Night had passed as fast as the first few hours of their arrival. The two Spartans had marched back toward the Drop Ship, flying out back to Beacon to be given their first mission. Their cover story was in the early morning message, too. It was odd, but doable. They were Huntsmen that had graduated Beacon with top honors and were asked back into the fold by the Headmaster. Huntsmen being a term for the people who were trained to fight the monsters out in the wild, known as Grimm. Cortana's forethought of giving them a quick briefing before they prepared their gear last evening had been a life-saving one.

Chief didn't know how the cover story would go when taking team RWBY-who most likely have seen their descent-into account. He probably needed to not think and just do what was asked, although, to be fair, that wouldn't be so hard. He stood to his feet, followed by Six, as the bird swung by to touch down. Beacon showed the signs of a university-level institution almost immediately to the Spartans. The student body, clad in uniforms, went about their business. Some stopped to stare at the walking tanks, but many chose to keep their heads low or outright ignore the pair of supersoldiers.

One of a group of four jerked a thumb back at them and laughed with his friends, only to turn and see the Chief and Six both glaring at him from behind their visors. The kid, a jock-looking type, turned away quickly and the Spartans walked past them. Entering the tower and going up, the two were met by Ozpin and... A man in a white uniform, with greying, slick, black hair. His longcoat hid behind it a holster for a very boxy-looking handgun and he wore a glove on his right hand.

The uniform under the coat was composed of a gray undercoat, black sweater and a red necktie, with white pants and black dress shoes. He turned to the Spartans and raised a brow, somewhat surprised to see them, before asking "Ozpin, is this what spooked the Airfleet radars by entering our atmosphere?" with wide eyes. He walked up to the two men, leaving only a couple of feet distance between them.

"Indeed, James." Ozpin said, standing up. His face betrayed a slight disappointment, perhaps at the man before them having to find out this early.

He looked to the Headmaster with suspicion, then asked "Were you planning on introducing me to them any time soon?"

"Of course. In due time." Ozpin noted, looking to the men, ignoring a slight scoff from General Ironwood. He let out a sigh, then explained "The men you see before you are Lieutenant B312 and Master Chief Petty Officer 117... And, before you do ask, James, I was unable to get any names from them... They are, however, military." and motioned to each as he introduced them. "Let's keep them from our students, shall we? Nobody needs to know who they are."

"I see..." James hummed. He turned to the men, then saluted and said "Greetings, gentlemen. I'm General James Ironwood, of the Atlas Military. I also work as Headmaster for the eponymous Academy of our kingdom. I trust Ozpin has told you at least a bit of what we are dealing with... Because I sincerely doubt anyone would be insane enough to ask two soldiers to join Beacon."

Ozpin took that little jab in stride, noting "I have lightly briefed them, James... And they've agreed to answer to me."

Ironwood snorted, then said "Starting to follow after me and build your own army, Oz? Never thought I'd see the day." to which the Headmaster simply shook his head. The soldiers returned the salutes quickly, nodding to the General... Cortana was still busy working her way into the Remnant Internet, so, for now, she wasn't really all that talkative... The Headmaster went to his desk and took a paper dossier, extending it to the pair.

Chief took the dossier in his hand as Ozpin spoke "Gentlemen, I'm sending you out into Vale's Residential District for your first job. There's been an increase in criminal activity. Small mafia groups have begun coalescing and arming themselves and I fear that, if left unchecked, they'll become a problem within the year. General Ironwood's troops are currently unable to deal with this little intrusion as they are still preparing their outposts, patrol routes, plans and the likes for the security of the Vytal Festival. These mafia groups have well-armed men, but they sorely lack training compared to even Atlas's cadets. We need you to take them out."

Ironwood hummed, somewhat surprised, then looked to the Spartans. He voiced his approval "I assume Ozpin wants to say something along the lines of 'If they see you coming, they'll scatter'. And I do hope he is right. Dealing with a possible threat before it arises would ease the burden on my men."

Chief looked to Six. He could feel the smirk of the Spartan as he was handed the Dossier...

"You want this kind of group gone, Headmaster?" He noted, reading through the dossier and looking at the maps. A quick appraisal of the situation and a plan was formed in Six's head. Provided the Chief would allow him to run it, those bastards would be dead within the hour. "If we're doing it by daylight, I can make it look like an accident." He then offered.

Chief gave him a nod... And the Headmaster seemed approving of it too.

"Dismissed for now. You leave within the hour with a Manta-class transport ship flying Atlesian colors. Good luck, gentlemen." The Headmaster nodded. The two turned to leave as the two Headmasters began talking again. John eyed Six, who put the dossier into his pocket and drew his DMR, racking the bolt and feeding a round into the chamber. The Spartans had left their base of operations armed, expecting the job to become issue number one... They did wonder, however, what the General knew so far.

"Well, that went well." Cortana finally piped up. "James Ironwood, General, Atlas Army. Headmaster of Atlas Academy... This man militarized a school and armed and trained his Huntsmen as soldiers, so we probably shouldn't get on his bad side."

"Got it." Chief hummed. He drew his Assault Rifle, checking if it had a round in the chamber, before putting it back into its place, safety still on. "We've got a job to-"

"Heeey!" They heard a voice call out. Turning to face the sound, they saw team RWBY walking toward them, with Ruby, of all people, waving. She dashed forward, to them, using what could only be described as a whirlwind of rose petals, before stopping right in front of them. She was a fast one, alright. No wonder the girls were surprised when Six stopped her in her tracks. She smiled giddily at them and said "We didn't see you guys coming to the dorms! What happened?"

"We live somewhere else." Six explained. "Rented a place."

"Oooh! Cool!" The redhead gave a toothy grin.

"Any chance we'll get to see the place, boys?" Yang quipped, probably having been within earshot. All four were wearing Beacon student uniforms. The female version. And despite their best attempts, the two did give a few glances toward how fitting the clothing items were. Six shrugged, then looked to the Chief, who hummed and crossed his arms, eyeing Xiao-Long.

"Maybe later." Six quipped.

"Where were you heading?" Weiss inquired, looking over them. Going by the fact they were in full gear, Ozpin must've asked them to do something. It wasn't easy to figure out the Headmaster had offered them a little work... She watched as the two looked to one another again, then unanimously let out "Classified." allowing the Heiress to roll her eyes.

"Heh, well going by the kit, you're going to do some work." The blonde observed, crossing her arms and offering the boys a grin "Need some help? Not to brag, but we are pretty good when it comes to kicking butt."

"Heck yeah." Ruby nodded.

"Yang. We have classes." Weiss intervened. "Plus, if they're in full armor, I'm not sure we should be dealing with anything they're working against."

Yang scoffed, looking at Weiss "You know, you're no fun some times. We can ditch... It's just history class."

"Do you want to deal with an angry Prof Oobleck?" Blake chipped in, watching as her partner's face turned more and more to disappointment.

"Not you too, Blakey... Rubes, you agree with me, right?" Yang turned to her sister, who, without a shred of hesitation, gave her approval in the form of quick nods. Yang looked to Weiss and Blake and said a smug "See? Team Lead knows what's up."

"You're presuming we're gonna let you tag along."

All four turned to the Chief, who gazed sternly at all of them. Ruby shrunk under her cloak, sidestepping behind Yang, while the blonde seemingly shied away from saying another thing, looking at Chief with slight amusement hidden behind a light grimace. She sighed, hands slumping by her hips, then droned out a "Fiiiiiine... Can we at least talk this out over breakfast?"

"We're gonna be leaving soon." Chief answered swiftly.

"Y'know, it's rude to turn down an offer from a lady." Yang smirked, hands on her hips. She saw that Chief didn't even budge, then sighed and said "Alright, alright... Good luck, fellas." and she stepped away. The rest of the team bid goodbye to them as they left for the staging area... And once they were out of earshot, Yang let out a deep, defeated sigh and said "Man, those two really are something else."

"Well, they are military, Yang." Weiss observed. "And the type that are focused on their mission."

"Yeah, but still, shouldn't they be at least somewhat sociable?" Yang shrugged.

Blake hummed "Not necessarily. Who knows what they've been through."

"Yeah, I mean, did you see the Master Chief's armor?" Weiss mused. "So many scorch marks, burns and dents. I'm surprised that his armor still holds, considering how much punishment it seemed to have taken. The same for Six's."

"Well, they're very utilitarian. Probably rugged, too." Blake mused.

"You gals do know they also had energy shielding, right?" Ruby said absentmindedly, making everyone turn toward her with eyes wide. She shrugged "What? It was obvious! The static electricity making our hair stand on-end emanating inches from the armor? The feeling of uneasiness? Didn't you feel like you were being pushed away by them or... Something?"

"Ruby... I think you're the only person in the world I know who would notice such infinitesimally stupid details and link them to that kind of insane theory." The Schnee Heiress looked to her partner with both pride and some surprise... Then she realized "Wait... That means those shields could possibly stop projectiles? So why are their armors still burned?" and looked to the others just as they reached the cafeteria doors.

"I'm surprised you took Ruby's theory at face value, Weiss..." Blake spoke.

"I'm questioning it by pointing out the flaw of damage, so I'm not exactly taking it at face value." She retorted. And then added "Then again, Shields do seem... Plausible...? We don't know their technology, do we? I mean, they fell out of the sky..." in whisper. "You all pointed out they may well be aliens. If that's the case, what kind of alien creates soldiers like these?"

"Can we think about it after breakfast, girls?" Yang offered. "We only got so much time."

The other three paused... And they shrugged it off, all agreeing silently to join the blonde. An hour had passed quickly while the two Spartans made the weapons prep and Six told the Chief the plan he came up with. The building they were going for was an old, run-down hotel near by the border between the Residential District and the high-end area of Vale. It was also a few blocks away from their FOB, so that made things much easier in case they needed to head out to resupply...

"I've got the place's security plan if you guys want it on your HUD. Several CCTV Cams, all linked to a central mainframe. They're old, so they aren't Rem-Net enabled, meaning I can only hack them from inside." Cortana explained, pulling up the plan of the five floors and that of the room where the meeting was being held. She continued "I've also intercepted com chatter on their net. Expect guards with PMC-tier weaponry. Anything they could get their hands on that was on the market, they got. This means armor-piercing and specialized Dust ammunition. Those rounds can be nasty if used right, so keep that in mind and try to prioritize shooting at anyone whose magazine has some kind of stripe or sign on it."

"Got it." Six responded, drawing his DMR.

"Mhm." Chief hummed, his AR at the ready. He flipped up the iron sights of the weapon, shouldering it and taking the safety off. The Bullhead's engines vectored, throttling up to stop the aircraft above an alley a few blocks away from the Hotel and out of sight. The pair disembarked then fell in, moving as quietly as they could through the narrow alleys. Chief had taken point, with Six not too far behind.

"Six, what's your plan here?" Cortana asked.

"First floor entry through the remains of the restaurant, to take out the CCTV. Then, we bust the elevator doors open and climb up through the elevator shaft, bypassing most of the enemy's forces." He noted, arranging a pair of C12 explosive charges onto his belt. "Before that though, I gotta plant a couple of bricks of C12 in the shaft, so we have a distraction and a way to take out any guards heading up the stupidly-built circular staircase around the elevator, to help or avenge their bosses. I think we can do it in around... 10 minutes? Sound good, Chief?"

"Not a bad plan." Chief noted, punctuating that with an approving nod. The two took a turn to the left, entering within the perimeter of the mission. "We're on the clock... Let's go."

The two saw the hotel, a rickety, messed-up place with little to no windows left. Most of its broken ones were covered up by now-soaked wood panels... Patrolling around the perimeter were 6 guards carrying what looked like modded SMGs, including red dots and lightweight plastic frames, as well as rail systems to mount other attachments. The first one, the one who spotted them, had his face make contact with Chief's hardened fist. His skull was caved in and he fell, dead before he even hit the floor.

Six threw his knife into another one, splitting off from the chief and pulling it out of the body as he reached his target, only to kick the man's head in as he ran and stab another one square in the chest, pinning him to the floor. The bastard's gun had a silencer... And Six was more than happy to relieve him of said gun. He swiveled about, raising the rickety weapon and spraying down two more guards that came to check on the noise.

On the other side, Chief had recovered two similarly set up guns, washing the enemy in a tidal wave of 9mm. The silenced gunfire made short work of remaining guards, leaving the last guards dead on the floor. The Spartans ditched the weapons and met on the north-eastern side of the hotel. Six gave a nod, raising five fingers. Five minutes. He punched in the panel and jumped over, kicking down another guard, before Chief joined him, throwing his own knife in-between the eyes of another. The two turned the corner into the small CCTV Guard room... Where one poor fuck was left... With a snap of his neck, the man fell.

Six leaned over the desk of the CCTV, before looking at one of the central operating units of the center and noticing a slit... He nodded to Chief, before switching places with him and drawing his own, unsilenced rifle as Chief slid Cortana into the slot. The girl chuckled, then said "Easy as pie, give me just half a second and..." the screens flashed and turned off. "Done. Let's go."

The Spartan took the chip, sliding it back into his helmet, only to turn the corner and see Six splitting the metal doors of the elevator open with his hands, denting whatever material they were made of. The shaft was a long, tall and wide one, big enough to fit a ten person elevator. To the left, John noticed the stairwell door. Single access point. Hmm... He went to one of the guards, took out two grenades and retrieved a thin wire... Six looked to the Chief, who began setting up the booby trap on the door. And with that, the two jumped onto the wire to begin their climb.

"Improvise, Adapt, Overcome, right?" Six quipped. Chief huffed in confirmation as the two continued to climb. When they reached around the third floor, the III of the pair began setting up the explosives on the walls... And the two floors up, again... He primed them to detonate, linking them to his TACCOM. He raised his finger. Two minutes... They were meant to reach their target in two minutes. That was easy...

Reaching the last floor, where the meeting was being held, Chief jumped over to the door and Six followed. The two leaned against it, trying not to gaze down, upon the five story drop. With two punches, the Spartans bent and broke the doors, sending one flying right into and crushing a guard... Six raised his DMR and fired twice. Two bullets punctured kevlar and a lung.

Chief swept the right of the Hall with automatic fire, sending a few more guards to their demise, before he once again led Six, who was covering their rears, forward.

"Door should be just ahead. One minute... Right on the mark, boys." Cortana quipped. "Detecting lifesigns... Yep, it's them."

"Kick the door." Chief said, switching places with Six as he raised his Assault Rifle and sprayed fire.

Six's armored boot met the door as he removed a grenade from his belt, hurling it inside. A ball of fire overtook the rear of the room... And anyone who was dumb enough to still be alive or stand up was met with accurate shots from Six's DMR, right between the eyes. Chief's gun clicked empty. He slid in a fresh mag just as a rumble came from down below... The idiots went downstairs to check on the CCTV...

"Six." Chief called out. "Now."

The Spartan dropped his half-empty magazine, reloaded a fresh one, then nodded. He looked to his TACCOM and, with the press of a button... The building shook inside out once again. Smoke billowed from the elevator shaft and washed the entire hallway and the rooms, blinding everyone but the Spartans as they made their way out. Heading for the roof, the pair flagged their evacuation bird and, just as quickly, it swung by...

As the smoke and cordite faded, the Hyper-Lethal vectors climbed aboard the bird, stowing their rifles and empty magazines away for reloading later and then sat down. Six sighed, then said "Another day, another nascent insurgency gone..." to himself, dusting the black embers that had come with the now-burning building off his shoulders. Chief nodded, sitting himself down...

And Cortana smirked "Att'er, boys... You're back in the groove already... Though I wonder how the news will play this up."

... oh.