Dust and Echoes

by trestwho

After a successful mission, a UNSC fleet makes a random slipspace jump only to come across an uncharted system containing a sliver of humanity, one with seemingly no connection to Earth and whose natural abilities defy reason. In a galaxy full of terrifying dangers, the UNSC and Remnant must work together to defend all they know from annihilation.

11. Murder the Time

Dust and Echoes (RWBY/Halo)

Chapter 10: Murder the Time

[~][~]

As John-117 and the rest of SPARTAN Blue Team engaged the creatures of Grimm, as the native inhabitants called them, he couldn't help but compare his current performance with his last engagement. It was a startling contrast, one that he readily appreciated. Before, he and the rest of his men were caught off-guard and under-equipped, which had deadly consequences for everyone involved. Now they knew exactly what they were getting into, which was leading to much better results.

"Blue-4, contacts on far left side, thirty meters," Fred announced as he shot a pair of rounds from his DMR into the head of a Beowolf, making it explode in a fountain of black gore and bone before moving onto the next target.

"Engaging," Linda replied, firing four rounds from her sniper rifle, causing four Grimm to collapse with their heads missing. She was already reloaded by the time they disintegrated, and the forest air was filled with loud cracks of her sniper rifle firing into the horde around them.

"Blue-3, how's our right flank?" John asked as he fired his assault rifle while backing away from a charging Ursa. It took a quarter of the sixty-round magazine to put it down, but John kept his finger on the trigger as he shifted targets to a smaller creature his HUD was labeling as a Creep. It was an odd name, in his opinion, although they were admittedly weird to look at. Unlike all the other Grimm he had faced thus far, it didn't look anything like an actual animal. He wondered if those Creeps were an anomaly or if he was simply making assumptions off of incomplete information; most likely the latter.

"Clearing," Kelly confirmed as she sprinted as fast as she could through a line of Grimm, firing single shots from her shotgun into their heads. She was moving too fast for the Grimm to retaliate, and by the time the survivors were able to turn towards her retreating form, John and Fred had already fired into them, cutting them down.

"Advance," John calmly ordered, swapping magazines as he led his SPARTANs closer and closer to their objective.

As the chaos unfolded around him, John kept himself calm and focused, shifting from target to target with machine-like efficiency. The rest of Blue Team was doing the same, with Linda staying in the back to cover them with her sniper rifle, he and Fred in the front to draw most of the Grimm's attention, while Kelly utilized hit-and-run tactics to devastating effect. But this was only the front line of the Alpha Grimm's guard, for lack of a better term. As they drew closer and closer, the Grimm were becoming more coordinated and deadly, forcing the SPARTANs to take things nice and easy. The last thing they wanted was to rush ahead and put themselves in a position to be overrun.

"I got eyes on target," Linda announced as she peered through her sniper rifle. John followed her gaze where he found what she was looking at. Unfortunately, the Alpha was low to the ground so he was unable to accurately determine what type of Grimm it was, which made him frown slightly.

"Well, he's a big guy," Fred remarked as he dived away from a lunging Beowolf, landing with a roll and spinning on his feet to fire a pair of shots into its head, killing it.

Fred's assessment was correct. Even from this distance, John-117 could tell that this particular Grimm was bigger than a Warthog. Its frame was also low to the ground, telling him that the creature was likely quadrupedal. Whether on a permanent basis or able to go bipedal like the Ursas and Beowolves like they'd been fighting for the most part was unknown as well.

He was able to see where it was going, however, even as he shot the feet out from a Creep and subsequently stomped on its head. To his slight alarm, the Alpha Grimm and its cohorts were no longer heading towards the battle. Instead, they appeared to be retreating. Once again he compared his last engagement against the Grimm to the one he was in now. Before, the Grimm had mindlessly attacked with no regards to how injured they got or how many of them went down. But now the Grimm were doing the smart thing and trying to retreat, heading east towards the interior of the island.

That was almost worse in John's eyes. Assuming that what the natives had told the UNSC was true, and he had no reason to believe that it wasn't, Grimm that survive encounters against humans learned from the experience, becoming smarter and stronger. In a way, it reminded him of how Covenant ranks worked. Minors were fresh recruits, equipped with basic gear and eager to get their first kill while at the same time prone to making unnecessary mistakes that humanity happily exploited. The higher ranked warriors, like majors and ultras, however, were older and had survived numerous engagements against humanity. They were appropriately outfitted with more advanced gear, and when combined with their greater experience made them much more dangerous threats.

If the Grimm were anything like the Covenant, they could not let these Grimm get away, but unfortunately he could not call in air support at the moment as they were preoccupied with Amity Colosseum. Still, he didn't let that concern him, and he opened a private channel straight to Admiral Cole himself.

"Admiral Cole, this is Sierra-117," he said while firing a grenade from his assault rifle's underslung launcher into a small tight group of Creeps, killing them all at once in a ball of fire and shrapnel. "We have eyes on the Alpha Grimm. Moving to engage."

"Acknowledged, 117," Hannibal replied. "Be advised, we have ODSTs moving to cut off the Grimm 200 meters north of your location. If you can herd them there, we can box them in."

John quickly glanced in that direction, where a waypoint was automatically set by his armor. He then looked back at the Grimm horde and decided that they could make it work. With quick, precise movements of his arms, John directed his SPARTANs to flank south, with Kelly going ahead of them and Linda staying in the back. Like cowboys herding cattle, Blue Team began to force the Grimm to shift their retreat northward by throwing grenades ahead of them. Any that tried to go the way they didn't want was quickly cut down, and soon the Grimm got the message and shifted north.

The SPARTAN-IIs gave chase, keeping a respectable distance as they neared the waypoint. Sounds of gunfire coming from ahead told them that the ODSTs had made contact, which was further proven as the Grimm suddenly stopped their retreat.

"Looks like they figured it out," Kelly pointed out, sliding shells into her shotgun then pumping it. As though answering her, the Grimm nearest to the SPARTANs turned towards them and roared, then charged on all fours, kicking up the dirt, rock, and grass beneath them.

Blue Team responded immediately by firing their weapons into the black mass. Several were cut down by the combined fire, but when the Grimm got too close for comfort the SPARTANs broke off. They left grenades in their place, acting as impromptu mines that went off as the Grimm reached their location. Others were left stumbling, allowing the SPARTANs to easily pick them off.

It was then that they heard a deep, guttural growl come from deep inside the remaining Grimm horde, followed by crashing noises as the Alpha Grimm carved through the ground. Grimm parted way as the hazard traveled towards the ODSTs, and John couldn't even issue a warning before they heard panicked screams. A frisson of anger and regret shot through John's heart, but he forced himself to remain focused on the task at hand. There weren't many Grimm left, and while they were all homing in on the SPARTANs with the sole purpose of cutting them down, John had no intention of letting that happen.

"Blue-2, on my mark," John said as he swapped out his assault rifle for the Spartan Laser.

Fred did the same, swapping out his DMR for his rocket launcher. As the Grimm neared, John pulled the trigger, causing the laser cannon to emit a bright red beam that was centered squarely on the head of the largest Ursa he could see. With each passing second, the beam grew larger and more vibrant in intensity, and just before the laser reached full charge, John calmly stated, "Fire."

Fred fired both tubes of his rocket launcher into the horde just as the fully charged Spartan Laser shot went off. Two explosions rippled through the Grimm, throwing limbs into the air and mangling bodies while the unfortunate Grimm who were struck directly simply ceased to exist. At the same time, the high-intensity laser went right through the Ursa like a hot knife through butter, then continued on through the next Grimm and several beyond that. In a single moment, a Grimm horde numbering around thirty was cut down to fifteen, and as John began charging another shot and Fred loaded fresh tubes, Kelly and Linda opened fire as well with their shotgun and sniper rifle, respectively.

Linda aimed at the exposed black mass underneath the white bone armor with expert precision, making the Grimm's natural defenses worthless. Kelly had to get closer in order for her weapon to work, but she was moving too fast for the Grimm to keep up. As one Beowolf got too close, Kelly kicked its head upwards, allowing her to shoot it in the lower jaw, killing it instantly. Then, with a quick pump to load a fresh shell, she swung around and fired her shotgun one-handed into the body of a Creep. Using her free hand, she pulled out her M6D and fired it into the head of another Beowolf, and once her immediate surroundings were clear she holstered her pistol and went back to using her shotgun as she was supposed to.

John fired his Spartan Laser again, burning through three Ursas at once. At the same time, Fred fired single precise shots into the remaining Ursas and Beowolves. It took a few shots to crack the bone armor around the Grimm's heads, but they were able to be put down all the same. As the last Grimm fell and turned into dust, the SPARTANs took the moment to breathe and reload their weapons. They didn't stop for long, though, as they heard the ODSTs' gunfire as they engaged with the Alpha Grimm. John's HUD quickly marked their location with a waypoint, which was conveniently at the end of a large gash carved into the ground from the Alpha Grimm's traversal.

"Let's go," John ordered, sprinting down the gash.

Blue Team was right behind him, with Kelly quickly overtaking her leader as John expected. Kelly was the fastest of the SPARTAN-IIs, after all. A few Grimm stragglers were taken out along the way, the super soldiers not stopping while doing so, and the gunfire increased in volume. As they cut through the underbrush, they caught sight of the black armored ODSTs. Some were laying dead on the ground, others tending to their wounds with biofoam while the soldiers still standing were focusing their fire on the absolutely massive Grimm tearing through the forest like a buzzsaw.

John quickly noted the highest ranking soldier among them and sprinted over to her as the other SPARTANs went to lend their assistance in putting the Grimm down. The ODST leader regarded the Master Chief for a moment, then turned her attention back towards the Alpha Grimm while reloading her assault rifle.

"About time you showed up," she said, firing her weapon in short, controlled bursts. "Bastard's tough. We did shit to it while it killed two of my men and wounded three others."

"Pull your men back, we'll cover you," John immediately ordered, zeroing his Spartan Laser onto the Grimm's spinning body.

"Don't have to tell me twice," the ODST sergeant replied, then barked to her men, "Boys, you heard the Chief! We are leaving!"

The ODSTs currently engaging the Grimm immediately complied, pulling back to return to their dead and wounded comrades. They slung them over their shoulders, and with the SPARTANs keeping the Alpha Grimm preoccupied they ran off and out of harm's way.

"Everest, requesting immediate med-evac north of my location," John spoke into his comms as he noted which way the ODSTs were heading.

At the same time, he pulled the trigger of his Spartan Laser, beginning to charge it as the Grimm turned towards the retreating soldiers. It clearly wanted to put them down, but John didn't give it the chance as he fired his laser cannon into its side. The intense beam knocked it off balance and sent it crashing into a thick tree near John, whose base shattered into splinters upon impact. No longer able to support its weight, the tree came crashing down straight towards him, forcing the Master Chief to dash to the side to avoid being crushed. He kept his attention on the Grimm, however, which to his alarm had survived the impact, albeit with a massive cauterized crater on its right flank.

Only now could he actually get a good look at the creature. True to his earlier assessment, the Grimm was a massive quadruped, at least half-again the size of a Warthog. A comparison that was even more apt as the Grimm itself greatly resembled the actual animal. According to his MJOLNIR's HUD, this particular species of Grimm was called an Alpha Boarbatusk, otherwise known as a Razorback, and he perfectly understood how it would have earned that name. The monstrous boar had large, curved tusks that extended several feet beyond its head, and nearly its entire body was covered in thick armor plating, and its spine was lined with rows of jagged spikes. Only its underside remained unarmored. The armor itself was cracked and dented in places, but those looked to be more scars from battles long ago rather than wounds from its most recent engagement. They provided further proof to the native humans' claims, telling John more than ever that they needed to put it down here and now.

Without even needing to say a word, Blue Team fired their weapons into the Grimm, but unfortunately the bullets bounced harmlessly off the armor. Letting out another guttural growl, the Razorback charged them, aiming to gore them on its tusks but the SPARTANs parted and allowed the Grimm to pass harmlessly through. They kept their aim onto the Grimm, firing into its body but only getting the same result.

"That thing's bulletproof?" Fred wondered aloud, reloading his weapon before firing once again.

"Looks like it," Linda replied as she fired another shot into its head, only for the bullet to ricochet off and fly into the forest in a different direction. More angered by the attempted kill shot than anything else, the Razorback turned back towards them then curled up, allowing the jagged spikes on its spine to face towards them. Once the Grimm started spinning in place like a massive tire, kicking up bits of dirt and rock behind it, the SPARTANs immediately knew what it was doing. As soon as it shot towards them, they dived to the side to avoid being splattered, landing with a roll and springing up to their feet.

"It's coming back around!" Kelly pointed out.

True to her words, the Razorback was reorienting itself to spin back towards them, crashing through trees and small rocks as though they weren't even there. John quickly thought over on how to actually kill the thing, then he remembered the Boarbatusk's unarmored belly.

"The belly's unarmored. I'm going to knock it onto its side," John began to explain. "Once I do, fire everything you have into it."

Blue Team's lights flicked green, then they moved away from the Master Chief as the Grimm spun towards him. John thought about using his last shot of the Spartan Laser to accomplish the task, but decided against it. He needed more concussive force for this. Instead, he swapped to his assault rifle and pulled out a grenade, placing his thumb against the priming button. Oblivious to his intentions, the Razorback continued to rush towards him, and John mentally calculated its velocity. Then he threw the grenade, which landed onto a tuft of grass and bounced around slightly before coming to a rest in the Grimm's path.

Just as the Grimm rolled over the grenade, it exploded, sending up a cloud of dirt and shrapnel into the air. The Alpha Boarbatusk let out pained and surprised roar as it was knocked off-balance, skidding to a stop on its right side and reflexively uncurling, exposing its belly to the world. Blue Team immediately opened fire into it, the bullets tearing into the black flesh and causing the Grimm to writhe in pain. It tried to rise to its feet, but John grouped with the rest of Blue Team and added his weapon to their own. The Alpha Boarbatusk roared one final time, then went still. Blue Team didn't let up their fire until the Grimm finally began to disintegrate, telling them it was dead.

"You know, as freaky as it is, I kind of wish everyone did that," Fred remarked as he swapped magazines once again.

"Would certainly be cleaner," Kelly added, loading new shells into her shotgun. Linda merely shrugged in acknowledgement, having no real opinion on the matter, while John tapped into his comms to contact the Everest.

"Everest, Alpha Grimm eliminated," John reported, reloading his assault rifle as he spoke.

"Acknowledged, Sierra-117," Hannibal replied. "We're seeing the effects now. The Grimm around Amity Colosseum are becoming much less coordinated than they were moments ago."

"That's good to hear," Fred piped in. "You want us to come back and lend assistance?"

"Negative, Amity Colosseum is under control here. Besides, we have another objective for you," Hannibal replied. "The sabotaged sensor tower is about two kilometers west of your location. We don't have any eyes there at the moment, and we want you to go in and investigate. Try to determine what, or who, caused it to go down."

"Acknowledged," John replied, then turned off his comms and turned back towards Blue Team who were already prepped. "Let's move, SPARTANs."

"Any idea what caused it?" Kelly asked as they ran off. While a normal soldier, or even an ODST, might have requested transportation, a SPARTAN was more than capable of traversing long distances with little difficulty.

"I don't know, but I'm certain we'll find out," John replied, his voice calm and steady despite running at a full sprint.

"Well, I can think of a few things," Linda pointed out. "Either a new type of Grimm we haven't seen yet, or one of the natives didn't want things to go well."

"That, or they wanted to see how we'd act at full operational capacity," Kelly added, "so they used the Grimm to see what we'd do."

"A probing attack?" John asked, and Kelly nodded.

"Makes sense," Fred admitted as he rushed through a bush like it wasn't even there. "Our first engagement with the Grimm was with isolated soldiers with little support away from prying eyes. This time we brought nearly everything we have to bear in a much more open fashion. If someone wanted to see what the UNSC could do, I can't imagine a better venue."

"The question is, then, who ordered it?" Kelly asked.

"We'll find out soon enough," John declared, and he and the rest of Blue Team continued their sprint towards their latest objective.

---

When Blue Team finally arrived at their objective, they immediately began surveying what they could. It was a complete and utter mess, with the tower itself destroyed. What once was a tall and active sensor array was now nothing more than a twisted and shredded piece of metal, with exposed wires and dented panels across its battered surface. The ground itself was similarly torn up from all the rampaging Grimm as they rushed southbound through the hole in their defenses.

"Fan out. Find what you can," John ordered, his assault rifle at the ready as he kept his eyes peeled for any signs of disturbance. The other SPARTANs were doing the same, spreading out to encompass their perimeter which they set to twenty meters around the destroyed center.

"All clear," each of the SPARTANs declared one by one. Only then did they relax and stow their weapons away, then began the tedious process of searching for any scrap of evidence they could find.

John immediately went to the tower, kneeling to pry an access panel off and search for the tower's stored sensor data. He figured that if the tower's onboard cameras had managed to pick something up it would greatly help their efforts. Unfortunately for him, much of the internal electronics were destroyed in whatever sabotage had ensued, so he wasn't able to simply grab a data drive and insert it into his MJOLNIR. The secondary backups were in a similar state, which further impeded matters. Luckily, however, the tertiary black box was still intact. It wouldn't have any video feeds, merely timestamps, atmospheric readings, temperatures and other such basic data, but it was better than nothing.

He connected his armor to the black box, and his HUD quickly began displaying the data. It contained hours' worth of numbers before ending abruptly thirty minutes before the Grimm's attack. John knew he didn't have time to comb through all of it, so instead he limited his search to the thirty minutes prior to the end of data. Thanks to his augmented senses, he was able to read the influx of data quite easily as it sped by. At first, the data was normal, merely showing a mild temperate climate that was quite comfortable for the average person. Towards the end, however, the data began to fluctuate. Temperatures were spiking and falling in quick succession, and the atmospheric pressures were going all over the place.

The weirdest part, however, was the timestamps for all these changes. For some reason he could not quite understand just yet, the rises and falls in temperatures were happening at the exact same time, something that should have been impossible unless the system itself was being tampered with. That meant it hadn't been the Grimm which had destroyed the tower. Instead, a human from Remnant had been the one to do it, but that answer left other questions in its wake. Had he been dealing with the Covenant or even Insurrectionists, he might have accepted that explanation with little difficulty, but the natives of Remnant didn't belong to either group. They had never interacted with UNSC technology before, so they would have no idea where to even begin hacking into it. Sure, they used computers and electronics of their own, but the UNSC and Remnant used entirely different processing languages and codes that didn't easily translate. It was only thanks to the efforts of Hannibal, a Smart AI who could process information thousands of times more quickly than a human ever could, that they were even able to build a working translator on a timely basis.

Then John remembered a key piece of intel that had been revealed during the battle, one he still had trouble comprehending. The natives of Remnant, for some as of yet unknown reason, had abilities that verged on the supernatural. From the marine chatter he and Blue Team picked up, along with the information funneled to them by Doctor Halsey, these superpowers, for lack of a better word, were called Semblances and were fueled by something called Aura. According to the natives' testimony, Aura was the power of their soul. John found that hard to believe, but he couldn't refute the existence of Aura and Semblances.

Could a Semblance be responsible for tampering with the timestamps? As much as it made John uncomfortable, he had to admit to himself that it was increasingly likely the more he examined the data. That spelt problems for him and his SPARTANs. Aura and Semblances were yet another unknown variable to this planet, perhaps the ultimate variable. If he understood the information correctly, each person on Remnant had the ability to utilize their Aura, and each could learn to use a wholly unique Semblance that no one else in the world would have. Doctor Halsey and Admiral Cole had firsthand knowledge of this fact, as one of the professors displayed telekinetic abilities while another turned a wooden table into solid gold. Had it been anyone other than Doctor Halsey who told him that, he would have both dismissed it and recommended a psyche-eval on them, but he had learned to take Halsey at her word.

Undoubtedly she was going to run copious amounts of experiments to try and get to the bottom of his mystery, but at the moment John was more concerned with where the saboteur went as well as what Semblance they might have. Clearly it was something that could affect the timestamps on highly sensitive military equipment, but he still had no clue as to how it did so. He didn't like it. The entire situation felt like when he and Blue Team first engaged the Covenant, not knowing exactly what they were walking into. That first engagement resulted in Samuel-034's death, which was not something he wanted to repeat here.

"Have you found anything?" John asked as he stood back up and turned around. He saw that Kelly was keeping to the perimeter, trying to spot where the saboteur had both come in from as well as what direction they might have gone afterwards. Linda was out of sight, undoubtedly doing the same thing, while Fred remained close to the site in order to closely examine the tracks on the torn up ground.

"Nothing but a bunch of Grimm tracks," Fred answered, looking up to the Master Chief and shaking his head while resting his arm on his knee. "I can hardly see anything underneath all of this. Found some burned panels and small pools of water, though."

"Hmm, the black box indicated intense temperature changes from hot to cold."

"Stress fracture? I'm pretty sure our stuff doesn't have to worry about that."

"Most likely they attempted it at first, then when they found that wasn't working decided to simply break it down with brute force," John suggested. "That suggests that our saboteur was a Huntsman, or at least someone with similar capabilities. Assuming that the marines weren't exaggerating about their abilities."

"Oh, perfect. That's just what we need," Fred sighed and hung his head, then looked back up at the Master Chief. "Whoever did this covered their tracks well. I doubt we'll be able to find much of anything under all this. Do we have any satellite feeds of the area around the time this happened?"

"Nothing that would give us any clarity, no," John answered. Fred shrugged, figuring that was most likely the case yet clearly disappointed regardless.

"I'll keep searching anyway. Hopefully something will turn up," Fred said, then went back to his search.

John nodded, then walked away to search for more evidence. He focused on the bushes around him, hoping to find something indicative of a trail. Unfortunately, any trails that were made were torn apart by the Grimm, which he was increasingly certain was the rogue Huntsman's intention. He frowned once again, yet didn't let his disappointment impede his efforts as he searched the area all the same. The only result he got, however, was the same as Fred. Any evidence that once existed was destroyed by the Grimm.

"I found something," Linda suddenly called out on the southwest side of the search area.

John and the rest of Blue Team immediately zeroed in on her location, where they found the sniper standing near a bush. At first, John didn't see what Linda was looking at, but as he got closer he could make out broken branches on the bush. From the angle of the breaks, whoever came through was small and had been coming towards the tower from Amity Colosseum.

"Any footprints?" John asked, kneeling to get a closer look at the bush.

"Not yet," she revealed.

"It's a start," John replied, then stood back up and turned around towards the tower. "Fred, Kelly, head further down and see if you can't find anything else. Linda, try to find where they went."

The SPARTANs nodded then went off to conduct their assigned tasks, and John went back to the sensor tower. He kept his eyes peeled to the ground, trying to spot any slight indents of a human foot, but the ground was too mangled up to clearly see anything. So he instead tried to rationalize what he would do if he were in this situation. The person they were hunting had most likely come from the campsite, somehow disrupted the tower to mask their presence, then destroyed it, putting a hole in their defenses that the Grimm readily exploited. There were two options in his mind as to what happened next. Either they had gone back to camp, attempting to keep up the charade, or they had decided to get as far away as possible.

Almost immediately, he dismissed the notion of them returning to Amity Colosseum. That would have been too obvious, especially if they came back just as the tower was destroyed. It was far more likely that the person in question had arrived with everyone else, then left to do their dirty work and fled before the Grimm arrived.

"Hannibal, I want camera feeds on every single Huntsman and Huntress who went out beyond the campground on patrol," John requested.

Not even a second had passed when his HUD was filled with the feeds in question. The UNSC had placed various cameras around their installations, that way the ships in orbit could better see what was happening on the ground. It gave them a wide range of view, which John happily exploited. His HUD, assisted behind the scenes by Hannibal, automatically assigned unique identifiers to each Huntsman and Huntress they saw, and one by one they returned back to the camp except for one.

"There you are," John muttered under his breath as he saw a short, oddly dressed woman skip away from the campsite and never return. He shared the video with the rest of Blue Team, who immediately flashed green in acknowledgement as they continued their search.

"Chief, found more of our mysterious friend's trail," Fred called out. "Looks like she doubled back to the camp then broke off, heading east deeper into the forest."

"Follow her," John immediately ordered, running back to Fred and Kelly who were waiting for him next to a tree. He then reopened his connection to Admiral Cole and declared, "Admiral, we've found a trail and are in pursuit of a human female roughly five-feet tall in checkered clothing."

"How very discrete," Admiral Cole sarcastically replied, telling John that he had broken away from the meeting to talk to him and Blue Team in private. "You are cleared to engage, SPARTAN, but I want this person brought in alive for questioning if at all possible. I want to know exactly why she decided to intervene."

"I understand, sir," John replied, then left the communications channel in favor of returning to TEAMCOMM.

"You know, now I wish we brought the training rounds," Fred pointed out. "They make a capture mission much, much easier."

"We'll make it work," John insisted, then added, "Regardless, if it comes to it, put her down. Our safety is more important than hers."

"No arguments from me," Linda spoke, rejoining the others next to a tall tree with slightly exposed roots.

On the ground next to them was a tuft of kicked off dirt, one that would be indicative of someone skipping on heels. Now with an approximate direction, they sprinted eastward, keeping their eyes sharp for any signs of her trail. When they spotted another break that went northward, they turned and followed, eager to catch up and bring her in.

---

Professor Ozpin was looking out through the conference room window over the campsite below. The last of the Grimm had been eradicated, and now both the UNSC and Remnant's security forces were cleaning up the mess. There were many wounded and dead soldiers on both sides being tended to, and to his dismay there were more UNSC dead than Remnant. Given how they lacked the protective nature of Aura, it was to be sadly expected.

That being said, however, there were more concerning things to be worried about, which he was reminded of as he turned back around to look at a holographic image of a woman. A woman he recognized, and proved his fears were well-founded once again.

"Do any of you know who this person is?" Doctor Halsey coldly asked. "We checked our records and found no trace of her on today's arrivals, meaning she came in on her own or was smuggled here. As far as I'm concerned, every single death down there is on her head, and we would very much appreciate any information you might have."

As uncomfortable as it was to hear an angered voice so similar to another's he once knew, to the point where it was uncanny, Ozpin felt Doctor Halsey and the UNSC had every right to be angry. He was angry too, and walked back to the table to provide as many answers as he could.

"That," Ozpin began, "is Haki Felt, a terrorist and murderer we've been attempting to hunt down for years."

"She's also a complete psychopath," Leonardo added through a scowl. "She used to be a promising student at Haven Academy, always a bit eccentric but mostly harmless. Then one day in her fourth year, she just snapped and killed her entire team before going on the run. That was five years ago, now."

"She's been active all over the world ever since," Professor Rumpole added. "She was last seen about six months ago in Vacuo, where I sent a team of Huntsmen to apprehend her. Haki killed all of them."

"So, a murderer goes from killing a bunch of students to intervening against a First Contact?" Doctor Halsey said with a raised, suspicious eyebrow. "Quite the jump, isn't it?"

"I'm just as surprised as you are. Haki has done plenty of horrible things over the years, always evading capture, but this is something I didn't expect she would be capable of," Ozpin replied, only for Halsey to narrow her eyes at him. It wasn't hard for Ozpin to see that she didn't believe him in the slightest, that he was hiding more than what he was willing to share, but instead of raising those concerns she broke her attention away from the Headmaster of Beacon to look around the room.

"I see. Well, I suppose that can be forgiven," Halsey lied. "Still, if you can provide any further data on what she can do, it would be very much appreciated."

"I can send you her academy records," Leonardo immediately offered, "as well as the list of crimes she's committed."

"Thank you, Professor," Doctor Halsey stated in her cool neutral tone that held just a hint of suspicion. Ozpin supposed she was watching everyone with peeled eyes, now.

General Ironwood then piped up, saying, "I can send my best team in to apprehend her. She won't get away, not this time."

"We appreciate the offer, General, but we have it handled," Hannibal said, flickering back into existence. "There's a team already in pursuit."

"More of your ODSTs?" Theodore asked, raising an eyebrow. "They have my respect, don't get me wrong, but as deranged as Haki is, she's still a highly qualified Huntress. If you send those men after her, I'm afraid you'll only be inviting a slaughter."

"My team is more than qualified, I assure you," Halsey insisted, and Ozpin picked up the slight possessive tone in her voice as well as the offended twitch in the ODST guards around them. He thought back to earlier in the meeting, when the ODSTs were bragging about being the best of the best and Halsey had visibly scoffed at the notion. Ozpin narrowed his eyes again, then placed both of his hands on top of his cane and leaned slightly forward.

"May I ask who this team is?" Ozpin inquired, but Halsey merely narrowed her eyes.

"I'm afraid that's classified, Professor," Halsey insisted, and while some of his fellows looked quite unimpressed with the denial, he knew he wasn't going to get any more out of her.

"…I understand. My apologies, I did not mean any disrespect," Ozpin assuaged, and Halsey nodded before moving on.

"Now, Doctor Polendina, Doctor Watts, I have a few questions for you two regarding this…what do you call it, Dust?" Halsey asked, twirling her hand lazily.

"Oh, certainly! I'll be more than happy to answer any questions you have," Doctor Polendina happily replied.

"As the Chief Executive Officer of the Schnee Dust Company, I'll be happy to as well," Jacques Schnee added, returning to his normal calm demeanor now that he was back into his comfort zone. Ozpin could also recognize a calculating gleam in his eye, one that only a predatory businessman like him could possess.

As the conversation about Dust went on, Ozpin stole a glance towards the glass window. He saw patrols of Hornets, Pelicans, and Bullheads fly by, as well as twin-rotary helicopters with side-mounted machine guns that the UNSC called Falcons. His focus, however, was on a lone black crow that was resting on the windowsill. He and the crow glanced at each other, then Ozpin subtly nodded. The crow cocked its head in response, then it flew off towards the forest.

---

SPARTAN Blue Team sprinted through the forest as fast as they could. The trail they had been following for the past two hours had steady gone uphill as it went up the mountain. Yet the shift to more rugged terrain did nothing to impede the super solders. They tore through the underbrush as though it wasn't even there, their eyes locked to the faintest hints of where their target went. At the same time, John went over what information Doctor Halsey had managed to obtain from the natives.

Their target's name was Haki Felt, a twenty-five year old woman from Mistral who was responsible for dozens of terrorist attacks over the years, along with a long list of assassinations and murders. She was a high-priority target for all parties involved, but at the moment the UNSC did not trust the Remnant delegation to assist in her capture. Both Admiral Cole and Doctor Halsey were certain that someone smuggled her in. It was the only way they figured such an obvious and infamous figure was able to sneak past their defenses and remain hidden from everyone else. It seemed as though Remnant's delegation recognized this as well, and John wondered if that was the point of Haki's interference. To raise everyone's suspicion and sow distrust among one another.

Regardless, John focused on the immediate task at hand. The files didn't tell them what her Semblance was, as she apparently hadn't discovered it during her time at Haven Academy. She only started displaying her Semblance after she went on the run, but there weren't any concrete information to determine what, exactly, her Semblance was. Whatever weapon she used was similarly unknown, as she deliberately destroyed her original weapon during her initial escape, and no one had survived later encounters with her to report what she now used. Both represented yet more variables that he had to consider. If they were to have any chance of successfully retrieving her, they had to play this smart. This would be the first time they would fight anyone with outright supernatural abilities, and while John was confident he and his team would be able to get the job done, he made sure to keep himself grounded. Over-confidence was as dangerous an adversary to a soldier as the Covenant, perhaps even more so, and he would not allow himself or his team to fall victim to it.

Suddenly, Kelly stopped cold in her tracks and held up a closed fist, signaling to them to cease. Blue Team immediately did so, and Kelly slowly pointed down to her feet. There, in a patch of snow, they saw a small footprint. A quick study told John that it belonged to a woman wearing heels, and he knew immediately that the track belonged to Haki. Why she decided that wearing heels to a combat zone was a good idea was beyond him, but if she wanted to degrade her footing, he wasn't going to stop her. Any advantage he could get he would readily accept and exploit.

He then signaled for Linda to go on overwatch. Her light flashed green and she disappeared into the forest, going higher up the mountain as to obtain a better vantage point. Once she was out of view, John crouched and slowly began walking forward, Fred and Kelly right behind him. They spread out to cover as wide a range as possible and prevent them from being taken out all out once, yet they remained in sight of each other at all times. John remained focused on the trail he was following, which was much fresher than what they had been following before. Haki was here no more than half an hour ago, and once the trail started getting more cluttered he went prone and began crawling along his belly to conceal himself as much as possible. Fred and Kelly did the same, and he could no longer see them underneath the snow-covered bushes they were using to conceal themselves.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, they came across a small rocky outcropping just above the tree line. There, sitting on a rock overlooking everything was Haki Felt, sipping an unknown substance from a steaming teacup. The cup itself was made of porcelain, white in color with swirling green trim. There was a matching teapot next to her, with the image of a green top hat emblazoned on the side. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was pressed into a satisfied smile. She was seemingly oblivious to Blue Team's presence, allowing them to observe her much more closely. Haki was certainly the oddest person they had ever seen, dressed flamboyantly in a gaudy green, silver, and khaki checker-boarded tunic. An eclectically decorated top hat was sitting atop her neon-red hair, and underneath both eyes were tattoos of falling stars. More importantly, she appeared to be unarmed, but John knew from first-hand experience that appearances could be deceiving. Haki very well could be hiding something underneath that tunic of hers, or she was using an utterly alien weapon he hadn't considered yet. From what he saw and heard, the Huntsmen and Huntresses tended to use weapons neither he nor anyone else would have ever seriously considered.

Gripping his assault rifle tightly, the Master Chief whispered over TEAMCOMM, "Fred, Kelly, flank her. Linda, take the rear."

All of his teammates' lights flashed green, and he shuffled into position right in front of her. John kept his focus on Haki, who continued to drink from her teacup without a care in the world. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously, not liking this entire situation at all. Then, when he received another set of three green lights, John sent a flash back, then sprang up out of cover with his weapon drawn onto Haki Felt's head. At the same time, Kelly and Fred emerged from the sides, and John could see Linda higher up on the mountain, aiming her sniper rifle down below.

"Don't move," John coldly ordered, his finger hovering over the trigger. Haki opened her eyes lazily, continuing to sip from her cup before setting it down.

"I thought I heard something," Haki remarked in a high-pitched tone, then chuckled slightly to herself. "My, my, for people that big, you are surprisingly quiet. Had I known you were coming, I would have set the table for you all."

John ignored her, and added, "Haki Felt, you are under arrest. Come quietly and you won't be hurt."

"Ah, you know my name! That is interesting, and exciting!" Haki exclaimed, clapping her hands a few times before pulling her knees up to her chest and resting her head on top of them. "Still, how rude of me. You know who I am, but I have no idea who you are. What are your names, strangers?"

John only responded by steadying his aim and taking a threatening step forward alongside Fred and Kelly. Haki got the message immediately and frowned for a split second, then smiled once again and lowered her feet to the ground. She then picked her teacup back up along with a nearby teapot, where she poured herself a new cup then offered it to the SPARTANs.

"Care for a drink? Made it myself," Haki offered, smiling widely at the SPARTANs with no care towards the apparent danger she was in.

"Drop it and keep your hands in the air. I won't ask again," John insisted, and Haki frowned. She made no effort to comply, and so John responded by firing a single warning shot that whizzed right past her head. Haki didn't even flinch, and she slowly turned her head to look at the fresh bullet hole bored into the snow-covered rock behind her.

"Okay, sheesh. Message received," Haki muttered under her breath as she placed the cup and teapot back onto the rock behind her. "You're certainly the rudest guest I've ever had at one of my tea parties…"

"She is either insane or dangerous," Fred warned over TEAMCOMM, keeping his aim steady on her.

"Probably both," Linda added.

John couldn't help but agree. A sane individual wouldn't react like she did to four heavily armed SPARTANs staring them down, but that did not mean she was harmless. If anything, that made her even more of a threat. You could never tell how an insane combatant would react in a situation, which motivated him to get this over with as soon as possible.

"Restrain her," John ordered, and as Kelly moved to comply, Haki glanced in her direction.

"Oh, so I really am under arrest? That's neat," Haki remarked through a chuckle. When Kelly arrived, the insane Huntress decided to turn her back towards Kelly and lay her hands across her lower back. "Here, let me help you!"

Kelly did nothing. Instead, she took a step back and raised her shotgun back towards Haki, who pouted petulantly at the hostility displayed towards her.

"What? Just trying to be helpful," Haki pointed out, but neither John nor the rest of Blue Team bought it. After a moment, she stopped pouting and smiled once again, then straightened herself and closed her eyes. "Man, you guys are clearly the life of the party, and here I was willing to play along. But no, you guys are no fun at all. Just straight to the point.

"But, here's the thing." Haki's tone shifted, growing dark and her smile turning into a frown as she opened her cold, hard eyes. "I know you want to arrest me for that little thing I did to your nice, fancy tower, but unfortunately I can't. You see, I have another tea party I've got to get to soon and I can't afford to be late. So, I'm going to offer you four a deal. You let me go, and I don't kill you. Maybe."

John's expression hardened, and a moment passed that seemed to stretch on into eternity. The only sound that was heard was the whistling of the wind as it passed, picking up bits of snow and ruffling Haki's hair.

"No takers? Alright then, can't say I didn't offer a way out," Haki remarked with a shrug, then threw her arms back and grabbed her teapot.

Without even needing to say a word, all of Blue Team opened fire, but Haki manage to dodge all four lines of fire. She was moving so fast that she nearly became a blur before their eyes, and when she grabbed hold of her teapot she stretched out the arm holding it and aimed towards Kelly. At the same time, the green hat on the teapot turned a vibrant red.

"Here, have some tea!" Haki shouted, then pulled a trigger on the pot's handle.

Instead of tea, a stream of fire shot out of the nozzle like a flamethrower, forcing Kelly to jump back out of harm's reach. Keeping her finger on the trigger and laughing like a madwoman, Haki swiveled the stream towards John then Fred, who were also forced to jump away. A shot then rang out as Linda fired her sniper rifle again, but to their surprise Haki managed to deflect the bullet away with a swipe of her teapot, causing the bullet to impact a nearby rock instead.

"What?" Linda muttered in disbelief as Haki turned to face the sniper with a manic smile on her face.

"There you are, love. Care to join us for a spot of tea?" Haki asked. Linda responded by firing the rest of her magazine at her, but once again Haki managed to dodge both shots. She also managed to avoid John's and Fred's fire coming from her back despite not being able to see anything, then she started jumping up the mountain straight towards Linda.

Swapping to her pistol, Linda fired a few shots while backing away, but Haki managed to deflect all of them as she neared. Once the insane Huntress drew close enough, she pressed a button on top of her pot's handle. The handle suddenly popped off, revealing that it was connected to the rest of the teapot by a long chain, turning it into a flail. As Haki swung the flail downward, Linda barely had enough time to dive out of the way, and when the pot contacted the rock it exploded into a ball of fire.

Linda was thrown back by the force of the explosion, sending her tumbling down the mountain and into a large rock hidden by the snow which stopped her momentum. Her body, incased in nearly half a ton of armor, caused it to crack upon impact. Haki immediately pressed her advantage, jumping towards Linda and extending her foot downward. The SPARTAN-II rolled away, causing Haki to instead hit the rock and spear right through it, shattering the entire thing into loose rubble. As Haki turned to face Linda once again, Linda brought up her magnum and emptied the rest of the magazine into her face. The Huntress merely flinched back as the first few rounds made contact but collapsed against her Aura, and she shielded herself from the rest with her arms.

Taking the opportunity to back away, Linda jumped to her feet and sprinted back towards the rest of Blue Team, who were rushing forwards to join her. She reloaded her magnum then swapped back to her sniper rifle, reloading that as well before swapping again to her battle rifle. As soon as she joined her team, she spun on her heels and aimed her rifle at Haki. All four then opened fire, but Haki merely retracted her teapot back to the handle and sprayed a wall of ice onto the ground in front of her, shielding her from the bullets.

"Ohoho! I was wrong!" Haki remarked from behind cover as the SPARTANs moved to go around. "You guys are a lot of fun to play with!"

"Blue-2, blow it down with the rocket launcher," John immediately ordered. Without saying a word, Fred swapped to his SPNKR and fired one of the tubes. A rocket shot out and impacted against the ice, shattering it completely and creating a loud boom which echoed across the mountain side.

"Oof!" they heard Haki grunt as the explosion sent her tumbling back, and the SPARTANs immediately rushed towards her in an attempt to press their advantage.

"Only got one shot left," Fred revealed as they ran down the mountain after her. "Want me to use it on her?"

"No, we need to take her alive," John replied, his voice calm and neutral despite the danger he knew they were in.

"If you say so," Fred remarked, then stashed away his rocket launcher for his DMR once again.

They were back into the heavy forest, now on a downward incline when Haki made her presence known once again. She jumped straight into the middle of the SPARTAN fireteam, her teapot already in its flail configuration and swinging it back and forth across the ground.

"La-la-la!" she sang as the chaos unfolded, each strike of her flail sending out explosions of ice and fire that the SPARTANs were barely able to dodge in time.

Diving to the side to avoid another fiery explosion, John rolled to his feet and settled on a crouch, then turned to fire his assault rifle right at Haki. Instead of dodging, she merely swung her flail like a helicopter blade, absorbing nearly all of the bullets. A few managed to make it through but they merely hit against her Aura. The only sign he could see that they did anything was a brief grunt of pain. John wondered why that was the case, then remembered another detail that Halsey had notified them of. Aura protected one from damage, but it didn't block the pain.

Reloading his assault rifle, John backed up while continuing to fire at Haki. The rest of Blue Team was doing the same from all sides of her now, but Haki continued to show little care. Instead, she had wrapped the chain of her teapot-flail around her leg and was now twirling the pot itself around her body as she danced erratically. She dodged some while others were deflected by her weapon, and it was then that John realized that Haki was merely playing with them. Haki wasn't taking them seriously at all; if anything, she was having fun. It was both incredibly insulting as well as highly worrisome, especially when her highly developed combat skills were considered.

She wasn't taking them seriously because she didn't see them as a legitimate threat. That put her earlier behavior in a brand new light, and as John reloaded once again, he was reminded of this when Haki resumed a more normal stance and jumped high into the air. At the top of her jump, the hat turned dark brown, and then she twirled and swung her flail into the ground. From the point of impact, a shockwave rippled through the earth, causing rocks to shoot out of the ground like spikes. Kelly was able to dodge them the easiest, bouncing between the stones as though they were merely platforms while firing her assault rifle at Haki. Linda was out of the blast radius, firing at Haki from afar with her battle rifle, but John and Fred weren't as lucky. They were sent flying into the air as blooming stone catapulted them, and as John landed in a heap outside of the shifting earth, Fred was sent flying towards Haki who immediately clotheslined him.

"Gagh!" Fred grunted as he crashed into the settling ground. Haki, with a cruel smile on her face, raised her foot to stomp on his head, but Fred was able to turn himself around while at the same time sweeping her legs out from under her.

Caught off-guard by the sudden roundabout, Haki fell back, allowing Fred to kip up to his feet. With his DMR knocked away by the artificial earthquake and the range being so close, Fred decided to pull out his combat knife. He rushed towards Haki and stabbed at her, but she was able to deflect the titanium blade with her arm. When she tried to fire her teapot at him, however, Linda suddenly fired a burst which knocked it out of her hand.

Pressing his advantage, Fred kneed Haki in the gut, followed by an elbow to the top of her head. He tried to stab her in the shoulder with his knife, but she instead stood straight up to knock her head against his chin. He stumbled back in surprise, his jaw throbbing from the blow, then Haki jumped and delivered a spin kick to his chest, sending him flying back with a noticeable dent in his chest plate. He landed with a roll, immediately pulling out his magnum with his left hand and charging back at Haki, firing his weapon all the way. At the same time, John, Linda, and Kelly were taking precise shots at Haki, trying to keep her off-balance while avoiding accidentally hitting Fred. Unfortunately for them, her Aura was proving more than capable of protecting her.

"We need to break her Aura!" Kelly pointed out, reloading her assault rifle before pausing her fire as Fred and Haki continued their intense melee. John couldn't help but notice that, once again, Haki had an energetic smile on her face.

"I noticed!" Fred shouted back, attempting to slam his pistol like a club against her face, only for the Huntress to grab his arm and flip him over her shoulder. She made it look easy, despite the fact that Fred was so much larger than her.

John, meanwhile, thought over his options. He figured he could end this quickly by using his Spartan Laser, but that had numerous complications. For one, the long charge time would be a massive hinderance in such a fast-paced, close quarters environment. Haki would be more likely to notice the incoming attack and dodge, or even attack him, instead of him actually managing to hit her. There was also the issue of the Spartan Laser potentially killing Haki, which wasn't something he wanted to do unless they had no other choice.

Then, when Fred attempted another stab at Haki, she ducked underneath his arm before grabbing it. With surprising strength, she pulled the SPARTAN down then punched Fred repeatedly in the gut. His cyan-colored MJOLNIR dented from the blows and John could hear him gasp in pain, then she raised her leg and kicked down onto his back, knocking him onto the forest floor. She planted her foot on his shoulder and began to pull, and John could hear the strain of the MJOLNIR as it tried to keep Fred's shoulder in place.

John decided that enough was enough, as did Kelly and Linda. Linda fired a shot that hit Haki in the face, causing her to lose her grip on Fred and stumble back. Kelly then ran past her and shot an eight-gauge shell into her chest, making her gasp in pain. For a brief moment, John saw her eyes widen in surprise, but he didn't pay it much mind as he tackled her and pinned her to the ground. Pulling out his knife, John attempted to stab it into her, but she managed to grab his hand with both of hers. John pushed against the knife with both of his hands, adding his considerable weight to the effort and slowly pushed the knife closer and closer to Haki. As the tip of the blade began brushing against her skin, John saw faint trickles of sweat bead down her brow.

Then, suddenly and without warning, the world shifted. He found himself back to where he was before he charged Haki, as was Kelly. Linda remained in the same position as before, but she was clearly confused as to what she just saw. More worryingly, Fred was back in Haki's clutches, who herself was smiling while panting slightly.

"Haven't had to use that in a while," she admitted as she hoisted up the SPARTAN, who immediately attempted to stab her with his knife, only for her to grab his wrist then headbutt him. For the briefest of moments, Fred's grip on his knife slipped, allowing Haki to wrest it free. Smiling wickedly, and before any of the SPARTANs could react, Haki then stabbed the knife into Fred's abdomen, and he roared in pain as she kicked him into a charging Kelly.

"Here you go!" she mocked as Kelly caught the wounded SPARTAN, who was clutching the knife. John, and Linda, meanwhile, were firing their weapons at Haki, who ran for her weapon, flipped over it while grabbing the teapot at the same time, then slipped behind cover to escape the hail of gunfire.

With Haki out of sight, and Linda covering them, John glanced back at Fred. He turned back to Haki's position and called out, "Fall back. Blue-4, you and I will provide suppressive fire. Blue-3, get Blue-2 to safety and medical assistance."

"Suppressing!" Linda shouted as she shifted the battle rifle to fully automatic and fired into the tree where Haki was taking cover.

As her magazine began to empty, John added his own gunfire, allowing a constant stream of bullets to dissuade the fugitive. Kelly then hoisted Fred over her shoulder, and she ran off deeper into the forest. Only when she was out of sight did John and Linda begin to fall back as well, taking a few more potshots to keep Haki's head down. Finally, when John could no longer see the bullet-riddled tree Haki hid behind, he turned fully around and sprinted away.

---

The gunfire slowly petered off, and the dull impacts of the bullets hitting the rocks and trees around her died down. After a few moments of silence, Haki Felt poked her head out from behind the tree and looked around her. To her dismay, the four soldiers she had been playing with were gone, and she stepped out from behind her cover to sigh and fold her arms behind her head.

"Oh, that's sad. I didn't even get the chance to share my crumpets with them," she pouted, then snickered to herself. It was then that she felt her pants vibrate, and she took out her burner scroll to find that she was being called by a number she didn't recognize. Of course, she knew exactly who was calling her, and so she answered it with a smile on her face.

"Hello~!" she sang into the scroll, and she heard her fellow minion, Hazel Reinhardt, sigh.

"Where are you?" he asked, his voice altered with a modulator, leaving it unrecognizable. "I'm already at the rendezvous point. You were supposed to be here by now."

"I know, I know," Haki replied, twirling her hand around. "But, apparently, I had some uninvited guests along for the ride. Know what I mean?"

"Who?" he asked.

"Don't know, just hulking tin soldiers who knew my name. At least, I think they were soldiers. They acted more like our own mechanized mannequins than anything, but they did bleed. Hehe, I made sure of that."

"Atlas?"

"No, it was one of those stellar vagrants. The, what do they call themselves, the UNSC?" Haki shrugged. "I still can't quite wrap my head around the fact that there are actual human aliens out there. It's positively ludicrous, isn't it? And I should know."

"Focus," Hazel insisted, drawing out another sigh. After a momentary pause, Hazel continued, "You had trouble against their ODSTs? That seems off for you."

"That's the interesting thing, actually. These particular cogs were not their marines or ODSTs. They were something else entirely. Almost like Huntsmen, but at the same time, not. They didn't have any Aura, which was nice, but they were surprisingly strong and wearing some heavy armor." Haki laughed and shook her head. "They were tougher than they looked. Made me use my Semblance, actually."

"You had to use Murder the Time? How much did that take out of you?"

"Eh, nothing a few minutes of rest won't fix. I'll be fine, you big lug."

Hazel groaned and Haki could only smile, then Hazel asked, "Are they dead?"

"Unfortunately, no. They retreated after I stabbed one of them with his own knife," Haki revealed, a sad frown on her face.

"Unfortunate, but it doesn't matter," Hazel replied. "Head back to me. We need to get out here."

"Eh, I can't do that just yet," Haki replied through a sheepish smile, turning back towards the direction the four soldiers had run off to.

"And why is that?" Hazel asked, his voice low.

"Well, for starters, I'm not done playing with them yet," Haki answered, and before Hazel could interject, she added, "More importantly, they're witnesses. I think you and I both agree that we need to take care of that. Am I right?"

Hazel was silent for a few moments, and Haki occupied herself by tapping her foot and checking her wrist for a nonexistent watch. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Hazel denied, "Absolutely not."

"Oh, come on!" Haki complained.

"I don't want to hear it," Hazel interjected. "You already caused enough trouble by sabotaging that tower. I told you specifically not to do that, but you did it anyway. Now, we have an entire army looking for you, and since they called you by name, that means they know exactly who you are. Going off to eliminate witnesses is pointless and unnecessary."

As Hazel continued his tirade, Haki rolled her eyes and silently flapped her mouth around and used her free hand like a mouth.

"Besides," Hazel continued, "I'm nowhere near you, and if you need help I won't be able to provide it. Just give up and return to me."

"What's that? You're—grrk—breaking up!" Haki suddenly remarked, making more and more static sounds with her mouth.

"Don't you dare-!" Hazel yelled out, only for Haki to suddenly hang up. She stared at the silent scroll for a moment, then muttered, "Honestly, the reception out here is horrible."

Collapsing the scroll, Haki dropped it onto the ground then stomped on it. With the electronic device shattered, she aimed her teapot, shifted the Dust inside to fire, then shot the flamethrower into the ground. The scroll, and all incriminating evidence pertaining to her function, was incinerated. Pleased with herself, Haki turned around and began skipping down the trail after the soldiers, eager to catch up with them and continue their playtime. And, if she could prove that worrywart Hazel wrong, it would be all the sweeter to her.

It was funny to her how many times he fretted about causing what he called 'unnecessary deaths,' as though he was forgetting whose side he was on. They were in the business of creating a brand new world, and that required a lot of blood to happen. Haki didn't forget, and the way she saw it, those tin soldiers were very interesting. Perhaps the most interesting thing the UNSC had brought with them, and her dark mistress would love to know how they ticked.

---

John and the rest of Blue Team retreated as fast as they could from the target, hoping to put enough distance between them to formulate a plan of attack. Their mission, thus far, had proven to be an utter failure. Haki was nowhere close to being in custody, and the only thing they got to show for their efforts was a wounded SPARTAN. The worst part was that Haki was able to run circles around them without even taking them seriously. Had she done so from the very beginning, John knew he and his SPARTANs would not have survived. Part of him felt humiliated, but the rest was already planning on how best to use her carelessness to their advantage.

They may have left Haki behind for now, but John knew she was going to follow them to finish the job. She was like a cat playing with her food, not quite realizing just yet that her prey was more than capable of fighting back. His job right now was just to find out how best to do that.

"Hold here," John ordered as they neared a clearing. As the SPARTANs complied, and Kelly set Fred down to administer first aid, John took the moment to scan his immediate surroundings.

They were on a cliff overlooking the sea, and he could hear waves crashing against the rocks far below. The ground beneath their feet was covered in a fine layer of undisturbed snow, with snowcapped evergreens surrounding them. What caught his attention the most was an ancient stone structure near the cliffside. It was a partial ring of standing stones, reminding him somewhat of Stonehenge back on Earth. In the center was a stone obelisk, which had a series of etchings rising up it from the base to the top. At the bottom were animals, which John assumed represented the Grimm. Just above the Grimm were carvings of humans, only these humans had demonic horns coming out of their heads and claws for hands. Faunus, most likely, and the fact that they were directly above the Grimm yet below human warriors wielding spears was telling. Whatever ancient culture built this place clearly did not regard them highly. Above the human warriors was what appeared to be a crowd of regular people, and it was then that John realized that the soldiers were meant to act as a wall shielding these people from the monsters outside. Above the citizens was a man wearing a crown, whom John figured was either a king or merely a symbol of this culture's royalty. Finally, above the king and at the very top of the obelisk sat a pair of what appeared to be divine beings. Both were male, one depicted only by his outline while the other had his entire silhouette carved out. Etched lines evocative of sunlight were coming off of both, meant to illuminate the rest of the artwork.

John then turned his attention away from the monument in favor of his squad. He would let UNSC xenoarchaeologists study this structure and what it meant later. Right now, he had to ensure his team would make it out of this alive.

"Hold still," Kelly soothingly whispered as she pulled out a canister of biofoam and placed it next to Fred's body.

"Don't have to worry about that," Fred grunted, taking a sharp, pained breath as Kelly grabbed the knife's hilt.

They looked at each other, and after a moment both nodded at the same time. In a single smooth motion, Kelly pulled the knife out of Fred. He gasped in pain as red blood began to spew out of the opened wound, but almost immediately Kelly placed the nozzle of the biofoam cannister up against it. She then began spraying the antimicrobial coagulant into the wound, and Fred hissed as the foam was administered. John knew that feeling quite well. As useful and life-saving as biofoam was, it always felt like burning ants biting into you or thousands of tiny knives stabbing all around it. The pain only lasted a moment, however, and soon Fred released a sigh of relief as the biofoam's painkillers kicked in.

"You know, why can't they get the painkillers to act first?" Fred asked as Kelly helped him to his feet.

"If you can figure that out, I'm sure you'll make a lot of people very happy," Kelly replied, then patted him on the shoulder and asked, "You good?"

"Good as I'll ever be. Probably gonna need a trip to medical bay, though," Fred pointed out, which John felt was a deliberate understatement.

From the location of his stab wound, it was likely that the knife damaged one of his internal organs. Possibly his liver or one of his kidneys. Luckily, SPARTANs were tough, and the injected biofoam would be enough to last him a few hours before they could get him onto a medical station. Fred would most likely have to have another of his internal organs flash cloned and surgically replaced, but that wasn't anything new for them. A minor setback, at most.

With the coast clear for the moment, John walked back to his team, and when Linda joined them, he stated, "That did not go as planned."

"You think?" Kelly rhetorically asked, tilting her head.

"Is that what Aura does to people?" Linda asked, bringing her battle rifle closer to her chest. "Makes them strong enough to manhandle SPARTANs and dodge bullets?"

"If so, then I want some of that action," Fred joked, then shook his head and adopted a more serious demeanor. "Chief, what do you think?"

John paused for a moment, then said, "I think that we underestimated Haki's capabilities, and nearly paid the price for it. But she underestimated us too, and that gives us an advantage we can exploit when she comes back."

"You think she will?" Kelly asked, and John nodded.

"Someone like her? Most definitely. She'll want to eliminate any witnesses to her crimes, if only to satiate her bloodlust," he pointed out.

"Which means she'll follow us here, where we can set a trap," Linda finished the thought. When John nodded, Linda nodded back then added, "There's one problem, though. That…thing she did to you guys, what was it? Her Semblance?"

"Most likely," John replied, shaking his head. "I've never felt anything like it. One moment, I was pinning her to the ground, knife pressing against her neck; the next it was like I had never moved in the first place."

"The same thing happened to me," Kelly added, handing her assault rifle to Fred. He didn't need to add anything to the discussion, as the solidified biofoam poking out of his MJOLNIR was more than enough.

"Whatever she did to you didn't affect me," Linda revealed. "But I saw what she did. Your bodies just moved…backwards."

"Share the feed," John ordered, wanting to see this for himself.

Linda complied immediately, and the top right corner of their HUDs was filled with a video feed showing Linda's perspective of the fight. At first, everything was as it should have been. Linda was firing her battle rifle at Haki, who merely dodged or deflected the rounds as she continued to fight Fred. When she flipped him over her shoulder and onto his back, then began trying to pull his arm right out of his socket, he saw himself and Kelly charge the Huntress and knock her away. It was when John got on top of Haki and tried to stab down into her that the footage shifted. His eyes widened as he saw himself, Kelly, and Fred repeat their movements, just in reverse. Upon taking a closer look, he saw that the world immediately around them did the same thing, and he could have sworn that he saw an ejected shotgun shell fly back into Kelly's shotgun. From the corner of his eye, he saw Kelly check her weapon, and she glanced up in surprise.

"Hold up, what's with your mission clock?" Fred asked. John looked at the number in question, and immediately brought up his own mission timer to compare. To his surprise, he saw that his mission timer was suddenly fifteen seconds behind Linda's, which he noticed was the exact amount of time between him charging Haki and pinning her to the ground.

"Did she…did she reverse time around us?" Kelly asked, her voice incredulous. "That's impossible."

"Well, apparently a woman turned a wooden table to gold, and we just got our asses handed to us by a girl using a teapot," Fred pointed out, giving Kelly a flat stare from behind his helmet. "That's all on top of the monsters that disintegrate upon death, and the mere fact that other humans live here and have been doing so for thousands of years. Case in point, the megalith behind us. Honestly, at this point I'm willing to accept that this planet is utterly insane and just roll with it."

John couldn't help but agree with Fred-104's assessment, then rewound the footage and studied the reversal again. After a second look, he remarked, "It appears that she's also affected, and her Semblance only has a localized area of effect. Roughly two meters in diameter. Anything outside of that wasn't changed."

"It must have been how she destroyed the tower without us noticing," Linda surmised, "and why the changes in temperature happened at the exact same time. She used her Semblance to mask her approach."

John nodded, coming to the exact same conclusion. He then glanced back up at the mountain, where he knew Haki would be coming down at any moment. They needed to form a plan of attack now, and after reviewing the footage some more, he began to notice a pattern. Haki, when she was allowed to dictate the terms of the fight, completely eclipsed the SPARTAN-IIs. But, when the tables were turned and the SPARTANs determined the flow, the fight was much more even. An idea began to formulate in his head, and when he solidified it he notified the rest of his team. After a quick explanation, they readily agreed then set off to lay the preparations while he called for reinforcements.

A few minutes later, after the hasty preparations were laid and the rest of Blue Team had hidden themselves away, John saw Haki Felt skip into the clearing straight towards him. Her ever-present smile was still on her face, and she stopped a few meters in front of him then turned her head around to try and spot the rest of Blue Team.

"Just you, big guy?" Haki asked, scratching her hat while tilting it. "Where's everyone else? Don't tell me I scared them away. That's just not fun."

John didn't reply, merely standing upright and keeping his assault rifle pressed against his chest. Haki frowned then shook her head, adding, "I guess I should have expected that response. How very cold of you."

"This is your last chance, Haki," John suddenly declared, causing the Huntress to raise her eyebrow in confusion.

"Last chance to do what?"

"To give up and come quietly," John revealed, and Haki immediately doubled over and began laughing hysterically.

"Hahaha! Are you serious?" she asked, wiping a tear from her eye and standing up straighter. "I send you four running away with your tails between your legs, and you're telling me to surrender? You're audacious, I'll give you that."

John stayed silent as Haki continued to laugh, then he cut her off by plainly stating, "Haki Felt. Age, twenty-five. Born in the lower districts of Mistral in the year 44 A.G.W. Managed to earn a placement in Sanctum Academy before graduating and being accepted into Haven Academy."

Haki's laughter stopped and she frowned, saying, "I see you've done your homework."

John continued, "While at Haven Academy, your teachers noted your eccentricities, which at first were harmless before growing steadily worse and worse, culminating in a diagnosis of schizophrenia at the beginning of your second year. It was determined that the cause behind your mental degradation stemmed from prolonged exposure to unrefined Dust over the course of years. Doctors subsequently prescribed you medicine to alleviate your symptoms, which you took for the next year."

"You mean those mind-numbing drugs they used to put me down? Pfft." Haki rolled her eyes and waved her hand dismissively, but John wasn't finished.

"Noticing a decline in your combat abilities, you stopped taking them in your third year. While your skills in the arena improved, your mental faculties degraded even more. Teachers described you as growing paranoid, talking to yourself in the middle of hallways, and insisting on people being enemies when they weren't. Which extended to your team."

"I only killed them before they could kill me," Haki insisted through a frown.

"They were trying to get you help, which you desperately needed," John countered. "You murdered three innocent people, your friends and teammates, because you were sick. You're still sick."

"Is there a point to all of this?" Haki asked, and John was more than happy to answer her.

"The point, Haki, is that we know exactly who you are," John pointed out. "You may have been able to hide and escape from the kingdoms so far, but you won't be able to anymore. As we speak, UNSC personnel are coming here to apprehend you. They'll be here in less than ten minutes, and you won't be able to slip past them. If you try to fight your way out, you will die. If you surrender, you'll be imprisoned and tried, but you'll live."

Haki was silent for a moment, her eyes boring into his golden faceplate. After a moment, she muttered, "You're not bluffing, are you?"

"No," John immediately answered, and Haki let out a chuckle.

"Hehehe," she mirthlessly laughed, her voice growing dark and cold as the grip on her teapot tightened. She then said, "Ten minutes, huh? Well then, guess I'm going to have to cut this finale to the quick."

Deep down, the Master Chief knew Haki would go down this path. He wasn't surprised in the slightest when she raised her teapot, aiming to smother him in fire, but before she even got the chance, Fred popped up from the trees behind her and fired his last rocket at her feet. She turned around just as the rocket hit the earth in front of her, creating an explosion that sent her flying into the air. As she tried to reorient herself, John brought up his assault rifle and fired a single grenade from the underslung launcher into her chest, which sent her flying back and crashing into the snow ahead of him. Four precise shots rang out as her body bounced along the ground, Linda making sure each one hit their mark.

"Gagh!" Haki grunted in pain, pushing herself up to her feet and snarling at the SPARTAN, who was calmly loading another grenade into the launcher. When Haki took a step forward to charge John, Kelly ran out from behind one of the standing stones and slammed the butt of her shotgun across Haki's head. Kelly slid across the snow, turning around to fire a shot into Haki's chest before running off again, causing Haki to stumble back once more while clutching her chest in pain.

"Uggh-hahaha!" Haki began to laugh hysterically as she raised her teapot threateningly. "My, you all are just full of surprises, aren't you?"

Blue Team responded by firing into her once again, forcing the Huntress to break away. The SPARTANs followed her, orienting themselves so that they were corralling Haki right where they wanted her. She was oblivious to their true intentions, focusing more on dodging or deflecting the bullets, but when she passed over a slight lump in the snow, Linda adjusted her aim and fired into it.

Haki didn't even have time to glance downward before the bullet slammed into the pile of M9 frag grenades hidden under the snow, acting as a makeshift landmine. The force of the attack sent her flying, and once again the SPARTANs followed her body in an effort to put her out of commission. Suddenly, they saw Haki's flying body reverse, landing back against the snow and running backwards a few paces ahead of the reassembled pile of grenades.

"Sneaky, sneaky," Haki panted loudly as she shifted directions away from the landmine. At the same time, she aimed her teapot behind her onto the ground and formed another wall of ice which she used to shield herself from the SPARTANs.

"I don't have a shot," Linda revealed, standing up from her prone position on top of one of the standing stones. "Moving to secondary location."

"Blue-2, form up on me," John ordered, swapping his MA5B for his Spartan Laser. "Blue-3, move in as soon as I break down the wall."

Both SPARTANs flashed their lights green, and as Fred sprinted over to John, ignoring his wound as only a SPARTAN could, the Master Chief aimed his laser directly into the center of the ice wall.

"You know, usually there's a lot more banter in these kinds of things," Haki called out from behind her cover. "Either that or panicked screaming and tearful crying, but you guys are just silent. You've hardly said a word since this party started. Unless…hold on, are you talking behind my back?! That's terrible manners, you know!"

"Part of me wants her to take this seriously, if only because she's so annoying otherwise," Kelly remarked as she loaded a fresh shell into her shotgun. John agreed with her, then pulled the trigger of his Spartan Laser and began charging it.

"Wait, now I hear a noise…and now I see a light," Haki declared as the growing beam of the targeting laser started diffracting through the thick ice. They then saw her poke her head out from behind her 'protection', asking at the same time, "What are you-? OH!"

She dived away just as the weapon fired, the high-intensity laser boring a steaming, melted hole straight into the outer edge of the ice wall, through the face, and out the other side. The mass of ice sublimated and burst into a million pieces, with Haki herself getting thrown through one of the sides from the force of the laser's impact. Her face was warped in pain, her teeth grinding against each other as she landed in a heap across the ground. John figured he must have nicked her, which was what he was intending. A direct shot likely would have killed her, and he still meant to capture her alive.

"You guys have laser guns?!" Haki asked as she pushed herself up, glaring at John as he stowed the spent weapon away. "Why do you still use bullets, then?"

None of the SPARTANs answered her, instead coming forward while firing their weapons into her body. Still wielding her teapot, she fell back to let the first volley pass harmlessly over her, then she swung her weapon into another of Linda's sniper rifle shots to redirect it towards John. He was able to shift his body just enough so that it nicked his right shoulder pauldron, scratching a bit of the green paint off of it. She then kipped up and swung her leg out towards Kelly-087 as the SPARTAN rushed past, tripping her up. Kelly was able to land with a roll, however, and as Haki swung her teapot flail down towards her head, Kelly surprised the Huntress by grabbing the base of the pot and the chain at the same time, pulling Haki closer to her.

"Getting kind of touchy, aren't we?" Haki asked through a toothy grin, only for Kelly to suddenly knee her in the gut while pulling the chain as hard as she could. She wrenched the teapot away from Haki, then grabbed the chain in a fistful and threw it as far as she could to the other side of the clearing.

"Dormouse!" Haki screeched as her weapon disappeared. She snarled towards Kelly, only for the SPARTAN-II to punch her across the jaw. Haki spun around in a daze, allowing Kelly to wrap her leg around hers then push down with her hand, causing the Huntress to fall face first onto the snow.

Keeping her legs pinned under her own, Kelly grabbed both of Haki's arms and forced them behind her back. At the same time, Fred ran up with a pair of reinforced braces, which he intended to attach to Haki's ankles and wrists. Unfortunately, as Fred ran up Haki used her Semblance, and John watched as both Fred and Kelly were sent moving backwards to a previous state. Luckily for them her weapon, which John assumed to be named 'Dormouse,' was not brought back as it was too far out of range.

"Grragh!" Haki roared as she faced Kelly once again, punching the SPARTAN-II a few times in the chest before drop kicking her away. She landed on her back, then kipped back up to her feet as Fred ran towards her, firing his assault rifle in short, controlled bursts which she was forced to block with her arms.

She then shifted tactics and ran towards Fred, gripping his assault rifle and ripping it in half. As he stepped back and pulled out his knife again, Haki scowled and growled, "I stabbed you in the kidney."

Fred remained silent at first, then decided to answer her with a shrug and mockingly admitted, "Eh, I've had worse."

After hearing the SPARTANs stay silent for so long, Fred's ridicule made her twitch in sheer rage. She screamed angrily and charged him, forcing Fred to step back to avoid her powerful blows. John couldn't help but compare and contrast how she acting at the start of the fight and now. Before, she was playful, not taking this seriously. Now she was enraged, finally recognizing the danger she was in.

'Good,' John thought, and then he began hearing the faint whine of engines as the promised UNSC forces neared. Both Haki and the rest of Blue Team heard them, too, and for the first time John saw a look of true panic cross Haki's face. She then kicked Fred away, hitting the exposed portion of biofoam which made him gasp in pain, but when she turned around she didn't try to flee. Instead, she clutched the sides of her head tightly, gripping her hair and threatening to pull it out.

"No, no, no, no," she muttered under her breath, her mania giving way for schizophrenic paranoia. "They're coming for me, they're going to get me. Shut up, no they're not! I'll get away, just like I always do! Not this time! Oh, you should have listened! You should have ran while you had the chance! Now she'll take off your head! Hat and all!"

"'She?'" Fred asked over TEAMCOMM. John didn't know whether to take Haki at her word or merely assume the feminine pronoun to be the result of her sick mind playing tricks on her, but right now it didn't matter. He had a job to do, and so he ran forward to aid his fellow SPARTANs.

"No, NO!" Haki suddenly yelled out as John and Kelly neared, ripping out handfuls of red hair. Her eyes were twitching wildly, and she declared at the top of her voice, "You won't take me away! Not again!"

Without warning, the world around her began to shift as her Semblance went into overdrive. John felt himself going back and forth to different points in time and space, and it was taking everything he had to keep himself from keeling over. At the same time, Haki was bouncing between his team, throwing mighty punches and kicks which sent them flying back. For the first time, he felt a few of those blows as well, and he heard the metal of his MJOLNIR bend and moan as the intense strength and pressure warped it. After just a few hits, his armor began to break, and a spinning kick to his head flipped him away, fracturing his visor at the same time.

He pushed himself up to his feet, and he watched as the rest of Blue Team tried in vain to put her down. But each time they got a bead on her location, she simply used her Semblance to reverse herself, throwing their aim off and making them hit nothing. The Master Chief realized that now, for the first time since this engagement began, Haki was truly taking them seriously, and she was destroying them. Was this the full might of a trained Huntress? Could Aura really make someone this strong? It was a humbling feeling, but that feeling was washed away as he saw Kelly get thrown through one of the standing stones, causing it to crumble and collapse.

"Kelly!" John yelled out. He let out a sigh of relief as Kelly rolled clear from the collapsing structure, although her armor was bleeding in places and damaged severely. She flashed a yellow acknowledgement light, telling John that she was in bad shape. A quick glance towards Fred told John that he was in a similar state, his armor now much more heavily damaged and his helmet dented in areas from the severe blows he was getting.

A sinking feeling filled John's gut, and he realized that there would be no way to take Haki in alive, not without risking one or more of his SPARTANs dying. Knowing what he had to do, he rushed back to the pile of grenades they had set and fished them out before sprinting back towards Haki.

Bringing up one of the grenades, John yelled out, "Get back!"

Fred immediately jumped away, the exercise more laborious than before, and the grenade landed at Haki's feet. She immediately used her Semblance to reverse herself, but just as she came to a stop, John threw another grenade. She was forced to use her Semblance again, and this time he saw her Aura flicker dangerously. Realizing that it must finally be running low, John threw another grenade, his sharp memory telling him where she was going next. The rest of Blue Team realized where she was going as well, and as John threw his second to last grenade, the SPARTANs were already aiming their weapons where Haki reemerged.

Before she had a chance to escape once again, an explosion and a hail of bullets tore into her. Haki's body was rocked back and forth from the impacts, and at first her Aura was able to take the blows. Then, as though in slow motion, John's final grenade was hurled at her and struck her head. The force of the impact was enough to finally break her Aura. It was like watching an Elite's energy shield overload and pop, and her eyes widened as the rest of the bullets continued, tearing through her body repeatedly. Red blood spurted out of her mouth, and she tried to gasp in pain but found herself unable to. As she collapsed onto the ground, John ordered his team to cease fire.

But it was too late for her, and they all knew it as the grenade came to a stop near her. She stared lazily at it, then to the SPARTANs' surprise, she began to laugh. With her last breath, she muttered quietly, "Well now. This will be interesting. Shame I won't be able to see it."

Then the grenade exploded, killing Haki Felt instantly. Her body was turned to mulch as the shrapnel tore into her flesh, leaving behind a chunky red stain on the churned snow. Blue Team kept their weapons trained on the carcass, then John relaxed, signaling the rest of Blue Team to do the same.

"Everest, this is Sierra-117. Haki Felt has been neutralized, KIA." He glanced towards Fred and Kelly, who were barely standing upright, and he added, "We have two SPARTANs in need of immediate medical attention. Requesting med evac."

"Understood, Master Chief. Evac en route. ETA, sixty seconds," Hannibal replied.

A few moments later, John heard engines of Warthogs and Falcons grow louder and louder before they emerged out into the open. He saw marines, with Sergeant Johnson at the front, secure the area while corpsmen rushed towards the SPARTANs. They quickly applied first aid, doing their best to treat their wounds while Sergeant Johnson walked up to Haki's corpse.

He whistled while grimacing, then turned to the SPARTAN leader and said, "Real pretty, Chief."

"She left us no choice," John asserted.

"I don't doubt that," he granted, pulling out his cigar and placing it in his mouth before lighting it.

As the rest of the UNSC marines surveyed the area, John felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise and he shot his head towards the tree line. The only thing he saw was a lone crow cleaning itself while periodically looking at him. It was certainly an odd behavior, but crows on Earth were noted to be highly intelligent. He chalked it up to simple animal curiosity, then as a Pelican descended, he and the rest of Blue Team hopped on.

---

Qrow watched as the UNSC secured Haki's dead body. He had arrived only a few minutes before, following the trail of destruction that started at the mountains and ended at the cliffside ruins. When Qrow arrived, he was surprised to find Haki engaged with four huge and heavily armored soldiers who were giving her a run for her money. At first, he fully intended to jump in and lend a hand, not wanting to pass up the chance to finally put down one of Salem's agents, but soon he saw that the soldiers had the upper hand. This was in spite of the fact that they had no Aura whatsoever, something that only became more obvious as Haki grew more and more deranged the further the fight went on. He quickly became certain that the soldiers had this one, so he resolved to instead observe quietly and report his findings to Ozpin. Towards the end, when Haki went all out, he was once again tempted to jump in, but the soldiers were somehow able to turn around their dire straits, resulting in her death.

He could tell that it wasn't what they wanted. There was a recognizable difference between people trying to capture someone and people going straight for the kill. In all likelihood, had they chosen to use that laser cannon on her directly they might have been able to kill her at the very start, but instead they settled for glancing blows with their most powerful weapons. Only when Haki forced their hand did they put her down. That told Qrow that these people were an entirely different breed of soldier than what the UNSC otherwise fielded. Super soldiers, as it were. Classified super soldiers, given how the UNSC didn't want to tell Remnant about their existence, and were already hurriedly bundling them away before any native witnesses could arrive.

Yet another secret that the UNSC was keeping from them. Qrow mentally added it to the long list of questions he had about the UNSC and their motives, and as the super soldiers piled into a Pelican, likely to receive medical attention, he studied their armor much more closely. It was certainly much more impressive than the black armor of the ODSTs and a far cry from the olive-green marine BDUs. In fact, he was confident in saying that whatever armor those super soldiers were wearing was the most advanced suit of armor he had ever seen. It had to be, in order to allow Aura-less humans to go toe-to-toe with one of the more dangerous Huntresses in the world. Well, ex-Huntress, in multiple senses of the word now. There was something else about them, though. The super soldiers seemed to be far stronger and faster than anyone without Aura had any right to be. Qrow wondered if the armor had some kind of strength augmenting capabilities, or if something else was going on behind the scenes.

What concerned him the most, however, was their demeanor. These super soldiers didn't act like soldiers or Huntsmen usually did. They weren't even like Atlesian Specialists, who were the closest thing he could think of to compare them to. In fact, they seemed cold and detached, more like robots than people. It was something that even Haki picked up on, which only worsened her mental state as the fight went on. Their behavior was disturbing on a number of levels, but he still had no idea as to what their deal was.

Qrow Branwen knew one thing, though. Ozpin would want to know that these people existed, and as the Pelican ferrying them flew away back into orbit, Qrow flew off back towards Amity Colosseum.

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Here is the latest chapter of Dust and Echoes! Sorry for the long wait, but as you can see, I had to write a lot for this chapter. It's officially the longest chapter of this story at nearly 17k words. That takes a lot to do, which wasn't helped by the fact that I wrote a two-part chapter for Hunters of Justice earlier in the month. To make it up to you guys, I hope to write the next chapter within the next week. It'll help that it'll be much, much shorter.

We finally got a case of SPARTANs vs Huntsmen, the resident badasses of Halo and RWBY, respectively, and as you can see it was a very close engagement. Luckily, our favorite super soldiers were able to come out on top. Haki Felt is now dead, but questions remain on both sides. Those questions, and more, will be answered in due time.

Now, onto the Q&A:

Guest (1): He and everyone else will have bigger things to worry about.

Cyberpunk1-009: Yep. I love the marines, and I hope to do them justice in this story. Them fighting on to the bitter end was a great way to show that, in my opinion.

Guest (2): You'll have to wait and see what the Brutes can do, but rest assured they and the rest of the Covenant are not to be trifled with my any stretch of the imagination.

Guest (3): You'll have to wait and see what I do with the Faunus.

Guest (4): No, Ozpin will not be taking control of ONI. By the way, if this is from the same person, please try to consolidate all of your guest reviews into one.

chidoriprime: Nah, just Haki. Hazel was content to stay incognito, but Haki saw an opportunity and decided to take it despite his reservations. And yeah, one of the things I want to do is show a balanced UNSC, both in terms of capabilities as well as character. They're powerful, but not to an overwhelming degree, and while they definitely have done some shady shit over the years, at their core they are trying to legitimately defend humanity. These chapters were a good way for me to showcase the former, with the latter taking a greater focus as time goes on. It was also a good way to show just how much stronger Remnant humans are compared to their Earthborne cousins. It took four SPARTAN-IIs to bring down Haki, and they only managed to do that because she didn't take them seriously. Hannibal freaking out over the mere existence of Aura and Semblances was a treat, honestly. As for Halsey, it wasn't guilt. Deep down, she does feel guilty over what she did to them, but she's been able to convince herself it was for the greater good of humanity. She's not worried about her SPARTANs being dismissed. She's merely wondering "what is this and how can I work with it?"

Vist-97: Balance is very important to me when it comes to writing a story, both in terms of in-story capabilities as well as balancing out-of-story feats with the needs of the plot. You'll have to wait and see how I have Remnant and the UNSC affect each other, though, just know that it will be in character for both societies.

SenorGorilla: Well, I'm happy that you enjoyed the story so much to binge it entirely! Thank you for the praise. As for your other questions, I do plan on showing the other SPARTAN generations, and you'll have to wait and see if people from Remnant are included in them.

kpmh2001: Nope, they go right into the thick of it. Because that's marines do.

shados960: Thank you, I'm happy you enjoyed it so much! Don't worry, as I mentioned earlier, the UNSC will not be overpowered gods in this setting. Neither will RWBY for that matter. I really dislike the general trope of one side of a crossover completely outclassing the other side. One can certainly be stronger, don't get me wrong, but at least give the other a fighting chance. Basically, don't expect this story to be a stomp fic as I despise those.

The UNSC's reaction was one of my favorite things regarding these chapters as well. When you take a pseudo-plausible setting like Halo and throw them against the utterly impossible aspects of a setting like RWBY, you need to show how they try, and fail, to comprehend what they're seeing. But they're smart people, and now that they've gotten over their shock, they're starting to wonder both how it works as well as how it can be used to their benefit. In regards to UNSC people getting access to Aura, you'll have to wait and see where I go with that. Same with how the UNSC and Remnant interact going forward.

LiquidusSnake: Thank you, I'm happy to hear that. I really am proud of how this First Contact Arc went. You're right, so many of them are just so ham-fisted and fast, and I wanted to make sure that everything made sense from both sides in a realistic manner.

The-Killer40513: That will be revealed in due time.

Strike Wyvern: I gotta make Johnson sound like himself. If I don't, I have failed you all as a writer.

Drake G. Reaper: Oh, Penny is going to be really interesting, don't worry.

Steelrain66: Glad to hear it. Hope you enjoyed this update just as much. And yeah, Huntsmen and Huntresses are strong. For me to properly respect RWBY as a setting, I need to show that.

Major Simi: Yep, to the eyes of the UNSC, Remnant is utterly insane. But they can work with insanity, because they don't have a choice otherwise.

DeadRich18: I hope to have the next chapter up before then, don't worry. Glad you liked the chapter!

Guest (5): That's what Cole and Halsey are beginning to believe, yes.

The Avenging Titan: I think Qrow, despite his general disdain towards a standing military due to what they represent in Remnant's history, even he would respect the audacity of people who decided it was perfectly fine to drop from orbit into enemy-infested territory. Everyone did. Let it be known that I love the ODSTs and will give them the proper respect they deserve. Qrow will not be joining the SPARTANs, though. He'll definitely get ODST certification, but he won't become a SPARTAN. He was wearing ARTEMIS armor, which is like MJOLNIR in that in uses the same permutations, but it is a separate thing meant for Huntsmen and Huntresses. As for ODSTs and SPARTANs getting Aura, you'll have to wait and see on that front. Answering that would be spoilers.

Vein Bloodborne: Yep, things are about to heat up. We're entering the third and final act of the First Contact arc, which is Remnant meeting the Covenant for the first time. That is going to be fun.

Hamilton406: He's hypothesizing that based off of the fact that fire Dust rounds exist. He doesn't know for certain, all he knows is that whoever the UNSC is undoubtedly fighting at the moment uses high heat in their weapons.

Knighthunter911700: Thank you, I'm happy to hear that. But, as you can see, at the moment if a SPARTAN and a skilled Huntsman were to go head to head, the SPARTAN would lose. Granted, Haki was in the upper echelon of Huntsmen and Huntresses, but had she taken them seriously from the beginning, they would have died. It took four SPARTANs using their training, wits, and ingenuity to their fullest to barely eek out a victory, and even then it kind of wasn't as they were supposed to capture her. She just forced her hand.

Ultra Sonic 007: That it did, which Qrow picked up on.

That's it for this update. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and let us know what you think. See you all next time!