[29th of August, 2528]
[On the Insurrectionist Controlled Planet, "Remnant"]

It was quiet. Far too quiet to make any logical sense to one Master Chief Petty Officer. There was life on this planet, that was certain, but why weren't they making any noise? The swamp they're in should be teeming with life and sound, and yet, the only sound being made is the water swishing around the MJOLNIR Mk. IV armor they have on.

It was unnerving. What out there could spook even the tiniest of insects silent? Chief motioned for the members of Blue Team to keep an eye on their radar, just to be safe, as he trudged along through the slimy water of this swamp. He scanned all around their area multiple times but couldn't find a damn thing.

They've been on this planet only for a couple of hours, and haven't found a single sign of life other than plants and bacteria. They know there are some type of animals here, since they've seen half eaten plants, foot prints, and even blood from something.

So where was everything? On no other planet he's ever been on has there been animals so bent on hiding themselves from them. Maybe they had the appearance of the apex predator around here, he rationalized, but that still leaves questions. Like why haven't they seen them instead? It makes for a very cautious group of super soldiers, that's for sure.

With a quiet sigh, he lifted a fist to signal for the group to stop. He turned on his comm channels, making sure to mute his helmet so no voice filters out, and spoke up, "We should probably head back to HQ. We haven't found anything and it's unlikely that we will anytime soon."

Each SPARTAN nodded in agreement, deciding that was the best course of action. As they turned around, though, they were met with the menacing stares of large red eyed creatures with bone masks and black hide. There were around five of them, each standing a little taller than John, but much wider. They had the appearance of a bear from Earth, except for the bones.

Each SPARTAN raised their rifles, clicking the safety off as they do so, and slowly started backing away. The large bear like creatures started advancing, their growls putting the SPARTANs on edge. "Easy there... No need to start something none of us want..." Fred started, hoping it would somehow cause the bears to back off.

It didn't, much to his chagrin. Kelly would have laughed at him for it, had one of the monster bears not jumped at her. Time slowed ever so slightly as she spun around the sloppy strike, allowing her to fire off her pair of M7 Submachine guns, most of the bullets bouncing off of the tough hide harmlessly. Kelly sucked in a breath in shock, sadly giving the bear time to knock her away with its thick forearm. She slammed into the trunk of a tree with a grunt, her armor taking the brunt of the force thankfully.

She stood back up, shaking off the dizziness, and quickly rolled out the way of another strike. She rolled up and fired some more of her 5x23mm ammunition at the monstrous bear, backing up as she did so to keep distance. These bears may be big, but damn they're fast. Not as fast as a SPARTAN, but definitely faster than should be possible for a bear.

The bullets were shrugged off for the most part, some managing to pierce its hide, but most falling harmlessly to the ground. The beast gave a fierce roar and charged once again, forced Kelly to front flip over the bear to avoid another collision. She grunted as she landed and took off, speeding through the slimy water to add distance between the bear and herself.

Okay, she thought, their hides are thick enough to take two entire clips of my SMG. Meaning they are much tougher than most Covenant forces, save maybe the Hunters. She growled silently under her breath as she dodged another strike from the tank of a bear. She looked over at the rest of her team, hoping to see them faring better than she. Linda was having some difficulty, but unlike Kelly, her weapon managed to actually hurt the beasts. Fred was taking on two at a time with his knife, which was able to cut through their hides, but he looked to be having more trouble than the rest of them. John was probably having the same amount of trouble as she was, seeing as he didn't have any powerful weapons on him to pierce the skin of the bears.

With another growl, she sidestepped the bear's claws and elbowed the thing in its snout, causing it to recoil and roar in pain. Kelly gave a satisfied smirk, realizing a way to beat this monster. She followed up with a high knee towards its chest, getting a loud crack! from her troubles. The speedster ducked under the bear's sharp jaws as it tried clamping down on her and moved inside its defenses. She jabbed, kicked, elbowed, kneed, and even head-butted the beast as hard and fast as she could. She might not have been a CQC specialist like Frederic, but she was still a hella good fighter.

She planted her heel into the side of the bear's face, causing it to get knocked back into a tree with a loud snap. The bear laid there silently as Kelly got in a defensive position in the event it came back. Luckily for her, it didn't.

Making sure it was dead by stomping in its throat, she made her way over to her team leader and childhood friend. He seemed to be finishing up with his own bear if the headlock was any indication. He twisted the bear's neck with a crack, and let it drop to the ground. Both looked at each other and nodded before turning towards the other half of their team. Linda had already taken care of hers and was helping Fred take out the last one. This one, they noted, had more bones on its body than the other four did.

They started moving in to assist their teammates, but were stopped when they heard trees snap behind them. They turned around and were greeted by a huge black crocodile with the same red eyes and bone mask on its face. The beast was at least twenty feet in length, which was more than enough reason for the two SPARTANs to turn tail and get the hell out of there.

Luckily, Fred and Linda just finished off the last bear in time to see their teammates run by them. They looked behind and saw what they were running from before deciding that John and Kelly had the right idea.

Let it be said that SPARTANs never run from a fight. They do, however, run from what would definitely be a massacre. Maybe if they had heavier equipment, more ammunition, and weren't tired from fighting some super bears, then they wouldn't run. However, that's not the case, so they ran.

John was trying to think over all possible escape routes or ways to stop or slow down the gigantic lizard behind them. His mind was running much faster than his legs in that attempt, but he couldn't figure out a good enough plan. The twenty foot long monstrosity could easily bash through any trees it came across, and was quick enough to maneuver out of any obstacle too big for it to bash through. His eyes darted back and fourth as he sprinted with almost frantic desperation. If he didn't come up with a plan and soon, then he and his team would surely be crocodile lunch.

His eyes caught onto something very big, very thick, and very close. He looked at it and gave a sigh of relief. It was, without a doubt, the biggest tree in this entire swamp, and should be big enough to stop the croc from eating them. "Over there!" He pointed towards it before turning on his heels, the water making it a little more difficult to turn.

The four SPARTANs sprinted there as fast as they could, with Kelly leading and Frederic in the back. Upon arriving at the gigantic tree, each one jumped up to grab on one of the lower branches. The climbed up just in time for the black crocodile to slam into the tree, causing it to shake but not fall down. They heaved a sigh of relief but kept climbing up. No way were they going to risk being that close to the croc, even if it couldn't reach them.


Linda looked through the scope of her rifle, Nordfang, at the surrounding area. At the moment, they were higher than any other tree in the swamp. It was quite odd, she had to admit, that there was such a huge tree in the center of it. Almost like those fantasy stories she reads in her downtime when she isn't tending to her beloved rifle. With a hum she zooms in on the horizon, seeing a flock of birds flying in the sky.

That caught her off guard, since it was the first signs of life she's seen since their encounter with the bears and crocodile. Come to think of it, how were there bears, crocodiles, and birds on this planet? Those were native to Earth and a zoos in the colonies. And, in addition to that, why were they so tough and large? She may have never been to Earth, but she's read enough books to understand that normal animals are not that strong. This might be some sick experiment world that the Insurrection is using in hopes of replicating the super soldier serum, she rationalizes.

With a quiet sigh, she sets her rifle to the side and leans back against the trunk of the tree. She hears the quiet murmurs of Fred and Kelly on the branch below - probably talking about the same thing she's thinking about - and closes her eyes. She leans her helmeted head against the trunk, her mind thinking over all the events of today.

It started out normal; we landed here with a few pelicans for supplies, we set up base with the help of a platoon of marines and a team of ODSTs, and we went north to scout for anything that can be considered suspicious. But that's when things got... Weird. There was absolutely no signs of life. No bugs, no rodents or this planet's equivalent, nothing. It was like that for a couple hours, but then those things show up and start beating back four highly trained SPARTANs? Just what was this planet?

She was shaken out of her thoughts when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She opened her eyes and looked at the curious visor of her team leader and friend. She could sense he was curious, and slightly worried, about her state. "Thinking about what happened today?"

She nodded, sighing quietly as she sat up fully. "Yeah. It's too weird to wrap my head around. I can't really understand this place no matter how hard I think." He gave an amused chuckle (which was more akin to a grunt than anything) as he sat down next to her.

"It isn't our job to understand it. We just have to scout it out, send in our report, and go back to the field where we belong." She nodded, humming quietly in agreement. "Anyways, I tried contacting the base, but I couldn't connect properly. There's some kind of interference, meaning we need to find whatever is causing it, and get rid of it ASAP."

The redhead looked at him, tilting her head slightly. "What could be causing it? As far as I can tell, there's nowhere safe around here for somebody to be stationed." He shrugged as he stood up and he held a hand out towards her.

"No clue, but we need to find it if we plan on using our comms for long distance." She took his hand and stood up, nodding at him as he climbed down to the lower branch, presumably to tell Fred and Kelly what he just told her. She slung her rifle onto her back, the magnets attaching it to her. She gave one last look around the area, this time searching for anything that appears manmade, before climbing down after John.


It could be said that Ruby Rose's week was turning out to be terrible. First she fails the surprise test her Uncle Qrow gave her to keep her on her toes during summer, then she accidentally destroyed some poor farmer's cabbage stand when she was rushing home from a friend's. Then she accidentally cut herself when she was repairing her sweetheart from the surprise test. And then, when she decides to go to Vale to get her favorite magazine 'Weapons Weekly', she gets attacked and kidnapped by some criminal dude with his psychopath sidekick. And now, to top it all off, she was being interrogated by a Huntress who seems to fancy the idea of being a complete and total dominatrix.

The last part, in Ruby's completely unbiased opinion, actually wasn't that bad though.

"Are you listening to me young lady?!" Said dominatrix yelled in frustration, glaring coolly at Ruby with her emerald green eyes. Ruby let out a yelp, jumping slightly in surprise, and nodded quickly at the woman.

Okay... Maybe it was bad.

The woman gave a sigh, shaking her head as she looked at her scroll. "Let's recap... And this time no dozing off! You go to a dust shop for a weapons catalogue, you stop an infamous criminal from robbing the store by fighting him in the store! Then you somehow get captured by him and his accomplice, and he then proceeds to take you to the west side of Vale for whatever reason." Sure, whatever reason... Besides, y'know, the fact it's literally run by criminals. Yeah, whatever reason. "But you then escape, and cause hundreds, if not thousands, of lien in property damage! And that's not even including all the dust you caused to explode by fighting Roman Torchwick in the dust shop! And to add onto that, he got away!"

The Goth themed girl let out a sheepish chuckle as she rubbed the back of her neck, looking to the side to avoid eye contact. "W-Well... At least the owner is okay..." The blonde huntress sighed in exasperation, slapping her hand to her face with a loud smack! from her irritation. "If it was up to me, I'd send you home with the entire bill of the expenses..." This caused Ruby's shoulders to droop, a dark cloud appearing above her head. "... and a congratulations for being able to actually fight off someone of his caliber." And now her head was held high, a smug expression on her face. "But, sadly, it isn't up to me." She sighed as she pushed up her glasses.

At that moment, the door creaked open and a man with a cane walked in. But, more importantly (to Ruby), he was holding a tray of cookies with a glass of milk. Her mouth started watering at the sight, her eyes sticking onto the plate even as he set it down. The man looked on in amusement, a small smirk tugging at his lips. "Hello Miss Rose." He looked in her eyes, him bending down slightly to get a better look. "You have gorgeous silver eyes." This got both an embarrassed blush and an awkward chuckle from the young girl. The man's smirk only grew from the expressions.

He sat down and took a sip from the mug he carried on the tray, nodding at her to let her know its okay to take some of the treats. She gingerly took one and slowly ate it, savoring the warm flavor. "Now Miss Rose... Do you know who I am?" At this, the young girl swallowed the cookie quickly and nodded.

"Of course. You're Professor Ozpin of Beacon Academy. And she's Glynda Goodwitch, a professor at Beacon." She stated with a small smile, getting one in return from the gray haired man.

"Correct. And would I be right to assume a dusty old crow taught you how to use one of the most dangerous weapons in existence?" The girl nodded, a small grin stretching on her face.

"Yep! That's my Uncle Qrow, he taught me everything I know since I was young." Ozpin nodded, sipping his coffee with a hum. He looked over at his assistant, who in turn only gave him an annoyed glare and looked away. He chuckle softly, turning around to look at the petite young woman.

"I see... Well, Miss Rose, how would you feel about coming to my academy?" He knew the answer; everyone did. He knew very well that Ruby Rose wanted, more than anything, to become a Huntress. And her school of choice for accomplishing that goal has always been Beacon, since her mother and uncle attended there when they were younger.

"... But I still have two years left at Signal. I'm good, but I don't think I'm that go-" She was cut off by Ozpin.

"Please, just answer the question Miss Rose." He gave her a friendly smile behind his mug, taking another sip of the beverage.

Ruby gulped, chewing on her lip nervously, and nodded. "More than anything, Professor Ozpin."

His smile grew at that, whereas Glynda's frown deepened. "Initiation is three days from now. I hope you'll be there." With that, he stood up, and walked out of the room, Glynda following closely behind him, and leaving a shocked Ruby sitting in front of the long forgotten tray of cookies.


"Are you sure this is a good idea, Ozpin?" An annoyed Glynda questioned her superior after they exited the room, her stern glare showing confusion and irritation.

"Tell me, Glynda. What do you see when you look at that girl? Do you see a weak little girl who can't handle herself, or do you see a strong huntress-in-training who may very well be the next greatest Huntsmen of her time?" His question caused Glynda to scowl, thinking over her answer.

"I see both. I see a little girl who doesn't understand how the real world works. I see a kid who, as far as they're concerned, is in over their head. She may have been trained by Qrow, she may be Summer's daughter, but she is not ready for this. She's only 15, I'm certain she'll be better prepared two years from now."

Ozpin sighed, shaking his head in disagreement. He leaned on his cane, his leg cramping up slightly from the stress put on it. "We might not have two years. This war... It won't wait for her to become ready. It won't wait for any of them. As much as I hate having to get these kids ready for a war they have no part in, I have to. That includes Miss Rose. She'll be ready, as will the rest of them." With that, Ozpin walked down the hall with an irate Glynda following behind, her thoughts lost in the context of his statement.


Hello once again! I don't have an update schedule planned for this, so I'll probably just type up chapters by the daily. I have a lot of free time on my hands right now, so it works for me.

Anyways, we're finally delving into the actual story. Little bits and pieces of the AU's story is coming into play with that last scene, and Blue Team finally encountered their first Grimm! And don't worry, if you're afraid that I'm overpowering the Grimm, I'm not. They were just caught off guard by their incredible strength and speed compared to normal animals. They won't make that mistake again.

As for Ruby, she's going to Beacon. The scene was pretty similar to canon, but with tiny changes to make it feel different. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and leave a favorite and/or a follow if you like it so far! Reviews of all kind are welcome, positive or not.

Until next time.