CHAPTER 24: OPERATION SNOW WOMAN

2000 Hours, November 13, 2557 (Military Calendar) / Unknown System, Planet Remnant, Continent of Sanas

In hindsight, this was the sort of thing to expect from a terrorist group such as the White Fang. Whenever someone, mainly their chief enemy made a move against them, regardless of the intent, they took personal offense to it. Insurrectionists were no different in that regard. The UEG and the outer colonies had grievances that neither would ever put aside, the Covenant being the only exception.

For the Master Chief, there was only one indisputable fact that mattered to him between both terrorist groups: they brought harm, injury, and death to those that were unrelated to their conflict. They were a threat to innocent civilians; thus they were a threat that had to be put down quickly and cleanly.

Formulating a plan in a few hours was very short notice, but more than once in his career, the spartan had done the same in less time, sometimes even in the heat of the moment. Having the ability to make up a strategy while in motion was one of the big factors that contributed to the success of Spartans in combat. Lives were lost when indecisiveness was introduced into the mix of war.

U.S. Army General George S. Patton had said it best.

A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.

John considered all the facts available to him.

The first was that the White Fang had apparently attacked a venue where the head of the SDC along with his family were. In the ensuing chaos, the heiress to the company, one Weiss Schnee, had been abducted. No demands had been issued from the White Fang, but there was no doubting her usage as a hostage. That combined with the already hostile relationship between the two parties would no doubt escalate the situation if either side made a hasty move.

The second was the reason behind the attack. Although no demands had been made, the terrorists had made it clear that they were doing this in retaliation for their brothers and sisters that were dying in Vale.

The Master Chief took particular note of this part; the White Fang proclaimed that Atlas had initiated hostile contact, prompting a swift counteroffensive. To top it all off, they had footage to show to the entire world. It was blurry and although there was no way to verify the claims, it was clear as day to the super soldier.

It was video footage of him.

Careless was not a word that the spartan used to describe himself a lot, but when he saw the footage, it irked him that he had not considered such a basic threat to his secrecy. Because of the small team he was operating with, the element of surprise was crucial to his missions, and although he could not be seen clearly, it was a wakeup call.

He would need to find a countermeasure soon.

For now, it was time to begin briefing the team.

The Master Chief motioned the map he had been drawing on. "As you all are tracking, at exactly 1614 local time, The White Fang attacked a music venue being hosted by the Schnee Dust Company in the City of Atlas. In the ensuing attack, there were twenty-six casualties, eleven fatalities, seven severe injuries, and eight minor, and Weiss Schnee was abducted."

He briefly did a once over of his team.

Ruby was focused, a pen and paper in hand.

Xiao Long merely held her weapon, an eager glint in her eye.

Belladonna held the edge of the table harshly, a hard glint in her eye.

"There currently has been no demands made by the White Fang, but the underlying assumption is that they will likely make demands of the Atlesian Council, no doubt their main targets are the SDC as well as the Atlesian Armed Forces." The spartan pointed his left hand at a point on the map. "We will counter their move with our own: Operation Hurricane. This operation has two main objectives. The first is infiltrating the main base of the White Fang and securing Weiss Schnee. The second is to cut off leadership from the cells scattered across the world."

This team had seen a lot of success with counterinsurgency operations, but their estimates were now or never

John's helmeted head scanned the arrows converging on the location in question. "The info we've obtained so far indicates between 800 and 1000 fighters, reportedly the more well-trained and disciplined that the Fang have. The key to winning is to be swift, silent, and deadly. We can't afford a drawn-out battle with the odds stacked against us, even with the training and experience all of you have been acquiring."

The main cell was located on the only island of Lake Ame, a place that would be hard to reach without an aircraft of some kind. Not only that, but from what direction they approached would matter; the various climates that Mistral was known for were at play, unlike Vale's more temperate environment.

"Belladonna, I've poured over every detail I could find about this place, but I need to be sure. What can you tell us about this place?" The Master Chief didn't fully trust the girl, but she was not a good liar either. "Defenses? Personnel? Op-tempo? Weapons?"

The girl with gold eyes frowned for a moment before speaking. "The island is heavily fortified with air defenses as well as 24/7 security all across the island. The approach is also littered with various Grimm as a natural defense, both sea and airborne. The actual island grounds themselves have little in the way of Grimm."

That meant that whatever aircraft they could secure would need to have some means of attack. A gunship would be preferable, although not strictly necessary. That sounded logical and she seemed to be telling the truth.

"With that being said, the land approach will be difficult too. While there won't be overwhelming patrols, the land is littered with random minefields and motion detectors." Belladonna touched her pointer finger across the western side of the island. "The approach facing the main continent with a temperate climate will be the hardest. If we're going to make it, the north where the cold is will be our best bet."

The spartan nodded his helmeted head. "Weapons for AA guns?"

"Limited but concealed well. Don't know the specifics, never asked for them." The cat Faunus girl frowned.

John considered her words; while Remnant overall possessed grossly inferior technology, both civilian and military alike, the worst thing to do was assume there were no viable threats to himself or his team.

He simply nodded his head as his mind processed the info. "Can you confirm the number of enemies to be accurate?"

"If our rotations are on full throttle, we might have as little as 500 on the island." Golden eyes gazed into his golden visor. "Right now, given what's going on, I imagine that High Leader Khan is on high alert, so there could be as many as 1500 now."

A good point. No doubt the base would be on high alert and ready for any and every attempt to dislodge them.

So many variables to account for simply because he was working with a team that was not on his level. With time and experience, they would get better, but frankly speaking, this operation would be better served if it was only him.

But the Master Chief had made a decision and he intended to stick by it. "I have three plans already in place accounting for all risks involved. Study these and have them memorized by tomorrow. Our next brief will be at 0500 and additional plans will be worked out. Know these plans down to the detail."

With a wave of his hand, he dismissed his team, leaving them all to do whatever they needed for tomorrow. He had other things to work on.

More specifically, the spartan had something to test regarding his ability. So far, he had only been bringing in weapons and equipment suited for light infantry TTP's. He wanted to see if perhaps he could also bring vehicles into the equation, both ground and airborne.

The nighttime around the village was quiet with only a few people out and about. Nobody paid him much mind, likely associating him as a huntsman, not that he would correct them at this time.

Once he found a secluded spot with ample space, John began to imagine all the details of the vehicles that he had in mind for this operation. Closing his eyes, he began the familiar summoning process.

The G79H-TC/MA Pelican.

Dimensions: 30.7 meters in length, 25.2 meters in width, and 10.7 meters in height.

Weapon systems: GAU-53 nose-mounted rotary cannon mounted on the nose, M369 90mm smooth-bore high-velocity cannon/dorsal-mounted (SBHVC/DM) canon mounted on the top, M8C Grindell/Galilean Nonlinear Cannon mounted on the nose adjacent to the GAU-53, and two M410 40mm dual heavy machine guns mounted on the sides for gunners.

Despite this being a somewhat dramatic overhaul of the Pelican that he was used to being in, the Master Chief had not fully familiarized himself with all of its features, but he had read the manual and his mission against the Didact had given him enough to work with.

Now to see the results.

He opened his eyes.

Even he couldn't help but adopt a small smile on his features.

Halo - - - RWBY

2253 Hours, November 13, 2557 (Military Calendar) / Unknown System, Planet Remnant, Continent of Sanas

Ruby had no intention of sleeping tonight and although she knew she was going to regret it later, she decided to do some weapon maintenance to soothe the eagerness that had been bubbling up in her since the mission briefing.

Although these past few months had changed how she approached combat on a fundamental level, one thing hadn't changed: her eagerness to fight. It wasn't something she was used to questioning when she was aspiring to be a huntress. To her, fighting was just a part of being a hero.

These days, she was wondering if perhaps what she really wanted at the end of the day was the thrill of combat and the attention that she never really got at home. Sure, her father was better these days, but before that he was a mess when Summer had died. Yang was an overbearing elder sibling for her own selfish reasons. Their family dynamic had been effectively fucked up.

And those fond memories of mom probably weren't much help because they were the only positive thing she had to latch onto, but like any kid, the silver-eyed girl didn't see the nuances, only the simple good and bad that all kids learned to comprehend. Who knew that good beliefs could become toxic?

Ruby's eyes scanned the table in front of her. All the parts for her battle rifle were on the table. The bolt and bolt carrier were looking especially crusty. The trigger would also need a good cleaning. Unfortunately, her cleaning supplies were low and it was too late to go into town to get any more.

The only thing she had to work with now was a rag and a bit of CLP. At best, she might be able to thoroughly clean three of these parts before she smudged carbon on the other components.

The fifteen-year-old bowed her head, taking a moment to let a string of curses flow from her mouth before refocusing on her task at hand. As tedious as this might be at times, if she took care of her weapon, her weapon would take care of her.

She held the bolt carrier to the light of the nearby candle and began to carefully inspect it with her eyes. When she noticed her fingers coming back covered in carbon, she quickly wiped it with the nearby rag.

"This shit's gonna take forever to clean off my hands," Ruby complained out loud, "Sometimes, I really hate this job."

Yang leaned over the desk, partially obscuring the light. "That's a first for you. Thought you live and breathe for this life."

The sharpshooter forgot that her sister was here. "Contrary to popular belief, I don't get a kick out of killing people like you do, bitch."

"You tryin' to start something, hoe?" The brawler's words were crude, but they were humorous. "I'll fuck you up."

Ruby simply shoved a hand into the elder's face and pushed. "Go away."

"You know I'm playin', Rubes." Yang's laugh was full of energy. "So, this whole killing the White Fang… you ready for it?"

In terms of training? Maybe not?

In terms of mentally? They had to be.

Ruby shrugged. "Ready as I'll ever be, but this is bigger than anything we've done yet. We could be facing an entire army by ourselves."

"Think armies are a little bigger, but I get your point." Yang stretched her arms out. "I'm looking forward to fucking them up. It'll be a good day when the rabid dogs are put down."

The younger sister snorted. "Just don't let Belladonna hear you. She might just slit your throat in your sleep."

"I'd like to see her try." The elder cracked her knuckles. "I could snap her like a twig. She ain't shit."

That was more than likely true. The Master Chief aside, nobody was going to match the blonde in terms of physical strength, with or without aura. Plus, her unarmed combative skills were unmatched, their leader being the exception once again.

Ruby glanced from the corner of her eyes as she scrubbed the bolt of her weapon. "Play nice, sis. At this point, she's not going to turn against us. She takes the Chief's word like a nun."

" I know. It's downright weird." Yang made a sour face. "One moment, she's screeching like a banshee for killing her boy toy or whatever and next, she's latching onto him like a woman dying of thirst. You don't think-"

The silver-eyed girl immediately interrupted. "I'm going to stop you there. Ain't no way there's anything like that going on, you dirty little whore."

"Where did you learn to speak like that?" Lilac eyes narrowed slightly. "I don't remember ever saying anything like that around you and I know that people at Signal weren't like that at all."

Ruby almost laughed. "Um, hello? I got years, don't I? You know I wasn't oblivious to the world. I was just… more focused on weapons and strawberries than anything else… and cookies."

"Facts times three." Yang slapped the smaller one on the shoulder. "But damn, maybe I'm a worse big sister than I remember."

It was meant half as a joke, but there was no denying that there were a lot of things about their relationship in the past that were good and bad. However, there wasn't much point in regretting past choices.

The sharpshooter shrugged, putting down the bolt to look at the bolt carrier. "It's in the past. We're here now and we've got each other's back. Isn't that good enough?"

"I guess." The grenadier and gunner sighed, her expression dropping. "I don't know. I've never had this much time to think about life and the shit I've done, good and bad. Before all this, I was so sure that I was gonna be a huntress to kick ass, earn money, and do some good on the side… but how long would that have lasted me?"

That made sense. Neither of them was the type to take a hard look at themselves and all this time away from home was proving to do that more than once.

Ruby finally put down her weapon part to fully turn her attention to the conversation. "I wasn't much better than you. I was obsessed with being a hero that would save everyone. Look at me now. I've killed… I don't know how many people. A few of them probably weren't evil, just desperate and stupid enough to join a terrorist group."

"Yeah, but at least your obsession is noble at face value." Yang sat down on the nearby bed. "What do I have? I'm just a fucking mess that has serious mommy issues and uses thrills, violence, and flirting to cover up the fact that I have abandonment issues. What part of that sounds righteous or noble?"

That was an easy answer for the former scythe wielder. "None of it, and that's a good thing. I used to love things like heroics and all that naive bullshit, but when I think about it, all of that was idealism and none of the realities of the world."

"It might be better to be naive than to be jaded." A wave of blonde hair was brushed to the side. "At least with the former, you're not constantly brooding and being a weirdo emo fuck."

Ruby gave a hard look. "You miss home?"

"In a way, but we'll get back there eventually." Yang laid down, her legs dangling on the side. "For now, I want to enjoy the thrill of being a killer and getting away with it. Half the shit I did before I went after you should've landed me in prison. The things we've done with the Master Chief? Might as well line us up in a firing line or toss us in a cell and throw away the key 'cause we've done some shit."

No doubt that the number of kills between them all would've gotten them in major trouble with the law and the authorities.

The younger one shook her head. "You are one enlightened individual, you know that?"

"I tend to think I turned out okay," the elder replied.

"Yang, you're essentially a professional killer with sociopathic tendencies. That's not normal and some would say far from okay."

"Like you're some kinda saint."

"Never said I was." Ruby leaned against the desk. "I'm not saying you're not a hell of a girl. I'm just sayin' I wouldn't trust you with my kids."

Yang's expression was strangely neutral. "...you don't have kids, Rubes."

"Then we've got nothing to worry about."

That was an absolute lie. They both had plenty to worry about, fucked up minds being chief among those problems.

But there would be a time to sort that out later.

For now, killing the White Fang mattered more.

RWBY - - - Halo

2313 Hours, November 13, 2557 (Military Calendar) / Unknown System, Planet Remnant, Continent of Sanas

Blake knew that until the White Fang was dealt with permanently, she would never have the trust of the team. To further reinforce that fact, the Master Chief was staying in the same room with her. It was clear that he was watching her to see if she showed any signs of betrayal or sympathy from her former comrades.

And in all honesty, she didn't blame him. She would be suspicious as well. What was surprising was that he was willing to quarter with her to observe her. He continued to give surprisingly decent treatment of her despite the differences between them. Of course, she didn't doubt that any efforts to attack or undermine would be met with swift retaliation. She wouldn't take any hostile action.

But being in a room with a giant armored man was far from comfortable. She had a feeling that even with a normal guy, she could at least reasonably predict what to expect in terms of behavior, but normal seemed to be in short supply these days.

He had come in just recently and once he closed the door, he did not give her any greeting nor prompt her with an order. His priorities were elsewhere.

Blake simply did her best to maintain her weapons. Meanwhile, the Master Chief studied a map on his scroll. She couldn't fully focus on what she was doing. Every so often, she glanced at him from the sides, but he paid her no mind.

He was doing his due diligence as any good leader would do. That was respectable if nothing else; she had seen plenty of leaders do far less in a position of influence. Whatever her feelings about her position, she couldn't deny that he and his team were very lethal, much more so than they had any right to be.

His visor tilted slightly and for a moment, she swore that he was looking at her. Not certain, but not wishing to initiate a conversation, she quickly looked away and tried to keep her hands busy. The effort was clearly haphazard and if he had spotted her, there was no use in pretending like she wasn't staring.

The spartan didn't speak a word, merely continued to work on his own task, so she did the same, this time in earnest. For the next few minutes, silence reigned between them with the night around them being the sole exception.

When Adam became leader of the Vale branch of the White Fang, the time spent between them had become less. What time they did spend was awkward and even stilted conversation was preferable to silence.

The Faunus girl shook her head. She was doing it again.

Adam was dead.

"Is there something you need?"

His question startled her from her musings. Somehow, without her knowing, he had closed the distance between them.

"N-nothing, chief." Blake struggled to get herself under control. "Just letting my curiosity run wild."

Instead of leaving it at that, he asked another question. "About what?"

"...about you." She felt embarrassed to say it, but she couldn't take it back now.

He posed another question. "What about me?"

"...everything." Blake felt herself give in to her curiosity, consequences be damned. "I just… you killed my… mentor, but you spared me. You've killed- we've killed so many of my former comrades, yet that little girl looked at you like you were her universe."

The Master Chief was nonplussed. "

Such a tender moment from a killer was… it didn't match up with what she had seen from him.

His gaze shifted from her to the darkened outside. He continued to stare outside, not moving even a millimeter. She stared at his visor like a hawk, waiting for an answer that she was certain would never come.

Then his words came in a whisper that she would've missed if not for her Faunus hearing. "When children suffer… we all suffer."

Either her hearing was deceiving her or Blake just detected a softer undertone. She couldn't be sure, but she knew that this was different from his usual stone-cold voice. Her mind could only theorize what was behind those six words.

What sort of pain?

"Chief?" Blake reached out her hand.

She felt metal against her fingers and the moment she did, he quickly separated himself from her, his back to her. There was no trace of the momentary slip in his unbreakable demeanor, only the warrior.

"Your only concern should be putting down these terrorists by any means necessary." The Spartan's cool was back in full force. "Don't ask about information that you neither have the clearance and the need-to-know for. Tracking?"

For a moment, golden eyes narrowed. She almost felt robbed of a moment to gain a deeper understanding and in typical military fashion, he shut her out. That sentence didn't even contain any damning information, yet he treated it like they were treading upon dangerous government secrets.

Blake wanted to push, but she wasn't that strong of will yet. "Yes, Master Chief."

"Good." The armor-clad man stared out the window a moment longer before turning his head slightly. "Complacency breeds weakness. For your sake, you should always be on your guard."

He retrieved his weapon and began to disassemble it in record time. Only someone with practice could take a weapon apart with such speed, even for a weapon with few parts, not that she knew much about the weapons the rest of the team used.

The ninja girl still had her weapons, but compared to theirs, she was struggling. In order to maintain a decent ammo supply for herself, she had to scavenge from the dead along the way. For some reason, everyone else was never lacking for ammo despite the number of rounds that had been expended during the campaign.

It was a long shot, but why not?

"Chief… I need a new weapon." Blake hoped she wouldn't have to ask the question directly. "What I have isn't enough to… keep up with the rest of you."

It sounded so awkward in how it came out and quite honestly, she sounded like she was making excuses for an ulterior motive.

However, she was not rebuffed by the spartan. "..."

Once he stared at her for a good ten seconds, he simply turned his head to resume work on his own weapon.

Once again, Blake felt slightly annoyed. He's probably not going to give me a better weapon, not that I blame him. My trust is still in question.

But didn't she at least deserve a slight reprieve considering everything she'd done up to this point? She had betrayed the organization that had given her purpose for virtually all of her life. Had she not proven that she was willing to kill her former comrades?

…

On second thought, maybe that was exactly why she was to be trusted. The fact that she could betray something that had defined much of her upbringing all to save her own life spoke enough about her character, or lack thereof.

Am I really that much of a coward? Blake knew that she wasn't morally unbreakable, but the question still made her rethink. No, that's not even a question. If I really believed in my morals, I would've died with Adam.

Then what did she want?

What about the Master Chief compelled her to stick around?

His strength? That was certainly a factor. There was no denying that he was strong, much more so than anyone she had ever seen. She never understood it, but she had always felt a pull towards those with great strength combative-wise.

But that wasn't all.

His unshakeable conviction? He certainly had his priorities in order and he let nothing get to him mentally. Too many times, Blake had found herself falling to the prey of her own inner doubts and overthinking. She was always envious of doers.

Still, that too seemed too easy an answer.

The mysteries surrounding him? She couldn't deny that she was intrigued by the things she didn't know about him. Although she despised the saying, it wouldn't be a lie to say that she was a curious cat.

Another part perhaps, but still somewhat lacking.

Or maybe I'm just that shallow of a person. The thought had never crossed the Faunus girl's mind until now. Joining the White Fang feels less like my own choice and more an obligation because my parents were once in it. I'm not even here by choice, just by threat of death.

That or potential jail time, but she definitely didn't want that. That only left the Master Chief and his team, the lesser of two bad choices. She might not be free, but she was useful. Maybe that's all she needed for now.

After all, equality for her kind was a faraway goal. One that she wasn't about to fulfill anytime soon.

Halo - - - RWBY

0500 Hours, November 14, 2557 (Military Calendar) / Unknown System, Planet Remnant, Continent of Sanas

The time schedule had been moved from eighteen hours to twelve hours.

Their looks ranged from shocked to surprised, but he supposed he was not surprised in the least. He had never really explained his abilities nor had anyone asked explicitly. Sooner or later, it would come up.

As it was not classified information, the Master Chief could speak of it, although giving away its full capabilities could be potentially detrimental at this stage, especially since Ruby was the the only other spartan besides himself. One more mission and Xiao Long would get there. As for Belladonna, she would be dealt with soon.

"Master Chief… where did you… get this?" The short sharpshooter was the most surprised she had looked since they'd first met.

For a moment, he considered a serious answer.

The next words that came from the Spartan's mouth were anything but. "Trade secret. I would tell you… but then I would have to kill you."

Well, he was half-serious.

"Heh, I'd like to see that, Chief." Xiao Long grinned at him, then flicked her eyes to the Pelican. "Fuck it, a ride's a ride and I've always wanted to know what it's like to fly and shoot at the same time."

Belladonna huffed lightly. "Yeah, we know, blondie."

"I think I heard a bitch say something." The close quarters specialist's hands hovered closer to her weapon. "But I don't see any dogs."

"Lock it down, both of you." Although firm in the command, John wasn't nearly as forceful as he could have been. "Load gear and weapons. Make sure you have water and rations. We SP in one hour."

"Roger." Ruby affirmed.

Xiao Long nodded. "Too easy."

"Tracking." Belladonna said.

All of them went to disperse, but before the black-haired girl could gather her things, he called to her.

"Belladonna, I have something for you."

The Master Chief had debated it for a time and ultimately, while he found this to be a risky move on his part, giving the faunus girl a superior weapon would be beneficial for the team, and in the event that she did abuse this gift, he could put her down quickly.

He broke open a nearby crate where he had been storing the latest weapon to join their humble little arsenal.

The M7S Caseless SMG. While the spartan preferred the M7 over its SOF variant, this version did have its uses. It was less of a spray and pray weapon and more of a precision killer. Additionally, it suited Belladonna's more subdued methods of combat. With time and training, she would become deadly with the weapon.

When she joined him at his side, she couldn't help but be surprised.

The armored giant motioned to the weapon as well as the mags preloaded with rounds alongside additional attachments and cleaning utensils. "This is yours. You're going to need it for the upcoming assault. There's a manual inside; familiarize yourself with it on the journey there. I will be asking you questions about it."

"Y-yes, Master Chief." She was quick to school her features and began to inspect her new property.

While he went abroad to do some pre-flight checks on the Pelican, he couldn't help but frown.

He really was training a former terrorist to be a spartan.

Rough beginnings and speed bumps in the road aside, he was largely succeeding at that task.

Was there something wrong with him?

What would his brothers and sisters think?

No, this is a logical move. John forced his questioning down. I'm simply taking full advantage of an asset, and a willing one at that. As long as she obeys, she'll become a deadly operator.

It was more mercy than he would've given in the beginning of his career.

Been a minute. I'm active duty, y'all know that, but things just got a little more interesting. If you want a bit more detail, look on my profile page.

I have to say, writing for Blake and the Master Chief is challenging. I have my own ideas about the fatal flaws of all of Team RWBY because at the end of the day, I don't think that the original series turned these dysfunctional girls into better characters.

Volume 9 was supposed to be a turning point for Ruby herself, but instead she ends up not changing at all. That whole spiel with the Tree about being good enough? That's basically continuing the toxic, naive, and ultimately selfish behavior that led them to this point. Jaune was right for criticizing her about it being all about her and he shouldn't have apologized. I wouldn't have.

Weiss? I feel like she's the only good thing in the Volume, even if only in the moments that ultimately contribute nothing to the grand story, but she still an enabler to Ruby's unchanging behavior.

Blake and Yang might as well be the same character. Plus, Bumblebee. Enough said.

All that aside, Team RWBY is almost here and unlike the disasters of people that most of them turned out to be in V9, I'm going to turn them all into badass motherfuckers who are probably worse in a lot of ways. The contradictory nature of mankind, ladies and gentlemen.

Thoughts on this chapter? Reviews and feedback are greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading.

"Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing."

Abraham Lincoln