XXXXX Act III: Resurgence XXXXX
Chapter 39: Catching Up
January 12, 2684; 1451 Hours
Remnant, Patch
Weiss couldn't help but roll her eyes as Ruby pulled her along the dirt path towards the edge of Patch. She had never seen Ruby's home or met her father until a few days prior, and she felt right at home. Her father was nothing but warm and welcoming to her, and made the Schnee Dust Company's new CEO feel like she had been a member of the family all her life.
For the first time in her life, Weiss actually felt free. The SDC was in the process of moving its corporate HQ to Vale and she was simply waiting for everything to settle down. With the Waypoint network, she could run her company from anywhere in the world, so she decided to take a two-week vacation with Ruby. Where she was currently being taken was beyond her, but it all clicked together when Weiss saw a simple white grave marker resting on the ground, just at the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean. She tightened her grip on Ruby's hand when she saw 'Summer Rose, Thus Kindly I Scatter' etched into the stone surface.
She barely resisted the urge to wrap her partner in a hug when she started speaking. "Hey, mom…" Ruby began, her free hand clutching onto her red cloak. "Sorry I haven't been by in a while. Things have been… well, they've been a little crazy. I know I already told you about all the things we've gotten up to over the past few years. Going to Earth, Beacon… everything like that."
"Oh! I got to see another planet recently!" Weiss was slightly taken aback by Ruby's seemingly-chipper tone, and kept her grip firm on her hand. "Sigma Octanus IV… it was so beautiful. Everyone I talked to you about is still around, all doing their own things for now. We all stopped a lot of bad guys together, so we're just waiting now."
Ruby shifted for a moment, moving a bit closer to Weiss. "And… I never did get to introduce you to any of my friends, so I guess now's as good a time as any to start, huh? This is Weiss…" She pulled the ivory-haired girl a bit closer. "We're… a bit more than just friends now. I know she seems a bit intimidating, but she's actually super-sweet! I know you two would've gotten along great!"
Weiss saw Ruby's gaze shift over to her, a small smile on her face. She did her best to return the smile, forcing down the urge to tear up at the gesture. "I-It's an honor to meet you, Missus Rose… Ruby's told me a lot about you." She wrapped an arm around Ruby's waist. "I can only imagine how proud you are… you have an amazing daughter."
Ruby allowed Weiss to pull her into her side, head resting on her shoulder. "It's weird, huh? Someone like me, with someone like Weiss… She's the CEO of the Schnee Dust Company and I'm… well, me."
"Exactly…" Weiss smiled, hugging Ruby a bit tighter.
Ruby smiled, wrapping both arms around Weiss. "She'd have loved you, Weiss…"
"From what you've told me about her… I don't doubt it." Weiss smiled, resting her head on Ruby's shoulder. "The baker of cookies, and slayer of giant monsters."
February 27, 2684; 0931 Hours
Remnant, Beacon
For the first time since just after their trip to Sigma Octanus-IV, all of Team RWBY was back together, and at the fully-renovated Beacon no less. The academy had opened just in time to accept the first wave of new students and the many dozens of more advanced students returning from other academies. Starting in the second semester had thrown the system into a bit of chaos, but it all seemed to be going smoothly. The academy retained its old near-gothic style architecture, but the sheer amount of advanced technology practically coming out of the walls was a huge change for the group of friends walking the halls with the new headmaster and new first year combat instructor.
"Settling in alright, Ivan?" Weiss asked, eyes scanning the admittedly beautiful internals of the first year dorms building. She couldn't help but smirk when she saw the room they had all become friends in.
"It's a little weird still, but I'm adjusting." Ivan shrugged. "Haven't had any teams make… quite the impact we did, though. I have had a few try, though…"
"Oh?" Weiss asked, intrigued.
"Any deaths yet?" Yang smirked. "If they're trying to one-up us, there's gotta be some bodies."
"Christ, Yang…" Ivan chuckled, shaking his head. "It's actually been kinda quiet so far… only really had a food fight so far, and Goodwitch did her ting to set that straight."
"I'm pretty sure there were tears." Winter nodded, just a hint of joking in her tone.
The tour of the academy was nothing but a good time for all involved, with quite a few of the students ecstatic to see one of the most famous teams to come from Beacon walking its halls again. With it being a weekend, most of them were either relaxing in their dorms or down in Vale.
"Ooh, you got one of those combat sims?" Ruby asked, seeing the familiar neural interface suits lining the walls of one of the newer buildings.
"Yep, state of the art, too." Ivan nodded, eyes widening as he suddenly remembered something he had meant to show them. "Oh… that reminds me. Y'all got some time to kill today?"
Everyone naturally turned to Weiss and Ruby, knowing they likely had the most hectic of schedules. "I think they can get by without me at the office today." Weiss smirked. "If they can't, I'm firing that whole damn building."
"Never change, Weiss…" Blake sighed. "Never change."
"Perfect." Ivan smirked. "Because we managed to pull off something pretty cool with these." He nodded towards the comat sim, heading towards the collection of lockers and interface suits. "You two remember that museum in Sydney?" Weiss and Ruby both nodded. "What if I told you that you could see the big man in action?"
Weiss, Ruby, and Yang all went wide-eyed, while Blake simply looked confused. "Big… guy?"
"Put one of those on, and you'll see." Ivan smirked, nodding to one of the suits.
September 20, 2552; 1321 Hours (Simulated)
Soell System, Installation-04 (Simulated)
Blake was stunned as the dull-grey interior of the combat simulator seemed to suddenly shrink down to the passenger bay of what seemed to be an older model of Pelican. She was amazed when she looked down, seeing that she was wearing an older UNSC Marines BDU with an MA5 slung over her shoulder and an M6 Magnum attached to her thigh. She couldn't quite believe how… real it all felt.
As everyone took a seat in the Pelican, a timer started ticking down on their HUDs from thirty seconds. "Everyone do me a favor, alright?" Ivan spoke up. "No semblances. In here, you're just regular soldiers." Everyone nodded just as the timer reached five seconds.
As it struck zero, the rear bay of their Pelican filled up with more Marines wearing identical BDUs… and a single SPARTAN-II in OD-Green Mk. V MJOLNIR armor wielding an MA5B. The world outside the bay door shifted from the dull grey of the simulator to a glittering blue ocean peppered with rocky islands.
With a slight lurch, Blake felt as though the Pelican was actually travelling through the air. It didn't quite feel completely real to her heightened senses, but it was above and beyond anything she'd ever seen. Suddenly, a voice came through the commlink that was built into the simulated helmet she was wearing.
"The Covenant believe that what they call 'The Silent Cartographer' is somewhere under this island. The Cartographer is a map room that will lead us to Halo's control center. The island has multiple structures and installations… one of them contains the map room."
As the Pelican swung around to come in for a landing, Blake heard the familiar sound of buzzing Covenant weaponry. What was truly awe-inspiring was the horizon of Halo. Seeing the ring stretching up over the horizon, only to loop back over her head was one of the single most humbling sights she could imagine. She had spent so long thinking about this since learning about the Human-Covenant War, and she was experiencing the war now.
She watched as SPARTAN-117 kept his rifle trained out of the rear of the Pelican, hearing the pilot's voice come over her commlink. "We're approaching the LZ. It's gonna be hot, get set to come out swingin'!" A moment later, the Pelican came to a hovering stop a few inches over the sandy beach of the island, with Forerunner structures just a few hundred yards ahead of them. "Touchdown! Hit it, Marines!"
She watched in bewilderment as the Master Chief leapt from the rear of the dropship, his MA5 already rattling off rounds at a grunt that was peppering their Pelican with plasma pistol fire. The man seemed to be moving even faster than Ivan and Winter would in their armor, his weapon sweeping fire over the Sangheili, Kig-Yar, and Unggoy warriors with ruthless and calculated precision.
Trying to keep up with the Chief seemed futile, and it was almost like the simulated Marines knew it. Ivan and Winter were barely able to keep him in their sight as he took cover behind a plasma recharging station, drawing his M6 magnum and neatly dropping six grunts with six rounds, using the last two to weaken an elite's shields enough to deliver a bone-shattering strike to the aliens' skull with the grip of his sidearm.
By the time that their small beachhead had been taken, Blake had barely managed to take down two grunts with short bursts from her rifle. Having the reticle did make it easier, but it still felt strange to use. A few moments after clearing the beach, another Pelican dropped off an older M12 Chaingun Warthog. Blake felt like shrinking down when the Chief looked to her and Winter, beckoning them towards the vehicle with a curt nod of his head.
"You go on ahead with the Chief, we'll loop around the island and reinforce the ODSTs on the other side." Ivan nodded for the rest of the team to follow him, while a few of the simulated Marines set to work fortifying their position.
XXXXX
"Good… God…" Was all Blake could manage, walking out of the simulator with the rest of her friends.
Winter wore a small smile on her face, beads of sweat having formed on her forehead after trying to keep up with the most legendary of SPARTANs. "Have fun?"
"I wouldn't call it 'fun' exactly, but… that was incredible." Blake nodded. "Now it all makes sense…"
April 12, 2684; 0800 Hours
Remnant, Beacon
"Alright…" Ivan sighed, running a hand through his notably longer hair. "Everyone listen up!" He barked out, turning to face the class that he was lecturing today. "I see you on the scroll back there, 'ya goddamn hooligan!" All of the first-year students let out a laugh as he stopped obscuring the board. The simple words he had written on the holographic display were a bit… brash, but they got the point across.
"Bartholomew Oobleck is a fucker!"
"Since Oobleck's coffee finally sent his ass to the hospital, I'm taking over his class today." Ivan continued, removing his jacket and tossing it across the desk. "I took this class when I was here at Beacon, so I feel your pain. I'll take it a bit slower for you guys, maybe you can actually understand what the hell it is I'm saying." That earned another laugh. "And don't tell Goodwitch about this!" He wheeled around to face the students again, holding his hand out in a 'threatening' manner. "Her and that damn riding crop."
The students certainly seemed to enjoy Ivan's more… lighthearted take on the class. Luckily, he and Oobleck had become something resembling actual friends, so he didn't feel bad ragging on him a bit. "Professor Chesnokov?" One of the students called out, holding her hand up.
"What's up, Scarlett?" Ivan asked, wheeling around again.
"A bit off-topic, but it's close enough." Scarlett admitted, lowering her hand. "Since we're talking about the Human-Covenant War, and you're a SPARTAN, I wanted to ask… what's it like being a SPARTAN?"
"Well, I'm a fourth-gen SPARTAN, so we're a little different from the walking, talking, war machines that were the IIs." Ivan shrugged. "Basically, uhh… how many of you in here have seen a Scorpion tank before?" Ivan nodded as just about everyone raised their hands. "Alright… basically, it feels like what a Scorpion is if that makes any sense."
"Essentially…" Ivan continued, turning around to draw something on the board. It was an artistic atrocity, but it got his point across well enough. A few students giggled at his horrendous attempt to draw a Scorpion. "Driving this is like playing a point-and-click adventure game. Same thing."
As Ivan's acute hearing picked up on the doorknob turning, he reflexively reached for the delete icon on the holographic display and moved to cover up his original writing on the board. As he turned his head to see who was walking in, he was very happy to see Winter walking in and leaning against the wall to watch. "Alright… not Goodwitch, thank God."
"Scared of Goodwitch, Professor?" Another student called out.
"Goddamn right I am!" Ivan called back, turning around and giving Winter a full view of both his horrendous drawing and his jab at Oobleck. "You've obviously never gotten her death-glare! Shit's terrifying! Y'all should've seen the look she gave us back when we had a huge-ass food fight in the cafeteria. We put a hole in the damn roof." A few students laughed at his obviously dramatized thousand-yard stare. "Fuckin' almost got stabbed by a full swordfish!"
"Hold on!" Winter called out, stifling a laugh. "You can't just leave it at that."
"Looks like I'll have to." Ivan relented, knowing that Winter wouldn't interrupt a class unless it was incredibly important. "Alright everyone, get the hell outta here! Winter looks like she needs to talk with me about something, and I'm the Headmaster. I can end class whenever the hell I want."
Ivan watched as the students happily started filing out of the classroom. Once the last of them were in the hall, he looked over to Winter. "What's up, Winter?"
"Oh, nothing major…" Winter shrugged, wearing a smirk on her face. "Looks like we're going to Menagerie this winter, though."
"Something happen?" Ivan asked, tapping the delete button on the board, and shutting it down.
"Looks like we got a wedding invitation this morning." Winter smirked, holding up a small envelope that had already been opened. "You really need to start checking the mail, I can't do everything."
Ivan's jaw practically fell slack. "No way…"
June 24, 2684; 1931 Hours
Remnant, Menagerie (Kuo Kuana)
Yang sighed, leaning her head on Blake's shoulder as they sat on the balcony of their temporary apartment. All of the construction on Menagerie had finally caught up to them, forcing them to find refuge in one of the renovated districts of the now-booming Kuo Kuana.
The setting sun was glittering against the distant ocean, looking like a field of diamonds against the orange-purple sky. What was once little more than a coastal village was turning into a metropolis. Apartment complexes had been constructed, an actual police force had been established, and the roads were paved. Blake could still barely believe it… Menagerie was a place where Faunus actually wanted to live now.
"It's beautiful…" Blake sighed, seeing the few dancing lights of driving cars down below.
"Just like you, Blakey." Yang smirked, leaning up and planting a kiss on her fiancé's lips. Blake quickly found herself practically lying on top of Yang as they lay on the small bench, looking out to the horizon. The pleasant silence was broken by Yang yet again, who squeezed her better half just a bit tighter for a moment. "This is all thanks to you, 'ya know… Your hometown's gonna be a city to rival Atlas in a few years, all because you didn't give up… you didn't run."
"Having a hothead glued to my side helps with that. It's a little hard to run and hide when your girlfriend is literally on fire next to you."
"Makes for a good distraction, though." Yang smirked.
"You? Distracting? No!" Blake smiled, happily leaning further into her fiancé's embrace. She could die happy right now, staring out at the setting sun with the love of her life. She still couldn't really believe any of this was real. The fact that she had effectively become the go-to diplomat for the growing nation of Menagerie, the fact that she was engaged to the woman that she would've described as 'obnoxious' not a few years ago; all of it still felt like a dream.
December 19, 2684; 1831 Hours
Remnant, Menagerie
Ruby was practically vibrating in her seat near the wall of the large ballroom, only steadied by Weiss keeping her hand on her thigh. She finally broke once she saw Pyrrha walk in with Jaune's arm wrapped around her waist. "Hello agai- hrk" was all Pyrrha managed to get out before Ruby practically slammed into her, wrapping the taller woman in a hug.
"Pyrrha!" Ruby happily declared, very nearly knocking her to the ground. "It's been way too long!"
"It really has." Pyrrha smiled, returning the hug in equal force. "Sorry for missing the ceremony… we got tied up."
"You're here, that's all that matters." Ruby beamed, the picture of happiness now that everyone was back together for the first time since Mistral. Even Thorne was off talking with Ironwood, Ivan, and Ghira. When Weiss made her way over, giving an amused shake of her head at Ruby's antics, they found themselves so wrapped up in conversation that they nearly missed Blake and Yang walking back into the room.
Ruby still couldn't get over just how… incredible they looked together. Blake was wearing a flowing purple gown that seemed to sparkle from the skirt. Her naturally curly hair was even more-so now, and adorned with a single golden-yellow flower resting on the center of her belt. Yang was, of course, wearing a similarly long golden dress that left a bit of her upper back exposed. Her messy blonde hair had been… somewhat straightened out, and bore a single violet flower clipped just above her right ear. Everyone had already seen it, but Ruby still heard a fair few 'Awws!' from the attendees.
"Oh my god…" Pyrrha managed, not believing how absolutely stunning the whole affair was.
The pair started their rounds as they should, meeting with Ruby, Weiss, Pyrrha, and Jaune. Now that Ruby was close enough to her older sister and new sister-in-law, she just couldn't help herself. She wrapped the both of them in a hug, refusing to let go until she was good and ready to. "I'm so happy for you guys." She sniffled.
"Thanks, Rubes…" Yang smiled, returning the hug. Blake just couldn't find it in herself to be reserved tonight, and practically buried herself into the hug.
"I still can't get over your dress, Blake." Weiss smiled, only speaking up after her girlfriend was done crushing the newlyweds. I thought your mother was going to faint when she saw you.
"She almost did." Ghira smirked while walking over alongside Kali, Thorne, Ivan, and Winter. Ivan and Winter were both in their dress blues, while Thorne simply wore his normal suit without the ONI markings. Ghira wore a similar suit, while Kali wore a rather simple white dress.
After everyone had finished gushing over the newlyweds and how wonderful the ceremony was, Ruby caught Ivan and Weiss giving each other a knowing look, Weiss simply giving a nod. "Think you can put the rounds on hold for the first dance, you two?" Weiss asked.
"I don't think anyone will mind." Blake smiled, wrapping an arm around Yang's waist.
"Good…" Weiss gave a broad smile as she made her way towards the small platform the band was waiting on.
Both Yang and Blake's eyes went wide when Ivan spoke up. "Hope you guys didn't pay too much for the band." He shot them a wink as he followed behind Weiss. Everyone watched as the band's singer and guitar player, obviously in on the plan, relented their spots on the stage for the SPARTAN and CEO to take. Ruby's jaw fell to the floor as she watched Weiss take her place by the standing microphone, and Ivan on a stool used by the guitar player. All of the times Ivan had come by their house during the weekends was starting to make a lot more sense.
Ivan kicked it off by gently plucking at the strings of the guitar, with Weiss slowly humming a soft harmony into the microphone once the ladies of the hour made their way to the middle of the dance floor. Quite a few scrolls had come out of pockets and purses to record the event. Ruby's hands quickly shot up to cover her mouth when her girlfriend's angelic singing began.
"Woman…
Cupped hand is burning ice
Tangled up in morning white
Do you ever really know?
Can you ever really know?"
Blake and Yang, both with positively beaming smiles on their faces, started gently swaying to the soft music. Ruby felt like she was going to pass right out from how disgustingly adorable the sight was. Kali was holding onto Ghira's arm like her life depended on it, and Jaune had even started gently swaying Pyrrha as they watched it all unfold.
"Woman…
Watch her take me by surprise
When she lets me call her mine
Do you ever really know?
Can you ever really know?
And I don't know the loneliness she knew
I don't hear the frosty words that call inside
When you're gone again…"
Ruby found herself practically leaning on Winter to keep from falling over when the dancing pair's foreheads gently touched, still swaying along with the music.
"I can't read your mind though I'm trying all the time
There's something I don't know, I can see it in your eyes
As the night descends, it's always slow again…
I am left in awe of the woman I adore, oh…
Woman…
I never had such a sign
Burn itself into my mind…
Do you ever really know?
Can you ever really know?
You say the sun doesn't shine for you.
I hope you learn that's not true… in time.
When you're gone again…
Just as long again.
As the night descends, it's always slow again…
But I am left in awe of the woman I adore…"
As the song wound to a close, Blake and Yang gently brought their lips together, capping off a beautiful song with a beautiful sight. There was some light cheering, mostly from their closer friends. Yang, wearing her trademarked shit-eating grin on her face, proudly declared to the entire ballroom: "I think it's finally time to get the party started. I'm gonna be real disappointed if any of you are sober by the end of the night!"
"Oh god…" Ruby sighed.
February 24, 2685; 1931 Hours
Remnant, Vale (Schnee Estate)
Ivan rolled his eyes, seeing Ruby crushed by Yang's powerful hug. The poor girl didn't even have two seconds between opening the door and having the breath crushed out of her lungs. "Yang please…" Ruby managed, trying in vain to squirm out of her sister's iron grip.
"Did you forget that this was an annual thing, Yang?" Weiss asked, sending a smirk towards the door as she walked towards the kitchen. It was true, everyone did their best to get together on the anniversary of the fall of the White Fang. It had become something of a tradition, and it usually ended with a group of very drunk Huntresses. Ivan still had that video of Weiss drunkenly singing… just in case he needed a favor in the future.
"I haven't seen my sister in months!" Yang squealed, earning an eye-roll from Weiss as she made her way over to help Ruby free herself.
"You can crush my girlfriend to death after we've eaten dinner, Yang." Weiss chuckled, finally getting Ruby free from her sister's legendary bear hug.
"Come in, don't just stand outside!" Ruby called out as she adjusted her t-shirt. "Dinner's almost ready!"
"Good to see you haven't completely spoiled Ruby, Weiss." Yang smirked, just now seeing her sister's t-shirt with a cartoony graphic printed on the front.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Yang 'Menagerie High-Rise' Xiao Long." Weiss snarked back, her tone betrayed by the smile on her face.
"No Cinder this year, Ivan?" Ruby asked as she walked towards the kitchen.
"Nah, she's coming." Ivan answered. "Just running a little late, Thorne's had her running all over the planet for shit lately."
Cinder did arrive, just a bit too late to enjoy dinner with everyone. By the time she knocked on the door, it was already midnight, and everyone had gathered in the living room to catch up.
Ivan talked about how Beacon was doing, and Winter would occasionally jump in to share Ivan's antics whenever he'd lecture a class. Winter didn't really have any interesting stories of her own. A SPARTAN she may be, but she had been assigned to Remnant indefinitely, and there was no real need to dispatch SPARTANs for much nowadays. She did share a story about their neighbors calling the police when she and Ivan were keeping their skills sharp. Apparently, full-contact sparring between spouses, which occasionally did involve a broken wall here and there, was unheard of in suburban Vale.
Blake and Yang talked about the incredible progress Menagerie had made, having made the transition to a democratic system almost flawlessly. They told everyone about their outings with Menagerie's armed forces and the UNSC Marines to clear out the last of the known Grimm nests on Menagerie. Since then, Blake had settled into her position of diplomat and Yang would occasionally leave Menagerie to undertake Huntsman contracts in Mistral or Vale, but she was considering an offer that Thorne had made her.
Weiss and Ruby were perhaps living the most "normal" lives out of everyone. Weiss had completely rebuilt the SDC from the ground up. The largest corporation on Remnant was starting to become widely respected for its humanitarian and charity work. Ruby was still a Huntress, albeit rarely now. She seemed more than happy to help Weiss wherever she could, always attending the annual SDC Charity Ball in Vale. She would still occasionally take up a contract and wipe out some Grimm, but only if she was excruciatingly bored, or if Weiss was busy for an extended period of time.
Unsurprisingly, Cinder had the most stories to tell. The Fall Maiden had wholeheartedly embraced her new career in the Office of Naval Intelligence, even managing to earn Thorne's respect. She shared stories of her time off-world, hunting down Jackal pirates or investigating criminal organizations. Her Maiden abilities, experience in infiltration, and nearly-unmatched skill made her an invaluable asset to ONI, and Thorne had significantly lengthened her leash. She had even managed to get her entire criminal record expunged.
The conversations carried on well into the night, with everyone enjoying themselves. Eventually, as they almost always did, their conversation took a turn for the reminiscent.
"Man…" Ruby sighed, leaning back into the comfy sofa as Weiss laced their fingers together. "It feels like yesterday when we were all running around Remnant, chasing down the bad guys. Now we're all adults and stuff, with jobs."
"I'd say they were the good ol' days, but…" Weiss sighed. "Well… there was a lot of bad days then, too."
"No kidding, but we made it through." Yang shrugged. "We're all married and shit now, too… Hell, Blakey and I have even been kicking around the idea of starting a family."
"Aww! You two would have the most adorable kids!" Ruby squealed.
"How would that even… work?" Weiss asked, looking confused.
"Hold on…" Yang smiled. "You run a company that's started making the stuff the UNSC uses to flash-clone entire limbs and organs, and the idea of putting two cells together in a lab confuses you?"
"I-" Weiss began, holding her finger out like she was about to drop some knowledge, ultimately sighing. "Fair point." Weiss didn't catch it, but Ruby shot the smallest little glance to her wife, then over to Yang. She did catch Yang's patented brow-waggle. "I saw that, Xiao Long!" Weiss declared, preparing to toss a pillow at the blonde. "Ruby and I have already talked about it!"
"Ooh, had the talk, huh?" Yang smirked, earning an even more annoyed look from Weiss. "So you have corrupted my baby sister…"
"Subject change, stat." Cinder pleaded, shaking her head. "How about that Aerospace Expo?"
"That reminds me!" Yang declared, slightly startling Blake. "Weiss! Where the hell's my spaceship? I had all these plans for a romantic star-faring honeymoon!"
"Do you have a couple million credits to give me?" Weiss asked, cocking her head to the side. "Because last I checked, Blake is your sugar mama." With that, Weiss gave a devious smirk.
"Hey!" Yang defended, finding herself cut off by her better half.
"She's not wrong." Blake nodded, leaning over and jokingly poking Yang's side. "I just keep you as arm candy, honey."
"Oh shit, Blake's gettin' feisty!" Ivan chuckled.
"What can I say, she's rubbed off on me." Blake shrugged.
Yang let out a suggestive purr, elbowing her wife. "Damn right I did."
"Goddamnit, subject change!" Ruby and Cinder both demanded, earning a laugh from everyone.
March 5, 2585; 0311 Hours
Remnant Orbit, UNSC Baleful Eye
Thorne groaned as he rubbed the sleep from his cybernetic eyes, trying his damnedest to keep from passing out in his chair. His newest vessel had just completed its shakedown cruise and arrived over Remnant mere days ago, and there was a severe lack in things to do for the ONI Director's liking. Even so… the Baleful Eye was a marvel.
He had been flipping through files on his terminal for some time, mostly stalling for time. Eventually, a brand new one popped up on his display, and he couldn't help but have a smile cross his face.
Director,
Court proceedings are complete. Adam Taurus has been found guilty on all charges, and has been sentenced to death. Has remained non-compliant in all questioning regarding the enemy. Requesting his execution be through Composition. Awaiting orders.
-Agent Yorck
Now that was simply perfect. Thorne hardly even needed to consider clearing his agent's request, and sent his response after a mere few moments. After finishing his curt response, his attention turned back to the less-interesting reports from the planet's surface.
One of the latest compiled reports from field agents in particular stood out to him. There seemed to be a strange increase in missing persons reports around Vale, Mistral, and Vacuo. It wasn't anything particular that stood out to him; there was no pattern to them, no commonality among the missing persons… it all seemed random. In any other situation, he would have chalked it up to simple Grimm attacks, but he knew better. He made a mental note to follow up on these reports, and assign more assets to monitor these areas.
A/N:
Well good goddamn, we're at Act III boys and girls. Slowly making progress towards the conclusion of this long-ass tale. Thank you all for sticking with me through this shit!
Reviews, yee haw:
Another S.T.A.L.K.E.R.- Lotta reviews, so I'll try to answer them all in one. Ivan's sociable nature was one of the primary reasons he was selected for this mission. Not much sense in sending an antisocial person to understand a potentially alien society. I left out the counteroffensive, mostly because it's post-war, and we all know how this goes: UNSC absolutely curbstomps the Covenant remnants.
ItsErisGamingTSA- I agree, it is the current year. I'm kinda balancing real life with writing, which is hard, given how little free time I usually have.
Guest- Wew lad, don't cut yourself on that edge there. This is Halo, not 40K… or 1941. You know what tribes did? Indeed, they wiped out others, but they also integrated others into the wider tribe to form cities, nation-states, and global superpowers. I do agree with the some species being superior to others, however… Faunus having natural night vision, natural armor in some cases, oh wait…
Powerhouse616- By that point, Remnant was little more than a protectorate of the UEG. They did very little beyond provide defense from another possible attack, set up embassies, and assist in cleanup and reconstruction. Society definitely changed, but mostly in regards to perspective.
Ethan76- Ah, the Candidate/Class naming convention went straight over my head. However, the stuff stamped on the bottom of the round was just what you described. It's the type of round, like how the 5.56mm NATO cartridge has its own designation of M855 in U.S. Armories, this is basically the same thing, and the canon designation to my knowledge.
Little Liar (Guest)- Not sure if criticism or meme…
Mab's Mad Fiddler- Think about it. You're a general, and you're now aware of a genetically and biologically-modified super-soldier who just wiped the floor with the leader of a terrorist organization that's been giving your professional military Hell for the past generation, all while using technology that makes yours look ancient. If HE starts getting worried about something you don't know about, you're pretty likely to listen.
Guest- If there's one thing that history shows us, it's that human lifespan is absolutely not set in stone. It always confused me that Halo never mentioned basic life extension technology or therapies, and I basically lump it into the same group as their population being so minuscule compared to what it should be: a mix of hitherto unexplained lore, and probably not expecting the series to become a series in the first place.
Hellwyrm- I appreciate the praise man, it really does mean a lot! If you can't tell… I really liked the combat sim with the Chief idea.
Guest- I'm not sure if she's got it in canon. Never really touched on (like a lot of stuff from Volumes 1-3). As for RBoD: Banishment, I'm not too sure. I haven't gotten any updates from the author of that one in quite some time.
- I see you are a cultured individual as well. Winter is indeed best girl. Blake being a close second.
GrnDrgnzrd- You have no idea how badly I want to do the RWBY Chibi being an actual kid's show on Remnant thing.
Guest (Jan 25)- Take it from me, academics and training only go so far. What really matters in their position is experience, and working with a SPARTAN and ONI certainly covers that. Hopefully this chapter cleared up a bit of what the Modernization of Menagerie means.
Artyom-Dreizehn- From here on in, it's gonna deviate HARD.
