Chapter 27: The Discordant Cartographer
January 25, 2683; 2101 Hours
Remnant, Mistral (Forerunner Ruins)
Task Force November descended the ramp into the open cavern of the Forerunner relic. Two hundred Marines, seventy five ODSTs, six SPARTAN IVs, Teams CFVY, JNPR, and RBY, and a vast array of UNSC ground vehicles were under the command of SPARTAN Chesnokov. There were four Scorpion-II MBTs, three chaingun Warthogs, three Gauss Warthogs, two Gremlins, two Mantis combat exoskeletons, and even the highly advanced Scorpion-IIb, a Scorpion Tank sporting a directed plasma cannon in place of its main gun. Ivan's SPARTAN fireteam was even sent to join them at the last possible moment, upon Ivan's personal request for more SPARTAN reinforcements.
The Huntresses had noticed something odd about these UNSC troops in particular. Every one of them behaved vastly different from the on-base ones that they had interacted with, they even looked different. All of their armor, even the Marines, was a midnight black with a fully-tinted visor. Every one of them, even the deployed vehicles, all sported patches of the Office of Naval Intelligence. They were not working with the standard UNSC Military, they were dealing with something quite different, and far scarier. There was no pre-mission banter, no joking, no lighthearted conversation, just cold hard professionalism. Nobody spoke a word, all that could be heard was the roaring of vehicle engines and the sounds of marching boots.
As the column walked through the metallic cavern, blue accent lights lining the walls, they came to a stop at a large, ornate metal wall with lights dancing along the surface. Ivan walked towards a small panel resting to the side of the wall, placing his hand against the strange holographic projection. As his hand neared, the projected holographic sphere rotated before him, stopping just before his hand made contact. Five glyphs lit up at the tips of each of his fingers, followed by a strange hieroglyph appearing soon after.
After Ivan's hand made contact with the hologram, the entire wall began churning and grinding. After a moment, the wall retracted into the sides and top of the cavern, revealing the inside of the relic. The Huntresses and Huntsmen stood stunned as the full breadth of the relic was made visible to them. Before them stood a massive atrium, burrowed deep into the mountain and quite probably beneath it. All of the walls were a stunningly beautiful mix of silverite metal and blue lighting, all of it looking immaculate and dust-free, even after millennia without use.
The Huntsmen were stunned as a trio of strange-looking floating constructs descended from the ceiling. They looked like floating metal drones with three articulated arms all branching out from a central body. From a glowing blue central eye, an orange beam was emitted, scanning over the mass of entering Humans and Faunus. Ruby, Coco, Yang, Nora, Ren, and Pyrrha prepared their weapons once the beams were projected, earning a bark from a few of the SPARTANs. "Weapons down!" Ivan called over all others. "The Sentinels are passive, they're not going to hurt us unless we start something."
"What're they doing?" Yang asked, staring at the constructs, perplexed. A Sentinel drifted towards her, cocking to the side slightly as it examined her without making use of its Hard Light Scanning Array. It bleeped a few times before moving along.
"Scanning and analyzing us." Ivan responded. "Making sure we're Human or Forerunner."
"They know not to attack Humans?" Blake asked, looking at the Sentinel that had just beeped at Yang. "What about Faunus?"
"Faunus are close enough, genetically, that they are simply considered Humans." Ivan half-lied. "They know not to attack us because we're the Reclaimers."
"Reclaimers?" Jaune asked.
"Humans are meant to inherit the Forerunner Empire." Ivan responded, holding out his hand for a Sentinel to scan. He had removed his metallic gauntlet, as well as the gel-layer glove. He let the Sentinel scan exposed skin. "All of this was left for us."
As the Sentinel scanned over Ivan's exposed palm with its scanner array, it let out a series of rapid beeps, bleeps, and ticks. The commotion drew all of the Sentinels within the immediate area, all fifteen of them, to him. All of them began crowding around him, frantically attempting to scan his hand. They were all beeping rather frantically. "They're so cute!" Ruby exclaimed, watching the Sentinels practically pile on top of each other to scan the SPARTAN. "What're they doing now?"
"They've recognized me as a Forerunner!" Ivan called out over the assaulting Sentinels. "Genetic Imprint, remember?"
"Can we keep one?" Ruby asked, making her way towards the front of the formation alongside the rest of the Huntsmen.
Ivan actually let out a soft chuckle. "I mean… theoretically, I could. They've recognized me as a High Admiral of the Forerunner Ecumene. I could give them orders."
"Can you order one to come with us?" Ruby asked, hopeful.
"We'll see." Ivan said, turning to the Sentinels that had arranged themselves in a rather organized fashion in front of the column. They didn't seem to care that there were several massive tank cannons pointed at them. "Resume standard facility patrol patterns." Ivan ordered. At his words, all of the Sentinels bleeped in acknowledgement and floated off.
"Can you understand them?" Blake asked.
"Yep." Ivan responded. "They're not fully sentient, barely smarter than your average infant child, so they can really only take orders, acknowledge them, and report things. They've reported this facility secure."
"And they're soon to be property of the Mistral Government." General Blackwell said, dismounting the Warthog he was permitted, by Ivan, to ride in.
"They will be the 'property' of the Office of Naval Intelligence unless we deem otherwise, General." Ivan rebuked. "You are here merely as an observer, I urge you to keep that in mind."
"Are you giving me orders, Colonel?" The General asked.
"Did we not go over this?" Ivan asked. "This is a UNSC Military Operation under the directive of the President himself. You have absolutely no authority here; you're only here because my commanding officers prefer me being bitched at by a Mistralian General as opposed to the President getting bitched at by the Mistral Council." Ivan let out a sigh. "Now General, if you have any further complaints, please feel free to take it up with ONI's Complaints Department." Ivan thumbed a gesture towards the Scorpion-IIb's main gun.
"I was ordered by the Mistral Council to investigate illegal UNSC Operations in the Va'ale Mountain Range." The General said, emphasizing "Illegal", much to Ivan's irritation.
"And I'm under orders by the President of the United Earth Government to arrest uppity Generals that interfere with UNSC operations." Ivan deadpanned, locking his metallic gauntlet back into place. "Need I remind you that your authority means nothing to ONI?"
"To think we signed a treaty with you aliens…" The General said, moving to rejoin his men near the back of the column.
"Take that up with your government; they signed the Treaty after all." Ivan responded, shaking his head.
At that, all of the ODSTs, Marines, and vehicles seemed to relax a bit, some even chuckling as the General walked off with his tail between his legs. "Your orders, Colonel?" The Omega Team Sniper, Mary, asked from his position atop a transport Warthog's canopy.
"Secure this atrium; I want reports on any changes in Sentinel behavior the instant you spot them!" Ivan ordered.
"And us?" Ruby asked.
"Sit tight." Ivan said. "I've got some work to do with Thorne."
XXXXX
January 25, 2683; 2113 Hours
Remnant, Mistral (Forerunner Ruins)
Ivan stepped through one of the many doors of the Atrium, Winter joining him. They were greeted by a long hallway, leading into various other rooms. "Any idea what this facility is for?" Winter asked.
"None…" Ivan said. "Even Soleia said it doesn't exist on records anywhere in the Domain."
"Is that bad?" Winter asked, walking alongside Ivan.
"Not necessarily." Ivan said, moving towards the nearest door. "It is a bit concerning, though. The Forerunners kept meticulous records of every facility in every corner of space. I can't think of any facility we've found before that didn't exist on-record somewhere."
"Other than the Rings." Winter said.
"Other than the Rings." Ivan affirmed. "But those had a legitimate reason to be off the record. If the Flood discovered them too early, we'd all be a disgusting pile of biomass right now."
"True enough." Winter responded, following Ivan through the first door.
As the two SPARTANs stepped through, they were greeted by a truly strange sight. The room itself was huge, and sported a few observation windows. The room, otherwise, was completely devoid of furniture or electronics, save small pedestals just beneath each window. As Ivan approached the first and nearest window and looked through the transparent silicate, he saw a large pack of Beowolves, all of them stuck in a locked observation room. Ivan recognized this room as one that Flood specimens would be kept in. "What the hell?" Ivan asked, looking down at the Beowolves in confusion.
"There's a few Boarbatusks in here." Winter said, gesturing to the next window over.
"Alright…" Ivan said, walking to the third window. "Now there's a Nevermore… were the Forerunners studying the Grimm? That's how long they've been here?"
"I'd assume so." Winter said. "And… there's a King Taiju."
Ivan let his semblance forth, calling his helmet into existence on the floor. "Soleia." Ivan said, prompting his helmet to connect with the Forerunner Relic's internal Hard Light Projection network. Soleia appeared next to Ivan, a life-sized and natural looking replication of her in Hard Light.
"Yes, SPARTAN?" She asked.
"As well-versed as I am in Forerunner technology, would you mind telling me what they were doing here?" Ivan asked, gesturing to the display ports.
Soleia walked over, peering through the window. "Studying the Grimm, obviously."
"Oh, thanks, I couldn't tell that by looking." Ivan said. "What have they found?"
"You can't read the script on the pedestals?" Soleia asked.
"I can make out some of it, but I'm not fluent yet. Still learning from Echo." Ivan answered. "Mostly just references to scientists is what I can decipher."
Soleia walked over to the pedestal assigned to studying the Beowolves, placing her hand against the holographic interface. After a moment of examining the data, she turned to Ivan with a grim look on her face. "What is it?" Winter asked, seeing the look.
"The Forerunners were studying the Grimm for connections to the Flood." Soleia explained. At her words, Ivan's blood ran cold.
"And…?" Ivan asked.
"They believe the Flood and the Grimm to be related to one another in some way." Soleia said, her voice somber.
Behind his visor, Ivan's eyes widened. "How?! What?!"
"They believe the Flood and the Grimm to share an origin… the Precursors." Soleia explained.
"The Precursors?" Ivan asked. "I thought they were a myth."
"Far from it." Soleia explained. "The Precursors breathed life into this Galaxy, and potentially all of space. They are the only Tier 0 species that has ever been observed… and they are responsible for the Flood."
"Why would they create something like the Flood?" Winter asked, stunned.
"It was an accident." Soleia explained. "They... quite literally reduced themselves to a self-replicating dust that could preserve them over eons. Sadly, a few examples of this dust became corrupted, leading to the onset of madness."
"An all-knowing being going mad?" Ivan asked. "Oh shit… I think I can see where this is going."
"An all-knowing being that has just become an all-consuming parasite through intense genetic mutation." Soleia corrected. "It would seem that one such example led to the creation of the Flood… and another example created the Grimm."
"What happened to the Precursors?" Winter asked.
"Most were exterminated by the Forerunners when they learned that the True Mantle would be passed onto Humanity instead of the Forerunners." Soleia explained. "Some escaped into a micro-galaxy orbiting our own. And it would appear that some made their way here, to Remnant."
"They came here?" Winter asked.
"One came here… and became Dust." Soleia explained. "The very Dust that has allowed Human and Faunus alike to combat the Grimm. It seems that even in death, some Precursors sought to help Humanity ascend. That is why Dust behaves the way it does, seeming to defy all known laws of physics and reality… because it is quite literally the by-product of a creature that could defy the very laws of the universe."
"Jesus Christ almighty…" Ivan muttered, sighing. "Every time I talk with you, my very understanding of the universe is shaken to its core… why didn't you tell me this before?"
"You didn't ask… and it wasn't relevant to the situation." Soleia defended. "I had assumed that Humanity had knowledge of the tale of the Precursors."
"We did… we just had no idea they were actually responsible for nearly destroying all life in the galaxy."
"Well, I believe this facility has some data on both the Grimm and Dust that the UNSC might find interesting." Soleia said, changing the subject. "I'll download it to a drive."
"Thank you…" Ivan said, watching the data transfer taking place from his HUD. "Is there any way to get rid of those Grimm down there?"
"I can initiate the Neutron Purge." Soleia said.
"Do it." Ivan responded with a nod.
"Done." Soleia said as a bright flash blinked into existence through all of the viewports, leaving all of the Grimm specimens dead.
"Are there any other areas of the facility we should be concerned with?" Winter asked.
"There is the Cartographer." Soleia said, walking towards a door. "I cannot access it… that is for you to do."
XXXXX
January 25, 2683; 2156 Hours
Remnant, Mistral (Forerunner Ruins)
Yang sighed, sitting on the tread cover of an idling Scorpion in the same area as the rest of the group of Huntsmen. "Where are they?" She asked, looking around.
"They said it was important." Blake shrugged. "I doubt they'd let us know, anyways."
Yang huffed, looking around to the ONI personnel that were scattered throughout the ruin. Some were taking pictures of the ruin, some were checking holographic consoles, some were investigating the Sentinels, and others were walking to and from various doors in the area.
She looked up, spotting more of those Forerunner constructs that she had become familiar with over the last thirty minutes. These small ones that were floating about, shaped almost like keys mixed with a curved knife, were Constructors. They seemed to be the maintenance for the facility, constantly fixing things. They also seemed rather… interested in the UNSC technology, some of them even fixing imperfections in the Scorpion's armor.
As she watched Ruby casually talking with a Sentinel, smiling all the while, she noticed the pair of SPARTANs make their way back into the Atrium, Ivan carrying his helmet in the crook of his arm. "Ivan!" She shouted, catching everyone's attention.
Ivan made his way over, Winter by his side. "Yang…" Ivan said. "What's up?"
"Did you find anything?" She asked.
"Not exactly what we were expecting… but it's cleared up a lot." Ivan said. "Come with me, everyone… It's time I told you what's going on… everything, this time."
"Does that include the General?" Pyrrha asked.
"Oh fuck no." Ivan said, scoffing. "Unless Thorne tells me otherwise, he won't know shit. Now, c'mon." Ivan nodded his head towards the furthest door, beckoning everyone to follow.
After passing through the door, they were left walking down a rather long hallway, then a few downwards ramps. As they progressed through the wide hallways, they eventually made way for a large, cylindrical room with a transparent platform suspended in the middle. There did not appear to be any way to cross over to the platform.
Ivan proved all of the Huntsmen wrong as he walked to a small holographic pedestal. He placed his hand against it, causing the projection to let out a soft series of pings before fading away. A bridge of blue hard light materialized between the two platforms, giving them a clear passageway to the central platform.
Ivan approached the central platform, watching as the small Constructors floated about the facility, seeming to regard him and his company with indifference. As they reached the central platform, they noted that it had a massive central construct of some kind, with a blue beam of light piercing through the center and heading off somewhere into the ceiling. There were a massive number of holographic controls on the face of the metal centerpiece, all with the same glyph-based Forerunner language.
Ivan turned to everyone, seeing them all eyeing the Cartographer room with a sense of awe. It was massive, as large as the central atrium, and seemed to descend forever into the very crust of the planet. Every surface emanated a fluorescent blue glow, and everything seemed ethereal in nature. He spoke up, catching everyone's attention. "Alright… I talked with Thorne, and he's given me permission to brief all of you on what's going on… in full."
Everyone's ears perked at that, all of the eyes in the room turning to Ivan and Winter. "You're all already familiar with the Forerunners, so there isn't much we need to share with you about that." Winter said, removing her own helmet.
"Is this about that worst case scenario you guys were talking about?" Blake asked.
"Indeed." Ivan said, nodding. "Luckily, that scenario, being the existence of the Flood here on Remnant, is not a threat."
"The Flood?" Ruby asked.
"A parasitic life form, made almost entirely of once-sentient biomass." Ivan explained. "It is a spore-based parasite, capable of completely overwriting a host's genetic information in seconds. A single Flood Spore can exterminate a species, and it has dozens of times."
"And it's just sitting around?!" Yang asked.
"No, not exactly." Ivan assured. "The Forerunners studied the Flood with the intent to wipe it out, and they nearly succeeded. There is one issue, some of the research facilities they devoted to the Flood remained intact, along with the specimens. Occasionally… these containment procedures fail. That's what the Sentinels are for. Their beam weapons completely atomize biological matter."
"Are there any of these places here?" Pyrrha asked.
"That'd, thankfully, be a no." Ivan said, turning around and placing his hand against a holographic module on the display. The same rune from when they entered the facility appeared before his eyes, and a projection of Remnant appeared, with twelve locations all highlighted throughout the continent containing Mistral, and four in Vale. Two had the Forerunner Glyph representing Prometheans, two for The Domain, and eight showed the general symbol for Forerunners. The four in Vale represented Forerunners. "This facility is not just any Forerunner Installation… it's a Cartographer."
"A Cartographer?" Jaune asked. "Like maps?"
"Exactly." Ivan said, gesturing to the projection of Remnant. "Sadly, this Cartographer's data is slightly corrupted. It only displays the locations of a few facilities, namely ones in Mistral and Vale. Vacuo and Atlas are not represented here." Ivan pointed to one of the glyphs for Prometheans. "That is the Forerunner Glyph for Prometheans, those metal androids you've all seen me call upon every now and again. That symbol means there is another facility dedicated to either the production of new Promethean bodies, or a facility dedicated to storing them."
Ivan pointed to the symbol for The Domain. "That is the Glyph for The Domain, a massive galaxy-wide Forerunner Information Network, all located in Slipspace. It is the complete record of all of Forerunner civilization, all the way back to their discovery of writing. I think you can imagine why that'd be important."
"And those?" Ruby asked, pointing to the symbol for Forerunners.
"That just represents the Forerunners." Ivan explained. "Those facilities are most likely just government buildings, old cities, or dedicated research stations much like this one. Thankfully, there are no markers for the Flood."
"There's some in Vale!" Ruby pointed out.
"The UNSC is already aware of those, and they've already been investigated." Winter said. "All benign facilities."
"What would happen if there were any markers for the Flood?" Coco asked, studying the map rather intently.
"The UNSC would enter into a full mobilization and purge the facility." Ivan explained. "Nuclear weapons would likely be involved."
"Is that the UNSC's usual response?" Blake asked, horrified at the mention of nukes. Nuclear weapons had long ago been deemed unfit for use by all of Remnant's kingdoms.
"No…" Ivan said. "Our general response is to glass the planet." Everyone looked at him incredulously, hearing that the UNSC would render an entire planet uninhabitable. "Remnant is a different case, since it houses far more than a simple colony. There are four billion people on this planet, we could never rationalize evacuating and relocating the entire populace. Conventional warfare against the Flood would be our only option here."
"What about other planets?" Nora asked.
"We run in-depth scans over the entire planet before we colonize any garden world." Ivan explained. "We would know of any Flood presence before the first boots touched the ground."
"Did you not do that here?" Velvet asked.
"We tried." Ivan said. "We experienced massive interference, courtesy of this planet's saving grace, Dust. And now we know why." Ivan pulled a Dust crystal from his combat harness, holding the red object out in his hand. "Dust is not a natural occurrence as you would understand it. It's the by-product of a dying creature known as a Precursor."
"The Precursors, quite literally, breathed life into this galaxy." Winter explained, seeing everyone's confused look. "They, as we would know them if we were not more educated on the matter, would be what we know as gods. Humans, along with the Forerunners, are the direct creations of the Precursors, according to Forerunner historical records."
Everyone stood dumbstruck, hearing this information. Ivan realized just how much their reaction mirrored his own when he had this revealed to him. "W-What?" Ruby asked, looking visibly shaken by the revelation. "What happened to them?"
"The Forerunners exterminated the Precursors." Ivan explained. "A few of the surviving Precursors managed to preserve their consciousness in the form of a self-replicating dust. Some of them, due to being in this form of stasis for so long, went insane. One re-formed into a massive collection of biological material, forming the first Gravemind, or the hivemind of the Flood. Two more found a home here on Remnant. One reformed into the first creature of Grimm, the other broke itself down, scattering itself all over the planet, creating Dust."
"This is the rough, overall explanation." Ivan continued. "I'll tell you the rest when I have more time, and when we're not in the middle of a Forerunner ruin." Ivan looked at everyone's dumbfounded expressions. "You all alright?" He asked. "I know it's a lot to process, so if you've got any questions, you can feel free to ask me."
After a moment, everyone nodded their heads. Ivan smiled, rather grimly. "Sorry that you had to learn about it this way, and that I had to drop it all on you so suddenly, but my choices are a bit limited. You're standing in a Forerunner ruin, you didn't know anything about why the UNSC practically moved a full division to secure this place, and you all had questions, I could see that…" He sighed, running a hand through his short hair. "As I'm sure you can all imagine, this is all at one of the highest levels of classification. Thorne won't make you guys go through all of the NDA paperwork that's involved with knowing all of this, he and I both trust that all of you can keep this on the down-low."
"Why tell us now?" Blake asked. "Why not just keep it a secret and avoid all this? Why was it so important?"
Ivan began again. "Because we have Faunus with us." Ivan said. "And Forerunner ruins are only accessible to Humans, the Forerunners ensured that." Ivan gestured to the symbol that popped up on the holographic console, the symbol for Reclaimer. "That's the symbol for Reclaimer… for us."
"Us?" Blake asked.
"Humans and Faunus, apparently." Ivan said. "Faunus are the apparent genetic cousins of Humans, created by the Forerunners after our defeat in a war over a hundred twenty thousand years ago."
"The Forerunners created the Faunus?" Blake asked, stunned. "Why?"
"In a way." Ivan explained. "For all intents and purposes, your DNA is almost entirely Human. The Forerunners altered a fraction of a percent of it… As for the why… that's because they wanted mankind divided." Ivan tapped the console with his fingers. "The Forerunners created over thirty sub-species of Humans, all to make sure we did not unite as we did all those millennia ago. The Faunus were one of the lucky two to survive."
"Why did that matter?" Blake asked again. "Why is that important now?"
"Because, if you haven't noticed, there's a suspicious lack of White Fang corpses around here." Ivan gestured to the ruin's walls. "And I really doubt the White Fang only had a few guys out here, looking around what is quite possibly the most important scientific facility on the planet. The White Fang knows about these other facilities, Thorne and I are sure about that." Ivan pointed to the projection of Remnant. "I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this?"
"The White Fang know where Forerunner artifacts are…" Blake finished, her eyes widening.
"And Thorne wants us to deal with it." Ivan said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I will fully understand if any of you want no part in this operation anymore, but this is our best shot at finding Cinder and Taurus. Any one of you, as of right now, have the ability to walk away. I cannot ask any of you to go spelunking through ancient ruins, that's a job that ONI can do, a job that we have been doing for almost two centuries."
All of the Huntsmen shared glances for a moment, then a few grins and nods broke out. "You think we'd just leave you like that?" Nora asked, almost sounding offended at the implication. "You asked us to be here, and we're staying."
"You can count us in, too." Coco said, nodding.
"You know our answer." Jaune said, earning nods from his teammates.
Ivan turned to team RBY, earning a cocked eyebrow from Ruby. "Are you kidding?" The short Huntress asked. "What do you think? Of course we're staying."
Ivan smiled. "Then I'm glad you're all along for the ride." Ivan pulled a small storage drive from his combat harness, slotting it into the Forerunner console. After a moment, he yanked the small chip out and slid it back into his harness. "Now c'mon, we've got eleven more of these things to scour. No time to waste."
XXXXX
January 30, 2683; 1247 Hours
Remnant, Mistral (Camp Vorbeck)
Ivan stepped out of the MJOLNIR Removal Apparatus, relishing being free of the powered armor. In the Armory with him was Winter, standing there in her Gel Layer suit as she cleaned her Battle Rifle. Ren was placing his machine pistols back into their proper places on the weapons rack, and Pyrrha was helping Jaune fix a dent in his armor from a Crawler's bite.
The ragtag team of Huntsmen, for the first time, had an encounter with the Prometheans not long after they cleared the first ruin in Mistral. Ever since, they had become rather effective at fighting the armigers, but incidents still happened. Blake very nearly had Gambol Shroud shattered by a Promethean Knight, Jaune's armor had taken a beating from a small horde of Crawlers, and Coco very nearly had to build a completely new weapon after an incident with a Promethean Soldier with a Binary Rifle. After the first encounter with them, Ivan had decided to run everyone through a few War Games involving the Prometheans.
They had just finished clearing the last of the 12 known ruins in Mistral, much to the dismay of the local government. That irritating General followed them everywhere as an "advisor", and had been a constant irritant for Ivan. Much to the SPARTAN's dismay, they seemed no closer to finding Cinder or Taurus. They did, however, manage to capture a few White Fang lieutenants for interrogation by ONI. All that was left to do now was wait.
As he walked over to Winter, the ivory-haired SPARTAN sent him a quick smile as she slotted the Battle Rifle's barrel back into place. "Did you get that energy bayonet working?" Ivan asked.
"Finally." Winter said, chuckling. "Quite possibly the worst time for it to give out." Winter said, making reference to her short, impromptu fistfight with a Soldier Captain. She locked the barrel back into place and stuck the rifle back onto the rack. "I'm quite alright though, nothing for you to worry about." She said, placing a quick kiss on Ivan's cheek.
Ivan smiled. "You are my responsibility, Lieutenant." He joked, pressing their lips together. "As good of a SPARTAN as you are, I've still got an obligation to fulfill."
"Hmm...? And what's that?" Winter asked, smiling.
"Make sure I've got something to come home to…"
"Fulfilled, for now." Winter said, slyly. She leaned up, placing a kiss on his cheek, and whispering. "We'll see how many more of your obligations to me you can fill later."
Despite his confidence, Winter still knew what buttons to push to effectively break the SPARTAN. She grinned, seeing the blush on his face. "Ah-" Ivan stuttered, taking a deep breath.
Winter laughed. "C'mon, let's go upstairs." She nodded towards the exit to the armory.
Ivan followed behind as they climbed the short staircase into the first floor of the on-base housing unit they were given. In the living room, Ruby and Blake were watching the news on the couch, Ren was making Nora pancakes in the kitchen, and Coco and Velvet were having a rather animated conversation. "Where'd Yang get off to?" Ivan asked, walking with Winter.
"She's in the garage." Ruby said. "Working on Bumblebee."
"Anything interesting?" Ivan asked, glancing over to the news broadcast.
"Nothing much…" Blake said, shrugging. "President's State of the Union was interesting. He actually mentioned Remnant."
"Really?" Ivan asked. "What'd he say?"
"He said something along the lines of: 'The UNSC will continue to stand by Remnant' and all that good stuff." Blake said. "Oh, and one of the representatives to the UEG Parliament is a Faunus."
"Hey, that's pretty cool." Ivan said. Ivan was slightly startled by an incoming communication through his neural implant. He saw it to be from Thorne, and immediately answered, pressing a hand to his ear. "Go ahead, Thorne." He said, causing everyone to turn their attention to him.
"Ivan, I need to talk to you and Winter in the conference room." Thorne said, his voice in its usual calm tone. "For now, this is just for the two of you to see."
"I'd imagine, otherwise you wouldn't have called me." Ivan said.
"Believe it or not, I have called my agents for social reasons before." Thorne joked, cutting the communication.
Ivan lowered his hand, turning to Winter. "Winter, Thorne wants to talk to us. Needs us in the conference room." Winter nodded in response.
"We'll come too!" Ruby declared, happily.
"Sorry Rubes, Thorne only wanted me and Winter." Ivan said, earning a dejected look from the Huntress. "For now, that is."
"We'll be right back down, guys." Winter said, smiling. "Now, c'mon, let's go." She said, pulling Ivan along.
After Winter yanked Ivan upstairs, and into the conference room, she started typing away on the small holographic interface on the table. After a moment, a holographic avatar of Thorne was projected from the center of the table. "Didn't take you as long as I thought it would." Thorne joked.
"You needed to talk with us?" Ivan asked.
"Indeed." Thorne said, clasping his hands behind his backs. "ONI's finished with the White Fang Lieutenant you captured in your last operation. Apparently, the data from the Cartographer was corrupted due to the White Fang making a copy without knowing what the hell they were doing." Thorne held out an optical storage drive. "Made a copy for himself in case he wanted to cut and run, thought he could use it as a bargaining chip." Thorne chuckled. "Lot of good that's doing him in the retention station."
Thorne shook his head. "Anyways, I want you to tell me what you see wrong with this picture here." Thorne slotted the OSD into an invisible console, causing his projection to be replaced by the completed hologram from the Cartographer. There were notably fewer facilities located in Vacuo and Atlas, with only three in Vacuo and two in Atlas. The three in Vacuo had the general glyph for Forerunners, while on in Atlas had the glyph for Prometheans, and the other had a glyph for The Domain.
As Ivan looked over all of the facilities in Vacuo, nothing caught his eye. All three were located deep in the desert, completely distant from any civilization. As he looked over to the first one in Atlas, the one representing the Domain, it was benign as well. Located deep in a mountain range, hundreds of kilometers away from the nearest town. As he looked to the Promethean facility, everything fell into place. It was directly on top of Atlas, the city of Atlas. "Well, shit." Ivan said.
"'Well, shit' indeed, SPARTAN." Thorne said, crossing his arms. "And this gave me a few ideas… have you ever taken a good, long look at Atlesian Military tech, and noticed how advanced it is? Like, advanced beyond the rest of this planet, and arguably the UEG when it comes to autonomous robotics?"
"You're gotta be kidding me…" Ivan said, sighing. "Atlas is hiding Forerunner Tech? Reverse-engineering it?"
"Indeed." Thorne said. "Even look at the basic designs." Thorne's projection of Remnant switched over to the depiction of an Atlesian Paladin. "What Promethean Armiger looks really goddamned similar to this?"
Winter stared at the projection, incredulously. "You think Atlas is basing their tech off of Prometheans?" She asked.
"Given how similar this thing is in form and function to a Promethean Knight, it's not out of the question." Thorne said, reappearing as his avatar. "Even the Atlesian Knight, they look mighty similar to a Promethean Soldier if you take away all of the floating bits. I even had R&D put a deactivated Soldier next to a deactivated Knight, put them together, and compare the internal circuitry and servos… The Knight is awfully similar."
"Thorne…" Ivan began.
"Bear in mind, this isn't definitive proof." Thorne said, holding his hands out. "The Knight and the Soldier are both based off of Human anatomy, so this could just be a happy accident. For all we know, the Atlesian government could be completely oblivious to the existence of this facility."
"So why bring it up?" Ivan asked. "Unless you had definitive proof."
"I don't… but this is too big to simply ignore." Thorne said. "Think of it like this… What company works very closely with Atlas to build almost all of their military assets?"
"The SDC…" Ivan said, running a hand through his hair. "That's a big accusation, Thorne."
"Indeed it is, and the longer I think about it, the more it makes sense." Thorne said, sighing. "You all saw Ironwood. I still don't know if that guy's human or not! The UEG is nowhere near that level of robotics!" Thorne sighed again, the room falling into silence for a few moments.
"Winter, you're awfully quiet." Ivan said, looking over to the other SPARTAN.
"My father might be breaking one of the highest laws in the UEG…" Winter said, shaking her head. "He might be messing with Prometheans while my sister is in Atlas… you can imagine why I'm a bit concerned."
"All the more reason why I contacted you." Thorne said. "This needs to be investigated immediately. Luckily, we can do that." Thorne seemed to glance off for a moment. "Lucky for us, the Schnee Dust Company is holding a charity concert to raise funds for Vale. I just so happen to have more than a few extra invitations."
"Has this been shared with General Ironwood?" Ivan asked.
"Negative." Thorne said. "Ironwood's a close friend to Jacques Schnee. I can't trust him to keep operational security while our investigation is taking place." Ivan nodded. "You, Lieutenant Schnee and Team RWBY will be attending the Charity Concert as guests. You'll be in Atlas for a week after the event, working with ONI Agents on the ground to see it through."
"Any limitations on our gear, Thorne?" Ivan asked.
"Firstly, you're not going to be in MJOLNIR for this, you're going to be in full dress." Thorne explained. "Nothing bigger than an SMG, and you'll have limited support. I can't have a firefight go down in the middle of Atlas."
"When do we leave?" Winter asked.
"Tomorrow morning." Thorne said. "I want all of you on your best behavior. You two will keep this part of the operation to yourselves. All Yang, Ruby, and Blake need to know is that they're visiting a friend."
"Understood, we'll be ready." Ivan said, nodding.
"I'd expect nothing less." Thorne said, a small smile betraying his otherwise neutral expression. "I'll forward all of the other mission data to you."
XXXXX
February 1, 2683; 0900 Hours
Remnant, Atlas (Wilhelm Schnee Concert Hall)
Weiss sucked in a deep breath as she stepped out onto the stage. The mass of spectators had fallen silent as the lights in the massive amphitheater dimmed; only shining on the stage. As she looked out, she could make out the dimly-lit faces all looking to her expectantly. Members of Atlas' Council, her father's business partners, the wealthy and elite from all corners of Remnant, even a few people with the distinct UNSC Dress Uniform; all of them had gathered here to watch her. There were too many to count, but she recognized a few of the faces.
She saw Ironwood joined by a few others in UNSC uniforms, Admiral Bishop, and even a few Sangheili sitting in the crowd. Even seated, their immense forms towered over the Humans around them.
She heard the piano situated behind the curtain begin its gentle melody. She waited until the proper note, then began her song. The song she had worked so tirelessly to craft for this very moment.
"Mirror… can you hear me?
Do I… reach you?
Are you… even listening?
Can I… get through?"
"There's a part of me that's desperate for changes.
Tired of being treated like a pawn.
But there's a part of me that stares back
From inside the mirror.
Part of me that's scared I might be wrong"
"That I can't be strong."
She took in a deep breath, her eyes closing as she vocalized along with the piano's increasing tempo.
"I'm not afraid, never standing on my own!
I let you be the keeper of my pride!
Believed you when you told me I was nothing on my own!
Listen when I say, I swear it here today!
I will not surrender, this life is mine!"
She poured almost seven months of anger, frustration, and resentment into her singing. She didn't even need to look up to the booth to see that her father was not at all happy with this, but she no longer cared. This was just done not only to indirectly speak to her father, but herself. She was done being the pawn in his games. She was done being the servile daughter he had groomed her to be.
"Amazing how you conquered me.
Chained me in servility, and made me see!
The world the way you told me to,
But I was young and didn't have a way to know the truth!"
"Born to live your legacy,
Existing just to fill your needs.
A casualty!
Of this so-called 'family' that you have turned into a travesty."
"But I don't intend to suffer any longer!
Here's where your dominion falls apart!
I'm shattering the mirror that kept me split in pieces.
That stood between my mind and my heart.
This is where I'll start!"
As her voice traveled throughout the hall, the onlookers stared in wonder. This wasn't the first time she had performed for a large crowd, far from it. This was, however, the first time she had ever sang with such conviction, such honesty in her words. All of the songs she performed carried a personal weight to her, but this one was different. As she sang, it felt like the world's weight was lifted from her shoulders. Everything she had wanted to say for years was finally said, and it was liberating.
"I'm not your pet,
Not another thing you own!
I was not born guilty of your crimes!
Your riches and your influence can't hold me anymore!"
"I won't be possessed,
Burdened by your royal test!
I will not surrender, this life is mine!"
As she continued, she had considered stopping here. She had said everything she needed to in order to finally remove the weight. When she caught sight of a certain young Huntress in the crowd, staring at her in wonder and bewilderment with bright silver eyes, she decided to continue. Ruby was that final push she needed to actually finish the song… as she had written it. When she continued, the pianist faltered for a moment. He had expected the song to be over by now, but he recovered quickly enough.
"Shame that it took so long to rescue me,
From the guilt you used to tie me to your family tree!
I guess your training failed, you're not in charge, I'm free!
Your patriarchal prison won't hold me!"
"Now this conversation's finally over.
Mirror, mirror now we're done!
I've pulled myself together now!
My mind and heart are one!"
"Finally one!"
"I'm not your pet!
Not another thing you own!
I was not born guilty of your crimes!
Your riches and your influence can't hold me any more!"
"I won't be possessed!
Burdened by your royal test!
I will not surrender,
This life is mine!"
As her work finally came to an end, the crashing crescendo of vocals signaling the end of her song, the audience sat awestruck. It was only for a few moments however, as she spotted Ruby stand up and start applauding. The rest of the audience joined her, cheering for her. Ruby's face was quickly blocked by the standing ovation, so she glanced up to her left. She spotted her father and Whitley sitting in the booth of the concert hall. Whitley was giving her a half-hearted applause, while her father simply glared down.
Weiss didn't realize it at the time, but a few tears had broken through her barrier and were now streaming down her cheeks.
