Hours
Remnant, Beacon (Dormitories)
Cinder sat in her chair, lazily reading through a few news reports. Emerald was sitting on the edge of her bed, much happier than usual. "You seem excited for something." Cinder commented, not looking up from her Scroll.
"I just can't believe how easy it was to capture that SPARTAN." Emerald said, happily.
"Oh… you had the White Fang use an infallible Armor Lock on the suit of armor that it was designed to lock." Cinder said, jokingly. "You must be so proud."
Before Emerald could form a decent comeback, she heard a few knocks on the door. She stood up to answer it at Cinder's request. As she neared the door, she opened it up. What she saw stunned her. She saw a massive, nine foot tall suit of silver armor glaring down at her, orange visors seeming to glare into her very soul. Its image sent chills down her spine. After a second of staring at it, it suddenly sent an armored gauntlet into her chest, sending her slamming into the back wall. The armor stepped inside, prompting Cinder to stand up from her chair.
Before Cinder could act, two strange portals opened above her, allowing two androids to fall out and prime strange weapons. They pointed their weapons at her, one of them speaking up. "Stand down!" One of them shouted. Cinder attempted to rear back an attack, but halted when she felt a third one grab onto her arm and restrain her in an iron grip.
Cinder saw the massive suit of armor stroll over to Emerald, deliberately allowing her to stand. Emerald drew one of her plasma pistols, firing into the armor's chest. The green bolt of plasma simply splashed against the armor's golden shields, eliciting a spine-chilling laugh from whatever was inside. The armor reached over, grabbing the pistol in Emerald's grip, crushing the metal weapon with ease. It tossed the pistol aside, grabbing her by the neck and hoisting her up to its eye level. "Tell me, Miss Sustrai…" A strangely familiar voice began, followed by the sight of plates shifting from the armor's faceplate towards the back of the helmet. "Does this look familiar?"
Emerald stood paralyzed in fear as she looked at the destroyed face of Ivan, his mouth twisted in rage. "H-how?" She asked.
Ivan didn't even dignify her existence with a response, simply sending his armored fist into Emerald's face, the sheer force of the blow knocking her out cold, and nearly shattering her nose, orbital bone, and jaw. He tossed her limp body aside like a rag doll, motioning for the Prometheans to restrain her.
Ivan turned around, glaring daggers at Cinder through his one good eye. Cinder winced as she saw the damage done to the SPARTAN. "Stand down!" Ivan shouted to the Prometheans, prompting them to step back and release Cinder. He looked back to the brunette before him. "What do you know about this?" Ivan said, gesturing to his face, then to Emerald, who was still sprawled out on the floor.
"W-what do you mean?" Cinder asked, wavering slightly under the SPARTAN's glare.
"About her capturing me." Ivan said through clenched teeth. A black energy manifested around the armored SPARTAN, its existence sending a prickling sensation across Cinder's nerves.
"I didn't know anything until now!" Cinder defended. "She said that you were on a mission."
"I was… but I was set up!" Ivan said. "The White Fang captured me, then tortured me for three fucking weeks! She ordered this!" He shouted, a strange-looking weapon suddenly forming in his right hand as he brought it to her chin. "If you know something…"
"I didn't know anything!" Cinder defended, more sure of herself. Ivan deflated slightly, his expression turning… less enraged.
"Fine…" Ivan said, standing upright again, calling the plates back into their proper place on his face. "You two, escort her back to the UNSC CENTCOM facility." He said, turning to the Prometheans, which nodded and stepped behind Cinder, both of them keeping their weapons readied. The Promethean Captain walked over to Emerald's body, grabbing her and carrying her over its shoulder. "If you do not follow these Prometheans back to CENTCOM, or if you fight them, I will personally hunt you down and finish what I started with Emerald!" He thumbed a gesture over to Emerald, who was now being carried on the shoulder of the Promethean.
As Ivan turned to leave, he found there to be a rather sizable crowd of students and instructors alike staring at him, amazed and slightly frightened. "Where are you going?" Cinder asked, drawing the SPARTAN's attention.
"To get my fucking face fixed."
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June 11, 2682; 1905 Hours
Remnant, Firebase India (Infirmary)
Ivan rested against the bed he had been given in Firebase India's medical center, wincing slightly as the flesh on his face was fixed by a robotic arm. His depth perception had returned after having a cybernetic eye replace his organic one. He also had his arm replaced with a cybernetic one, as too much time had passed between the wounds and the procedure for Flash Cloning to be possible. His Forerunner armor, much to ONI's displeasure, was deemed his property once it was discovered that it was linked to his genetics and could only be operated by him. He had his suit of MJOLNIR recovered from the White Fang facility, which was currently being swept and secured by UNSC Marines and Sangheili forces. Many of the smaller scars had been healed by his Aura, as well.
Once the robotic arms were done fiddling with his face, he sat upright and looked in a mirror. His right eye appeared to be much brighter than is left, and the black metal of his right arm appeared quite out of place on his body. His face was almost completely healed otherwise, which was a plus. He was surprised to find Cinder step into his room, prompting him to turn around. "You look much better." Cinder said, giving a weak smile.
"I feel much better." Ivan responded. Ivan paused for a moment, thinking of his next words. "I'm sorry about what happened."
"Why?"
"I literally punched Emerald's nose through her head right in front of you, a few students, and a few instructors." Ivan responded. "Not to mention threatening you…"
"It was completely warranted." Cinder responded, sitting on the edge of his bed. "I still can't believe that she hid this from me…"
"It's not your fault." Ivan responded, sitting down next to Cinder.
"So… what was that armor you were wearing?" Cinder asked. "And that energy… was it your Semblance?"
"Classified." Ivan responded, calling his gauntlet from the depths of Slipspace. "And I'm still trying to figure out how to use my Semblance in its entirety, and calling in the armor fully is extremely exhausting."
"I'm not sure I understand… what exactly is your semblance?" Cinder asked.
"You know how the UNSC travels through space right? With Slipspace?" Cinder nodded in response. "My Semblance apparently lets me directly influence Slipspace. I can throw things into the Slipstream, pull things out, or move things in Real Space by using Slipspace, since it's a parallel dimension."
"That's… amazing." Cinder commented.
"It is…" Ivan responded, allowing the tendrils of black energy to dance across his fingertips, the small tentacles of pure Slipspace energy lapping hungrily outwards. He clenched his fist, silencing the energy of his Semblance. "Sorry, again." Ivan said.
"For what?"
"For the UNSC kicking down your dorm's door twice in a month, only to kick the shit out of your former teammates." Ivan said, eliciting a laugh from Cinder.
"Don't worry." Cinder said, smiling. "If I were in your position, I probably would've killed Emerald. Speaking of which… why didn't you?"
"I'm kinda ashamed to say that I really wanted to." Ivan confessed. "I wanted nothing more than to crush her like a bug… but I couldn't bring myself to do it."
"Why?"
"Everyone can be forgiven." Ivan responded. "As good as it would've felt at first to kill her, I…honestly wouldn't be able to live with myself if I just killed her in cold blood."
"I'm… surprised." Cinder said. "Most people don't have the restraint to do what you did."
"Thanks…" Ivan said, smiling.
"And I find the arm… suits you well." Cinder said, gesturing to Ivan's metallic arm, which he unconsciously flexed and relaxed.
"It's not too bad." Ivan said, shrugging. "Now… would you like to accompany me back to Beacon?"
"I would love to." Cinder said. "After all, someone needs to make sure you don't get yourself into trouble again."
Ivan scoffed, letting a slight grin cross his face. As he stood up and left, he was surprised to find all of Team RWBY standing in the middle of Firebase India's courtyard. "Hey, Ivan!" Ruby said, happily.
"Hey guys." Ivan said, waving awkwardly. "What's up?"
"You look much better." Weiss commented. "Don't know how I feel about the robot arm."
Ivan shrugged. "It's not so bad."
"Apparently, Weiss's father is putting together a party to celebrate us winning the tournament!" Ruby said, giddily. "If you're feeling up to it, that is…"
"Well, that should be fun." Ivan said, nodding. "Where's it gonna be?"
"Right here in Vale." Weiss explained. "My father owns a few estates across Remnant, and the one in Vale is perfect for the occasion, so he decided to host it there. It'll be in two days."
"I'm certainly looking forward to it." Thorne said, stepping over. He had a few minor burns on his neck from the White Fang raid, along with a large collection of visible patchwork in his suit. "I also have something to share with you, Mister Chesnokov, but it can wait until later. I'll send you the information over Waypoint." Thorne regarded Cinder for a moment, scanning her up-and-down before speaking to her directly. "My apologies for the… rude introduction, ma'am." Thorne said, doing his best to force a diplomatic tone.
"Cinder." She responded.
"Well, my apologies, Cinder." Thorne said, a very… political smile on his face. "I certainly hope that you are not affiliated with Emerald and Mercury in their little… dealings." If Cinder was at all shaken by Thorne's not-so-vague threat, she didn't show it. "But the interrogations and investigations have produced no connections to them, so I'll trust that you're not my enemy."
"Thank you, Mister Thorne." Cinder responded. "Might I ask… where is Emerald?"
"Awaiting trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity." Thorne responded. "She's currently being transferred to Reach for a trial before a UNSC Admiralty Board."
"To Reach?" Blake asked. "Why isn't she being held here on Remnant."
"Too close in proximity to potential connections." Thorne responded. "ONI has taken all possible precautions with detained huntsmen or huntresses."
"As much as I enjoy discussing this…" Ivan said. "You wanted to tell me something, sir?"
"If you want to hear about it now…" Thorne began, shrugging. "HIGHCOM wants you back on Earth for a psychiatric evaluation." Thorne explained. "Standard procedure for all active duty personnel who were former prisoners of war, as you know. I have no doubt that you're perfectly capable of serving, SPARTAN, but The Brass wants to make sure."
"Ivan has to leave again?" Ruby complained.
"Only for about two weeks, this time." Thorne explained. "And the President has taken his return to Earth as a bit of an opportunity…"
"What do you mean?" Blake asked.
"He wants to personally meet with the Huntresses that were responsible for saving a SPARTAN. Think of it as a way to fully bring Remnant into the fold of the UEG."
"What are you saying?" Yang asked.
"I'm simply explaining that the President is a rather busy man, a man who doesn't have the time to leave Earth for extended periods of time." Thorne said, smiling slightly.
"Are you saying… we're going to Earth?" Weiss asked.
"Indeed I am." Thorne said, nodding. "You all, along with some of Remnant's leadership."
"When are we going?" Ruby asked.
"Well, it was planned for you all to leave Remnant in two days, but it would seem Mister Schnee has thrown a bit of a wrench into that machine. I'll postpone it until next week. Until then… try not to get into too much trouble."
