CHAPTER 12: OPERATION QUESTIONABLE LOYALTIES

1200 Hours, September 11, 2557 (Military Calendar) / Unknown System, Planet Remnant, Continent of Sanas

The Master Chief expected to be faced with many difficulties during his time on Remnant. With no UNSC military forces anywhere on this planet or in orbit and no form of long-range communication, he was on his own. With all of his knowledge and training and experience, he was trying to turn a fifteen-year-old girl into a worthy UNSC Navy personnel. Without any reinforcements, both himself and his protege were left to their own devices combating the Grimm. Those were the three primary problems that he was currently contending with, all of them he was prepared to deal with.

What the spartan was not prepared to deal with was the persistent problem child that was named Yang Xiao Long. Apparently knocking her out and putting some distance between themselves and her wasn't enough of a deterrent. A little over twenty-two hours after the first encounter, the blonde girl made contact again in an attempt to retrieve Ruby. Once again, the girl with silver eyes denied her sister. Because the older was reluctant to physically hurt the younger, it was easy for the trainee to use physical violence to once again subdue her.

But even after the second takedown and securing of Xiao Long, she once again found them the next day. The third time, Ruby combined her efforts with John in order to subdue the unwanted tag along. That should have been the end of it. Three times with the same problem was two too many.

It didn't work. Every day for the past week, it became expected for the blonde to catch up to them. Her presence was expected and eventually, by the fifth day, any efforts to contain her seemed pointless. How she was able to break her bonds and follow them neither the Chief nor his plus one knew. In a way, it was impressive that Xiao Long had managed to do all this time and time again. In any other situation, he would be somewhat impressed.

Nevertheless, these interruptions were a distraction that needed to be dealt with here and now, otherwise recruit training couldn't be completed in a timely and professional manner.

But in all honesty, Spartan 117 had no idea how best to handle a situation surrounded with highly charged emotions regarding family. The closest he had to a family were his fellow spartans and in many ways, he viewed Mendez and Halsey as his father and mother figures respectively. However, to say that it was a normal family would be a lie. Even with his memories of his old life now little more than a cloudy image, he knew that his entire life since the age of six was not normal.

Now that John was seeing a family interacting in a fashion that was no doubt common for civilians, he couldn't quite comprehend how it was that anything productive could be achieved with such counterproductive emotions on display. It went against everything he had been taught about discipline and maintaining control.

And he was once again witnessing it.

"How many times do I have to say it, Yang?" Ruby sat on a log, paying attention only to the SRS99 that she was cleaning. "I'm not going back."

"You've said it a billion times! I know!" Yang growled in response. "But you haven't given me a reason why!"

"And I won't tell you because I don't want to." Ruby's more tempered words at least helped to partially de-escalate the conversation. "It's that simple. I don't care if you like it or not."

"So what, you're just going to ignore us for the rest of your life, ignore me?!" Yang remained angered. "You know you can't do that!"

"I can and I am." Ruby reached for a piece of the barrel, still refusing to make eye contact. "And you can't stop me."

It was clear that nobody was willing to relent on what they believed. The two girls would continue on this endless debate with no clear solution in sight. The only reason that the Master Chief was allowing this to happen at all was because they were on a lunch break. Also, he wanted to see how his trainee would handle this situation.

While the spartan was impressed with the level of control that Ruby was exerting, he was unimpressed by this unwillingness to cooperate in any way, shape, or form with Yang. He wasn't invested in their relationship personally. It was more a matter of the younger refusing to even consider the elder's side. Of course, that sentiment could only be effective if it went both ways, which it certainly wasn't.

John almost felt like cutting this talk short, but due to failed efforts of containing the blonde girl, a new method needed to be used. He wasn't holding his breath when it came to what was happening now, but maybe he would be surprised.

Silence reigned for ten seconds before Yang began again. "Are we really not that trustworthy?! Is this dude that much better than us?! That gods damned robot?!"

"It's Master Chief Petty Officer." Ruby corrected promptly, locking eyes with her sister for the first time with a glare. "And he's human."

Xiao Long regarded him with a very hostile look, to which the spartan merely stood at attention, his MA5D held loosely in his hand pointed at the ground and his finger off the trigger. He didn't want to project himself as a threat, but he wanted her to make sure that she knew what would happen if she chose to get violent. The message got across to her as he remained unmoving save for the occasional shift in his rifle.

"Yeah, somehow this hunk of junk is better than your flesh and blood family." Yang snarked, returning her gaze to her sibling. "How nice of you to choose that thing over us."

"Yang, you will address him as either Master Chief Petty Officer or Master Chief." Ruby once again contradicted her opposite's words. "Or I swear to the gods I will deck you."

"Amazing." Yang laughed bitterly. "You really are brainwashed."

"Then I willingly chose to be brainwashed." Ruby didn't deny it. "We all have choices to make. I made mine."

Although the movement was very subtle, the spartan nodded his head lightly in approval. It would seem that his protege was gaining a little more confidence in herself. She was willing to stick by the decision she had made. All of her decisions she embraced and she would not blame anyone for her own mistakes. It would seem that her trustworthiness had grown, something that felt a bit of pride at.

"Do you even hear yourself, Ruby?!" Yang wasn't at all enthusiastic. "Have you lost your gods damned mind?!"

"Maybe I have." Ruby seemed content to sound indifferent. "If you want the full story, you'll have to get me drunk and regulations state that alcoholic beverages of any kind are prohibited during training not to mention that I hate the taste of booze."

Although the amount of words seemed unnecessary, the point was made. The silver-eyed girl would not be telling her secrets anytime soon and she wasn't about to budge on the matter no matter how much she was asked.

"Fine! Be that way!" Yang took a seat within a meter of her sister. "I'll stay here with you guys!"

"Oh, so my RTC is actually a person now?" Ruby still continued to focus on her work while lightly barking back. "You're getting better."

"Watch that smartass mouth, sister." Yang narrowed her eyes. "I can't force you to come home, but I sure as hell can make your training harder. I might as well crash your training party because it's screwed your head up."

Ruby merely gave a sidelong glance of mute annoyance.

John was usually never one to become impatient or frustrated, but Xiao Long was beginning to grate on his nerves. It seemed that she had no concept of what was going on here or why this was even happening. She seemed only content to view events from a narrow and extremely biased perspective.

"You will not interfere." The Master Chief declared resolutely. "Ruby will finish her training without or without your interference."

"Is that a threat?" Yang's eyes switched from lilac to red every time she blinked.

"No, merely a statement of fact." Spartan 117 did not relent. "One way or another, my recruit will complete her training. Unless you intend to join us, then your presence here is unnecessary."

"Like you know anything about our family." Yang sneered. "What the hell do you even know about Ruby?!"

"Recruit, once you are finished cleaning your rifle, return to the range." John soundly chose to ignore the blonde girl. "You have ten mikes. Step to it."

"Aye, Master Chief." Ruby's response was automatic. "I'll step off in five."

Engaging in a conflict, physical or otherwise, with Yang Xiao Long was a complete and utter waste of time. He and the girl with black hair ending in red tips had much more to do.

Perhaps intentionally overlooking their unwelcome guest was for the best.

Halo - - - RWBY

1600 Hours

Orders were to be obeyed. That was how it worked during this phase. The whole point of testing her ability to follow instructions was to ensure that she could be a capable team player. At least, that's how Ruby was interpreting the eight weeks of her life that was training.

But it wasn't hard to believe that in any branch of any military in any kingdom, this was the norm. After all, people that couldn't work together were liable to get killed in actual combat. That's what the Master Chief had said anyway and the more she thought about it, the more she realized that he was correct.

Relating his words back to her near-death experience, Ruby could see clear as day that without his help, she would have died at the paws of the Grimm and with each passing day, she came to view her old dream of being a lone heroine who saved everyone as nothing more than sheer stupidity. Where did she get the arrogant notion in her head that she was capable of saving the world alone? Had she always been so naive as to think that she could solve a millenia-old problem by herself? Were other kids her age like this?

Whatever the case, the silver-eyed girl could only regard her old self with lots of cynicism, especially when her older sister refused to let up on bringing her back home and trying to bring out the past version of herself. Yang made it sound like returning to her old self would be a walk in the park. If only it were that simple and even if it was, the fifteen-year old would probably choose to continue down the path she was currently on.

In the end, Ruby couldn't think of anything else to dissuade her elder sibling from trying to convince her to go back home. The Chief picked up on this as well and he had ordered her to proceed with training regardless. If they had to, they would ignore any and all interruptions unless they directly infringed upon what they were doing. That was enough for the trainee.

But it was to their advantage to perform training that depicted less tortious acts. Target practice on the makeshift range was just that. With her SRS99D, the former aspiring huntress carefully laid prone and shoulder the heavy sniper rifle into her shoulder. Once she was comfortable, she began making necessary adjustments to her scope. She was now training without the help of the Master Chief as a spotter so she needed to make sure that all of her calculations were spot-on the first time.

Once done with this task, Ruby carefully began to monitor her breathing. This was a part of shooting that she had never given much thought to in her previous shooting training, but once she learned and implemented proper breathing techniques, she was amazed at just how much of a difference she saw in her accuracy. At the rate she was going, she was hitting her intended target nine times out of ten and the tenth shot was a misfire.

The girl of fifteen years took her first shot. The round travelled a kilometer before striking her target, which was a makeshift dummy made of some tree branches. The empty shell was swiftly ejected following the shot. The next three shots also struck their targets dead on with only mere centimeters between each shot. Once the magazine was empty, she quickly reloaded, a feat that she had been practicing in order to commit the action into her muscle memory. Her best record was two seconds flat so far.

Once her fresh mag was inserted and her next shot in the chamber ready to fire, she set her sights on the next target. Because she was proving herself as a capable marksman, sniper training was made increasingly harder. The Chief was having her shoot farther out than a kilometer. Occasionally, he would throw in some moving obstacles. Apparently, he wasn't just capable of getting weapons from seemingly nowhere. Now he could summon drones of unknown design as well.

Even if she was learning and applying discipline every day, her engineering side couldn't help but marvel at all of it still. It was just too bad that she couldn't yet ask for the details. Maybe one training was done, she could get more details.

Ruby adjusted the rifle stock against her shoulder and zeroed in on the target 1500 meters out. It was positioned on a hill that was inclined to the northeast. She made the necessary calculations in windage and accounted for the elevation of the target. She felt some sweat trickling down her face, but the sensation only distracted her for a moment before she controlled her breathings.

She pulled the trigger, waiting a couple seconds before the round hit its mark. She waited another second to look down her scope to confirm her hit before firing the remaining three rounds in rapid succession, each one nearly overlapping the other on impact. Releasing her breath and breathing normally, she surveyed her handiwork.

"Nice." Ruby let a small smile grace her features for a moment before she became serious again. "Now it's go time."

Two kilometers. That was her ultimate goal. If she could hit a target from that range on point consistently, she would be very happy, but longer distances meant even more adjustments in order to ensure that the trajectory of her shots were true.

Once again, she quickly swapped out magazines before zooming in as close as she could. She adjusted the SRS99D, looked down the scope and began to breath.

She had the perfect shot and she was going to ace it.

Her trigger finger began to bend slowly.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two

One.

"BOO!" Yang suddenly appeared in her scope.

"What the fu- YANG!" Ruby lifted her head with a frown on her face. "Get out of the way!"

"No, I don't think I will." Yang just sat in front of her rifle. "I think I'll just casually screw up your training."

"Yang, are you being serious?" Ruby threw her arms up in exasperation. "You can't convince me, so you're going to sabotage me? Real mature."

"You're one to talk about maturity, Rubes." Yang snarked. "You ran away from home, you didn't tell us why, you refuse to even listen to me, all to go train with a cyborg."

"Okay, first of all, the Master Chief is a human. If you're going to insult him, pick a term and stick with it." Ruby began listing off her problems. "Second, I didn't run away from home. I left home to forge my own life. Third, I'm not obligated to tell you or dad anything about what happened."

"It looks like we're at an impasse." Yang intentionally obscured as much as possible as she stretched her body in an exaggerated fashion. "Oh, well. Guess I'm not getting out of your hair."

"Do you really want to suffer another humiliation again?" Ruby reminded her sister. "We've beat you multiple times before. We can do it again."

"Pssh, what are you talking about?" Yang pretended like she didn't hear about being beat. "I've never lost a fight, but even if you somehow did manage to kick my butt, I'll always be on yours no matter where you go."

"Fine." Ruby decided that this wasn't working. "Be that way. I'm going to find the Master Chief."

Ruby picked up the sniper rifle and pocketed the remaining magazines scattered around. The weapon was very large and admittedly, she couldn't carry it without the help of aura enhancing her strength. She hoped that her trainer wouldn't be too bent out of shape over this little violation.

"What's your hurry, little sister?" Yang jumped up to place an arm over the shorter girl's neck. "Why don't you let old me handle that for you? It looks really heavy."

"Thanks, but no." Ruby shrugged off the gesture. "I can take care of myself. I don't need you coddling me."

It would be easier if she used her semblance and got away from her elder sister, but she wasn't about to break another rule. She would just have to tough this one out. All that the former scythe-wielder needed to do was treat Yang's presence as a test. From this point forward, she would not react to anything at all that the blonde girl said or did. That would just invoke further provocation.

Just shut it out. Ruby chanted to herself. You're training to be a special operator. You don't have time to be distracted by every little thing.

Once she made up her mind, the silver-eyed girl trudged along with her bimbo of a sister in tow. Mere months ago, the idea of insulting her sister like she just did in her head would have left her aghast. The idea of insulting anyone at all would have left her uncomfortable. She just wasn't that type of person.

How times were changing.

RWBY - - - Halo

2200 Hours

Yang, for the first time in her life, was at an absolute loss for what to do. Usually when it came to pretty much anything in life, she was guaranteed to have it. When she was a child, she always got what she wanted. The idea that she could always get what she wanted persisted all the way to the present. Although her dad wasn't babying her anymore, she had her own ways of getting what she wanted. She had a killer body and she knew how to use it to get boys to do what she wanted when she wanted.

And on the off chance that she couldn't get what she wanted when she wanted, she had her fists, her aura, and her semblance to see her through any situation. While most guys responded to her leading them on, if that didn't work, they would most definitely respond to violence. She had yet to meet anyone who could provide her with a true challenge and she eagerly waited for that day.

Plus, she was really good at sweet-talking. It was a skill she had developed over time. This skill was more universal and it was applied often considering that she did well in social environments overall.

When it came down to it, she never lost in any situation and in the case of Ruby running away from home, she thought this would be no different.

Now, a week after finding her baby sister, Yang was having absolutely no success no matter what she tried.

Fighting had proven ineffectual. After sustaining consecutive losses, despite her pride, she was forced to admit defeat on that front. She could easily best Ruby in single combat, but that damn robot-cyborg thing wouldn't cave no matter what she did. Even if she was a hothead, the brawler wasn't stupid. She wasn't getting anywhere with this approach.

The next thing she did was attempt to convince her little sister that this was all wrong. To her credit, Yang did well to keep her shock off her face, but nonetheless, she was shocked to find Ruby unresponsive to any form of persuasion. Instead of a stammered reply or a flushed face, there was only indifference or outright cold hostility.

Yang wasn't about to try and seduce anyone because despite Ruby's claim that this Master Chief was a guy, she wasn't convinced. No man could walk and talk like that. In her experience, all guys were very easily distracted and there was still doubt as to whether or not a man or a robot existed in that shell.

But the blonde girl persisted with her efforts all the way until the silver-eyed girl turned in for the night with not a word for her dear older sister, yet she wished that hunk of junk a good night.

The brawler, once she knew for sure that Ruby was asleep, turned her attention towards the one thing that was standing in the way between her and her family. She was still mad, but she reminded herself that unless she wanted another beatdown, she would need to attempt a diplomatic conversation.

So Yang went in guns blazing, much to her distaste. "What are your intentions with my sister."

"To train Ruby Rose as I was trained." The Master Chief stood at attention with a rifle held loosely. "Per her request."

Yang lightly grit her teeth. "Yeah, like convincing a fifteen year-old girl with dreams of being a hero is hard."

"Her reasons for joining me are her own and I have no need to hear them." The golden visor met her eyes. "But regardless of her reasons, she is here by choice and she is enduring this training by choice."

"It's not like her to want to do something like… whatever you're doing." Yang still didn't like it. "If I know my sister as well as I think I do, this something she would never think to do on her own."

The entire day spent she observed what sort of training went on. To say that she was unhappy about it was a gross understatement. The training seemed almost inhumane at times. Physically, Ruby was pushed over and over again. She was not afforded many efforts to rest and her progress was constantly monitored by the green giant. If there was even so much as one slip up, he was upon her in an instant and the girl with silver eyes was forced to move on.

Obstacle courses, calisthenics, running, training drills, lessons, more of everything before, it was a never-ending cycle and there was only enough time for short breaks in between as well as meals. For the most part, it was a day constantly filled with something to do. The only time that wasn't filled was the hour before Ruby went to sleep.

If this was to represent what was going on every day for the past few weeks, then Yang hated this robot even more.

But he wasn't the least bit rattled by any of this. His response was to merely stare at her and not even so much as flinch. That made her infinitely more angry. It was like she couldn't win no matter what she did. If this was the feeling of losing, then she hated it. If she could help it, something like this would never happen again, this she vowed.

Men, for all of their faults, had souls. This thing did not have a soul.

Why even call it a "he?"

"There are gaps in your knowledge." The Master Chief answered her. "And what you don't know is the reason why we are all here today."

"I'm not an idiot. I already know that much, smartass." Yang remarked sarcastically. "What else is new?"

The conversation lulled for a minute. Their conversation was held relatively quiet so as not to wake up the sleeping Ruby. The fire that was crackling also helped to somewhat drown out the noise. This silence was maddening and she wanted to hit him, but again, her losses and her wounded pride held her back.

"Do you not trust your sister at all?" The armored presence questioned abruptly.

"I trust her just fine." Yang didn't let up with her glares. "It's you who I don't trust."

"I say again, this was her choice." The Master Chief was starting to sound like a broken record. "I didn't f-"

"Gods, just shut the fuck up." Yang threw a middle finger. "I don't want to talk to you."

The titan ignored her action. "Then why are you here?"

"I'm here for my sister." Yang declared with her most intimidating voice. "I might not be able to beat you now, but make no mistake, I will get her back. You'd better watch your back, buddy because I will wreck you. That's a promise. I'd rather die than lose another of my family, but what would a machine know about family or even basic humanity?"

Her words seemed to have some sort of effect. His body remained facing her, but his head turned to his right and he stared off into the black night with no more words to offer. It was enough for now and the brawler just bowed her head into her hands and sighed in exhaustion.

She talked a big game, but she was out of ideas and frankly, she had no idea how she could lure Ruby away from here short of ambushing her sister, knocking her unconscious, and rushing back to Vale. That idea lasted all of five seconds before she realized that most likely, she wouldn't get far before she was captured by the Master Chief. There was also the small possibility that Ruby might take more drastic actions once she awoke, maybe sever all ties to the family or something else.

Yang had no idea what a worst-case scenario would look like in reality, but her mind was concocting all sorts of suggestions, none of which suited her.

But there had to be a way for the family to reunite. She had come too far and suffered too much just to see it all end here. The more she thought about the future of her family, the more it brought a chill down her spine.

By chance, her eyes wandered to the towering armored being, his helmet's gold visor still looking to his side, but now his rifle was hanging loosely at his side, held only by his right hand.

"She said that to me once… about being a machine."

The words were so soft that had Yang not been focusing on him, she wouldn't have heard him, but she did and when her ears picked it up, she could hear something else besides the stone cold indifference and might that usually dominated that very low voice. It was the sort of thing that sounded not at all like a robot or a machine and more like a man who was grieving over someone or something.

No matter the blonde girl's dislike of him, she began to wonder if there was indeed a man underneath all of that high-tech gear.

Halo - - - RWBY

0300 Hours, September 12, 2557 (Military Calendar)

The Master Chief got no sleep during the night until he saw Xiao Long succumb to fatigue and was asleep herself. Once that was done, after checking to make sure that their surroundings were clear, he got a couple of hours of shut eye, awaking only now to get ready for the next set of activities, tasks, and chores needed for training. In order to do these things without awakening the two teenage girls, he quietly maneuvered all the necessary gear and equipment to the training area.

Putting aside the consistent interruptions courtesy of the girl with lilac eyes, Ruby's combat readiness level was increasing rapidly and she was now being put through a battery of different tests to assess her ability to adapt and make snap judgements with only seconds to react to changing conditions. Such things were necessary in order to simulate the realities of combat.

Spartan 117 made these tests even harder by placing his trainee in unfavorable situations like her having to face hypothetical enemies from low ground or limiting the number of magazines available to her or even doing technical word while in the middle of a firefight. Basically, the more scenarios that she had experience with in training, the more she would be prepared in the future.

What was helping all of this training was the war veteran's surging proficiency in his newfound summoning ability. About four nights ago, he had experimented with summoning equipment. The Z-2500 Automated Protection Drone was particularly useful in simulating combat with multiple hostels. Although fighting alone was ill-advised, it was better to be safe than sorry as his experiences on Halo had proven.

As John set about getting the day started, he felt himself a little sluggish. Although he had gotten a couple hours of sleep, his rest was not particularly helpful, quite the opposite in fact. Although he didn't give many indicators outwardly, Xiao Long's words had struck a cord with him.

She called him a machine that was incapable of understanding people let alone families. To an extent, he disagreed with that wording. He knew perfectly well what it meant to have a family. His fellow Spartan-II's had been his family and he would have gone to the ends of the galaxy for them in order to see them through the mission.

But it wasn't that part which he fixated on. It was the part about humanity that he thought about numerous times over. If Cortana were here right now, she would probably be in agreement with the brawler. He knew more about being a machine than he did about being a human even though he was a human.

Being human meant being emotional and being selfish, two things that the Master Chief was most definitely not. He couldn't afford to embrace that which could lead him to making errors in battle. Humans were flawed, imperfect creatures and he and the Spartan-II's were created to reduce those weaknesses, maybe even eliminate them entirely.

But they weren't invincible. They weren't perfect. Just like any other human, Spartans died too. Despite ONI Directive 930's mandate to list all Spartan-II's as MIA in the event of a KIA, the fact remained that so few of the Spartan-II's were actually alive and fewer still were actually MIA. Death was a permanent state and nothing could be done to bring the dead back. It signified the end of the road, the ultimate black mark of imperfection in combat.

Yet here he stood.

Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 of the United Nations Space Command Navy, assigned to the Special Weapons Division, callsign Sierra-117. He was Humanity's ultimate hero, the person that all men and women of the UNSC looked up to as a shining example of what it meant to serve in the military.

Spartan-II's were not perfect, yet they were meant to be the sword and shield of Mankind.

He was supposed to be the sword and shield of Mankind.

That meant he couldn't afford to be human.

Not while Mankind was still in need of him here on Remnant.

His resolve hardened, he pushed aside his doubts and concerns. He had a recruit to train and not enough time to do so.

As I hinted in the previous chapter, Yang's role in this story is far from over. It's going to take at least a few more chapters to fully integrate her into the story and finalize her place and she's the second character from the RWBY side to join the fold. There will be plenty more to come, make no mistake about that. I'll leave it to you guys to figure out who's to come next.

Also, a reminder to those of you who may have questions regarding if there will be other Halo characters features. The answer is NO. The Master Chief will be the ONLY character featured from the Halo side of things.

And boy does the Master Chief have some work to do in order to open up about his true backstory let alone his personal baggage because he's sure got a lot of stuff to unload and until this point, he's never been afforded a chance to do so.

While I introduce new characters, the ones that are established will continued to develop and grow as well. They will evolve and grow, but there will still be some traces of the old versions of themselves. Our pasts always define us in one way or another whether we know it or not.

Thoughts about this chapter? Reviews and feedback and are appreciated.

Thanks for reading and I hope you're all doing you best in these tough times.

"Wisdom begins in wonder."

Socrates