"There was only one planet."
"One Planet? Are you sure?"
"Yes, they call it, Remnant."
Epilogue: Pillar of Autumn.
19th September 2552
20 Days after the fall of Reach.
Through valiant efforts by the men and women of the United Nations Space Command to drive the religious conglomerate of various alien species, known as The Covenant off of this military world, sadly ended in defeat at the hands of their enemy.
The halcyon class cruiser, UNSC Pillar of Autumn was forced to make a random slip space jump in order to protect the location of Earth as well as a highly advanced smart AI from their clutches.
A small covenant fleet, known as the Fleet of Particular Justice pursued the lone ship, both to neutralise the Autumn and its crew, and retrieve this AI and the wealth of knowledge it may contain.
Though one ship, the leading ship, made a different discovery en route... one that, had it not been discovered, may have altered the course of the war for the worse.
"We've decelerated out of slipspace early, why?"
Silence filled the control room until one of his crew peeled his attention from the terminal before him.
"The Seeker of Truth sustained light damage from the fleeing human vessel before it fled, though just enough that it was able to cause our engines to falter."
"And what of the rest of the fleet of Particular Justice?"
"Still within slipspace most likely, we've tried hailing them, yet they do not respond."
"Very well, send a team of engineers to make the necessary repairs."
"They have already been dispatched." Another crew member answered with brevity fitting of his rank, returning to his work.
"Excellent. Keep hailing the fleet in the meantime. Once we re-establish communications with them, notify me the moment that you do."
"It will be done, supreme commander." The first crew member nodded in acknowledgement.
"We cannot allow that vessel to escape us."
He clicked his mandibles in annoyance. Though he knew the ship commanders on board their respective cruisers were very capable to lead an assault on their enemy, he would rather be there to see it through.
They could potentially be returning to yet another human occupied planet, maybe even their home, though they were not this foolish.
The many worlds that had been cleansed by his hand, the number of lives brought to an end through his blade, as a leader, Thel Vadumee felt pride in his victories, both personal and those among whom served under him. The hierarchs regarded him as one of their most important in leading the attack on those who would defile the gods and their followers.
The tactician and warrior in him had a, though very slight, sense of remorse for the humans.
He knew of the potential they displayed in becoming members of the covenant, yet the hierarchs deemed them a filth that needed to be cleansed from the galaxy.
Even so, they showed great tenacity and resolve in the face of war, they could hold their own with planning and tactics, despite being inferior compared to the covenant's superior technology, vast fleets and dedicated faith.
He'd be a fool to not admit that when his time came to walk the great journey, if he ever met the one they called Cole, he would congratulate this human for such a prodigious feat, a total fleet, five hundred strong destroyed that day by the brilliance of one human's cunning plan.
That was probably one of the reasons why he chose to serve in battle beside his brethren, rather than sit idle and order them from the sanctity of the Seeker of Truth; he did not know if half of his brothers would be standing alongside him had he not been with them.
But with such praise given to his enemies, he knew well enough that such a victory on that scale could not compare to countless conflicts that ended in failure, overshadowing that single battle.
No, what Thel could feel for these humans was pity, even more when he took the role of supreme commander, one such confrontation he remembered so vividly, Camber, is what they called it. Their defence hubs were so ill prepared when he arrived, it seemed too cruel and without honour to merely slaughter them, so he allowed them to arm themselves, least die with some chance of fighting back.
"Supreme commander. We're picking up an energy source on one of the nearby planets."
Another one of his crewmates pulled him from his thoughts.
"Any patterns indicating it as human activity?" He asked with intrigue.
"Negative. Ship reading's show it as an unknown signature."
"Interesting. Send out a Jackal scouting party to investigate its surface, we'll remain positioned here until contact with the fleet has been re-established."
"By your will, supreme commander."
In another section of the Seeker of Truth, word had already been given to a small squad of Jackals to assemble for departure. The last of the phantoms to dock with the Seeker of Truth barely had time to drop off its supplies before being called back so the fleet could begin to follow what remained of the humans and their last hope of escape. Making it the ideal vehicle to deploy for the planet's surface.
Talks amongst the lesser species as well as small handfuls of the elite minors were either on the nature of the planet they could see, or of their continuation to follow with the rest of the fleet in the pursuit of the human vessel.
Several arduous minutes of travel had elapsed before the telltale signs of re-entry could be detected by the Covenant transporter's systems.
It was almost unnatural to one or two of the Jackals once the phantom began to jolt and shake slightly upon entering the planet's upper atmosphere and the gravity of the planet could be felt, the pilot already focusing on the landscape below, seeking an ideal place to set down the ship.
Meanwhile, on the planet's surface.
A lone bullhead soared over the lush forest, its occupants consisting of the two pilots operating the craft and four huntresses in training going over their duties of the assigned mission.
"So do we understand the plan?" Ruby asked her teammates once she had given Crescent Rose one final check to see everything was working properly.
"Yes." Blake answered with a nod.
"Of course." Weiss in equal fashion.
Yang was quiet for a second, staring out of the bullhead at the sky above them, before blinking and looking at the three.
"Can you run it by me just one more time?"
Ruby gave her sister a quizzical look before answering.
"Okay, but this is the last time. Once the pilots have dropped us off, we'll begin our mission by searching the Emerald forest for any large Grimm hoards and dispose of them before moving further in.
Once we reach the heart of the forest, we then will be collecting water as well as flower samples for professor Peach and her research team.
Our pilot as well as Beacon will be in constant contact with us if things go awry."
"You really need to pay attention Yang, there may come a time where we might only have one chance to formulate a plan before putting it into action." Weiss chastised her taller teammate, knowing very well Yang was a great and capable fighter, she just wished sometimes her attention span could reflect that.
"Sorry guys, I guess I was distracted." Yang admitted whilst scratching the back of her head.
"What could possibly be distracting you during this flight?" Weiss became somewhat more aggravated based on her previous assumption.
"Well, I thought I saw fireworks in the distance."
"Fireworks… in the middle of the day? Why would you think anyone would be that foolish to set off fireworks-"
"Actually, it was more like a single firework." Yang corrected her hesitantly.
"Whatever, could we please focus on the mission." Weiss huffed aloud.
"Someone isn't in the best of moods." Blake chimed in with one eyebrow raised towards her white haired teammate.
"Sorry, I just want this mission to be done with." Weiss sighed in exhaustion as she looked down at Myrtenaster, staring blankly at the loaded chambers of the weapon before looking back up.
"Awe Weiss, I thought you'd love such a simple and easy mission, especially if it's for professor Peach." Yang teased.
"That's exactly the point, it's such a simple mission. Yes we're going to be dealing with Grimm along the way, but- I don't know it feels like such a mundane mission.
Could we maybe get a little more excite- "
"Alright you four, we're here. Best get ready to disembark." The pilot's voice came over the radio as well as the intercom within the bullhead.
"Don't worry Weiss, it'll be a good mission, I promise." Ruby assured the girl beside her, smiling while resting a hand on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze before standing up and walking over to the edge of the ship.
As the four leapt off the bullhead from either side, Blake called out to the pilots while giving them a wave. "Thanks for the ride."
"I'll be ready to pick you up when you give the call, good luck." The pilot said as the craft began ascending before flying back in the direction it came from.
"Supreme Commander, we are receiving word from the Jackal party, they have made it to the planet's surface."
"Notify me of anything of value when you hear from them."
Back in the control room, Thel walked over to the holotable and began inspecting the projection of the planet in question, the most notable feature was its moon, which appeared to be undergoing a fracturing, debris already encircling the planet.
He was no expert of the celestial bodies, however one could only guess that eventually, it would be torn to pieces by the resultant gravity acting upon it from the planet it orbited.
Is this yet another lost human world?
Or even one of their planets that not even their military people know of?
The world just cleansed was key to their armed forces, is this one similar perhaps?
The scouting party trudged along the dirt path for several minutes, the leading jackal, armed with a carbine, gave a low growl and a hiss near to his obedient brethren...
Which if a grunt was within ear shot would translate it to you as;
"Come on, you useless excuses of soldiers, we don't have time to enjoy the view."
From what they could tell, the planet was indeed similar to that of a human world, greenery and nitrogen rich air, the local vegetation also appearing to correlate as well.
One of the scouts could see what looked like a 'colony' in the distance, but even with his superior eyesight, he was unable to be certain of the size of it.
They trekked a little further into the 'forest', when they thought they heard the sound of rustling leaves, so they immediately became still and silent, the major lifting his carbine at the ready and the rest deployed their point defence gauntlets while armed with the covenant staple plasma pistol.
The squad spread themselves out and slowly advanced to where the sound came from, getting slightly louder each step they took. For the moment, it seemed as though it might have been the wind, they could not see anything lurking in the shadows, nor could they smell anything that was either human or animal.
One of the minors lowered his weapon as a result, but next to him, a large black shadowy mass emerged from another set of bushes, standing up on two legs, 'grizzlies' is what he thought they call- who cares what they're called just kill it.
With that he whipped his plasma pistol up to meet it at eye level and began to discharge the weapon, green globules of plasma flew straight into its target, causing it to recoil in pain...but the thing remained standing.
His weapon's thermal indicator was getting dangerously close to the red, which he knew meant it'd be useless for a few seconds while it vented heat.
As he tried to run, the beast brought down its large paw, scoring through his armour like nothing.
He could feel the warmth of his own blood trickle down his back as he stood up to return fire, though with less accuracy as his mind became clouded.
In those quick few seconds, the rest of the squad had realised the scuffle and in turn pointed their weapons at the new hostile, it roared in anger as more plasma scorched it's body, and within another minute the Jackals knew why, for seemingly out of nowhere, a pair similar to what they fought emerged and began to defend its fellow beast.
Yak, the first Jackal to open fire, was hit again by the first beast, too slow to even attempt to move out of the way and subsequently, collapsed to the ground.
Another two standing side by side were swept off their feet by the closest attacker, their shields proving nothing more than a minor obstacle that these beasts easily swatted away, purple blood splattering the nearby foliage.
Another received a back hand from the creature, causing him to lose balance and miss fire his weapon into one of his brethren, killing him instantly.
The major began to panic and let out a deathly scream, which, given context, meant
"Fall back, fall back!"
And with four of their Jackals already lost, the rest did not think twice, one of the minors screamed a deafening cry of fear as he held his shield above his head, following behind the major in the direction of the phantom.
The beasts gave chase, and much to the dwindling squads dismay, they were able to catch up to them despite their large build, it was again within in striking distance, however as it raised up to attack, it was cut down by what seemed to be an unknown source, then the familiar echo rang out, a human long range 'sniper' rifle.
Where it came from? None knew, and none didn't care to find out for the time being, back to the phantom, that is all that mattered.
"Got one." Ruby called from over her shoulder as the others had finally caught up to their leader.
The sound of Ursa roars and unknown weapons fire drawing the group's attention, prompting Ruby to use her speed to get there to assess the situation.
The four were situated on a hillside that looked down to the lower terrain where the confrontation between the Ursa and Jackals was taking place.
"Wait, are they chasing someone?" Yang noted, pointing just ahead of the Ursa.
"I think they might be faunus." Blake said, worry filling her voice.
"You think so?" Weiss asked with equal concern.
"It's hard to say, but from what I can see they seem to have slightly scaly skin."
"Guys, I- I don't think they're faunus." Ruby said hesitantly as she once again peered through Crescent Rose's scope to catch the sight of who or more accurately, what the Ursa chased.
"What are those things?"
She whispered to herself before she activated her semblance to give chase.
"Ruby, get back here!" Yang called out.
But she was already gone, all attention now on the mystery of who or what the Grimm attacked.
"Whelp, no point standing around, let's get going before we lose sight of her too." Blake said before sliding down the hill, following after Ruby.
Weiss and Yang shared looks between each other, then following behind Blake.
"Beacon, this is team RWBY. Is anyone there?"
"Ms Schnee, this is Ozpin speaking, what seems to be the trouble?"
"We are deep within the Emerald forest and are giving chase to what we believe are a group of faunus that have been attacked by Grimm."
"I'll have your ship return to your position right away."
"Commander, we're receiving a signal from the Fleet of Particular Justice, looks like they've finally exited slipspace."
"Patch them through." Thel ordered as he walked over to the main terminal, the prophet's image materialising on the display.
"Supreme commander Vadamee, what has come of your vessel?" He demanded, voice ripe with annoyance.
"Noble prophet of Stewardship, forgive me for this is the work of the humans on their retreat. Our ship sustained damage which hindered our travel, our engineers are fixing the ship as we speak. While the repairs are underway we have also discovered a world that may be ano-"
"It does not matter what has caused your delay, but you must depart from where you reside immediately. I will not say why, only that you and your Elites will be most pleased once you arrive… do not sit idle any longer."
"...Yes my prophet." Thel lowered his head with a slight bow, mentally wondering why the prophet was both aggravated and what awaited him and his ship.
"Recall the Jackals and catalogue this world for further investigation."
He said dryly to the Elite that dispatched the scouting party in the first place.
"A message will be broadcast."
Back on the planet, the Jackal pilot still aboard the phantom waited patiently for his kin to return, examining the supply crates still stored on the ship.
His attention was taken by a communication coming through the Phantom's console.
As he sat down to open said communication, another transmission was coming through, this one however on the emergency channel, it was from the scouting party's commander.
Instantly he opened up the emergency channel, only to be met with the horrified screams of his kin, some unknown beasts roars in the distance and possibly human gunfire.
"What's going on?" He called in his native Kig-Yar tongue.
"Wild beasts, trying to kill us. Black as shadows. Approaching phantom. Need medical aid. Get us out of here!" The commander's voice echoed in panic.
The transmission ended shortly after, the pilot immediately set to work getting the necessary instruments, supplies and drugs for the wounded when they returned.
Once he was halfway through the preparations, he remembered the first transmission that he had received, the elite on the other end snapped at his 'timely' response.
The scouting party remained vigilant while running back to the phantom, though not daring to turn around lest the beast swipe at one of them again.
As it came into sight, the jackals wasted no time in boarding their drop ship, taking no notice of who followed them, no longer were it the beasts that gave chase but those who had slain them.
No, they were too focused on getting aboard the phantom and making their way to the front where their pilot would be as well as the medical supplies to patch themselves up.
Ruby's curiosity burned with each stride she made, ensuring to keep a safe distance from whatever these things were, clearly too frightened by the Ursa to even realise they were no longer a threat after she killed both of them with ease.
From the moment her scope honed in on them she could tell they were not in fact faunus as Blake had suggested, and seeing them even from this distance, it was obvious they were unlike anything she knew in all her fifteen years living on Remnant.
For one, they were roughly Blake's height, maybe even taller if they weren't hunched over while running for their lives, their skin was indeed scaly but were a shade of grey, one might even be a dark brown or orange. Their armour, either was a deep grey or light grey which clattered as they ran.
But the most notable feature that caught her attention immediately were the shields they carried, looking much like Pyrrha's shield in shape; only these ones were forcefields comprised entirely of light.
As she kept following, they ran into a clearing, that was when she stopped dead in her tracks, the sound of the others not too far in the distance.
Wait... is that…
She watched as those 'things' ran to their ship, running underneath and being lifted upwards inside without any need for the ship to lower to the ground and open bay doors unlike the bullheads.
"What is that?" She heard Blake say as she came to a stop beside her.
"Could it be some new atlas ship? " Yang asked once she was within range.
"Doubtful, for one, with the production of the paladins in place, I'd say Atlas military would have to wait for more substantial funding before moving onto the next line of prototyping.
And second, they're not really known for going beyond blue, grey or white for the colour scheme for their ships."
Weiss then said, her eyes entranced by the sight of the vessel in question.
Ruby slowly walked forward, until she stood directly under the light, seemingly ethereal to her, as her eyes followed the length of the ship, she was almost unaware that her boots no longer made contact with the ground, only realising what was going on by the calls from her teammates.
"Rubes, what are you doing?!" Yang yelled both in confusion and worry.
Ruby was instantly pulled from her trance and looked back down at her teammates, the fear of what was happening to her only now setting in.
"It's not me… Guys help!"
Within an instant, Blake leapt up and launched Gambol Shroud, it's ribbon wrapping around her young leader's leg tightly, but whatever this purple mist that surrounded her, had a great attractive force, not even with the three girls combined strength was enough to pull her away, instead they too became caught in the ship's pull.
"Now what." Yang whispered, all looking around while their minds started to race once they came to rest within the foreign craft.
The only sounds that could be heard by all four girls were those of the 'engines' of the ship as well as hisses and squawks, which they could only assume were made by whoever the Ursa had attacked.
A few seconds later the low hum of the ship began to become louder and then it hit them.
The ship was starting to accelerate.
"Quick, behind those purple boxes. " Ruby whispered with a slight sense of urgency, wasting no time waiting to see what would happen, best to remain hidden for the time being.
Meanwhile, the bullhead's pilot and copilot debated with each other as they scanned the surrounding area below. When Ozpin had given the call to return back to huntresses with the possible addition of wounded civilians, they were moving double time to their last position.
"Their signal should be right around here- wait, what is that?"
The copilot pulled the pilots attention as he pointed just north east of them, a seemingly larger ship ascending from the treeline with break neck speed. Then, as they looked back to the bullhead's radar indicating the whereabouts of the girls, they both realised.
"They're on that ship!"
As the team remained crouched, they felt the ship lurch slightly, as the ship gained altitude, the sound of those things in the distance continuing to squawk and hiss at what presumably was the front of the ship. And though curious as to where they may be going, they dared not venture from their hiding spot.
The next thing what they heard could be described as loud bursts followed by a muffled explosion, Weiss could feel her scroll vibrate, and cautiously took it out, she then stifled her gasp of shock as she pocketed it away, the text displayed being,
Alert: Transport Ship Disabled.
The phantom gained further altitude now that the unknown ship pursuing them had now begun to plummet to the ground below.
Ozpin stared in utter shock at the screen before him, the ship dispatched to retrieve the girls and whoever else may need help from the grimm attack has disappeared from the monitor.
Fear and worry began to fill his mind as he then attempted to reach the team through emergency signals, but his call fell upon deaf ears, unaware that the signals on all four girls' scrolls began to slowly fade.
"Ms Rose, are you there? Ms Schnee please respond. Ms Belladonna? Ms Xiao Long?
Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, do any of you copy?"
A/N: Hello there, so I've been wanting to write a halo/RWBY crossover for a while now, have a few chapters already in the works but I think it's come to a point where I actually write it up and begin to post it.
So i might as well say that this story is going to have the main four involved in the events of Halo:CE, i've seen quite a few with only Ruby or where Cheif or Noble six ends up on Remnant, so I thought let's have a go at putting the entire team in the halo universe.
And maybe down the line I might post another story I had in mind whereby Arbiter is mentored by Summer Rose, though that one is still not fleshed out like this story.
However, I do have a main fic I am working on that is a RWBY, Penny and OC story called Foresight (you can check that out if you like- much appreciated) and that is my main focus, I did this Halo fic now as a way to try to keep up writing while trying to break the writers block I have with Foresight.
Either way this was a simple introduction chapter.
Hope you liked it all the same.
"We're just getting started."