(A/N) Soooo…. I just realized that a very important date was coming up in the middle of writing the next ASH chapter, and that's why you're getting a main series update first. Said date is actually the ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THIS FIC! (even though it's long gone by the time this thing actually got finished) Like… holy shit. If someone told me that this thing managed to get almost 500 favorites, well over 600 followers, and attain the #4 spot for most favorited Halo x RWBY fic on the site (right behind "Crashing The Party", a fic which partially inspired this one), then I probably would've written you off as an overly optimistic idiot and walked away silently… Yeah… I'm kind of a Male!Blake in terms of social situations…

But seriously, guys, thank you. I probably would've abandoned this thing (and writing in general) long ago were it not for your encouragement.

And now I get to, once again, admit my own idiocy in forgetting to tell you guys something last chapter. And that is that the first true omake for this story has been posted; you can find it below the review responses on chapter 9 "Divide". It mostly shores up the end of Weiss's racism arc while adding in something that I never really found a place for before the Fall of Atlas arc. Plus, it does a little bit of worldbuilding as well. I don't know when I'll do more omakes, but I know I won't put any more at the end of previous chapters like that. Also, I really want to just get ASH out of the way, so I'm going to finish up the last two or three chapters before another one of these gets posted.

Anyways, with that out of the way, on with the chapter!


Volume Two

Chapter Five – Not All of Us


/-\ Neopolitan /-\

Pirate ship Sovereign


My eyes narrowed as a quartet of people stepped into view from the bowls of their transports. Three I recognized; Kick Boy, Street Rat, and, of course, Fire Bitch. The fourth, however, was new. He just screamed the dapper-villain type; a spot already occupied by Roman. I twirled my weapon, silently wishing I could do to him like I'd done to that 'Sulky' Roman had apparently known.

This new guy would not replace my friend.

The four disembarked from their bullhead onto the top deck of the battlecarrier, our Tyrant's cocky smile ever present. She hummed. "For once, you didn't disappoint me, Roman." She said, strutting up to him as her glass heels clinked on the tarmac. "Perhaps you and your darling little orphan are worth keeping around, after all."

He growled. "Well, when I don't have to keep an eye out for everyone's favorite robo-girl and her cheerleaders, everything does tend to go a little bit smoother." My eyes momentarily flicked to the Bullhead as several White Fang grunts exited.

"Don't you worry, Roman, she'll be taken care of." She took a step around us, letting her powers flare as fire erupted from her right eye and the deck turned to lava beneath her footfalls. "After all, I doubtthis… Spartan-B312 can contend with me."

The unknown man, dressed in a dark grey suit, rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, yes, we get it… You're drunk on your newfound powers and you really want to use them."

She stopped in her tracks, cocky smirk dropping as she whiled around. "Do you want to end up as a pile of ashes, Watts?"

"Pft, you know how ill-advised that idea is." He turned to Roman. "So, you're that… failure I've heard so much about? Point me to the bridge, Her Grace has requested some… modifications be made."

Fire Bitch growled, but contained her anger. My eyes widened at the implication that she wasn't the 'big boss'; that there was someone above her. I glanced at my partner, who I could tell just by his look, had realized it too.

I heard someone clear their throat. Looking back, I saw 'Watts' looking at us expectantly.

"Oh, its just below this deck." Roman said, remembering that he'd asked for directions to the bridge. "There's a door on the right side of the superstructure that'll take ya right to it."

"Much obliged." He said, offering a slight bow as he and his pair of White Fang guards walked off.

"You two," Fire Bitch said, indicating her two peons. "take the rest of the White Fang and secure the ship. Take no prisoners."

"Yes ma'am." Street Rat said as they led the rest of the Faunus belowdecks. Moments after they disappeared, muffled gunshots reached my ears.

Her cocky smirk reasserted itself as she turned back to us. "Get in the Bullhead." She commanded. "The dust aboard that freighter is a welcome addition, but its still not enough for our plans. You'll go back to Vale and… liberate the rest."

We both wanted to protest, but at this point, we didn't have much of a choice. Without further complaint, we did as we were told.

"Oh, and Roman?" She called out just as we were about to shut the door. "Do try to not disappoint me this time. After all, a certain someone has joined our little entourage." She smirked. "And he is quite… eager to please his queen."


/-\ Valkea Khan /-\

Lán Guānkou


I stood wide-eyed in shock at the sheer force of nature I'd just witnessed. Dust was supposed to be 'Nature's Wrath', and yet, that black-haired woman did things that just simply weren't possible. She would need more than an entire shipping container of dust to do what she did!

Suddenly, I sighted a very distinctive golden stinger on the far side of the wall from my perch atop a nearby building. My heart sank when I realized it could only belong to an Ancient Deathstalker. I shook myself out of my shock from earlier; I could report it later, but only if I survived to actually write the report to Sienna.

With that in mind, I reached behind me and grabbed my trusty 14mm barrel; affixing it to my old Great War-era M1493 Multigun and stowing its standard 8mm counterpart. Just as I'd replaced the ammunition, the wall was torn asunder; the Deathstalker charging through with a few lesser Grimm in tow.

I shouldered the Mantle-made rifle, placing the iron sights over one of the big one's many eyes. I knew I wouldn't be able to kill it on my own, but I could blind it; hopefully so those huntresses could take it down without much trouble.

With that thought, I exhaled, gently pulling the trigger as I finished.

-BANG-

The rifle kicked back with a thunderous roar, a splash of Grimmgore in the distance informing me of my hit. It let out a ear-piercing screech as it reeled from the hit, looking around for the source of its injury even as I cycled the bolt of my weapon.

-BANG-

A Beowolf fell; its entire upper half reduced to dust.

-BANG-

This time, I targeted a joint on one of the Deathstalker's legs. It stumbled, still disoriented from my opening attack.

-BANG-

A Creep just simply ceased to exist; rapidly evaporating Grimmgore being the only clue anything stepped through the gaping hole in the wall.

-BANG-

Another joint on yet another leg was disabled; this one on the same side as the first. Neither leg was completely blown off, a 14mm round wasn't anywhere near powerful enough for that, but they were bordering on non-functional. It was all the beast could do to stay upright.

As I reached for one of my two remaining 14mm clips, I laid eyes on the massive Grimm horde that lay just beyond the wall. A sense of dread overtook me as I realized that I was the only one in this sector still fighting; the huntresses nowhere to be found.

As I racked the bolt of my rifle, I resolved to keep fighting; every second I spent here was likely another civilian saved. Even if this village wasn't under White Fang control, there were still Faunus here; and the Humans of this settlement weren't half-bad, either.

I took aim, but a dull roar interrupted my concentration; almost like a large Atlesian ship was barreling towards it. Moments later, several yellow streaks slammed into the Deathstalker, tearing it asunder. A massive airship floated into position afterwards, two dual turrets on its underside blazing away at the horde.

A flight of Giant Nevermores in the distance screeched, angry at the loss of their cousins to the ship. They didn't last long, however, as more turrets on the dorsal hull opened fire, shredding them into a fine, black, mist.

Just as I thought it was out of tricks, swarms of smaller airships launched from the bulge on the vessel's underside like an entire hive of hornets after someone kicked their nest.

"ATTENTION!" A loudspeaker on the ship suddenly shouted. "THIS IS COMMANDER WITHERSON OF THE UNITED NATIONS SPACE COMMAND VESSEL ODINSDOTTIR, WE'RE HERE TO HELP." After a few moments, I recognized it as the strange dreadnought that turned the tide over Atlas.

The ship then descended to mere feet above a clearing made by its guns, before a trio of underside panels started lowering themselves.

My mouth opened in shock as I realized just how much firepower they'd put on that elevator. Three tracked monstrosities the size of the average Deathstalker with a gun big enough to qualify as an artillery piece, a dozen smaller cars with chainguns mounted on the back, and black-clad soldiers stuffing every space in-between.

They soon disappeared from view, the wall obscuring them from my vision. However, the sounds of weaponsfire, both high and low caliber, reached my ears. Smaller hatches opened on the vessel, which was still well above the wall, and out flew many more airships.

With the fighters occupied making strafing runs at what I presumed to be targets of opportunity, the larger, bus-like airships flew to the rear of the city, where I assumed civilians would be. With the Odinsdottir's intervention, this last stand of mine became a battle; a winnable battle.

With that in mind, I took my rifle and vaulted over to the wall; eager to take up an overwatch position.


Hours later, I walked the hallways of the dreadnought. The hangar bay was packed to the brim with refugees; most refusing to stay in a compromised village when such an easy escape route was right in front of them.

I'd heard there was a bar somewhere around here that gave a free drink to those who fought in the defense and, having literally nothing better to do during the journey to Vale (as I'd heard), I decided to pay it a visit.

After several minutes of asking for directions in the somewhat confusing labyrinth that was the UNSC vessel, I finally found my way to my destination. Soft music played, accenting the somber atmosphere. My entrance drew little attention, as most people were too busy tending their drinks to notice me, even if my outfit stuck out like a sore thumb in this crowd.

The only actual attention I'd gathered seemed to be from a somewhat familiar Cat Faunus clad in black armor. I couldn't place where I'd seen her before, but it probably wasn't that important. She sat with three others; the single largest woman I'd ever seen, and two black-armored soldiers, their faces hidden from view. What caught my eye was a group of Faunus sitting at the bar; all wearing a blue armband emblazoned with the old White Fang symbol. Naturally, my curiosity got the better of me and I sat down next to them.

After ordering my free drink, I tried to strike up a conversation with my as-of-yet silent neighbor. "So…" I started, gaining his attention. "What's with the armband?" I asked, cutting right to the chase.

He blinked. "Ah, must be from outta town, then?" I nodded. "Relax, then. We're not with the White Fang."

I raised an eyebrow. "Then why use their symbol?"

"Let me clarify, I meant we're not with the modern White Fang." He said, confusing me. "The members of our local branch at the time didn't believe in Sienna's methods when she took over, so we split off. We liked Ghira's way of doing things, so we stuck with 'em. We're the Blue Fang, and, though our numbers are limited, we still did a lot for our community." He sighed. "Guess that won't matter much now, seeing as our home is gone…" He paused. "But enough of that; don't want to attract any more Grimm to our saviors, do we?"

After his little rant, we moved onto more enjoyable topics. Surprisingly, I found him quite amicable, only stopping our conversation when we eventually arrived in Vale.


/-\ Ruby Rose /-\

Beacon Academy – Airdocks


I sighed as I stepped off the Pelican, my team just behind me. We'd all changed back into the attire we'd worn during the Fall of Atlas, albeit, without our helmets. Another difference was that we each carried a piece of Yang's tarnished golden armor. Being the strongest, I had the cuirass; Weiss and Blake, between them, carried the arms and legs; Winter, only having one arm to work with, carried the helmet.

Only now that everything had calmed down did I realize just how terrible our respective outfits were. Winter's Specialist uniform was practically turned black from all the soot, not to mention one sleeve being pinned to her shoulder. Blake's armor had multiple punctures in its ablative plates, making them almost useless. Yang had, evidently, dropped several of her plates somewhere along the way. Weiss's armor held many dents, scorches, scratches, and was almost as badly stained as Winter's uniform; most of her ablative plates were also absent. My own armor was basically useless by this point, I was only wearing it because that was the easiest way to transport it. I was under no illusions that it could be repaired with what I or the Odinsdottir brought with us.

With each step forward, our somber procession drew more and more attention. The Atlesian students were especially interested, but no one made any moves to approach us. Many bowed their heads in respect after seeing what we were carrying; quickly putting it together that we'd lost a teammate. Other Atlesian students took out a cigarette lighter, holding it aloft as the small flame blazed. I glanced back at our team's resident Atlesians, who adorned looks of mild shock before returning to their schooled expressions.

We all carefully laid my sister's armor on her bunk; I'd construct an armor stand later. For now, I deposited my own armor onto its stand and threw on my usual sparring clothes.

"So…" Blake started as I exited the bathroom. "What were they doing with their lighters? I'm guessing it's an Atlesian thing."

My partner nodded. "Yes. It's a tradition that predates the Great War by centuries; 'Voyydslikt' in Old Atlesian, literally meaning 'Light of the Void', but can be more accurately translated to 'Light to remember those we have lost'."

Winter nodded. "Its not done lightly; especially for foreigners."

"So it's essentially saying 'I'm sorry for your loss', then?" I asked, my voice still somber.

"In the most simplistic terms… technically." Weiss said. "It's not something that's for everyone that passes on; moreso just for heroes that died protecting others. Somewhat comparing the deceased to be a light that now only lives on in others."

I sighed. "I guess I appreciate the gesture, then." I said. "But if you don't mind me, I'd like to be alone for-"

The intercom suddenly came to life. "Would Team RWBY and Specialist Winter Schnee report to the headmaster's office at their earliest convenience? Repeat, Team RWBY and Specialist Schnee to the headmaster's office at their earliest convenience."

"Goddamnit, Goodwitch…" I muttered. "Alright, change in plans, then. I guess we're getting debriefed first." After Blake and Weiss changed into their regular outfits, the former deciding to forgo her bow after realizing she accidentally revealed herself earlier, all four of us headed up to the office.

Minutes later, we strode inside the glorified clock museum. I crossed my arms, appraising the three figures in front of me. Two were familiar, Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch, but the third was new. I knew who he was, I'd just never met him personally.

"General Ironwood." Winter said, tersely.

"Specialist Schnee." He responded. "Were the situation different, I'd have you court martialed." His gaze held firm for only a moment before he sighed in resignation. "But as it stands, you're the last active Atlesian Specialist outside of that nutcase over in Argus."

Her eyes widened. "W- What?" She stuttered. "But what about-"

"Gone, Schnee. All Specialist units are either MIA or KIA. Honestly, I don't know how we'd tell the difference at this point." He said, his eyes trailing down to her stump. "And it looks like you're not much better off, seeing as we've lost the capability to make true limb replacements."

"Sir, I can still-"

"I don't want to hear it." He interrupted. "Besides, the next assignment I had in mind for you doesn't involve direct combat."

She motioned for him to continue, but before he could, the elevator dinged again and three more people strode out. "Sorry I'm late, I was still reviewing the lieutenant's AAR." The first, Commander Witherson, said as he idly fixed one of his gloves.

The other two locked eyes with me, both sighing in relief before the blonde rushed me, enveloping me in a hug. "Don't ever scare me like that again…" He muttered.

"Sorry dad…" I said in a small voice.

"Umm… Ruby?" I heard my uncle ask in a worried voice. "Where's Yang?" I remained silent.

"R- Ruby?" My father asked, pulling back from the hug.

My gaze fell. "She's gone." I said, the heartache evident in my voice.

Tears welled up in his eyes. "W- what?" He asked. "N- no… A- are you sure? What if- n- no it can't- no…"

While dad was muttering incoherently, trying to convince himself that his daughter was still alive, Qrow pulled me aside. "Ruby." He said, tersely. "Who did this? I'll make sure they regret the day they were born." He threatened, his voice so low it could've intimidated a Goliath.

My face hardened. "It was fucking Raven." I said, before turning to the particularly assholish white-haired man in the corner. "Speaking of which… mind telling us just what the hell is up with that bitch?"

Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "I beg your pardon?"

"She was able to defeat all of us at once." Weiss chimed in. "She seemed to have several semblances; portals, weather control, cryomancy, and last but not least, shapeshifting."

"Don't forget that she had literal fire shooting out of her eyes." Blake remarked, dryly.

"…And she did it all without a speck of dust." Winter finished. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Qrow's jaw drop.

"We know you're hiding things." I said, my voice dangerously low. "I didn't trust you one bit after that stunt you pulled with Yang, and, unlike you, I've been very open with my team about my secrets. Now it's your turn."

Ozpin, for the first time since I've met him, seemed caught off-guard. It was only momentary, but the moment existed, nonetheless. "I…" He began. "I believe that would be a conversation best suited for when Team JNPR retu-"

"Oh, no no no no no." I interrupted. "You'll be telling us now." I stated. "Also, speaking of Team JNPR, what the hell do you have planned for Pyrrha?"

"I don't know what you're-"

"Oh, please…" Blake said. "All of us except Winter have seen that she is your most promising 'candidate'; whatever that means."

Ironwood's eyes narrowed. "Those are classified docume-"

"Oh? Classified?" Winter shot back. "Where, oh where have I heard that before?" She hummed. "Could it be when you told me to abandonour entire kingdom so we could save some old wand?"

"You know this is insubordin-"

"I don't understand what's so insubordinate about relieving an obviously incomptetant commander." She shot back. "You ordered me to leave behind millions of our own people. Explicitly."

He clasped his hands behind his back. "You're a lieutenant colonel, Schnee." He said. "You know about needing to make tough choices for the greater good."

"The greater good? The people are the greater good!"

"ENOUGH!" Ozpin suddenly shouted, shooting up from his desk. "You're both in the wrong here."

"How can she be-" Weiss started, jumping to her sister's defense.

"I said, ENOUGH!" He shouted, his voice gaining several layers to it. We all shut up after his little outburst and, after a few tense moments, he sat back down. "Now that I have your attention, and because you leave me no other choice, I shall explain what my colleague has clearly failed to during the invasion."

I raised an eyebrow, not thinking it would be this easy to get something out of him.

"The 'old wand' that the general ordered you to escort is far more important than you realize, Miss Schnee..." He tapped his cane against the floor twice, causing a section of wall to open. A white and gold wand slowly floated towards Ozpin's desk, its ornate prongs bathed in a shimmering golden aura.

I stepped out of its path; slightly mesmerized by the sheer energy it gave off as it passed. I suddenly felt completely and utterly refreshed. It was like I could run to the moon and back with the sheer power it radiated. After what seemed like hours, I finally noticed Ozpin had stood back up, his hand outstretched to receive the wand.

The feeling vanished as his hands clasped the object. I still retained the energy, but the warm feeling of basking in its glow was gone.

"What… is that thing?" Commander Witherson asked.

Ozpin smirked. "While you were correct that this is, indeed, 'old', Specialist, that isn't quite the apt descriptor." He said. "This is none other than the Wand of Creation."

The rest of my team stared on in complete shock. I, however, only raised an eyebrow. "Feels like there's a story behind that…"

"You don't know…?" Winter asked, incredulously.

Meanwhile, Weiss pinched her nose. "Of course this Oaf doesn't. She may have been born on Remnant, but she didn't grow up here."

"Pretty much." I said. "So, what's the deal with that thing and why is it more important than a small colony's worth of people?"

"It is not." Ozpin stated as he glared at Ironwood. "The relic may be important, but it is not worth the millions of lives lost during the invasion. We'll be having a discussion about this later, James." He turned back to us. "Anyway, I'll give you the abridged version; I'm sure your teammates can fill you in on any details I may leave out."

He cleared his throat. "The story goes that there are two brother-gods; the older represented light while the younger presides over darkness. They fought often, eventually culminating in each making a 'champion species', so to speak. The elder amassed legions of folioid creatures, while his brother commanded the Grimm hordes. Eventually, the God of Light was victorious and, instead of gloating as his brother expected, suggested they make one last species, but together. Darkness, surprised by his brother's mercy, accepted, and together, they made both Humanity and Faunuskind."

"In the process, they created four relics; the embodiment of the aspects they shaped us with. Knowledge and Choice were formed from a mixture of the two's ideologies, while Creation and Destruction were the pure expressions of their essences."

Witherson cleared his throat. "Well… I would say it was quite an interesting story, and if you weren't holding that… Wand of Creation over there, I'd probably just write it off as another creation myth." He sighed. "But then there's the fact that Humans have been around in some form or another on Earth for millions of years. How the hell does Remnant fit into this?"

"I've been trying to figure that out since I got here." I said, shrugging. "But anyways, this thing is the physical embodiment of creation, right?" He nodded. "Can we use it to bring Yang back?"

Almost every pair of eyes bored into Ozpin's skull with a pleading look. However, he sighed. "Unfortunately, that is a power only the gods themselves possess…" He said, his eyes glazing over for a moment. He shook his head, bringing himself out of whatever thoughts had trapped him momentarily. "However, I can at least fix one thingthat went wrong on your mission."

I blinked in confusion as he raised the wand, its golden aura intensifying as he twirled it about. After it had become a miniature lighthouse, he abruptly stopped his motions; the tip pointing at Winter.

A stream of golden-white energy enveloped her, twisting and twirling around her body like a glowing ribbon. It coalesced around her stump and, slowly but surely, began to extend itself outward. First, it was only a lump; then it took on a more uniform shape until finally, it ended as a vaguely Human arm. The glow slowly faded, leaving a purely flesh and blood arm where there was none before.

Winter just simply stared at it, completely dumbfounded that she suddenly had both arms again. Slowly, she began to move the restored appendage, touching each finger to her thumb as a solitary tear rolled down her cheek.

"It… it really is real, then?" She said, her voice scarcely above a whisper.

"Indeed." Ozpin said, nodding. "While its power is, frankly, amazing, it does have its limits." He paused. "It cannot create intelligent creatures, it cannot bring back the dead, and most importantly, it is powered by the Waters of Creation; the source of which has been lost for many millennia, now."

"Wait… millennia?" Weiss asked, shocked. "And why does it need to be powered by anything? It's a literal artifact of the gods!"

He chuckled. "That it may be, but it is also just a tool; not unlike your Myrtenaster nor a blacksmith's hammer. Neither can function without their requisite materials, yet both are essential for the wielder's craft." He paused. "As for the former, how do you think there are legends of it in the first place, hmm? It may be far older than the kingdoms, but keep in mind they themselves are a fairly recent addition to Remnant. After all, one does not go straight from creation to construct four nigh-impregnable citadels, now, do they?"

"Now, onto your question about Miss Branwen…" He trailed off. Ironwood gave him a questioning glance, to which he nodded. The general tapped away at his scroll while Ozpin continued. "Tell me, have any of you heard the tale of the seasons?"

Blake adorned an unamused expression. "Another story?" She deadpanned.

"It's because she is very likely the Spring Maiden." Qrow suddenly said from behind us. We all turned to him, questioning gazes on our faces. "You said it yourself, Frosty-"

"Hey!"

"Like everyone else in the world, she only has one semblance." He held up a finger to punctuate his statement. "The other stuff? Yeah, that's straight-up magic. And the tell? She shot fire out of her eyes."

"A Maiden's calling card." Ozpin agreed.

I sighed. "Okay, so, what the hell is a 'maiden' supposed to even be?" I asked.

"Well… I could explain it to you…" Ozpin started but was interrupted by the elevator opening. "…Or I could show you." He said, gesturing to the woman that stepped out.

She strode up to General Ironwood. "Senior Airman Ironwood, reporting for duty." She said, saluting her superior.

"At ease." He said before turning to us. "Team RWBY, Specialist Schnee, meet my daughter, Chrysanthemum Ironwood; the Winter Maiden."


/-\ Penny Polendina /-\

UNSC Pelican; En Route to Beacon Academy


I felt relieved as the airship finally left the ground. It had been several hours before the 'Stormcutter' had finally left the area, though we didn't know exactly where it went.

That was, however, irrelevant, as I'd finished copying my father's hard drive. Well, it had actually finished some time ago, but I'd been preoccupied with evading the Covenant Stormcutter as well as fighting off the occasional Grimm attack.

Now that we were safe in the Pelican's bay, I began to peruse its contents. Being an experimental drive, it was fairly small; only a few dozen terabytes. Much larger than a scroll, but two orders of magnitude smaller than a standard desktop-based hard drive.

Despite its size, it held quite a few valuable things. A blueprint of the Atlesian Model-14 'Speartip' air-to-air torpedo, many experimental shipboard pulse laser designs, and some other smaller things. But by far the most important thing was a complete schematic of my own internal workings.

Sure, I knew how to make some simple field repairs, but with this, I wouldn't have to worry about slowly rusting away. I was so excited at the prospect that, while I still had to be careful, I didn't have to be so careful as to avoid walking in the wrong way, I almost missed a text file titled 'Penny'. I had, thankfully, found it, though, and there was no doubt in my mind who wrote it.

Penny, if you're reading this, then you did exactly as I thought you would, though I doubt I had time to tell you what that was. I really wish I could have made a video goodbye, but I had neither the time nor the space on this drive to do that. I already know I'm not making it out of here alive, there is just too much work to save.

I can hear them outside. The screams, the aliens' weapons blazing away. The defenses won't hold, but they will buy me enough time to write this, at least. There is so much I wanted to tell you, so many memories I wish we could share, but we have run out of time.

Therefore, there is one thing that you need to know. I know you have issues thinking of yourself as a real girl, but you are in the most literal sense of the word. You may not remember it, but there is an actual reason why you instinctively called me your father on the day of your activation.

You, Penny Polendina, were originally born nineteen years ago. You are not only my little mechanical wonder, but you are also my biological child. One day, you were assisting me in my lab, as you often did back then, when one of our experiments suddenly exploded.

One of the pieces pierced through your heart, and we were too far from a hospital for you to survive. We had also been experimenting with an aura-mapping device at the time and it happened to be laying nearby. You fell into it and by some stroke of astronomical luck, it activated.

By the time I'd snapped out of my stupor, you had already passed on, and I was devastated for months on end. I re-visited that old project after General Ironwood began showing a very sudden interest in the technology, and it was easily the happiest moment of my life when I found you again. Over the time I rebuilt you, I documented what took place that fateful day. If you wish to read more, it is in the same file as the rest of your schematics.

The defenses are almost completely overrun, so I need to wrap this up. Don't ever think that you're just some pale imitation of Humanity, because you're not. You are Penny Polendina, my living, breathing, daughter. And I love you so very very much.

I sat in my chair completely and utterly shocked to my cores. I was almost physically unable to move, my CPUs too busy processing this new information to deliver instructions to my motor functions. Occasionally, I'd manage to steal a glance at the bodybag on the floor containing my father, but other than that, I didn't move an inch for the entire rest of the flight.

I was only barely able to move when we landed, but I did so for father. I carried him all the way to Beacon's morgue, still processing the revelation my father had given me.

After he had been laid to rest, I stepped outside, being greeted by the sun peeking out from the clouds. People mulled about the courtyard going about whatever business they had planned for the last day of spring break as Team JNPR stood by my side.

'I'm… one of them…' I thought to myself as I watched the crowd. Suddenly, I caught a glimpse of snow-white hair in the distance. My eyes widened when I confirmed that it was, indeed, who I thought it was.

A moment later, and I was off, my friends shouting after me. As I got closer, I realized she looked sullen. Thankfully, I had a fix for that. She looked up just in time to be tackled hugged by me.

Objective complete.


(A/N) Yay, Penny got a hug! And bonus, so did Weiss! See, win-win. Everything is now fine and nothing bad ever happened.

I went back and forth for quite a while on having Qrow realize that neither Yang nor Summer are dead, but ultimately decided against it. Mainly because it tended to derail the obligatory 'oh gods exist, btw' conversation that every RWBY fic starting pre-volume 4 or 5 needs to have. I didn't feel like re-explaining the Maidens, so I just had Chrysanthemum do it offscreen. You all know about them, it doesn't need to be written.

Also, Winter suddenly has both arms again! Woot! Good things are happening again!

I constantly complain about how hard it is to write emotional shit, but, funnily enough, Geppetto's letter to Penny was actually the easiest scene in this entire chapter to write. Seriously, it only took like an hour. I have absolutely no idea why.

But anyways, that's all I had for the A/N this chapter, so onto the 2,700-word-long review responses! Good god, its getting out of control…

Dovah117 said – "Raven got REALLY lucky that Ruby was blinded by rage and vengance, because if she stayed cool headed, she would be dead, yes maybe with her Maiden's powers she would defend herself but still Ruby would kick her ass HARD, and finally we get a glimse of Draco's Reaper! And Yang is in the Chryozone of the Spirit of Fire!? Moma Rose is coming home! Can also give a hug to Penny? I think she needs one, and who is gonna be the new Fall Maiden? Ruby?.

...

...

...

Now that would be awesome and OP as hell!"

She did, indeed, get lucky, but I don't think Ruby would beat Raven in a straight-up fight when Maiden Powers are accounted for. The main reason why she was getting her shit kicked in for a bit there is because it wa against people who could coordinate without her overhearing anything. That said, Ruby would come DAMN close to being able to beat a Maiden, given that she's easily the most powerful non-magical person on Remnant.

Yep, she's on the Spirit right now.

I'm probably going to stick with Pyrrha, as Ozzie still doesn't trust Ruby. But yeah, Maiden Ruby would be OP as HELL.

Krypto-Saiyan Primal65 said – "You know, do you think that the Ozluminati, Salem's Cult And Raven's bandit village would do a truce so all Can join forces against the Covenant? By extension the Flood? I mean by words of Rtas Vadum ("A single spore Can wipe out a spieces") I mean I doubt that the Flood could infect the Grimm, and I would be glad that way.

But they can infect Salem, it doesn't matter if she has immortality of regeneration, if she's infected they would do an inmortal Proto-Gravemind, that alone is scary as hell.

I would love to see more Karma on the inremediable RWBY Villians like Adam realizing that the Covenant won't spare neither Faunus and gets stabbed by a Elite Zealot (Bounus point if the Elite says "Wort, Wort, Wort!") And Cinder gets killed by a glassing of a Crusier (I know that's overkill but come on she deserves it)

I cannot Wait for more interactions between Ruby and Raven, it would be nice if Ruby deconstructs the "Strong lives and the weak dies" mindset of the bird mom...Uh...step-mom. And even with Maiden Powers Ruby kick her ass so hard.

And would be seeing some Forerunner technology and IAs? It would be cool to have a monitor on the team RWWBY, along side an Enginer.

So, this was Krypto Saiyan Primal, saying goodbye, see ya!"

If the Flood were involved… maybe. I mean, Ozzie and Salem hate eachother period. No 'if's, 'and's, or 'but's; and Salem isn't exactly too fond of Humanity as it is, so why should she care if something comes along and wipes them out?

Its even scarier since that would now make a magic immortal proto-gravemind; and, since its immortal, it's GUARANTEED to become a fully-fledged Gravemind with a capital 'G'.

They shall reap what they sow… eventually…

Don't worry, they'll meet again. In the words of Zehoverseer, they're in an anime.

Osterreicher97 said – "Hmmm... so did Yang just end up on the Spirit of Fire while it was in drift or something? ASH isn't that far ahead yet as I recall, so I'm assuming that we won't hear of Yang for awhile until ASH catches up. Unless, something else is going on here?

I'm probably getting my stories and details mixed up..."

Yep, and you're right; this story is slightly ahead of ASH atm. Yang will show up at the end of either this coming chapter or the next one.

Joeyginise said – "*gasps* Yang is on the Spirit of Fire! Red team is going to be on remnant! More Spartans! Summer gets to meet Spartan Ruby! I'm so excited! And finally, someone had the balls to make Yang say that Raven will never be her mother. Good on you, buddy! Oh and, I am very disappointed that Raven didn't walk away from that fight with a shattered jaw. Cause Ruby is supposed to be Hyper lethal level of Spartan strong. And arguably Chief is one of the few who could keep up with her. So I find it a tiny bit of RWBY BS that Aura saved her from that much pain. Also her sword should not have been able to disable her Armor like that, I mean Spartan Armor is borderline indestructible. Sorry I just hate Raven as a character, her world view is disgusting."

Yep, yep, yep, and yeeeep! I'm kinda surprised it hasn't happened sooner, tbh. People with actual abandonment issues would NEVER call Raven their mom if they were in Yang's shoes.

That was in the original draft, but I wanted her to talk a little at the end there, so I had to downgrade it to a glancing blow that knocked out a tooth. A good hit would, beyond ANY shadow of a doubt, shatter (or possibly outright REMOVE) her jaw.

I know it's supposed to be strong, but in the Cinder vs Raven fight, she was effortlessly cleaving through entire METERS of rock, so it being able to damage the armor over time isn't too farfetched.

I see her like how canon Yang says her dad described her "troubled and complicated". Yes, her worldview is absolutely atrocious, but imo it's a symptom of the untreated abuse she likely suffered while being raised in a bandit camp. Doesn't mean it wasn't fun writing a fight where Team RWWB_ beats on her for the first half, though.

Guest002 said – "Will Spirit arrive soon, cause they are the only UNSC ship with the facilities to repair a Spartan's Armor!? Will Ruby get her Sniper Scythe Soon!?"

I have plans for her to get a scythe, but it won't be her classic Crescent Rose. This Ruby would never build that because its mechanical complexity would make it an absolute nightmare to deal with in the field if you didn't have a Cult Mechanicus-level dedication to maintaining it like Canon Ruby does.

Icy Doom said – "Which year is this set in?"

That... is a very complicated question with many correct answers.

Ruby thinks it's January 2553, the Odinsdottir thinks it's September 2552.

The Penny and Neo scenes take place on different days from the Raven confrontation and Ozpin's scene (March 20th).

All of this will be clarified when I release the V2 timeline after the finale.

Brawlingbard said – "Thinks Raven killed Yang

Raven escapes alive?

Does not compute."

That's only because a lucky swipe disabled her armor and she didn't have enough aura to escape it. Plus, Raven's bird form helps.

Shadow Walker of Fire said – "Great chapter. Yang is MIA, does that mean the Spirit will show up within a few chapters? Also does Summer's cryo pod say 'Sgt. J. Forge' on it or something else?"

Can't confirm or deny the first part, but she's not in Forge's pod, as that's in cryobay 3 whereas she's in cryobay 4.

Wolffrang said – "That was a fair battle between Ruby and Raven it show's that Raven can go toe to toe with a spartan however if multiple spartan's engaged her she would be overwhelmed quickly,also Raven made the mistake of not finishing ruby off because now she knows how raven fights and will upgrade her armor to withstand raven's attacks.

P.S. I kinda hope that the UNSC militarizes beacon and makes sure there's no terrorist sneaking in (looking at fire cunt Handicap man and Mommys girl.)"

Completely correct. If Ruby in her repaired (not even upgraded) armor showed up with, say, Red Team in tow, it would be absolutely everything Raven could do to just simply survive. And even that's not guaranteed. Indeed it was a mistake, but she'd just been injured and thus, made a split-second decision to run and fight another day.

I've got some ideas floating around… -quickly shoos away Falcon-

Mid Level Fighter said - Saw the new chapter after work and actually squeed.

Love the opening with Neo. Well, I love anything with Neo...

As for Penny, im looking forward to finding out what her dad died to protect. Seems macguffin-y amd I love that idea. Also, what is your idea of her processing speed? A pause of a thousand cycles is next to nothing for a UNSC AI, and even less for a Forerunner system. My personal thoughts are somewhere around an Exahertz for her speed, but thats based of ONI Project Black Box.

Raven... Raven... Raven... When will she learn that ALIENS means she shouldnt be fighting her own kind? And sending her own daughter through a portal to no destination? (Loved that scene, but the trauma our poor Spartan will suffer. Losing a third sister...) And she allways runs.

Great chapter, cant wait for the epic convergence of storylines"

I've already dropped a very subtle hint as to what's in that HDD; keep in mind what she said about red-lining her systems. Given Remnant's slight technological inferiority (relative to the UNSC's computing power, at least), I'd say somewhere in the 10 to 100 terahertz range. But that's kindof a misnomer, as in my mind, Penny's "Consciousness" takes thousands of cycles to compute a single 'tick', meaning her actual reaction time would be somewhere in the megahertz range. Much, MUCH faster than a Human's (ironically on the same scale as our modern-day PLCs), but it's like a severely asthmatic obese child in the face of a Spartan when compared to their other computers.

Glad you enjoyed it!

CreeperslayerL421 said – "Comments for Ch. 20:

Roman... that scumbag schweinehund! I'd really love to slice his ass into salami if I were a character in this fic...

Note on Neo's name: It's "Neo Politan," apparently. Don't ask me, I didn't make this up.

I just hope the reunion isn't too awkward for Yang... given that you can't wear clothes or bandages in cryotubes...

Let me guess... the red skull emblem is a nod to Gears of War?

-CreeperSlayerL421"

When I was writing him in that scene, I pretty much thought to myself 'what was the most antagonistic and assholish thing someone could say?' and mocking someone's dead kids was pretty high on that list.

I know… I just like Neopolitan better than Neo Politan. To-may-to; to-mah-to situation, but whatever.

…Shit, forgot about that… Welp, guess Yang gets to see her mom naked for a bit… -insert sarcastic yay here-

Nope; just didn't feel like going the classic 'skull and crossbones' route. But, honestly, the Gears skull would be pretty cool there.

Red October 700 said – "*looks at the cheese grater* I can oneup this one. So let that thing sit outside for say a month. Let it get nice and rusty. Waht we are going to do is pin him with a forklift, and I am going to cut hsi tendions with a clever ( I am head of hte Cleaver Brotherhood. So a cleaver is a must ) then you can shove that grader right whare the sun dont shine. Then we cut is heart out with a dull rusted spoon. * Starts laughing like an insane person*

I think I just went pshyo. Is that normal? Oh well.

And you sir, I need to shake you hand. We may bo of opisite ships yet we can have s civil conversation. It could just be me seeing the worst side of the fandom, but you have restored some of my faith in this comunity. So thanks.

Now to the review!

Glad to see Penny get some closer. Neo and Roman are now with Atlas ships that were deserters? Hmmmm lets see whare this goes.

Aaaand Raven. *Sigh* You know its sad to think she would do that to her own daughter. Hell even her teammates daughter. She thinks she is hot stuff hugh? Oh Summer would not be pleased with her. And if I am going to be honest I still think Ruby would still kick Ravens ass. She just got a Lucky shot in.

Now lets see Yang. I can presume that she in on the Spiret of Fire after Halo Wars campin and its drifting. So Yang is going to need to talk to the AI if she is still active. So the question is, when is she going to get back? A good quistion to be answerd next chapter."

Yeah, you did go a bit psycho, but eh, that's alright. It's Adam we're talking about.

It's kinda sad that being civil to a fellow Human being warrants a thank you in this day and age, isn't it? I don't delve too deep into the RWBY fandom (mainly sticking to FFN, SB, and the subs), but if it's as toxic as the memes make it out to be, I think I'll stick to the surface-level stuff.

I didn't name the ship during the battle, but that particular vessel was actually the battlecarrier that limped away after the first battle over Atlas.

Most people seem to agree with you that Ruby should've won that fight, but I honestly don't think so; not with Raven's supreme bullshit that is the Maiden Powers. Add in the fact that Ruby's armor hasn't been properly serviced since before Reach fell and her lack of proper high-quality melee weapons, and you have a victorious Raven.

Yang is, indeed, on the Spirit of Fire atm. She won't be back for a few chapters, but she'll certainly be back in time for the Volume Finale.

CreeperslayerL421 said – "In the omake, the "gods" mentioned in the story Selini read... I have a feeling they might be either Forerunner or Covenant, likely the latter."

Good guess, but no. Maybe try going further afield; see if you can get any more hints that way, can you?

3c65313c66313c59313c59313c55313c58313c5b313c6b4b313c6b5b313c58313e5a313c5f

I dunno, maybe that makes everything a single hint too high? But what I DO know, is that I spent waaaay too long actually making this cypher (even if it is extremely basic), so good luck!

FlawlessCowboy2552 said – "So there are a couple of issues I have with the plot so far.

First and one of the biggest I have is Ruby having Aura as a Spartan. The problem is that with how desparate the UNSC (and to a greater extent ONI) is for any advantage, they would see that Aura as something to be researched and replicated at all costs, even if it kills Ruby in the process. As such it makes no sense to me that She would have been put through the augmentation process and not syphoned out to some R&D facility to be disected.

My second issue has to do with Ruby's interactions with Alice and the nature of Ruby's Armor. Basically, Ruby shouldn't have been able to utilize Alice in the same way that the Master Chief uses Cortana. The reason for this is that noble team did not have Mark 5 armor systems due to financial constraints. Instead they were given old Mark 4 suits that were retro fitted for energy shields. The crystal layer that allowed Cortana to function in the chiefs suit was a special addition to just his mark 5 suit and wasn't even standardized until the mark 6.

In other words, Ruby's suit shouldn't have even had the ability to run the AI.

If her aura was unlocked before she'd gotten augmentations, I'd agree with you. Some random five-year-old showing up with soul magic? Yeah, she's getting dissected.

I don't remember if I'd stated by chapter 15 that her aura was unlocked during Operation: TORPEDO, but that's what happened; she was under immense stress and that's what did it, kind of similar to how Ren got his unlocked. She then proceeded to kick covvie ass at Draco III and demonstrated how valuable she became as a combat-ready asset. Couple that with the now extremely limited number of trained Spartan-III commandos, and that's why she wasn't just straight-up dissected. She was, however, studied. Just not invasively enough to render her combat ineffective.

One more thing before I move on to the last point: I know canon Noble Six didn't go on Operation: TORPEDO. I didn't want her to be a carbon copy of canon B312, so I made her pre-aura combat ability just SLIGHTLY too low to get out of it.

I agree that I handwaved her armor being able to support an AI, but the situation somewhat required it. Also, after doing a little digging, I found that Noble Team did, indeed, use Mark V armor; only Carter and Emile's entries on Halopedia not explicitly stating their base armors were of that model.


Anyways, that's all for now. Another WIP title for the next chapter, though. Right now, I have it as "Stories Scattered Through Time", but that may change between now and its release time. And remember, I'll be finishing ASH before updating this one again, so it might be a while.