(A/N) Not too long since the last chapter, even if I did miss a week or so. Also, FFN says we hit 312k words as of last chapter. Fitting, given the title.

If ya wanna yell at me for killing Jaune, here's the Discord link! 3jf9w8u

Also, a special shoutout to Sierra-D421 for being the Beta reader for this chapter!


Volume Three

Chapter Three – Back In The Saddle


/-\ Cinder Fall /-\


I sat on the edge of my bed, legs folded over one another as I tapped away on my scroll-pad; a true rarity ever since Atlas fell. Even so, the spinning and stylized 'W' in the corner only served to anger me every time my eyes accidentally glanced to it.

The others laid on their respective beds as I planned out our next move. Officially, our team being quote-unquote 'down a member' was to be solved after we returned to Mistral, but that would disqualify us from the tournament. It would throw off the plan.

I frowned; we could sow so much more discontent and chaos if we put on a rather… brutal showing throughout all our matches. And that was why I was typing up an email to the ever so brave Lionheart. As luck would have it, there was one other Mistralian student already here. If the headmaster could order him to be temporarily join our team – just enough to get us past the team vs team round – then we could let the plan continue virtually unaltered.

The stupid little boy should thank us, anyways; he wouldn't be able to take part in any of the tournament otherwise. Just as I was about to hit 'send', my scroll buzzed from the nearby nightstand. Rolling my eyes, I picked it up, ready to dismiss the call of the latest telemarketer to have the gall to-

I raised an eyebrow, seeing a text message.

Team Leader,

Your team, amongst others, has been selected to participate in a special mission to assist VDF forces in the Emerald forest. Please report to the airdocks by 8:00am tomorrow morning. You are expected to be gone for three days: pack accordingly.

Regards,

Professor Ozpin

I frowned, setting my scroll down.

"What is it?" Mercury asked.

"Ozpin's assigned a mission for us." I said. "We're to be ready by eight tomorrow."

He sat up. "Do ya think he's on to us?"

I rolled my eyes. "Emerald."

Not even a moment later, she slapped him upside the head. "Ow! What was that for?!"

"Asking a stupid question." I said. "There is no possible way he could be on to us. No one's been captured, no one's spoken a word of our plans outside this room, and we've been subtle enough about our operations that he would have to be psychic to even guess we were responsible." I picked up my tablet, sending off the email to Lionheart. "We'll do this mission like the good little soldiers we're posing as." I smirked. "And then we'll strike from where he least expects it."

He chuckled. "Well, that's an idea I can get behind…"


/-\ Ruby Rose /-\


My boots clanked against the metal floors of the Spirit of Fire; a ship which should've been lost amongst the stars. I chuckled. 'I guess it is still lost by UNSC standards; Remnant isn't exactly on the map.'

The last bulkhead door opened before me with a whoosh. I strode into the large and open engineering bay the resident Spartans of this ship had commandeered for their armor's maintenance. Off to one side, a drab green ring-like structure stood, a single tech fiddling with the wiring inside of one of its many uncovered access ports.

The other side mainly held crates – all with ONI's little 'don't touch' stickers on them. On the far end of the room sat a single workbench, a lab coat-wearing woman hunched over it as a partially assembled suit of familiar armor stood motionless just off to the side.

I strode up to the suit, wiping away a few specks of dust that had accumulated on the silver visor. I stared at my reflection through it, content to just… stand still for a second. My hands then fell to the bare breastplate, my usual pouches absent. The many, many gouges – only superficially hidden by the melted plastic I'd used for the rally – were gone.

A small smile graced my lips as my fingers ran across the painted and flawless metal, not even feeling a single irregular bump. "It's… perfect." I let out.

"Thank you." The scientist said. "It certainly wasn't easy getting all that plastic out of there."

I nodded, turning my head towards her as my fingers rested on my armor's shoulder – the pauldron missing. "Well, I appreciate it."

"You better." A new voice said. Behind the scientist – Anders, if I recalled correctly – a faint blue glow shone from the workbench. "Whatever you were doing, it had a markedly adverse effect on the gel layer – it was bordering on being totally viscous. That and the safety systems built into the armor plating itself are the only reasons why you didn't simply snap your limbs off when it went haywire."

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks, Serina. I totally should've just taken it down to the maintenance shed and had the billion-credit suit completely refurbished."

Anders crossed her arms, head tilting slightly backwards. "I'm sure she did the best she could with what she had." She sighed. "That said, you're lucky it was only a single severed electrode – and that those are pretty much the same ones used in the mark fours."

"Well, I'll be sure to thank that bitch for being considerate in where she fucked up my armor." I said. "Will it be ready for tomorrow's op?"

"The ambush?" I nodded. "Oh, easily. The armor's subsystems are fully repaired – all that's left is to finish my scans of this shield emitter, here, and reassemble the whole thing. It should be ready in a couple hours; maybe three or four if it doesn't work exactly like I think it does."

"Good. What about Red Team's armor? You gonna have enough time to give 'em shields too?"

She shook her head. "Unfortunately not. I'll have to compile my notes and source several exotic elements and compounds I've already found in the thing. Plus, I'll have to compare the design of these things with the box that Miss Schnee gave me to look over. If we're unlucky, the corvettes might launch before Serina and I've drawn up any working blueprints."

I raised an eyebrow. "And if we're lucky?"

"I dunno…" She blew out a puff of air. "A couple weeks, maybe? Best case scenario?"

"Damn." I said. "Well, I guess I should be thankful I'm not the only superhuman here anymore."

We shared a laugh as she went back to work, my attention refocusing on my second skin, now back to its original glor-

"Speaking of superhumans…" Serina said from beside me. "Red Team is requesting a meeting with you, Lieutenant Commander."

"Well, meeting granted. I've been meaning to meet them for a few days now, anyways. Where are they?"

"Deck five, aft crew quarters, room seventeen."

I nodded, hearing the door open behind me. "Alright, tell 'em I'm on my way."

Her avatar made an exaggerated motion of looking behind me. "Actually, that may be delayed, somewhat."

"Why?"

"You have a visitor." She said. "Just remember: she's friendly." Her avatar winked out of existence.

I stared at her blank pedestal for a moment, hearing heavy footfalls behind me. Turning around, I thought for a split second that another Spartan was standing in front of me – the figure was the correct height, having several inches on me.

Then I remembered that none of us wore armor that gleamed like an Atlesian airship… nor ones that had a second set of opposable thumbs. My eyes narrowed, staring into the light blue visor as I drew my magnum from my thi-

A gentle hand pushed it away. "She's friendly, remember?" Anders said.

"It's an alien." I said. "An alien on a UNSC ship."

"Be calm, Warrior." The alien said. "I am not here to fight."

Frowning, I jerked my weapon out of Anders's grip, though didn't point it at the armored alien just yet. "Then why are you here?"

"In truth, I did not expect to meet you here. I sought an audience with your Professor Anders; specifically to ask her to summon Missus Summer Rose."

My hand tightened around my magnum's grip. "What do you want with my mother?"

The alien tilted its head slightly. "Ah, yes, I see the resemblance." It said. "However, I do not require her specifically; merely someone of New Human lineage."

Anders crossed her arms. "Why them specifically? And plus, didn't we discover that Remnant Humans and Faunus are fundamentally different to the so-called 'New Humans' that your parents created?"

"What the… hell are you talking about?" I asked.

She blinked. "Oh, right, you weren't there. Long story short, Summer's ancestors – and yours, by extension – were created by Aurora's parents. She's the one you're itching to shoot, by the way."

I stared at the alien. "You… what?" I let out. "What are you?"

The alien's gleaming helmet suddenly started forming seams, blue lights filling the gaps as the pieces quickly receded into a cloud hovering just behind its head. A surprisingly Human face stared back at me; the only abnormalities being the lack of a nose and the crimson blister-like growths just barely visible through tufts of snow-white hair.

"I… am Aurora-Heralds-Infinity." The alien said. "And I am quite possibly the last Forerunner alive between this universe and the next."

Anders glared at me. "You see why I don't want her dead?"

I frowned. "The last of its kind or not, if this thing's a threat, I'll take it down."

"And that is what makes you a Warrior." The alien said. "But you need not concern yourself with any threats from me; it is not in my particular nature."

Nearly every instinct I'd honed over the years of fighting the Covenant told me to put this thing down. I already felt my hand twitching almost imperceptibly, trying to line up a shot on its unprotected skull. However, my inner spook just could not resist an opportunity such as this. "…You said you needed us. Why."

The alien's silver eyes never left my own, not showing even a hint of fear. "Shortly after we arrived on this planet, I was given an ancient piece of my people's technology; one that your people tried and failed to reverse engineer. It is a Monitor – an object we used to house the caretakers of our facilities." It said. "This particular one bears the markings of 298 Harmonious Remnant."

Anders gasped. "Isn't that the one that escaped into this universe with the five New Humans?"

The alien nodded. "It is, indeed. I have attempted to access its memory banks, but I do not possess the correct credentials." It glanced back at me. "However, I managed reactivate its bioprompt. It is locked to the New Humans and will not respond to neither Mudborn nor Forerunner."

"So that's where I come in, I'm guessing."

"Indeed." It said. "The data in the Monitor's memory banks could contain the very reason why the Remnan phenotypes are so markedly different to the New Humans originally designed – and why there are two predominant subspecies." It slowly raised its hand, a small glass vial materializing. "I merely require a small sample; saliva will suffice."

Not taking my eyes off the creature, I turned my head towards Anders. "Is this thing telling the truth?"

She nodded. "Yeah. We gave her the artifact after Witherson remembered he had it sitting around in Reavia." She hummed. "Actually, if I recall correctly, you and your team were the ones to personally retrieve it from the Eve of Consecration during the Fall of Atlas."

"Yeah, I remember." I said. "You think I should do what it says?"

"She." Anders said. "Hasn't done anything wrong so far. Even if she keeps to herself most of the time." She crossed her arms. "As the Spirit of Fire's civilian science consultant and resident xenoarchaeologist, I recommend you spit in the vial, yes."

I thought it over for a moment, grunting. "Fine. Don't try anything, alien."

Slowly, I walked towards it, spitting in the vial before retreating to my place beside my armor. The alien nodded. "I… appreciate your cooperation." It said, turning around. Just before it left the room, its helmet reformed around its head.

Finally, I re-holstered my pistol. "You didn't tell me there was one of them on board."

Anders blinked. "Is there a hostile contact with Forerunners I don't know about?"

I shook my head. "I meant just… aliens in general."

"Oh." She let out. "Well, to be fair, we were going to tell you, just… we were hoping we could warm you up to the idea a bit first."

"Well, that worked out just as planned, didn't it?" I muttered, heading for the door. "I've got a meeting to catch. Serina, tell Red Team I'm on my way."

Her blue avatar materialized just beside the door, saluting. "Aye, Lieutenant Commander."


/-\ Summer Rose /-\


"…And you're sure these guys'll listen?" I whispered. "They aren't exactly the same as they were when I left 'em."

Ozpin stared forward, his hands resting on his cane as the Pelican rocked us back and forth. "I do not believe them beyond reason itself, Summer." He said. "Well, at least some of them."

I crossed my arms. "If you say so…" I muttered.

We sat in silence for the rest of the trip; admittedly, it wasn't very long. Before I knew it, the craft softly thumped against the ground, the hatch dropping soon after. Ozzy and I stepped off the ship and onto the bare dirt of the makeshift landing pad.

In front of us, two other hexagonal clearings housed another Pelican each, a small radio tower jutting up where all three met.

A pair of Marines – both Faunus, to my surprise – were waiting at the edge of our landing pad. They both saluted as we approached. "Privates Pale and Quinn, here to escort you to the meeting." The snake-eyed one said.

Ozpin nodded. "Lead the way, then."

They made a heel-face turn, a large and bushy fox tail trailing behind the one that didn't speak. We followed them, sticking to the sides of Reavia's makeshift streets as we passed tent after tent, only accentuating the difference between the city and the crashed starship in the distance. As we approached the center of the city, the tents gave way to construction sites – hundreds of workers slowly but steadily assembling two or three-story brick buildings.

Even then, some of them intersected UNSC prefabbed barracks buildings, hastily converted into shelters to get the people out of the weather. Why some still lived in tents when this was an option was beyond me – maybe the Spirit just didn't have enough?

I shook my head as we passed through an open chain-link gate – the only barrier separating the civilian portion of Reavia from the proper military base. On this side of the fence, there were no ramshackle buildings nor construction sites, only a pair of UNSC air-deployable firebases and a number of outbuildings.

Off to one side, dozens upon dozens of Warthogs parked side-by-side, almost completely obscuring a row of Scorpions and Grizzlies that sat behind them. To the other side, men and women with all sorts of Faunus traits were being put through an obstacle course – drill sergeants screaming at them the whole way.

Our guides led us past the trainees and past one of the firebases. The noontime sun, which had been warming us this entire time, suddenly disappeared behind the looming wreck of the starship, making me shiver slightly.

We took a right, heading away from the ship proper, though that didn't stop me from glancing at the many Cyclopes that walked its exterior. As we continued to pass outbuildings – making sure to stay out of the way of the occasional Warthog – we saw one of the other gates open.

A large column of people walked through – roughly the size of those training platoons running around. The vast majority of them wore long white coats, black pants, and Grimm masks, weapons lowered but ready. A Tiger Faunus led the pack ornate and dark robes gliding around her with every step she took, her UNSC guide only a few paces in front of her.

Two people flanked her. One simply looked like a bog-standard lower-case 'b' brute, though I certainly didn't want to be on the business-end of that chainsaw of his. The other person, though, was quite familiar.

Valkea Smith.

I glanced at Ozpin, who showed absolutely no surprise at her presence whatsoever. I rolled my eyes. 'Damn Wizard…' I thought. As we continued, I noticed many of the White Fang members' gases lingering on the Faunus training. Despite the distance and the masks obscuring their faces, I could easily tell just how surprised they were.

Ozpin hummed. "I should've known she would bring that many bodyguards." He said. "Sienna has never been one to trust a Human's word – even when dealing on neutral ground."

"Yeah, seems like their new MO." I muttered. "Do they still do those soup kitchens in the Midas district?"

He shook his head. "I'm afraid not."

I sighed. "Oooooof course they don't…"

The White Fang formation halted at a 'T' intersection, letting a group of UNSC trainees pass by.

Honestly, the two organizations couldn't be more different if they tried. While the 'Fang certainly had their uniforms looking professional, that was about it. Many stumbled or ran into the men in front of them when the formation suddenly stopped – some even falling to the ground. My Faunus ears even picked up arguments starting amongst their ranks.

Meanwhile, the trainee formation in front of them was the polar opposite. They all jogged in complete sync with the drill sergeant leading their pack; no one stumbled, no one fell, they all sung their cadence in unison. Even those Faunus with leg traits managed to keep their motions completely the same as their standard brethren. Honestly, it was a bit… unnerving just how in-tune they all were.

As the trainees passed, I couldn't help but notice just how many ODSTs there were just… standing around chatting. Fully armed and armored ODSTs. They were scattered around the area, sure, but if the White Fang did anything stupid, they'd be caught completely in the open and under fire from all angles… and that's not including the tank crews nonchalantly chatting… right in front of their vehicles while in full Marine BDUs.

The White Fang – or at least, those at the front of their formation – stared at the trainees, but not with any hostile intent. More… admiration. I blinked, finally realizing what this all was.

The UNSC were putting on a show for the White Fang… a 'if you piss us off, you won't have a good time' kind of show… plus a little demonstration that they actually cared about equality. All while locking the guys in a killbox.

'I really hope no one does anything stupid.' I thought.

Finally, the trainees passed, allowing the White Fang formation to slowly start moving again – just as disorganized as before. Eventually, they got moving, only slightly faster than our pace as we walked behind them.

Their quote-unquote 'rearguards' were completely unaware of our presence, despite our complete and utter lack of any attempt to conceal ourselves. Not too long after, the group dispersed around one of the random outbuildings, most taking seats on the grass either alone or with a couple friends while Sienna and her entourage entered.

The Marines led us to the door, earning strange looks from the other Faunus. We headed inside, leaving our escort behind. Our shoes clanked against the metal floor as we stepped inside, the door whooshing shut behind us.

Inside, Sienna was already sat at the lone holotable, head resting in her hands as her two bodyguards loomed behind her.

"Greetings, Miss Khan."

"Professor Ozpin." She responded, eyes flicking to me for a moment. "And you must be the mother of that UNSC soldier I met some time ago."

"Indeed I am." I said, standing behind Ozpin as he sat down. "Looks like the White Fang's changed a lot while I was gone."

She raised an eyebrow. "Were you once part of the Brotherhood?"

"Once, a very long time ago." I said. "The White Fang back then was more interested in community outreach and peaceful rallies, though. I helped with those a lot, plus I did a bit of arbitration in my spare time."

She crossed her arms. "I imagine the Humans wouldn't listen to you, then? Is that why you left?"

"Actually, most of 'em did; being an elite huntress has its perks." I said. "No, I didn't leave my home willingly."

She reclined in her seat. "Then why did you? I can't imagine many men that could force an elite huntress's hand."

I sighed. "It wasn't a man; not anymore."

"Was it one of those… Gravenwere that assaulted Beacon?"

"Worse." I said. "Serina, show her the clip from Arcadia."

The holotable flickered to life, but the avatar atop it was very much not Serina. Instead, the feminine construct wore an archaic military uniform. "Ah, I'm afraid she doesn't have a connection here. I'm Alice, Reavia's AI. What was it that you wanted from her?"

I hummed. "I suppose I shouldn't've just assumed she'd be able to connect to any UNSC console, oh well. Can you get Spartan-130's footage from the… erm… encounter on Arcadia? She'll know which one."

The avatar flickered for a moment. "Ah, it seems she did. Playing now."

A screen off to the side flared to life, drawing our attention. It showed a clearing in the dense forests of Arcadia… and the purple blood that stained the ground.

The mutilated corpse of an Elite laid against the stump of a fallen tree, its arms and legs completely missing while huge gashes in its armor and abdomen oozed even more blood. Above it stood the abomination – the one that did this.

It was vaguely man-shaped; even still had one of its limbs partially still skin. The rest of its body was twisted – warped and deformed by Grimm fur. Its legs bent backwards like a Beowolf's while ending in paws. Large blade-like claws extended from both its hands. The monster even had a lupine snout and ears.

"Who and what are you?" The Spartan asked.

"Ah, haven't heard of me, I see…" The creature said, grinning and exposing its dagger-like teeth. "I am Samuel Fredrich Mire – humble servant of our Goddess, Salem." It said. "As for what I am, little soldier, I am the union of Human and Grimm; man and monster; life and death. But most importantly, I am our Goddess's will made REALITY!"

The video cut out just as it lunged for the Spartan, claws outstretched. "I believe that gets the point across." Alice said.

"What…" Sienna muttered. "…what… was that thing?"

"That, Miss Khan, is what happens when Salem takes a particular interest in one of her servants." Ozpin said. "They can be particularly difficult to defeat."

"Don't I know it." I said. "The thing chased me through an alien ship for weeks on end, brought down the destroyer we'd stowed away on, and still kept kicking even when I sliced off its arm."

Sienna sat in silence, contemplating her next few words. Meanwhile, Valkea's eyes were still locked on the now-blank screen, her hands shaking at her sides. Even under the brute's mask, I could tell that he was… unnerved, at the absolute best.

"This… creature." Sienna said. "Are there more of them?"

"Possibly." Ozpin said. "Salem has never been one to put all her eggs in one basket; she likely had a successor picked out long before Mister Mire disappeared along with Summer, roughly a decade ago."

"Plenty of time to train a replacement." Sienna said.

"Indeed." He said. "But I believe we have delayed the true purpose of this meeting long enough."

"I agree; despite now knowing of the… threats out there."

He held out his hand, a thermos appearing in a flash of light. He sipped at it. "So, what will it take to get the White Fang to stop raiding our settlements?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Are you offering a blank check, Professor?"

"As blank as I reasonably can, Miss Khan." He said. "You now know of the two major threats facing Remnant; we cannot afford to fight amongst ourselves, especially now."

She leaned forward, tilting her head to the side slightly. "Then with your blank check, I want you to make our people equals."

He sipped at his drink. "If I recall correctly, they legally are, under the Vytal treaty." He said. "In one of my past lives, I was very, very sure to include that stipulation."

Her fist hit the table. "Well, it wasn't enough!" She shouted. "In every city, Faunus are discriminated against! Shops refuse to serve us, we're barred from certain jobs, the Schnee Dust Company enslaves our people!" She growled. "You know that the Faunus have been mistreated for decades now – in fact, it's only gotten worse! Some villages even brought back the very kill squads that the treaty supposedly abolishes!"

Ozpin's eyes hardened as he set down his thermos. "…Kill squads…" He muttered. "Which villages have done this? They will be… corrected within the week."

She blinked, her ferocity losing its edge. "Appleton, Bauxville, Cyanide Falls, and Dayton's Farm."

He nodded, whipping out his scroll and speed dialing a number. "Hello, Glynda? Yes, I have several new missions for the fourth-year students; Faunus-friendly ones only." He paused for a moment. "I'll text you a list of the targets, but I have reason to believe that several villages are in violation of the Charter of Faunus Rights within the Vytal treaty – deploy two teams per target." He paused again. "Very well. Sending them now." He hung up, texting for a moment before turning back to Sienna. "They will not be a problem for much longer."

"…You just…" Sienna let out. "We've been trying to get that investigated for months now."

"Well, you clearly weren't talking to the right people." I said. "This is why I stick with Ozpin. He has everyone's best interests in mind."

She shook her head. "But if you could just… send people to deal with the problem, why did you let a place like Winshire exist as long as it did?"

He sipped from his thermos. "You cannot change everyone's mind, Miss Khan. Better that a place like that – with a reputation like that – exists, simply to… contain people with mindsets like that." He said. "Plus, they never made the grave error of sending out kill squads."

She remained silent for a moment. "Well, I thank you for correcting this problem, but that still leaves businesses and employers which discriminate against us."

"That, I'm afraid, is… more difficult to accomplish." He said. "I cannot condone violence against those who have not committed it themselves, but I can petition the council to implement stricter fines for violators of equal treatment laws." He sipped at his thermos again. "And, perhaps, implement anonymous reporting centers so we may better know the identities of the violators."

"And what about the SDC?" She asked. "They still use our people as little more than slaves for their own ends."

He remained silent for a moment. "That, is perhaps the most difficult problem to solve." He said. "We need the dust from their mines for the war effort, but their methods cannot be tolerated any longer." He sighed. "It is truly a shame that Miss Schnee was disinherited; I'm sure Miss Smith over there can attest to her character."

"I still find it hard to believe a non-racist Schnee exists, but…" She sighed. "I trust my subordinate."

"If it makes you feel any better, I've met her too." I said. "She's a nice girl."

The brute scoffed, but otherwise remained silent.

Sienna gave him a glance before crossing her arms. "Your efforts today, though, have at least won you some leeway." She said. "You are correct in that we cannot fight amongst ourselves, but I do not fully trust your word. For the time being, I shall offer you the same terms that the UNSC offered me; a non-aggression pact."

He nodded. "That is more than acceptable, Miss Khan." He said. "So long as the raids stop, we shall not sanction any actions against your people."

"High Leader, please." The brute said. "You know the Humans' word changes whenever it suits them. I urge you to reconsi-"

"That is enough, Lieutenant." She said. "The situation has changed. We would be fools to not change with it."

"But High Leader, the others will not stand for-"

"They will stand for whatever I say." She said. "The White Fang are a force for Faunus liberation and nothing else. I will take the best option I see to achieve that goal."

He growled. "…As you wish, High Leader."

"Good." She said, turning back to Ozpin. "Make good on your word, and we shall… discuss a further partnership."

"I look forward to it." He said, getting up and leading me out the door. Even without seeing the massive man behind me, I could still feel the sheer hatred in his gaze as the door whooshed shut behind us.

When we exited, we were greeted by an odd sight; a training platoon had stopped to socialize with the White Fang. Faunus from both sides hung out in mixed groups – some of the 'Fang even had their masks removed.

All before us, lost connections were being rekindled – or maybe new connections were formed. Some were clearly familiar with each other while others were a little more standoffish. Sill… they all talked together, regardless of the colors they wore.

It brought a tear to my eye.

I only gazed at them for a few moments, though, my gaze torn away as the ground rumbled beneath me. Stumbling, I quickly caught myself. Suddenly, a big blue glow drew my attention to the crashed starship's aft section.

My jaw practically hit the floor as the Road Paved With Red began to slowly rise from the earth, bits of metal and grass and dirt falling down as the ship rose ever so slowly. The hull groaned under the strain, but still held. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw four Valerian-made destroyers form up with the rising ship, their size completely dwarfed by the behemoth the UNSC called a destroyer.

Right before my eyes, the small flotilla began its long journey towards Vale, the starship seemingly limping along. As they disappeared over the horizon, my gaze was drawn back to its former resting place; a dozen-meter-deep scar in the landscape that stretched from one end of the military compound to the other.

It was still riddled with a not insignificant amount of metal debris, but to my surprise, Cyclops crews were already hard at work clearing the area. I hummed, impressed with the organization of the UNSC once more…


/-\ Ruby Rose /-\


I stomped my way through the Spirit of Fire, fists clenched. 'How the fuck could they allow an alien here? Do they know how much of a security breach that is?' I groaned, getting into one of the many, many elevators on this ship.

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. I was meeting my long-lost brothers and sister – even if they were from a different program. Soon enough, the elevator dinged open and I stepped out. Clasping my hands behind my back, I crossed the short and metal hallway, pausing outside the door to my destination.

Breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth, I raised my hand and hit the 'request access' button on the keypad next to the door. I was only standing there for a few moments before the door opened, a MJOLNIR-clad Spartan greeting me. Only being a Spartan myself told me that the person standing before me was a woman.

I drew a Spartan smile across my face. She un-tensed ever so slightly, giving an equally subtle nod and stepping aside. Walking inside the room, I noticed the two other Spartans sitting at the only table in the room – the chairs noticeably reinforced.

The first Spartan strode past me, sitting in one of the two empty chairs and motioning for me to sit down. I nodded slightly, doing so. They all looked at each other in unison, barely perceptible movements being my only cue that they were communicating at all.

'Damn…' I thought. 'I knew the Twos had their own language, but this is just weird.'

Finally, they all turned back to me, again in unison. The rightmost one took off her helmet. Immediately, it struck me just how young she was. A rational part of my brain knew she'd been in cryo for over twenty years, but still… this Spartan-Two looked younger than I was. She would have been done with her training by the time I'd arrived at Camp Currahee. "Senior Chief Petty Officer Alice-130."

Next, the middle one took off his helmet. "Senior Chief Petty Officer Douglas-042."

Finally, the leftmost one took off his helmet. "Senior Chief Petty Officer Jerome-092."

I nodded to them, still a little unnerved at their shared ages. "Lieutenant Commander Ruby-B312."

The all shared another glance, albeit a short one. "Apologies." Alice said. "We are not used to hearing a letter in a Spartan's service number."

I shrugged. "Ya get used to it. All it means is which training company I'm from. Other than Beta, I know about Alpha and Gamma, though it really wouldn't surprise me if ONI had another one cooking up."

They sat silent for a moment, faces unreadable. "You…" Jerome began. "Do not speak like a Spartan."

"Tsk, well, to be fair, I'm weird even for a Three." I said. "You guys would've loved Carter and Kat…"

They tensed slightly. "Other Spartans?" Douglas asked. "…Deceased Spartans?"

I nodded. "Yeah, deceased." I said. "All of my last team is, actually. The only one I don't know for sure is Jun; you'd probably like him too."

This time, only Alice turned her head to face the others. "Is there… anyone we would be… familiar with?"

"Unfortunately, yeah." I said. "Well, maybe. Jorge-052 was a Two, I dunno if you guys knew him personally."

"We know everyone." Jerome said, all three of them bowing their heads for a moment.

"Their names." Douglas said.

I blinked. "What?"

"We wish to honor them." Alice said. "Their names and service numbers."

Sighing, I leaned back in my chair. "I… already did that; they've got graves right next to mine near my home." I said. "But… okay. They're Carter-A259, Kat-B320, Jun-A266, Emile-A239, and Jorge-052."

All three of them, faces still stony, each raised their right shoulder in unison. The motion only lasted a moment, but to me it spoke volumes. I gave a slight nod.

"So…. What else do you wanna know?"

"If you think the war is still winnable." Alice said.

I sighed. "Define 'win'."

"Survival of the Human race." Douglas answered instantly.

Closing my eyes, I combed through all the classified information I'd quote-unquote 'accidentally' dug up over the years… either by being a fly on the wall or beating it out of some traitor I was sicced on. "…Yes." I said. "It'd take a miracle for the UNSC to survive, but… Humanity itself will flee Earth and regroup far away from the Covenant – maybe even flee the galaxy entirely." I said. "But we'll survive… not to mention what we're building on Remnant."

The three sat silent for a moment. "A sound observation, from our perspective." Jerome said.

"Still, Remnant needs a lot of work." I said. "I'm sure you've been briefed on the Immortal War, or whatever those two are calling it." They all nodded. "Well, our friends at ONI managed to beat some workable intel outta one unlucky gentleman. Do any of you guys have experience dealing with innies?"

They shared a smirk. "Some."


/-\ Cinder Fall /-\


I rolled my eyes as Mercury bobbed his head along to the rock music blaring throughout the Bullhead, Emerald sharing my disdain. Meanwhile, that Wukong boy was just as enthralled with the music that Mercury was.

"So." Emerald said. "What's the mission brief again?"

"Apparently the VDF ran into a Deathstalker nest along a road." I said. "The only other piece of information they gave us is that we're on our own as far as backup is concerned; the other teams we saw at the airdocks would be busy with their own missions."

"And they chose us for Deathstalker duty, why…?"

I shrugged. "Ozpin isn't known to make the best decisions."

Suddenly, the intercom clicked to life. "Thirty seconds to drop point!"

The music cut off, much to the boys' disappointment. "You two." I started. "Standard formation. Wukong, stay with Emerald. Her semblance requires concentration, make sure no Grimm interrupts her."

He saluted. "You got it!"

I checked and rechecked my swords – my steel swords. After so long using the glass swords from my semblance, holding real, physical blades almost felt alien.

Almost.

Still, I wanted nothing more than to throw these in the trash. All they stood for was the Atlas elites that kept me under their thumb – even Rhodes was guilty, too. He could've gotten me out of that hell. I shook my head, squashing my feelings down. All I had to do was complete this frivolous mission and then I could get back to what truly mattered.

Bringing this kingdom to its knees.

Suddenly, the vehicle thumped against the ground, the doors swinging open. The team exited instantly, weapons – or fists, in Mercury's case – raised and ready to fight. My gaze swept the edge of the clearing as the airship lifted off behind us, seeing nothing.

We all relaxed for a moment as we tried to get our bearings. Whipping out my scroll, I saw we'd landed about two miles from the general vicinity of the target – not bad if I was being honest. Still, I was quite annoyed that we even had to be out here in the first place.

Still, we found the correct direction and began our journey towards the target, eyes sweeping the woods with every step we took. The path we were on was narrow; in fact, it wasn't a path at all – more of a dry creekbed. Its shallow banks extended only up to my waist, but it would offer some protection from Ancient Deathstalkers, being too narrow for their bodies to fit into.

rustle.

I held up a hand, stopping the team only a few minutes after our entry to the forest. We stood still, listening for a mome-

"What is it?" Sun asked.

My head whipped around. "Quiet, you li-"

High-caliber bullets slammed into my side, bowling me over as the deafening roar of a chaingun assaulted my ears. Emerald screamed as the withering fire focused on her. I scrambled to my feet, facing our attacke-

The butt of a rifle slashed across the back of my skull, sending me to the ground again. My Maiden powers burst to life as I rolled to the side, a massive and armored fist burying itself in the ground. Jumping to my feet, I barely had the time to dodge another strike from my silver-visored adversary, only my powers giving me the necessary speed. I blasted the soldier with [Flames], giving me just enough time to retreat up the embankment…

…and saw my team utterly helpless in the face of his allies.

Emerald laid on the ground, a knife in her back as she tried to free her limp legs from under Mercury's body as he desperately gasped for air, his windpipe destroyed. Sun only faired a little better, being hauled away, unconscious, over the shoulder of a green armored giant of a man.

Meanwhile, two identical soldiers stood between me and them, one with a massive gun – somewhat reminiscent of that Adel girl's – at his hip, and the other dual wielding two smaller weapons. Then the red-armored one stepped out of the small blaze I'd started, seemingly uncaring as the flames licked his form. My breath hitched and I did the only thing I could.

I ran.

I ran as fast as I could, arms held behind me as more [Flames] burst forth, rocketing me forward even faster. My heart pounded away in my chest as I heaved in as much air as possible, desperately trying to keep my legs under me as I sprinted faster than I ever had before. For a split second, my head whipped behind me, trying to see if the soldiers were-

A cloud of rose petals followed me.

And it was getting closer.

That spurred me on even faster. At this point, I was using aura to keep myself from tearing my own muscles, every pump feeling like my legs were being torn out of their sockets. The trees shot by so fast I couldn't even make out their leaves – only a blur sticking out of the ground.

I chanced another look back, my pursuer still hot on my tai- My foot slammed into something hard, braking my stride.

I slammed into the ground, bouncing back into the air. Then I hit the dry embankment. Then I hit a tree. Finally, I was only rolling down the dry creekbed, I shot to my feet again, turning to ru-

A massive blow landed on my shoulder, sending me back to the ground. Bullets slammed into my weakened aura, nearly completely shattering it before I could stop them with a [Gale]. I scrambled to my feet, sending out a wave of [Flames] to cover my retreat.

Just as I was turning away, I saw the red-armored demon burst through. I barely had enough time to materialize my swords and counter his own. One moment, my blades were engaged with his. The next, I was engaged with nothing and my aura was broken, his sword blurring back up from a strike on my leg.

I deflected his next blow only barely with a single sword, the other aiming to slice open his bell-

I screamed as his armored boot bent my knee fully backwards, sending me to the ground once again. I flared my powers again, but the man barely even flinched. I rolled to the side, wincing, and finally got a good hit on the soldier's aura…

…only to feel cold steel on my neck.

I barely opened my mouth to scream before it was slit. Warmth leaked out of my body as I desperately gasped for air, clutching at the wound. Only seconds later, my vision began to darken.

The last thing I saw was that damned silver visor.

I could've sworn it was almost gloating at my failure…


/-\ Ruby Rose /-\


I felt an odd… tingle as I watched the life leave Cinder's eyes.

Not an emotional reaction – she was far from my first kill, nor did I hate her any more than my old handlers at ONI… though I was glad to kill the woman who had wounded my teammate.

No, this was… unnatural.

Only a moment after it came, though, I felt a pulse of pain through my eyes. It was far from the worst I'd experienced, but it was still odd. The tingling subsided after the pain did.

Shrugging, I cued my mic. "Iskandar, this is Hoplite Actual. Mission accomplished, rendezvousing with the others at LZ Danube."

"Solid copy, Actual, a Pelican will be waiting for you." Major Foley said over comms.

I turned away, but paused, staying just long enough to put a pair of pistol rounds into Cinder's body; you can never be too sure with innies like her. The massive fire she started would destroy any evidence anyways. I hummed, jogging towards the LZ. "Iskandar be advised, skirmish resulted in a large-scale forest fire. Recommend we solve that problem before it reaches a village or something."


(A/N) Fun fact: when I started writing this chapter, I'd fully intended for Cinder to escape – that's actually part of the reason why I included the bit with Samuel Fredrich Mire. But as I wrote on… I just couldn't stop thinking how contrived it would be for her to actually escape a full team of Spartans even with help from a Grimm hybrid. So, yeah… someone's takin' a bit of a dirtnap.

But anyways, here's a word from your Beta reader:

BURN IN HELL, CINDER! -S-D421

…You may have given me an idea or two with that sentence. Regardless, it's review time!

Sm0keyPanda said – "Nice to see Maria making an appearance. Smart move of Ozpin to fill in the WF, even if it's a risky one. Looking forward to Ruby having her armour back and possibly working alongside Red Team."

Yep, I've been thinking about how to include Maria since we saw her flashback waaay back in canon V6 – I think people will like what I've got lined up for her. Speaking of liking things, I hope you (and everyone) liked what I did for Ruby and Red Team's first OP together, even if it was from Cinder's perspective.

Joeyginise said – "A great instalment once more! But the adventure isn't over just yet. There are other enemies, internal and external, that are still active. I hope that our brave heroes from beyond the stars are up to the task ahead of them.

Is that ODST gonna be some kind of Lawrence of Arabia to Remnant? And yes Roman, you should be afraid of ONI. Only a fool does not fear ONI."

Glad you liked it! As for the ODST… something like that.

Guest001 said – "Dammit, Pyrrha's family has NO IDEA that they would have been delivering their daughter to her death! Damn you Cinder, please let Torchwick RAT that bitch out!"

Lionheart is truly the best marionette, isn't he? As for lil' Torchy… who do you think told them where those bastards were hiding?

Guest002 said – "Wait, so Salem is ACTUALLY Killable in this story, she won't just regenerate!?

Thanks for answering my questions about the War Factory, and Maria! Didn't answer my question about how Ironwood will react to Orbit-to-Surface FOB's though!

Remnant is in the Mass Effect Universe!? Oh God, that means Reapers!

So, both Jaune AND Pyrrha are "dead" now in this story, I feel bad for Nora and Ren! Now I am worried that Embrace won't survive this story!"

Well, Ozpin says she's killable. The fucker's not exactly a font of truth, though. As to how Ironwood would react to that, he'd probably be furiously taking notes, considering he's now got a starship of his own.

Guest003 said – "Why haven't we seen Aurora at all!? Is Anders trying to figure out how to introduce the knowledge of DNA , and how it would show that Humans and Faunas are BIOLOGICALLY evolved from the SAME ANCESTORS!?"

I just hadn't gotten around to introducing her yet; there was (and still is) much to do.

Guest004 said – "Wouldn't the Spirit's deplorable Firebases help solve the homeless situation for James' people!?"

They would, yes, if they had places to land. The Vale council are assholes and don't want thousands of tons of firebase squishing the Space Petunias planted in their parks.


So… yeah, that's the chapter! See ya in "Insurrection", the next chapter.