Dust and Echoes (RWBY/Halo)
Chapter 25: Sow the Death
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The entire chamber was utterly silent, with not a soul making a sound. It was so quiet, Qrow could hear the heartbeat of the man standing next to him. All of his attention was completely focused on the holographic projection right in front of him, the same as everyone else. His mind raced as he tried everything he could think of to refute the damning conclusion staring him in the face. But try as he might, he couldn't. The number of planets in the solar system, the type and composition of its sun, the size of the asteroid belt, and most damning of all, the lone, shattered moon that orbited the only habitable planet.
There was no other conclusion. He was staring at the Oum System. At Remnant.
Dare was the first one to move, shouting into her helmet's comm, "Dare to Midsummer Night, call off the evacuation!"
As her voice cut into the others' stupor, Commander Keyes' voice rang through TEAMCOM as he asked in a worried voice, "Keyes to groundside. Pelicans are on standby. What's the situation?"
"It's the Cartographer, Commander!" Dare revealed as she spun on her heels and began stomping away, leaving the others behind. "It's a damn star map containing the location of other Forerunner relics in this sector! It had Remnant on it, along with nearly a dozen other colonies!"
There was a long, heavy pause as Keyes went silent on the other end. Qrow could only imagine what was going through the UNSC commander's head. Then he frankly replied, "…God damn it. Hold your position, I'm coming down there personally. Did the Covenant make off with the data?"
"Unknown at this time, sir, but they sure as Hell were trying," Dare reported.
Keyes cursed again, then he replied, "I'm bringing Shakespeare down with me. He'll be able to figure out if they made a copy. In the meantime, get every analyst and AI already onsite to look at the Cartographer. That is our highest priority."
"Understood, sir. Dare, out," Dare said, then turned around and waved her arm back and forth to motion the marines and Huntsmen gathered around the Cartographer itself to join her.
Qrow nodded immediately along with the others, then hastily moved away from the platform. As he did, analysts carrying big, heavy boxes and computers took their place. They quickly set up their equipment, pulling out thick cords that they began to attach to the Forerunner device in any way they could. He didn't bother trying to figure out how they did so, as he had other concerns on his mind.
"How in the Hell did that thing have Remnant on it?! Shit!" Sienna Khan cursed as she slammed her foot onto the ground and shook her hands violently.
"If I had to guess, based off this site's function, it would appear that Remnant has Forerunner artifacts located on it," Vine stated, his voice carrying a hint of worry that bordered on confusion and fear.
"I couldn't help but notice that some of them were in the same locations as the capitals of our kingdoms," Elm added. "What does that mean?"
"I have no idea," Clover answered, then glanced over at Qrow. "You have any ideas?"
Qrow did have a few ideas, actually. Ideas that were more than a little disturbing. Elm was absolutely correct. The largest of the symbols they saw were located in the same geographic areas as Vale, Atlas, Mistral and Vacuo. He didn't have any confirmation yet, but those were the same places as the Four Relics, hidden in large vaults underneath the Huntsmen Academies. His instincts were screaming at him that they weren't a coincidence. At the same time, he didn't have confirmation.
Deciding to keep his suspicions to himself for the moment, Qrow shook his head and added, "Your guess is as good as mine."
Clover nodded, taking Qrow at his word. Johnson kept his gaze lingering on Qrow for a bit longer, his eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion, but he soon shifted his attention elsewhere.
Robyn, meanwhile, muttered, "This is bad. If the Covenant made a copy of that data, even of a portion of it…. They'd know where Remnant is."
"And they'd have every reason to send a fleet to secure whatever artifacts are on the planet," Johnson grimly finished, clenching his fists tightly.
"We'd be defenseless…." Fiona whimpered, holding her arms close as Joanna gently wrapped her arm around her shoulder to comfort her.
Gron, meanwhile, raged, "Great! Just great! Now your war is coming to my home! Gods damn it!"
"Calm down, Gron," Yuri told his teammate.
"No, you don't get to tell me to calm down! Not when we have an alien armada about to bear down on us!"
"Not yet," Dare interjected, causing everyone to focus their attentions on her. Dare now had her helmet off and held in her hands, and she grimly continued, "I'm not going to lie. This is bad, worse than any of my worst case scenarios."
"You had more than one?" Qrow couldn't help but sarcastically ask.
"Don't patronize me," Dare rebuked. "But as bad as it might seem, we don't know if the Covenant got the data yet, nor if they managed to transmit it before our attack. That could give us an opening to prevent Remnant's location from leaking."
"Along with all the other colonies," Abby added, and Dare nodded.
"Exactly," Dare agreed. "Needless to say, plans have changed. We're not leaving the planet until we find out for certain whether the Covenant managed to download a copy of the Cartographer's data. If they did, our AIs will be able to figure it out, then we hunt the bastards down and recover or destroy whatever they managed to grab."
"Sounds good to me," Qrow replied. "You're not going to try and make us sit this one out, are you?"
"This directly involves both your home planet and several of our colonies. As far as I'm concerned, this is no longer an escort, it's a joint operation. I guarantee the Commander feels the same," Dare confirmed, and Qrow nodded in agreement.
With their immediate plan of action decided upon, the group made their way back up to the entrance of the Cartographer. As the other marines and soldiers secured the relic site, Cyclops mechs pulled the remains of the Covenant citadel apart, clearing the land for a UNSC firebase to be established. The air was swarming with activity, with passing flights of Hornets and Falcons scouring the nearby jungle for any surviving Covenant. Occasionally the sound of rainfall and cracks of thunder would be joined by bursts of gunfire and explosions, but otherwise the scene was remarkably calm.
It wasn't long until a Pelican dropship, escorted by two Longswords, descended from the storm clouds above. Thin white contrails followed the spacecrafts, and as the Longswords broke away the Pelican continued its descent. It soon arrived at the entrance to the Cartographer, turning around so that the troop bay doors were facing the site itself. At the same time, a Condor arrived to drop down a modified Elephant, beginning the construction of a proper firebase.
As soon as Commander Jacob Keyes and his marine escort walked out of the Pelican, his dark-grey cap partially shielding his eyes from the heavy rain, he moved towards Dare and said, "Take me down."
"Of course, sir. This way," Dare responded, turning on her heels to begin walking back down the metal slopes.
The other marines and soldiers already present in the site gave them a wide berth, a few quickly saluting the Commander before otherwise continuing with their assigned duties. Keyes gave them no mind, his eyes utterly focused on the holographic projection at the heart of the Cartographer itself. Analysts and Dumb AIs were already hard at work combing through the data, with an Army Captain presiding over a central holotank that they had set up right in front of the strange orb that Abby had accidentally used to activate the ancient relic.
"Use this, sir," the Captain declared, stepping aside to let Commander Keyes through.
Nodding respectfully towards the woman, Keyes pulled out a small data chip that had a glowing hole in the center. Inserting it into a slot on the top of the holotank, the soldiers, marines, and Huntsmen watched as Shakespeare popped into existence.
"My word, that is a lot of data," Shakespeare immediately declared, his eyes widening at the scope of it all. "I've never seen this much. It would take me years to go through it all…."
"Focus, Shakespeare. We don't have the time look over everything," Keyes pointed out, and the Smart AI nodded immediately.
"Of course, Commander. My apologies, it's just… You know how we Smart AIs think. Any crumb of new information is like sweet ambrosia to us," Shakespeare replied, then pulled out a holographic scroll that he began to read through.
"Hmm, hmm… Yes, the Covenant were certainly interested in this data. Began pulling from it weeks ago," Shakespeare reported.
"Weeks? How can it take weeks to download a map?" May asked as she lifted her hands up in confusion.
"This is no mere map, my lady," Shakespeare rebuffed. "This is far, far more intricate. What you are seeing right now isn't just a map of the Oum System. If what I'm reading is correct, this Cartographer contains detailed information on every single planet and orbiting body in real time. Mineral composition, solar weather, magnetic interference. It would take dozens of individual and specialized stations to gather even a fraction of the information this lone facility is doing by itself."
Harriet looked back up at the Oum System projection, and with awe in her voice she asked, "How is that possible?"
"I haven't the faintest clue," Shakespeare admitted. "But as much as I would love to ascertain the answer to that inquiry, we have more pressing concerns."
"Yes, we do. Did the Covenant finish downloading the data?" Keyes asked, and Shakespeare grimly nodded.
"From the internal record logs of this station, yes," Shakespeare confirmed. "They downloaded a copy into an external hard drive about half an hour ago. The timeline matches to just a few minutes before Casper's Semblance teleported UNSC forces in behind the Covenant's defenses."
"Damn it, you mean we missed them?!" Thomas shouted, gripping his brown hair tightly, and Shakespeare once again nodded.
"Then it's over," Sepia faintly muttered, his arms going slack. "The Covenant knows where Remnant is, and when they find us—"
"You didn't let me finish, Mr. Honeycreep. My, what an impatient one you are," Shakespeare interrupted the Valean. He then continued, "While I can see that the Covenant did, indeed, finish downloading the data, it appears that the data itself is simply too large to be wirelessly transferred to the Covenant stealth ship that is still in the system."
"Too large?" Qrow asked, and Shakespeare nodded.
"Let me clarify. The data housed in this Cartographer can be wirelessly transferred to an external drive in some orbital vessel or station. But doing so would not only take a tremendous amount of time – remember, the Covenant spent weeks downloading every scrap of data they could from this relic – it would also generate a lot of signal traffic. Traffic that would've affected communications across the planet, thereby notifying the UNSC of their presence. By all accounts, this was supposed to be a stealth operation. A well defended stealth operation that we interrupted, but the intent was the same. As such, a wireless upload was simply not an option."
"So they had to physically carry it out," Yuri stated, his eyes widening, and Shakespeare smiled.
"Precisely. My guess is that, whatever hard drive the Covenant were using to store the data was inside the Citadel we destroyed."
"Any luck that the data was destroyed with it?" Clover asked in a hopeful tone, but Qrow shook his head.
"No, my luck isn't that good," he stated, and Dare immediately began scrolling through a tac-pad.
"Hmm, one of our Wolverines stationed on the northeast flank reported shooting down a Phantom about thirty minutes ago," she revealed. "It matches with the timetable."
"I remember seeing a Phantom haul ass out of here after picking up a bunch of Elites," Casper added, prompting Dare to focus all of her attention onto the Huntress.
"Those Elites, what did they look like?"
"They…looked like Elites. I wasn't particularly paying attention to them, what with all the shooting going on."
"Did you at least notice the color of their armors?" Dare forcefully asked.
Casper tilted her head for a moment, then snapped her fingers and replied, "Yeah, yeah, I remember that. They were wearing this ornate maroon armor, except for one guy with a sword. His armor was gold."
Dare nodded then declared, "Zealots. That's what I thought."
"Zealots? What are they?" Robyn asked, and Dare looked at her.
"A Zealot is a highly specialized rank in the Covenant military. They're special operations units tasked with securing Forerunner artifacts," Dare revealed. "That Elite wearing gold was most likely the Field Marshal in charge of this entire site. Were they carrying anything with them onto that Phantom?"
"I didn't see, on account of me getting shot at," Casper answered, and Dare bit back a curse.
"We have to assume that they were," Commander Keyes stated as he pulled out his empty pipe and began to chew on its end. "Alright, if I were the Covenant…I would believe that securing the information in the Cartographer was our highest priority. I would throw everything I had into delaying the UNSC forces, buying enough time to finish the download and extract the data. Then, once the download was complete, I would load it into a Phantom and evacuate."
"That sounds accurate to me," Johnson replied. "Too bad you didn't count on a bunch of superpowered Huntsmen breaking through your line, nor your Phantom getting shot down."
"It's a damn shame, Sergeant. A travesty, even," Keyes responded with a perfect deadpan, pulling the pipe away from his lips. "We need to find that Phantom. If we're lucky, those Zealots died in the crash with the data either intact for us to recover, saving us the trouble of downloading it ourselves, or destroyed. Frankly, if we can't get that data I'm more than happy with it getting deleted if that means the Covenant can't get their hands on it."
"I certainly won't be complaining," Johnson confirmed. "But Elites are tough sons of bitches, especially Zealots. What if they did survive the crash?"
"Then we hunt them down. If we can, recover the data. If not, we destroy it," Keyes answered, then turned towards Dare. "Lieutenant, I'm placing you in charge of this operation. Find that Phantom. In the meantime, I'll be coordinating with the fleet to find that stealth ship."
"I'll notify the ONI prowlers in the system to lend their assistance," Dare added, then gave the Commander a crisp salute. The other marines, soldiers, and the Ace-Ops repeated the action, although the rest simply gave a respectful nod.
"Good luck, all of you. I don't think I need to say what'll happen if we fail," Keyes told them. As he disconnected Shakespeare from the holotank, he told the Army captain, "Have the analysts and AIs focus on the location of Forerunner artifacts in systems with human colonies. I don't care about real-time telemetry data or system composition. Just give me those locations."
"Of course, Commander," the Army Captain replied, giving Commander Keyes yet another salute.
Keyes nodded, then turned around and made his way back towards the entrance. As the distance grew, Johnson turned towards Dare and asked, "So, what are you thinking?"
Dare was silent at first, then she answered, "I'm thinking that, even with us, our marine escorts, and all the Huntsmen on the planet, we're going to need more manpower just to be sure."
"I feel that. Better safe than sorry," Johnson agreed, pulling out a cigar and lighting it. "ODSTs?"
"I'd accept nothing less."
"That might be a problem. Where are we going to find some ODSTs to pull away at such short notice?"
"Luckily, we don't need to," Dare revealed as she sent a ping to someone else on the other end of the line. "Remember that ODST team that I was assembling to help with the recon?"
"Yeah, before General Amari nearly bungled things. Why?"
"They're still here," Dare revealed, tilting her head sharply towards a large group of ODSTs assembled near the entrance. One of the ODSTs was already making his way down towards them, his helmet off and held in his hands, allowing Qrow to see the man's face. The ODST appeared to be around Johnson's age, with a thick, brown beard on his cheeks and chin, and mustache over his upper lip.
"Sergeant Johnson, Huntsmen, this is Captain Jonathan Price, commander of Task Force 141," Dare introduced the ODST, who nodded while gripping his armor's collar.
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sergeant," the man said in a thick Scottish accent. "Now then, what seems to be the problem?"
The world was black, and Ir 'Haramai was unable to make sense of any of it. For a moment, he feared that he had passed on to the next world, but then he noticed the dull and throbbing pain coursing through his head and body. He was alive, at the very least; he doubted that paradise would subject those welcomed to it to such sensations. His ears were ringing, and slowly he began to blink his eyes open. Almost immediately he noticed the flaming wreckage of their Phantom, bright-blue fire spreading all over its carcass and sending a thick cloud of purple smoke into the storm above. A deep gash had been carved through the earth behind it, trees splintered in its wake before coming to a stop. Small explosions could be seen as whatever systems that remained succumbed to the damage, shooting sparks everywhere.
It was only then that he noticed that he was being dragged away, then his ears slowly began to stop ringing. He heard a voice shout to him, "-aster! Blademaster, can you hear me?!"
Ir tried to speak, but only managed to cough up mucus mixed with purple blood. Whoever was dragging him away from the crash site gently put him down immediately then ran to his side, allowing Ir to see that it was Rteda 'Vasovee.
"Blademaster! Thank the Gods, you live!" Rteda declared, then turned his head to the side and ordered, "Get the field doctor here, now!"
Ir groaned as he pressed his hand to his chest and tried to sit up, but Rteda gently kept him down and said, "Cease, Blademaster. You're injured, and we don't want to aggravate your wounds any further."
Despite himself, Ir couldn't help but let out a grunt of irritation. He remained where he was, however, allowing the Zealot teams' field doctor to rush over and begin checking him. The once ornate and pristine armor of the Zealot was now marred with mud and bloodstains, with several dents along the chest and shoulders. Now that he was paying attention to it, Ir realized that Rteda's armor was in a similar state. In fact, the young Zealot was no longer wearing his helmet. Given the burning Phantom behind them, it wasn't difficult to realize what happened to it.
The field doctor, whose name Ir struggled to recall through his throbbing head, pulled out a small rectangular device from a hip socket. From it sprang a light purple holographic projection which wirelessly synchronized with Ir's armor, allowing the field doctor to begin analyzing the state of the Blademaster's injuries.
"You have three broken ribs, a fractured wrist, and a concussion," the field doctor declared, his voice reminding Ir that his name was Tul 'Nrazamee. He'd fought alongside this warrior for years after their last field doctor fell in glorious battle against human forces on Arcadia. Ir tried to remember more, but it was hard to remember anything prior to his most recent awakening. Proof that the field doctor's diagnosis was more than correct.
Ir attempted to say something, only to cough again, this time with more blood. Tul's steady voice then immediately added, "You might have a punctured lung as well. Rteda, hold him down and give him something to bite on. I'm going to administer the nanites."
"Of course," Rteda replied, pressing down on Ir's shoulders and pulling out a wad of cloth that he gently placed into Ir's mouth. Understanding what he had to do, Ir clamped his mandibles down onto the cloth as hard as he could, but he refused to look away from what was coming.
Tul then carefully removed the chestplate of Ir's armor, exposing his badly bruised chest to the outside world. The heavy rain falling down on his exposed skin made Ir wince, but he forced himself to stay still. Reaching into another socket, Tul pulled out a purple metal canister filled with a thick, light blue liquid seen through a pane of glass. The field doctor then raised the canister high above his head and pressed a button on the side to allow a large, thin needle to extend from the bottom. Without saying a word, Tul slammed the canister as hard as he could into Ir's chest, the needle puncturing deep into his muscles. Fiery pain shot through Ir's entire body, and despite his efforts to keep still, he began to involuntarily thrash. It was taking all of Rteda's strength to keep him down, and Ir could hear the muffled screaming coming from his throat.
Thankfully, the Gods' mercy made the agonizing pain last for only a few seconds. Soon the fire gave way to a comforting warmth, and Ir could feel the throbbing recede. His mind became clear, allowing him to remember everything. The assault on the Cartographer, their flight away once the outcome that was all but certain came to pass, their Phantom getting shot down. Most importantly, he remembered the strange human warriors that led the assault and cut down his men like they were doarmirs, helpless as the small furry animals were when hunted for their fur.
When Tul retracted the canister, Ir hissed slightly from the discomfort. A small stream of purple blood oozed out of the hole, but the field doctor immediately sprayed a medical coagulant onto it, stemming the bleeding entirely.
Tul then said, "That should be enough for now, but you'll need proper medical attention once we return to the ship. And don't give me any excuse about how your honor won't let you receive a doctor's care. I've seen far too many good Sangheili needlessly throw their lives away from such delusions."
Despite himself, Ir couldn't help but chuckle, causing his side to briefly flash in pain. He winced, gingerly pressing his hand against his bruised flesh, then he replied, "I'll keep that in mind. Go assist the other wounded."
Tul gave the Blademaster a salute, then ran off and left Ir and Rteda to themselves. Standing upright, with Rteda helping him to his feet, Ir then asked, "Status report?"
"It's not good, Blademaster," Rteda answered, handing the Blademaster his discarded chest piece and helping him put it back on. As it snapped into place, he continued, "We lost Leso 'Suttinee when the missiles shot us down, throwing him out of the Phantom, and the pilots when we crashed. All of us sustained injuries much as you did. Sadly, Cava 'Nrarumee and Zil 'Tafamee succumbed to theirs before Tul could help them."
"May they find salvation among the Gods," Ir quietly prayed. "How many are left?"
"Of the original thirteen, we're down to eight, including us," Rteda revealed.
Ir didn't say anything, but his mandibles did involuntarily flex in and out. He then growled, "And the Cartographer's record? Is it secure?"
"The memory block survived the crash, thank the Gods," Rteda answered, and Ir let out a sigh of relief.
The Sangheili Blademaster turned to look at the crashed and burning Phantom, then declared, "We need to move. The humans will arrive shortly to investigate the crash and hunt down any survivors."
Rteda nodded in agreement, then revealed, "Isan 'Mdantakee and N'thavu 'Chamaee managed to find a small gathering of rocks. It's not ideal, but it's a better defensible position than what we have now. Jasan 'Lusumee went out to scout the area and find anything of note."
Ir grunted and nodded, pleased with his subordinates' initiative while he was incapacitated. Soon they were joined by Tul along with the other wounded survivors who were nearby, whom Ir recognized as Xesan 'Voramee and Viza 'Vogamee. Together they ran as fast as they could through the jungle, ignoring the flashes of pain that shot through their bodies. While the nanites coursing through their veins did wonders to heal their injuries and stem their pain, they were not a long term solution. As Tul said, they would need proper medical attention, which they would not be able to get in their current situation. Idly, Ir recalled that the humans had a similar substance that they would spray into their wounds. They called it biofoam, he believed.
It wasn't long until they came across the small gathering of rocks that Rteda spoke of. They were like pillars with trees and vines growing all around them. Nestled in the center were Isan and N'thavu, Zealot warriors like Rteda himself. Their plasma rifles were held tightly in their hands, pointed downward but ready to be raised at a moment's notice. Behind them were boxes of their surviving weapons, and most importantly the memory block housing the Cartographer's records.
"Blademaster! It pleases me to see that you survived," Isan declared, briefly giving Ir a salute before stepping to the side, allowing the others to enter. Thanks to the leaves and branches above, some of the torrential rainfall was stemmed, but not by much.
Ignoring the incessant drips of water falling on his head, Ir ordered, "Grab any weapons you can. We cannot stay here. The humans will be here any minute."
His Zealots nodded in agreement, with each of them grabbing an energy sword and a plasma pistol. Rteda then grabbed a surviving plasma rifle, with Tul and Visa obtaining a pair of carbines. Xesan grabbed a concussion rifle, the only one that survived the crash, along with a fuel rod gun. Ir noticed that the focus rifle they had on hand was missing, which he assumed was taken by Jasan, their lances' sniper.
As soon as all of them were armed, Ir spoke into a secure channel accessible only by his team of Zealots and asked, "Jasan, where are you and what do you see?"
Nothing came through at first, then Jasan's gravely voice cut through the silence and answered, "I've taken up position on top of a large tree just a kilometer north of your location. It's concealing my position while giving me a good view of the surrounding terrain."
"Have the humans arrived?"
"No, but I do see a trio of Falcons heading our way from the south. I'd wager we have ten minutes at most."
Ir frowned and shook his head, then declared, "We need to be gone before then. Do you see a more defensible position?"
"Let me see…." Jasan went silent for a few moments, which felt as though they lasted for an eternity. He then said, "We're in luck, I think I found something. There's what looks like a human deuterium refinery about five kilometers east of us. Doesn't appear to be heavily defended."
"Buildings would be more defensible than the jungle," Viza confirmed.
"But the humans use deuterium as fuel for their starships, much like us," Xesan pointed out. "If a firefight breaks out in that facility, the reaction could be catastrophic. The entire facility could explode, taking us with it."
"The humans might just do that on purpose if they know we're inside. Besides, we don't have enough warriors or supplies to survive a siege," N'thavu added, and Viza frowned.
"Do you have a better idea?" he asked. "I admit, it's not ideal, but it's better than being out in the open. At least in the refinery, we won't be in the rain. Besides, it's not as though we need to hold out for days. Just enough time for the Valorous Penance to send down an evacuation team."
Before any other Zealot could speak up, Rteda said, "It's not up to us. It's up to the Blademaster."
With that, Rteda turned his helmetless head towards Ir 'Haramai, soon echoed by the rest of the Zealots. Ir was silent at first, prompting Jasan to ask, "Blademaster, what are your orders? I can move ahead to the refinery, or try to find someplace else."
Ir continued his silent contemplation, then he answered, "We'll take the refinery. Viza, reach out through the proselytization network to any survivors and tell them to rendezvous at the refinery."
"We had forces all the way out here?" Rteda asked in surprise while Viza did as commanded, and Ir nodded.
"I had a small force on station in this region, given how close the humans were. They were supposed to intercept anyone who entered the area," Ir explained. "If we're lucky, at least some of them survived."
The Zealots nodded in understanding, then they stood up and prepared to move out. Isan and N'thavu, despite their injuries, hoisted the large memory block atop their shoulders, then carefully moved through the gap between the rocks. The other Zealots formed a protective circle around them, keeping their eyes peeled for any sign of danger.
As they began to move through the jungle, Jasan's alarmed voice then rang out, "Blademaster, the humans are here!"
"Move, move!" Ir immediately ordered, ushering his men ahead while he grabbed his energy sword. He then tried to activate his armor's active camouflage, but to his alarm found that it wouldn't function. Realizing it must've been disabled in the crash, he decided against activating his energy sword just yet.
Overhead, he heard the whirl of helicopter blades as a trio of Falcons flew in. Nose mounted search lights cut through the darkness, quickly finding the smoldering Phantom. With one hovering above, the other two descended, dropping off a squad of human soldiers each along with a pair of dogs. They were too far away for Ir or the other Zealots to hear what they were saying, but it was clear that they were scouring the area for any survivors, with the dogs sniffing the ground to find their scent.
"Damn it, with those dogs they'll find us soon," Tul grimly noted, and Ir nodded.
He had faced human military dogs before. Much like the humans they loyally served, dogs by themselves weren't all that physically imposing. But their senses of smell and hearing were outstanding, and their tenacity unmatched. He honestly respected the dogs as much as the humans they served. Shame they had been tainted by their masters, otherwise he might've considered the possibility of obtaining them for the Covenant.
Then, of course, there were the three gunships ferrying the soldiers. From what he could see, each one was armed with a nose-mounted autocannon and side-mounted manned chainguns. Combined with the two-dozen soldiers on the ground, following the dogs, it presented a considerable force that stood a decent chance of actually cutting them down and, more importantly, recovering the memory block.
Coming to a decision, Ir said, "We can't leave with those forces on us. They'll cut us down before we get to the refinery."
Rteda's mandibles clicked together, then he asked, "What will you have us do?"
"Cut them down first," Ir answered. Quickly looking around their immediate surroundings, he ordered, "Viza, take up position on top of that tree. The rest of you, scatter and take cover behind those rocks and trunks. We'll funnel the humans up this path and ambush them."
"What about those Falcons?"
Looking at Xesan and the fuel rod gun stowed away on his back, Ir answered, "Once the Falcons are overhead, you'll start the attack by firing into their bellies. Jasan, try to destroy the engines from your position."
"Understood, Blademaster. Gods be with you," Jasan replied.
With a firm and silent nod, Ir gave the order for his Zealots to move to their assigned position. Hiding the memory block behind a large boulder, in a matter of seconds not a soul could be seen. It was a testament to their training and skill, Ir knew, and his felt his hearts swell with pride. Soon he could hear the helicopter blades coming closer, along with the rustling of leaves as the humans combed through the jungle.
"Looks like they came through here," one of the humans said, their mounted flashlights cutting through the darkness. Ir carefully peeked from behind a rock, counting at least two dozen soldiers all armed with assault rifles, following the pair of dogs who had their noses pinned to the ground.
"Can't believe any of them survived that," another soldier spoke up, and one next to him shrugged.
"Elites are tough bastards," he pointed out, and the first nodded in acceptance.
'Elites….' Ir mentally growled, fighting back the urge to attack right then and there.
The humans, as it were, had taken upon themselves to come up with names for each species of the Covenant, short hands meant to simplify their supposed role in their society. Sangheili were called Elites, Unggoy dismissed as Grunts. The noble San'Shyuum were referred to as Prophets, Yanme'e were Drones. The Huragok were Engineers, the Kig-Yar were Jackals, and the Mgalekgolo gestalts were Hunters. They were all insulting, gross oversimplifications of each species of the Covenant, ignoring any nuance or finer details. More importantly, it gave the impression that the humans had any right to give names to anything. To grant something a name is to give meaning, implying that the one who gave the name had meaning in and of themselves. The humans were worthless, deserving only destruction, and the same applied to any name foolishly given.
The only name the humans gave to the Covenant that Ir had no qualms with, and in fact agreed wholeheartedly with the assessment, was their decision to refer to the Jiralhanae as Brutes. That was, indeed, an accurate reflection of their savagery. The Valorous Penance had a contingent of Jiralhanae onboard much to his dismay, whom Ir had refused to let safeguard the Cartographer. In his opinion, the Jiralhanae had already taken too much of what was supposed to go to the Sangheili, with entire ships being commanded and crewed by Jiralhanae with little-to-no Sangheili oversight. Such a directive came directly from the High Prophet of Truth, deemed a necessity due to the scale of the War of Annihilation growing beyond what they initially anticipated when the war began. Even so, Ir refused to let them even participate in the glory of securing a Cartographer, a decision he still did not regret.
As the humans drew closer and closer, Ir's grip on his energy sword tightened. He could see red dots on his motion tracker, with six purple dots depicting the locations of his Zealots. The Falcons' searchlights could be seen cutting through the canopy, the downdrafts of their blades ruffling the leaves. When the dogs entered the space where the Zealots were previously gathered, they stopped and began to growl, then shot their heads directly towards Ir's position.
Taking that as his cue, Ir stepped out and activated his energy sword. At the same time, Xesan fired his fuel rod gun right into the underbelly of the Falcon directly overhead. After just three shots, the entire aircraft burst into flame and exploded, falling down into a nearby tree. He moved to fire at the next one, but only one shot managed to connect before the Falcon moved out of the way.
"Contact! Contact!" the human soldiers yelled out as they suddenly found themselves surrounded by Zealots, all of whom began firing their weapons into their midst. One of the dogs attempted to jump towards Ir's throat, but he deftly moved to the side and cut it in half with his sword, killing the creature instantly. The other was gunned down by Rteda with his plasma rifle, who soon engaged the other humans whose ballistic weapons were proving ineffective against their energy shields.
Overhead, the Falcons recovered from their confusion and began firing their weapons down into them. A few of the heavy caliber bullets made contact, making Ir's shields flash dangerously. But soon a bright purplish-blue stream of plasma cut through the storm, slamming into one of the gunners and causing the top half of his body to explode into blood and steam. The stream then continued upward, boring into the right engine block and destroying it. As the pilot struggled to maintain control, Xesan reloaded his fuel rod and fired a pair of shots, finally destroying the aircraft. Soon only one Falcon remained, and in the face of Covenant small arms fire it turned around and fled. A few bolts managed to hit, boiling away the armor and causing it to smoke and list dangerously, but soon it managed to even escape the range of Jasan's focus rifle.
The entire firefight lasted for less than a minute, and it was a complete success on their part. Part of Ir wanted to celebrate, but he knew that with one Falcon managing to escape, it was only a matter of time before more human reinforcements arrived, this time in greater numbers.
"Move, now!" Ir barked an order, deactivating his energy sword and turning to the others, who immediately complied.
Despite their injuries and carrying the heavy memory block, it didn't take long for Rteda and the other Zealots to reach the refinery. As Jasan reported, the refinery had indeed been lightly defended. Only a small security detail armed with pistols and submachineguns stood between them and the refinery, along with dozens of unarmed human civilians. For such an important piece of infrastructure, Rteda would've expected a larger and better equipped garrison, not that he was complaining.
Taking the refinery had been easy. They had caught the humans completely off guard, allowing them to take the facility in a matter of minutes. To their credit, the security guards valiantly attempted to hold the Zealots back and get the civilian workers to safety. One even attempted to run them over with a truck. But it was no use. In the face of the Covenant's holy arsenal, the humans might as well have been throwing rocks. In the end, every security guard had been slain, leaving the cowering civilian workers defenseless.
"No, no, please!" a human woman wailed as Viza dragged her by the hair and threw her in with the others, all of whom were being held at gunpoint by Isan, N'thavu, and Tul.
"The memory block is secure, Blademaster," Xesan declared. "It's being stored in a blast-proof room underground."
"Good. Have any survivors responded to our hails?" he asked, and Viza nodded.
"Yes, but not much. They're on their way now," he reported.
"Excellent," Ir said, his back turned towards the group.
As the Zealots stood over the cowering and pleading humans, many of whom were openly weeping, Isan quietly asked, "What do we do with them?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Xesan answered, pulling out a plasma pistol to shoot a human male with a stubby beard.
Rteda's eyes widened as his teammate pulled the trigger, firing a single green bolt that caused the man's head to explode. As the other humans screamed, Rteda yelled, "What are you doing?!"
"Exterminating them, like the nishum they are," Xesan answered, then narrowed his eyes accusatorily at Rteda. "Why, do you have a problem with that?"
Rteda did have a problem with that, actually. These humans were defenseless, and certainly no threat to the Zealots themselves. There was no honor in killing them, but he couldn't voice that. Especially as the other Zealots were angrily looking at him.
Clearing his throat, Rteda then carefully answered, "No, I don't have a problem with killing them. They deserve nothing less. But I believe they're of better use to us alive."
That caught the other Sangheili off-guard, prompting Tul to ask, "What do you mean by that?"
Seeing an opening to avoid wanton slaughter, Rteda clarified, "I haven't been fighting against the humans as long as you have. But one thing I have noticed is that they try to avoid unnecessary casualties. If there are humans in the area, unless specifically authorized they will hold back. Especially if civilians are involved."
"That's because they lack conviction," Jasan rebuked, and Rteda nodded.
"That they do, but we can use that to our advantage," Rteda claimed, then pointed at the cowering humans. "If they have reason to believe that there are human captives inside the refinery, they'll hold back out of fear of harming them. But if they believe every human is dead, leaving only us in a deuterium refinery, they won't have any restraint. They could simply collapse the whole building on us."
Xesan looked like he wanted to refute Rteda's prediction, but he stopped. The others then began contemplatively looking at each other, realizing that Rteda was absolutely correct. For as much security that the deuterium refinery gave them, it could just as easily become their tomb. The smart thing to do was to take every opportunity they could to hold the humans back long enough for the Valorous Penance to send down an extraction team. From where Rteda stood, killing the human workers both had no honor to it and would make their already tenuous position worse. The path was clear.
That was when Ir growled, his voice dripping with anger, "Do my ears deceive me? Are you all…truly considering this course of action?"
The Zealots quickly shot their heads towards an enraged Ir 'Haramai. Xesan then cleared his throat and admitted, "Blademaster…Rteda does have a point. The humans would hold back if they know there are non-combatants inside. It may be more prudent to—"
"I do not care if it is the more prudent course of action!" Ir yelled at the top of his lungs, briefly pausing to cough again. It didn't stop the other Zealots from flinching back in fear. When Ir recovered, he continued, "We are proud and noble Zealots of the Covenant. We do not debase ourselves by hiding behind hostages! To do so is a grave dishonor, and I refuse to allow it!"
Marching up to Rteda, he growled, "Wipe the humans from this existence, now."
Rteda stared with wide eyes at his Blademaster, who was silently daring him to say anything while gripping the hilt of his energy sword tightly. Realizing that he had no choice, Rteda nodded and said, "Of course, Blademaster. I was simply thinking of the mission at hand and not the larger implications."
Ir narrowed his eyes, then growled, "See that you don't do so again."
With that final word, Rteda turned around and aimed his plasma rifle. His hearts were beating as fast as they ever had, screaming at him that what he was about to do was wrong. The humans' screams, increasing in pitch and volume, only added to his reluctance and guilt. But, with his Blademaster standing over his shoulder, and the other Zealots readying their own weapons, Rteda's own sense of self-preservation took hold. Steeling himself, Rteda pulled the trigger, the others following immediately afterwards. The screams were cut off, leaving a deathly silence in the void.
As Rteda stared at the smoking carcasses, Ir dismissively grunted and ordered, "Get those out of my sight. I can't stand their filthy presence any longer."
Rteda, shaken to his core, nodded absentmindedly and robotically replied, "Of course, Blademaster."
Without saying another word, Rteda moved to pick up the body of a human, and as he stared into her frozen face, the pangs of guilt he had been feeling for quite some time deepened.
Given the extreme urgency of the mission, none of the Huntsmen, ODSTs, or marines got more than half an hour of rest. Most of that was spent preparing for said mission; stocking up on ammunition, getting tactical readouts of the terrain, and using the firebase's onboard fabricators to turn whatever Dust they had left into usable bullets. There wasn't a lot, only enough for a magazine per soldier, but given how deadly the prior battle proved Dust was against the Covenant that wasn't as much of a concern.
Assuming, of course, the mission went as planned. Given everything that had happened since their expedition began, along with his own longstanding rotten luck, Qrow had doubts. Still, he prayed to the Gods that this time would be different. Far too much was at stake for them to fail now.
"Coming up on the drop zone. ETA, five minutes," the Falcon pilot announced over TEAMCOM, prompting Qrow to glance outside. With all the torrential rain and heavy winds, it was hard to see more than a couple hundred meters, but he could make out the faint purple glow of a smoldering, crashed Phantom.
His mind went over the intel they had on hand. From what they understood, about an hour ago a Wolverine managed to shoot down a Phantom attempting to flee from the Cartographer. Not too long afterwards, a trio of Falcons flew over to search for survivors, dropping off two squads of Army soldiers in the process. Unfortunately, they had no way of knowing who, exactly, their quarry was, and so the soldiers and two of the Falcons were cut down by a squad of Elites in a matter of moments. Only a single Falcon managed to barely limp back to safety, ultimately crashing a few kilometers away from the nearest UNSC airfield after their partially melted engines finally gave out. It was a testament to the pilot's skill that it was a controlled crash, with the worst injury being a gunner breaking his arm.
It was they who reported that the Elites were Zealots, which was all the confirmation Dare needed to hear. She had everyone load up into Falcons immediately, flying as fast as they possibly could through the intense storm. Despite the heavy winds, the ride was remarkably smooth, aside from the occasional bump and turbulence. Was certainly a better experience than trying to ride through a monsoon on a Bullhead.
Beside him, Qrow saw Captain Price take one final puff of his cigar, his face briefly illuminated by an orange glow before he tossed it out of the aircraft. He slipped his helmet back on, then added, "Keep a tight formation and your eyes peeled. You never know what nasty little surprises they might leave us. Some might still be around."
"Understood, Captain," one of the ODSTs on an accompanying Falcon responded. It took Qrow a moment to recognize the voice, but soon realized it came from another member of Task Force 141, Lieutenant Simon Riley, who liked to be called Ghost for some reason. Even painted the visage of a white skull on the face of his helmet, and unlike the others refused to take it off.
"So," Harriet began, "we never got the chance to talk before all this. What's your story?"
"Task Force 141 is one of our most elite ODST units in the entire Navy," Dare revealed. "Doesn't matter if they're sent against the Covenant or the Insurrection, they've managed to successfully accomplish every mission sent their way. When I found out that their Bravo-Six team was on the planet, I immediately called for them."
"Hold on, I think I just heard some praise in there," Sergeant John MacTavish joked.
"Check your hearing, Johnny. You know ONI doesn't praise anybody, much less yourself," Sergeant Kyle Garrick jokingly rebuffed, causing the rest of the ODSTs and even the Huntsmen to chuckle.
"By the way, what the hell kind of callsign is 'Soap,' anyway?" Sienna asked, and despite not being in the same vehicle Qrow could practically see the smirk on her face.
"I'm afraid that's classified, ma'am," Price answered as he adjusted his collar. "Tad bit too embarrassing for the wee lad."
"Piss off," Soap irritably grumbled as everyone else began to laugh.
"What was that, Sergeant?"
"I'm sorry. Piss off, sir."
"That's better," Price said, letting out a short chuckle, and Qrow smiled.
That was when the Falcons finally began to slow down and descend. Immediately, the jovial mood everyone briefly shared was replaced by grim seriousness. Qrow chambered a shell into Harbinger and did the same for the magnum and needler he had strapped to his hip. Beside him, he saw Captain Price pull back the charging handles for his sniper rifle and submachinegun, and Johnson did the same for his BR55 battle rifle and magnum. The entire troop bay of the Falcon briefly became filled with various clicks as safeties were flipped off and rounds were loaded into rifles, shotguns, and pistols before going eerily silent. Soon, all they could hear was the sound of rotating tiltrotor blades and the raging storm outside, punctuated by the occasional crack of thunder. Otherwise, no one said a word.
As soon as the Falcons landed, the Huntsmen, ODSTs, and marines immediately piled out and formed a defensive perimeter. Mud splashed underneath their boots as the tiltrotors and wind caused the nearby tree branches to sway back and forth. Concentrating his senses, Qrow attempted to detect any threats nearby. After a few moments, he could sense nothing.
"We're clear," Dare declared as she stood upright and lowered her MA5K, but kept her finger hovered over the trigger. Turning towards the lead Falcon, she said, "Nikolai, you and the other pilots remain on station for evac and air support. Keep a safe distance, we don't know what kind of firepower they have."
"Understood. Happy hunting," their lead pilot, a man only known as Nikolai, replied through a thick Russian accent.
As the Falcons ascended, they shined their nose-mounted searchlights onto the ground, centering around the crashed Phantom. The soldiers and Huntsmen immediately made their way towards it, most standing guard around the perimeter while the others, including Qrow himself, inspected it more closely.
"Found the pilots, rather what's left of 'em," Ghost declared as he stepped out of the partially crumpled cockpit. "Hard to tell if they died on impact or burned to death when the Phantom caught fire."
"We'll leave that discovery to the spooks," Captain Price replied as he crouched over the body of another Zealot, the corpse covered in blood and the neck tilted back at an awkward angle. Beside him was another in a similar state, with one of the femurs completely shattered.
"See these tracks in the mud here?" Thomas pointed out as he slowly waved his hand over the tracks in question. "These two were pulled from the wreckage. I'm guessing they were still alive when they crashed, but succumbed to their injuries not too long afterwards."
"That's interesting and all, but what about the others? We have eight to nine Zealots still out there, and the data drive's nowhere to be seen," Johnson reported, and Thomas nodded before pointing deeper into the jungle.
"Tracks lead that way," he declared.
"Then let's not waste anymore time," Dare ordered as she shouldered her carbine. "Let's move!"
As soon as the ONI lieutenant gave the word, the assembled party moved away from the crashed Phantom and into the jungle. Qrow suspected that, had the situation been any different, they might've stuck around to catalog the discarded technology or at least prepare it for later retrieval. But right now they had far bigger and more immediate concerns. Safeguarding human worlds, most importantly Remnant, always took precedence over recovering Covenant technology.
As they followed the tracks, it wasn't hard to notice the purple blood mixed into the puddles. Given the state of that Phantom, Qrow could only imagine how injured those Elites were. Not that he was complaining. Would certainly make his job easier. But, deeper still in the jungle, they found a collection of rocks that stood up like pillars. Beside them was the wreckage of two destroyed Falcons, along with the bodies of two squads of soldiers. Their armor was melted, their skin and bones boiled away, and some were cut in half by what could've only been an energy sword. Bullet casings littered the ground, but not much, along with heavy plasma scoring.
"They were ambushed. Poor bastards never stood a chance," Gaz sadly declared as he shook his head.
Qrow released a heavy sigh as well, then forced himself to begin trying to figure out where the Covenant went. As he did, he glanced up at the raging storm overhead, as well as the distant Falcons shining a light on their surroundings. Despite the ample foliage, the environment was remarkably open.
"Johnson, if you were the Covenant right now, what would you do?" Qrow asked as he dipped inside the rock cluster, which was partially roofed by a thick canopy of leaves. There was a large impression in the mud, already filled with rainwater, in the center. Qrow imagined that was where they hid the hard drive during this engagement.
"Well, since my ride was destroyed and I'm carrying precious cargo," Johnson began, "my first priority would be finding someplace safe, relatively speaking, and awaiting evac. Can't really do that in the jungle. Far too exposed, even with all the trees and rocks. Even if we took out the first human patrol, you can't guarantee we'll take out the next now that the UNSC knows we're out here and what we're carrying. So I'd try to find someplace to fortify, preferably a building."
"Are there any of those nearby?" Qrow asked, slightly tilting his head towards the group of soldiers accompanying them.
There was a brief pause, then Soap activated his wrist-mounted TACPAD and pulled out a topographic map. After a moment, he claimed, "There's a deuterium refinery not too far from here. Nearest building in twenty-clicks."
"How many gaurds?" Price asked, and behind her depolarized helmet Dare grimaced.
"General Amari pulled as many soldiers on station as he could for the assault on the Cartographer. The refinery would've only had a small security detail left," Dare reported, and Price let out a grunt.
"Then we have to assume that's where they went," Price said, then began to move in the refinery's direction.
Not needing to be told what to do, everyone else followed the veteran ODST towards the waypoint that was automatically uploaded to all their HUDs. The Falcons hovered above on overwatch, making sure there wasn't anything nearby that could threaten them. Moving as fast as they could, the Huntsmen forced themselves to slow down so that they wouldn't leave the others behind. While Qrow was more than able to put up with it, he could tell that some of the other Huntsmen with him, notably Harriet and Sienna, were having a tougher go at holding in their frustration. He understood why, given what was at stake. It was taking all of his self-control just to keep himself from running ahead at full-tilt.
Eventually, they managed to leave the jungle, cresting a clear hill that overlooked a vast plain. The plain had a river snaking through it that went into the churning ocean, and located at the river's head was the deuterium refinery. In many ways, it reminded Qrow of a combination between a Dust mine and an oil refinery, only the pumps hooked up to massive spherical vats were connected to the ocean directly rather than the ground. From what he understood, starships like the Midsummer Night used deuterium as fuel for their fusion reactors, and the hydrogen isotope was abundant in saltwater oceans much like the one on Peponi. Originally, the UNSC got most of their supply from the Outer Colony Madrigal, but after it was glassed by the Covenant in 2528 they were forced to diversify their supply line. Despite not being able to see what was going on inside, it wasn't hard to figure out what the refinery was doing.
More important than what he couldn't see, though, was what he could see. What he saw forced him and others onto their stomachs, with Price aiming down at the facility through his sniper rifle's scope, the others using binoculars.
"Yep, those Zealots hit this place hard," Price reported as he scanned the exterior. "Looks like the security guards put up a fight, but there wasn't much they could do."
Qrow idly noted the burning and collapsed security tower on the northwest corner of the refinery. Grimacing while looking through his binoculars, he noted, "There's a lot more Covenant down there than just a handful of Zealots."
Indeed, there were at least a few dozen Covenant soldiers now patrolling the refinery grounds and shattered walls, mostly Grunts and Elites and a few Jackals wielding carbines. No vehicles aside from a Ghost, which was fortunate, but the increased Covenant presence would make actually taking the refinery that much more difficult.
"Hey, where are the workers?" Abby quietly asked, and Qrow's frown deepened as he scoured the building for them.
After a few moments, Ghost's tired voice sadly answered, "Found 'em. South side, next to the river."
Following his direction, the others looked over to see what he spotted. Qrow's heart immediately sank at the sight of what might be described as a mass grave. But that was giving the Covenant too much credit. The bodies of the workers were simply dumped into a large pile without an ounce of care given to them. In fact, it appeared that they had formed a haphazard retaining wall made of sheet metal and shattered polycrete to block the view of the corpses from the facility itself.
"Gods…damn it," Elm hissed.
"I'm gonna kill them all," Harriet growled, sparks of electricity dancing across her body.
"Easy, Harriet," Clover gently advised his teammate, his own voice carrying a sharp edge to it. Clover then glanced over at Dare and asked, "What now?"
Dare was silent for a moment, then all-too-calmly said, "It appears that the Covenant already killed everyone inside. That just makes this easier. Karim, get the Midsummer Night on the horn. Call in an orbital strike on these squid-heads."
"With pleasure," Lieutenant Farah Karim replied, then tapped into a secure channel connecting their team to the Midsummer Night orbiting above. She relayed, with no small amount of glee in her voice, "Bravo-Six to Midsummer Night, requesting immediate Archer missile bombardment. Stand by for coordinates."
[~][~]
Hello, everyone! Here is the latest chapter of Dust and Echoes! Thanks so much to NaanContributor and Jesse K for their help in bringing this chapter to life. Originally, we were going to go a bit longer and show the actual raid on the deuterium refinery, but ultimately we felt that, given how long my fight scenes tend to be and the expected aftermath, this was a perfect place to stop. Plus I love seeing you all squirm at my cliffhangers.
A lot happened during this chapter. Ir 'Haramai and his Zealots survived the crash, with the Midsummer Night right on their heels. We got to see a bit more about the youngest Zealot on the team, Rteda 'Vasovee, and just how much of a monster Ir actually is. A shortsighted monster, too, given what his murderous actions towards the defenseless workers brought to him and his team.
Now, you all may have noticed a few familiar names with the ODSTs. Let me be clear, these are just expies. This is not a three-way crossover. I just felt that it would be fun to incorporate some CoD characters into the story as OCs. You can expect to see similar expy OCs of other Microsoft properties throughout the story. Yes, CoD isn't owned by Microsoft yet, but it's probably going to happen assuming that the Activision-Blizzard acquisition goes through.
To answer a few of your questions:
You will have to wait and see regarding what we'll do with Emerald. We do have plans for her, though. Same with the other RWBY villains and heroes.
There's no worry of Dust running out. It was mentioned that Dust is somewhat renewable in this story.
Glad you all liked just how action-packed the last chapter was. That was actually one of the reasons why we kept this one short. We like to have calm chapters between action-heavy chapters.
You can assume that stuff like orbital bombardments were being used, we were just focusing on the area that didn't get that. And yeah, we did focus on the Huntsmen a lot, as we felt that the OCs we introduced at the beginning of this arc hadn't really been showcased all that much.
Part of my job as a writer is to take every aspect of canon work and figure out how I can or cannot use them. Even if the original canon piece is controversial, most of the time there is at least something I can use for my stories. An example from the show that I used in this story was a quick reference to Madrigal and how it used to be a major supplier of deuterium, as in the show/Silver Timeline, but it glassed in 2528 as in the games/Gold Timeline. Goes to show that while I will be drawing from the show a bit, the majority of this story is based off of the games' canon.
We'll be going to RWBY proper in due time. We just gotta get through a lot of stuff first before hand.
Yes, had the Huntsmen not intervened the Covenant would've found Remnant much sooner.
Let us know what you all think. If any of you have a TV Tropes account, I would greatly appreciate any assistance in updating the page. We hope you all enjoy!
