CHAPTER 25: OPERATION UNLEASH HURT

0400 Hours, November 15, 2557 (Military Calendar) / Unknown System, Planet Remnant, Continent of Anima

The early morning darkness cascaded over the island, drowning out the sigh of the waves against the shore, but allowing the sound of water to gently glide over the sandy beach. The sound of wildlife was sparse and quiet.

The only hint that there was any intelligent life was the random faunus walking around clearly-designated pathways. Assuming that an enemy could take out the guards at the front, they would have to contend with a minefield with only one clear path in and out, a very obvious trap, but considering the unknown layout of explosives, it was a far less risky chance.

But there were auto turrets and sharpshooters on sight to ensure that even if the guards at the front were dropped, they'd have a tough time even attempting to break through the only clear path forward. It was a classic trap.

And even if an assailant managed to get past that, there were multiple forms of sensors tracking movement whether it be from the patrols or the wildlife. Security cameras, and likely hidden radar systems. A backup would no doubt be sent to investigate if there was anything unusual reported on the surface.

To the untrained eye, this was a system that was practically impossible to get through due to the sheer number of ways to be either caught or killed.

The Master Chief simply had to work through each defense one at a time. Thanks to his preliminary leader's recon, he had been able to gain a little bit of insight into all of this. The pelican's systems also helped him detect all the hidden systems as well. Now that he had committed all of these factors to memory and updated his team's real-time map, they could now conduct this operation.

As he had told them before, the violence of action was going to win the day. When they took down one problem, they had to move to the next. Although mistakes and the unexpected were likely to happen, the plan was to make neither. As the saying went, measure twice, cut once.

The spartan had to admit that for terrorists, the White Fang was somewhat comparable to the Insurrectionists at times. The overlap of extreme ideologies aside, their ability to create a stronghold like this was impressive, even with the inferior technology gap. Still, impressive or not, they were still in the way.

Priority one was the successful rescue of Weiss Schnee. As the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, her political importance was behind no one. That being said, she needed to be handled carefully. Unlike Belladonna, she could not be treated harshly. Supposedly, the second daughter of Jacque Schnee was a trained fighter in her own right, but still clearly not enough to prevent her own capture.

John looked through the scope of his DMR and quickly scanned the area. He was waiting for the first patrol to perform their usual sweeping pattern.

A team of four walked by him, about a hundred meters away.

Once he had them in his sights, he took aim and squeezed the trigger four times in rapid succession. Not even five seconds later, four bodies collapsed in a heap, a hole blown clean through each of their heads. Although he had a suppressor on his weapon, someone was still bound to hear something out of the ordinary.

"Alpha lead to Alpha Team, Snow Woman." The Master Chief said the code phrase. "I say again, Snow Woman."

Ruby was the first to respond. "Alpha 1-1, beginning overwatch."

"Alpha 1-2 and 1-3, moving to phase line Corona." Xiao Long reported for herself and for Belladonna.

"Alpha team, Lima Charlie." Spartan 117 began to move to his new position. "Alpha lead moving."

The first patrol had been taken out quickly, but they'd only have a few minutes at most before someone realized that something was wrong.

"Alpha 1-1, eyes on auto defenses. Prepping plasma grenades."

Although the Type-1 Antipersonnel grenade, better known as the plasma grenade was deadly when used against infantry, it also had the added bonus of disabling electronics that were caught in the explosion or its area of effect.

Although it was the dead of night, he could easily see where the drones were flying thanks to their silhouettes being highlighted with his HUD as well as the outstanding eyesight courtesy of his augmentations. Even they could not be detected easily, they flew carefully so as not to draw attention. Faunus had enhanced senses.

There were seven turrets along this pathway. They were staggered along the open path with at least fifty meters between each one. Although running that distance would not be difficult and for a couple of them even easy, it had the potential to draw unnecessary attention. Even one offline turret would significantly reduce the risk.

John noticed the lighting of the plasma grenade followed by its drop from the drone. It hit the top of the first turret and glowed for a moment before bursting into a blue blast, destroying the machinery and killing the electronics.

"Alpha team, first turret down. Assault team, move up."

"1-2 and 1-3 moving."

The noise although brief, was attracting attention from the other patrols, who were moving to investigate.

The Master Chief, with the training and experience of nearly thirty years, began to pick off targets with his DMR. The effective point range of the weapon was 800 meters. Additionally, luck was on his side that day; the air was clear and the winds were not blowing. He was able to make clean shots without making many adjustments.

Five more White Fang were cut down, all headshots. Through his scope, he witnessed Xiao Long grab another and snap their neck. Belladonna moved into to slit the throat of another, then raised her new M7S SMG and cut down another one. Once the enemies were down, they quickly began to mark the left and right-hand rails of the road with special chem lights that could only be seen via NVGs.

No aura users had been encountered yet, which was somewhat surprising, but no doubt that would change once they reached the innermost parts of the sanctum.

Spartan 117 took note that three more turrets had been disabled by plasma grenades. Ruby issued another message relaying her drone kills.

The turrets that had yet to be destroyed began scanning the area for threats, clearly aware that there was something out there, but unsure about what exactly they were looking for. They were likely only trained to be able to detect a few specific types of targets. Bad for them, but good for Alpha team.

John noticed Belladonna and Xiao Long moving up swiftly. The latter seemed to be having no trouble moving in the ODST armor. She had come a long way from the rebellious and anger-driven girl that he had first beaten upon meeting her for the first time. Granted she still needed work, but at least her negative aspects were being channeled against the enemy rather than at him or Ruby.

As for Belladonna, he was a bit unsure of what to make of her. On one hand, her usefulness had increased, but he wondered if he had been hasty in giving her more trust. She had plenty of reasons to hate him and betray him, but given the fact that she was so casually killing her fellow Faunus as if they meant nothing to him, he was inclined to believe that she was loyal if only to prevent herself from suffering a worse fate.

The Master Chief ultimately cared little for why she was the way she was, only that it served a purpose for the mission and the team. Hostage or not, if she intended to remain, she would have to earn her keep.

Two more blue explosions sounded, followed by the destruction of two more turrets. The drone moved to deliver the final blow. However, it seemed that the flying UACVs had been spotted and a bullet struck the drone, hitting the one remaining grenade attached to it, causing the explosive to detonate and take the drone with it.

"Drone destroyed, say again, drone destroyed." Ruby relayed over the comms.

Xiao Long did not seem perturbed by that fact. "Good copy, moving to engage. 1-3 will stay back to provide cover fire."

The spartan had to commend the blonde for taking quick action. Although the flank she was going to perform was simple, the fact that she had made a choice and was quick to execute was more than enough for him.

He saw a few white masks moving closer to the island center. It looked like they had lost the element of surprise. Despite them being farther away, he still took shots at them, taking down what he could. Once his weapon was ready, he ejected the empty mag and slapped a fresh one into place.

Just in time to witness Xiao Long disable the final turret.

"Final turret destroyed, 1-2 and 1-3 moving up."

"Roger that, 1-1 oscar mike."

Halo - - - RWBY

0412 Hours

Ruby had a knack for long-range combat, but she didn't imagine doing it in the manner she was now. Before meeting the Master Chief, combat drones were a thing she had only heard about in passing. It didn't interest her much.

Now, she had to become an operator of one. Well, not so much an operator but an overseer. The drones had enough intelligence to be able to move and attack their own terms but were seeing what they were seeing through her camera feed. It had taken a little bit of work to make it happen, but she got there.

The sharpshooter couldn't help but feel that this was an even more disingenuous way to fight and kill. At least with her rifle, she felt more directly responsible for killing people. In that way, she couldn't shy away from the fact that she had taken a life. With a drone, it felt like she could almost see her targets as less than human, as racist as that sounded.

Despite her less-than-stellar control of the thing, the silver-eyed girl had managed to get six out of seven turrets. That wasn't too bad all things considered, but missing the final one made her a little angry. And Yang just had to go and steal her kill.

Fuck that bitch. Ruby let that thought to pass her momentarily. I'll make sure to pay her back.

Nothing too malicious, of course.

The former aspiring huntress recalled her drones and then got down to where her sniper rifle was nicely arranged. Those little party tricks they'd all busted out were now getting the attention of dudes from the inner sanctum. It was time to pop some heads.

Settling the weapon comfortably against her body, the silver-eyed girl carefully began to adjust her scope settings before settling into her perfect picture sight. Once her first two fundamentals were done, she began to carefully monitor her breathing.

In one.

Four seconds hold.

Out one.

Four seconds hold.

Her finger began to close around the trigger.

She began to mentally count the number of targets she could see.

In one breath.

Four seconds hold.

Out one breath.

Hold it.

She deftly pulled the trigger and she immediately popped two heads in a row, a spurt of blood coming from each one.

One breath one.

Hold four.

One breath out.

She pulled the trigger again. This time she caught one in the upper chest, one in the abdomen, and a third in the leg. They all collapsed immediately, their faces of agony signaling the effectiveness of the round.

Ruby settled herself into the grind of thinning out the heart. She wasn't at such extreme ranges that she had to start doing serious calculations to account for the curvature of Remnant or the wind. She wasn't even having to lead her shots all that much. It was a very simple point, aim, and shoot kind of deal.

Although she went through the motions effortlessly, a part of her mind began to wander, something that she had to keep under control. The moment she thought she could get away with a half-assed effort, she was going to get complacent and make a critical error.

The girl let out a frustrated growl as she made a shot clean through the forehead. "Do these guys not learn?"

Maybe they were better once they reached the inner sanctum. Who knew, but these guys were just lining up to die.

"And these are supposed to be the elite." Ruby scoffed at their resident Faunus's report. "Note to self: Belladonna can't be trusted with intel."

From the bottom of her scope, she could vaguely make out the faunus girl in question along with Yang. They were making steady progress as well. Their weapons were simply tearing apart ranks by the handfuls. It was so easy that it a child could do it.

The sniper ejected her empty mag and placed a new one in, then engaged the charging handle.

Round two.

The Master Chief's IFF signal was on the move, heading straight inside the base, right on schedule, despite the minor inconveniences faced so far.

Still, the sharpshooter felt kind of left out. "Overwatch is not exactly how I wanted to spend my time. It is what it is, I guess."

Ruby took a quick look around to see that no one else was about. Grabbing some camouflage material, she carefully concealed her weapon underneath, instead grabbing the nearby backpack packed with some very… explosive material.

"Wonder why Yang isn't doing this." The girl with silver eyes wasn't complaining, but it was strange. "She's more proficient in explosives, not me."

Then she looked down to see the SAW in her sister's firing at a cyclic rate. Did she even have enough ammo to just keep holding the trigger? It was effective as the continually piling bodies could attest to.

The recently-appointed spartan decided not to question it further. The Master Chief was their leader for a reason and the fact that he put her in charge of this job meant that he trusted her with explosives, she couldn't afford to make mistakes. All of their lives were possibly riding on her success or failure.

Ruby began to take off at a running pace, the weight on her back somewhat weighing her down. Then she accelerated by activating her aura. As good as it was to challenge herself the hard way, the faster she got this done, the faster this mission would get done and they'd be onto the next big mission, whatever that was.

Frankly speaking, the White Fang was old news at this point. As soon as they cut off the head, the rest would scatter to the wind, or at the very least be so disorganized that the kingdoms could mobilize their militaries and huntsmen and huntresses to finish off the remnants.

"Mom, we're doing good." She began to talk to the sky. "We're taking down bag guys… and we're making sure they stay down."

And she believed it.

RWBY - - - Halo

0422 Hours

The Master Chief had yet to teach his team the finer details of urban and building breaching. Certainly, he had taught them fundamentals when it came to clearing rooms, but that was just what they were: fundamentals. Hence, instead of sending them ill-equipped into a situation where they were likely to make mistakes, he would play to their strengths instead.

Trusting Ruby with explosives was unorthodox, but she absorbed knowledge and training fast. She knew how to do all the calculations and she was nothing if not a meticulous girl.

Xiao Long was more useful as a frontline distraction, drawing in bodies, which would thin out the herd so he could go in and secure the heiress. Belladonna being with the blonde was more for insurance. She was not a full member of the team, and her potential loss, while unfortunate, would not be missed.

The spartan had little trouble slipping in, active camouflage activated and using years of experience in silent movement to navigate the compound, MJOLNIR's systems scanning what he was seeing and converting that information into a 3D map for him.

From the look of things, it appeared the more skilled fighters of the White Fang were being stationed deeper in the sanctum in order to protect and move critical assets and VIPs. It made sense. They were likely sending out bodies because there was no reason for mass panic. After all, there were only four attackers, and they were only accounting for two visible ones and two that were out of sight and out of mind.

John stopped and hid himself in a corner as he saw a platoon-sized group in front of him. Once they passed, he waited, his ears picking up their words.

"How many attackers outside?!"

"Two, but they're cutting us down! It's gotta be a huntsman or a huntress team!"

"Fucking monsters!"

"Where's our reinforcements!?"

So Ruby had yet to be detected. That was good. If she kept a low profile and avoided detection, it would be too late for this place when it was ready to blow. It would be the kind of explosive nightmare that would give EOD techs a headache.

The Chief quietly resumed his infiltration, his senses remaining on constant alert for any traps that might be active. So far, there were none to be found, not by his him or by MJOLNIR. Luck be good, it would stay that way.

When he came upon a spiral staircase, his first dilemma began.

Go up or down?

There would be no signs or clear indicators as to where he should go, so he began to mull it over.

Normally, prisoners were kept in concealed places that were hard to find, i.e. basements or sublevels. However, that logic applied more so to prisoners or captured individuals that had some value, but were only temporary at best. But Weiss Schnee was not an ordinary prisoner; because of her political value, she had to be well kept after or at the very least physically unhurt so as to not anger the SDC or potentially Atlas itself.

There was something to be said about both sides and for once, he wished he had Kurt's instincts to be able to guide him in the right direction. He would certainly have an idea about how to do this.

"It's gotta be Atlas! They're here for their fucking princess!"

"It's disgusting. One girl means more to them than the entirety of the Faunus workforce! How selfish can one man get?"

"She'll get hers soon. All of them. Right now, I need you up in the guard towers to make sure there aren't any more attackers."

"Got it."

Instead of moving, he remained still, watching the two female faunus go by him, completely unaware that he was a mere meter from them before they split off, but never mind their presence. Their words sparked a memory.

"John, why are princesses always in towers?"

"Where is this conversation coming from, Daisy?"

"I mean, why is it that we girls have to be saved? Why not a prince in a tower?"

"I don't know. That question's never seemed relevant to us."

"But think about it. We're spartans, a better version of knights. So what happens if I go up a tower and there's a princess?"

"Like I said, I don't know and frankly, I don't need to know."

"C'mon, John, have a little imagination."

Daisy had always been a strange one, even amongst the spartans. She always asked strange questions that he never really understood. That had been one of them, and it made him think for all of a second.

"Princess." He muttered. "Tower."

Then the spartan's body moved to go up the spiraling stairs. It seemed that even from the grave, his sister was helping him find the answers.

He felt his spirit lift. "Thank you, Daisy."

And thank his luck too.

Clad in MJOLNIR, his body was able to fit in the spiral, but there was not much room for him to make any exaggerated moves. There was just enough space to maneuver his weapon. He would have to make it count when he encountered security.

The winding staircase ended, bringing a three-way. He paused to listen for any sounds that could help him. It took him a moment, but he could hear voices.

"Sounds like they're still fighting."

"Did they say how many attackers?"

"Two reported, but there's got to be more. We hold for now unless we get confirmation that the threat's coming this way."

Although he had to hide in the stairway, he could vaguely make out a door opening to a pathway. There were four guards, all armored and with firearms as well as melee weapons. Two were right against the sides of the door while the other two were lined up against the walls. Despite their chatter, they were paying attention for any signs of a threat. From their mannerisms and physicality, they were not average grunts.

The Master Chief heard an explosion, followed by another. Experience taught him to hear the distinct noises that every mine, every grenade, and every launcher made, even at a distance. There was no mistaking the series of detonations.

It was an M319 Grenade Launcher.

Xiao Long. That means either more reinforcements or better fighters. Spartan 117 made a mental note. Time to hurry this up.

He grabbed a plasma grenade in his left hand then darted into the room, throwing it and completely bypassing them, smashing his way through the door. They didn't even have time to process what had happened. He was already out on the pathway to another nearby tower, this was suspiciously isolated.

A whining detonation sounded behind him. He didn't even turn back to confirm the kills.

John wasn't one to complain about a lack of challenge, but for some reason, he couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed. "Even grunts put up more of a fight than this. No, even Insurrectionists were better than this."

Gunfire erupted and he felt a slight ping against his back. Turning around he raised his MA5C and put down a three-round bust. One of the four behind him had lived through the plasma grenade, but three rounds of 7.62 to the face made sure that he stayed dead. Once he was sure that there were no more enemies behind him, he ran across the remainder of the path to the isolated tower.

A metal door awaited him at the base, but nothing that a simple punch to the lock couldn't take care of. He could have accomplished this even without MJOLNIR. Although he proceeded, he felt himself scanning harder for any form of trap, but no matter how he looked at his surroundings, he saw nothing that could trip him up.

His boots hit a stone floor and he noticed another set of spiral stairs. He simply took off at breakneck speed. This was the final stretch. It took him all of a minute to rush the stairs before he came upon another door. Instead of a punch this time, he grabbed metal in his gauntlet and simply ripped the door off its hinges, then tossed it down the stairs.

There was no furniture at all. There were no decorations or any sort of loose items. There was nothing at all. There was not even a light in the room, but with his enhanced vision, the Master Chief could see. There was only one thing of note in this room.

A lone girl sitting against the wall. What was once a complete outfit was now in tatters with pieces of fabric every which way. Her skin was marred with bruises and dried blood dotted what skin was exposed from her face to her bare feet. Her snow-white hair was absolutely dirty, caked with dirt and debris flowing down her shoulders. Around her neck was a dimly-glowing collar.

Torture. No doubt that was what the spartan was seeing. But considering that she's being used as ransom rather than for intel, there's no need for T&I, which means they've been beating her because they can.

He had seen it many times with Insurrectionists. For some of the more extreme cells, there was no limit to the cruelty and violence that they were willing to stoop to in order to achieve their goals. If they had to beat people within an inch of their life, decapitate a person and show their propaganda to the world, they would. No doubt leadership here was likely reigning in the more bloodthirsty individuals here so that they did not cross a line that would have Atlas on their asses.

John turned on his helmet's lights so that he get a more clear view of the damage done to her. Her response was to shield her eyes from the sudden light. This was a momentary reflex before she showed her face once again.

"S-stay back!" The girl adopted a fierce look, her eyes fierce.

Light blue eyes. Pale skin. A single scar across her left eye. He had committed her face to memory before they had begun this mission.

This was definitely Weiss Schnee.

He had to approach this carefully. "It's okay. I'm not with the White Fang. I'm here to rescue you."

"Why should I believe you?" The heiress rebuffed him immediately.

The Master Chief didn't miss a beat. "If I were a part of the White Fang, why would I break down the door as opposed to simply unlocking it?"

"...the White Fang is made of Faunus. You beasts likely would resort to such barbarism if you had to." Schnee's biting tone was still in full force.

But her weakened state didn't make her threatening in the least.

More importantly, time wasted trying to convince her was more time for the enemy to potentially make a move that would be problematic to deal with.

So he decided on another approach.

The spartan placed his weapon on his back, then unsealed his helmet, the hiss of air accompanying the atmosphere, then he removed the headgear. He momentarily noted the smell of the atmosphere, then he ignored it. He placed his helmet with its flashlights still on so that she could see his features.

"I am not part of the White Fang and I am not a Faunus." John made sure that he left no room for argument. "You are Weiss Schnee, correct? I have come to rescue you."

Her features softened as she regarded him. "...who sent you? My father?"

"No, my team and I are here by our own choice." He contained to maintain authority. "I will answer all your questions later. For now, come with me. I can get you to safety and treat your wounds."

For a moment, the Atlas native stared at him, deciding whether or not to go. Her skepticism was understandable.

Then Schnee sighed. "I suppose I have no choice."

She tried to stand, but when she did, she collapsed to one knee, her face gritting in pain. She wasn't going to be fast on her own.

The Master Chief grabbed his helmet, placed it back on his head, then quickly grabbed the girl in his arms and took off running.

She gasped, but she didn't offer further resistance.

Halo - - - RWBY

0431 Hours

Weiss felt her body screaming. She had been trying to endure for Brothers knew how long. The White Fang certainly loved to take their sweet time delivering physical punishment to her. At this point, she would take whatever she could to get away from this place.

Once they were outside, she took note of the night sky that showed stars. She had never seen a night sky so clear.

Her eyes shifted upward to witness her savoir. The visor that now hid his face was very menacing-looking indeed. She believed that even though his face was concealed from her own, his features were likely as even as they were when she saw his face.

Despite not being able to see all the details of his armor, she could make out enough to confirm one thing: he was not from Atlas. That meant he was not working for her father or for the Atlesian military.

A part of her felt grossly useless for being carried like this. She was not some princess to be carried like a damsel in distress. If not for this infernal aura repressor collar around her neck, she could use her aura to heal her wounds and maybe even fight back. Now, even the simplest movements hurt her.

But Weiss would not show such weakness. For now, she would place her trust in the man who had come to save her.

"One-two, this is Alpha lead, what is your status?"

Was he speaking over a radio?

The sound of gunfire in the distance had her looking around and a few explosions, but she couldn't see anything but rocky terrain.

"Understood. 1-2 and 1-3, pull back to Phase Line Smirnoff. We're about to blow this place. Prioritization code: Victor 05-3-Sierra 0117."

She turned back to stare into his visor. There were others here too?

He did mention a team. Weiss reminded herself. How many are there?

And was that last part?

Then she heard what sounded like an airship. It sounded distant for all of a few seconds and then it was right in her face. She felt the rush of heat, a byproduct of the afterburners expelling heat.

And just like with the armored giant, his aircraft was definitely unusual. It wasn't even an airship. This thing seemed much more streamlined and much more dangerous-looking. The bird positioned itself about a meter off from where they were standing, a ramp opening to the rear.

"Hold on." The man's deep voice commanded her.

Her eyes took a moment to scan for anything on his armor to grab onto, but none of it looked feasible, so she wrapped her arms around his neck.

He leaped into the air and his feet came to touch the insides of the aircraft before it began to take off, its engines sounding loudly.

Whoever these people are, they're definitely not from Atlas.

Team RWBY is here and things are about to get really interesting from here on out.

Weiss's overall characterization is going to be a challenge for me. Her dynamic with the Chief and the rest of the team is going to be much different from canon, as I've clearly established with the rest of the girls, but unlike Blake who's more than fucked up in the head, our resident princess is more on the level-headed side.

...just a stray thought, but is this akin to a really warped version of a harem?

Thoughts on this chapter? Feedback is always appreciated.

Also, I've got a new batch of story ideas and I want to gauge interest in them. One of them involves the Master Chief as well, so if you're loving the idea of more Master Chief in my library, go check it out. The idea's really far out, but even since I started thinking about it, it just won't go away. For more info, check out my profile page for the summaries and you can vote for them. The poll is up on my profile too.

Thanks for reading.

"The power to question is the basis of all human progress."

Indira Gandhi