The two Pelicans finally touched down on the deck of the Landing Pad, with the crews aboard dismounting and greeting each-other, as well as the new-comer SPARTANs from what seemed to be the third Generation. Foe Hammer, however, was quick to go to her old friend and give her a shake of the hand, stating, "Sheila goddamn Polaski, it's good to see your sorry ass...!"

"Hah! Likewise, Carol! It's been a hell of a long flight home, I gotta say," The girl smirked, then looked to the Chief and gave a salute, "Chief. Good to see you're alive and well, sir. Half-thought that you got wiped with me when that Plasma round struck the Ascendant Justice." to which the Chief shook his head. She looked to him and asked, "Considering the change in getup, sir, I'm assuming you have a lot to tell me?"

"Mm... Good to see you, Warrant Officer," Chief replied calmly. He then stated, "Hope that solves some of our fuel problems for the time being, Captain Rawley. We still have more SPARTANs to recover." as he turned to Carol. The woman gave an approving nod and smile. She and Sheila stepped off to have a chat, while Headmaster Ozpin approached Chief.

"Master Chief," Oz nodded, stopping in front of the Pelicans and eyeing them. If Chief didn't know better, he could swear the Headmaster stared at the gunships with nostalgia, or so he thought anyhow. He hummed, then turned to John and spoke, "I suppose you've found even more of your people?" And, upon receiving a nod from the Chief, he simply offered a kindhearted smile, "I sense we'll have an Army in Beacon before long."

"Seems like it, sir," The Spartan replied, facing the Gunships as well. He hummed, then stated, "We even recovered what are, apparently, more of Kurt's well-trained soldiers. Spartans from Class III," as the youngsters dismounted. Ozpin couldn't help but notice the different armors. He was close to making a comment about it, but chose not to, simply bidding the Chief a good night.

Chief then stood there, regarding the disembarking Spartan-IIIs belonging to Kurt's Companies. Sixteen Spartans from Alpha Company, ten from Beta and eleven from Gamma, for a total of 37 recovered tonight. They'd had to cram them into the Pelicans to ensure that their travel was unabated. Locklear disembarked last from the group, a grin on his face as he turned, marched up to the Chief and saluted, "Sir. Helluva drop, I gotta say."

Chief saluted back and said, "At ease. Good to see you, too, Corporal."

The ODST seemed far less wound tight than previous. He was certainly still a bit excited, but it must've been because he woke up next to Polaski. If he recalled, the two had forged a bond of some sort. The man marched up to Polaski and took the red scarf off his shoulder, then handed it to her. She smiled and gave a nod in thanks. Both then walked hand-in-hand toward their FOB, following Carol along.

Tom and Lucy, two Spartans from Beta and members of Kurt's NCO Cadre back in Currahee, planet Onyx, stepped up. Both snapped salutes at the Chief as well, but the elder Spartan simply gave them a quick saluted back and a nod. They stood at ease now, with only Tom taking his helmet off to reveal his youthful, scarred face and shaven head, probably around the same age, if not a little younger than when they'd last seen Kurt.

"Good to finally meet you, sir," Tom stated, "Sorry it took us so long to swing by."

"Traffic," Lucy quipped. She quickly ran her index and middle finger over her armor's face plate, moving them upward. The Spartan Smile.

Chief replied with a nod once more, then told them, "Kurt will be happy to see you, considering what he, Kelly, Fred and Linda told me." only for their minute body language to switch from reverent respect to surprise. He nodded to them, then balled his fist, lifted it up to catch the attention of all other S-IIIs on the deck, then cocked it down, elbow gently tapping his hip as he moved the hand down.

The IIIs rallied, stowing their equipment on their backs or in specialized duffel bags that they'd brought with them. Cut-down MA5 rifles, M6 pistols, Jackhammer launchers, older Battle Rifle variants and even SRS-99 models that he hadn't seen since the midpoint of the war. The teams seemed to be mix-and-match, with no three Spartans being from the same fire team.

"Should've figured Lieutenant-Commander Ambrose would be here, too..." Tom murmured as they walked, a smile on his face. Lucy gave him a nod and a hum of approval. The Spartans strolled into the base, which was now far more cramped than they'd thought. The two Spartan trainers looked to the Chief, who crossed his arms to his chest and scanned the room.

He sighed and pulled up his Scroll's com on his HUD, then called out, "Kurt," to the S-II in SPI Armor. The man turned toward them from the crowd of IIIs surrounding him, then smiled as he saw Tom and Lucy, both of whom held their helmets by their sides. Lucy covertly wiped some tears from her own eyes, then sighed deeply. Both approached the Lieutenant-Commander and snapped salutes, which he returned as the Chief walked away.

"Tom, Lucy..." He started, awkward, "I'm sorry."

"We're just glad you're here, sir," Tom voiced, smiling.

Lucy, however, gave the man a light tap on his shoulder plate with her balled fist, then spoke to him, "Never again..." her voice cracking despite the smile. Kurt still smiled, too, tilting his head forward in confirmation. He would never pull a similar trick again. The wounds given to him by the Hunter pair still hurt with a phantom pain and he'd noticed his scars when showering.

Doctor Halsey stepped out into the room and her eyes widened. Ackerson's own Suicide Squads had made it here. Stoic as she remained, Halsey felt butterflies in her stomach, the joy of seeing so many of the youth murdered during their war just to buy time overwhelming. Still, she remained composed, greeting the Spartans with a wave of the hand. They greeted her back in kind, Lucy actually taking her helmet off to offer an apologetic smile to the doctor for the punch she recalled she'd delivered to her. Halsey raised her hand and showed her to relax, nodding in understanding.

She hummed, then approached them and Kurt, before telling him, "About being right behind us, Lieutenant-Commander," with a glare.

Kurt sighed deeply, "I apologized twenty times already, ma'am. And I was just about to apologize to them as well..." which got the couple of Spartans letting out short, muted laughs. The predicament one found themselves in when faced with an angry mother figure was something lost on the pair, considering their histories, but they could still feel Kurt's concern. They chose not to make any snide comments until after the good Doctor had left.

Halsey was about to add something to the conversation when her tablet pinged audibly. She lifted it out of her pocket, then hummed and turned it on, checking the calculations again. She nodded approvingly, then added, "Yet again, saved by the bell, Kurt..." before patting him on the shoulder, "It seems we have our next target. I'm certain John is speaking to headmaster Ozpin right now, but I'd rather deliver this information myself later today."

"Understood, ma'am," All three replied. She sighed, excusing herself while the other Spartans, IIIs and IIs, got to re-learn about each-other. Noble Team had welcomed their newfound old comrades with nods and handshakes, with Noble Six sitting one out as she watched Kurt engage with Tom and Lucy. The two of them noticed her and Lucy marched up to the young woman, a wide smile on her face.

Yet again, revival gave way to emotions that Spartans rarely showed, much less this openly. Alice, too, smiled as she stood up and started humming a tune familiar to both of them. It was not Olly Olly Oxenfree, it was rather a tune reminiscent of an old war song sung on Earth. Lucy attuned and harmonized her own voice and the two hummed the tune together, two beautiful voices rarely heard nowadays, entwined into a single song of melancholy.

Both bumped fists, before Alice said, "It's good to see you and Tom... Sure been a while..."

"Aye," Lucy replied, gently nudging her friend in the shoulder with her elbow.

It was good to see them talking, or, well, what passed for talking between them anyway. The two then looked at the other Alpha, Beta and Gamma Spartans and seemingly began a wordless conversation. Questions, answers, observations and statements played out without a word spoken between the two young women. Probably about their comrades and those that Lucy and Tom had trained also being present.

Noble Team's various company members welcomed the newcomers, the Gammas already huddling up next to Emile, one of the Spartans more akin to them in the old generations. Kat hummed, arms crossed to her chest as she looked around the place, while Carter was briefing the members of Gamma:Team Wolf Pack. Shane, Jane and Robert. The dead of Operation:PROMETHEUS, among so many others...

Halsey had taken a moment, staring at them from a doorway, her lips narrowed 'till they were a razor-thin line. She took her glasses off and, for the second time in her life, allowed herself to shed some tears of joy at the sight. She would never dare look whatever Forerunner Gift Horse this was in the mouth, but she was still supremely interested in learning just what the driving force was behind this.

She looked at the topographical information she got off of the Remnant Internal Networks of the CCTS and triangulated the exact location to within Vale's mountainous North-Eastern borders. She started tapping up the details even through blurry eyes, to send as a message to the headmaster, before a hand rested on her shoulder, causing the good doctor to jump. She looked over toward Cortana, who simply offered her a smile and a tissue.

The good doctor looked at the white piece of paper for a moment, took it and murmured a "Thank you..." as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Your adopted kids are here, too, now. Or, well, starting to pop up," The AI quipped. She leaned against the wall next to the doctor and told her, "Honestly, this is nice..."

"What, exactly...?" Halsey inquired, raising a brow.

Cortana chuckled, "Seeing the inscrutable, steely-eyed Doctor Catherine Elizabeth Halsey cry."

"When the mistakes of the past are somehow being fixed in front of you, Cortana, you'll understand..." The doctor whispered, then put her glasses back on and pocketed the tissue. She turned to the AI with the gynoid body and added, "The Spartan-IIIs, those children, were as much my mistake as they were Ackerson's. Certainly, their sacrifices bought the time necessary to save mankind, but..."

"If it weren't for the Spartan-IIs, they wouldn't exist," Cortana completed, then added, "And if it weren't for the Covenant, either. I read up on some of the files you gave me on them and I'd argue the Covenant spawned them more than your own work did. Sure, Ackerson was an ass who continuously wanted to one-up you in the hierarchy that was ONI, but take into account he's the one who made the Suicide Squads..."

"And dragged one of my Spartans into his work," Halsey shot back, "Kurt had no fault in it..."

"He did his best with what he had, yeah," Cortana sighed, then told her, "Doctor, if I can be honest? You, like the rest of humanity, did what you could with the hand you were dealt. Nobody cares about where Humanity's heroic warriors came from... ONI only cared because you could bury them next to yourself if and when you went public. It's probably why Parangosky threw you in jail the moment she found you... Nobody was gonna question the Spartans unless it was brought up, but ONI are clinically paranoid."

"With their line of work," Halsey hummed, then sighed and nodded, "Thank you, Cortana. I suppose I should finish and send this message."

"No problem, doc," Cortana offered a kind smile, then said, "Now, excuse me while I go find John..." before she stepped off, with one thought in mind, specifically finding her Spartan so she could spend some time with him. And that was a simple task as it seemed, for she only had to walk outside to see him sat down on the back porch, staring up at the sky. His helmet rested by his side, a seeming habit John had gotten into.

She smiled and approached him, then put a hand on his armored shoulder and asked, "Enjoying the sights...?"

He nodded, then offered a short-lived smile to her as she sat herself down. Her smile brightened a little while she leaned against him. He told her, "I've talked with the headmaster. He's agreed to offer us a separate block for the base, meaning we'll be moving pretty soon to a dormitory area that should be able to house all of us... If the rest of Spartan Alpha, Beta and maybe even Gamma companies show up, we'll have room..."

"That's good," She spoke softly, head on his shoulder. John seemed to be trying dearly to ignore it, but even he couldn't. He let Cortana lean on him as he had always wanted to when she allowed him to lean on her. The two had been through hell together, both still bearing the fearful scars of what had happened when they awoke to that new Galaxy and nearly lost each-other.

Cortana still thought of Rampancy. Had she fully staved it off for another seven years, or had she simply metastasized while they travelled? All diagnostics she'd run since their arrival seemed to tell her all her neural links were renewed, all her core programming patched and her life, basically restored. She told him, "I'm sorry for the scare I gave you, John."

"Which one...?" he asked, his voice showing a hint of that being a joke.

The AI giggled girlishly, "All of them...?" before turning her head and looking the man in the eye, to see the calm, cool and collected man she'd grown and worked alongside. She gently snuck one of her hands underneath his and clasped it, before adding in a low voice, "... The Rampancy, John... I'm really sorry." her eyes filled with regret. She'd played it down, tried to talk him out of getting her any form of help. The doctor could've helped, honestly, but knowing she was in an ONI Prison somewhere deep within human space...

"It's a natural thing for AIs..." He sighed, then told her, "I'm just glad you made it out in one piece."

She chuckled, "Yeah. I'm glad, too." then she simply smiled and leaned her head back on his shoulder. The girl only paused when she felt John's own grip on her hand tighten. A faint red tinge crossed her cheeks, before her smile grew again. She spoke to him, "Smooth..." before letting out another giggle. She heard him audibly snort, which made her machine heart actually skip a beat.

The two simply sat there, enjoying the sights of a rising sun just as the rest of Blue Team had returned from wherever they'd gone. Fred, Kelly, Linda and Sam watched the two from the door, Penny right beside them. Sam chuckled and murmured, "His AI Partner, huh?" before looking to the others. Fred maintained his usual stoicism, while Linda simply shook her head, letting out a muted snort and walking off to adjust her sniper.

Kelly bore the widest smile of them all, stating, "Sure took them a while to move further."

"Yeah," Fred hummed, "Guess we really owe Penny for this one."

The ginger blushed and replied, "That's not quite necessary, Fred. Thank you for the compliment, though..." as the group kept watching. She looked over to Sam, who had his arms crossed to his chest. The young blonde man seemed to be enjoying this sight the most. Blue Team had told Penny that Samuel had been among the first lost during their War, so it was only natural that he lacked the knowledge of wartime and post-war developments, including this one.

Honestly, she could understand his desire to learn more about their common friend's current relationship. She, however, did not expect that Cortana was this close to the Master Chief. It was endearing, in a way, that she had helped her acquire a body only for this to occur so quickly. She was also proud of herself for that little situation, even if General Ironwood seemed a tad surprised that their newfound allies wielded such artificial intelligences.

Cortana was probably, or most certainly, the happiest of the lot, simply sat there with John, watching the sunrise. Doctor Halsey'd mentioned they had their next target, the next big thing to go after. Honestly, she just hoped Doc Halsey got approval. Beacon getting quite monotone to hang around in, though she wouldn't trade places with anyone in the world for anything right now, simply content to sit by John and enjoy her little moment of calm with him.

Might as well enjoy it...