CHAPTER 26: OPERATION SPARTAN GROWTH
0453 Hours, November 15, 2557 (Military Calendar) / Unknown System, Planet Remnant, Continent of Anima
Although the Master Chief was not a pilot according to his title, his training as a Spartan-II demanded that he be proficient in many tasks. That included vehicle operation and maintenance. He would never claim to be as good of a pilot as someone whose specific job it was to fly, but he was competent enough.
After securing Weiss Schnee to the already set up litter in the main holding area and making sure she had no life-threatening injuries, he then deactivated autopilot and began to pilot the aircraft to pick up his team. He did well to keep the bird steady so as to minimize any movements that could aggravate the injuries sustained by his rescuee.
While none of the heiress's injuries were critical, the last thing he wanted to do was become careless and unintentionally make her condition worse. She would need at least two weeks of recovery, maybe one once she recovered her aura. There was also the fact that in order to ensure that the White Fang lost sight of their prized hostage, they would have to remain hidden from view for a time before she could be returned to Atlas.
The spartan's eyes maintained vigil of his front while also simultaneously tracking the sensors and equipment feed from the cockpit. Despite the numbers that faced them, Xiao Long and Belladonna seemed to be still alive and cutting down hostiles. Hopefully, Ruby had been able to place the charges.
Plus, the sun was just barely beginning to appear over the horizon. Not all Faunus had night vision, but soon it would not matter either way. They needed to hurry because who knew who else was potentially watching this place besides the terrorists?
John did a quick weapons check. He would need all of them in a minute and a final once-over was good. All systems were a go. If his time spent on the ground with small arms and hand-helds had shown him anything, weapon systems meant for vehicles were likely to rip these White Fang to shreds, aura or not.
"This is Alpha lead to Alpha team, Snow Woman is secure." The Master Chief sounded off over the team comms channel. "I say again, Snow Woman is secure. Pelican is en route for exfiltration. Statuses?"
He waited one second.
First came Xiao Long's voice. "1-1, this is 1-3. These fuckers just keep coming. Damn, that one was close! Cover fire three o'clock, cat! Sending coordinates now!"
He heard another explosion followed by weapons fire before it cut out. His HUD immediately began to display an exact eight-digit grid. Good, he would be there in less than three minutes.
Next up.
"1-2, this is 1-1, position report." Spartan 117 keyed into his newest sister. "How to copy?"
One second passed by.
Then two.
Three.
Four seconds.
Five.
It wasn't long before ten passed and the superhuman tried again. "Alpha 1-2, this is Alpha lead, radio check, over?"
Another few seconds passed, then some static.
"Alpha lead, this is 1-2, I've got eyes on White Fang High Leader Sienna Khan. I'm in position and I have a clear shot." Ruby sounded dialed in. "Permisison to terminate?"
He still did not have any positional data from the recently appointed female spartan, so he did not know where she was reporting from. It seemed highly unlikely that the High Leader of the White Fang would come out into the open like this. However, his mind quickly considered the pros and cons.
Their main objective had been secured and the White Fang was no doubt going to scramble all manpower and resources to recapture the SDC heiress. While they could make a swift exit out, a major distraction at this time might actually do them some good.
"Alpha 1-1, do you have a clear exfil route, over?"
"Roger that, Alpha lead."
Seconds made a difference.
"1-1, how long until charges detonate."
"Alpha lead, charges are at T-minus two minutes."
Really close for comfort.
But no operation was without some risk.
"Alpha, 1-1, take the shot."
"A-firm."
Halo - - - RWBY
0458 Hours
Ruby snapped off her comm. She took a deep breath in, her eye trained on the scope of her sniper rifle. Her target was in the center of her crosshair. She quietly exhaled, curled her finger around the trigger, then slowly depressed it.
From the corner of the scope, a bodyguard quickly shoved Khan to the side and then had a hole blown through his head.
"Fuck!" Ruby cursed audibly, her cover blown.
Four guards formed a defensive perimeter. "PROTECT THE HIGH LEADER!"
With practiced movements, she grabbed her weapon and then activated her semblance to quickly cross the distance between herself and her target. She hadn't been that far, to begin with, not even 50 meters away. How had she missed that shot?
Or had she somehow given herself away and she didn't know?
Didn't matter, she would finish this one way or another.
Ruby crossed the distance as fast as she could, her senses now hyper-aware. A grenade was tossed in her direction. She stopped using her semblance and transferred her aura into her legs to jump high and avoid the explosion, then as she reached a peak in midair, she reactivated her semblance to rush forward.
She used the meaty part of her weapon to block a knife strike aimed for her head, then dropped and rolled to avoid another midsection slash, hopped back to her feet and delivered two kicks to one guard, then trained her barrel at Khan.
Two bodies threw themselves in front of their leader.
It would be a good tactic against normal Remnant weaponry, but what she had in her hand was anything but normal to this world.
She pulled the trigger twice.
This time, nobody was fast enough to dodge. The two bodyguards were dispatched with shots clean through their torsos and the first shot also made its way into the White Fang High Leader, landing in her upper chest.
Ruby then rolled to her left side to get, at the same time lining up her sniper at the two remaining guards. By sheer luck, they were aligned just right so that she could pull the trigger and watch her shot go through the first one through the lower abdomen and then through the shoulder of the second, causing both to collapse instantly.
In less than ten seconds, she had laid waste to five enemies, one a valuable target. Not bad if she said so herself.
There were just a few things to gather for definitive evidence of the kill.
Video and image evidence of the dead body.
A little bit of blood for DNA testing.
And the whip that the female faunus carried as a weapon.
Just as she stepped over the dead female, gold eyes opened, took one look up, and glared defiantly.
"Human scum." Khan coughed blood up. "It seems your true colors are revealed."
Ruby didn't have time to waste on this, so she grabbed her knife and stabbed clean through the throat, then waited until the gurgling stopped.
"1-2 to 1-1. Sienna Khan is dead." The silver-eyed warrior touched a hand to the side of her helmet. "You read?"
"Alpha lead to 1-2, I read you, Lima Charlie. Position report, time now."
The sharpshooter complied. "Sending."
She waited a moment.
"Alpha 1-2, proceed to designated LZ. You have one minute."
One glance at her map and she could see she would be crossing a distance she couldn't possibly cover without her semblance.
"Roger that, on the move, 1-2 out."
The silver-eyed girl finished collecting her evidence, then took a quick look at her timer for her set charges
1:29.
Ruby took a breath in, psyched herself up, then launched into her semblance once make, knocking down a few more soon-to-be-dead terrorists along the way.
RWBY - - - Halo
0500 Hours
Yang was enjoying herself. Actually, enjoyment felt like a weak way to describe what she was feeling right now. She was killing people in the dozens and she wasn't even batting an eyelash. Whatever was coursing through her body and whatever thoughts were going through her brain, it was more than simply pleasure.
But who cared about that shit? She was offing dudes and dudettes and best of all, she wouldn't ever get punished for it. The only thing that would stop her was once their ride came along to pick her and little kitty Kat up, leaving Ruby's little explosive circus to take care of the rest of this Gods-forsaken island.
She had long since run out of SAW ammo and she was now using her grenade launcher strategically to take out foes. A few had gotten through to meet her in CQC, but a few good smacks to the head with the butt stock of her weapon took them out quite nicely.
The brawler fired again, this time her shot detonating around a pile of grenades dropped by one of the other dead White Fang, triggering a chain. This prompted the grenadier to take cover, despite her aura and the armor she was wearing.
"WOOOOO!" Yang popped up to take aim again. "FUCK YEAH! TASTE BLOOD, BITCHES!"
And apparently, the thrill and adrenaline made her very loose with her choice of description of her foes, not that it would matter because they'd all be dead soon. They wouldn't be able to cry to Mama and Papa.
Belladonna was far more conservative with her silenced SMG, but she was no less effective. She burst-fired with precision, making every single bullet count. For those that got too close, she still had her little sword to cut off limbs and slit throats. Her face was filled with anger for some reason, unlike the unsettling grin that adorned the brawler's face.
A grenade fell at Yang's feet, which she promptly snatched into her right hand and tossed the explosive back, it barely hit the ground before detonating around three faunus dudes, no doubt shearing chunks of flesh from their bodies. She quickly followed up with another round from her grenade launcher.
The blonde quickly felt for another round. Three left.
"Fuck!" She loaded a round, then keyed into her radio "Alpha team, this is Alpha 1-3, we're running low on ammo. What's the status of that pickup, over?"
"Alpha 1-3, Pelican inbound in fifteen seconds. Be advised, you might want to go prone for the next ten seconds."
But even before that, a red laser lanced from the west to instantly incinerate a hole in the ground as well as completely burn off some limbs of dudes that were unfortunate enough to be in the path. This was followed by a barrage of machine gun fun that absolutely tore through anyone stupid enough to be standing or otherwise big enough to present a target.
Yang grabbed Belladonna by the collar and threw them both down so that they were flat on the ground, covering their heads in the process. The roar of a familiar aircraft engine sounded over them as the terrorists were in complete disarray.
"Alpha 1-2, this is Alpha lead, we're at the LZ. What's your status, over?"
"..."
"Rubes, where the fuck you at?" The brawler grabbed the ninja. "C'mon, kitty kat. Let's blow this place!"
With the LZ clear for a few seconds, the two of them swiftly jumped onto the lowered platform from the rear, and then the Pelican began to take off. As they did this, the sound of an explosion had both of them turning around to see a plume of smoke coming from the entrance.
Followed by a spiral trail of rose petals.
Yang knew who it was instantly. "GET THE FUCK OVER OVER HERE! WE'RE ABOUT TO LEAVE YOUR ASS BEHIND!"
The head of the spiral shifted direction and headed straight for the aircraft. Moments before impact, the petals turned into Ruby, who collapsed into both her sister and their faunus hostage. All three girls collapsed in a heap right next to their recently rescued princess.
"ON BOARD, CHIEF!" The girl with silver eyes lifted her head up to scream to the cockpit. "MELTING DOWN! MELTING DOWN!"
Whether it was over the comms or because he actually heard her voice, the Master Chief began to pilot the aircraft forward, causing the scene of the White Fang's main HQ to get smaller.
"We got her." Ruby got up, noting the litter just a meter away from them, and then took a seat on the nearby bench. "Outstanding."
Yang took a seat opposite her sister. "What were you doin'? That didn't look like part of the plan."
"Saw Sienna Khan." The sharpshooter shrugged. "Seemed like a good opportunity. Two birds, one stone."
Belladonna took an interest in that. "Did you kill her?"
"Oh yeah." The girl with reddish hair patted one of her pouches. "Got the goods to prove it too."
"Alpha team, L.A.C.E. report." The giant armored man said.
Everyone did a quick check of their consumables, their ammo count, their injuries, and their equipment.
"Orange on liquids, red on ammo, green on casualties, green on equipment." Ruby sent up the report for the whole team.
"Understood."
The sisters removed their helmets to get some fresh hair.
Then the youngest looked out at the scene of the disappearing island. "It's almost time."
"For what?" Yang asked.
The female spartan simply held a hand up with four fingers.
Three.
Two.
One.
Zero.
A massive explosion came into view, then came the sound of it. With such a massive target, the amount of material they needed was massive, and the distance they needed to achieve Minimum Safe Distance was even greater.
Still, it got the blonde's blood pumping. "Hell, yeah! This day's startin' off on the right foot!"
"What about her?" Belladonna then switched subjects. "Schnee, I mean."
The girl in question was neatly secured to the litter. She appeared to be unconscious. Ruby got up and began a basic medical assessment. She was no combat medic, but there were some things she could do in the meantime.
The sniper reached into her Individual First Aid Kit, taking note of the most serious injuries. Nothing looked broken, but there was a little bit of bleeding that needed to be tied up first. Grabbing some gauze, she began to carefully and gently wipe away whatever dirt and grime she could potentially agitate any injuries.
"And they call us the aggressors." Yang decided to join her, lilac eyes scanning over the form of the heiress. "We got to get this dress off her. Thing's nasty."
Getting out a pair of scissors from her own medical pouch, the blonde began to carefully snip off sections of Schnee's outfit to be able to potentially find any other injuries. The huress's body was littered with bruises and dried blood was prevalent, but it looked like there was no active bleeding present, one less thing to worry about.
As beat up as the girl was, they might not need any serious medical procedures to get her back on her feet.
Belladonna was content to sit close by and observe, a decision that didn't go unnoticed by the half-sisters, who didn't judge the decision, but they still wished that she would at least make the effort to help.
Oh, well, can't win 'em all.
Halo - - - RWBY
0800 Hours, November 18, 2557 (Military Calendar) / Unknown System, Planet Remnant, Continent of Sanas
Weiss felt her eyes open. She felt herself coming to her senses. The first thing she noted was that instead of a hard wall against her back, she felt softness and warmth all around her. Her eyes noted the wood ceiling above her. The smell was clean and of the wilderness, unlike the manufactured atmosphere of Atlas.
The next thing she noted was how quiet it was. There was no hustle and bustle about her. The City of Atlas was known to be filled with people, even in the upper levels of society, there was never a lack of people. Here, not a voice could be heard. The most she could hear was a small fire and her own breathing.
The heiress then took note of how her body felt. She curled her toes and clenched her firsts, noting that while there was some pain and soreness, it wasn't to the extent that she had been feeling for the past several days. Those brutish White Fang had certainly taken some inhuman pleasure in her own injuries.
When she moved her limb, she realized she wasn't restrained. This was just a bed; although not nearly as luxurious or comfortable as the one she had back at the Schnee family manor, it felt like heaven to her considering her recent sleeping arrangements. Even something as pedestrian as this was comfortable.
After relaxing for a moment longer, Weiss began to see if her aura and semblance were still active. To her pleasure and relief, both were within her reach, but in light of where she was, she opted not to do any further testing. Someone was gracious enough to house her and allow her to heal and rest; it was best that she be polite and not do anything to get herself thrown out. She had no idea where she was.
A slight noise of metal on metal had her eyes focusing to her right. She could make out a roughly human form, but from where she was lying, it was hard to see all the details, so she gently rose to sit up, wincing slightly in pain. Once she took a moment to get accustomed to her new position, she took a good look at him.
The man was covered from head to toe in green armor. The armor clearly showed signs of usage with many dents, scratches, and faded paint, but it did not appear any less intimidating, especially considering the height of the user. He appeared to be working on what looked like a disassembled weapon with various parts of it neatly arranged on a wooden table. Various brushes and cleaning supplies were also plain to see as well and the giant was currently scrubbing a part with much diligence.
She was vaguely her rescuer, but to see him in detail for the first time was different.
"Where… am I?" Weiss asked her question and noted a slight hoarseness in her voice.
The man didn't stop working, but he responded to her. "The village of Watertown, located about ten kilometers outside the protection of the Kingdom of Vale."
"I see." The heiress processed the information. "And the White Fang?"
He put down the wire brush to inspect the part in his hand from a different angle. "Crippled. With the death of their high leader, they're effectively headless. The proper authorities have been alerted to their remaining strongholds and hideouts hidden across Remnant as well as all activities. Their days are numbered."
"A well-deserved fate." Weiss felt pleased with the future prospects of her captors. "Their kind bring nothing but chaos."
The armored man put down the part in his hand and then grabbed another. "I have a question for you: what was the intent of the White Fang kidnapping you?"
"What else?" The white-haired girl huffed as if the answer was obvious. "We've been at war with them for as long as I can remember. They were likely going to use me as ransom or to make an example out of me."
The last one, in particular, scared her, but her pride would not allow anyone to see her fear.
The giant finished cleaning his weapon and reassembled it faster than anyone she had ever seen, functions checked it, then leaned it against a nearby chair. "Understood."
Then he removed a pistol from his side and began to disassemble that weapon in order to clean it.
But more importantly than that, Weiss had her own question. "Wait. What is your name? I would know the name of the one who freed me from those monsters."
He stopped as he opened the door, not even sparing a sideways glance at her.
"Call me Master Chief." He said quietly, but firmly. "My team and I will be ensuring that you are safe and hidden until the threat has abated."
She really did not like the idea of being treated like a princess. That was how the entirety of Atlas saw her. The idea that she was female and therefore helpless without her father or her family left a bad taste in her mouth. Still, the way he said it told her that he was taking actions that were logical to him as opposed to personally offending her.
For now, she would let it be.
The Schnee girl thought of something else. "How long will I be here?"
"As long as you need to heal and recuperate. We are also ensuring that you cannot be found easily." The man further elaborated on his prior words. "While the White Fang are no doubt crippled, their zealous crusade against Mankind should not be underestimated. You will remain with my team indefinitely."
That made sense to her. No doubt her older sister would be worried sick looking for her, but given everything she had been through and the circumstances leading up to where she was now, she could have easily been killed by her newest host, yet she gave her medical care, allowed her rest, and did not restrain her like an animal.
Perhaps her standards were lowered, but she felt safe trusting him.
"Do you require anything at this time?" The Master Chief finally stopped what he was doing to look at her. "Food, water, clothing?"
Normally, she would have rebuffed him out of a need to not appear needy or desperate, but her stomach was empty, her throat was dry, and her sense of propriety was all but gone at this point. He had seen her in a worse state.
What was there to hide at this point?
"I am thirsty… and a little hungry," Weiss admitted quietly.
The armored giant nodded and then he tapped a hand to his side. She recognized the gesture as him no doubt communicating with someone via an internal radio in his helmet, likely to request what she asked for, but she couldn't hear his voice.
A filter?
Useful.
Once he was done with that, his golden visor turned to her. "They will be here in another ten minutes."
So they waited for that long. While he attended to his business, the only thing she could do was preen her hair, check herself for anything that seemed out of place or unusual, and then look around the simply decorated room in a somewhat awkward fashion.
Although small talk was something that was never her forte, especially when she suspected people using it with her, she could not help but feel like she had to say anything to break what she felt was an awkward atmosphere. Her feelings appear to be one-sided as her savior merely tended to his weapons.
Then Weiss got an idea. "The Schnee Dust Company will gladly pay you for saving my life. I'll make sure of that."
"I did not do this for compensation." The Master Chief ceased moving, but instead of looking at her, he merely stared at the table he was next to. "Your kidnapping was a direct consequence of my team's campaign against the White Fang. Rescuing you was simply righting a wrong."
The fact that he had blatantly turned down the lien was surprising, but what caught her attention, even more, was the reasoning behind her rescue. He had admitted to wrongdoing so easily and he made no excuses either.
It was so unlike the pompous and arrogant nature of the upper class of Atlas. Nobody who could consider themselves in the one percent of the kingdom would ever admit to wrongdoing, even if it was clear for all to see. Such an action would be admitting to weakness and anyone who would be weak would be picked apart in private.
Weiss was no stranger to doing this herself, but one look at her savior and she had a feeling that any such words would be ignored by him.
…not that she wanted to test him either.
RWBY - - - Halo
2000 Hours
"How long do y'all think we're gonna hunker down?" Yang propped both her legs on the table. "Hopefully not too long or I'm seriously gonna kill someone."
Ruby gave her sister a look. "You're really bloodthirsty, kid. I'm thinking you should probably go see a professional before you use killing as a first resort."
"Uh, in case you didn't notice, we're professional killers." The blonde gave an annoyed look. "Fuck that professional. How the fuck would they even be able to understand what I've seen and done? They wouldn't, so fuck 'em."
Blake shook her head. "You're not special, Xiao Long. You're just one killer among many. You just happen to have a lot of bodies to your name."
"Yeah, probably." The brawler cracked her knuckles. "I'm probably up there with the top serial killers, you think?"
The door to the shared room opened and in came the Master Chief, who looked at all of them, and lastly at the heavy weapons specialist. "I have something for you."
"That's my number, bitches." Yang rose to her feet, stretching out a bit. "Don't start a massacre without me, yeah?"
The blonde girl followed her leader into his room. He took only a moment before he produced something that she only saw one other person wear.
It was the patch that Ruby sported on her left arm.
"Is that…" The brawler felt realization dawn on her.
The armored man extended his hand out to offer her the patch. "You've proven yourself capable and resilient. Your violence of action and overall aggression has done you good in combat. It's time that you earn some recognition for everything you've done."
It was the closest thing to a compliment she had ever gotten from him and it felt weird, but it also meant that he trusted her. As simple as it was, it felt oddly satisfying in a way that she couldn't place.
Yang gingerly grabbed the patch from his gauntlets. "I just kill people, Chief. That's not exactly anything worth praising."
"How do you think the majority of the world enjoys peace and the freedom to choose? Because a few are willing and able to kill for them." He firmly grasped her shoulder with his free hand. "Whether we like it or not, our job is necessary, even if the general populace doesn't understand what we do."
She could agree with that. What did the average person on the street know about the killing, what it meant to take a life, that they could keep their hands clean and be good when someone else had to be a monster?
Like her.
The Master Chief stepped back. "Remember, earning that patch isn't the end. You'll have to constantly prove that you're worthy of continuing to wear it, just like Ruby does."
"I hear you, MC." Yang nodded. "I got y'all's backs."
And she meant that.
For better or worse, she was here to stay with this team.
Halo - - - RWBY
2200 Hours, November 19, 2557 (Military Calendar) / Unknown System, Planet Remnant, Kingdom of Vale
"Who could've killed Taurus?" Emerald looked serious for once. "He might not've been able to beat you, but he wasn't a pushover."
Cinder tilted her head, resting it in her hand. "Who knows? There's scarcely any information about who's been conducting these attacks on the White Fang. Whoever they are, they certainly know how to make a statement."
As news reports and law enforcement were saying, the aftermath of attacks against the Faunus terrorist group as of late were extremely gruesome.
"I'd fight 'em." Mercury continued to be chill as always. "They've gotta at least be halfway decent if they can off the head honcho in Vale."
Emerald rolled her eyes. "Of course, that's all you'd think about."
"C'mon, it's been a while since I've had a good challenge and I don't see either of you volunteering." Mercury leaned back in his chair. "Besides, ain't we gonna have to catch this dude or dudette? What's to say we won't be next."
The girl with green hair looked at her leader. "What do we do?"
"...we're short on manpower without the White Fang and there aren't enough thugs in Vale's underworld to make up for our loss," Cinder spoke out loud, her mind deep in consideration. "We'll need to replace our losses."
"How?" Mercury asked. "It's not like we can ask the White Fang killers to help us."
The raven-haired woman regarded the assassin with a thoughtful look. "Perhaps we can. These assailants do have my interest."
"What do you mean, ma'am?" Emerald didn't really get it.
Cinder placed her hands behind her back. "Think about it: from what we know, whoever's responsible for these attacks is small in numbers and clearly they have no qualms about killing if the massacres of late are any indication. You both saw the videos despite their less than high quality."
"I did." Mercury raised his hand. "That's not just the work of a killer: that's the work of a killer who knows how to kill in every way possible."
The boss of the trio grinned. "And maybe just the kind of people I need."
"Okay, so assume we can even find these people." Emerald stood up to look at the nearby map on the wall. "What are we gonna offer them?"
Cinder shrugged. "That I won't know until we obtain more information and if that fails, we'll just have to track their recent trail and make it up as we go."
"Are we gonna make the time hack?" Mercury let all four legs of his chair plant on the ground. "Between our cover at Haven and attending the Vytal Festival."
Ember eyes burned brightly. "You let me worry about Lionheart. I'll be sure to convince him to make up a suitable excuse should we need one. In the meantime, you two have a trail to follow. Report back once you've found our potential recruits."
"Got it," Emerald replied.
Mercury got up. "Can do."
Cinder watched her two servants leave, then reached for her scroll to begin making some calls.
With all of Team RWBY now together, it's time to begin the bigger plot. If you think about it, the same story beats are being done in canon. Four girls come together, become a team, and kick ass. Only this time, instead of a bunch of bratty, immature, emotional, and naive girls, it's now going to be a bunch of mentally-fucked, bloodthirsty, broody, and jaded girls, barely a difference.
A few of you have pointed out that you find the amount of swearing to be excessive. I understand where you're coming from and to be honest, I find it annoying to a certain extent, but I'm not joking when I say this: a lot of my character work is largely based on people I know in real life. So when you see Yang swearing a lot, I'm not just making that up. I knew someone who seemed to curse every other word.
In regards to Cinder and her posse, they're going to have a somewhat of a presence. For the sake of not potentially spoiling details, that's all I'll say on the matter.
Thoughts on this chapter? Reviews and feedback are greatly appreciated.
If any of you are interested in future stories, I've got a batch of summaries up on my profile page. Look at them and vote if you're interested in any of them.
Also, I've recently been rewatching Power Rangers SPD and an idea for a story came to mind. For more details on that, there's a section on my profile page that details what's going on with that.
As always, thanks for reading.
"Only the dead have seen the end of war."
George Santayana