(A/N) This just in, GreenTheRyno found alive in cave!

...not really what happened, but, uhh, yeah. Am back. After a literal year-to-the-day. Not gonna make promises since I seem to be able to break those pretty easily, but, well, the fic's as dead as John Halo himself. That is to say, it's experienced an acute case of Plot Necromancy. Couple housekeeping things to say before the chapter: 1) I won't be uploading NEW stories to FFN anymore. So while I'll finish out this story and Don't Fall, the rewrite of BRWL will be on SB and AO3 only, plus any other new stories I (eventually, in the years to come) get around to writing. I'm doing this because I feel FFN is a dying platform and it really sucks to use, tbh. Anyways, the more important thing, I CANNOT RESPOND TO GUEST REVIEWS VIA PM. I appreciate that many of you reached out via guest reviews during the long hiatus, but, well, there was literally nothing I could do to respond. So if ya got radio silence after guest reviewing, it's not my fault. If you still got radio silence after leaving a review while signed-in... yeah, sorry, that's on me.

Anyways, I'd like to thank my beta readers: Wesley9516, Hatter, Sierra-D421, Ghost-339, Mr Cy Man, and The Last Spartan. Also, here's a link to join my Discord if ya like: 3jf9w8u

Now, y'all've waited enough. My crimes against the English language are listed below; enjoy!

Volume Three

Chapter Seven: A Walk In The Woods

/-\ Coco Adel /-\

One moment, I was teasing the boys about carrying all of my purchases as we walked out of the boutique. In the next instant, that was the last thing on my mind as I registered an ear-piercing shriek of metal and concrete. My disbelieving eyes locked onto the center plaza, where a train of all things had just burst through what was a fountain only moments before.

Many random citizens just simply ceased to exist, the air turning red with their remains as unimaginable forces pulverized them. Just about everyone else stood shock still, uncomprehending of the disaster. Even the swallows nested in the trees dotting the plaza were silenced. For just a moment, the entire world stopped turning.

"Citizens!" A familiar, commanding voice shouted. My eyes darted to its source, seeing the white-clad form of Specialist Winter Schnee, her saber held aloft in her robotic hand. "Evacuate immediately! The huntsmen and VDF will handle this!"

And just like that, the spell was broken. The civilians turned tail and fled – the more noble ones scooping up children, disabled people, or those maimed when the train burst through the ground. On the other side of the plaza, I saw red-coated VDF troopers forming a battle line behind a raised garden, using the landscaping as cover. I dropped what little purchases were still in my arms and flicked Gianduja forwards – the outwardly normal handbag shifting and morphing into a man-portable rotary machinegun. Looking to my side, I saw Yatsuhashi had drawn his sword and Velvet assumed a boxer's stance.

The train let out a long, deep whistle, wheels pumping despite the vehicle being turned on its side. Then they froze, a series of metal hatches opening on the engine and each of the four train cars. Long poles extended, pushing the train upright and onto wheels that had suddenly grown rubber casings – looking much more like strange off-roading wheels than anything a train had any business using. There was barely time to think before the train accelerated, moving much faster than something that big had any right to. In the two seconds I had to react, I leaped to the side, my arm barely grasping a handhold on the third car as my aura flared to keep my fingers from detaching.

With a grunt, I pulled myself up onto the roof as buildings flew by. I spared a glance backwards, towards the plaza, and saw Velvet beating up an Ursa Minor, Fox standing still while talking on his scroll, and Winter keeping a pack of Beowolves from reaching a group of slower civilians. I tisked – might not get any help in stopping this bloody thing… I thought. A massive and gauntleted hand gripped the opposite side of the train, its owner pulling himself upwards to meet me. "Yats," I nodded.

He merely grunted, hoisting his massive sword onto his shoulder. "We don't have time to waste – let's move."

I flicked the safety off my weapon, nodding. "Couldn't've said it better myself."

We rushed forwards, skipping over the gap between the carriages as this monster bulldozed cars and trucks out of the way, sending debris and shrapnel all over the sidewalks. The packed sidewalks. It's five o'clock, I realized. They planned this for rush hour!

We were bounding over the second gap – only one car away from the engine – when the searing sensation of plasma raked across my aura from below. I yelped, faceplanting into the train car's roof ahead. Yats stopped a few paces after he landed. "You oka-" he cut himself off, eyes narrowing. In a blur of movement, he lashed out behind him with his sword, intercepting a gigantic chainsaw wielded by a beast of a man equal in stature to Yatsuhashi himself.

I propped myself up into a shooting position, bringing Gianduja around for when my teammate inevitably created an openi-

My back seared with more pain. I whipped around, firing wildly at the vaguely person-shaped figure my eyes hadn't quite identified yet. Flashes of blue erupted every time a bullet hit its mark, but no damage was done – the rounds were vaporized before they could strike true. I frowned, letting go of the trigger.

The blue energy sword moved to reveal a man dressed head to toe in black; a few splotches of red and white to break up the monotony. Oh, and a White Fang Mask. "I thought we had a truce," I spat.

He huffed. "Don't like being on the other side of a betrayal for once, Human?"

I growled, slowly getting to my feet as the sound of steel clashing and chainsaw revving echoed behind me. "I've never betrayed anyone."

"You're Human," he said, shrugging. And with zero preamble, he blurred forwards.

I barely dodged his thrust, the hot plasma scoring on my side instead of going directly into my gut. My foot lashed out, catching him in the back of the knee as I shoved him off balance. He cartwheeled backwards, landing on his feet with a growl. Gianduja began packing up – my purse would be a better weapon here than my rotary cannon – but that was still a process.

Just as I expected, he charged forwards again, aiming to decapitate me while my weapon still transformed. I ducked out of the way, only registering his smirk at the last second. Before I could react, the arc of his swing shifted downwards and cleaved through the still transforming Gianduja. I could do nothing but watch as my beloved weapon was ripped and torn asunder – barrels, gears, even pistons all melted before the immense heat of the blade.

I never even saw his kick coming, too shocked at the maiming of my weapon. His boot drove the air from my lungs, and I flew backwards, smacking into the train's roof and then into a solid mass of muscle. I barely had a second to roll to the side, a chainsaw spearing the roof where I just was.

My partner was breathing heavily, gauntlet and pauldron shredded and his aura flickering as it struggled to mend his bleeding hand. "Shit," I muttered. Yatsuhashi took one look at me, then to the others…

And then to the City's outer wall, which we were rapidly approaching.

He grabbed my shirt, roughly throwing me off the train as he, too, leaped.

I yelped, rolling to my feet as my aura barely held from the sudden deceleration. In a blink, the train was past us, receding while our foes quickly ducked back inside only a single moment before impact.

The walls were thick – meant to stop giant Grimm from breaching. But the force of a five-hundred-ton train going over a hundred miles-an-hour hitting the wrong side of the wall was clearly too much. The train burst through – slowing significantly, but the result was the same. Just as the last car cleared the new breach, the wall itself began to crumble in a cloud of dust.

I stared in disbelief. There were just two of them, I thought. We… we got completely destroyed. And now there's another fucking hole in the wall!

A cough snapped me out of my brief introspection. "Yats!" I shouted, getting up and running towards him. He'd landed in someone's car – hit the trunk and sailed right through to the engine compartment. There was glass and metal fragments everywhere, including a big one sticking out of his shoulder blade.

In a panic, I started reaching up to get the thing out of him but remembered my training just in time. If I removed it, he might just bleed out in my arms before I could even pack the wound – what did I even have with me that I could pack with? He really needed to get to a hospita-

I blinked, fumbling with my pockets, withdrawing my scroll, and smashing the Emergency Call button.

It gave a single ring before an automated voice answered. "We are experiencing unusual volume, please wait for-"

"Beacon Student!" I shouted. "ID-six-two-one-five! One-times Code Red, one-times Code Orange!"

"...transferring now," the voice said.

"VPD, what's going on?"

"There's a Second Breach at my location!" I shouted. "We tried to stop the train; they kicked our asses. My partner's got an arm-sized chunk of metal in him and I'm running on empty. Need reinforcements immediately!"

The male voice was silent for a second. "Fuck's sake… I'll send who I can, just hang tight." The line went dead.

I sighed, starting to check over Yats again when I heard the barking of Beowolves far too close for my liking. I looked up and saw a pair of them dart through the breach. I took a deep breath, grabbed a piece of twisted metal from the car, and charged forwards with as much anger as I could muster.

Their heads swiveled, landing on me. "That's right, don't go into the fucking city," I said, feet pounding on the rubble. "The fight's right here!"

They leaped forwards and I dodged out of the way. I shoved the metal into one of their necks, giving the oversized shiv a kick for good measure. Just as I was turning around to fight the other one, it rebounded and leaped for me. I feigned a sidestep, instead going low and sending an uppercut into its gut. The Grimm flew, its momentum carrying it into a building. I took another breath, assuming a boxer's stance as it quickly got out of the rubble and began circling.

My hands were shaking and my movements were jittery. I could still take this 'Wolf, but how many of its pals were already on the way? That was a problem for later, though. Right now, the Grimm found its opening and leaped once more for me. I readied to dodge at the correct moment, and then I'd-

Suddenly, a black-armored figure intercepted the monster, driving it into the ground. As the second Beowolf began evaporating, I realized it was an ODST. An ODST with golden gauntlets and a matching stripe on their helmet. She stood up, turning to face me. "You look like shit," Yang Xiao Long said. Just behind her, I could see a purple striped ODST tending to Yatsuhashi in the car.

I… blinked. "What? Where did you come from? Why are you wearing-"

She held up a hand. "We can play twenty-questions later," she said, unhooking a rifle from her back and passing it to me. "They're, uhh, not gonna wait on us."

Any further questions were halted when I heard the yipping and howling of more Beowolves, just on the other side of the breach. "Point," I said. "God, this day fucking sucks all in the sudden."

She tisked. "This is about par for the course for the last month I've had."

"Hah… tell you what, I'll buy us both drinks when we get out of this mess."

Without another word, I raised my rifle and began engaging the Grimm that were now starting to pour through. We had a hole to plug, after all. At least until more reinforcements could get here…

One Month Earlier

/-\ Yang Xiao Long /-\

My armored boots hit the forest floor and my head swiveled around, looking for any Grimm, Covvies, or Unknowns. My fists fell back to my side when all I saw was greenery, not even a squirrel in sight. I sighed, looking up at the parachute tangled in the branches above. In my distraction, I almost cued my mic before remembering the radio silence rule that Ruby put down for this mission. Guess I'll have to find them the old-fashioned way, I thought. This was our first one-hundred-percent-official, non-reactionary mission as a team – investigating those Unknowns Winter and Ruby ran into a while back after they dropped feet-first.

I turned around and- "Eep!" just about jumped out of my skin at the suit of purple-striped shock trooper armor before me. "Ugh, Blake, don't scare me like that!"

Her visor depolarized. "Not my fault you didn't keep track of everyone during the fall," she said, turning around. "Come on, the others are this way."

I followed her, drawing my battle rifle from my back and replacing it with the supply pack at my feet. Thankfully, the forest wasn't as thick as some I'd traveled through – there were even a handful of Grimmpaths strewn about. It wasn't long before Blake halted, holding up a fist. "Eagle," she muttered.

Something shifted in the brush ahead. "Globe," Ruby said, her massive, armored form stepping out without making a single sound. Even after all this time knowing her, it still unnerved me just how silent she could be in that thing. "Good job with the codes; either of you seen Weiss?"

I shook my head. "Not yet. I uhh, got tangled up in some trees back there; didn't see where she touched down."

"Last I saw, she had a little trouble getting the chute to touch down; she got blown a ways northwest of me," Blake said.

Ruby's head tilted to the side slightly, her face not visible behind that Recon helmet of hers. "Then lead the way – you were in the air longer than I was, you should have a better idea of her landing site."

She nodded, taking the lead with Gambol Shroud's pistol form held in a low ready. Ruby took up the rear position as we walked single-file through a well-worn Grimmpath, the forest ferns and trees covered in sparkling dew on either side of us. Ever so slowly, the sounds of the forest returned to our ears – squirrels scrambling through the trees, the chirps of songbirds, and even an occasional far-off bark of a Beowolf. Of course that last sound was a bit unsettling, but it was also a hint of familiarity on this mission. I knew how to deal with 'Wolves; the Unknowns would be a different story.

Blake led us through the forest for what seemed like hours. Gradually the tension faded into normality which itself faded to boredom. Just put one foot in front of the other, hundreds of times over. I still tried to keep my head on a swivel, but after nothing happening for so long, it became difficult. Suddenly, a pebble hit the back of my head and knocked me back into the real world. I stopped, whipping around and raising my fists… only to see Ruby crouched down a dozen paces back with her weapon raised.

I hear Blake drop to a knee in front of me and I do the same, scanning the area and shouldering my BR55. For a few moments, nothing happens. Then, on the edge of my hearing, the natural sounds of the forest are broken by a whooshing sound. Slowly it gets louder and louder, finally peaking when it's a little above yelling volume. Through a gap in the trees, I see a strange craft pass overhead – a little larger than a Pelican dropship. Instead of the standard airship hull I was familiar with, this craft used a vertical circle with a slight protrusion of a cockpit, alongside a pair of long tubes extending rear to the craft.

The gunmetal-grey airship lazily continued its course, drifting past us and towards our landing zone as the noise steadily got quieter. Eventually, the noise receded, only barely audible. Ruby stood up. "C'mon, I don't want to be here when they start searching properly."

Blake and I stood up as well, walking just a bit faster than we were previously. Ahead of us, the barking of Beowolves grew in intensity. I hoped we'd find Weiss soon...

/-\ Weiss Schnee /-\

I frowned in annoyance as the green canopy stayed just out of reach, my legs dangling from the parachute only a few meters above the treetops as they zoomed by. A gust of wind had picked me up as I was about to touch down, sending me way off course. This wouldn't've happened if we just used our landing strategies, I thought. But no, command just HAD to make us use parachutes. Feeling another gust push me ever higher, I decided to cut my losses and hit the parachute release.

The big parachute flew upwards, now unburdened by myself as I fell like a rock. A few platform glyphs later, and my boots were firmly back on the ground where they belonged. Taking a deep breath, I took stock of the situation. My supply pack had snagged on some branches sometime after I'd begun to get thrown around by the wind, tearing loose. That meant I only had what was on my back and in my armor's pouches for the time being. I drew Myrtenaster, the familiar weight bringing just a bit of comfort to the situation.

Step One was clearly to regroup with the rest of the team; even if I had my pack, being separated like this was dangerous. As if to punctuate that fact, I heard the howl of a Beowolf. Close. My eyes narrowed; too close…

I whipped around, my sword slashing out and catching the snout of the offending Grimm. It was young, the bone mask only beginning to poke through its black fur. No matter; I brought my rapier around as it reeled, stabbing the Grimm through the eye. It fell to the ground, black smoke wafting off its corpse. More howls emanated from deeper into the forest – the rest of the monster's pack, I guessed.

I considered running, but Grimm – Beowolves especially – weren't known to stop a chase unless they'd well and truly lost whoever they were chasing. I couldn't do that without expending more aura than I would fighting them unless it was a full pack of Alphas which was very unlikely. So I readied myself as the sound of snapping branches and demonic barks grew closer and closer…

...and then six more juvenile Beowolves came into view.

I blinked – that was almost as unlikely as a pack of pure Alphas. My confusion was put aside, however, as they leaped at me, aiming to shred. There was no hesitation; no strategy – just bloodlust. Killing the inexperienced Grimm was almost as easy as breathing; one head fell, then a torso, then limbs, and so on.

After the last died, I paused, listening for more monsters. When I heard none, I nodded to myself and walked away – towards where my team had landed. I realized I must've gone several miles – possibly into the double digits, even – before finally cutting loose, so I kept a sharp eye out for anything.

One thing did gnaw at me, though: the juveniles. In the wild, Juvenile Beowolves had an instinct to group-up with the adults of their species while they were still growing. They acted as pursuers of fleeing civilians while their elders fought militia or any huntsmen – it was why Beowolves were such a pain to deal with for survivors of overrun settlements. Only in extreme circumstances can a pack form entirely of the young ones, due to this instinct. In fact, the only recorded cases of this being common were around the Combat Schools that prepared people for the Academies; Grimm were often culled there so the deadlier ones wouldn't be a risk for the students.

Something around here was doing the same.

I let out a huff. Something? It was clearly the Unknowns we were here for. The only question was why. Sure, Grimm were culled outside of those Schools, but they'd generally be replaced by even more monsters within the week. Sure, particularly large hordes or an Ancient Grimm would get a Job put out for them pretty quickly, but in the never-ending war against the Grimm, you had to pick your battles and save your energy for when you needed it. If you didn't, you'd just exhaust yourself and everyone under your watch would be dead.

So why and how were the Unknowns breaking the most fundamental truth of Remnant?

Hearing another Beowolf howl, I tried to shake myself of the unease this not-so-simple question. It just kept nagging at me, though; what could've enabled them to do this? Of course, my inability to control my own emotions was rewarded with several more Juvenile packs; all easily dispatched, but a delay nonetheless as I kept working my way towards the others.

About half an hour – and five more Juvenile Beowolf packs – later, I began to hear the watery sound of a river. It wasn't quite the violent roar of turbulent waters, but it was very much audible before it was visible. Only about fifty meters later through the foliage, I stood upon its sandy banks.

Right as I emerged from the treeline, I saw movement on the other side of the river – a large suit of red armor with a thin silver visor. A smile crawled its way onto my lips as I drew a Spartan Smile across my helmet, Ruby doing the same a moment later. She made a few motions with her hands, quickly signing out 'are you injured?' in UNSC Battlesign. I shook my head, then looked down and upriver, checking for anything that might spot me. When I saw the coast was clear, I made my own signs – 'crossing river now'.

A line of platform glyphs formed as I finished, and I sprinted across. After reuniting with the team and explaining everything, they were equally suspicious of the goings-on here. As we set off, I noticed another thing to worry about.

Ruby was spacing off again, just like at the Atlesian Pride Rally. I really hoped she wasn't trying to hide something again...

I slowly awoke as my shoulder was shaken. As my eyes flutter open and the pitter-patter of light rain reaches my ears, I see Blake's face behind her visor. "Up-n-at-em, Weiss," she said. "Ruby's off watch, it's your turn."

I groaned, rolling my neck as I sat up from the hurriedly dug fire trench. It's only been eleven days since our arrival and I already missed the beds at Beacon – the same ones which I'd derided as borderline abuse during my first week at the Academy. However, I really missed not having to do Watch in the middle of the night; even with us doing a two-up-two-down rotation due to us being so deep in unknown territory, I'd rather just be asleep. But the reality of the situation demanded I be awake, and so I slowly crawled out of the trench and back up to the forest floor.

Just as we'd settled at the base of a large oak, the now-familiar whirring of alien craft became audible over the rain. Looking up, I saw that same circular-type craft float by, a dozen or so meters above the treetops. Blake and I didn't even bother to ready our weapons; we'd seen them sweep the forests with those craft about every six or seven hours. Only a moment later and the aircraft passed us by without incident. None of us really knew if the unknowns had detected our presence, given the craft more often than not passed us from miles away.

And this is mostly how the first hour or so went. Something would occasionally move in the forest, getting both our attention, and then it would turn out to be a squirrel or a deer or something. One time, a singular Ursa Minor passed us by, but Blake and I had quite good grips on our emotions by now. As such, the younger Grimm – not paying attention to its surroundings – simply left us alone. Though we very easily could've taken it, the better outcome was simply to conserve energy and ammunition.

As the second hour stretched on, I reached into my pack – the others having come across it shortly after drop – and pulled out a ration bar. While they were bland, they were also pretty much the only option right now. Just after I gulped down the last of the supposed granola-protein mix, Blake sighed. I glanced back towards her for a moment. "Something wrong?" I muttered.

"No, just… bored," she said. Though she was on the opposite end of our little forest hidey hole, ultra-low-power comms allowed us to hear each other as if we were standing only a foot apart without fear of interception. And, of course, we were on a separate channel from our team comm, meaning we wouldn't disturb the sleeping sisters.

"Me too," I said. "You can only look at trees so much before they lose their splendor."

She hummed in agreement. "That's Watch for you, though," she said, another sigh escaping her lips. "It was the same in the Bad Old Days too – with my, umm… previous associates."

I was about to open my mouth and say something along the lines of 'really? You had to watch there too?', but then I thought better of it. "Grimm are everyone's problem, I suppose."

"And the VDF," she said. "I know Atlas did most of its patrols by air, but Vale's Rangers still get around on motorbikes… or horses, farther out from the city where dust is harder to come by."

I glanced back again. "That just seems so… backwards," I said. "Cars have been around since well before the Great War and we're still relying on horses?"

She shrugged. "Again, it's a lot easier to find a bush and a river than to scrounge up a crate of electricity dust crystals, way out in the wilderness. Even around Dragonsport, most dust is made into ammo for defenses or chucked into power plants for the city."

That made me frown a little. Growing up in the opulence of Atlas, I couldn't really imagine needing to use your dust supply for basic survival above all else. I suppose our ancestors hundreds of years ago did, but that was the past, wasn't it? Shaking my head, I decided to cut that train of thought short and instead indulge in a line of questioning I'd so far been reluctant to ask Blake. "So you've… traveled a lot? In the White Fang, I mean."

"Hard not to, when you're wanted," she said. "We have ways to keep hidden, but the most effective was always to keep moving. I think I've lost count of all the ships and trains I've stowed away on by now."

I huffed. "You and Sun were made for each other."

"Ha!" she let out, humming after a moment. "I actually wouldn't mind him, to be honest, though he's not exactly available at the moment," she said. "Oh well. Not like I don't have my hands full with you three already."

I raised an eyebrow, smirking slightly. "My, Blake, are you asking us all out at once? Can you handle having three girlfriends?"

"Pff, that's not what I mean and you know it. Besides, I don't want to earn a Schnee's everlasting hatred for stealing away her big and muscular leader, now do I?"

Suddenly, my smirk was wiped off my lips, face feeling quite hot all of a sudden. "I, umm… right… everlasting hatred," I stammered. Am I really that obvious? I wondered. I looked backwards, the VISR system of my helmet highlighting the suit of red armor only a couple meters behind me as its occupant breathed slowly, but rhythmically. Her head twitched slightly in her sleep, a muffled groan audible from the armor. Oddly enough, her silver slit of a visor glowed dimly for a moment before returning to normal. My eyes stayed transfixed until she fell back asleep. "Do you think she's okay?"

"So you have noticed," Blake said. "...I don't know. Whatever it is, it's getting worse. She spaced out three times yesterday."

I frowned. "...what was the third time?"

"When we refilled our canteens at the river. It wasn't that long, but I still noticed."

That… wasn't good news. On a whim, I brought up her biomonitor. That showed very little abnormalities, thankfully; pulse, body temperature, and just about everything else were all within acceptable ranges. Just as I closed it, however, I caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of my eye. Slowly, I turned my head more towards it. The VISR system picked out two forms which at first appeared Human, but as one of them continued to walk, the backwards-bending legs became obvious. "Contact," I said over the team frequency. "Ruby, Yang, get up."

In an instant, Ruby was up, blinking her green status light with her sister not long behind. "Sitrep."

"Two contacts, two-hundred meters bearing zero-nine-five. I don't think they've spotted us." It was really hard to tell what species the Unknowns were from, aside from the fact that they weren't Human. They were dressed tactically; using hardened white plates over a black cloth-like suit that covered the majority of their bodies and durable gloves over their three-fingered rifle-carrying hands. In addition, they also wore something resembling oxygen masks and an old-style military helmet. Other than that, their heads were bare of equipment, showing off their short, wisp-like hair, illuminated eyes, and purplish-brown skin.

In a flash, Ruby crouched next to me. "Eyes-on," she said. "Positive ID on the Unknowns; same species we're looking for."

I nodded. "What's the plan?"

She paused for a few moments, observing the Unknowns as they meandered through the forest. "...Yang, hide the gear. I've set a waypoint so we can find it later, we're gonna shadow them. Let's see if they bring us home to a base or something."

"On it," Yang said. Glancing behind me, I saw her shoving our bags into a fire trench and quickly burying them; spritzing some pine needles on top to better hide our gear. By the time she finished her task, the Unknowns had already reached their closest approach and were now slowly moving away once more.

We set off behind them, being sure to be as quiet as possible. Blake and Ruby – easily the stealthiest members of our team – tailed them much closer than we did; getting as close as a hundred meters seemingly without alerting them while Yang and I hung back to about three-hundred. We kept our eyes and ears on a swivel the entire way, acutely aware of the need to remain extremely quiet. Even after all this time, it still surprised me just how well Ruby snuck around in that superheavy armor she wore. Momentarily, I remembered her experiences on Reach, comparing it to our current situation. I sure hoped we wouldn't have to fire our weapons in anger – dealing with one faction of genocidal aliens was enough for me, please and thank you.

Onwards and onwards, we crept through the underbrush. Under fallen logs, over small iron-laden trickles of water, and, of course, through about a million drenched ferns, bushes, and clearings. At one point, we even had to wade through stomach-high floodwaters to avoid detection. As we strode on and on, I wondered just how long their patrol lasted. Didn't Ruby say they had armored vehicles? I thought. Why aren't they using them? As I was mulling over the possibilities in my head, Ruby's status light blinked yellow for a moment. Yang and I immediately stopped, dropping to a knee and raising our rifles. Her light blinked yellow-green-yellow-green, our code for "we are halted, regroup with caution." Even more slowly, Yang and I proceeded forwards until we came across the prone forms of Blake and Ruby.

"What's the situation?" I asked, sliding next to my partner. I looked forward and saw the Unknowns had stopped in a medium-sized clearing, amongst the ruins of an old log cabin and detached corrugated steel shed. One of them pulled off their backpack and started fiddling around with something inside while the other lazily looked around the perimeter with his finger on the trigger of his gun.

"They stopped here for some reason; doesn't look like a base to me," Blake said. The one on the ground pulled out a device from his pack, unfolding the three spiked legs and shoved the cylinder into the ground. After a moment, it beeped and several panels near the top unfolded, emitting a blue light. The first stood up once more, drawing his weapon and joining his companion in keeping a lookout.

"We didn't know they'd lead us somewhere important," Ruby said. "That's the entire point of this mission; we know basically nothing about them and that's a problem."

As uneasy about the thought as I was, Ruby was right. Nothing truly was guaranteed on these sorts of missions. And that's when the barking of Beowolves drew our attention. I huffed. Nothing is guaranteed except the Grimm, I thought.

The aliens stiffened, one visibly cuing his radio up and the other affixing a bayonet to the end of his rifle. They looked at each other, the first one kneeling at the device they planted already and frantically pressing buttons. The lights flashed red and the beeping became somewhat frantic.

"Is that thing a bomb?" Yang asked.

"Eh, if it is, it's not using anything we've ever encountered. No plasma, E-X, or CBRN signatures inside that thing. Hell, it's EM signature is barely enough to power a scroll."

The device beeped three more times, then the lights turned solid yellow. Both the Unknowns stiffened for just a moment. The one on the ground then frantically scrambled away from it, drawing his gun and pointing at the treeline just as a Beowolf emerged. The weapons spat blue fire, even faster than Covenant plasma weapons. The Beowolf gnashed its jaws as it was peppered with fire, running on all fours towards the two. However, only a few paces from the treeline, something vital in its leg was struck and it collapsed to the ground. The Unknowns kept peppering the body as it tried to rise, eventually getting it to slump and begin evaporating.

They didn't rest for a second, both of them unhooking another device from their leg webbing and sticking it into the ground. They then took a cable from this new device and hooked it into their rifles. Almost immediately, steam from the falling rain began to boil up from the new devices. "Heat sinks," Ruby said. "Their weapons must generate a lot of waste heat to justify that."

The original device began aggressively beeping, flashing red thrice more as a pair of Beowolves – Juveniles this time – stepped into the clearing. In a flash, the withering fire of the Unknowns was visited upon them. They made it no further than the first Beowolf, but it didn't matter. The device beeped more and this time four 'Wolves entered the clearing.

"Contact, up high," Blake said, jerking her head upwards.

Sure enough, an Alpha Beowolf was climbing the side of the building, only visible from our view of the ruined house. "What are we going to do?" I asked Ruby, seeing as the Unknowns were more than busy enough with the horde of Juveniles pouring from the forest.

She just stood silent as the Alpha crept along the broken tile, doing its best to make no noise whatsoever.

"Ruby, what are we doing?" I asked again, glancing at her.

She was as motionless as a cadaver.

"Ruby!" I shouted, shaking her.

She let out a groan of pain over comms.

I glanced back towards the Unknowns, seeing the Alpha creep up to the edge – right above them.

In that instant, I knew what I had to do. "Yang, watch her! Blake, with me!" I stood up, summoning a platform glyph above the Unknowns just in time for the pouncing Alpha to smash its snout against it. The 'Wolf howled in pain, making the aliens look up. They froze again and the approaching horde no longer took casualties as they charged with reckless abandon. "Cover the front!" I shouted, summoning a repulsion glyph under my feet.

I launched upwards and began peppering the Beowolf with rifle rounds. It swiveled as the rounds bounced off its armor, leaping into the sky to meet my descent with a swipe of its claws. A strategically-placed platform glyph let me leap to the side, loosing another string of bullets into its side as I passed. My boots hit the ruin's roof and I slid down, bringing loose terracotta tiles with me. By the time I'd rolled to the ground, the Alpha wasn't far behind. I let my rifle drop, hanging on by its sling and drew Myrtenaster in time to deflect another strike.

I angled my rapier, letting the sharp claws slide off with a visceral scraping sound. I didn't let it bother me, slashing upwards as the beast retreated and slashing open its arm. It wasn't what I was aiming for, but I'd take it, nonetheless. The Grimm snarled at me, gnashing its jaws in hatred as it slowly circled, clearly disfavoring its injured arm. More rounds slammed into its side, the blue trails signifying their origin. The Beowolf's head turned to the side and its momentary distraction was just enough for me to exploit with a repulsion glyph.

By the time its head turned back to face its mortal threat, Myrtenaster was already swinging upwards, barely a foot from its neck. It tried to dodge again, but that only turned a total decapitation into a partial one. The Alpha collapsed to the ground, its grievous neck wound leaking black ichor as it twitched. A second strike completed what was already inevitable and I turned around once the evaporation process started.

The device embedded in the ground had stopped beeping while I was occupied, its lights turning blue once more. About mid-way to the treeline, Blake stood over the rapidly evaporating corpses of two-dozen Juvenile Beowolves, her armored form looking almost bored with the activity. "I'm finished here," I said over comms. "Any more on the way?"

"Negative," she said, turning around. "I can't hear or see anything."

It was only then I turned my attention to the two Unknowns, the very people who we'd broken concealment to protect. They laid against the ruined brick wall, one with their gun trained on me while the other kept their sights on Blake; both were clearly shaking, either due to nerves or fear, I couldn't tell. Slowly and deliberately, I sheathed Myrtenaster. "We're not here to hurt you," I said, keeping my distance.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Yang and Ruby march out from the treeline as if this was all some master plan to show how strong we were instead of the clusterfuck it actually was. Slowly, the Unknown in front of me started lowering his weapon, arms still twitching. "P- P'lois y esmåe?" The alien said, blue lights around its half-face mask flickering with every word. "Emski'i y thelois?"

Ruby and Yang looked at each other for a moment before our resident Spartan stepped forward. "Either of you speak English?"

Now the Unknowns looked at each other, clearly uncomprehending.

I sighed. "Because of course it would be just too convenient for us to communicate conventionally, wouldn't it?"

Suddenly, Blake's gaze darted upwards. "Guys, we have incoming," she said over our team channel. "Two of their airships, sounds like."

Ruby grunted in annoyance. "Alright, uploading coordinates of our gear; meet back there at twenty-one-hundred. Scatter and SERE! They can't follow four trails with only two ships!" With that, she took off into the forest.

After a beat, we all followed suit, Blake and I choosing vaguely similar paths for about a hundred meters before splitting from each other when we came upon a Grimmpath. She went left and I went right, both quickly wishing each other good luck before running out of range. And then I was alone, running through the puddles and underbrush as fast as I sustainably could. After five-hundred-ish meters, I ducked left, sliding down the same hill that appeared to be the victim of a mudslide not too long ago. With any luck, that fact would throw off my trail.

Still, my lungs began to burn. Even after all this training and conditioning, I was still far behind my peers in terms of physical endurance. While I now put myself at the start of Beacon to shame, I was still no taller than before; I still had to work harder than the others for the same distance ran. And, of course, I had to do this with nothing but survival rations in my stomach, after a fight, and a many mile march previous.

Oh, and I could tell that I had the misfortune of attracting the attention of an alien airship. Because the odds really weren't stacked well enough against me.

That meant I had to push myself through thicker brush and sacrifice speed for cover. I had to double back, I had to zig-zag, I had to do all sorts of other things… driving my exhaustion ever higher and my aura ever lower. And after all that, I still haven't shaken my little airborne stalker. In one last ditch effort, I dove into a half-flooded cave and submerged myself. As I caught my breath using my fifteen-minute in-built oxygen supply, I only hoped that they'd get the hint and leave me alone…

(A/N) Don't worry, she'll be fine. Hopefully.

If you wanna know what the Quarians (yes, that's who these guys are) said above, the translations are:

"W- Who are you?"

"What do you want?"

Please note that I've completely butchered the Greek language to make those phrases. Google Translate will probably have a stroke if you try to run it through that. Oh, you already did that? Well good, fuck Google.

Anyways, I'm just gonna leave it here for now. See y'all... whenever. Maybe I should go back to the cave, it was comfy there...