Chief had stepped off earlier to explain to the Headmaster what they'd been doing out of Beacon's premises, with Ruby following in close behind to do much the same. Johnson, meanwhile, sat in the Spartans' makeshift barracks, a grin on his face and a cigar between his lips as he watched the Supersoldiers go about helping the Marines move in, setting their kit aside and the likes.
Fred stepped up and handed him a Scroll, then said, "Cortana told us over com you should read that, Sergeant... Good to see you again, by the way."
"Good to see you too, PO," Johnson nodded, then skimmed over the data. Whistling, he said "Now, if this ain't some horse dung... You folks seriously going about with a made-up background and everything?" to which he got a nod from just about every Spartan in the room. He rolled his eyes, then said, "Right... Jenkins, Mendoza. Grab Stacker and start spreading this thing out, get the others to read it, too. I feel like we're gonna get our asses kicked if we don't know our roles in this mess."
"Aye, sarge," The two men said, stepping off to talk to their pseudo-heroes.
"Anything else I should know before I go out there, hotshot?" He asked Linda. The woman shrugged, stepping away to help the Marines stow their kit in their own 'room', a section of the house they'd yet to touch which acted more as a storage area that the Marines had picked out as their little home. Johnson sighed, standing to his feet with his shotgun leaned against his shoulder. He told the Spartans, I'mma go take a walk... Clear my damn head over the fact I'm walkin' again and missing that big-ass hole Tinker Bell left in my chest... Not to mention I feel like ten years younger."
"Take care, Sergeant," Fred noted, "Keep in com range."
"I just wanna take a walk, Commander. I ain't gonna go shootin' the shit with anyone I don't know," The man grinned, flicking a drop of ash off to the side. He set the cigar back between his lips, then murmured to himself, "Swear to Christ, I ain't needin' Spartans to warn me about the dangers out there. Been fighting while you kids were still in diapers..." and opened the door.
Only to run breastplate-first into the head of a young girl. He looked down, to see the ginger hair of the girl and her strange mechanical bow first. She looked up at him, a pair of curious emerald eyes. She smiled at him, then greeted, "Salutations! Are you one of the Master Chief's comrades?" to which Johnson stared, curious, at her. Blinking, he took a step back and gave the girl a nod.
"Ah, Penny," Linda poked her head out, "Welcome home."
"Thank you, miss Linda!" Penny beamed.
"How'd that checkup go?"
"Oh, just fine..." She hiccuped, "Admittedly, there was a slight complication, but I am fine now," She then offered, blushing. Sam and Johnson raised a brow at her, then looked to Linda, who simply shrugged. The Sergeant hummed, examining the petite little girl and feeling this strange aura about her. She was friendly, welcoming and just gave that vibe that something was 'off' in a good way. She looked to him, then asked, "What is your name, sir? I'm Penny Polendina. The Chief's fellow Beacon security assistant."
"Heh," The man grinned, "Sergeant-Major Avery J. Johnson, at your service, miss Polendina. I was just headin' out for a walk. To clear my head a bit."
"Ah, most certainly," She stepped away from the door and into the house. He tipped his cap to her in thanks, then stepped out of the house with the shotgun leaning against his shoulder. By the time they'd gotten to Beacon, the Sun of the star system began to creep over the horizon, its burning golden light washing over the valleys, peaks and buildings in and around Vale.
He took a deep puff of his cigar as he stared at the lights of the city's buildings slowly being turned off in favor of natural light. His brains had been scrambling to figure out the shit they were in right now. He remembered pretty clearly that he got his chest cooked by the damn monitor on the unbuilt Halo over yonder in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere, outer space.
Sighing, the man figured it best not to wonder about something he had no control over right now. Taking another long drag from his cigar, he set his shotgun onto the mag-lock on his back before looking around. Kids walked the place, probably the de-aged Spartans' current biological age. Speaking of Spartans, the man caught sight of the Chief returning with his arms crossed.
Johnson grinned, saluting his old friend and asking, "How'd the talk with your new boss go, Chief?"
"Surprisingly well," John replied.
"How're you doing, sarge?" Cortana asked over the radio.
"Considering I just got revived, ma'am? Pretty good," He chuckled, then took a deep drag of the cigar again, "So... The fake IDs thing..." He started. While Cortana began to explain the situation properly to Johnson, the Chief had tuned out, seemingly just focused on getting home to finally rest for a bit. For one reason or another, the Spartan felt more tired than usual.
The two reached their makeshift base and were met by the sight of the Marines entering their room single-file with the last of their kit. The kitchen was occupied by Kelly, who was working on prepping dinner, while Fred seemed to be parsing through the data they had gotten from their outings and NOBLE Team was setting up the holovision and going through the channels, seeking news.
All-in-all, the UNSC's base of operations was currently doing fine, as was much of its staff.
"So, what's in the cards today, Chief?" Johnson inquired.
"... I figure it's time I activate everyone's Aura," The man replied, his voice heard across the com line. The other Spartans turned to face him. Some of them, like Cal and Daisy, grinned, while others, Blue Team included, seemed uneasy at the idea. Penny stepped in too, greeting the Chief with a wave of the hand. After a really short explanation, Penny had gladly agreed to help wake the Auras of the Chief's fellow Spartans and Marines.
Johnson himself looked as an auburn blanket of light covered his entire body. He grinned as he felt the warmth of said light overwhelm him, coursing through to the very core of his being before fading, alongside the light, back into the recesses. He took a deep puff from his cigar, blew it to the side and said, "Well, I'll be... I feel ten times better than I thought I'd feel, not gonna lie."
"Aura is a powerful cover made up of one's own soul," Penny smiled as she stepped away from Fred, moving to Cal and then to Daisy to awaken their Auras, "It can heal minor injuries and assist in healing the major ones, but you will still need medical help for said injuries. It's a very useful power to have, though we are still studying why it exists and how it works..."
"It also acts as a shield of sorts," Chief added as he finished waking up Kelly's Aura, "Overlays itself when active and stops damage of all kinds. Not to mention it boosts metabolism and certain bodily functions, including muscle growth and regeneration of important tissue that does not necessarily refer to any form of injuries. It can also extend over one's weapon to harden it and ensure no real damage."
"Sounds like you lot just got overshields," Johnson grinned, "While me and my boys and girls got our own boost."
"Here's to it providing good cover, Sarge," Kelly quipped, "But stick behind us if the situation does turn sour, a'ight?"
"Don't need to ask me twice, Spartan," The man laughed, watching as the others continued to spread the good cheer of Aura activation around while Kelly and Fred, their Auras already active, moved to set the table and bring the food(MREs) to the table. It took little time for the entire Platoon to get to eat, with NOBLE Team choosing to eat near the TV instead of joining the rest of the gang as they(and Kurt) watched news reports.
The team looked over to Penny as she joined NOBLE and Kurt near by the TV, with Chief stating, "She's acting different..." before turning to Sam and asking, "What happened?"
"She stopped a truck with her bare hands," the man replied, fiddling with the MRE he got:Pizza, apparently. UNSC Standard-issue MREs, even late war, were surprisingly nutritious, if a little bland some times. The Pizza one was one of the few that command had left pretty much untouched in terms of content, so this left them with a half-baked Pizza slice fit for a single person's daily needs.
Cortana watched all of this unfold through the lens of John's helmet, a sad smile on her face. To her left sat Penny, who chose not to eat anything, it seemed. Either she was still thinking the truck incident Sam had just mentioned over, or she just wasn't hungry. Cortana didn't know, seeing as she couldn't get a bead on the girl from the get-go. She was nice, welcoming, warm, all the qualities of a very nice, if very sheltered girl who'd been taught prim and proper by her family.
Seeing Sergeant Johnson laughing with the team again, hand wrapped around a bottle of soda(presumably because they had no beer in the stocks), cigar between his lips and his brown eyes glimmering with hope and many a question helped Cortana heal a bit too. She had, without John's foreknowledge, been running her own diagnostics in the background, waiting to see what the hell had de-aged them. Finding that out, she felt, would take a lot more than a bunch of self-diagnostics and scans of the Spartans' neural patterns and bodies.
John himself had been modified by the Librarian, god bless her soul. Saved his ass during that little incursion onto Carinae Station. The AI shuddered-if she even could-as the memory of the coded screams of those poor people aboard the station came back to her. Damn the Didact and his entire mess of a plan to enslave mankind. She and John had stopped him, sadly, with the loss of New Phoenix.
She hummed, taking a 'seat' and linking herself with the RemNet again, entering the ebbing flows of data within the CCTS's systems through the back door she herself had installed. Smiling as she saw a form of virtual reality form around her, with 'buildings' made up of streams of Data and 'roads' travelled by information at almost superluminal speeds, she started looking over the data she'd archived for later reading and murmured to herself, "Guess it's as good a time as any while I wait for the last bit of the self-diagnostics..."
She pulled up data on the Atlesian machine they'd fought just recently. While a lot of it was still covered by a bunch of red tape and, presumably, Atlas-tier black ink, the girl had got a basic reading of the machine's capabilities during their fight, not to mention what little data she was able to pull through the Atlas Firewalls without actually cracking them open. A massed shipment of about a dozen mechs had actually disappeared, according to data, so it was safe to assume that, by pooling the data the rest of the teams sent them, they would find them in the hands of the White Fang.
She grinned. Some of the units had trackers on them, each positioned just outside of Vale City. She made a mental note to tell the Chief and the others that the next couple of engagements may have them facing enemy mechs, then gently and silently slid a 'tip' about the location of the war machines to the Atlas Military while ensuring that it couldn't be traced back to her.
"As usual, I gotta do most of the work..." She quipped, grinning as she arranged the data into folders once more to read through. She heard the tick of her checkup being finished. Bringing up the diagnostics window, she looked over the files closely. Content, she closed the window and returned to the 'real' world from the RemNet, listening in on the conversations between the members of the team.
"... So, you stopped a truck with your bare hands..." She heard Sam.
The blonde boy was sitting and chatting with a somewhat uneasy Penny. The girl, however, wore a smile on her face even as she shifted uncomfortably on the chair. She spoke, "Yes. It was... Not one of my proudest moments... But, at least, Ruby got out without any major injuries."
"Your arms alright?" The blonde boy asked, concern audible in his voice, "That's still several tons of steel and goods ramming against you."
"Oh, my arms were a bit sore," Penny explained quickly, then hiccuped, "But the Aura helped them heal... I'm fairly certain Spartans such as yourself could do the same thing if they wished."
"We could, but we're also wearing strength-enhancing powered armor suits, which you don't have..." Sam seemed to hesitate, clearly omitting the gene modifications done to them for the sake of keeping the secret. Still, that seemed to have gotten Penny's attention. The girl hummed, then looked around at the other Spartans, while John seemed to be moving about and assisting the rest of the gang with what they needed. "Right," Sam sighed, "... One more question, since I'm not sure when I'm gonna get to ask Dylan about this... Who built his weapon?"
"Oh, that'd be Ruby," Penny smiled.
"... Ruby... Huh..." Sam paused, "That explains Crescent Rose."
The ginger chuckled, "Indeed. Ruby is quite proficient with weaponsmithing."
"Maybe I and the others can ask her for similar kit. The Chief seems to be doing alright with his own," He smirked.
"Oh, poor Ruby won't be sleeping for a week," Penny chuckled, "I believe she hasn't slept for some days after I asked her to make Dylan's weapon," and she looked to see Sam's actual look of concern manifest itself. Cortana herself felt a pang of guilt for the little Rose after her bout of working on the firearm, but alas, she chose not to comment anything just yet. She set one of her subroutines onto checking the news in regards for other missing weapon shipments... And she managed to locate some.
"... Huh... Curious... Hegarty and Kyrin Corporation?"
Stacked boxes and shelves full of dusty, cobweb-filled containers permeated the insides of the abandoned warehouse within the Industrial sector of Vale. Adam Taurus had been called by an 'unknown benefactor' with a proposal to meet within the area. He sat there, impatiently tapping his foot as his guards secured the perimeter. A single, dim light hanged above, washing a single spot in the place in a pale white light.
The Bull Faunus stopped in front of the light, his face still shrouded by the darkness as he looked around. The faint snap of steel-toed boots striking concrete echoed around him. One pair was closer than the others, however and, before he knew it, he was staring face to face with a hooded woman, a gas mask on her face and wearing in some sort of digital camouflage pattern-toting, form-fitting combat uniform that was dyed grey. A chest rig with similar colors and camo patterns sat wrapped around her midsection, a heavy armor plate stuck behind the ammunition pouches.
On her hips resided twin tactical pistols with bayonets attached to the ends, both in stylized black leather holsters and both engraved with silver writing over their matte black frames. Her eyes, each of different colors, shining deep blue and sharp gold in the darkness, each of them adjusting separately to the changing lighting conditions ahead of her. Taurus's hand wrapped around the hilt of his weapon, but the woman raised an armored index, showing him not to try.
She then jabbed a thumb to her left and an index to the right. Soldiers appeared from the thick darkness. Black helmets that fully covered the heads, similar riggings and kit to the woman before him and highly modular, highly-customizable and heavily-modified assault rifles bearing optics, laser sights and, some times, even extended magazines. Hefty guns, some of them 7,62x39mm-loaded.
She raised a balled fist and showed the soldiers to settle down, even as they surrounded Taurus's little security team, then gazed upon Taurus and said, "You came prepared."
"Always," The Bull replied, "Why are we here?"
"Figured it's as good a place as any to meet, Adam," She replied, the wrinkles in her mask telling of the grin she wore. He drew his blade, placing it by her throat even at the threat of two of her guys putting him down right then and there with enough Seven-Six-Two to make the damn Atlesian Army blush. She smirked, pushing aside his blade with her arm and saying, "We know who you are. Adam Taurus, lieutenant of the White Fang, commander of the Vale Branch... A fighter for equality for our brothers and sisters... And a hapless butcher."
He grit his teeth, "I do what I do for my people... The fuck did you bring me all the way out here for? Predicate to me about the error of my ways?"
"Pff..." The girl laughed, her voice melodious as another comrade of hers approached. Though he stayed in the shade, Taurus could make out the Vacuoan Ranger outfit even from here, blessed be Faunus night vision capabilities. The girl, meanwhile, spoke, "Nothing like that, comrade," before approaching into the light. She pulled off her hood, revealing jet-black hair and a pair of fox's ears, with a single, thick tail hanging off the back. She then added, "I am one of our people, after all."
"... You sure as hell don't look it..." The man quipped, slowly sheathing his sword after realizing he was in quite the pickle. He counted at least thirty men in the building, many of which surrounded his own ten-man team. He could easily take them all on, but the girl and the guy with the revolvers and cowboy hat behind her. Her ears twitched as she looked over her armored hand.
Adam paused, however, when he realized that was not a gauntlet with armored claws. Hydraulic tubes and small hairline tubes flowed through reinforced metallic limbs, dust cartridges wrapped around her forearms like a selectable boost to the melee capabilities of the woman. She placed a hand on her hip, grinning as she removed the mask to reveal a beautiful young lady with actual fangs bared in a dangerous grin. She replied, "Well, let's just say I got busy with some modifications."
"I can tell..." He stated, "Who are you?"
"Name's a secret, though most of the boys and girls call me Kuro," She flicked a bit of her short black hair over her shoulder.
"And you're here to help me? You're working with humans," The man derided her offer openly, pointing toward the Vacuoan in the shadows, who was twirling one of his two revolvers on one finger. Kuro rolled her eyes, then approached Adam. Uneasy, the boy's hand wrapped around his blade again, but he found the woman pushing it back down. She flashed another grin, her scent a combination of perfume and gunpowder.
"Easy does it, Taurus. Trust me, our offer will be good for you... I and some of my benefactors, a couple of which I imagine you've already met, thought you may need some help... A new series of assets are in play in Vale and, well... Not everyone wants to see the White Fang reduced to rubble," She offered, which garnered a look of confusion and anger from the man, then she took a step back. She made a 'come hither' motion to a pair of her men and they hefted forward a reinforced metal container.
Kuro pulled out her black Scroll and swiped it in front of an electric lock of some kind. Three consecutive clicks meant the locks had come undone, with the top of the box splitting in two and revealing a string of shelves, each of them stacking on top of one another as they spread out thanks to Remnant's form-shifting technology and revealing modern, PMC-grade armaments.
"H&K sends their regards," She smirked as she motioned to the firearms, "Highly customizable, modern equipment meant to replace the Vale SWAT kit and weaponry. They're well aware the White Fang is armed to the teeth, but the Model 2 Modular Carbines, Pistols and Rifles you folks have are a little..." She winced dramatically, to accentuate her point, "Old school..."
"They've done their job until now," He replied with a growl.
"And you'll be out of replacement parts by the time the next phase of our bosses' plan goes along. Upper Management knows they'll need every asset in play to... Complete... The next set of plans," She replied, "We can supply you with new parts for this stuff, not for the things you currently have. Not a lot of it is being manufactured anymore... Plus, this stuff can better house high-caliber Dust ammunition. Add to that..." She motioned to another shelf, "Kevlar body armor infused with Dust, fragmentation and stun grenades with varying types of attack modes, high yield plastic explosives... You get the pretty picture."
Adam squinted from behind his mask at her, "And what if we don't want to work with you?"
She shrugged, "You've worked with worse... And still work with them, if I remember Torchwick's backstory correctly."
"He brought us Atlas machines. Machines we're going to use against them," He smirked, "You brought a few guns and some armor..."
"Who do you think made those Mechs disappear from the market and into Roman's oversized pockets?" She smirked, crossing her arms to her chest as she saw Adam's eyes grow wide behind the Grimm mask. She chuckled darkly, then added, "Yeah, our bosses and us. H&K quality assurance on those bad girls..." and shrugged, "But, well, if you don't want our help... We'll figure something out."
She looked to her guards and was about to give the one hand signal that could change the situation.
She, however, stopped when Taurus said, "Fine..." much more calmly, "We'll take all the help we can get, seeing as we had a situation with one of our bases outside the wire..."
She grinned, then said, "Happy to hear you're cooperative, Adam. I'll let my bosses know... Welcome to the real war, brother. We'll be relaying orders for the next operation soon... And you can find me in Beacon when the time comes." She patted him on the shoulder. Before long, Adam watched the entire thirty-man team disappear into the darkness, leaving naught but three boxes full of supplies, enough to fit half a dozen teams with proper kit.
He had a nagging feeling he'd either made the worst deal of his life, or the best. He ordered his men to prep the equipment for transport to one of their farthest bases, to arm the troops. To Adam's credit, he was right on the first one. Kuro had not mentioned this, but if Adam had refused to work with the altered plan and their presence, then the situation would've turned... Ugly... For the red-maned bull...
Kuro flicked her scroll shut, grinning as she watched the boy picking up one of the shotguns...
Ah, Bulls. Always hardheaded fools...