Dust and Echoes (RWBY/Halo)

Chapter 16: Men of (Mis)fortune

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Kig-Yar Privateer Encampment

Khembalung, Kunlun System

Ninth Age of Reclamation, Twenty-Seventh Annual, Ninth Month

Ninth Cycle, Twelve Units

Gok leaned over a metal table and looked over the reports his scouts delivered. The Kig-Yar, a Ruuhtian with light-tan skin and faintly red quills on the back of his head and forearms, pointedly ignored his fellow pirates as they armed themselves and excitedly conversed with each other about the plunder they were about to secure. As the Fieldmaster of both the Bloodied Compunction's and the Triumph and Spoils' ground forces, he could afford nothing less than his complete and utter focus on the task at hand.

He did take a moment to adjust his yellow armor, which formerly denoted him as a Covenant Major. Neither he nor his crew, composed of Unggoy and Kig-Yar, were technically part of the Covenant military, as the prideful Sangheili often loathed to associate themselves with privateers, but keeping the ranking structure simply made things easier. Plus, he himself and most of his crew served with the Covenant at one point or another, at least until their contract ran out and they opted to follow their ancestor's footsteps to become pirates.

While Covenant space offered more valuable commodities, their Fleetmaster, and his lover, Chur'R-Dum decided to take a different approach. Rather than risk the Covenant's ire by raiding supply vessels, they offered themselves as privateers to be used against humanity. The Covenant didn't care what they did with the supplies they stole, so long as it hindered the humans' war effort and wreaked havoc with their supply lines. Unless they found navigation data, at which point it was to be immediately delivered to their employers. Gok felt it was somewhat ironic that they reported directly to the Ministry of Resolution in this role, since the ministry were previously charged with countering piracy before the war against the humans drew their attention elsewhere.

Either way, their decision to become privateers had proven to be quite profitable over the past few years. In the past annual alone they had managed to raid over a dozen merchant vessels and sell their cargo on the black market, hefting them quite the amount of gekz for their pockets. They were able to go from one ship to a fleet of two, and there was no signs of it abetting anytime soon. However, much to Gok's annoyance, the humans had thus far successfully wiped all of their nav data from their ships before capture. If they could manage to get even one, it would set them up for years. Hopefully, this current vessel would give them that opportunity.

But, as much as he didn't want to admit it, this current job came with some unwelcome complications. It was his idea to use this planet the humans once called Khembalung to trap incoming human vessels once they picked up a signal from what they thought were survivors. It was even somewhat true, in a way. They'd only been doing it for a few months, and until now only lightly-armed freighters arrived in a foolish effort to lend aid. Those had been easy targets with little to no risk. Now, though, a human warship had decided to investigate, and their shipmaster clearly recognized their trap for what it was. Several lances were sent down to the planet while the ship itself remained in orbit.

The humans' caution certainly made springing their trap more difficult, but at the same time it wasn't completely unexpected. The Kig-Yar knew this was going to happen eventually and had already enacted contingency plans they had developed for this exact scenario. Already their efforts had borne fruit, as sniper teams sent the human ground forces into disarray while the Bloodied Compunction and the Triumph and Spoils attacked the human warship in orbit. Combined with the communications jammer in the heart of their encampment, and it was only a matter of time before they would be able to finish off their prey.

A loud, crashing noise drew his attention, and Gok turned his head to see that an Unggoy had accidentally dropped a fuel rod canister. He snarled and tore himself away from his table to march over to the Unggoy, whose name he didn't even bother remembering, and he slapped him across the head and sent him to the ground.

"Be careful with those, you idiot! You want to blow up the whole damn camp?!" he shouted down at the Unggoy, who fearfully shook his head.

"N-no, Fieldmaster! It was a mistake, I promise! It won't happen again!" the Unggoy fearfully groveled. Gok growled and leaned closer to the Unggoy, who tried his best to lean further back into the snow, before the Kig-Yar backed away and scoffed.

"It better not. Otherwise, I'm sending you against the humans unarmed," Gok declared. The Unggoy, shaking in fear, remained on its back in the snow. Seeing the pitiful creature staying where it laid, Gok snapped, "Why are you just lying there?! Get those fuel rods loaded into my launcher, now!"

"Y-yes, Fieldmaster!" the Unggoy quickly replied, scrambling up to his feet as he picked up both ends of the canister and shuffled towards the outer edge of the encampment. When the Unggoy thought he was far enough way, Gok heard him begin to grumble under his breath, but Gok merely ignored it and returned to his table.

Propping himself up with his arms, Gok let out a beleaguered sigh. If it were up to him, their fleet would have been composed entirely of Kig-Yar pirates. But, as much as it pained him to admit it, Unggoy were useful as menial labor since they were stronger and more durable. Plus, there were so damn many of them. As such, most of their ground forces, which totaled fifty strong, were composed of Unggoy. All of the leadership, though, were Kig-Yar. There was no way he would ever let an Unggoy order a Kig-Yar around.

"Has Sniper Lance Four reported back yet?" Gok asked to a fellow Kig-Yar manning a comms station, who shook his head.

"No, Fieldmaster. They've been unresponsive," he reported, and Gok scrunched up his face in irritation.

"Well, get them back online. The other Lances have already brought down the leaders of the other human attack groups, and we need to know if they took out the humans' last sergeant," Gok replied. The technician nodded before going back to work, and Gok returned his attention to the topographical map detailing the immediate area around their encampment.

Just in case the humans were foolish enough to attempt a retaliatory strike against them, he had set up numerous fortifications along their perimeter. Sniper towers, plasma turrets, Shades, and Kig-Yar armed with carbines, needlers, and plasma pistols setting up barricades to fill out gaps. Pretty soon, hunting parties would be sent out to eliminate the rest of the humans before they could regroup, and just in case it was necessary, a fuel rod gun was currently being loaded and on standby. They didn't have any air cover, but then again neither did the humans. The dropships that brought the humans down were still somewhere in the area, but by now their hidden AA emplacement would have gone online, so that was no longer a concern. If any dared get too close, they'd be shot down. All of the advantages belonged to him at the moment, and Gok couldn't help but let out a smile.

Then, at the far edge of the encampment, he heard a commotion. It sounded like terrified squawks and angry yelling, along with more than a few crashes as Unggoy and Kig-Yar were shoved aside.

"Oh, what now?" he groaned and turned towards the noise. To his surprise, however, he saw that the source wasn't another Unggoy's mistake. Instead, he saw two panicked Kig-Yar snipers rushing towards him, their weapons long discarded. Even from this distance, he could see the fear in their eyes.

"Fieldmaster, we have a problem!" one of the snipers cried as they drew near. They belatedly ground to a halt, kicking up tufts of snow and ice, some of which hit Gok in the face. He ignored that slight, however, and instead focused on his men. The Fieldmaster recognized them as minors belonging to Sniper Lance Four, but the lack of its major made Gok's gizzard twist.

They began to squawk unintelligibly at the same time, and it only took a few seconds before Gok reached his limit.

"Calm yourselves!" he shouted, drawing everyone in the camp's attention to him. The two snipers clammed up, and Gok took a few breaths before looking them both in the eyes. "Now then, I want one of you to calmly tell me what happened. Where is your major?"

The two snipers looked at each other, then the one on the left gulped and stepped forward. He admitted, "Major Dug is…dead, Fieldmaster."

"I'd guessed as much. How?"

"Human sniper got him."

"Dammit. Was he at least able to get their sergeant?"

"No, sir," the other minor reported as the other stepped back. "The Major, uh, only managed to kill two and wound another before the humans got him."

Gok breathed in harshly and clenched his fist. Looking down at the ground, he cursed his luck. Already things weren't going to plan. If even one of their sergeants managed to survive, the humans might be able to organize, making it that much harder to eliminate them. At the same time, he noticed a key omission from their report, and he growled as he raised his head back up to them.

"Why do I get the feeling that only the Major fired his weapon?" Gok accused. Both minors nervously clacked their beaks but otherwise didn't say a word. They didn't need to, as their silence was more than enough. Furious, Gok stomped forward until he was right in their faces.

"May I ask why?" he whispered, but it might as well have been a shout from how it carried over the silent encampment which had ground to a halt.

Both minors looked at each other again and gulped. After a moment of heavy silence, one of them looked back at Gok and answered, "It was…the thing that did him in, Fieldmaster. We were still setting ourselves up where Major Dug told us to perch for a crossfire when he suddenly started shooting before we were ready, forcing the humans into cover. Just as we were about to join in, though, one of the humans…did something."

"What kind of 'something?'" Gok asked. "Humans are capable of doing a lot of things, but I fail to see how any of them could have you running here like Unggoy."

The minors began to twitch in fear, but not from Gok this time as they seemed to stare past him in their recollection while nervously running their claws through their arm feathers. It was clear that whatever this human did left them shaken, and in a low voice the minor began to explain, "A human, male I think, broke cover and rushed towards us. The human was obviously trying to draw the Major out so that the human sniper could get him, but the Major felt he was good enough to take him out before eliminating the sniper. But the human…Gods, he moved so fast."

His voice began to rise in pitch as he continued, "Every time Major Dug took a shot, the human was already gone and getting closer. He was moving so fast; I could barely even see him!"

As the minor began to breath sharply in and out in a panic, Gok's eyes widened. He had never personally faced one of them before, but he recognized the reports. His gizzard was now screaming at him, and if even one was on the planet, their entire operation could be lost. Gok then whispered, "A Demon is here?"

The entire encampment somehow fell into an even deeper silence. Legends of the unkillable human Demons, clad in thick armor and with strength and cunning to rival the Sangheili themselves, had run rampant across the Covenant lines. There were even whispers of them back in the core of Covenant space which thus far had remained blissfully unaware and removed from the war. Just a sighting was enough to demoralize an entire army.

To his surprise, and slight relief, the other minor shook his head and clarified, "No, Fieldmaster. It wasn't a Demon. He wasn't wearing any armor, or a uniform for that matter."

Gok let out a sigh of relief, but before he could say anything, the Kig-Yar sniper added, "This human…he was faster. Far faster, and he had this sword he was carrying—"

"A sword?" Gok repeated, now confused. "What do you mean, a sword?"

"A literal sword, Fieldmaster," the minor replied, his eyes wide in fear. "Made of metal, and about as tall he was. We didn't understand why he was carrying such a thing instead of a gun, but then…he swung it and…he made the air slice at us!"

Gok stared blankly at the two minors, then flatly said, "He…sliced the air at you."

"And destroyed a wall!" the other minor wailed. "Then, when Gok fired his beam rifle at him, he…he…he deflected the shot! Parried it with his sword!"

The Kig-Yar mimed the action with his hands as the other fervently nodded. Gok, meanwhile, could only stare incredulously at them. Several moments passed, with no one daring to speak.

Finally, Gok asked, "Are you two on drugs again?"

"What? No!" both minors protested, but Gok merely groaned and shook his head. "We're telling the truth, Fieldmaster!"

"You see, I believe you two think you're telling the truth," Gok admitted. "Had it been a Demon, I might have believed you. But an ordinary human moving faster than the eye can see, capable of slicing his sword to shoot the air at you like magic and parrying a beam rifle shot… Heh, that's insane."

"Fieldmaster, you have to-!"

"Quiet!" Gok shouted, thoroughly losing all patience. The two minors clammed up, and Gok sighed as he pinched the ridge between his eyes and turned around. With his back facing them, he pointed towards the back end of the encampment and said, "You two, just…go clean the Unggoy's feeding chamber. Neither of you are fit for combat right now, and you've lost your narcotic privileges."

"But—!"

"Now, before I lose my patience!" Gok interrupted. The two minors flinched and looked at each other in despair, then rushed off to fulfill their orders. The Kig-Yar Fieldmaster watched them go, the two snipers almost stumbling over each other to get away, and he shook his head.

Clearly those two were on the take again. It wasn't the first time members of his crew had taken drugs while on a mission only to report strange, otherworldly things. Gok had long learned to ignore those ramblings and focus on what was tangible in front of him. Despite himself, however, he couldn't help but let out a chuckle.

"Human sword wielders…heh, I know they're supposed to be primitive, but that's just laughable," he muttered, then went back to work.


UNSC Midsummer Night, Stalwart-class Light Frigate

Khembalung Orbit, Kunlun System

April 8th, 2541 1245 Hours (UNSC Military Calendar)

Alarms blared as the entire ship raced across the vast reaches of space high above Khembalung. Dull thuds reverberated throughout the frigate as their six 50mm Rampart point defense guns exchanged fire with their pursuers. There were two of them, both DAS-class storm cutters that emerged from hiding within the asteroid belt. Since the Midsummer Night was already on combat alert, they were able to quickly enact evasive maneuvers, leading to the high-stakes game of cat and mouse they currently found themselves in.

A large crash was heard as something impacted the back of the ship, causing Keyes and the others to stumble around. He was able to keep himself propped up against the holotable, however, and he barked, "Status report!"

"Sir, pulse laser just took out one of our point-defense guns!" an ensign reported, and Keyes bit back a curse.

"Redirect power to the engines and slingshot us around the moon!" Keyes ordered, hoping to use the gravity assist to throw their pursuers off for even just a little bit.

The Midsummer Night immediately began to follow his orders, banking hard away from the planet towards Khembalung's moon, Beyuls. Their engines' output increased ever so slightly, but it was enough to get them there just a little faster. Unfortunately for them, the Covenant ships weren't thrown off that much by the tactic and remained in hot pursuit, firing white hot pulse lasers towards them.

And nothing else, Keyes realized. He had fought storm cutters before. They were considered to be a light cruiser for the Covenant. Only 225 meters long, storm cutters were lightly armed and shielded by Covenant standards, and as such were mostly used for scouting interstellar systems, harassment, or the pursuit of fleeing vessels. That last role was clearly what was happening now, but what confused him was the fact that the two ships weren't using their heavier arsenal. Thus far, their plasma projectors had stayed completely silent, and both cutters were seemingly content with striking them with their pulse lasers only.

It was then that Keyes realized just what he was dealing with, and he bared his teeth. They weren't trying to destroy his ship. They were trying to capture it, and there was only one faction in the Covenant who followed that MO.

"These aren't Covenant military, they're Jackal pirates!" he declared as he reevaluated their situation.

Everything made sense now. The distress signal, the communications blackout that immediately preceded the ambush, and the attempts at disabling his ship. If they were facing an actual Covenant armada, they would have destroyed the Night by now. That gave him an opening, one he would have to exploit if they were make it out of this in one piece.

"All hands, we are under attack by Jackal pirates," he announced into the ship's intercom. "Prepare for boarding parties."

Keyes honestly hoped it wouldn't come to that, but it was better to be prepared than not.

"Do you want us to assist as well, Commander?" Vine Zeki asked, speaking for all of the Huntsmen still remaining in his ship. Without missing a beat, Keyes nodded.

"Form up with the marines. They'll direct you to where you need to be," Keyes ordered. Vine, Harriet, and Elm immediately nodded and flashed a salute, defaulting to their military upbringing. Given how they were officially in a combat zone, it only made sense. The other Huntsmen, however, were far less formal, even as they began to leave the bridge and rush back down to the armory.

"What did I tell you? This was a bad idea!" Gron complained even as he pulled his sword from a locker. "We should have left when we had the chance. Instead, we walked into an obvious trap."

"Don't try to take credit for calling that out," May pointed out as she loaded a few arrows into her crossbow staff. She then pointed accusingly at Gron and added, "We all knew the risks coming in, and even though it was a trap, we had to make sure. I'd rather have pirates fight us rather than someone else who can't fight back."

Gron clenched his fist and growled, glaring at May who glared right back. After a moment, he scoffed and turned away, muttering, "Damn Huntsmen and their hero complexes. Going to get us all killed…"

He rushed out of the armory, joining a passing squad of marines on their way to their objective. The others watched him go, then Yuri began to head out and said, "I'll calm him down. Make sure he doesn't do anything foolish."

Sienna nodded, which Yuri took as his cue to leave. As the others quickly grabbed their weapons and loaded them as necessary, Fiona quietly asked, "Is…is there anything we can really do?"

Joanna frowned slightly as she placed her hand comfortingly on her teammate's shoulder. As much as she wanted to assure her otherwise, they all knew the truth. Unless the Jackals were able to successfully disable the ship and board, which they were trying to avoid, there wasn't anything they could do to affect the current battle. Even with all of their training and years of experience, all of it meant nothing because they were stuck as mere passengers in this ship-to-ship combat, not participants. Right now, their fates were in the hands of Commander Keyes and his crew. None of them ever felt this helpless in their lives, not even those who'd experienced Grimm attacks on air or sea ships, yet they just had to suck it up regardless.

Back up at the bridge, Keyes kept his eyes glued to the holographic display depicting the battle they were in. Fire continued to be exchanged between their ships, but as another successful hit caused the Midsummer Night to quake, he was reminded once again of the vast disparity between human and Covenant vessels. While Shakespeare was able to help the rest of the crew in ensuring that their point defense guns successfully hit the two storm cutters, their effect was negligible. Their shields were still able to deflect them harmlessly away. The only weapon the Night had which stood a chance at destroying their shields was their magnetic accelerator canon, but that was located at the bow of the ship. They'd have to turn it around just to get a clear shot, but that was unlikely. If they were to turn around now, all they'd be doing is giving the pirates the opportunity they were looking for.

Keyes then looked at the asteroid belt. Compared to the Sol system's, it was far larger and denser, with a greater magnitude of large asteroids that made navigation perilous. That was how the storm cutters were able to evade detection; they simply hid behind a few large asteroids to mask their presence. Slowly, an idea began to take form, and as yet another blast hit the side of the ship, venting atmosphere that Shakespeare immediately moved to seal, he quickly made his decision.

"Shakespeare, load up one of the Longswords with a Shiva. Set it to autopilot and chart a course into the asteroid field," Keyes ordered, then pointed at another crewman. "Launch Archer pods A through D on my mark. We're going to use it to hide the fighter."

"Of course, Commander," Shakespeare replied, immediately starting the armament process.

A few minutes passed that seemed stretch on into eternity as the Midsummer Night made yet another complete orbit around Khembalung. Then, when Shakespeare reported that the Longsword was ready for takeoff, Keyes immediately shouted, "Launch now!"

Four of the Night's sixteen Archer missile pods opened, launching a dozen missiles each that streaked towards the two storm cutters. Most of the missiles were intercepted by their point defense systems, and the rest impacted harmlessly against the flaring shields. But they did their job, as the low signature of the Longsword flew out into the asteroid field. Keyes, meanwhile, had the Midsummer Night fly above the north pole of Khembalung, drawing the Jackals away and allowing his trap to be set.


Qrow crouched, lightly rubbing his hand across the snow. It was far coarser than any snow he'd touched before on Remnant, which he supposed was due to the small glass particles held among the crystals. He wasn't focusing on the texture, however. Instead, Qrow's attention was on the small, almost indistinguishable indentations leading away from their temporary base. At first glance, most people wouldn't have even noticed, but thanks to Qrow's years of experience he perceived them almost right away. They were footprints, but not belonging to a human. Instead, the feet were long and narrow, with what looked like an extension coming outward from the inside of the foot.

Clearly these footprints were made by a Jackal. Likely two of them, judging by the number of footprints he saw. Unless, of course, the Jackal in question was running all over the place, but he sincerely doubted that. Getting back up, Qrow scowled as he scanned the horizon, Harbinger clutched tightly in his hand as he stretched his senses out as far as they could. Thus far, he felt no immediate danger, but as he saw another faint flash of an explosion high above him in orbit, he was reminded that they weren't truly safe, either.

He made his way back into the building, which was in the process of being fortified. Marines, using canisters of a concrete-like material called instacrete, were binding together large pieces of rubble and filling in the gaps to form barricades. Smaller chunks of rubble were being shoved into sandbags, and out of every window he could see at least one rifle barrel poking out and scanning for hostiles.

"Branwen, did you find anything?" Sergeant Johnson asked as he continued to help assemble their defenses while their squad's radio operator fiddled with his equipment, trying to get a signal.

"Yeah. Two pairs of tracks leading northeast," Qrow reported as he threw his thumb over his shoulder in the general direction. Johnson frowned and he took another puff of his cigar, then breathed out a small cloud of smoke.

"I'm gonna assume they were made by Jackals," Johnson replied, and Qrow nodded. The sergeant's frown deepened, and he added, "They're definitely heading back to their base to report what happened. Judging by the yellow armor of birdbrain here, we killed a Jackal Major, so most likely our runaways are minors."

"So, there was a sniper team," Clover noted, crossing his arms while keeping his eyes on their surroundings. He then pointed out, "But only one of them actually took a shot. Why?"

"Jackals are great marksmen with excellent eyesight, but they're piss poor snipers," Johnson answered. "Too impatient and bloodthirsty. He likely took a shot before the others were ready."

"Then, when they saw what Qrow did, they turned tail and ran," Robyn added. "It would've been the first time they'd seen a Huntsman in action. If all they had to go off of humans before were marines, no wonder they panicked."

"My thoughts exactly," Johnson confirmed as he finished off his cigar. Checking his rifle, he said, "We have to assume they've already made it back to their base and reported what happened. Whether or not they actually believe them is irrelevant."

Johnson then turned his head towards their radio operator, and asked, "Kappus, how's our radio? Can you get in contact with the other squads or the Night?"

"Or even just the Pelicans?" Abby hopefully added, only for the marine to shake his head.

"Not even a bit," Private Kappus denied with a small frown. "Radio's fine, physically, but outside of shortwave I'm not picking up anything. And that only has a range of a few kilometers at best. I can't hear anyone else."

"Covies must be jamming us, then," Johnson suggested as he dropped the nub of his cigar on the polycrete floor and stomped it out. "Dammit, we're completely cut off."

A heavy silence fell over the group, and Qrow frowned. As they all feared, they had walked right into a trap. He, and most likely the others by now, suspected that the distress signal that brought them down here in the first place was probably faked. A lure meant to draw victims in for the kill, where they'd be cut off and strangled before they even had a chance to fight back. Not a bad tactic, especially for pirates. Clearly they knew what they were doing, but unfortunately for the Jackals, they were up against Huntsmen. Normal tactics didn't always work so well against them.

"Sergeant, we may need to head out and bring the other marines here," Clover suggested. "This position, while not ideal, is defensible, and if we're limited to shortwave radio then it's our only option for staying coordinated."

Johnson nodded, then replied, "I agree, but I don't want to send too many out. Might leave us shorthanded in case the Jackals show up for round two."

Abby raised her hand politely. When Johnson nodded his head at her, she nodded back then gestured to herself, Robyn, Clover, and Qrow before suggesting, "We can go. Huntsmen can cover ground faster than you can. Hopefully, we can find the others and bring them back here before the Jackals arrive."

Johnson frowned. The marine clearly didn't want to send his charges out into unnecessary danger, but at the same time he knew he didn't have much of a choice. Abby's logic was sound, and it wasn't as though where they were was any safer. As far as Qrow was concerned, the entire planet was dangerous. After a few moments, Johnson sighed and reluctantly nodded.

"Alright. Redwall, Ebi, Hill, if you can head out and find the others, I'd appreciate it," Johnson requested. The three Huntsmen immediately nodded, with Clover flashing a quick salute, then the three jumped out of the multi-storied building. They landed on the snow-covered street below, then split off and rushed deeper into the city. Qrow guessed they'd be back within the hour, with any luck at least.

The lone remaining Huntsman then turned towards Johnson and asked, "Any reason why you didn't ask me?"

"Yes, actually. I get the sense you're probably the tracker out of all of them, right?" Johnson asked, and when Qrow nodded he continued, "Well then, we need to find that communications jammer. Without disabling it, we won't be able to get out of here anyway, and I have a hunch it's wherever their camp is. So, if you could go out, do some recon, and find it, we'd be able to know what to do next."

Qrow nodded, then stood up and stretched out his arms. He then remarked, "I'll be back."

"You better. I promised your nieces I'd bring you back in one piece," Johnson joked. Qrow couldn't help but let out a smile, then he jumped out of the building.

He landed with a roll on the street then immediately sprinted to where he saw the pair of tracks. Large puffs of snow, ice, and a little bit of glass were kicked up into the air with each step. Qrow's attention was equally split between following the small tracks ahead of him as well as the surroundings for any onlookers. Thus far, he saw no one, but he refused to let his guard down. Especially since a single shot of their beam rifles was enough to shatter his Aura.

Eventually, Qrow slowed down as he saw a large pile of snow. He stopped right next to it, and after a quick inspection saw the signs of a messy tumble. Snow was haphazardly thrown out all over the place, with a hefty rock just exposed above the surface. Clearly the Jackals had tripped in their panicked state. Looking around a bit more, to his surprise he saw two discarded beam rifles. Like the one the Jackal Major used, they were long and bulky with a purplish-blue body. There was no shoulder stock to speak of, nor an obvious scope, but he assumed that the focusing crystal on the top acted as a substitute. If Qrow remembered his briefing correctly, this was a Type-27 Beam Rifle, by far the most commonly used model across the Covenant.

He thought about leaving them there and continuing on, but then glanced at the shotgun housed within Harbinger and the magnum holstered at his hip. While his current armament was perfectly suited for close and medium distance combat, long-range was a different story. Normally he wouldn't care, especially since he obviously wasn't trained to handle any weird alien weapons, but after Abby's Aura was taken out in one hit by one of those things, he couldn't suppress his curiosity about what it would be like to use one. He'd heard more than a couple of stories from marines who'd picked up and wielded Covenant weapons on battlefields without too much trouble before, and one of the soldiers back at the rendezvous point had even claimed the dead major's nearly empty beam rifle, so how hard could it really be?

Coming to a decision, Qrow picked up one of the beam rifles. It was fairly heavy, and the lack of a stock made it somewhat awkward to aim, but the smart-link connection between the weapon and his glasses made it much easier. He also saw that, in the top right corner of his vision, his HUD displayed the ammo counter of the weapon. Unlike the magnum or even Harbinger, the ammo count was displayed as a percentage, currently at 77%. Qrow thought about taking a test shot but decided against it. The charge was clearly limited with little to no ability to replenish it, and the last thing he wanted was to out himself deep in No Man's Land.

Strapping the rifle onto the magnetic holster on his back, Qrow continued to follow the tracks. The further he went, the fewer buildings and remains of buildings there were. His cover was depleting fast, and there were no trees to speak of. But that wasn't a problem for him. Qrow came to a stop then glanced around one more time just to make sure no one was watching. When he was certain, he transformed himself into a small, black bird and flew high into the air.

Using the clouds as cover, Qrow kept his eyes glued to the ground as he followed the tracks. He made sure to keep as little of a profile as possible. There weren't any birds left on the planet, after all, besides the Jackals of course. If any of them were to see him, alarms might immediately be raised. Eventually, to Qrow's surprise, he saw two aliens rushing through the snow. It wasn't hard for him to realize that the two aliens were the very same Jackals he was tracking. He immediately turned to follow them, keeping a safe distance so that they wouldn't notice him. As they drew closer to the top of the ravine, Qrow thought he saw something odd a few hundred meters away from the camp buried under the snow and glass, but he didn't dwell on it for long.

It didn't take long before the two Jackals entered their encampment, located at the top of a ravine. It reminded him somewhat of the camps his tribe used to make back in Mistral when he was a child, only instead of wooden palisades, watchtowers, and guards it was metal barricades, hovering platforms, and plenty of plasma turrets. They were Type-29 Shades, if he remembered correctly, consisting of an open seat housing a large, front facing plasma cannon hovering on top of a tripod base. One of the turrets was golden in color, with the cannon glowing green from the fuel rods attached to it. Qrow had to assume that was an anti-air turret of some kind. They weren't manned by Jackals, though. Instead, he saw scores of Grunts tending to the equipment, being bossed around by Jackal overseers. Quite harshly, too, from what he could see.

In the center of the encampment was a round building, made of the same purple alloy that the Covenant seemed to favor. There were yellow markings painted onto the surface, which Qrow had to assume was some form of insignia meant to symbolize the pirates themselves. Several fuel tanks were laid out across the encampment, the pirates making sure to avoid straying too close. All in all, the entire camp was fairly well fortified. A frontal assault would result in a slaughter. On the far end of the encampment was a transceiver tower, which Qrow immediately recognized as the thing that was jamming their communications.

A loud squawk drew his attention, and Qrow looked down to see the pair of pirates animatedly talking to another Jackal Major. Only this one's armor was more ornately decorated, with even a fur cape attached to it. Qrow knew immediately this was their leader, and although he couldn't understand what the aliens were saying, something told him he was the topic of discussion. At first, he was worried that the jig was up, especially as the Jackal Major adopted what Qrow recognized as a look of fear, even with its inhuman features. That fear, however, was slowly replaced with incredulous disbelief.

Then, when the Jackal Major interrupted the two and sent them away in frustration, Qrow realized that the aliens, apart from the two he sent running with their tails between their legs, didn't believe their comrades' claims in the slightest. If he was in his human form, he might've let out a smile and laugh. But he couldn't, and so he turned around and flew back into the city. Qrow got what he wanted, so now it was time to report back what he found.

Once he got close enough, he descended to the ground and turned back into a human. Qrow kept his pace, though, and sprinted across the open field as fast as he could. He did manage to grab the second beam rifle as he passed it, though, figuring it might be useful. As he drew closer to his destination, he saw, much to his relief, that there was a lot more activity. The other Huntsmen clearly managed to find the other squads without much difficulty and led them back here, although their numbers were diminished. A quick count told him that, out of the fifty marines accompanying them, ten, including Private Smith, were KIA. Another five, including Jenkins, were wounded and being tended to.

What alarmed Qrow the most, though, was the distinct lack of other sergeants and even the lieutenant leading the platoon.

"Is this everyone?" Qrow asked as he approached Johnson.

"Branwen. Good, you're back," Johnson announced as he turned back to face the Huntsman. "Did you find it?"

"Yep, right in the heart of their camp, just as you thought," Qrow answered. "They've also laid out the welcome mat for us with Shades, barricades, watch towers, the whole shebang."

"Well damn. All we need now is some assorted cheese and wines and we'll be set," Johnson replied as he looked over a topographical map laid out on a flat chunk of polycrete. He then pointed to the map and asked, "Mind marking it out for us?"

Taking an offered pen, Qrow marked the area he saw the pirate's camp at. It was at the top of a ravine, giving them a good view of anything, and anyone, trying to approach their position. That posed a problem, but one they would have to overcome.

"We have another issue," Clover reported, drawing Qrow's attention. "As you've probably noticed, Lieutenant Jaleel and the other sergeants were assassinated. Sergeant Johnson's the only one remaining."

"They tried to cut off the head of the snake," Robyn added as she crossed her arms.

Qrow frowned, not liking that bit of news one bit. That meant these pirates were even smarter than he would've liked. He then let out a sigh and asked, "Well, that's just peachy. Anything else we should be worried about?"

"On our way back, we were spotted by one of the Pelicans that dropped us off," Abby revealed. "It attempted to pick us up, but…they were shot down."

Abby walked to the open front of the building, then pointed towards the remains of a large tower in the heart of the ruined city. "It came from up there. We weren't able to get a close look, but from what we saw, the entire tower is filled with AA guns."

"Fuel rods?" Qrow asked, thinking back to the AA-gun that he saw in their camp, but Abby shook her head.

"No, their guns fired these large, pink crystals that somehow tracked the Pelican. Once a few made contact, they exploded. The dropship never even had chance." Abby frowned, her mouse ears flattening against her head. "We went to the crash site, but…"

The young Huntress trailed off, but it was clear what she and the others found. Biting back a curse, Qrow looked back at Johnson and said, "If we don't take down that anti-air, it doesn't matter if we get communications back up and running."

"I know," Johnson replied, running his finger along the paper map. He then added, "But, luckily for you, I'm already coming up with a plan. It'll be risky, but with your help I think we can pull it off."

Johnson turned back to the Huntsmen, then asked, "If that's alright with you?"

Qrow's thoughts drifted to the planets he had seen before arriving at Khembalung. The desolate fields of glass that overshadowed what once was a vibrant world filled with people. A distinction that Khembalung, at one point, shared. Qrow then thought of Private Smith, and the other soldiers now missing from their group. Men that lost their lives and would never be able to return to their homes and families. He clenched his fist, and with steeled eyes, Qrow nodded. The others did as well, and Johnson let out a small smile.

"Alright. Here's what we're going to do."


Standing behind a corner of what used to be an alleyway, Robyn and Clover looked up at the ruined octagonal tower. It was far from what one would call a skyscraper, but at a mere ten stories tall it was, by far, the largest remaining building in the settlement. What was clear, though, was that it had seen better days. Much of the south wall had completely fallen away, and all of the windows were shattered. Piles of scorched rubble were strewn across the street, with some of them having exposed rebar. That wasn't what they were focusing on, though. Instead, the two Huntsmen were focused on the plethora of Shades the Jackals had set up in a defensive perimeter.

Like the turrets Qrow described at the encampment, they were Type-29 Shades that left their Grunt operators exposed. There were eight plasma turrets arranged on the upper two floors, scanning the area for any human presence. Patrolling along the building's floors were pairs of jackals, their wrist-mounted shields deactivated at the moment while they clutched their plasma pistols tightly in their hands. Judging by the attention they were giving to their surroundings, it was clear that they were ready to engage at a moment's notice.

"Mendoza, do you see the AA-gun?" Clover asked, speaking into TEAMCOMM.

"Hold on…yeah, I think I see it. Heavy Needler turret on the roof," Mendoza reported from half a kilometer back as he looked through the scope of his sniper rifle, along with another marine supporting him with a beam rifle.

"Do you have a shot?" Robyn asked.

"Negative, ma'am. I can only see the top of the Grunt's gas tank," he revealed, and Robyn sighed.

"Well, there goes that option," she said, then turned to Clover. "How do you want to handle this, Clover?"

"If I had my team with me, I'd order Elm to take out the support columns and collapse the entire structure while Harriet took out the guards," Clover admitted. Robyn looked at him for a moment, then turned away while rubbing the back of her head.

"…Yeah, that would've made things easier, wouldn't it?" she told herself, then sighed and looked back up at Clover. Before she could say anything, though, Clover raised his hand to stop her from what he assumed was an apology.

"Don't worry about it. We can make it work," he declared as he extended Kingfisher. He then pressed his fingers against his ear and said, "Mendoza, when I give the signal I need you to take out the two Shades in front of us."

"You got it, Ebi," Mendoza replied, and Clover turned back to Robyn.

"How fast can you get in there?" Clover asked the Happy Huntress, who smirked while cocking her wrist-mounted crossbow.

"Not as fast as Harriet, but I'm pretty light on my feet," she admitted, and Clover nodded.

"I'll trust you to take out the guards. I'll worry about the AA-gun," he stated.

Robyn nodded, then took cover against the wall. Clover did the same, and he idly rubbed the pin on his chest as he peeked out from behind the corner at their target. He watched as a few Jackals walked back, not noticing either him or Robyn. Once they disappeared behind a corner, Clover brought his fingers to his ear.

"Fire," he ordered.

At once, one loud report was heard from behind them, accompanied by a white contrail and a line of purple light that hit their targets. The two Grunts manning the Shades slumped over, their heads and the methane tanks attached to their backs blown out. Squawks of alarm rang out as the pirates reacted to the attack, but the two Huntsmen were already sprinting across the open street. As the two marines fired again, keeping the Jackals' attention, Clover and Robyn entered the ground floor and sprinted up the stairwell. They ran across a few Jackals rushing to counterattack, but they were taken out without any issue. Robyn was the first one out, where she emerged from behind two Jackals who were taking cover behind their arm gauntlets.

Without missing a beat, she fired a single crossbow bolt into the back of the right Jackal's head. The alien dropped like a rock, and the other squawked and turned to face her. But Robyn was quicker as she jumped over the Jackal and sliced the bladed wing of her weapon through most of its thin neck, releasing a spray of arterial purple. As the alien slumped over, Robyn was already running around the floor as fast as she could. Focusing on the Shades, she killed the drivers before they were able to react. Two Jackals with their shields already up attempted to block her off and fire their plasma pistols at her, but Robyn merely launched an explosive bolt at their feet. The ensuing explosion sent chunks of their bodies flying off in different directions, staining the ground and nearby wall with their bright purple blood.

"Clover, all eyes are on me!" Robyn announced as she dove behind a column when more Jackals came down the stairwell, their shields and pistols raised.

As soon as they saw Robyn, they opened fire. Bolts of green, boiling-hot plasma struck the polycrete pillar, burning chunks of it off and sending swaths of blistering heat over her skin. Robyn grit her teeth to fight off the pain, grateful that her Aura was there to protect her.

It didn't last long, however, as Clover pulled himself up from the outside edge of the building onto the floor. Throwing out Kingfisher's line, he wrapped it around the entire group of surprised Jackals, then pulled with all his strength. The wire bit into the pirates' flesh even as they were hurled from the tower, their screaming forms crashing into the remains of buildings on the opposite side of the street. Loud crunches and cracks cut the screaming off, followed by silence.

"Come on, let's go," Clover declared, turning back to the stairwell only to jump back as an intense stream of plasma fire came down the stairwell.

"Dammit!" Robyn cursed, then turned towards where she knew their snipers were emplaced. "Mendoza, can you get rid of these guys?"

"They have a wall of shields blocking us, and the other Shades are spraying fire in our direction!" Mendoza revealed. "We'll have to rebase before we can do anything!"

Robyn grit her teeth, then looked at Clover and asked, "Well, any bright ideas?"

"Just one," Clover replied as he rubbed his pin once again.

Grabbing a grenade, he ran to the edge of the building and hitched the bladed hook at the end of Kingfisher's line around its ring. He pressed the priming pin and hung the now smoking fragmentation grenade off the side with the flexible pole at full extension, careful to make sure it didn't hit anything and start the detonation timer. He looked up to the top of the building, seeing that they were two stories beneath the roof. Figuring he had enough line to make his improvised plan work, he let out a few feet of slack then leaned his upper body out of the building to face up to the edge of the roof. He angled the rod behind his head, narrowed his eyes in concentration, then whipped it forward to cast his 'lure' almost vertically up. The hooked grenade shot up, trailing the line behind it with the whiz of the spinning reel. At the top of the arc, the grenade passed the rooftop and Clover stopped the reel, causing it to stall as gravity started to take over.

At first, it looked as though the grenade didn't have enough horizontal momentum to make it over the edge onto the landing and would just fall right back down. Instead, Clover gave a practiced flick of the wrist that sent a wave twirling up through the line. When it hit the floating end, the explosive was whiplashed right off the hook and sailed out of sight past the roof edge. Clover and Robyn heard faint clinks as the grenade bounced and skipped along the roof, then came to a stop. A heavy pause followed, and even the Jackals above them stopped firing their weapons. Then the grenade went off, causing a large explosion that sent dust, debris, and a few bodies flying off. To everyone's surprise, the grenade's explosion was followed by yet another explosion, only this one was much larger and sent the entire building rattling to its foundations. Judging by the pink smoke and shards of blamite falling around them, it didn't take much to realize that Clover's grenade 'throw' had settled squarely at the base of the anti-aircraft turret, and what's more, it had somehow caused a chain reaction with the giant Needler's ammunition, setting off all the blamite in a supercombine blast.

The building shook violently as large cracks began to emerge. Realizing what was about to happen, Clover and Robyn sprinted and jumped off the side. A moment later, the weakened structure completely collapsed in on itself, taking the remaining pirates and their equipment with them. It threatened to crush Clover and Robyn as well, but Clover was able to use one of his landing strategies by snagging a neighboring building with Kingfisher to swing himself and Robyn to safety. They landed on their backs, rolling around slightly before managing to reorient themselves onto their feet. Slowly, the two Huntsmen stood up, watching as the building finished its collapse and sent clouds of dust blowing in all directions, forcing them to shield their faces with their arms. When the dust settled, and they were able to look at the destruction they had wrought, any trace of the tower was gone.

"Holy shit, what the hell did you do? Needlers aren't supposed to detonate like that," Mendoza quietly asked through TEAMCOMM. "They have safety measures and stuff to prevent that from happening…"

Clover looked at Robyn for a moment, then shrugged and replied, "Call it good luck."

"I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that 'luck' was due to soul magic bullshit. If so, that's fine by me," Mendoza admitted. Clover and Robyn couldn't help but chuckle slightly, then they rushed back to the rendezvous point, knowing that their comrade's operation was already underway.


Laying prone and looking up the ravine, Qrow peered through the scope of his beam rifle towards the pirate encampment. From the look of things, they were about to send hunting parties out into the ruined city. Unfortunately for the Jackals, they wouldn't have to go far. With the exception of a few marines staying behind to look after the wounded, as well as Mendoza and another whose name Qrow didn't recall who went with Clover and Robyn, every other marine and Huntsman was lying in wait. Their guns, mostly assault rifles with a few sniper rifles joined by their pilfered beam rifles, were trained on the pirates. At this range, only the sniper rifles and beam rifles would have any significant impact, but that wouldn't be for long.

"Snipers, be ready to take out those Shades," Johnson ordered, armed with his own sniper rifle that he borrowed from a wounded marine who was unable to effectively use it. He then turned his head towards Abby and asked, "Redwall, that Semblance of yours. You certain it can get us up there?"

Abby nodded and replied, "Yes, I'm sure. I have a year's worth of Aura stored up in my sword, and this should only a portion of it."

"Little bit too late for that now, Sergeant," Qrow pointed out. "We're already here. What were you going to do if she couldn't?"

"Wait here and draw the Jackals to us," Johnson immediately answered.

Qrow turned his head to look at the marine, then shrugged in mild acceptance. Their current position wasn't anywhere near ideal, especially when compared to the building they were previously using as their base of operations. But, they had the benefit of distance on their side as he doubted the Shades would have near enough range to accurately hit them. Still, that would undoubtedly lead to more casualties. To have the greatest odds of success, they had to strike the Jackals where they lived.

His thoughts were broken as they heard a large explosion behind them. Briefly turning his head, Qrow saw a cloud of smoke rising from the ruined tower that the Jackal AA-guns were located in. Realizing that Clover and Robyn had succeeded, Qrow aimed his beam rifle at the head of a stupefied Jackal then fired a single shot. He saw the heat gauge on his HUD jump up and winced as he felt the weapon grow noticeably warm in his hands, but he focused instead on the Jackal whose head had exploded, along with part of its upper body.

All around Qrow, the other snipers opened fire as well, concentrating on the Shades and any pirate foolish enough to be out in the open. Extra attention was given to the snipers on their floating watchtowers. It didn't take long for the Jackals and the Grunts to react, the former activating their shield gauntlets or attempting to return fire with their own weapons as the Grunts rushed to man the now empty Shades. The marine snipers, meanwhile, worked to ensure that didn't happen, but soon volleys of plasma fire was being directed at them.

Reloading his sniper rifle, Johnson turned to Abby and yelled, "Redwall, you're up!"

"On it!" Abby replied as she quickly stood up and held out her family's sword, Mossflower.

She closed her eyes and breathed in and out deeply as her body shimmered with red Aura. Then, Mossflower began to glow in the same color, and as she opened her eyes the claymore's blade became enveloped in crimson energy that reminded Johnson somewhat of an energy sword. Only instead of plasma, it was pure, concentrated Aura. Aura that was quickly expanding, becoming longer and wider until it nearly covered a whole swathe of their firing line. With the projected blade held horizontally, its flat surface intercepted any plasma fired their way.

"We're good!" Abby shouted above the cacophony, and at once the marines stood up and gathered behind the shielding cover of the aura blade.

"Move, move!" Johnson ordered, and with a battle cry the marines and Huntsmen began to sprint up the ravine. Abby was at the front with the rest of the column behind her, her blade taking the brunt of the fire. Occasionally a stray round would be able to make it through a gap, striking a marine and sending them stumbling like a ragdoll back down. Any Jackals attempting to strike Abby directly, though, were quickly taken out by the marine snipers who'd stayed back at their original cover.

Soon, the humans reached the top of the ravine, and Abby let out a yell as she swung her weapon as hard as she could. The aura-encased blade cleaved right through anything in its path, cutting apart Shades, watchtowers, Jackals and Grunts alike as though they were merely made of paper. Only then did her Semblance collapse, and Abby's Aura flickered. She briefly fell to her knees, but a nearby marine quickly helped her up and she went back into the fray.

The entire encampment became consumed in chaos as the marines attacked the now panicked and confused Jackals. Their shots were wild and inaccurate, but the same couldn't be said for the marines nor Qrow. While the Jackals were clearly organized and knew what they were doing, they were nowhere near as well trained and had completely lost their nerve.

At the same time, Qrow was at the center of the fight, moving with blinding speed as he hacked the Jackals and Grunts apart with Harbinger in its sword form. Punctuated by shotgun blasts, Qrow was practically a blur. The Jackals and Grunts barely stood a chance, as any who got in his way were killed almost instantly. Those further back attempted to fire on him, but the marines cut them down faster.

Taking a short rest to reload his weapon, Qrow watched as the battle continued to rage. A few wounded and dead marines were lying in the snow, but there were far more dead Grunts and Jackals. The entire encampment was practically littered with their remains, and the Huntsman couldn't help but let out a small smirk. Everything was going remarkably well, but Qrow refused to let himself jinx it.

Chambering a few shells, Qrow rushed back into the fray. By now, the pirates on the opposite end of the encampment had turned their guns around and opened fire on the humans. A few unfortunate marines were cut down, their bodies blasted apart into smoldering chunks while the rest dove to cover behind the central building or one of the many supply crates that housed the pirates' weapons. Unlike the materials the UNSC used, the Covenant alloy proved highly effective at blocking the plasma, but even so they were beginning to boil away after a few hits.

"They're too dug in!" Johnson yelled, blindly firing a few rounds from his assault rifle from behind cover. Scowling, Qrow briefly broke cover to fire a few rounds from his pistol himself, but only managed to cut down a single Grunt before a Shade turret aimed in his direction and began firing. He recognized this Shade, however, as their AA-gun, forcing Qrow to grab Johnson and a nearby marine before sprinting away. A moment later, two fuel rod shots struck the snow where he previously stood, creating a massive explosion that fried everything nearby. Even with his Aura, Qrow knew he would've died had he stayed.

"Dammit, we need to get rid of that AA gun!" Qrow shouted, continuing to run as the pirates fired on him and the marines. Attempts at taking out the gun were being made, but unfortunately the pirates' leader had managed to regroup his remaining forces. A wall of gauntlet shields and deployable covers blocked the humans from getting a good shot while giving the AA gun enough of an opening to rain Hell upon them.

It fired another volley, and three marines were consumed by fiery green explosions, their bodies completely destroyed. This sent the remaining marines scrambling for cover, only for a few more to be picked off by Jackals firing their plasma pistols from behind their shields. Knowing that if they kept this up their entire operation would be finished, Qrow scowled and looked around for an opening. Spotting one at the far end of the camp, he sprinted as fast as he could. Plasma bolts struck the ground as he passed. Realizing what he was doing, Abby ran right behind him. Occasionally the two Huntsmen would swipe their weapons to intercept plasma bolts that strayed too close, but each time they did so noticeably reduced their Aura.

Once they reached the break in the line, they turned hard to the right and sprinted towards the pirates. Three of the Jackals turned their shields towards them and began firing their plasma pistols, but this produced enough of a gap in their line for a marine sniper to pierce two of them with one shot. The third was shielded by his gauntlet, which caused the bullet to ricochet harmlessly into a nearby mountain, but it did throw the Jackal off enough to allow Qrow to close the distance and decapitate the alien with one swing.

Now in the thick of the remaining pirates, Qrow and Abby began attacking in earnest. Their swords swung through the Jackal's thin bodies without much resistance, sending bright purple blood, limbs, and heads flying everywhere. The remaining Grunts panicked and began running around wildly, their arms waving above their heads and ignoring the Jackals trying to get them back in line. The AA Shade attempted to turn around and fire on the two Huntsmen, but at this range Qrow merely fired a shotgun shell into the partially exposed canopy, some of the scattershot ricocheting off the protective plating but with the bulk of it spraying across the pilot's chest. Neon blue blood and gore splattered against the seat and the splayed out corpse upon it, and the Shade continued to harmlessly spin in a circle.

With their biggest gun out of commission, the pirate line fell apart, allowing the marines to break cover and open fire. The remaining pirates began falling, their bodies being riddled with bullet holes. A few grenades were thrown over the deployed covers, their detonations blowing apart any Jackals or Grunts in their radius while also destroying the plasma barriers. Before long, there was nothing separating the pirates from the humans' onslaught. Most of the remaining pirates panicked completely and turned tail to run, but they didn't get far as the humans cut them down. Only a handful of pirates kept up the defense, with the apparent leader furiously glaring at Qrow and Abby as they continued to rack up the body count.

As Qrow cleaved a pair of Jackals in half, he saw the pirate commander open a container laying at his feet. What the Jackal pulled out immediately caught Qrow's attention. It was a large, purple shoulder-mounted weapon that the Jackal visibly strained to carry. An upward curving handguard protected the Jackal's arm as he aimed it, and on the back Qrow could see several inert fuel rods stacked on top of each other. He recognized it immediately as a Fuel Rod Gun, the Covenant's equivalent to a rocket launcher. It was being aimed at Abby, who only noticed it right as the Jackal prepared to fire. Qrow immediately launched an Aura slash at the leader in an attempt to stop it, but he could already see his attack was going to be blocked by the shields of the subordinates who were guarding it. Desperate, he focused his Semblance on the commander as he rushed towards Abby, hoping to somehow get her out of the way in time.

Then the Jackal pulled the trigger, and both Huntsmen flinched. But, instead of an explosive fuel rod being fired, the entire weapon shook. Hot green plasma began to leak from its containment, and the Jackal panicked while trying to hurl it away. It didn't get far as the weapon promptly exploded with the force of a grenade, consuming the pirate leader completely along with anyone nearby and sending both Qrow and Abby flying back. They landed on their backs then rolled to their feet, and when they looked they saw that there was nothing left of the pirate besides a ring of glass where it previously stood.

With their leader's death, the remaining pirates fell apart. Soon there was nothing left, and only then did the humans cease their attack. Looking around to see if there was anyone left, Qrow saw two pairs of footsteps leading off down the other side of the ravine. Straining his vision, he saw the very same Jackals he followed earlier making a run for it. The two must've deserted as soon as the fighting started, realizing what was about to go down.

Before he could say anything, though, two sniper shots rang out, causing both of the Jackals to fall to the ground.

"Got 'em," the marine responsible said with grim satisfaction.

Qrow looked at him in slight surprise. Before he said anything, though, he remembered the reason why they were there in the first place. Figuring that the pirates deserved it, and that none of the marines would particularly care about protests, Qrow turned back towards the camp, where he saw Abby assisting other marines in taking down the jammer. Namely by hacking it apart with Mossflower.

"Kappus, get on the horn and radio for evac," Johnson ordered as he sat down on an overturned supply crate, nursing a slight burn on his arm from a stray plasma bolt that came too close for comfort. Private Kappus was already on it, speaking into his headset and alerting the remaining Pelicans of their presence.

"Not to bring down the mood, but unless Keyes can take down those pirate ships, we're not getting out of here," Qrow pointed out, but Johnson merely shrugged as he pulled out another cigar and lit it up.

"I wouldn't be too worried. Commander Keyes knows what he's doing. If anyone's gonna get us out of here, it'll be him," Johnson confidently declared. Qrow raised a cynical eyebrow, then shrugged. He couldn't help but look up at the sky, though, as he saw a few more explosions that indicated the space battle was still raging.

"I'm going to help secure the area," Qrow said as he left Johnson behind. The marine sergeant nodded and watched him go, then stood up and followed with his rifle at the ready.

"You don't need to join me," Qrow pointed out, but Johnson merely shook his head.

"Promised two little ladies that I'd hold your hand, remember?" Johnson asked, a slight smile on his face. Qrow couldn't help but roll his eyes as he continued going forward, leaving the bounds of the camp behind him. As they left the ruined barricade, Johnson perked an eyebrow and asked, "Any reason why you're taking us on this little field trip?"

"Thought I saw something up ahead while I was doing recon," Qrow answered. "Figured now was the best time to check it out."

"Ah, I see," Johnson replied, frowning slightly as he brought his assault rifle up to his shoulder. At the same time, Qrow tightened his grip on Harbinger, keeping his eye peeled for any danger. While he was fairly certain all of the pirates were dead, that wasn't a complete guarantee.

Finally, the two men came across the site Qrow had spotted earlier. At first glance, the relatively flat area didn't seem all that different from the rest of the desolate landscape. But Qrow and Johnson quickly noticed the odd bumps in the snow, as though something was buried underneath. Glancing at each other, Johnson and Qrow crouched near one and began digging out whatever was underneath the snow. It didn't take long for Qrow to feel something hard and smooth, and he sighed and closed his eyes regretfully as he pulled the object out.

"God damn them," Johnson muttered under his breath as they beheld the human skull Qrow found. It was completely clean of any flesh, but from the teeth marks that littered the bone, it wasn't hard to determine how that happened.

"This is a few month's old," Qrow noted, comparing what he'd seen back on Remnant during his many search and rescue missions and investigations to now.

"So, there were survivors here," Johnson somberly noted.

Qrow nodded, then said, "But the Jackals found them first."

The two stared in cold silence at what they now recognized as the mass grave of the last survivors of Khembalung. Survivors that could have been saved had they arrived just a few months before. Knowing that there wasn't anything he could do for them now, Qrow closed his eyes and sighed before standing back up. At the very least, he could take some satisfaction in the fact that he and everyone else avenged their murders, but that was a small comfort at best.


Keyes braced himself against the holotable as yet another impact sent the Midsummer Night rocking. The commander didn't even bother asking what was lost. He already knew that the answer was yet another of their point defense guns. They were down to just one and, combined with their engine output being reduced to a mere twenty-percent capacity, that meant the pirates only needed one more good hit to leave them stranded. Just in case they lost atmosphere, he had everyone on the ship don pressurized suits, including himself and the Huntsmen. It wouldn't do much if they were vented out into space, but it was better than nothing.

Still, Keyes didn't allow himself to grow too worried, especially since his plan to get them out of this mess was already underway.

"Status on the MAC gun?!" Keyes asked as he stared at the now flickering holotable.

"MAC charge at eighty-percent and climbing, sir," Shakespeare replied, his avatar flickering in and out as smaller impacts sent shudders throughout the Midsummer Night. "I estimate we will be ready to fire in two minutes."

Keyes nodded at the information, then ordered, "Slingshot around Beyuls into the asteroid belt! Prime all remaining Archer pods to fire on my command!"

The Midsummer Night immediately complied with Keyes' orders, and the ship flew around the small moon as fast as it could. Its momentum carried them across the void of space, the two storm cutters who still had their shields intact right on their heels. Keyes could practically taste the bloodlust the pirates were exuding as they gained on their injured prey. With any luck, that would blind them to the trap he had laid for them.

Using the asteroids for cover, the Stalwart-class frigate flew away from their pursuers, exchanging fire whenever they could. Micrometeorite impacts could be heard and felt across the ship, but Keyes accepted whatever damage they caused and continued to press forward. Both he and the Jackal pirates had to carefully fly around the larger asteroids, though Keyes couldn't help but note that the pirates, just as he both expected and hoped for, were allowing themselves to fly closer to the asteroids themselves in order to keep closing in. Each scrape against the massive rocks made their shields flicker on impact, while the asteroids themselves were shattered into nothing more than dust.

Keyes didn't focus on that, though. Instead, he kept his attention on the holotable itself, which was now zoomed out to display the section of the asteroid belt they were currently in. Dots and orbs representing individual asteroids were shown, but most remained unnamed. Only a handful actually had designations, and Keyes was flying right towards the largest of them, 2499 Karakal. With a diameter of five kilometers, 2499 Karakal was the largest asteroid in the entire system, one that was previously a target of mining before the Insurrection and Covenant put a stop to those plans. It had laid untouched ever since it's discovery, and only now was it finally going to be put to use.

"Sir, MAC gun fully charged and ready to fire," Shakespeare reported as they neared the asteroid. Keyes nodded but kept his eyes focused on the asteroid, and the payload hidden in its shadow.

The Midsummer Night passed by the asteroid with no issue, and the pirates, oblivious to the danger they were flying into, kept up their pursuit. Keyes mentally counted down as they approached the asteroid, and as soon as they got into position, he calmly ordered, "Detonate."

At first, there was nothing. Then, the blackness of space was pierced by a blinding white light as the Shiva-class nuclear warhead that had been delivered by the Longsword he had launched earlier detonated within a crater right on the other side of the asteroid. The thirty megaton explosion sent large cracks splintering throughout the superstructure and bombarded the two Covenant vessels with a storm of stone and ice chunks like a massive fragmentation mine. Their shields rippled and visibly strained under the impact, and from the way they were quickly trying to turn away, it was clear that Keyes' plan had worked.

"Hard starboard then fire!" Keyes shouted as he braced himself against the holotable.

A moment later, the entire ship lurched as it shut off the rear engines and refocused the power onto their auxiliary maneuvering thrusters. Firing at all cylinders, the ship did an about face, orienting itself right at the nearest of the storm cutters. As soon as the ship was lined up, the entire ship shook as their Mark II Magnetic Accelerator Cannon fired a single super-dense ferric-tungsten slug at hypervelocity. The round struck the weakened shields, and after a momentary flicker, they failed completely and allowed the projectile to continue. It pierced the alien vessel's hull and out the other side, where it struck the other ship's shields as well. As the first ship violently exploded in a purple ball of fire, the remaining storm cutter's shields broke. But the round didn't have enough momentum to continue going, allowing the storm cutter a chance to turn and flee.

They didn't get far, however, as a moment later a salvo of the Midsummer Night's remaining Archer missiles streamed across the void of space right towards the storm cutter. Its point defense guns attempted to shoot them down, and while they got most, there were far too many. Nearly three hundred missiles streamed towards the storm cutter, and over a hundred managed to make it through and strike the unprotected hull. A series of explosions rippled through the alien space craft, and soon it joined its brethren as the ship bulged and broke apart.

Only then did Keyes allow himself to sigh in relief as the rest of the crew began to cheer. He could hear the compliment of marines, and perhaps even the Huntsmen themselves, join in on the celebration from deeper in the ship. Straightening himself out, Keyes directed the Midsummer Night back towards Khembalung. They still had men to retrieve, and he'd only celebrate once they were back in UNSC controlled space to conduct repairs.

At the same time, Keyes couldn't help but feel just a little apprehensive. Despite the fact that his lone ship took out two Covenant vessels on its own, a rare feat admittedly, he had placed his crew and Remnant's delegation under unacceptable risk. Disembarking down to Khembalung when they knew it was a trap was now, obviously, a mistake. One that could've resulted in catastrophic failure. In hindsight, they should've just left it alone. He just knew he was in for an earful once he got back.

Still, he'd allow himself this moment to bask in the celebration. They won the battle, even if they took a few blows to do it. He'd fret about the tongue-lashing he'd get later.

[~][~]

Hello, everyone. Here's the latest chapter of Dust and Echoes. Special thanks to Jesse K and NaanContributor for their help in bringing this to life.

The Skirmish on Khembalung has come to a close, and although the humans won, it was not without cost. Now they must move on, but this was only their first encounter against the Covenant. More are obviously coming, some sooner than others.

Now, I have an announcement to make. Due to the sheer number of reviews I tend to get per chapter, I will no longer be doing the Q&A sessions for this or any of my stories. They take far too long for me to answer which delays the posting of the chapters tremendously. I know this will be a disappointment to some, but it will make things easier for me when it comes to posting these chapters. If you guys do have any non-spoiler questions, please feel free to PM me and I may be able to provide an answer.

Let us know what you guys think, and I hope you enjoy. Also, please feel free to add onto the TV Tropes page for this story. Any additions you guys add are greatly appreciated.