(A/N) Aaaaand finally done! …and its late… …again… …Goddamnit…

Well, at least I have some good news for once. Remember when I said the finale might only be two chapters? Yea, that was me being an idiot yet again. Because I couldn't even fit everything into THREE overlength chapters. That means that there will be one more chapter before the hiatus hits.

Also, we broke 200 favorites and 300 followers! That's... AWESOME! Thank you guys so much!

Sorry, but no 'A Summer's Harvest' just yet. Hopefully it'll be done for next week. For now, have a chapter!

Edited for clarity and/or minor fixes 5/1/19


Chapter Fourteen – Snowfall


/-\ Weiss Schnee; Grimm Shelter 101 /-\


I ducked down behind my cover, the burned-out hulk of a Wraith, just in time to have a plasma bolt sail over my head. The ODSTs and I had reinforced the, predictably, crumbling defense of the Grimm shelter. When we arrived, only three Atlesian Troopers still stood, all of them wounded in some way. Inside the shelter, over six thousand people dwelled. All that stood between them and annihilation was us.

I heard an explosion behind me, and a voice crackled over the comms. "Last autoturret's down!" LCPL Olsson said. Helpfully, they had patched me into their comms shortly after my victory over the Brute Chieftain.

"Damn!" Bergström swore as I slammed a fresh mag into my rifle. "Schnee! How's your side?" He asked as I popped above my cover to take a few shots.

I squeezed the trigger, sending a Grunt to its grave. "Three squads here and I'm on my second to last mag." I announced as I dropped the shields on an Elite Minor. I took a glance down at my ammo counter and sighed. 'Fifteen rounds…'

"Damn." He swore. "Can you hold your position?"

I squeezed off a few more bursts, dropping a charging Elite and leaving only a single burst left in the magazine. "If I could get more ammo, then yes. But as it stands, my ammunition is incompatible with yours." I loosed another burst, dropping a shield-less Elite, courtesy of the trooper beside me. I dove behind cover before shoving my- "Last mag!" -into my rifle. I racked the bolt and, just as it returned, popped my head out to take stock of the situation. At a glance, I could see all the heavy hitters, save one angry Brute, were down. I checked my aura, which was at 74% from the occasional graze to the non-ablative portions of my armor. Suddenly, I blinked, taking out the near-unused 40mm ice dust capsule within my rifle. "Can anyone cover me? I have an idea!"

He thought for a moment. "Rookie! How's the patch job on that trooper commin' along?"

"Just about… there! Done, sir!"

"Copy. Go give the lady a hand, will ya?"

"On the way, sir!" Seconds later, he slid down right next to me. "What's the plan?"

I showed him my improvised ice bomb. "I'm going to use this to seal off this block, but I need covering fire to get where I need to be."

He nodded. "Okay... ready when you are." He said before muttering something under his breath and touching his forehead, chest, then each shoulder in rapid succession.

"On three." I said.

"One…" I magnetically attached my weapon to my back.

"Two…" I drew Myrtenaster.

"THREE!" He let out a war cry as he stood up and opened fire. Meanwhile, I bolted from cover on a road of speed glyphs. I shot forward like a bullet, bisecting a particularly unlucky Grunt with my rapier as I passed, and ended up crouched behind a building.

I quickly threw the improvised 'explosive' into the center of the roadway before clicking Myrtenaster over to lightning dust. Just as it landed, I summoned a projectile glyph and thrust my rapier into it; sending a bolt of lighting directly at the still rolling capsule.

The ice bomb 'exploded', creating a massive, and spikey, wall that blocked off the entire street.

The remaining Covenant looked back and wore looks of extreme confusion; an added, but unintentional, boon to my next move.

I leaped upwards and twisted my body midair, my feet catching on a hovering repulsion glyph. I shot towards a Jackal, my sword piercing the nape of its neck. I whipped around and repeatedly skewered a Grunt, killing it.

I ducked under a volley of plasma fire, though it seemed one of my shoulderplates took a glancing hit.

I summoned several repulsion glyphs and started leaping between them, my blade becoming more and more bloodied with every jaunt.

The world began to spin more and more with every leap, and, eventually, I ducked behind cover to get my bearings.

I heard a roar from beside me, but as I turned towards it, all I saw was the fist of an Elite moments before it impacted my visor.

I was sent flying by the shear force of the hit and impacted a wall. I shook my head, recovering quick enough to dodge a follow-up kick to the face by my would-be assailant. I rolled to my feet, miraculously still gripping Myrtenaster, and quickly dodged another swipe by the now-identified Elite Major.

Its punch sailed past me, giving me the opportunity to strike. I immediately thrust my sword into its unarmored armpit, burying it up to the hilt and piercing the beast's heart. It let out a gurgle as I withdrew my blade before slumping to the ground, unmoving.

I quickly scanned the battlefield, but breathed a sigh of relief just as quickly. "Area secure." I announced over the comms.

"Good. Get to the northern street, Olsson could use some support!"

"Copy." I responded as I sheathed Myrtenaster and grabbed a covvie plasma rifle off the ground.

Both the Rookie and I came up to the corner and saw a torrent of plasma wash over a car. Just as we were about to duck out of cover, an enormous ball of blue plasma impacted the car, causing it to explode. The Atlesian Trooper that had taken up residence behind the now-smoldering car jumped out of the way just in time, being flung into the building behind us rather than into an early grave.

"Wraith!" I yelled over comms.

"Fuck!" The Sergeant yelled. "Håkansson, you're up!"

"AT on the way!" Came the swift response.

Plasma washed over the pinned ODST with him poking out just long enough to get a burst off with his MA5B, but not much else. I quickly ducked out of cover and took some of the pressure off him with my looted plasma rifle, delivering the final blow to an Elite Ultra's shields. A second later, he was finished off by one of the few Atlesian Troopers still fighting.

The plasmafire seemed to be split between both me and Olsson, both of us ducking in and out of cover taking potshots at the enemy, just as Håkansson slid up to the building across the street from us.

He stepped out and shouldered his rocket launcher, firing off two shots, before ducking back around. As he swapped the magazine, I poked my head out of cover to assess the situation. The Grunt gunner was little more than a smear on the front of the Wraith, which itself was bellowing blue flames, but the tank was otherwise operational. "Still up!" I shouted shortly before a plasma mortar round impacted several yards away from me.

"Just a- Got it!" He said before stepping out again. "Stick åt helvete!" He yelled, off the comms, as he loosed another rocket, destroying the Wraith.

I poked my head out again, firing off a salvo of plasmafire at the nearest Grunt. "Wraith destroyed!"

"Copy!" Bergström yelled. "Now get back here Håkansson!"

"On the way!" He replied, running off for his ally's position. I sighed from behind cover, wondering how long it would be until reinforcements arrived.

Hopefully they wouldn't be long… The sun had just barely disappeared beneath the horizon.


/-\ Yang Xiao Long; Pelican – en route to Atlas /-\


"Sixty seconds." The pilot announced, exacerbating the already tense atmosphere.

"So…" My uncle started. "Aliens, huh?"

"Yeah…" I said, still sad that they had found Remnant.

He crossed his arms. "I'll believe it when I see it."

"Well, get ready to believe…" My partner butt in.

"Alright! Listen up!" The squad leader said. "We're linkin' up with the boys in the 988th. After everyone's nice 'n cozy, we're gonna babysit 'em all the way to a large concentration of civvies that just happen to be sittin' right under a covvie destroyer." He paused. "Now I know that ain't the best place ta be, but as soon as we secure the area, we're clearin' a path for 'em to get to the seadocks. After the civvies are loaded on whatever ships are there, the Odinsdottir's gonna send down her Albatrosses to get us the fuck outta dodge."

"Thirty Seconds!" The pilot announced.

"Time ta show these alien scumbags just how badly they fucked up when they decided they wanted to fight my Marine Corps!"

A resounding "Oorah!" echoed throughout the hold, its sources including me and my partner.

"Mhmm, lock 'n load, Marines!"

I turned to both my uncle and my father. "Just so ya know… don't try to deflect plasma." I advised. "It uhh… it won't end well."

"TEN SECONDS!"

My partner and I both looked at each other. "Feet first into hell, right?" I hesitantly said.

She nodded. "Feet first into hell." She responded before we both polarized our visors.

The ship shook, a loud thunk accompanying it, as we set down. Moments later, the hatch dropped and we all filed out, our weapons raised… …only to see we had touched down a few yards away from a UNSC armored column.

"Easy now, Troopers." A somewhat familiar voice said from behind us. Turning around, we saw the squad leader from earlier standing behind us, an unamused look on his face. "Save that for the covvies." He said before raising an eyebrow. "What's your unit?"

"1st Remnant Shock Troopers." My partner answered immediately, despite none of us ever going by a name other than 'Team RWBY' or, occasionally, 'The Suncrushers'.

"Never heard of 'em." He answered. "But you came in with a Spartan, so I'll let it go."

I nodded before Blake spoke up. "What are our orders, sir?"

He motioned to Tai and Qrow. "You escortin' those civvies?"

"Hey!" My uncle said, indignantly. "We're Huntsmen, not civvies."

He rolled his eyes. "So ya hunt Yogi the goddamn bear sometimes, 'bit different from covvies."

I stepped between them. "Qrow, stop. He doesn't know." I turned to the… Gunnery Sergeant, if I remembered how to read rank patches correctly. "On Remnant, the word 'Huntsman' is a bit different from other places. He's probably the best fighter here." I said, eliciting a 'Hey!' from my father.

"'believe that when I see it…" He grumbled just loud enough for me to hear. "Enough 'a this, I want you two clearin' out the left-flank buildings up front. Take your 'Huntsmen' with you, if ya want, but stay with the column. Command frequency is one-forty-four-point-four."

"Yes sir." Both my partner and I said in unison as we turned to carry out our objective.

"What?" My father balked. "Are you soldiers now?"

I shrugged. "Well, someone's gotta be now that the covvies are here."

"Pfft, I still don't believe in the whole 'aliens' schtick."

I rolled my eyes under my helmet as we reached the lead tank. Like the other three, it was a 'Scorpion'. Ruby had told us the model number, but I could never remember it.

"Firefly?" Blake suddenly said. As if she could tell that I wore a confused face under my helmet, she gestured to the main barrel of the tank where, sure enough, it was written.

I let out a "Huh…" before opening my mouth to ask when we were star-

"MOUNT UP MARINES!" The Gunnery Sergeant ordered. "Infantry escorts! Clear the way!"

"That's our cue." Blake said with a shrug.

I nodded and followed her forward, both our weapons at a low ready. We burst through the glass door of a storefront. "Right clear!" I heard from my comms as I checked the left side.

"Left clear!" I announced on my comms, without the intercom active, as we both turned to face the single door in the room. We each set up on either side. My partner tapped the top of her helmet, signifying that she heard something. She paused before holding up three fingers just above her waist, signifying three Grunts, then one finger above her head, signifying either an Elite or a Brute.

"Hey, whatcha doin?" My father asked in his normal speaking voice.

Blake facepalmed while I turned to him and held a finger up to my helmet in a 'shush' fashion. I turned back to my partner and nodded. She pointed to me, jerked her head towards the door, and pointed up before making a punching motion.

I nodded, putting away my BR55, readying Ember Celica, and activating my night vision after realizing how dark it was inside the building. By the time I did that, she had switched out her DMR for Gambol Shroud and put up three fingers.

Two.

One.

Zero.

I burst through the door and immediately spotted the four unaware aliens. Giving a quick glance to the left, making sure it was clear, I charged the Elite Minor, who was fumbling around with its plasma rifle.

I sent several shotgun-enhanced punches into its torso and one into its 'jaw'… …and instantly sent its head sailing into the ceiling…

Not missing a beat, I turned around to face the Grunts, but my partner had taken care of them with one well-placed slice each. I nodded at my partner before we lined up on the next door and burst through seconds later but encountering no resistance.

We both breathed a sigh of relief as we realized the building was clear.

Just as Blake radioed in that this building was cleared, Tai and Qrow entered the room, both wide-eyed.

"Wh- What is that thing?!" Tai screamed while pointing at-

"An Elite." Blake answered nonchalantly.

"But what is it? I've never seen anything like it!" My father panicked, meanwhile, Qrow was looking at his flask incredulously.

"Well, its an alien." I supplied. "For now, just know that aliens are bad and people are good." I cocked Ember Celica, chambering another round. "Let's get moving."

My partner nodded. "Agreed."

"Woah woah woah." My father said, jumping in front of us. "You are not just gonna say 'oh by the way, here's an alien I just punched to death' and expect us to wait on an explanation!"

"You wont wait?" My partner said. "Well, said aliens wont either."

I nodded in affirmation. "And they're killing civilians." We both walked past Tai, only myself giving him a sideways glance. "Ruby can explain better."

"Oh yeah! How can I forget…" He said incredulously. "My daughter who just randomly abandons us again!"

"She had things to do, she'll be back." Blake reassured.

"More important than dealing with an alien invasion?!" He yelled.

"She wouldn't've left us if it wasn't important." She replied. "And besides, she said that she didn't want us dying to something as stupid as vacuum exposure."

He blinked. "Wha-?"

"That's enough." I interjected. "We have a job to do. And I certainly intend on doing it." I said, peaking out into the dusklit streets and seeing the forms of our tank platoon. "C'mon, let's get moving."

My father made to protest, but he was cut off by a wave of my hand. He grunted. "When this is over, you are sooooooo grounded…"

"Noted." I replied before turning to my partner. "Ready?" She nodded. Seconds later, we burst into the street and headed for the next building to clear.


/-\ Weiss Schnee; Grimm Shelter 101 /-\


"Gah!" The Atlesian trooper next to me, the last one alive, gasped as a plasma round struck him in the torso. He slumped onto the ground.

"Man down!" I yelled into the comms just before I checked his pulse…

…only to find nothing. "He's… He's gone…"

Night had fallen almost an hour ago, and I had long since turned on the night vision in my helmet. We'd been holed up here for what felt like days, all of us running out of ammo and exchanging our weapons for their covvie equivalents. My aim was off by a wide margin, given that we had been fighting for so long. However, the enemy were so kind as to provide a target-rich environment, meaning that accuracy was not necessarily required.

"Hang in there, Schnee!" The Sergeant said, his voice starting to waver from the constant fighting. On several occasions, the Covenant infantry closed to melee range, each time, being barely repulsed. "Another wave incoming!" he bellowed out. My breath hitched as I poked out from cover. A massive horde stood before me. Grunts, Jackals, Elites, Brutes, even Hunters all joining its ranks. "Schnee!" He yelled again. "How defensible is the bunker itself?!"

"Uhh… umm-"

"Answer me! We won't be able to hold out against this wave!"

"G- Good enough!" I yelled. "I'll cover you!"

"Negative! Omega Three!"

I wholeheartedly agreed with his statement and sprinted towards the door. Given the fact that I had my speed glyphs, I reached the entrance first. It was a simple entrance, but extremely well built for obvious reasons. It consisted of three dust-alloy doors adorning one wall measuring over a foot thick, a White cross adorned the central door with '101' written in red letters within it. The shelter was inside a prestigious bank, and as such, the reinforced dust alloy wall looked extremely out of place among the rather ornate decorum, despite the designer's obvious attempts to hide it as much as was legally allowed. "Open up!" I ordered, knocking on the central door. "Friendlies coming in!"

Several clanks resounded throughout the atrium I was in before the massive central door swung open, a spider Faunus, if the smaller, secondary set of eyes were to be believed, stood behind it. I gave out an involuntary shiver at the sight.

He had just opened his mouth to say something when the heavy bootfalls of my comrades resounded onto the marble floor. I turned to face them and was about to say something, but I was unable to at the sight. Two of the men were carrying a third, several spikes from a Brute's weapon lodged in his torso.

They carried him onwards, each of the carriers hoisting him upwards by an arm. "We need a hospital!" The voice of Håkansson ordered, snapping me out of my stupor.

Another man stepped forward and lead them away just as the Rookie ran through the bank's doors, several globs of plasma shooting past him. He yelped and immediately booked it into the shelter, I was right behind him. Once I was inside, I turned around and shot a few rounds from a plasma repeater I had picked up at a few Grunts who had haphazardly wandered into the atrium.

I breathed a sigh of relief as the doors closed with a loud -clank- before turning to analyze my surroundings. We were in an extremely narrow hallway that was several dozen feet long. This layout was obviously designed to stop the largest Grimm from being able to breach the entrance, but in this situation, it was too large to stop anything smaller than a Wraith. Suddenly, I had a bit of an uneasy feeling.

My feeling was justified when, just seconds after the doors had been sealed, the sound of plasma weaponry being fired started increasing. I looked on in curiosity at first, then horror as the inside of the door began to emit a faint red glow.

"Move!" I yelled. Everyone within earshot obeyed, and we reached the end just as I heard the door behind us be breached. We came to a very large room; raised fortifications with machinegun nests flanking a central bridge leading to the rest of the shelter on the far end. "Seal the bulkheads!" I yelled to the garrison commander, who was standing on said bridge.

He pressed a button and immediately klaxons started blaring, signifying heavy machinery moving. Me, the Rookie, and the Spider Faunus dove behind cover just in time to see a pack of Brutes just barely avoiding being crushed by the hallway-long bulkhead that had been lowered into place. The Grunts behind them, however, were not so lucky.

Seeing their survival, I immediately opened fire upon the enemy, the machinegunners and my squadmate following suit soon after. Within seconds, they had been dispatched.

A tense silence hung over the room as we waited. The sounds of several explosions echoed from the other side of the bulkhead. My blood ran cold when I realized it wouldn't hold them forever. We needed a solution, and fast, otherwise the denizens of this shelter wouldn't survive the night. I formulated a plan in my head. It wasn't a good one, but it was the best one I had access to beyond 'sit here and wait to die'.

I took a deep breath, depolarized my visor, and turned off my night vision before approaching the commander… …only to inwardly groan as I saw his rank.

Sergeant third-class…

That rank wasn't even supposed to exist in the regular military, which could only mean one thing: He and his squad were likely what the Atlesian military referred to as 'Vault Dwellers', people that were generally considered so incompetent at anything and everything that the only thing they could reasonably be expected to not screw up was garrisoning the city's Grimm shelters.

As I approached, I realized that, for some reason, he had painted a shotgun on his helmet…

…as well as painting both his and his teammate's armors various colors; his being red. "Well hello there li'l missy." He opened up with in a strange accent.

I merely glared at him as another soldier in maroon-colored armor approached. "Don't mind Sarge. He isn't the brightest."

"Did you just call me stupid, Simmons?" He asked.

"Umm…" He trailed off. "…No?"

"Well good! Because if ya did, I'd have to order you to be Grif's personal trainer again."

I raised an eyebrow. "Are you done?" I asked incredulously.

"Quiet, you. We're havvin' a conversion!"

"I think you mean 'conversation'." The maroon armored man, known as Simmons, supplied.

"Quiet, you."

"Also, I think we should hear her out because-"

"What could she possibly have to say?"

"Well, if you-"

"I mean really, she just comes in here and orders us to close the door like its easy!"

"But it is!"

My eye began to twitch as they continued their banter. "I said quiet, you!"

"Shutup!" I ordered. Thankfully, they obeyed. "Okay, we're under attack from… well, that's not important right now, but they'll eventually get through the bulkhead-" I thrust my finger towards the entryway. "-and I need a full inventory of the weapons and equipment stored here."

"Just who do ya think you are bossin' me around like tha-"

"Atlesian constitution article 13 subsection 19 clause 4; During an invasion, the highest-ranking huntsman or huntress may utilize the resources within a Grimm shelter however he or she sees fit."

He seemed taken aback by my suggestion. "Well, I've never read that in the constitution!"

"That's because it's in the revision, not the original." Simmons supplied.

"Well I only accept the original draft!" He shouted.

"Too bad." I interrupted. "I'm invoking the clause." I said with smug satisfaction.

"Well, I'll never bow to such an-"

"Here ya go!" Simmons said, holding out a neatly itemized list of, supposedly, everything within the shelter.

I smiled as I took the list. "Thank you." I said, walking away. After I was sufficiently far enough away from those idiots, I breathed a sigh of relief. Not because I wanted to get away from them that badly, no, it was because that particular clause technically only applies to fully-fledged huntsmen/huntresses… They were both just too stupid to realize that.

As I stepped into the main elevator, the Rookie right behind me, I began going over the manifest… And was immediately underwhelmed… 'Three automatic laser weapons, One-hundred-forty-three laser assault rifles of varying quality, and sixteen grenades…'

"Soooo, uhh…" The Rookie started. "What's the plan, then?"

"First we're going to go check up on your squadmate." I said as the elevator doors opened. We strode out quickly, given that we were on a tight schedule.

After several minutes of walking through crowded and narrow hallways, we finally arrived at the hospital. As we went inside, the figures of two ODSTs, blood staining their hands and torsos, sat in a depressed silence with both their heads lowered.

Just as the door closed, a doctor exited the emergency room and approached the men. They looked up at him with what I imagine to be hopeful expressions under their helmets. The doctor shook his head, causing the burly one, Håkansson, to collapse back into his chair and the Sergeant to ball his fists and throw a punch at the wall…

…only for him to immediately withdraw it and start shaking his hand vigorously.

The doctor quickly excused himself, leaving the two ODSTs to themselves. I sighed before approaching them, hoping to provide some limited comfort.

"…I'm sorry for your-"

"What?!" Håkansson snapped back. "You're sorry?! Well, sorry doesn't bring one of my best fucking friends back from the goddamn dead!"

"Arvid, you can't bla-"

"Oh?! I can't blame her?! Well fucking watch me!" He snapped before turning back to me. "Why didn't you tell us there was a more defensible position in here, huh?! Did you wanna play the hero?! Did you wanna get us killed for you?! Well congradu-fucking-lations! You succeeded!"

"Wha-? No!" I said, raising my hands up in a nonthreatening fashion. "It is my duty as a huntress to ensure the survival of as many civilians as possible! Bringing the Covenant in here would only-"

"Only what? Only let us have a more defensible position?"

"No, that's not it I…" I trailed off. "GAH! I didn't mean for anyone to die, alright?!"

"Coulda fucking fooled me." He said before storming off.

I just stood there, completely unsure of what to do. After what felt like hours of my own introspection, I felt a hand place itself on my armored shoulder. I looked up to see the offending appendage belonged to Sergeant Bergström, who had his visor depolarized to match mine.

"Its not your fault." He said. "He's just angry and looking for someone to blame." He sighed. "I've seen it before…"

I looked at him, though my eyes failed to meet his. "Do you think he's right?" I asked. "Should I have told you about the defenses within the shelter?"

He hummed. "Well, you probably should've told us, yeah." He started, causing me to deflate slightly. "But all that would've changed is that it would've given us a known fallback line." He sighed. "I probably wouldn't've ordered a retreat until we were about to be overrun… That information wouldn't've changed anything." He polarized his visor once more. "I'll go find him; we'll need every able body to assist in the defense." He said as he turned to walk off.

"Wait." I said, causing him to halt and spin around to face me. "I… have a plan…" I said before hastily continuing. "But I want a second opinion on it."

He nodded, raising an eyebrow. "Well, let's hear it."

"Since we don't know when or even if relief is coming, I was thinking of taking matters into our own hands." I started. "Every Grimm shelter has an armory. Admittedly, this one's seems criminally understocked, but it still has enough for just under 150 men. My plan is to arm as many people as we can and hold the defense until a lull in their attack presents itself. Once it does, we attempt a breakout and make a run for the seadocks, only a four-block jaunt. Last I checked, the Covenant ships were over the other end of the city near the slums. With any luck, we'd be able to commandeer a vessel and escape."

He gave a satisfied frown while nodding. "Not bad, but what's stopping the covvies from sinking our ship as soon as it leaves port?"

"Well, the CCT should be back up by now, meaning that the entirety of the Royal Atlesian Navy will be baring down on this place, not just the home fleet. If I recall correctly, that's… three dreadnoughts, four battlecarriers, ten cruisers, and a lot of smaller ships. Assuming the covvies don't have too many ships in orbit, that force is more than sufficient."

"Alright, that's good enough." He paused. "What about the civilians? Its usually a bad idea to give guns to untrained civvies in a warzone."

"Well, yes… but every school on Remnant has a mandatory course on basic firearm usage." I responded.

He blinked. "Well… that's odd…"

I shrugged. "Just one of the quirks of living in a world filled with man-eating monsters." I said. "So… What do you think?"

He put his hand up to his chin in thought. "Well… it's a terrible idea." I opened my mouth to speak, but was swiftly cut off. "But!" He said. "…So's every other option…" He sighed. "And its probably the least terrible one we have." He repolarized his visor. "C'mon, Rookie, let's go get him." He turned around, giving me a sideways glance as he walked away. "Good luck."

The Rookie gave a salute, following his superior officer, as I nodded in thanks. They both exited and I took a breath to steel myself before heading out into the main room of the shelter. The room itself was huge; easily over a hundred meters on each side. The walls were made up of exposed cinderblock, and thusly, were a dark grey. Several metal columns lined the interior, holding up the two-story ceiling with ease. Various facilities lined the interior; hospitals, supply rooms, armories, just about anything one would require to survive a short-term Grimm incursion.

It was extremely crowded, filled with people almost devoid of hope. Several parents held their crying, and in some cases, wounded children. Many were sat upon the ground; the supply of free seats having run out long before we arrived. Doctors and nurses were running around, doing their best to treat the most grievously wounded, in other words, those who took direct hits from plasma weaponry or, gods forbid, an Elite's energy sword.

Some of them looked up at me and, for a second, I nervously picked at one of the scorchmarks that besmirched my otherwise pristine white armor. As I passed them, I heard a child speak up. "Mommy? Is she gonna save us?"

I was about to turn around and reassure the little girl, but before I could, the mother spoke up. "No, sweetie… She's a Schnee."

I felt my heart almost drop out of my chest, and my step stuttered in surprise. Instead of turning around and berating the woman, as I would've done only a semester ago, I took a deep breath and continued onwards. Several minutes later, I arrived at my destination, all the while wondering if that was what its like for Faunus to be discriminated against. I took another steadying breath as I climbed the center stage, removing my helmet as I climbed. I reveled in the small comfort that the fresh-ish air brought, even if my hair was only done in an extremely messy bun, being disheveled and drenched with sweat during combat.

I cleared my throat before stepping up to the podium, switching on the monitors above me along with the microphone in front of me. "People of Atlas." I started, gaining their attention.


/-\ Professor Ozpin; Beacon Academy Headmaster's office /-\


The screen on my personal terminal showed a notification. Someone was broadcasting on the emergency frequency. I quickly accepted the call, even if it was a one-way communication… …and was extremely surprised when I saw the face of one of my star first-year students on the other end.

"No, people of Remnant." She addressed before pointing off in the distance. "The creatures outside this shelter hail not from our own world, but from the stars themselves." She said, causing me to raise my eyebrow. "They caught us by surprise and killed untold thousands of us." She paused, letting that fact sink in. "I don't know when or even if reinforcements are coming, nor how many the enemy numbers."


/-\ Nebula Violette; Shade Academy dorms /-\


"What I do know, is that the Covenant, as they are called, came to kill us all." The woman on my scroll said. "Humans and Faunus. Atlesians and Vacuoans. Those both within and without the kingdoms. They won't stop until this planet is devoid of us."


/-\ Neptune Vasilias; Haven Academy student lounge /-\


"They expect us to simply roll over and die for them; just as so many worlds have before." The firebrand on the TV said.

Despite the news of aliens existing, the only thought that went through my head was 'Damn… she's hot.'

"Even at this very moment, they are melting their way through the inner bulkhead protecting us." Gasps could be heard coming from offscreen. "I don't know about you, but I plan to give them one hell of a fight."


/-\ Flynt Coal; Grimm Shelter 76 /-\


The woman, Weiss Schnee if I recalled correctly, threw on a battle-worn helmet with a large, silver visor. "But I know I can't do it alone." She paused. "We, as Remnans, have to do this." She paused. "We live on a world that constantly tries to have us eaten, disemboweled, and many other horrible things. In the middle of all this, what do we do?"


/-\ Jaune Arc; Crash site of the UNSC Road Paved With Red /-\


I swung my sword again, decapitating a Beowolf in the last minutes of sunlight as Weiss continued over the audio-only transmission from our scrolls. "We survive!" She shouted. "If not for ourselves, then merely to spite the cruel fate that placed the Grimm alongside us!" She paused as I saw Nora smash an Ursa minor into paste. "We and we alone have the ability to protect our homes. But what good is an ability if left unused?"


/-\ Ghira Belladonna; Menagerie Chieftain's Villa /-\


The Schnee Heiress pounded on her podium. "No. We must protect our homes." A muffled cheer resounded from the TV. "We must protect our families." The muffled cheer grew louder. "And most of all… We must show these alien boors that we'll not stand idly by while the world that so many have sacrificed everything for, is razed to the ground!"


/-\ Weiss Schnee; Grimm Shelter 101 /-\


"We may be a mere remnant, but each of us is worth a thousand of their paltry warriors!" The crowd erupted into a roar. Everyone was standing, some even brandishing weapons into the air. I drew Myrtenaster from my hip and thrust it into the air. "All able-bodied men and women, grab a weapon and report to the entrance!" The room erupted into motion as those with weapons made for the elevator while those who did not ran for the armory. I quickly switched off the equipment… …and promptly realized that I accidentally enabled the 'emergency broadcast' function… allowing every huntsman, huntress, and political leader of Remnant to hear my speech.

I paled under my helmet, but quickly shook myself out of my shock and ran for the elevator. Minutes later, we arrived in the U-shaped upper levels of the inner defenses. "Everyone take your positions on the battlements! Once we repel the invaders, we'll sally out!"

The crowd roared in response as I made my way to the control center and activated all the passive defenses. Spikes erupted from the walls. The ramp to the top of the battlements flattened, forming a flush surface. Dual-barreled autoturrets on the ceiling activated. This shelter was ready for war.

Not a moment after the defenses finished setting up, the bulkhead began to glow a faint red. "They're almost through! The second an alien steps in, I want it dead! Not even one of them will step forward into the shelter!" I turned my head sideways and spotted my ODST comrades manning one of the flanks. Every one of them stoic and had their undivided attention to the entrance.

Just as I refocused on the door, the last of the bulkhead liquified and splattered the molten metal onto the floor. Thankfully, no one was injured.

Seconds passed, then minutes, before the first enemy stepped through the portal, a Grunt… …and it immediately turned into a vaguely blue puddle on the ground from all the rounds that ripped through it. More came through, only to be cut down as swiftly as their comrade. Still more poured through the hole in the wall.

The horde of Covenant advanced relentlessly, bodies accumulating so quickly they began to clog the entrance. They sent in Jackals, Elites, Brutes, Fuel Rod Grunts, even Hunters. Just as the Mgalekgolo began to push forwards, keeping some of us pinned with their plasma cannons, the elevator dinged and released even more fresh defenders.

Scores of lasers, plasma bolts, and conventional dust rounds finally began to wear down the Hunter's armor, and every so often, a luminous streak of orange shot forth form a newly-created bullet hole in one of them.

Even so, it took several more seconds for them to fall. Thus, we began catching up on the foes that had advanced under the cover of their behemoths. With so many guns concentrated on so few targets, it didn't matter how strong their armor was; how strong their shields were. They fell all the same.

After only ten minutes of constant fighting, the tide of enemy reinforcements abruptly cut off. We all stood still, fingers still on our triggers, as we waited for more enemies to show their ugly faces.

…and waited…

I heard someone cheer beside me. He was soon joined by more. After a mere moment, everyone in the room was cheering out in victory.

Something seemed… …off to me.

I eyed the ODSTs, who were still on alert, and motioned them to follow me.

With a roll of his head, Bergström motioned for his men to follow me.

I nodded at him before jumping down and proceeding to the entrance. I had to climb over dozens, possibly hundreds of bodies to get there, shivering in disgust all the while.

Finally reaching the entrance, I poked my weapon inside, scanning for enemies. I found none, and instead took note of the blackened interior of the bulkhead before climbing through, trying not to trip on the occasional uneven section. As I got further out, I had to turn on my night vision, given that night had fallen and the lights were out.

I looked behind me once I reached the end, making sure the Helljumpers were still following me. Once I confirmed their presence, I poked my head out and scanned the familiar interior of the bank.

Aside from the depressions of several large footprints, courtesy of the Hunters if I were to guess, the room looked exactly the same as when I had left it. As I got nearer to the bank's front, the faint staccato of gunfire could be heard far in the distance. Too far for me to assist, unfortunately.

I poked my head outside the door, and once again, everything was clear… …for about two seconds.

Overhead, I heard the telltale sound of plasma being launched and immediately ducked into cover. Thankfully, it wasn't aimed at me, instead, the rounds splattered harmlessly against the wreck of a banshee that I'm 100% sure was not there a half-hour ago.

Looking to the plasma's source, I saw a duo of Seraphs pursuing a lone Atlesian Gunship, a Winterfury, if I recall correctly.

It dodged and weaved with ease, avoiding enemy fire whilst also returning the favor with its chin-mounted chainguns. After a mere few seconds, the miniature dogfight rounded the corner of a skyscraper and disappeared from view.

I rechecked the surroundings and found them to be still clear…

…well, except that Banshee wreck wasn't alone. Whoever destroyed the original seemed to do quite a good job of it, seeing as another half-dozen wrecks littered the streets.

I shrugged, figuring it was probably that Winterfury. If it could survive against a duo of Seraphs, then regular Banshees would be no issue for the pilot. Just as I was about to give the all clear, a blinding red light struck the street a half-dozen or so miles away.

My eyes widened as I saw what the light illuminated.

The underside of a CCS-class battlecruiser.


(A/N) I just love those cliffhangers, don't I?

Several references to other franchises in this chapter. Namely Fallout, RvB, and Babylon 5 (Winterfury vs Starfury; idk, the way the thrusters and the cockpit are set up on the unnamed Atlesian Dropship kinda remind me of a Starfury).

Weiss got things done this chapter… …and may have accidentally become a war hero. Next chapter will focus a lot more on R_BY + _T_Q. I had a lot of trouble writing Tai and Qrow's reaction to the fact that aliens exist… …to the point where I didn't actually make any progress for several days. In the end, I elected to make them extremely skeptical and have Blake and Yang be as reluctant to explain this as I am. Though they, admittedly, have a better reason than mere writer's block.

I also couldn't really find a place to fit JNPR in this chapter, then again, they weren't doing anything really unique per se. All that was missed out on was them giving a crash course on grimm killing to UNSC marines and then demonstrating their lesson.

Also, if you missed it at the top, there's gonna be one more chapter before the hiatus… …seeing as I just would not be able to reasonably fit everything into this chapter.

Anyways, on to the reviews!

I'm Aisling – Good timing on your part! And that was a mistake on my part. I have honestly no idea what I was thinking, they are just plasma, and so they shouldn't be able to be shot down. Its fairly safe to say that it won't happen again.

seraphimnight – That was unintentional, but I think I'll roll with it, lol.

Shadow Walker of Fire – The remaining ones will be side characters. I already have a team name picked out for them. The one guy only existed because 3-man teams don't exist, and a certain wolf faunus will be needing a new team very soon. Yea, _WBY's gonna get better suits next chapter. As for why, I cannot say just yet. I'm considering dropping Ruby again… …that sounds a lot worse than it actually is, lol. And yea, its certainly a hobby for some Spartans.

firestarter09 – All of the plasma torps that weren't 'destroyed' (Goddamnit me) hit their intended targets… …and proceeded to one-shot said targets. In fact, the only things that weren't one-shotted by anything were the biggest ships that were struck with glancing blows (RANV Sovereign [BCV-6]) or were catastrophically damaged (RANV Boreal [DN-26]).

Guest 001 – Good point, I'll probably touch on that in a future chapter. Maybe not the next one, but probably at some point. And yea, when you look at it, faunus are basically humans… just with a few extra bits. Especially when compared to something truly alien. In-universe ex – Lekgolo; Out-of-universe – Tyranids.

Mr Wolffe – Thanks!

Guest 002 – Yea, that was an oversight… …and it was also overlooked here, I just realized. It'll get addressed… probably… at some point… While its true that there's only one fully functional UNSC ship, they've also got one mostly-intact destroyer sitting near Vale, along with a few covvie ships burning with Atlas.

Guest 003 – Its not from anything, really. I just chose 'A Summer's Harvest' based on its content. Namely, a character and a place.

osterreicher97 – I actually don't know if she'll be angry or not. Cannon Salem probably would, but I'm not using cannon Salem. Don't get me wrong, RT did a good job, imo, implementing the backstory that they went with… …I'm just not a fan of that particular… …version of history, lets just say. I'm just gonna flat out say that straight-up Forerunners aren't directly involved with the grimm, Salem, or Remnant as a whole in my version. Not that I couldn't make them be involved, I just thought of something a bit more… lightly used, for the origin of humanity. And it fits quite nicely with there being differences between Terran humans and Remnant humans. Yea, the aftermath will definitely be interesting.

red october700 – Thanks! The names, aside from the Rookie's (Hector Ohno) are all picked from common Swedish names. I'll make a guide of how I think they're pronounced. Though I'm more familiar with Norwegian than Swedish (I say familiar, but really, I only know a tiny fraction of a bit) so my pronunciations may be off.

Gunnar "Brandman" Bergström – Nickname means "Fireman" (Because he's a ginger). Gunnar is self-explanatory as is the nick. Bergström - Baerg struhm. Fun fact: even though most people pronounce ae as 'ayee' or something like that, the letter Ash (Æ/æ) is always pronounced like the 'a' in 'Cat' or 'Ash', though in this example I do intend for ae to be pronounced as everyone thinks it should be. Just know that if I use the letter ash, I intend for it to be pronounced as its supposed to be.

Ingmar "Ägghuvud" Olsson – Nickname means "Egghead", pronounced aygg hoo vood. The rest should be self-explanatory.

Arvid "Fettröv" Håkansson – Nickname means "Fatass", pronounced fett ruhv. Arvid should be self-explanatory. Håkansson - Ho cans son.

Almost forgot the planet name I used. Þrúðvangr – It uses another weird letter… Thorn (Þ/þ) is always pronounced as a 'th', making this word pronounced as Throod Vanger. I chose this name because it's the place where Thor resides in Norse mythology. I call these two letters weird because of the fact that the vast majority of native English speakers will mispronounce them. Fun fact part 2: both Thorn and Ash were a part of the English language… …over a thousand years ago. You wanna see how much our language has changed over time? Look up a reading of Beowulf on YouTube.

Also, the phrase that Håkansson said earlier in the chapter translates to "Go to hell!"

Hope that helps!

raw666 – They weren't taking orders, per se, more following around an HVT with possible intel on covvie and civvie locations. Its like in the Halo: Reach level 'Nightfall' where the civvies at the small settlement lead you to the dam, and thusly, your objective.

rocketmce – Thanks! And yea, Salem is very much a part of my plans… though not cannon Salem, same goes with Ozpin/Ozma. Yea, the covvies definitely are throwing a wrench into everything. And that goes for both of the chessmasters.

lovedalton – At some point, probably during the hiatus, I'll go back and add that information.

And that's all for this chapter! Hope you all enjoyed and I'll see ya next time on Chapter Fifteen 'Eve of Consecration'.