Chapter 11: You really need to know.
"And that's time up!" The green haired man said, moving towards the desk Noble Six was sitting at with such speed that it made her wonder if the legendarily fast Kelly-087 might've finally had somebody who could rival her.
Six sat up straight, setting her pen down on the desk and watching as the Professor picked up her maths paper, idly glancing through it. She didn't say anything, when an Instructor was doing something, experience had taught her that you worked at their pace and didn't do anything that might offend them unless you wanted your life to be more hellish.
"Very good, I see you finished the entire paper, excellent!" The man declared, zooming to put the test paper with the rest. "Did you find it difficult?"
Six hesitated before she shook her head.
"I've been taught mathematics extensively, I believe I did adequately." She admitted, getting a nod out of the teacher, Profess- no, Doctor Oobleck.
"Well, we'll find out in the coming weeks. I apologise that you have to wait so long, but you did show up at a rather unfortunate time for us teachers." The man said, pushing his glasses back into position before returning to the Spartan, looking at her curiously. Six waited for a few seconds, nervously tapping her desk. The sound reverberated in the vast exam hall which was empty aside from the teacher and herself.
Six had been contacted by Deputy Headmistress Goodwitch with a message telling her to report to the exam hall to take her entry tests. Apparently, they were the standard ones they'd offer to students wishing to enter from outside the kingdoms. It made some sense even if it didn't seem particularly fair, standard education wasn't guaranteed and this system would at least give outsiders a chance.
To the Spartan's annoyance, she hadn't gotten to any combat tests yet, after all it was the thing all Spartans were best at. Yes she had been taught academics extensively, but it wasn't what she was trained ultimately to do. Although she was somewhat grateful for the time to think, as it gave her a chance to consider a solution to her lingering weapon issue.
She'd already decided that she was going to rely on the Brute Chieftains gravity hammer for the exams, while it wasn't ideal due to its weight, she didn't have much of a choice, she had no idea how Dust ammunition would work with UNSC weapons and she was unwilling to use her very limited supply of ammunition on a test.
Even still, it's not like we can use the Gravity Hammer on full power, they'd die.
Oh but hitting them with it is just fine? Or with that blade?
It's better than turning them into a two dimensional splat on the ground.
"Miss Six, have you been listening to what I've been saying?" Professor Oobleck asked, a phrase that immediately drove Six into a state of minor panic, when an instructor asked that they knew full well you'd zoned out and your life was going to be hell very soon.
"No Sir!" She responded automatically.
"No need to shout." He said, a… Smile? On his face. Six tensed even more, that was never a good sign. "I just asked, why do you want to be a Huntress?"
Six was now doubly sure a punishment was sneaking up on her, still it would be worse if she was dishonest or took to long to answer so she took a breath and responded as cucintly as possible:
"Because I want to protect Hu… everyone." She said, correcting herself to make sure she included the Faunus, the fact she had to do that made her sick to her stomach. She was trained to protect everyone, it didn't matter to her if they had animal ears sticking out of their head or a tail, people were people and they deserved to be safe.
"That's very simple, it's also impossible." He pointed out, standing over Six and meeting her eyes. "You can never save everyone."
"Irelevent." Six forced out through gritted teeth. "Your enemy won't stop, you have to fight. And if you don't do something when you should have…" She shook her head firmly, she had to leave this line of thought and she had to do it fast. "You have to fight, you have to win, and if you die, then it doesn't matter, because you've protected those you left behind."
Six pushed herself up from the desk at that point, a small part of her was screaming at her to sit back down, that part of her was ignored as she straightened up.
"Permission to be dismissed, Sir." She asked, Knowing she'd completed the three tests set out for her this morning.
"Yes, you may go." The professor said, the last thing Six saw of him was him shuffling the three test papers she'd completed this morning. Six was sure he wanted to say something else, but she just picked up the pace, determined to leave before he could ask.
"Wow, you look like crap." Coco said, looking at the Spartan who barely looked up from her lunch.
"I didn't sleep very well last night." Noble Six responded, reaching for her apple and munching on it thoughtfully as the rest of Team CFVY sat down around her. They'd done the same thing that morning. Six had joined the line, taken her food and sat down in the far corner, and they'd come and found her. It wasn't unpleasant, but she wasn't sure why they were doing it.
We were comrades, maybe they just like eating with us?
That makes no sense, we barely knew each other.
We fought together, bonds form quickly on the battlefield.
That is what the textbook says word for word, at least think of a unique way of saying they're mad.
We're happy they're here, what does that say about us?
It says "shut up".
"Yeah we can tell." Coco muttered as she started eating her toasted panini, Velvet sat down next to her and smiled understandingly at Six.
"I get it, first day in an unfamiliar bed, I'm sure future nights will get better."
Six decided not to correct the rabbit girl on why she'd slept so badly, instead moving to eating the apple that came with her meal, biting into the fruit and ending up pleasantly surprised by how fresh it tasted. If there was one thing about Beacon Academy that she had no complaints about, it was the food.
"So Six, are you done with tests for the day?" Coco asked in the sort of tone that made anyone who heard it aware more was coming, still Six nodded.
"Great, so I was thinking we could sort you out some proper clothes, that tracksuit really isn't working for you and you badly need some proper support, also shoes." She confidently declared, looking down at the Spartan's bare feet under the table. "And maybe something to sort out your nails, they're kind of a mess. Also do you wear makeup? Cause I know some stuff that would look great on you!"
Six waited a few seconds to make sure the beret wearing girl was finished before responding flatly.
"No."
The way Coco looked at her reminded of the instructor who'd lost to her in knife training, a mix between total fury and complete disbelief that they'd been stabbed, but it recovered and the normal confident smile returned.
"Okay I get it, not one for dressing up, still I know some easy things you can try, and I've been thinking of some killer heels that-"
"No." Six said again, a bit more forcefully this time.
"But-"
Six slammed her hands down on the table, eyes locked with Coco.
"No, I am not wearing heels, or Makeup. It's unnecessary and either way I am busy this afternoon."
"With what!?" Coco asked, her expression now a mix of heartbreak and anger. "What the hell else are you doing?! You said you only had three tests to take in the morning!"
"I've been asked to explain UNSC and Covenant tech to the Headmaster and some visiting guests from Atlas." Six explained irritably. "It will probably take a while and I've got to make what time we have count, everybody involved has a loaded schedule. That's why I am unable to acquire new garments with you."
"Okay, fine." Coco said, waving her hand dismissively. "Tomorrow then, will you come with us to get you some clothes tomorrow?"
"Do not lump me in with you on this trip Coco." Fox said, a warning tone in his voice. "I already told you I wasn't going on another shopping trip with you."
"It wasn't-" Coco began before Yatsuhashi interrupted.
"I am with Fox on this one, I will not accompany you on another shopping trip."
Coco's scowl was impressive, matching what Six imagined Emile must have had on his face when he wasn't holding his knife or shotgun.
"Fine, Velvet, are you abandoning me as well?"
The rabbit girl bit her lip before shaking her head.
"No, I'll come, but you do have a tendency to go a little… overboard?" She offered awkwardly.
"And you come out looking amazing each time." Coco retorted, Velvet nodded, putting an affectionate arm around her girlfriend.
"Yes, but I also normally end up very tired and with feet begging for death. Just, please go easy on her."
"Fine… You will come tomorrow right? If we move fast after class we can probably get you some shoes and proper underwear." Coco said, looking at Six pointedly in the chest. Six nodded, proper support and footwear would be useful before taking any combat exams, especially given it had been nearly a week since she'd had any.
"Yes, though if something else comes up, it will take priority." Six answered, looking down at her tray. She'd already eaten the pasta she'd picked and the apple, all that was left was the brown cup, she peeled the lid off and looked at the brown substance inside. Pudding, or at least, that was what the label on the side called it.
Call me nuts but I don't think you're meant to eat liquid brown stuff.
It isn't that! Though it is still probably isn't good to put in our body.
Everyone else has one and every student here seems to be in good shape, it wouldn't hurt.
Fine, one time can't hurt.
Six took the spoon sitting on her tray and cautiously ate a mouthful of the substance. It was overwhelming, pleasant for sure, but a lot more than she was used to.
Definitely better than those ration bars.
Those bars kept us alive and healthy in that forest.
Yeah, and they were gross.
Six finished up quickly before checking the time on her scroll. She stood up and walked away before Coco called out to her.
"Tomorrow at 3:30, I want to see you on the landing pad!" Coco called. Six nodded, before calling back.
"No heels!"
Six had been waiting outside the elevator up Beacons main tower for fifteen minutes when the Headmaster and his guests arrived.
The two men accompanying Professor Ozpin were unique. One was a dark skinned man in a mechanical chair of some kind. The robotic legs were odd to Six, but then again, she wasn't about to criticise the "wheelchair" of a crippled man that she hadn't even properly met yet. Still, he looked kind, and greeted the Spartan with a wave. Six didn't respond to it because she was more focused on the other man.
Six instantly knew he was military. Something about the way he stood and moved screamed 'Officer' to her and she stood up a little straighter. Everything about him was pristine but not to an extent it felt like a show. His uniform was perfectly clean despite being largely white, and seemed to have been carefully put on and cared for. The only thing she found odd was his choice to wear a glove on one hand, that asymmetry was odd because everything else about him looked like photos on the guide to wearing dress uniforms.
"Ah Miss Six, you're here, good that means we can get started." Professor Ozpin said, Six's head snapping to look at him as he spoke. "Noble Six allow me to introduce you to one of Atlas' top scientific minds: Pietro Polendina, and General James Ironwood of the Atlesian military."
"Sir!" Six said, saluting before she even had the chance to wonder if she should.
"At ease." The General said, his expression unreadable to Six, who nodded and brought her hand down, looking down at the weapon attached to his hips. She felt a small smile creeping onto her face as she realised he was armed with a magnum. Not a sword, not a minigun disguised as a handbag, or a weird magic camera thing, just a straightforward gun.
At least some people have some respect for the classics around here.
Just you watch, that thing's got a deployable bayonet or something.
Don't tempt fate.
Professor Ozpin tapped on the controls to the elevator before placing his scroll alongside the screen, calling it and allowing the group to step in. Six waited until everyone else was inside before entering, facing the door as it descended. She could feel the eyes on the back of her head as they descended. She didn't say anything, her current situation was insane to her, never mind how anyone else saw it. Still, she had a job to do.
"Where are we going, Sir?" Six asked, turning to look at the headmaster who took a sip from his mug before answering calmly.
"The basement, well the third level basement." He explained as the elevator dinged. "It's the most reinforced level in the building, a good place to store everything we've been able to recover." He explained as the elevator dinged, the doors sliding open.
Six stepped out and looked around, for a basement it had a very tall ceiling, the amount of work needed to just clear the space was immense, let alone build all the intricate supports and lighting.
Still, she wasn't here to admire the architecture, she was here to look over the collection of UNSC and Covenant technology that the people of Remnant had collected. She was pleasantly surprised by the amount that they'd recovered, lined up on top of a row of crates was everything from armour to weapons, and even a very battered looking mongoose parked in the corner. It did somewhat remind her of the collections of contraband weapons that the Insurrections she'd fought in the past kept, but she tried not to think too hard about that part of her life.
"So, where should we start?" Six asked, looking up at the Headmaster, who seemed to think for a second before looking over at his guests.
"I don't know, what would you gentlemen like to learn about?"
"The Dust weapons." The General responded instantly, Pietro looking a little disappointed that the military man had answered before him. Even so, Six couldn't focus on that, instead she walked over to a crate covered in Covenant weapons, she gestured to a Needler lying on its back, with several shattered crystals sticking out the back.
"Do you mean this, Sir?" She asked, not actually touching the weapon, the General nodded.
"Yes, that kind of Dust is unknown to us. We've engaged 'Covenant' Troops armed with these weapons, and they've badly injured some of my men. I want to know what it is and how it works."
Six nodded, she understood that. Still she didn't reach for the gun, instead walking over to a crate loaded with various helmets.
"Very well, just let me find something." She said, scanning for an appropriate helmet, eventually reaching for a heavily burnt ODST helmet who's visor seemed to have survived undamaged unlike a lot of others on the crate. She lifted it up and concluded most of the damage was surface level, she then put it on, feeling around for the manual activation. It should have been working with her neural network but…
Eyup, lost that too. Fan-fucking-tastic!
That's probably permanent as well, unless Remnant's got Neural Laces all figured out… and I haven't seen anybody with one yet.
Just our luck.
She shook her head, smiling as it turned on, she was getting a lot of error messages from the vital tracking but that didn't matter. She then returned to the Needler and reached out for it, as soon as she touched it the weapon appeared on her hud, including the ammo count and more importantly, no warnings. She'd personally borne witness to more than one Grunt blow themselves apart by trying to handle a malfunctioning Needler, and while it was admittedly funny to watch, she had no intentions of sharing their fate.
"Apologies for the delay, the helmet can interface with the weapons, this Needler seems to be functioning safely." She explained, her voice slightly muffled by the helmet but not enough that anyone present was going to have a hard time understanding her.
"Ah so it's similar to the technology we use in our soldiers helmets." Pietro commented, leaning forward in his chair at the Spartan who nodded before reloading the needler.
"I will have to assume that you're correct." She said, not knowing anything about the Atlas' military tech. "Anyway, this is a Covenant weapon, we've dubbed it the Needler. It doesn't actually use Dust, it uses some kind of explosive substance called 'Subanese Crystal,' but most of the Marines on the ground just call it 'Blamite.'"
"It's not Dust?" The General asked, getting a nod from Six.
"Yes, truth be told I've never heard of Dust before I arrived on this planet. It's… a lot to comprehend." Six admitted before shaking her head. "Anyway, that's not important, you wanted an explanation for how it works, correct?"
After receiving a nod from Ironwood, Six continued.
"Needlers and Needle Rifles are heat seeking weapons, the tracking varies with Needlers usually having a stronger homing effect, however the danger comes from the needles supercombine. When too much Blamite is clustered together and not properly contained within the weapon, it reacts explosively. I could demonstrate, if you've got a proper target."
"I believe we can handle that." Ozpin said, a small smile on this face as he tapped his scroll a couple of times. Six wondered what he meant to do before lights further down the basement turned on, illuminating several targets. Six noted that most of them resembled various animals, Grimm, she guessed.
Makes sense, this is a school designed around combating monsters, not people.
A transparent blast shield also rose from the floor to protect the observers, which was just as well, as she would have suggested that they take cover from the inevitable storm of shrapnel that Needlers made.
"Permission to fire?" Six asked, getting a nod in return from the Headmaster.
"Let me get my camera set up." Pietro said, moving his chair to be next to the Spartan, a robotic arm sliding out of his chair, the camera on the end reminding Six of early human planetary Rovers. He began recording.
"This is Covenant Weapon log 1, the 'Needler'. Miss Six, whenever you're ready."
Six nodded, waiting until the chair was facing the target before she fired out seven shots, which surprisingly got stuck in the target instead of penetrating. This was odd, but they were only given a few seconds to notice this before the crystals reacted, a violent supercombination took place, and like a grenade, the target exploded.
"Okay, could you repeat the process with the 'Needle Rifle' now?" The old man asked, Six nodded and looked over the three sitting on the create, reaching for one and resisting her instincts to search the others for ammunition, she was just conducting a weapons drill, no need to overdo it.
Soon four shots had exited the rifle and another target had a blast hole instead of a head.
"So, what do you want me to fire next?" Six asked as she turned away from the target.
The afternoon passed like that for the rest of the day, with her clearly explaining every weapon present and warning them about the potential dangers of operating it. For obvious reasons, a lot of focus went towards the Covenant gear, but there was still the UNSC stockpile to go over.
"This is an Assault rifle, specifically the MA5B model. I personally prefer it to any competitors, the volume of fire tends to come in handy." Six said before shaking her head, personal thoughts didn't matter here. "Each magazine holds sixty rounds, and fires them at nine-hundred rounds a minute."
"You can empty that weapon in four seconds?" Pietro asked, looking shocked as Six nodded.
"Yes. Keep in mind, body armour was already dominating the field before we even encountered the Covenant. It might seem wasteful to fire so many rounds downrange, but when you're up against something like a Brute Chieftain or an Elite, you need the firepower."
While the Spartan was having as close to a good time as she did showing off the weapons, one did cause her pause.
The M6 G/GNR, or more popularly, the "Spartan Laser" was a truly impressive bit of kit. It had the firepower of the main gun of a tank, but it weighed less than a Heavy Machine Gun. Machined in mean, green titanium and carrying some of the same electronics that went into a suit of Mjolnir, it was perhaps the single most advanced firearm in the UNSC's entire arsenal. There was a considerably less impressive version that she'd gotten to use on Reach, but this one? This was the real deal, and somehow it had made its way to Remnant.
Don't touch that thing.
I need to, for the demonstration.
You are not worthy to lay your fingers on that weapon.
I…
Trying to ignore the argument in her head, she reached for the weapon and noticed, somewhat to her relief, that it was out of battery. Unfortunately for her future combat prospects, recharging it was pretty much not a possibility, since it could only be recharged by a very particular piece of equipment, and she didn't see one in the collection of gear that Ozpin and his allies had managed to scrounge up.
"Sorry, this one's out of battery. It's an anti-tank weapon, I might be able to get it working later but…" Six started to say, before her mind took over.
But what? You're a failure, that's what. Even if you could get that weapon running, you don't deserve it.
Stop it!
You don't even have your augmentations! You aren't worth the armour you were issued!
"Miss Six?" Pietro's voice shook her out of her internal debate. She looked up to see him looking at her clearly worried.
"Sorry, I just got lost in memory for a moment there." She said. "I think I might be able to figure out a way to charge this, but that would take me some time.
And you suddenly becoming less of a failure.
This time, she didn't give the irritating thought the acknowledgement it oh-so clearly wanted.
"Well that's a shame." Ozpin said calmly, taking another sip of his drink. "I believe that was the last weapon we had down here."
"It's not Sir." Six said, standing up and retrieving a Target Locator from one of the boxes. "This is the H-165, with proper satellite or aerial support it can be used to aid in bombardment of the selected targets… unfortunately without exterior hardwear it's fairly useless. If you've got any laser-guided artillery, you'd probably be able to sync this up to your Battlenet and use them, they're probably a good deal more precise than anything you have."
"I'll keep that in mind." The General said. Pietro also gave the weapon a closer look, to be perfectly honest, he could probably think of a better use for it than even Six could. She knew how to fight with her boots on the ground and how to follow orders, coordination between units and strategic command was definitely not her forte, nor to be honest, did she want it to be.
Can you even imagine trying to command an entire Division? Let alone multiple? With Air Support and Logistics to consider? It's a good thing we've got AI, I'm sure it's a headache and a half.
Yeah, and I'm sure you'd let them all get killed, just like your squad.
Again, she ignored the thought, it was meaningless, an abstract. What mattered was the weapons in front of her and the information she was sharing, it could help save lives, she had to focus.
"You mentioned satellites. Can you give us an explanation as to how you reach space and travel through it?" Pietro asked. There was a spark of excitement in his eyes that gave Six the indication that he wasn't thinking about the battlefield in the slightest, which she didn't know what to think of.
She took a long, deep breath. Astronavigation was, again, not her strong suit. Piloting a starship, or more frequently in her case, a starfighter, was something that she could do very well, but plotting Slipspace Jumps and navigating Eleven Dimensions of Spacetime was something even geniuses struggled with. Even explaining the concept of Slipspace to them made her head hurt, although much to her appreciation, Pietro seemed to grasp the concept impressively fast.
"I see. So it's a bit like taking a shortcut where none actually exists." Pietro said. "We've found a few computers that seemed to be geared towards navigating in space, but none of them actually had any data on them."
Six nodded, that made perfect sense. "The Cole Protocol necessitates that all astronavigation data be destroyed if there's a risk that it could fall into Covenant hands. If all of this equipment came from Reach, then it would've had that data deleted."
Pietro didn't seem to really grasp what she was saying, but Ironwood did. "The war must not have been going well if you were forced to do that."
"It wasn't." Six bluntly stated, there was no point in hiding the truth. "We can't hold our ground against the Covenant, not without unsustainable losses. All we can do is save as many people as we can and buy time."
So far, Ironwood's expression had been fairly steadfast, but at her words, he visibly frowned. "What about us, Six? Do you think we can hold our ground?"
Six nodded. "The Covenant's greatest strength is their advantage in space, and they don't have any starships with them here. As long as that doesn't change, we should be able to hunt them down and take them out."
At her words Ironwood's frown disappeared. "Then we won't give them the chance to breathe. Thank you for your time, Miss Six… Actually, that reminds me, you never gave us your rank."
You know, it's kind of surprising that nobody's asked me that yet. Six nodded. "I'm a Lieutenant."
"Then thank you, Lieutenant." Ironwood said. "I hope you can continue to help us if we find anything else."
She smiled, happy to have delivered some good news for a change. "It was no trouble at all sir, and absolutely. I'll put together a list of anything that's particularly dangerous to look out for."
"I'm sure our soldiers will appreciate it.." Pietro said.
Ironwood got a message on his scroll that he scowled at, it was an expression that Six was all too familiar with, the look of an officer forced to deal with bureaucracy. "Doctor, I'm afraid we're out of time."
Pietro looked just a bit deflated, but still gave Six one last smile. "It was nice to meet you, Miss Six."
For a moment, she didn't know what to say in response, so she decided to just guess. "Thanks, you too."
Ironwood and Pietro headed back up the elevator, but Ozpin lingered behind, and Six decided to as well. He had a look on his face like he wanted to say something, and as soon as the two Atlesians had gone, he spoke. "Miss Six, can I ask you to keep something confidential?"
Wonderful, more black ink.
Oh don't act like you're some saint, you've left hundreds of people to the crows.
"Yes Sir, what's the issue?" She asked.
Ozpin pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and unfolded it, before handing it over. It was a fairly standard post-action report that had been submitted sometime after a battle against the Covenant in 2547, and it had probably been in some Officer's filing cabinet when Reach fell. One line had been highlighted, and immediately, Six understood what was giving Ozpin grief.
"Doctor Oobleck found this document amid quite a few others." Ozpin said. "Most of it isn't relevant, but this one line stood out to me."
Six read it aloud, mentally picturing the scene as she did so. It wasn't hard, she'd seen similar sights before. "October 24th, Covenant Forces overran the city of Hoffnung and destroyed the UNSC and Militia Garrison. One Shiva Nuclear Missile was deployed, no survivors."
"One missile destroyed an entire city, a Human weapon." Ozpin effectively summarised. "Miss Six, examples of your technology have been found across all of Remnant, if a weapon like this found its way into the wrong hands…"
"It would be just as disastrous as you think it would, probably more." Six said, seeing no reason to lie. "Nuclear Missiles like that are designed to wipe entire cities off of the face of a planet, whatever the blast doesn't kill, the radiation will."
Ozpin grimly nodded. "We'll have to remain vigilant. If we find such a weapon, do you think you could disarm it?"
"Certainly." Six answered. Spartans were trained to operate more than just handheld weapons. "But, are you sure you wouldn't want to use it? What about the Grimm?"
Ozpin gave it a moment's thought, but eventually shook his head. "I fear that if we were ever forced into a position where such a weapon was needed, we would have already passed the point of no return."
"I understand." Six said, even though she honestly didn't.
Maybe it's because he's never watched a Covenant ship blown to pieces by one?
Or maybe it's because he's scared to watch one of his own cities vanish in a cloud of smoke and fire.
Whatever the case, they were done for the day, both of them had other things to attend to. Ozpin had a school to run, and Six, arguably just as importantly, had to find an excuse not to go clothes shopping with Coco.
Authors Note: A massive, massive thank you to KPMH2001 for his help with this chapter, I got so stuck he basically ended up writing a good chunk of it, specifically the back half with all the military tech and talk, that stuff is not my strong suit so thank you to him, go read his story The Men From Onyx, its good and a lot longer then this currently is.
