Chapter 32: Cleansed in Fire

February 9, 2683; 2231 Hours

Remnant, Orbit (UNSC Infinity, Bridge)

"Mayday, Mayday! We are under fire from hostile forces, requesting immediate orbital assistance!"

"Where the hell'd they come from! We need support!"

"Airbase November is under bombardment! Requesting fire support!"

"Vorbeck Airfield reporting major damage to ATC one through four, runways one, six, and eight suffering heavy damage."

"Confirmed! White Fang are using plasma weapons! I repeat: White Fang using plasma weapons!"

"Echo Battalion suffering heavy casualties! Requesting reinforcements at grid reference Delta-Romeo-Charlie-niner-one-two-six! We are surrounded!"

Lasky watched the tactical data flooding in from all corners of Mistral. UNSC installations all over the continent, from remote observation posts to heavily-fortified bases were coming under heavy fire from the White Fang, which in turn was bringing Grimm in massive numbers. It was well-coordinated, he would give them that, but he was too busy barking out orders to the bridge crew of Infinity.

"Deploy ODSTs at grid Delta-Romeo-India-six-three-three-four!" Lasky barked. "I need target acquisition for ARCHER strikes!"

"Fleet Admiral!" The Sensors Officer called out over the commotion. "ODST Companies Alpha through Delta taking massive casualties!"

"Re-route Artemis Wing to assist!" Lasky ordered.

"Too late, sir!" The Sensors Officer said, a grim expression on his face. "They're gone…"

Lasky's head shot to look out of the observation window. He could see a thin veil of smoke covering some of Mistral's surface, with the orbiting defense fleet dropping thousands of SOEIV Pods towards the surface. The Anchor Stations in orbit, all six of them, began dispatching dozens of Broadsword and SABRE wings to provide air support.

Lasky's decades of command had seen him through worse situations. He had overcome the Guardians, and he could overcome this. He let out a grim sigh as he keyed the ship-wide intercom system. "All SPARTAN Fireteams prepare for insertion! Fireteams Crimson, Osiris, Delta, Indigo, and Ares report to Hanger 12 for deployment to Mistral!"

"Admiral!" The Weapons Officer shouted. "Forward MACs prepared to fire!"

"Fire low-yield strikes!" Lasky ordered.

XXXXX

February 9, 2683; 2231 Hours

Remnant, Mistral (Camp Vorbeck)

Ivan ducked into cover as a rocket flew past his head, slamming into a nearby Warthog and spearing through the engine. The four-wheeled vehicle went up in flames, throwing the gunner off and liquefying the driver. In retribution, a single Sniper round cracked through the air, splattering the rocketeer's brains from hundreds of meters away.

The two Strident-Class Frigates that were docked at Vorbeck Airbase were deployed early in the fighting, and were raining 50mm autocannons down on the tree line outside the base, but the fire simply kept coming. The anguished cries of injured Marines, the rattling of UNSC weapons, the disorganized radio chatter, all of it showed the gravity of the situation. They were under a heavy assault.

Winter popped out of cover to fire her MA5 at the tree line, only to be forced back into cover by a hail of pulse rifle fire draining her shields. As a Marine Corpsman ran over to the bullet-riddled hull of a Warthog to treat a wounded comrade with bio-foam, Ivan was surprised to see a pink needle spear through the Marine's throat, exploding a moment later and scattering razor-sharp shards of crystal into the Medic's neck and head, almost completely severing his head. "Heads up, Covvie weapons!" Ivan shouted, firing his Battle Rifle downrange, striking a White Fang fighter with a Needle Rifle.

"Where the fuck did they get those?!" A nearby ODST Sergeant asked, firing a 40mm grenade from his under-barrel grenade launcher.

"Ivan!" Weiss came over the SPARTAN's communicator. "They've punched through the southern defenses! They're funneling in!"

"Shit!" Ivan shouted. "Southern perimeter breached. Sergeant, I need you and your men to get over there and cover Alpha Company!"

"Roger, Colonel!" The ODST Sergeant responded. "Cover us!"

Ivan popped up, switching his Battle Rifle over to its automatic fire setting and sweeping the treeline with gunfire. Winter fired both of her SMGs outwards toward the tree line, hoping to suppress the incoming barrage of gunfire. The forty Marines with them did the same, with two still-operational Warthog Chain Guns sweeping the tree line with .30 caliber rounds

As their fire started to push the White Fang back into cover, the ODSTs made their move. The twenty-man platoon made their way back towards the south, hopping from cover to cover as opportunity arose. Once they were out of range, the pair of SPARTANS ducked back into cover to reload their weapons. The Marines did the same as their mags ran dry, and the chain guns started to overheat.

Ivan keyed into the comms with Team RWBY again. "Weiss, twenty ODSTs are en-route to your position now. Hold them back! Everyone else, give me a sit-rep!"

Ivan heard a grunt from the other end, sounding like Weiss' Aura had just taken a hit. "Understood." She responded.

"East is holding, Ivan!" Coco came over the comms. "A lot of Marines are hit, though!" Ivan could make out the distinct whirring and rattling of Coco's gatling gun over the radio.

"Fighting on the West has slowed down." Jaune explained over the radio. "We're getting ready for their next attack."

"We're getting royally fucked in the North, heavy casualties!" Ivan reported. He switched his comms to the base-wide network. "All UNSC forces, do not fire on Promethean Armigers if you see them. They are friendly, I repeat: Prometheans are friendly!"

With a swift motion, Ivan outstretched his right hand, letting his Semblance loose. He overrode his armor's safeties, and administered a combat stimulant. Letting his Semblance's energy reach new limits, ten Slipspace portals opened around him, with ten Promethean Knights assembling themselves from said portals. The massive three meter-tall Armigers started opening fire with Light Rifles, Binary Rifles, and Incineration Cannons, adding golden light to the streaking green tracers of UNSC rounds.

The Knights let out a primal, synthesized roar as their rear plates shuddered, releasing Watchers that began projecting Hard Light barriers before the SPARTANs and Knights.

As the fighting renewed, rounds started being exchanged across the lines. UNSC rounds and Forerunner Hard Light streaked across the air, passing the blue Pulse Rounds and Plasma Weaponry of the White Fang. As he popped up to return fire, Ivan heard a deafening roar sound off overhead. Glancing up, he noticed four brilliant streaks of light bearing down on the surface. Knowing full well what was coming, he shouted over the general communications. "Heads down! MAC rounds incoming!"

Instantly, the UNSC stopped firing and ducked for cover. A few moments later, the four MAC rounds struck their targets outside the base's grounds. The earth beneath them shook, windows exploded inwards, and massive clouds of dust were kicked up by the impacting two-ton slugs as they found their mark. Ignoring the sounds of debris clattering to the ground, the fighting had fallen completely silent.

A few moments later, that silence was broken by the screaming descent of hundreds of SOEIV pods and the roar of Kodiak artillery pieces that were blanketing the forests around the base in 255mm HE shells. The SOEIVs impacted in and around the base, the shaped charges in the doors blasting them open and allowing the occupants to join the fray. ODSTs poured out of their pods and began pushing outward. Among them were a few SPARTANs. Landing a few meters from Winter and Ivan was Fireteam Crimson, Infinity's most decorated SPARTAN team.

As the ODSTs and SPARTANs began advancing, Ivan came back over the general comms network. "All UNSC forces, advance! Push them back!"

XXXXX

February 10, 2683; 0013 Hours

Remnant, Mistral (Camp Vorbeck)

Ivan and Winter walked through the desolate wasteland created by one of the four MAC rounds. All of the trees and foliage within a two-mile radius were flattened, and the ground near the impact crater was hardened into glass. As they marched outward, something became very clear: the gloves were off. All of the ODSTs that had been dropped by the defense fleet were bearing markings of ONI, and were utterly ruthless.

The two SPARTANs watched as a White Fang whose lower body had been pulverized by the MAC strike was attempting to crawl towards his friend, trails of blood following him. Without even a moment of hesitation, a nearby ODST Lieutenant pulled his Magnum from its magnetic strip, and blasted the Faunus' brains on the blackened soil.

Winter almost missed that whole ordeal, as she was watching an ODST with two cybernetic arms crush a Cat Faunus' wrists, following it up with a quick round through the chin before tossing the body aside, where it fell limp against a splintered tree. These weren't standard soldiers, they were functioning more like executioners. They weren't taking prisoners, they weren't interrogating, they weren't talking, they were simply killing. It sent a sickening chill down Ivan's spine.

"Sector clear, let's move on!" The Colonel of this ODST detachment called out.

The spectacle continued for the entire mop-up operation. Ivan and Winter both watched as the ODSTs ruthlessly and efficiently carried out their mission. They showed no mercy, no hesitation, and no regret for their actions. Ivan was sick to his very core, but another part of him wasn't. A very vocal section of his mind was trying to rationalize it. They were the enemies of humanity on this world just as much as the Grimm were… but that didn't warrant such brutality.

XXXXX

February 10, 2683; 0143 Hours

Remnant, Mistral (Camp Vorbeck)

Ivan and Winter walked across the tattered and scarred Runway 5 of Vorbeck Airbase, watching as medical personnel tended to wounded and carted off the dead. Over six thousand casualties across the continent in a four hour, coordinated, surprise attack. Dozens of Observation Posts had been destroyed, entire bases were rendered inoperable, and the HIGHCOM Personnel were absolutely furious. There were rumors circulating that the President was en-route to Remnant with a full fleet from the Home Fleet, and it was extremely rare for the President to leave Earth for any reason, much less while commanding a fleet.

As he neared the half-destroyed remnants of ATC Tower 1 near the southern end of the base, he found the three Huntsmen teams gathered, sitting on pieces of concrete debris. Everyone looked ragged from the four hours of fighting. Yang had a nasty gash across her cheek, Blake's sleeve was burnt up with bandages wrapped around her forearm , Weiss had a bit of dried blood on her knuckles, knees, and hands, but Ruby looked the worst. She looked exhausted, her skirt in tatters and cuts all along her stockings. She had a gash running along her stomach, where the fabric of her dress had been torn clean through. All of them had been treated by medics, who had long since gone off to treat more serious wounds.

As they approached, Yang gave the pair of SPARTANs a grim nod before going back to resting her head on her knees. Wordlessly, Ivan slumped against a particularly large piece of concrete rubble, his armor thudding against the scarred ground. He reached up with his hand, releasing the pressure seal of his helmet and removing it. He let out a sigh as the combat stim had started wearing off, and simply placed his ODST-pattern helmet on the ground. Winter mirrored Ivan, sitting down and placing her helmet on the ground.

"So…" Ivan began. "How'd it go on your end?" He looked to Team RWBY.

"Shit…" Yang answered. "Complete shit."

"We got attacked by a huge force." Blake finished, looking to add a bit more to the description. "We got attacked by what seemed like a Huntsman too."

"Really?" Ivan asked, looking to Blake.

"Yeah…" Blake continued. "He seemed hell-bent on getting to Ruby."

That piqued Ivan's interest. "What'd he look like?"

Blake shrugged. "Didn't really get a good look at him… he moved too quick. He was pale, had a braided ponytail, cackled like a maniac, and had a scorpion tail."

Ivan's mouth dried out at that description. He knew exactly who Blake was talking about. "What happened to him?"

"He ran off after a few of the SPARTANs started shooting at him." Blake answered. "We didn't find a body. Why?"

"He's the same person that was watching us at dinner the other night." Weiss piped up.

"My thoughts exactly…" Ivan muttered. "I'll send it up the chain and get ONI to start hunting this fucker down. My money's on him being connected to Cinder."

"Well, I for one am not letting him anywhere near Ruby again." Weiss said, locking eyes with her partner. Ruby gave a grim smile in response.

"Damn right…" Yang said, sitting up for the first time since Ivan's arrival.

"He won't be touching any of us." Ivan said, sounding rather definitive. At that, everyone gave a nod, and fell into silence.

Everyone sat in silence for well over fifteen minutes, nobody having the energy to speak up. It was Ivan's communicator that finally broke the silence. "Colonel… what are your orders for the sixteen captured White Fang?" The Base Commander asked.

Ivan pressed a hand to his ear. "Wait one, I'm on my way."

Wordlessly, Ivan stood up and grabbed his helmet. He kept it tucked under the crook of his arm as he walked the short distance to the Command Bunker, where sixteen Faunus were sat against the wall guarded by the SPARTANs of Fireteam Delta. Something about these SPARTANs' armor looked… familiar. He recognized the armor, it was the experimental HELLCAT-pattern MJOLNIR GEN-2. He had no idea why, but something about this armor looked alien… yet familiar at the same time.

Ivan recognized one of the SPARTANs from his generation of trainees. The Lieutenant leading Fireteam Delta was a goliath of a man, standing taller than even Ivan. He looked more akin to a SPARTAN-II in stature than a SPARTAN-IV. The nameplate attached to his chest, resting just to the side of a fading painted red skull, read out "Lt. Robertson." The HELLCAT-clad SPARTAN gave Ivan a curt nod as he approached, which Ivan returned.

Ivan found the Base Commander leaned against a crate of ammunition, lit cigarette dangling from her lips. "Colonel?" She asked.

Ivan stared at the captured Faunus, all of them avoiding eye contact with him. Ivan strode over to the highest-ranked prisoner, denoted as an equivalent to a sergeant by the red stripes on his sleeve. He looked no older than twenty five, and had a wolf's tail resting on the ground, some of the fur singed off.

Wordlessly, the SPARTAN knelt down, causing the Wolf Faunus to glance up to meet the SPARTAN's eyes. Ivan knew fear when he saw it, and this man was mortified. "Why?" The SPARTAN asked, causing a look of confusion to come over the Faunus.

"W-What?"

"Why attack us?" Ivan simply asked, his voice eerily calm and level. "You had to have known that this is how it would end."

"We were following orders…" The man muttered.

"Where have I heard that one before?" Ivan wondered aloud. "Oh, of course, that's the default answer that genocidal maniacs give. Tell me… how many innocent humans and Faunus have you hurt or killed for your orders?"

"And how many of my people have you killed?" The Faunus asked, looking up to stare at the SPARTAN expectantly.

Ivan let out a dark chuckle. "I don't kill innocents, my friend. I kill people like you."

"So get it over with then." The Faunus demanded, staring into Ivan's blue cybernetics.

"After what you've done…" Ivan thumbed a gesture over to the city of Mistral, which had suffered a similar attack and still had black plumes of smoke billowing from behind the walls. "Killing you would be too easy." Ivan stood up, grabbing his helmet and tucking it back under his arm. "Lieutenant, they're yours. Get whatever you can out of them, forward everything you have to me."

The HELLCAT-clad SPARTAN nodded. "With pleasure, Colonel." The SPARTAN's deep, raspy voice sent chills down the Faunus' back. As Ivan turned to leave, he could clearly hear the sound of a jury-rigged Sangheili Wrist-Mounted Energy Dagger igniting.

XXXXX

February 10, 2683; 0234 Hours

Remnant, Mistral (Camp Vorbeck)

Ivan stepped through the door of his provided housing. He let out a sigh as he saw all of the shattered glass littering the floor. The concussion wave from the MAC strike had blown out all of the windows.

"Well… this sucks." Yang aptly commented as she stepped through the door.

"We'll worry about fixing that later." Ivan said, making his way down into the basement with Winter and Weiss. As he expected, Whitley and Viktoria were waiting… along with a Faunus corpse. The Faunus was absolutely riddled with wounds, most of them from a blade, with some of them from burns. Thankfully, the two Schnees looked fine.

"One wandered down here." Viktoria explained, simply.

"Nice work." Ivan said, sighing as he walked over to the MJOLNIR Removal Apparatus.

"Are you two alright?" Viktoria asked, seeing the bruising and dried blood on her youngest daughter, as well as the impact damage to Winter's armor.

"I'm fine, Mother." Weiss assured. "We've been through worse."

"I'm sure you have, but a Huntress doesn't usually fight a war." Viktoria countered.

As Ivan stepped out of the robotic apparatus, he found a message to be coming in through his Neural Implant. Seeing the sender, he immediately opened it and read over the text it contained.

Colonel, I managed to yank some intel about that Huntsman that was zeroed-in on your friends. His name's Tyrion, apparently. He doesn't exist in any of Remnant's databases, but he's one slippery son of a bitch. He's quick, brutal, and verifiably insane. He uses some kind of wrist-mounted disc blade as a weapon, along with his scorpion tail. Well… he used his scorpion tail. When Delta and I engaged him, his tail got hacked off by gunfire. After that, he scurried off. I recovered his tail and handed it over to the eggheads in ONI.

Most of the Faunus we captured were from Menagerie, originally. They were recruited there and trained by the White Fang all over Remnant. None of them spilled where exactly they were trained, but I handed their officer over to ONI too. The rest won't be a problem anymore.

-Lieutenant Robertson

Ivan filed that information away in the back of his mind. He'd have to remember to thank Robertson later.

As he zoned back into reality, Winter was just finishing with her armor's removal and Weiss was placing Myrtenaster back in the armory. "What happens now, sir?" Whitley asked.

Ivan turned his attention to the younger boy. "The airspace over Mistral is on lockdown for the next few days. The attack's brought a lot of Grimm with it, so for now you two are stuck here. I'll make some calls and have accommodations arranged for you."

"That's unnecessary, but appreciated, Ivan." Viktoria said, smiling. "Thank you."

"Of course." Ivan said, nodding.

Ivan's attention was grabbed as Ruby poked her head down from the staircase. "Hey Ivan! Blake wants to talk to you."

"I'll be right up!" Ivan called back. "Excuse me." He said, making his way upstairs.

As Ivan climbed the staircase, Viktoria sighed, turning to her eldest daughter as she set about to removing her hair from its bun. "Winter… I never did get the chance to ask. How is life with the UNSC?"

Winter shrugged. "It's not so different than the Specialists. My commander's a lot more informal to say the least."

"You two seem to have grown quite close." Viktoria observed.

Winter gave an awkward chuckle. "Yes… about that…" Viktoria cocked an eyebrow.

XXXXX

February 10, 2683; 0251 Hours

Remnant, Mistral (Camp Vorbeck)

Ivan stepped into the room that Blake and Yang shared, seeing the Feline Faunus and Brawler sitting on the bed, having a very quiet discussion. Both of them turned to look at the SPARTAN as he walked in, still in his Tech Suit. "You wanted to talk to me, Blake?" Ivan asked.

Blake nodded. "I… I need to tell you something."

"Sure." Ivan said, righting a fallen desk chair and sitting in it. "What's up?"

"I… I really need to go to Menagerie." Blake said, her expression even more deathly serious than usual.

"What's going on?" Ivan asked. "Is something wrong?"

"My parents are still on Menagerie… I have a really bad feeling after today." Blake explained. "I want to make sure that my parents are alright."

"Well, the UNSC doesn't really have a presence on Menagerie yet." Ivan said, shrugging. "I wouldn't want you going there alone. Why do you think your parents are in danger?"

"You know that the White Fang used to have a non-violent leader, right?" Blake asked, earning a nod from the SPARTAN. "That leader was my father."

Admittedly, Ivan was rather surprised by that. Blake did say that she was practically born into the White Fang, but he had no idea the extent until now. It was quite likely that ONI already knew about this, but he had never done any in-depth digging into the origins of the White Fang. "Well, I'm not about to let you go off to Menagerie alone. I'll bring it up with Thorne and see what I can do."

"Thank you, Ivan." Blake said, sincerity making itself known in a small smile. "It's probably nothing, but I really can't shake it."

"Don't worry about it." Ivan said. Not even a minute later, his communicator beeped. Linking it to his Neural Implant, he found it to be a message from the man in question. "Speak of the devil, and so he shall appear." Ivan said, smirking. "Go ahead, Thorne." Ivan said, pressing a finger to his ear.

"Ivan, Lieutenant Robertson forwarded what he found to me." Thorne began. "I've got a bit of an addition to your mission. The President will be arriving in three days, and there's going to be a meeting between him and the leadership of Remnant in Vale."

"You need us to provide security?" Ivan asked.

"No, I've got Delta on that already." Thorne answered. "The primary difference between this meeting and the Sydney Accords is that Menagerie will be represented in this meeting. I've already contacted the Chieftain of Menagerie, and he's sending a few of Menagerie's councilors to the meeting. If everything goes smoothly, which I have no doubt that it will, you and Team RWBY will be heading to Menagerie after the meeting as a sort of 'first contact' party."

"Why us?" Ivan asked.

"You and your team are something of a legend among the Faunus." Thorne explained. "Word of what you did in the Schnee Estate reached Menagerie, and a lot of the people there respect you."

"Understood, Thorne." Ivan said.

"One more thing…" Thorne began. "We've got more intel on the enemy. I'll forward it to you after we've cleaned up that shit-show in Mistral."

"Sounds good."

"I lied, one more thing." Thorne added. "I think you'll like the President's new ship."

"What is it?" Ivan asked.

"That, my friend, is a surprise." Thorne said, his smirk nearly audible. "I'll see you in Menagerie. Thorne out." With that, Thorne cut the comms.

"What was that all about?" Yang asked.

Ivan smirked. "Well… it looks like we're going to Menagerie." Ivan said, earning a look of surprise from Blake and Yang.

"Really? What for?" Yang asked.

"We're a sort of diplomatic party for the UEG." Ivan answered. "We'll be heading there after the President finishes up a meeting with Remnant's leadership in Vale."

"The President's coming?" Blake asked.

"Yeah… and I don't think he's coming to play nice." Ivan said. "He's bringing a detachment of the Home Fleet with him."

"Oh boy…" Yang said.

"Indeed." Ivan affirmed. "I can only guess what this meeting's about."

"Nothing good, I'd bet." Blake guessed.

XXXXX

February 10, 2683; 0255 Hours

Remnant, Mistral (Camp Vorbeck)

Ruby walked into her shared room with Weiss, who immediately set about to removing her hair from its ponytail. "I think this might be the first time I've ever been glad to not have a window." Weiss commented, grateful that she wouldn't have to clean up shards of glass.

"Yeah…" Ruby said, sitting down on the bed. Weiss had been around her partner long enough to know that something was bothering her. After letting her hair loose, she walked over and sat next to Ruby.

"What's wrong, Ruby?" Weiss asked.

Ruby sighed. "What did that guy want?"

"I don't know…" Weiss answered honestly. "But I won't let him anywhere near you if I have anything to say about it."

Ruby rested her head on Weiss' shoulder. "Thanks, Weiss."

"Of course, Ruby." Weiss said, not too sure what to do with her hands. She settled for wrapping her fingers around Ruby's own. "I just got you back… there's no way that I'm losing you again."

Ruby smiled for the first time in hours, simply sitting there and finding warmth in her partner's Aura. Ruby and Weiss simply stayed there for a few minutes, neither of them finding it within themselves to disturb the peaceful silence.

Ruby was the first to move, pulling Weiss just a bit closer. Her sudden shift caused the heiress to let out a soft "eep", earning a giggle from Ruby. "You're so cute." Ruby said, deftly pulling the shorter heiress into her lap.

Weiss playfully rolled her eyes. "Dolt."

"Yep." Ruby affirmed.

After a moment, Ruby glanced over to the clock, seeing that it was almost 3 A.M. "Wanna go to sleep? It's really late."

"Probably a good idea." Weiss answered, nodding.

Weiss noticed a bashful look in her partner's eyes, and a creeping blush coming over her face. "Ruby?" Weiss asked.

"Can we… you know…" Weiss couldn't make out the last part of Ruby's sentence through her mumbling.

"Can we what?" Weiss asked.

It was a bit clearer this time, but Weiss still couldn't hear her clearly. "Ruby…" Weiss said, smiling. "What is it?"

"Can you stay close to me tonight?" Ruby managed to squeak out.

"What?" Weiss asked, a small grin on her face.

"I just… I really don't want to feel alone, especially not after tonight…" Ruby explained, blushing fully. "Sorry, I'm really bad at this whole 'girlfriend' thing so far."

Weiss smiled. "I for one think you're doing a wonderfully adorable job." Weiss planted a quick, chaste kiss on Ruby's lips. "And yes, I'll be here." Weiss had never seen a more adorable blush in her life as she pulled away from the kiss. She pulled her girlfriend into a close embrace. "I'll be here, and I won't ever let you go."

XXXXX

February 10, 2683; 0303 Hours

Remnant, Mistral (Camp Vorbeck)

Ivan walked back into the basement, looking to tuck his magnum back into its proper home in the armory. He had completely forgotten about the corpse in the basement, still lying in the middle of the room with an empty pistol clutched in its hand. As he approached, something caught his eye.

Poking out from the dead Faunus' pocket was a small bundle of paper. His curiosity got the better of him, and he reached down to pluck it from the body. He unfolded the scrap of paper, finding there to be a short paragraph on the surface written in beautifully-flowing cursive script. He read over the short passage.

When you are in Vale, you can find me among you. When you are in Atlas, you can find me beneath you. When you are in Vacuo, I'm nowhere to be found. When you are in Mistral, you are where I used to call home. When you are in Menagerie, you can find me in the sand.

Do your best to find me… please.

Beneath the passage was a series of geographic coordinates. Out of pure curiosity, and some surprise, Ivan plugged them into his Neural Implant. They returned showing a marker in the middle of a massive desert in Menagerie, completely barren from the satellite imagery that the UNSC had available.

Something about this note seemed familiar, almost like he had seen the letters somewhere before. He silently folded the paper back up, tucking it away in his pocket. Somehow, he had a feeling about this… and he wasn't quite sure what it was. That wouldn't stop him from finding out, though.