CHAPTER 9: OPERATION NAVY BOOT CAMP

0530 Hours, August 14, 2557 (Military Calendar) / Unknown System, Planet Remnant, Continent of Sanas

Never in his entire military career did the Master Chief ever think he was going to be taking anyone directly under his wing. He had worked with soldiers and marines over the course of his entire service, but they were all trained professionals and the assumption was that they were ready to follow orders.

But Ruby Rose? She was a civilian with a former aspiration of becoming a huntress. Now, she didn't even aspire to be that. For some reason, she had chosen to stick by his side. This turn of events surprised him internally and even though choosing to take her with him didn't benefit him in any way, he decided to accept her.

Why though?

The more that the spartan thought about it, the less it made sense to him. The only thing that he could consciously understand was that look in the fifteen year old girl's eyes when he had praised her efforts when they had worked together. Something about those eyes spoke to him and when she had requested to go with him, he saw that same look in her eyes. He wouldn't admit it verbally, but his interest in her had piqued.

Now it was time to begin her training.

In order to get her up to par with UNSC Navy standards, he referred to his own time in Spartan-II training. For all intents and purposes, since she was going to be travelling with a spartan, she was going to be trained like one as well. If she was as committed as she claimed to be, then she would have to shed blood, sweat, and tears and then push beyond. If she could survive what he had in store for her, then she would be able to perform at a level much greater than conventional soldiers and marines. She would be closer to special forces material.

Ruby's prior training as a huntress was no longer relevant in his eyes. In fact, everything she ever was no longer mattered to him. He would tear her down and then rebuild her from the ground up, transforming her into the closest thing to a spartan. He would train her the way Mendez had trained him and he would teach her the same way that Doctor Halsey taught him. It was strange to think that all of those years of training would be put to use in the most unexpected of ways.

But that was his life: doing the unexpected without warning.

John had gotten a little bit of sleep, then awoke at 0430 hours. Since then, he recalled whatever he could about his earliest days of Spartan-II boot camp. Every detail he poured over thinking about what he would need to emphasize and prioritize. Since he didn't have the luxury of eight years' time to train his recruit, he would need to condense it and in the spirit of the UNSC branch that he belonged to, he would give himself eight week to turn the teenager into a sailor.

Once he formed his rough game plan and then reviewed it a couple more times, he stood up at his full height and silently walked to where his charge laid on her sleeping bag. She looked peaceful and there was a small smile on her face.

That was going to change right now.

"Wake up, recruit!" The Master Chief found yelling to be awkward, but he still did it. "Now!"

Ruby groggily woke up, but she was slow in response. In response to her non-compliance, the man in armor carefully but intentionally slapped her in the face. His action elicited a more immediate response as she was now wide awake.

"Stand up straight and look down!" Spartan 117 ordered her. "Double time!"

The former huntress in training did as she was instructed, but upon closer inspection, it was clear as day that there were so many things wrong in her posture. That would need to be corrected. Her entire appearance would need to be corrected now that he was getting a closer look at her.

"Look straight!" John ordered his next order. "Eyes forward!"

Ruby did as he said.

"You said you wanted to come with me, learn from me, do what I do. Well, for the next eight weeks, I will be training you to do what I do." The Master Chief lowered his voice, but held an iron-clad tone. "During this time, you will not do anything on your own. I will tell you what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. Nothing that I tell you to do is a request, an option, or a suggestion. You will do EXACTLY what I say to the letter or you will be punished accordingly. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir!" Ruby sounded off and unfortunately for her, she did it wrong.

"That is not how you address me!" The super soldier corrected her, still finding yelling like this to be unusual. "My rank is Master Chief Petty Officer! You will either refer to me as Chief or Master Chief! Is that understood?!"

Ruby looked very panicked, but not excessively so. "Yes, Master Chief!"

"We run." Spartan 117 pointed in the direction of a nearby open field. "If you use aura, I will double the calisthenics! Go! Move!"

Understanding that he was not her friend but her superior at this time, Ruby did as she was told and began running. The night sky was just barely starting to give rise to the sun so there was sufficient illumination for them to see where they were going as they ran.

Their destination was an open area where he would force her to do the same exercises that he went through as a child. She needed to learn how to make do without her aura. If she was unprepared to fight without it, then she would be caught off guard if she ever did lose it and that might be what would kill her.

"Down on the ground! Push ups!" John continued to push down his aversion to talk as he normally did. "Two-hundred! One! Two!"

Since it was just her, he could afford to watch her do everything in clear detail and be sure to make minute adjustments whenever necessary. She started off decently, but she tried to do too many pushups too fast. At around fifty, her form began to suffer and she wasn't properly doing the exercise right."

"Fix your form, recruit!" The Chief kneeled down so that his helmeted head could get closer to her. "Hurry up!"

As he continued to monitor her every move, he simultaneously found himself thinking about how hard the first days of training were for himself. He thought about how Mendez had to spend a considerable amount of time disciplining all seventy-five children in the Spartan-II program, not an easy feat when more than a few weren't willing to comply at first. Kelly was chief among the rebels who refused to get with the program.

As for Ruby, she was far from acting like a rebel. So far, she was showing a willingness to follow orders without a second thought. That was a good thing for him. He needed her to be obedient if she was to be useful to him. A military serviceman who couldn't adhere to the chain of command was a liability and a danger.

"Sit-up!" The war veteran switched exercises. "Two hundred! Let's go!"

The girl was exhausted from performing her push ups yet she didn't stop moving, only switching her position so that she was laying on the ground with her arms behind her head and her fingers laced together. The man in armor laid one gauntlet-covered hand on her feet to hold her down.

"Begin!" John commanded her. "One! Two! Three!"

There was already sweat on her face and she was struggling at the situps. This time, she knew better than to try and rush through her reps. She paced herself, but that didn't change the fact that she still had many to go through.

Her breathing started to become more erratic and it was taking her longer to lift herself off from the ground, but she appeared determined not to give up, merely performing each number one after the other and doing whatever it took to get to two-hundred.

"Jumping jack!" The Master Chief stood up. "Move with a purpose, recruit!"

Whether this girl was willing herself to do all of this or if she was merely running on autopilot, he couldn't help but nod once in respect. She wasn't giving up, that much he could see and because he wasn't giving up, he wouldn't give up on her. He could only wait and see just how far she could go. This was only the first few minutes of the first day of training. Everything could all come crashing down tomorrow or some day down the line.

If she couldn't meet his standards, then he would send her back home.

If she could meet his standards, he would gladly call her a sister in arms.

Halo - - - RWBY

1730 Hours

Ruby had finally come to the end of the day and she was absolutely wiped. Never in her entire life had she ever done so much physical activity in a single day and that was just for one morning. Certainly, she had trained herself to be physically capable. Wielding a scythe effectively in combat was incredibly difficult and it required a certain amount of finesse and control not to mention endurance and patience. Thus, she had done considerable physical conditioning.

But this was entirely different. She was relentlessly ordered to perform one exercise after another. After the morning calisthenics, she was then given some lessons regarding basic military culture and military doctrine. This included the phonetic alphabet, command structure and rank, and the necessary mannerisms and other small odds and ends that she needed to be aware of at all times. Each thing by itself wasn't much to contend with, but all of them at once was quite a lot and she had to learn and memorize this stuff fast.

The end of the day finally rolled around and the silver-eyed girl collapsed onto the ground. It didn't matter that she was laying on a surface that was probably not comfortable in the least. As far as she was concerned, it was the best place ever because she no longer had to move and she could simply rest for a minute. Then she would eat and go to sleep to get ready for another day of training.

Ruby honestly felt that this entire day was kind of weird. She never thought of the Master Chief as a guy who yelled. She thought he was the sort of man who spoke softly because he knew that he was good at what he did, like he didn't need to be loud because his actions were more than loud enough, but apparently he had it in him to scream at her all day. She could only imagine what was going on inside his helmet all day. She didn't even know what his face looked like, so conjuring up a face was a challenge in of itself.

When the former aspiring huntress tried to move her body to get more comfortable, she was met with instantaneous soreness throughout her entire body, which caused her to groan in pain. Everywhere hurt and the only way she could stop the pain was to not move at all, but she was going to have to move eventually. Her sleeping bag was on the other side of the fire pit. Plus, she wasn't going to eat while lying on her back.

The sound of armor clinking at a swooshing of liquid had her opening her eyelids and staring up at the Chief. He was kneeling at her side and in one hand, he held a water bottle out to her.

"Drink." His voice was back to its usual calm. "Staying hydrated is important, especially for a sailor."

She had to remember that as his rank suggested, he was technically a sailor, not a soldier, so she would become one as well. Considering they were far from any large bodies of water, the term felt inappropriate, but she wasn't the once in charge. She could only accept the bottle of water and take a long sip from it. It was lukewarm, not the cold that she hoped it would be, but her thirst mattered more than his preferential temperature.

"Thank you, Chief." Ruby sounded off, feeling it necessary, even though they weren't training. "This water's so good."

"Don't drink it too fast." The Master Chief informed her. "Be moderate. The same applies with your food."

"Food." Ruby felt her stomach growl. "I could go for some of that."

"As soon as you settle down, I have some ready for you." The Chief told her. "While you eat, I have some questions regarding the use of a scroll."

"Using a scroll?" Ruby raised an eyebrow. "You don't know how to use one, Chief?"

"Not as well as I would like." The man in armor acknowledged. "I've never had to use it seeing as my armor provided me the features I required."

If she was interpreting his words correctly, then it seemed like he was experiencing some problems with his armor and he was having to substitute with a scroll for the time being. That made her do a once-over of his entire form.

As far as she could see it, aside from a dent across the right side of his chest, she didn't spot any marks or any sort of damage that would indicate a malfunction of any kind. It had to be either an internal hardware problem or a software problem.

Ruby decided to take a chance and ask, even knowing her chances were slim. "If you're having trouble with your armor, I can-"

The Master Chief's visor stared back at her. "No."

"You didn't even let me finish!" Ruby protested. "What's the big deal? Maybe I can fix something for you!"

"The answer is still no." The Chief shook his head once. "You can ask me as many times as you like and my answer will remain the same."

Now that kind of made her mad. Here he was working her to the bone today and she couldn't even get so much as a little something to work on for her trouble. She felt cheated, kind of like a parent denying a child candy.

After a minute of pouting, Ruby downshifted. "Okay, okay, I won't ask about your armor again, so what about your scroll do you want to know about?"

"Everything that I can." The Master Chief responded in kind. "All the features that might be useful to our efforts, I would like to know about."

"Okay, then." Ruby struggled to get herself into a sitting position. "Can I see your scroll?"

The man handed her the device in question and she took a good look at the device. It wasn't a particularly flashy model nor was it all that impressive hard-ware wise, but that seemed about right for him.

"Well, if I'm going to be doing all of this exercise, then we could use an app to track our progress." Ruby could feel her entire body dying at her own words. "Maybe you do your own training, you can do your own tracking."

"Understood." The Chief nodded once.

Surprisingly, they were getting a signal, even out here. It was enough for them to be able to go through a crash course of all the basic functionalities of a scroll. The call function, texting, downloading apps, surfing the web, how to use the camera, accessing videos and photos, and a bunch of other things.

The fifteen-year-old girl assumed that her superior would stumble through this course, but he took to her instructions like a fish in the water. It was like he could replicate exactly what she was doing. It made her question if he really was as incapable of using his scroll as he made it sound like initially.

"I think you've got the basics down. "Ruby said. "Was there anything else you needed?"

"No, that's all." The Master Chief.

"Then we're good." She held his scroll out to him. "Here."

"Thanks." He accepted it with a curt response.

Tonight, they would be eating some food that had been foraged and hunted. Apparently, fighting wasn't the only thing that the Chief was good at. Preparing the meal and then eating it was a quiet affair with neither of them talking.

Ruby wanted to talk about something, but she didn't know what would be a good topic to have a conversation about. Actually, that wasn't even the immediate problem; she didn't even know if she could even initiate a conversation to begin with. It wasn't like the Master Chief was all that interested in conversation.

He sat opposite of her, having already disassembled his rifle and was in the process of cleaning it. His fingers moved with much dexterity and practice. Not a single movement appeared wasted or inefficient. With that level of precision, she figured that he must've done this so many times that it had become second nature to him.

She used to do something similar when it came to cleaning Crescent Rose. It gave her peace of mind, allowing her mind to focus on something and forget about all of her worries and troubles, even if only for a short while.

An idea came to mind.

"Chief?" Ruby called to him.

He merely stopped what he was doing and raised his helmeted head. That made her a bit nervous, but it looked like he was listening.

"So… am I going to… you know… get another weapon?" Ruby needed and wanted to know. "I mean, nothing against this pistol, but I feel kind of underequipped."

That golden visor remained still and it still scared her. For a few seconds, the only sounds that could be heard were the wildlife around them and the crackling of the fire.

The Master Chief then resumed his rifle maintenance, but not before he articulated a reply. "That's not your concern right now, recruit. What should concern you is your training."

Ruby frowned.

So not cool.

RWBY - - - Halo

2245 Hours

One of the primary disadvantages of being alone without any support from the UNSC was that he had to think up everything that they would both need. Food, water, ammunition, medical supplies, tech, all of these items and a few other things he needed to keep track of. For all intents and purposes, he was the commanding officer in all things.

It wasn't for the first time that John had come to realize exactly how much he relied on the UNSC for almost everything. If he needed MJOLNIR repaired, there would be technicians for that. If he needed a weapon, there was always an armory stocked with the appropriate rifles and ammunition. If he needed food and water, MRE's and liquids would be supplied. The list went on and that's when he remembered that he was alone on this planet.

Without a way to return to UNSC space, he was effectively stranded on an alien planet with nothing but himself and his own skills and experience to carry him as well as a fifteen-year old girl. After all this time, MJOLNIR couldn't establish any connections with anything remotely connected to the UNSC. It didn't help that he possessed no ship of any kind to help widen his range. If only he had some sort of means of boosting his armor's communications gear. It might give him a chance to see if there were any friendly forces within the same solar system. However slim his chances, he needed to be sure.

But whenever the Master Chief considered the possibility of returning to the UNSC, a feeling of emptiness came over him, which made no sense to him. He had dedicated his life to the protection of humanity and her colonies. That was what he was made to do for his entire life; he certainly may not have been given a choice in the matter, but he embraced what he had with all the pride and dignity that he could muster. Now, that same feeling wasn't there, only the overwhelming emptiness he was feeling now.

Why now?

Why at all?

He had no viable answers and that's when he decided that he couldn't be bothered to solve this internal struggle because he had no basis to even begin solving it. All he could do was focus his efforts on what he was capable of doing. Until he could confirm the status of the UNSC within this part of space, his mission still remained: protect humanity as well as train up his recruit, which was a work in progress.

From his sitting position, he noticed Ruby sleeping nearby. Even without a fire to light the night, his vision could make her out clearly. The face that currently adorned her features was peaceful despite what he had put her through today. He estimated that it would take an additional few more days for her to fully accept her new life. The culture shock was probably just beginning to settle in for her.

As for her training, the intent was to condition her body so that she would become less reliant upon aura. Based on what he understood about huntsmen and huntresses, they were reliant upon aura and semblances to carry them throughout a battle. He had seen no evidence to suggest that they did any extensive training without these two tools. That was a problem that needed serious correction and he couldn't come up with any logical reason why this wasn't being addressed more.

But then again, that was also an added benefit to having Ruby here. She would be able to provide him with the information he needed. As she had been receiving training to become a huntress, what she knew would help him better fight such combatants should the time ever come. He was anticipating it, expecting it to happen and he had no intention of losing.

The spartan pulled up his scroll and began to review all of its features and memorize them so that he could instinctually use the device. So far, the operation of it was straightforward. He had come upon no issues while in use and figuring out the specifics for each application was not difficult.

The main problem he had with the scroll was that it was a seperate device from his armor and thus, he would need to actually use it manually instead of simply issuing a voice command from within his helmet. If he could somehow implement the device into MJOLNIR, it would be much more ergonomic to use, but that was a minor concern. What mattered was that it was functional and he could use it.

Putting his scroll away, John loosely held his MA5D. This place was ideal to camp and train primarily because by the look of the terrain, there was a minimal Grimm presence. That was a good thing because he needed sleep as well, but he didn't like the idea of nobody being awake to watch over them. In order to facilitate the demands of sleep and their safety, he set MJOLNIR to alert him of any movement over a certain size. He was able to roughly determine the mass and weight of Grimm and thus, the suit would only trigger an alarm once a certain minimum was met.

There was one more thing he did want to do before he turned in for the night.

Ever since he had used his newfound ability to summon the Spartan Laser currently sitting nearby, he decided that every night, after Ruby was sound asleep, he would practice using the ability. He would have been a fool not to use this gift. It might do more than just solve his armament problem, but before he got his hopes up, he needed to make sure his understanding of it was solid.

The Chief closed his eyes, emptying his mind of all distractions. Tonight, his focus would be strictly on doing what he had done during the battle with the Megoliath. He wanted to see if he could bring another weapon into existence. As for what he wanted, he would opt for something with more precision.

With his target in mind, he began to list off the exact details. The length was 141 centimeters. The width was 26 centimeters. The height was 44 centimeters. It weighed 10.8 kilograms empty and 12.1 kilograms loaded. For ammunition it used M19 102 millimeter high-explosive shaped charge missiles. The weapon was semi-automatic, allowing the firing of two shots in rapid succession. Once the weapon was spent, it's empty barrels could be exchanged for a set of barrels loaded and ready to fire. Some models feature targeting technology, allowing for missiles to lock onto aircraft and vehicles.

The image of the weapon came to his mind in vivid detail.

It was a weapon that saw much use in the Human-Covenant War. Its role was specific and important and it did its job well. It had a history of effectiveness in combat for many decades even before the war.

Spartan 117 felt a heavier weight in his hand and he opened his eyes. Looking down, where there was once his MA5D, there was something else.

An M41 Surface-to-Surface Rocket Medium Anti-Vehicle Assault Weapon.

Not only that, but he noticed that he was now carrying three additional tubes on his person. With these, he could most definitely take out large hordes of Grimm or down Alpha types in one shot.

Before he could marvel at his ability further, he realized something. When he had brought forward the rocket launcher, his rifle was gone and now that he was thinking about it, so too was its ammunition. That had to mean something.

Did his power have its own set of rules and limitations?

John shifted the M41 SPNKR, making sure that its safety was on. He really did want to test this thing to make sure of its effectiveness, but any excessive noise would wake Ruby not to mention serve as a beacon for any would-be attackers. He would have to hold off for now.

Back to the matter at hand. He needed to keep on training. He had spent less than a minute going through this. He could afford at least another thirty minutes of practice before he needed to get some sleep.

His head shifted from the Spartan Laser to the rocket launcher. Having two heavy weapons was redundant, so he needed to choose between one of them, but which one was going to be more useful to him?

He ran through all of the situations he had been through so far on this planet. Grimm tended to fight in groups. This made them easy to target in sizable groups, so the rocket launcher was highly beneficial. That being said, there was always going to be that one type that wouldn't go down easily. The Spartan Laser was almost always guaranteed to kill when it hit its target, making it a good weapon for getting out of sticky situations.

What made more sense?

The Master Chief looked back and forth for a second time, and only after another minute of deliberation did he finally settle on a choice.

The M41 SPNKR.

Halo - - - RWBY

Dear Dad and Yang,

You both are probably wondering where I've been for nearly two weeks. Let me start this letter off by saying that I'm alive and healthy, so there's no need to worry about my physically speaking.

That being said, things have changed and I don't mean that in any small way. I mean that pretty much everything's changed for me.

I always wanted to be a huntress. I think we all know that at this point. I was always in love with the idea of becoming the hero that would swoop in and save everyone and then everyone would be happy. That was my dream as a child and it was my dream when I first picked up a scythe and trained to become a huntress. It was a dream and my hope to be the hero of the world. I would slay all the Grimm and then the world could enjoy true peace. We could all come together and make the world into something greater.

That was my dream.

But now, I've realized just how naive I was thinking like that.

The world isn't as simple as good and evil. It's not as simple as happiness and sadness. Over the course of nearly two weeks, I've seen things and done things that I've never would've imagined in the past, but then again, I always believed that things would work out and up until this point, that's how I've always lived my life. That was a mistaken belief and I've paid the price for my naivety.

I can't talk about what's happened. Honestly, I don't want to talk about it because frankly speaking, I don't even know how to work through it myself. It's all so different, so weird, so unusual, unlike anything I've ever experienced in all my life and I wish that it was good, but it's not all good. Actually, none of it was good at all, but it's too late to take it all back and even if I was given the choice to forget about it, I'm not sure I'd want to forget all of it.

I know what you both are thinking right now. You're both wondering why can't I just talk it over with you two and figure something out. I thought about doing that, I really did, but then I realized something: if I went to the two of you, you would both comfort me and tell me everything was going to be okay, and then we'd all get back to how things always are. It would be like putting on a band-aid to heal a wound.

But this isn't a wound. It's a scar. Being with you guys, sharing in the love, it would have been a nice feeling and maybe it would've helped the pain a little bit, but it wouldn't change what I've experienced. It wouldn't help me understand why things happened the way they did. It wouldn't help me accept the way things turned out the way they did.

That's why I feel like it's time for a change. I'll never be able to go on pursuing my dream of becoming a huntress while living with what I do now. That dream didn't account for the things that I didn't know about. That dream never told me that life is never as black and white as the world wants it to be.

Yeah, you read right. I'm not going to become a huntress. I've sent a letter to Signal Academy letting them know that I'm dropping out. I'm sure that you've already heard by this point, dad.

But I don't want either of you to get the wrong idea. I still want to do good for people. I still want to do whatever I can for others, but I need to do it in a way that helps me process and digest everything that's been going on and I think that I've found a way that'll let me frame it all in a way that I can learn to live with.

Please don't come looking for me. I'm sure you'll both do whatever it takes to bring me home. Maybe you'll even get Uncle Qrow to search for me, but I made this choice and I'll live with whatever comes with it, good or bad.

On a side note, I left Crescent Rose in my room. I'm sure that someone saw that. My reasoning for not bringing it with me is simple. I can't look at it the same way. It relates to what happened to me. It's like a physical representation of my old dream and as I've said, I want to distance myself from that.

As for where I'm going, I can't tell you guys that either. If I did, you'd come find me and drag me home. That would defeat the whole purpose of me trying to forge my new path. You both don't have to worry about where I'm staying or what I'm doing. I've put a lot of thought into this and I've planned accordingly. All my bases are covered and anything else that comes along, I'll deal with it.

I should also add that I'm not going alone. I have a friend with me. If I had to describe our relationship, it's kind of like a master-apprentice sort of thing. He leads and I follow. He'll be teaching me some new stuff about fighting and probably lots of other things along the way. He's also my best chance at helping me get my head together.

Before I end this letter, I want to assure you both. I will be dropping out of contact, so don't expect anything in the way of texts or calls, but I will be making one call on the first day of each month starting next month.

I don't know when I'll see you all again, but I think it will be a while and I'm sorry that you had to hear all this from a letter, but I didn't want to give either of you a chance to make me second-guess my decision.

I love you both,

Sincerely,

Ruby Rose

P.S. Be sure to take care of Zwei.

For future reference, I will be coining a lot of terms and phrases that military actually uses in order to immerse the story in as much realism as possible. The Master Chief is trying to turn Ruby into a sailor. I used the term soldier last chapter, but that's technically not correct. Soldiers refer to those that serve in the army. Since the Chief is a Navy Non-Commissioned Officer, he's should be referred to as a sailor.

Ruby's PTSD is something that I'm tackling very carefully as I've never personally experienced anything closer to it. It's going to be challenging to balance between this and developing her personality as well, which includes adding new things while maintaining some old things.

As for the Master Chief, he's got his own PTSD to get over too. Actually, his is far worse than Ruby's PTSD by many miles. That's going to be a beast to try and take apart and put back together, but as long as he's alive, he's still a Spartan-II and he still has a duty to the UNSC, regardless if he can reach them or not.

On a side note, next month, I have some news regarding my life going forward and how this will most likely affect my ability to write. I can't talk about it right now because there are no concrete details to speak of.

Thoughts? Reviews and feedback are most appreciated.

Thanks for reading.

"Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far."

Theodore Roosevelt