CHAPTER 2: OPERATION ADJUST AND ACCELERATE

1831 Hours, July 24, 2557 (Military Calendar) / Unknown System, Unknown Planet, Unknown Location

The Master Chief swerved his body to fit between two paws swiping at him. When he was within reach of the ground, he stuck his arms out, then sprung himself back to his feet, once again avoiding more paws moving his way. He then narrowly tucked his body in to avoid a swooping overhead claw. Rolling forward, he felt impacts where he had been mere moments ago. Rising up, he swerved his body to dodge a sideways attack. Moving his body on sheer instinct and intuition, he was able to keep himself from enduring further harm. With no energy shields and being injured himself, he was taking every movement seriously. Every intent to harm he treated as a one-shot lethal blow.

It wasn't quite Spartan Time as Kelly had dubbed the phenomenon. This was simply instinctual movement backed up by decades of honed training and experience. His senses all warned him of danger and he moved his body accordingly. That did not mean he took this lightly. On the contrary, he was making a considerable effort in fighting right now. It felt like all of the recuperation time before his pursuing of the Didact had been thrown out the window so to speak. Right now, he was using more willpower to keep his body from doing anything that was not desirable right now.

John punched one of the wolves to the head, making it fall to the ground before stomping on its neck, killing it quickly. He then brought up his Hardlight Shield to block a giant bear putting its weight against his strength. With a slightly growly, he threw more strength into pushing back, then proceeding to use the see-through defensive tool as a battering ram. The monstrous-looking bear fell on its back. The Spartan then use one edge of the shield to decapitate the thing. He deactivated the shield and got into ready position.

Dealing with land-based Grimm, as the little girl called them, was manageable, but that flying abomination above him was another problem. He doubted his M6D was enough to take it down. His knife wasn't much use on a target that was in the sky. Furthermore, its constant swooping attacks ensured that he could never really get a handle on it for long. He would need to get real creative. The best he could hope for was a way to take it down so that it couldn't get away from him.

I need to clip its wings. The Chief determined. The question is how do I get close enough to do damage?

His mind began to race and time began to slow down as he processed his next move. He could jump high, but without boosters, he wasn't going to go nearly as far as he needed to go. If he was going to get up there to take the overgrown bird down, he would need help. He thought about it some more as fractions of a second ticked by. Putting together all the information he had about fighting these things thus far, an idea popped into mind.

These Grimm came in all shapes and sizes. One look around and it was clear that he was attracting more dangerous enemies. Another bear, this one at least twice his own height moved in to intercept him. It seemed like for as many as he cleared out, there were more to take the place of the fallen. It was a one-Spartan suicide run; he wasn't expecting help from these villagers because they were busy with their evacuation. They had their jobs and he had his own, simple as that.

It was then that an idea dawned on him, a borderline reckless one, but this wasn't the time to be picky about his means of survival.

Spartan 117 took a glance at his motion sensor, then took a moment to prepare himself. He first took off in a sprint, causing him to become a blur too fast for the naked eye to see. In this instance, this was when true Spartan Time kicked into gear. Everything became a blur to his senses as he approached a smaller wolf Grimm. Once he had gained enough momentum, he leaped pushing himself and MJOLNIR to the limit. He attained enough elevation so that his left foot touched its back. His next leap was higher than his first thanks to the unwitting elevation. He did this several times, piggybacking on the previous Grimm until he saw the flying one come closer, trying to clip him again. When he had achieved enough height, he leaped for a final time, grabbing onto the giant monster as it swung by to try and skewer him.

The moment he grabbed onto its side, the creature began to do everything in its power to shake him off, but John held on for all that he could. He slowly began to make his way up its side and onto its back. The first attempt at trying to get him off was to spin in a circle. This only made the warrior hold onto the bird harder. The second attempt involved zig-zag flying, but still he held fast. The third was erratic flying patterns with no logic and it still wasn't enough for him to let go.

The Master Chief had slowly but surely made his way up its side and onto its back. Still the overgrown abomination wouldn't let up in its attempts to remove him from itself. Eventually, he reached a point where he could aptly swing his helmeted head around and see both wings in his line of sight. Now he was waiting for the right shift in positioning. The turbulence was quite violent; it reminded him of when he was flying in-atmosphere on nothing but a piece of searing metal.

The Spartan felt the winged Grimm once again moving itself to become more diagonal in relation to the ground. That was when he executed what looked like a suicidal move and completely disengaged from the Grimm. Letting gravity take him as it saw fit, he held his knife with both hands firmly planted on the grip. He didn't know if the blade was strong enough to cut through it, but he soon found himself sliding down the left wing while making a clean cut right down the length of the appendage. He travelled for a few meters before resistance with the knife ended and he was free-falling.

John twisted his body and made himself as straight as possible. These types of hard-landings were tough to execute and if not done right, he would be killed on impact. Just a hundred meters until impact. Once again, he activated his Hardlight Shield. Simultaneously he increased the pressure of hydrostatic gel around his body to limit, taking care to not tax the system too much. Just as he was about to make contact with the ground, he found himself floating a few feet off the ground before he descended slowly, touching the ground with barely a whisper.

What was that? The Spartan stood up and looked around for anything that would've slowed his descent, but found nothing except the man that had given him directions earlier.

"I thought you could use a bit of help." The man named Cole spoke. "Glad to see that you're okay. Hell of a show you put on."

"What's the status of the evacuation?" The Chief elected to ignore what had just happened for now.

"Most of our people are evacuated to a safe point." The man reported after a pause. "We've got some injuries, but no deaths thankfully."

John nodded. "And the flying one?"

"It got impaled by some trees. Guess the smaller ones saw cause they're bugging out." Cole responded. "Our men are finishing off any stragglers."

"Good." The augmented supersoldier felt slight relief.

He had been through some intense fights in his thirty-plus years of service, but never had he fought in such a strange way before. All of this was more than he had ever anticipated, yet given his extensive experience with the Covenant, the Flood, and the Forerunners, he couldn't say that all of this was particularly shocking or otherwise awe-inspiring. Certain this was another unusual encounter to put on his long list of accomplishments, but in comparison to galactic-scale events, this was minor.

"Thank you for saving us." The shorter man held out a hand. "We would've been overrun if not for you."

The Master Chief regarded the hand in front of him. Even as damaged as MJOLNIR was, he could easily crush this appendage. His gauntlet was made to contend with Elites and Brutes after all. A non-augmented Human was far inferior in terms of raw strength to the two strongest species of the former Covenant Empire. Still, he accepted the gesture, shaking the hand as a sign of acceptance of the gratitude.

"The honor is mine." Spartan 117 said.

"If there's anything we can do for you, just say the word." Cole retreated from the handshake. "We might not be able to give you much, but we'll do whatever's in our power."

"...there are a few things I could use." The armor-clad fighter began.

Halo - - - RWBY

John found the girl Lilac in the exact same place he had left her. This time though when she saw him, she instantly relaxed and when he reached out for her, she didn't hesitate to get up. Knowing that it would be faster for him to carry her back to the village, he held her firmly and took off at a light jog. It was not the fastest that he could run, but in light of the situation, he could afford to be relaxed, though his senses were on high alert watching for any indication of enemy contacts.

"A-are the Grimm gone?" Lilac stared into his visor.

"They are." The Chief affirmed to her. "You're safe now."

"Thank you." She pressed herself against his armored chest.

The gesture was odd to the war veteran. The only time he had seen this sort of gesture was from non-spartans. Many times during the Human-Covenant War, he had seen civilians and soldiers engaged in the act of embracing each other. According to what he had heard from fellow soldiers he served with, these were all gestures of familial love and affection. All of these actions could be interpreted as a breach of military protocol in regards to the conduct of the men and women in service to the UNSC. In this instance, protocol breaches seemed irrelevant.

It made him think of his last conversation with Cortana, but he forced that memory away.

The Master Chief did not know much about how to show care to others apart from what he and his fellow spartans shared in private, but he could discern this much: this girl trusted him to keep her safe and he although he had made no verbal promises to do so, in his mind he would fight for her ability to keep living. He had to.

The journey from the forest back to the partially-destroyed village was brief and thankfully danger-free. He was instantly greeted by the guards who simply waved him after seeing Lilac in his arms. There was a doctor here somewhere tending to the wounded in an unexpectedly intact clinic located just a few buildings away from the entrance. With all the damage sustained, the fact that a medical facility was still in one piece was nothing short of a miracle. In any case, these people were safe for now.

"Lilac!" A woman's voice. "You're safe!"

"Mama!" The little girl called out.

With his mind working faster than a mile a minute, the spartan pinpointed where the feminine voice had originated from. It was from his eleven o'clock and the woman in question bore a striking resemblance to the female child he held in his hands. That had to Lilac's mother and besides the woman was a man with green eyes and black hair. Like their daughter, both parents possessed animal traits. The woman had a pair of feline ears atop her head while the man had what appeared to be a cat tail.

John kneeled down in front of the pair and Lilac leapt into her parents' arms. It appeared the bond between parents and child was quite strong. Also, now that he wasn't in a life or death situation, he couldn't help but notice the strange animal features. In fact, quite a few of these people had varying traits that conveyed a connection with some type of animal. What spawned these traits? How did they come to be? Did they come with the benefits and perks associated with the life form?

"Thank you so much." The father said. "My name is Patrick and this is my wife May. We can't thank you enough for saving our daughter."

"I was merely doing my duty." The Chief courteously intoned. "Nothing more."

"Thank you in any case." May, as she was identified, chimed in. "Truly, you have our eternal gratitude."

"You are welcome." Again, the war veteran accepted praise.

"That armor looks like advanced technology." Patrick looked him up and down. "Are you from Atlas?"

John had never heard of a place called Atlas, but it sounded like a place that he ought to know. There had been a multitude of terms and words used that didn't register with him the same way as it did with these civilians. He needed to collect more information before planning out his next move. In order to do that, he would need to blend in as much as possible and keep himself as anonymous as possible. It had been a while since he had done any sort of operation that required precision and delicacy, but he still had his training to guide him through the necessary steps and precautions.

The first thing he needed to do was to at least pretend to understand the verbiage being utilized.

"No, I'm not from Atlas." The Chief formulated an answer and voiced it. "I'm just a traveller."

It wasn't a lie and it did contain a grain of truth. As a soldier, he was required to go where his missions dicacted, so in that sense he was a traveller. As long as he told the truth in some fashion, what he said would be far more believable.

"I see." The man looked him up and down.

"Excuse me sir?" A new voice entered into the conversation.

This one was a Human male in his mid to late fifties from the looks of him. His blonde hair was mixed with elements of gray. His posture indicated discipline and control. Perhaps he was a soldier or a warrior of some kind.

"I'm Copper Clarke, the mayor of Vermillion." The aging man introduced himself. "On behalf of all my townsmen and townswomen, I would like to personally thank you for saving our lives."

"I was only doing my best to help." Spartan 117 nodded once. "I would do it again if needed."

"Good man." Mister Clarke looked him up and down. "As I'm sure you've been told many times, anything we can do to repay this favor, we'll do our best."

"There are only a few things that I need." The Master Chief said. "Food and water, any medical supplies you can spare, and some information."

"We might be a bit tight on food and medical supplies, but we can spare information." Copper didn't hesitate. "But if I may ask, what's a fighter like yourself doing without aura? I would think that if you're going to be engaging Grimm, you ought to bring everything you can to the table? That is how huntsman operate right? What about weapons?"

The supersoldier blinked behind his helmet. "I have simply found no use for aura nor have I ever needed it. As for weapons, I was in a situation which required me to abandon them."

Aura, another term that appeared to be critical and especially so if it was useful for fighting Grimm, but asking about it would come off as too suspicious. He had already proven himself to these people that he was capable of combat without this aura. To ask about it now would be to invite more questions that could lead down paths that he would rather not have to explain to these people. Getting back to the point, he had no clue was aura was, but he was going to pretend like he did.

"Well, I would say that having aura is better than medical help." Copper intoned. "It does away with medical supplies in the field. Food and water become the only necessities."

John frowned behind his helmet as he processed this type of information. It aura was an alternative for medical supplies, then he would most certainly would like to gain access to it, but what were the strengths and weaknesses? Would his use of it be far greater than constantly carrying around medical supplies? Could it be used to help others? He had so many questions regarding how to use it, but how would he be able to get the answers he needed without exposing himself?

"Would you at least consider staying the night and getting a full night of rest before departing?"

Despite his mind telling him that he should leave this place and find his own way, he felt his body weaken slightly at the mention of rest. Although he had eaten properly, remained hydrated, and slept plenty before his assault on the Didact, he did need to at least let his body recover from the multitude of wounds he had sustained. Plus, he needed to find out whether or not he would be able to get his energy shields back online.

"Very well, but I must be going first thing in the morning." The Master Chief finally acknowledged.

RWBY - - - Halo

The Spartan went over his own plans. He was to wake up at 0430 hours and depart by 0500 at the latest. In preparation for this, the villagers had provided whatever supplies they could to him. In the spirit of taking only what was necessary, he had only packed several days worth of supplies. He had seen some wildlife in these forests as well as what looked like edible plants. If push came to shove, he could survive on nature's bounty. His training in his childhood had prepared him for the possibility and more than once he had employed it during his time in the war.

John had also been given a map courtesy of the village leader. Since none of maps in his suit systems were of any use in navigating the landscape, he had to go back to old-fashioned paper maps. Fortunately, it was easy enough to read and get a bead on. He was on a continent called Saunus, the largest in this world. Yes, he had confirmed that this planet was called Remnant. The subject had come up through conversation and the information was obtained indirectly, but there it was. There was a great deal more that he had to learn and to do that, he would have to travel wherever he could and make.

Getting back on topic, Sanus contained two of the four major nations in the world, or kingdoms to be more appropriate. The closest kingdom to his location would be Vale, but it was still quite a distance off. He would have to travel for at least two weeks and that was if he aimed to make good time. However, he had also learned that while the four kingdoms of the world enjoyed the luxury of having the ability to fend off the Grimm for the most part, villages had to find their own ways to fight without assistance.

The Master Chief was only going off what these people were telling him, but he believed that he needed to get a feeling for the situation in the untamed parts of the land before making his way to Vale. Once he had a clear picture of what was going on, he would be able to decide how best to proceed. Although he did desire to return to the UNSC and report in, he still did have a duty to protect Humanity at all costs and he would do it regardless of whether or not these humans were part of the UNSC or not.

The other thing that had the man confused was this Faunus-Human conundrum. Apparently, the people that had animal features were called Faunus, or at least that's what he had deduced based on what he had picked out. There seemed to be no explanation as to why Faunus and Humans were different, just that they were. That must mean that for as long as recorded history existed on this world, so too did both species.

John expected to be more nervous around the Faunus at the news that they were distinct from Mankind, but whenever he looked at them, he received no threatening vibes from them. As best as he could tell, they were the same as Humans expect with some physical additions that possibly added the benefits of enhanced senses. There was also the fact that there were plenty of children in this village with a Faunus and a Human parent biologically speaking. Everybody seemed to be perfectly at ease with each other regardless of who they were. This place must have a tight-knit community to behave so familiarly.

The combat veteran folded the map he was studying and took a look into the sky. The sun was almost gone and it was about time for him to get some shut-eye before he set off. There was little else he could do right now. Everything he needed for traversing the wilds of these lands was close by. He intended to remain constantly mobile, only intended to do his duty and then disappearing as quietly as he could.

There was one other outstanding issue: MJOLNIR needed to be looked over thoroughly in order for the energy shield to be fixed. The armor was fully functional save for that one problem. This seemed all the more perplexing giving that the fusion generator had sustained no damage. Another physical component must be damaged. Alone and without any means of contacting the UNSC, he trusted absolutely no one to look at the MJOLNIR Mark VI. Either he would have to wait until he found his way back to friendlies or he would have to fix it himself. Neither choices were ideal, but given his situation, the second option was starting to become the only option worth exploring.

When he had run out of things to think about in regards to his mission priorities, his equipment, and his own personal survival, his thoughts turned to his life. He thought back to his earliest memories, a time before he became a Spartan. Although he had not given excessive thought to the life that was no longer relevant to him, a handful of times he wondered about that life.

He knew that he had once had a normal childhood with a father and a mother. Never could he remember his father's face no matter how much he dug into his mind nor the dreams that came to him when he slept. He could only recall his mother, her kindness and how she smelled of soap. He could recall her face in great detail. The fact that he could recall this many details about her even after four decades of not seeing her had to mean he loved her a lot as a child. Those were the earliest memories he could recall.

The ones that were vivid and clearly in his mind were the times spent with his brothers and sisters, the family of Spartan II's. Not a day went by that he didn't think about all of them. There were seventy-five of them, including himself. Even with the death of so many of them, he would never allow himself to forget them. No matter how death had taken them, they were all Spartans and they would all be Spartans for the rest of their days. He had once promised himself that they would never be able to rest until the Human-Covenant War was over. That war was indeed over, that much he had learned during his brief return to the UNSC. The Storm Covenant were remnants and hardly as powerful as the Covenant.

So why did it feel like he couldn't put the Spartan-II's to rest?

"Mister John!" A voice called his name.

He turned his head at the use of his name. Hearing it coming from someone that wasn't someone he considered family was strange. Even more strange was that it was coming from a child's voice. It was her voice, Lilac's voice, and he did indeed tell him his name when they first met. Looking to his ten o'clock and tilting his head down, he saw her standing there, holding something in her two hands. She looked scared yet eager at the same time.

"Hello, Lilac." The Chief greeted her. "Is there something you need?"

"Chocolate!" She held the rectangular item in her hands and held it out for him. "Take it!"

For the first time in a very long time, John stared at the little girl with complete surprise on his features, albeit hidden behind his helmet. This gesture of appreciation and thanks was unexpected in every sense of the word. That made him uneasy, being unable to comprehend something that should have been simple. For a few seconds, he stood completely still, thinking about how best to respond.

What would Cortana say? He tried to imagine it. What would she do?

Then another memory came back to him. He was back on Earth, next to a Scorpion. He was in New Mombasa and his objective was to get aboard a Covenant carrier and secure the Prophet of Regret. The only thing standing between him and that ship was the Scarab in the distance. He had to get to it and destroy it before it caused further damage to the city and killed more people.

Thanks for the tank. Cortana's voice echoed throughout his mind. He never gets me anything.

Oh, I know what the ladies like. Then he heard Sergeant Major Avery Johnson.

Something in his mind clicked once that brief exchange of words came to the forefront. Whenever given or offered something, it was common courtesy to accept regardless of whether or not what had been presented was useful or not. That seemed to be something that Cortana would say. Additionally, it sounded like most people liked receiving presents.

The Master Chief kneeled down so that the faunus girl wouldn't have to crane her neck so much just to look at his visor, but even in this position, he still towered over her. Her hands were still held out with the chocolate bar. With all the grace that he had in him, he accepted the gift and said the only words he could.

"Thank you."

Halo - - - RWBY

At exactly 0430 hours, he awoke. His military clock was at least telling him as much. From his hunched sleeping position, he quickly roused the rest of his body. The rest had done him some good. Although he wasn't fully healed, he would take the necessary steps to ensure that his body would heal properly while on the road. He didn't trust aura enough to use it despite the many claims about its uses.

He double-checked and triple-checked to make sure he had everything that he needed. Food, water, medical supplies, and some other odds and ends, nothing too fancy. In terms of weapons, he was still severely lacking. Sooner or later, he would need a dedicated primary weapon or something comparable in use. He couldn't keep going on just a knife and a pistol with a waning ammo count.

As he did the final check, his ears began to pick up other people rising and doing their morning routine. Generally speaking, most people weren't known to wake up at such an early hour in the day with military personnel being an exception. Then again, these people did have a lot of repair work to do now that the Grimm threat was gone so getting up early might just by a result of what had happened.

Approaching footsteps had him glancing at his four o'clock and seeing the village elder Copper Clarke. He had no idea what the man wanted.

"Before you go, there is one thing I would like to give you." He held out a rectangular device. "I've had this scroll for a long time and I didn't know what to do with it. I guess you should have it… unless you have one."

"No, I don't." The supersoldier intoned.

"Then take it." The elder man said. "Oh, and it's got lien, so you're got at least some funds to spend."

"Understood." Chief nodded his head.

Frankly, he didn't really understand how money worked. As a Spartan, his only job was to fight with whatever resources were available. If he needed something, most of the time he could expect to be given what he needed. Money was something that the hierups and specialists did. He was only aware of money in terms of its theoretical uses, but as with most things in life, theory only applied to controlled and imaginary environments, not to the wild and varied nature that was real life. Regardless, having lien might just matter down the road. He didn't know how or when, but as an independent in this world, he needed to find a way to sustain himself and he wasn't about to become a barbarian and always resort to living off the land.

"Thanks." He placed the scroll in the bag by his side. It had been something given to him to carry all the things he wanted and needed.

"I wish you the best of luck wherever you go."

With a slight wave of goodbye, the war veteran made his way to the entrance and set out into the world of Remnant.

He didn't look back.

The Master Chief has set off and is now on his way to do what he does best: taking names and kicking ass, but let's not forget that this is also an exploration of his inner self. You could call this story a dissection of John-117 as a man who fights with his machine side.

Without Cortana, he will have to take on new challenges unlike anything he's ever faced before, but I know that he'll find a way to make things work. I believe that people tend to underestimate the Master Chief in general, at least casual fans do. The Spartan II's are essentially special forces taken to the Nth degree. If you know anything about special forces, then you know it takes a special kind of man to make it into their ranks. Being physically capable is only half the battle. You need to be very smart as well morally strong. Probably most important of all is an unbreakable will to accomplish great things.

Take all that into account and remember that the Master Chief has superior genetics, augmentations, and his armor to boot. Also, his traits as a man and how he conducts himself makes him godlike.

So far, the feedback from the first chapter is positive, so I'm eager to see where I can take this story. Please keep that feedback coming and don't hesitate to speak up about something that has your attention. A lot of interesting conversations can result. As I edited this chapter rapidly, I will be making adjustments as I see them.

Thanks for reading and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.

"Leadership is about vision and responsibility, not power."

Seth Berkley