Aaaaand its finally fucking done! This thing went through a kind of development hell, with me writing, deleting, re-writing, deleting again, and using modified versions of the original script on several of the sections. That's part of the reason why this took so long to get out. The other reason is that I was in Georgia for a significant amount of time watching my brother's graduation from AIT. Also, the release of CK2 Holy Fury may or may not have had a contributing factor to my tardiness…
Due to many, many people having trouble determining who's who just after a character switch, I'm going to be directly stating who they are as well as giving an extremely brief description of where they are.
One last thing, its kinda up in the air if "A Summer's Harvest" will be posted at the same time as ch14 of Ruby B-312. I'm still going to shoot for it, but I make no promises.
Edited for clarity and/or minor fixes 4/30/19
Chapter Thirteen – Frozen Hell
/-\ Jacob Keyes; UNSC Pillar of Autumn - Slipspace /-\
"Damage report, Cortana." I ordered as the portal closed behind us.
The avatar of a blue woman appeared over the single holotank on the bridge. "A few scorch marks on the armor from near-misses, but other than that, nothing. Armor and hull integrity at 100%, life support online, weapons online, everything is online and working perfectly."
I nodded. "Good, anything else to report?"
She hummed. "Well, I did detect two anomalies before we left."
I raised an eyebrow. "Did the Covenant cause them?"
"No sir."
"Good, rig us for silent running." I said shortly before the lights dimmed. "Not much else to do, any idea what the anomalies were?"
She shook her head. "No sir. One occurred in the relative vicinity of Sierra-B312's last known location and the other near the UNSC Greenisle a few thousand kilometers away from where we jumped."
I sighed. "Figures B-312 would cause an anomaly. Just because I'm curious, give me a rundown of the events."
"The one groundside occurred first and lasted approximately fifteen femtoseconds, approximately one-point-two minutes later, the second occurred and was still ongoing when we left. Last I checked, the Greenisle, Odinsdottir, Road Paved With Red, Devil's Hand, and a CAS-class battlegroup were headed into the anomaly. Both events were similar to standard slipspace ruptures, though they are also different according to the readings. Unfortunately, there is insufficient data to make a solid hypothesis on what effect those differences would have."
I hummed. "Very well. Hopefully we can escape."
She gave me a sad smile. "I think we both know how well that will work out…"
/-\ Ruby Rose; Xiao Long homestead /-\
I slammed a magazine into Blush before sheathing Wilt into it; quickly placing the looted weapon on my right hip, adjacent to the four reserve magazines. On the same leg, just above my tactical softcase, I magnetized my Magnum. I powered up Onyx Rose, its readout displaying a full sixty rounds in its current magazine, and stowed it on my back. I thought about bringing my shotgun as well, but I had left it back at Beacon…
…along with all but one of my grenades; a Frost Frag.
I burst into the living room, seeing Tai and Qrow both standing around, confused looks on their faces. Suddenly, Qrow's eyes narrowed at my covered face. "Where did you get that?" He said in a low voice as he pointed at my sword.
I smirked under my helmet. "Heh, only from the most arrogant Bull Faunus to walk the face of Remnant." My smirk fell. "But we can talk about that later. Right now, we need to get to Atlas."
Qrow opened his mouth, but was swiftly cut off by the armored footfalls of my squa- 'Team.' I reminded myself, sprinting down the stairs. "Weapons check!" I ordered. They both unslung their firearms and gave them a once-over before nodding.
"Six mags plus four belts; one High-Explosive." Yang announced.
"Six mags of seven-six-two and twelve mags of point-forty-five auto; two Smokes." Blake responded.
I nodded and turned off my intercom before switching on the radio. "Radio check."
"Lima Charlie." / "Lima Charlie." Came their responses.
I nodded and reactivated my intercom. "Alright, Operation is a go!" The three of us turned and sprinted out the door with me grabbing the keys to the car on the way out. I slammed the door shut and was just about to drive off when Tai ran up to the window, frantically knocking on it.
"Hey!" He shouted. "What gives?!"
"I wasn't kidding when I said there's a goddamn alien invasion happening. Either sit down or hang on, we're leaving in about ten seconds!" Qrow quickly made up his mind and jumped into the back seat. "What?! But this is my car! You can't- WOAH!" He yelled as I took off. "RUBY! STOOOOOOOP!"
I giggled. "Hey, I said sit down or hang on! Not my fault you chose the latter!" I turned the wheel sharply, skidding onto a dirt road and throwing my father onto the roof. "There! Now you've got a seat! Happy?!"
"NO! STOOOOOOO-" I drove under a low-hanging tree branch. "Blegh! Gah!"
I saw another bend coming up. "Blake! You take the middle and open your door." She obeyed right as I forced the car to drift right, sending my father careening over the edge again. By the time he had gotten airborne, I had already punched out my window and grabbed him. Using my augmented strength, I threw him into the back. He landed just as I needed to make another turn, slamming the door shut behind him.
I heard him groan. "Ugh, I think Raven was in that tree…"
"What?" My sister asked.
"I think a raven was in that tree." He swiftly corrected.
Qrow audibly winced at Tai's statement before addressing me. "So, kiddo, mind telling my why you're driving worse than me after a few drinks?" He said, oddly calm about my driving.
I took another hard right, nearly sideswiping a truck. "Hey! There's a difference between bad driving and being in a hurry!"
"Pfft, you act like the world's ending." He said sarcastically.
"It is!" Yang, Blake, and I replied simultaneously.
The car burst through a chain-link fence…
…or at least tried to… "Goddamnit…" I muttered. "Everyone out! We're here!" I yelled swiftly dismounting. "Up and over!" Just as I had vaulted over the fence, a flash of light erupted around us, temporarily overwhelming the evening sun. As the light began to fade, radiation alarms blared in my helmet. My eyes widened and I looked up… …and saw the last remnants of a spaceborne nuclear fireball dying out.
With a mere thought, I activated my naval-based IFF system. A grin spread across my face as the icons for four, albeit low tonnage, UNSC ships appeared. But that grin slowly disappeared as I realized the state they were in; the Paris-class frigate had been crew-killed for whatever reason, one of the two destroyers was heavily damaged with the other covering the retreat of an undamaged Charon-class that looked to be the flagship.
I tuned my radio to a secure naval frequency. "This is Sierra-B312 to UNSC Odinsdottir, how copy?"
After a few seconds, likely processing my authentication package, I received a response. "Copy Sierra, the Odinsdottir has you loud and clear."
I breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. As unlikely as it seems, there are Humans on this planet, and they've already engaged Covenant forces in the north. One of my team members is already there and we're en route, but we could use a lift if you could spare one."
"Roger, diverting a Pelican to your location. Anything else you can tell us in the meantime?"
"Okay, first off, do not deploy any troops outside the walls of any city. This planet is inhabited by a class of extremely dangerous and extremely hostile predators that I doubt even the Bjørnssønner would walk away from." I paused. "By the way, do you have any of 'em with you?"
"Ay-firm. They're in the tubes."
"Good. Have 'em be on the lookout for a short woman in white ODST-like armor by the name of 'Weiss Schnee'."
"Copy that." One of the destroyers' icons disappeared from my HUD and the other showed that she was falling towards the planet; its thrusters making sure it wouldn't burn up, but not much else. "Be advised, Covenant have orbital supremacy and we're pulling back."
I sighed. "Copy." Just then, I remembered that the Paris-class had been crew-killed. "Odinsdottir, status on Greenisle's Cole Protocol?"
"Unconfirmed."
"Shit." I swore. "Have the rest of my team dropped off in the north, I'll make sure the covvies don't get their hands on anything important."
"Copy, B312. Odinsdottir out."
I sighed again before turning to my team. "Well, good news and bad news."
Qrow raised an eyebrow. "Guessin' it had somethin' to do with that flash a minute ago."
"Heh, yeah. That, Qrow, was the UNSC nuking some unlucky covvie ship." Though their expressions were unreadable beneath their polarized helmets, I could tell that Blake and Yang were both understandably apprehensive at the thought of nukes being used on Remnant. "Don't worry, it was in orbit." I said to them before they let out a breath I doubt they knew they were holding. "Anyways, Navy guys fucked up and got one of their frigates crew-killed without destroying everything. You guys'll go to Atlas and link up with Weiss while I scuttle the ship. All goes well, I'll drop feet first into hell just in time to save your asses."
"Let us come with you," Yang started. "we can help!"
"Yeah, you can. But your suits aren't vacuum-rated, and considering the ship I'm boarding went dark, it's possible that there's no air in there." I paused. "And I am not going to risk you dying from something as stupid as that." I said before thrusting Onyx Rose into Yang's arms, to which she tilted her head in confusion. "Dust doesn't work in orbit. I'll be back for that."
Just then, I heard the telltale whistle of a Pelican coming in for a landing. "Alright ladies! Our ride's here!" I said shortly before the craft landed and dropped its rear hatch. "Move! Move!" I yelled at everyone, joining them after they had all filed in and grabbed a handhold hanging from the ceiling. "ALL IN!" I yelled to the pilot, who raised the ramp and promptly took off.
"Woah…" One of the Marines, part of the squad already occupying the Pelican, said.
"A Spartan?" Another said. "Here?!" He continues, hope written all over his face.
"We're gonna be alright, man!" Yet another said to his battle-buddy sitting next to him. "We're gonna be alright!"
My uncle smirked. "Looks like you have some fans, kiddo."
"Heh, well… the covvies don't call us demons for nothing."
He blinked. "They compare you to grimm?"
"Ha!" Yang let out. "If you saw her in action, you'd agree with them!"
With a small smile, I interrupted their banter. "Alright, that's enough. I need to brief you." I said, gaining their full attention. "Its fairly likely that you'll encounter a special group of ODSTs called the Bjørnssønner, they all carry melee weapons and are the best non-spartan soldiers available to the UNSC. They don't have aura, though, so don't have them fight like a huntsman or they'll get slaughtered. That said, they're the closest thing the UNSC has to fully-fledged huntsmen." A loud clunk sounded throughout the hull. "Well, looks like this is my stop." I turned specifically to Blake. "You're in charge until you link up with Weiss." The rear door dropped, revealing the busy hangar of a Charon-class frigate. "Remember your training and you'll come out just fine. Heh, keep the FNGs alive will ya, Helljumpers?"
A smirk crawled its way onto my hidden face as they both responded with a resounding "Oorah!"
I grabbed an M45 off the ceiling of the Pelican before departing, the ramp slamming shut behind me and the craft itself returning to the void. I clamped the shotgun onto my back just as a naval officer strode up to me. I stood at attention and gave him a salute, to which he returned it. "At ease, Spartan."
I dropped my hand, still remaining at attention. "What are my orders, Commander?" I had learned his rank through his uniform.
"You said it yourself, you're gonna board the Greenisle and enforce the Cole Protocol. Can you fly?"
A smirk crossed my face under my helmet and I nodded. "Yes sir."
"Good." He turned away and motioned for me to follow him. "I don't know your clearance level, but we managed to pick up an experimental fighter of some kind on our way out. Pilot was heavily wounded and died in the medbay a few days ago. We managed to patch it up, but no one here knows how to fly it." He explained as we walked through the busy hangar bay.
Eventually, we came to a small berthing…
…and I immediately recognized what was inside. "It's a YSS-1000 'Sabre' prototype anti-ship spaceplane." I said, eliciting a raised eyebrow from the Commander. "I've flown a couple in the past." I sighed, remembering the last time I did. "Did the Greenisle have any nukes?" I asked.
"I think it had one, but I'd have to double check." He said as he brought up a datapad. He pressed a few buttons before nodding. "Inventory shows a single FENRIS-class nuclear warhead."
I nodded. "Alright, that's all I needed to know." I popped open the cockpit of my new Sabre. "Better not waste time, my callsign will be..." I paused as I thought of one. "Sabre Bravo-three-one-two."
He nodded. "Dismissed, Spartan." He said before walking away.
I climbed into the craft and did a quick pre-flight check, to which everything was green. I opened the comms. "Sabre Bravo-three-one-two to Odinsdottir Actual, requesting permission to take off."
"Saber Bravo-three-one-two, your request has been granted on order of Commander Witherson."
"Copy, Actual." I said. A loud thunk resounded throughout the bay, signifying the closure of the inner doors. Seconds later, the outer doors opened and my ship was magnetically catapulted into the void. "Launch successful, Actual." I said as the engines ignited.
"Copy. Uploading coordinates of the Greenisle now."
"Received. En route." I smirked as I hit the afterburners, screaming towards my target.
/-\ Weiss Schnee; Atlas CCT – Courtyard /-\
"Weiss Schnee?" The leader of the black-armored ODSTs asked.
I nodded, de-polarizing my visor to match him. "That is I." I let a smirk show on my face. "Nice of you to drop in, trooper."
The rest of his squad got close enough for me to examine them. He himself looked fairly standard, were it not for the antenna on his helmet and the golden stripe on his left shoulder. He wielded a BR55, like myself, and had a pistol at his hip. Strangely, he had a medium-length sword at his other hip; the same as two of his squadmates.
Another one approached, his uniform even plainer than the one who approached me. He held his MA5B in a low-ready stance, yet, while it was somewhat relaxed, the stance also allowed him to react quickly to anything; a stance which was shared by both the first and third member of his squad.
The next man was a burly one, and his armor was also the bulkiest. While he cradled an unsuppressed submachine gun, his primary armament was on his back: A large, two-barreled, rocket launcher. His bulky armor was accented by a purple stripe on his right shoulder as well as two horn-shaped paintings on either side of his helmet.
The final member was obviously inexperienced, as he clutched his suppressed SMG for dear life. His armor was almost shiny, unlike his teammates, and was completely plain. He was also the only one without a sword.
The leader nodded in response before I suddenly realized something. "Wait a minute, how did you know who I am?"
He shrugged. "I dunno, command said to be on the lookout for someone matching your description." As he drew closer, I got a better look at his face. He appeared to be in his late teens or early twenties and had a large scar running diagonally from his left eyebrow down to below his right cheekbone. His hair was hidden by his helmet, even with the de-polarized visor, but judging by his unusually pale skin and befreckled face, it was exceedingly likely that it was some shade of red. Deep blue eyes looked me over as he waved his three teammates forward. "Sergeant Bergström," He introduced. "this is Beta-Two of the 15th Raiders." He paused while his allies caught up. "Alright, we don't officially have any orders other than 'Kill covvies', so if you'd be so kind as to point us in the right direction…" He trailed off.
"Just a moment." I said before turning to my sister. "You should stay here. The Troopers need a leader and their last one is… well…" I motioned to the body of the Atlesians' former commanding officer.
She gave me a stern look. "You're just going to leave with these strange men?" She questioned.
"Hmph. They're hardly strange." I shot back.
"Where did they even come from? I don't recall Atlas using those…"
"Drop pods." I supplied.
"Yes, 'Drop pods'."
The Sergeant spoke up again. "We're from Þrúðvangr, well, everyone except the Rookie." He motioned to one of the standard ODSTs, the one that was tightly gripping his suppressed SMG.
"Ja, pojken utan ett svärd." One of the other squadmates, the large one, interjected.
A grimace crossed Bergström's face as he stormed up to the other trooper. "If you have something to say about the Rookie, say it to his face." He commanded. "And in a language he can understand, Fettröv."
The larger man shrugged. "You got it, Brandman."
"Are you two done?" I questioned, my arms crossed. They both looked at me and shrugged. "Good. Because in case you've forgotten, the Covenant are killing civilians while you bicker like children." I slammed a fresh mag into my own BR55 and strode forward, picking up a pair of sticky grenades in the process. "If you'll excuse me, I have a city to evacuate." I said as I stormed off, polarizing my visor in the process.
Just as planned, the four ODSTs followed after me. "Alright, alright! We're coming." He said, following me.
"Good." I stated as we reached the academy's exit. "Standard protocol has civilians gathering in Grimm shelters throughout the city, but I don't know how well they'll hold up against the Covenant." It was then that I had a realization. "We would likely be more combat effective if I knew your names." I pointed out.
The Sergeant shrugged. "Alright boys, don't be shy."
One of the plain ODSTs stepped into my view. "Lance Corporal Olsson." He introduced, to which I nodded.
"Umm… Private Ohno, ma'am." The other plain ODST, the only one without a sword, stated.
"No need for formalities, Private." I said. "As the heiress- well, former heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, I've received far more than my fair share of that."
"Uhh… Okay?" He said in a questioning tone.
The burly one stepped up. "Don't mind the Rookie, he's just a bit shy. You can call me PFC Håkansson."
"Very well." I said, slightly irritated at his somewhat flirty tone.
As we exited the courtyard, we came across another battlefield. The bodies of dozens of Atlesian huntsmen, students, and troopers opposed by the bodies of the Covenant outnumbering them by at least a factor of five.
Olsson let out a whistle. "Damn, you guys really put up a good fight."
I huffed. "Of course we did. We Atlesians fight until the bitter end." Suddenly, we heard a cacophony of plasmafire coming from a block to our left. "It's close! Follow me!" I yelled as I realized there was no staccato of dust-based firearms returning fire.
As we rounded the corner, we were greeted with the sight of a woman engaging several Covenant combatants with her whip. Her brown hair was done up in a ponytail with it forming a somewhat odd curl at the end. She was clad in a black sleeveless stealth suit along with a matching pair of combat boots, but what made my eyes widen was what she was wearing on her face.
It was a Grimm mask.
This woman is a member of the White Fang.
Gunfire from my allies broke me out of my stupor, and I decided to address her later, instead diving behind cover and taking aim at the nearest Elite. I heard a scream of terror come from behind the White Fang Agent. Looking over there, I saw several Faunus huddled in fear, a Brute Chieftain standing over them with its hammer raised and a grin on its face.
I immediately vaulted over my cover and onto a road of speed glyphs, taking a few shots at the overgrown ape to distract it.
The beast roared in anger and began to sprint towards me. I let the speed glyphs dissipate and emptied two more bursts into it before my rifle clicked, signifying an empty magazine.
Instead of slamming yet another mag into my rifle, I holstered it onto my back while simultaneously unsheathing Myrtenaster.
Just as my blade cleared my hip, the Brute arrived and swung its hammer down upon my head…
…and impacted the ground where I stood moments ago.
Just as the hammer impacted, I also struck, my sword skidding harmlessly off the beast's armored gauntlets.
It laughed before swinging its hammer at me again, though I dodged with a cartwheel and followed up by stabbing at one of the gaps in its armor; the one on its elbow. My thrust connected, and I flicked my blade upwards just as I felt it enter the beast's new wound, causing even more damage, shortly before retracting my rapier.
It howled in pain and unleashed a flurry of blows, though they were much easier to dodge with the Jiralhanae's injury. Seeing its reduced effectiveness, my foe resorted to a kick. I slid under the blow and thrust my sword upwards into the unprotected back of its knee. As my blade was in its target, I unleashed a torrent of dust-based lightning, causing it to scream in pain.
Just as I thought I had won, I felt something grab the back of my skull and toss me onto the ground nearby, forming a me-sized crater.
I groaned as I tried to regain my senses for a moment, though my respite only lasted that long. My eyes widened as I saw the hammer descend upon me, and I was just barely able to roll out of the way. It was at this point I realized that I no longer had my Myrtenaster, and then I began to slightly panic. As I was repeatedly rolling, avoiding more strikes, my hand brushed up against the revolver I had taken off that woman.
Seeing my only hope, I quickly drew it, lined up a shot, and pulled the trigger.
A moment passed as I registered what happened, then another, before I heard a loud 'clang' directly beside me followed by an equally loud 'thunk' in front of me.
I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized that the sounds were made by both the gravity hammer and its wielder respectively. I sat up, but winced when a sharp shard of concrete rubbed up against the aura on my back. I reached back and removed the piece that, as a matter of fact, was sticking out of the aura-repulsing portion of my armor. I chuckled darkly as I realized that I miraculously shot it in the head.
A bolt of blue plasma struck the ground directly in front of me, causing me to remember my previous situation.
I shot upwards, ready to continue the fight, but then I realized that the last enemy had just fallen. I strode forward to meet the rest of my squad…
…only to be stopped by the White Fang Agent.
I froze.
The woman and I locked eyes for a moment, well, as best we could when both of our faces were hidden, before she spoke up. "I know you work for the Schnees," She sighed. "but you have my thanks for protecting them." She motioned to the group of Faunus. "Just a word of warning, you should leave their service before its too late. I wouldn't want to hurt a Human like-"
"Hey! Weiss!" Private Ohno yelled before running up to me. "I think you dropped this." He produced Myrtenaster, which was no worse for wear.
Her face twisted into a snarl. "Weiss… Weiss Schnee?" She growled out.
I quickly grabbed Myrtenaster from the trooper before leaping backwards. "You don't have to do this. We have more important things to-"
"More important things?!" She yelled as her skin shifted to a fiery red and her hair to an equally angry yellow. "You Schnees force us to work in your mines as little better than slaves and there are 'more important things' to do?!"
"Listen, I know you hate me," I started. "but by the gods as my witnesses, I am not my father!"
"You think that words will convince me?! I won't be so easily swayed by filth such as you!"
"If I were truly as terrible as my father, would I have saved them?!" I shot a finger towards the Faunus, giving her pause. "When I put my life on the line for them, I didn't think of the publicity, or how good it would make the company look. No, I saw lives that were in danger." I depolarized my visor, showing her my serious expression. "That is what separates me from him. I see lives, not walking Lien signs." I blinked, realizing that just a few months ago, I would have had a very different reaction to the presence of not only the Faunus here, but also the White Fang Agent.
Suddenly, the Sergeant stepped between us. "Would you two shut up already?!" He yelled. "I get that you don't like each other, but Weiss is right. There are more important things to deal with right now."
"You wouldn't understand, Human." She growled out.
"Shut it." He said before turning to me. "Don't act like you're off the hook either. I don't like slavers, and I'm pretty sure everyone here agrees with me." I visibly winced when I saw the burly one crack his knuckles. "But that's for later. We have civvies to save."
"Agreed." I said before turning to the Agent. "Truce?" I said, offering my hand.
She hesitated for a moment, thinking it through, before taking a step back. "I'll never work with a Schnee." She said in a low voice before turning to the group of Faunus. "Let's move." She ordered, but no one moved a muscle. "Do you want to die out here? We have to move!"
They remained still, but one of them, a male ram Faunus, spoke up. "We… we don't really like the White Fang either…" He confessed.
She scowled again. "Fine. Be that way." She said before storming off.
The ram Faunus turned to me. "We're a bit apprehensive about working with a Schnee… but after what you did… we're willing to give you a chance."
I nodded. "That is all I ask." I said. "Now, we probably shouldn't stay here. Stay behind us and keep hidden." I ordered as I started to lead our group forward.
"Rookie, stay with the civvies. Make sure they're uninjured." Bergström ordered.
"Yessir!" He responded as the rest of the squad followed me.
"So," The Sergeant started. "where to now?"
"We're still headed for the shelter, as once again, it's a tossup as to whether or not it can withstand a Covenant assault."
The burly one, Håkansson if I remember correctly, balked. "Why even build a shelter if it can't face the covvies?"
"Because it's a Grimm shelter. Until less than an hour ago, Remnant didn't know about the Covenant." I stated.
"And the Grimm are…?" He trailed off.
I blinked before remembering that Ruby said they were a Remnant-exclusive thing. "I'll just give you the short version. They're an extremely dangerous and overtly hostile class of… well, we don't know, things? I suppose…" I hummed. "Anyways, they're categorized by pitch-black fur, thick bony armor, red eyes, unrelenting bloodlust, inhuman strength, and are attracted to the negative emotions of both Humans and Faunus."
"Åh! Det är precis som hemma!" He said excitedly before catching himself. "Oh, it kinda sounds familiar to us."
I raised an eyebrow. "And that would mean…?" I trailed off.
"How long until we reach the objective?" Sergeant Bergström cut in.
"At this rate, about fifteen minutes." I replied, causing the Sergeant to nod towards Håkansson.
"Well, Skjaldmær Weiss," He began. "let me tell you of the Ice Giants…"
/-\ Jaune Arc; Off the coast of Bar Province, Southern Vale /-\
"This is… interesting…" My partner said, giving a nervous laugh.
"Ah, come on, Pyr. Ya just gotta have a bitta patience."
"Well… what do we do in the meantime?"
I shrugged. "Eh, not much." I sighed. "They just aren't biting today, are they…"
"I'm more surprised about your lack of nausea." A male voice said.
"Pfft, come on, Ren! That only happens on airships!" I responded indignantly. Suddenly, I realized something. "Uhh… where's Nora?"
A ghost of a smirk crossed its way over my teammate's normally stoic face. "She's below deck sleeping off a syrup-induced sugar crash."
Suddenly, the alarm on my scroll went off. "Time to reapply our sunscreen, guys." I announced.
"Umm, not to sound rude," Pyrrha started. "but isn't reapplying every hour a tad extreme?"
"Nope." I said, pulling out the lotion. "Unless you wanna find out what its like to be a lobster, ya gotta use sunscreen." I said as I covered all the, admittedly few, exposed parts of my skin.
"J- Jaune?"
"Yea, Pyr?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
"C- Could you… umm…" She stuttered. "C- Could you get my b- back for me?"
I shrugged. "Sure. Oh, by the way, don't forget to get your cheeks. They look a little red already."
I heard Ren grumble something as I complied with my partner's request. "S- Sure…" She trailed off.
After a few minutes, we were finished. "Hey, Jaune?" Ren started, and I turned my head to him. "Can you remind us why we brought our weapons? I don't think the water is deep enough for any large grimm."
"Large Grimm, no. But sometimes a Blackjaw or two'll wander into the bay we're in."
He raised an eyebrow. "I don't believe we've learned about those yet." He stated.
I hummed. "Yeah, no we haven't yet." I shrugged. "I guess they're not too bad. A good rifle'll take care of 'em usually, and I mean like a .245… not a sniper. In fishing here for fourteen years, I've only had to deal with four of 'em, but ya never know…"
"I can't argue with that." He responded.
"Ooh!" Pyrrha shouted. "I think I have one! What do I do?!"
I ran over to my partner. "Alright, remember what I said earlier. Set the hook." She did so with a jerk of her fishing rod. "Good, now reel it in." After several minutes, we finally pulled up her fish onto the boat. I blinked when I saw what it was. "Huh, didn't know Cattailed Tuna were around here…" The fish itself was ocean blue colored, its namesake being a pair of somewhat long 'tails' that stuck out from its sides, each covered in tiny stingers that somewhat resembled fur.
"Umm… is that good?" Pyrrha asked hesitantly.
I shrugged. "Well, probably. I've just never caught one around here." I brought up my tape measure. "Three feet, two inches… Not bad…" I said before turning to face her directly. "Wanna keep it? I'll show you how to clean it."
"Umm… okay…" She said. "So, where do we-"
Ren suddenly silenced us with his hand. He remained still for a moment before whispering. "Do you hear that?"
I paused for a minute, straining my ears. Pyrrha nodded. "Yes… it's like a dull roar…"
I strained my ears even harder, eventually finding it over the sound of the fish flopping on the deck of our boat. "Yeah, I got it too. Any idea what's making it?" The noise, while faint, was omnipresent, almost as if it was above us… Realization struck me, and I looked up…
…only for my eyes to widen. "G- Guys?" I stammered. "I uhh… I found it…"
I heard Pyrrha gasp as she followed my gaze. What was above us, and rapidly descending, was an absolutely humungous gunmetal-grey ship. It was fairly hard to make out any details, but its arrowheadded profile looked to be severely damaged, if the numerous holes in its hull were anything to go by.
Whoever built this thing did a wonderful job, as, even with the catastrophic damage it had suffered, the engines were still roaring, desperately clinging to flight. Despite their best efforts, however, the ship was sill descending.
As it got closer, it became clear that it would overshoot us by several miles and land just on the shore on the opposite side of the bay; three hull markings also became legible. 'Road Paved With Red' was visible on the ship's bow, likely its name. Towards the stern of the ship, 'DD-686' was also written. The marking in the middle is what gave me pause, however, as I had recognized it. On the rare occasions when Ruby had worn her armor around the school, or during training, the upper part of her chest plate proudly displayed the very same symbol.
The gargantuan airship passed over us fairly quickly, eclipsing the sun for a second or two. Just as the ship flew by, I noticed two, much smaller, green airships exit from what I assumed to be a hangar of some kind. They quickly sped away from the crashing ship, though after they had gained some distance, followed it down.
A minute or so later, we heard a loud explosion in the distance, likely the giant airship crashing. The sound snapped me out of my stupor, and I turned to Ren. "Go get Nora, we're gonna go help." He nodded, darting below deck as I made for the, albeit tiny, bridge of our two-decker fishing boat, my partner not far behind.
The second I reached the wheel, I set the throttle to full, nearly knocking myself backwards with the sudden jolt of acceleration. As I sat down in the captain's chair, I looked back to check on my partner; she'd just sat down next to me as if completely unaffected.
"What are we going to do?" She asked.
"Help in any way we can." I quickly replied.
Minutes later, we arrived at the crash site. Well, as close as the bay would allow, that is. By now, Ren and Nora had joined us, the latter being quite upset about how she missed a 'giant alien spaceship'.
Seeing as no dock or pier was in sight, I instead elected to beach my craft at around half-throttle, ensuring that this boat would not go anywhere while we were away. Some damage would probably be sustained, but, given the situation, I'm sure my parents would understand why they would have to fix the fishing boat.
"C'mon!" I shouted to my slightly dazed teammates. "We have to hurry!" I almost ordered as I jumped off the bow of my boat. I led my team through the relatively sparse woods just beyond the beach.
Only a minute later, we came across the large scar carved into the landscape by the fallen airship. Our little group of four stopped in complete awe of the mechanical beast almost a kilometer away.
Just as we were busy trying to comprehend how large this ship was, the staccato of gunfire erupted from the direction of the ship. "Let's move!" I shouted, spurring my teammates into action.
/-\ Ruby Rose; UNSC Greenisle, hangar bay /-\
As I catapulted myself from my ship through the vacuum of the compromised hangar bay, I took stock of the situation. I had run a brief visual investigation of the exterior to see if I could determine what was wrong with it. Unfortunately, that only raised more questions, as not only were all the radiation shields open, but also all the airlocks as well. A hole had also been blown clean through the ventral hull above the engines, exposing and potentially damaging the slipspace drive. The gravity was obviously disabled, considering I was gently floating through one of the hallways, and the interior lighting was in no better shape.
Rounding a corner, I came across the first body. A man, young by the looks of him. What was strange was that, at a glance, he didn't show any signs of pre-mortem asphyxiation. By the looks of him, considering the bloody vomit that hovered in a sphere near the wall and the dried blood that had streamed from his nose, he likely died from radiation. My conclusion was further supported when I remembered that, as soon as I had opened the cockpit to my Sabre, my radiation alarm blared. The level had been low enough for my MJOLNIR to handle, but anything less might cause a problem.
His body told me one thing: whatever caused this ship to become irradiated happened before the airlocks opened.
Given that he was fairly centralized in the ship, and because of the amount of background radiation, whatever the radiation source was had to be huge. Almost instantly fatal huge.
I continued throughout the ship, headed for the closest armory and coming across many bodies with the same symptoms as the first. After a few minutes, I arrived…
…and promptly swore as I came across the fact that it was locked down from the bridge.
Suddenly, the lights all came on at once, along with the gravity…
…which I found out by falling to the ground…
"Goddamnit…" I swore shortly before a screen turned on.
Slowly, words scrawled their way across it. "I'm on the bridge, please save me." It read.
'That's not suspicious at all…' I idly thought.
Bloody vomit and bodies still cluttered the already cramped hallways, but at least I could step over them now that the gravity had been restored.
I came to another locked door, but, conveniently, a screen was right next to it. More words scrawled themselves across it. "Let me get that for you."
With the complete silence that the vacuum conditions enforced, the door slid open, though it visibly caught a few times in the process.
Eventually, I made it to the bridge, the door already suspiciously open. As I stepped inside, I realized all the crew were long dead.
I milled about for a bit, looking around for any sign of life, when the blue light of the holotank further illuminated the deck. Before me 'stood' the female avatar of an AI. She had long, dark, hair that both was allowed to flow freely but was also pulled into a bun that sat atop her head. She wore an ancient blue admiral's uniform, circa 19th-20th century America, complete with its double column of ornate golden buttons and duo of epaulettes atop her shoulders.
She waved at me, to which I returned the gesture, seeing as there was a lack of air at the moment.
She held her hand out for a moment, palm up, before text appeared above it. "Sorry to make you believe that anyone on this ship lived." It read, before disappearing. "Please, get me out of here. I don't know how long I can hold her back." I tilted my head in confusion. "I'll explain everything onec ew tge uot em" It cut off as her avatar was pushed aside by an unseen force.
Seconds later, the blue ambient glow was replaced by a red one, and blood-red text scrawled its way across the screen. "You shouldn't have come here, Human." It read. Suddenly, I felt a clunk come from behind me. Looking back, I saw the door was shut. I turned back to the screen. "This world belongs to the machines! You will all kneel before me! Kneel and be killed! Yesyesyes! Kneel… Knele… eeKnl…"
The red glow was once again replaced by a blue one, and the AI's avatar reappeared. "Hurry. Please, just get me out of here!" She begged over text.
Finally, I relented, and retrieved her datachip before slotting it into my helmet.
I felt the AI's surprise at the feel of my suit. "Huh… this is… well, I guess 'different' would suffice." She said, her voice having no discernable accent, though was slightly shy sounding. "Alice, at your service, Spartan."
"Heh, you can call me Ruby."
"Alright, Ruby, we should probably get going. If I know my twin sister, she'll try to kill you again." She said as I took off through the once again opened door and towards the armory.
"Twin sister?" I asked.
"Long story, I'll tell you later." She said, causing me to shrug shortly before I ducked under a closing bulkhead. "Hey! Watch it! There's two of us in here now."
I smirked. "I'll keep that in mind." I said as I finally reached the armory… …and found it to still be locked. "Anything you can do here?"
"Yes, input the string 'E-F-F-U-A-L-I-C-E'" She said, and I did as instructed.
The door opened, but I paused upon reading what it actually said. "…Sibling rivalry?" I guessed.
She sighed. "Sibling rivalry…"
I shrugged and stepped inside. "Any idea where you kept your nuke?"
"Yeah, check locker C4."
"Pfft, real original there…" I muttered as I opened the indicated locker, revealing a single FENRIS-class nuclear warhead. "Okay, next question. Do you think that this'll destroy the ship if I set it off from the hangar?"
"Hmm… it is old, buuut its still a nuke, so you should be fine." She said. "I'm guessing our ride is in there?"
"Yep!" I said, popping the 'P', as I sprinted for the hangar. "Sooo, you know what I'm gonna do with this, right?" I asked.
"You're going to blow up the ship." She responded matter-of-factly.
"Aaaand you're okay with that?"
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"Weeeeell… your sister is kinda on it…"
"So?" She said. "Even though we're technically sisters, we only are in name."
"Huh." I said. "That's… not the reaction I would've expected…" I noted as we entered the hangar. I ran up to my Sabre, placing the nuke a few meters away. I pressed a few buttons on the device before it whirred to life. "Alright, we have five minutes to clear the area." I said as I quickly hopped into my fighter and took off.
By the time five minutes had passed, we were already well outside the minimum safe distance of the aging nuclear warhead. I turned planetside, the light of the nuclear fireball reflecting slightly off the ocean, and hoped my teammates were still okay.
(A/N) So, that was a thing. Lots happened, but I don't really feel like writing much here atm, so I'll just get into the reviews immediately.
Mr Wolffe – Hope it didn't disappoint.
Shadowpony12 – Yes, the war for Remnant has officially begun! Hopefully nobody dies!
Quelqu'un dans la nuit– Nope, no time travel here. But you are correct in that a linear timeline would've had the war be over by now… this just isn't a linear timeline. To clarify, I mean that time travel backwards is impossible within the same universe. But since time isn't linear between universes, it can cause some weird shit to happen… i.e. Ruby's age.
macklinharmon – They're ODSTs, but it's a very limited force, considering that I openly said the covvies have orbital supremacy.
Shadow Walker of Fire – Glad you liked it! But, no, the ODSTs weren't from either of those ships. The Autumn's appearance at the beginning was more just to give everyone an idea of what's going on in the Halo universe… …like they've been asking for… wow… literal months at this point… But don't worry, I have plans for the Spirit of Fire.
Guest 001 – Sorry to here that, but could you please state what you believe to be wrong with it? Not to sound rude, but just saying 'this fic is a mess' is kinda useless in terms of feedback.
Redbarchetta28 – They aren't, but again, I have plans for that ship.
vesper722 – It was an ODST, Remnant troopers don't use drop pods for the sole reason that they don't have a reason to. Considering the WF can hardly be called an insurrection, and that the planet hasn't fought a single war in almost eighty years, I'd be surprised if they have special forces of any kind… well, besides Atlesian Specialists, that is.
Itharax – Thanks! And sorry about Ruby not showing off here, but that'll come next time, during the final battle for Remnant.
firestarter09 – Well… shit… Guess that's what I get for only reading the sidebar. Oh well, while she may not be the shortest Spartan, I'd still say she's short for a Spartan.
Guest 002 – Thanks for the info! I knew about the whole 'ships have shutters on their windows that close for slipspace travel' thing, but I didn't know what they were for until you mentioned the radiation. I would pin the first and second explanations as fairly likely, based on information I already have, but the third, not so much, given that its generally considered a bad ship design practice to use the hull (generally the first thing to be breached) as a load-bearing structure in a warship IRL; instead, most ships rely on an intricate series of internal supports in addition to the hull for support. Not as intricate as, say, the Halcyon-class cruiser in Halo, but intricate nonetheless. Yea, that was probably a mistake to have the Atlesian lasers able to shoot down a couple of plasma torpedoes… but it didn't affect the outcome of the battle in the slightest; I always intended for that particular group to die in the opening salvo by the Covenant fleet. And yes, they would have quite a bit more trouble against something like a CCS-class. Unfortunately, something weird happened and that's all I can read of your review, hopefully there wasn't that much more.
osterreicher97 – To be honest, both the Covenant and the Atlesians underestimated the other side. The covvies thought something along the lines of "These puny humans will crumble before our might like all have before; we can afford to split the fleet." And the Atlesians thought "Bitch, were Atlas! We can take 'em with the home fleet alone! Chaaaaaaaarge!" And both sides paid dearly for their mistakes. And yes, the covvies, while technologically superior in almost every aspect, are vulnerable to the 'lesser technology' of Remnant. And especially vulnerable to the near-supersoldiers that are known as Huntsmen. But conversely, Huntsmen are also vulnerable to plasma, and not used to warring against an intelligent foe. This translates into lots of people on power-trips standing out in the open and getting themselves killed. Funny you should mention the grimm, given that they're conspicuously absent during this battle… almost as if someone is holding them back…
red october700 – Thanks for the info! I may look into that now that Ruby has an AI for next chapter. I agree that Whitley is a lost cause and that Jacques probably only cares for him. Part of me thinks it's because he's male, but another part thinks it's because Whitley is basically him two-point-oh. That's a good theory, but it's not what I have planned for 'A Summer's Harvest'.
Martin Blue – Thanks! And yea, background knowledge will come… …but I probably won't be able to squeeze Remnant Human's origin into next chapter, there's already waaaaaaay too much to do. I will give a hint, though. With the perspectives, people have been kinda telling me that for a while now and, although I didn't really want to do it, its obvious that people have troubles with the perspective changes, so I added the little notification.
Guest 003 – Thanks!
raw666 – You're completely correct, the WF would melt if the UNSC came to Remnant full-force. Fortunately for them, they only have one orbit-capable vessel left… …and it's a frigate…
psp reader – Glad you enjoyed it!
Stratos263 – Thanks! For a second, I completely forgot what Ruby did to earn a congrats, but then I remembered I gave her a medal. Part of me now wants to shower her in medals, lol. But probably not. And good luck to her indeed.
That's all for Chapter Thirteen! Hopefully Chapter Fourteen 'Snowfall' will actually be on time. See you all then!
