Chief stood at attention in Ozpin's office, Glynda stood at his side, both were watching the headmaster talk with Vales council, their voices were somewhat muted, leaving the two professors in the dark as to what they were deciding.

With a sigh, Ozpin turned off the screen, looking at the two in front of him, "it seems that the council is in full approval of your handling of Team RWBY and the two members of Team SSSN." Ozpin said, "but they also think what they did was worth praise, as their actions indirectly led to the capture of Roman Torchwick, so they have shortened the probationary period you two suggested by two weeks."

"So they'll be off Probation by tomorrow." Chief clarified.

"Indeed," Ozpin confirmed, "they also approved the payment for counseling sessions for the teams and any one else that they felt needed it after the whole fiasco…" he leaned back, hands interlacing as he looked to Chief, "they also want me to put together a Hunter Party to look into the White Fang; they believe the Fang has become...too much for their Police force."

"They're right, considering the Fang has access to Paladins and military weaponry." Chief agreed, "well beyond what police can do."

"Who will you get to head the Hunter Party?" Glynda asked, "I know Professor Port has expressed his desire to get back in the field."

"Actually, I was hoping that the Master Chief would take the lead on this one." Ozpin said, making Chief narrow his eyes, "If he is agreeable."

Glynda looked at Chief in worry as the soldier stepped forward.

"How many Insurrections have seasoned hunters put down?" Chief asked.

"Excuse me?" Ozpin asked, an eyebrow quirked.

"How many Insurrections have seasoned hunters put down?" Chief asked again, "specifically, how many Hunters in Vale have actively fought Terrorists and put down their cells?"

"None," Ozpin said, "Hunters are mainly used for protecting settlements, fighting the Grimm, only in certain circumstances are they used to actively hunt down criminals-"

"-criminals don't equal insurrectionists." Chief said.

"Well you're right about that...nevertheless there are several who I could recommend that would be able to help-"

"-I don't need Huntsmen who are going to blast into an abandoned factory, guns blazing and giving our enemy enough time to run with intel." Chief interrupted, "I need a team that will be able to effectively utilize Espionage and counter-insurgency tactics, or at the very least, be taught how to utilize these tactics."

"Hmm...that….poses a problem, not many seasoned huntsmen are in the business of learning these tactics, and while i'm sure there are a few who would have these skills, the ones I can think of are all on missions investigating the White Fang presence in Vacuo and Mistral."

Chief sighed, "What about The Hunters In Training?" He asked, "Third and fourth year HIT teams that may have the capabilities."

"None of the teams currently active have fought against human combatants save for combat class and the Vytal Tournament.' Glynda interjected here, "and of those, only one team would be of any use for stealth missions."

"Which team?" he asked.

"Team RUST, lead by Rebecca Greene."

"We'll need more than one team." Ozpin muttered, "go ahead and send an all school bulletin, any who wish to learn the skills that Chief has to offer can approach myself and Professor Goodwitch for more information, as well as an evaluation to see if they have the skills necessary, I'll approve two teams to be active, with a third on standby."

"All teams including First and second year students?" Glynda asked cautiously.

"Anyone who wishes." Ozpin reiterated, then looked at his watch, "it is getting late, I'm sure both of you have lesson plans to go over for tomorrow."

Hearing the dismissal, both Glynda and Chief turned and walked towards the elevator, neither speaking until the elevator doors closed.

"I'll send out the bulletin tonight before curfew," she said softly as the elevator slowly descended

"I doubt you'll be getting very many applicants." Chief said, "though I'm sure Ms. Greene and Private Arc will be submitting applications."

"Why are you sure about those two?"

"Private Arc is determined to prove himself, and he's taking to the training, he'll make a fine officer and candidate."

"And Ms. Greene?"

"She has no love for the White Fang, maybe before when they were peaceful, but not now, they'll remind her too much of the bullies and racists that attack Faunus for no other reason than the fact that they're faunus."

Glynda looked at him, "will you be okay? Taking on this mission?"

Chief turned his head slightly to her, his eyes softening ever so slightly, "it won't be easy, but I'm sure that I can handle it...no one else is qualified."

The elevator pinged as they reached the ground floor,both stepped out as the doors opened, "will you be joining combat class tomorrow?"

"Definitely." he said, "apparently Ms. Nikos wishes to spar with me once more, and I would like to work with a few of the second year teams on their cohesion…" he looked to her, "I...took the liberty of scheduling a reservation at the restaurant."

Glynda smiled at that, "what time?"

"Seven, gives us plenty of time to reach Vale." he stopped as they reached a fork in their path, Glynda turned to face him.

"Then I'll meet you at the air docks at six." she said.

"That will work fine...until tomorrow Professor Goodwitch." he said with a small dip of his head.

"Until tomorrow Chief," she said softly, returning the nod and moving down the other hallway.

Chief watched her until she was out of sight, then turned on his heel and began walking towards his office.

"Well, it looks like you two are getting familiar." Cortana said as Chief placed his scroll down on the desk, sitting down as Cortana materialized on the screen, "I can hear the wedding bell's already."

"It's a simple dinner." Chief said as he pulled out some ungraded tests.

"One that you initiated and are paying for. Face it Chief, you're going on a date."

Chief sighed, looking at his longtime companion, "Maybe it's wishful thinking…" he muttered, "but this place...I feel more at home at it then i've ever felt outside of battle...I feel...needed...for something other than war…"

"For what it's worth." Cortana began, "I've never seen you happier...though you still act like a machine."

"Old habits die hard i suppose." Chief mused, "now keep it down, I have papers to grade."

Cortana rolled her eyes, "yes, professor."

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The next day.

Ruby slowly walked into Chiefs classroom, hands ringing together in front of her as Weiss gently prodded her.

"Go on." Weiss said quietly.

Ruby took a shaky breath and approached the Chiefs desk, slowly pulling a piece of paper out of her bag.

"Rose? Schnee?"

The gravelly voice of the Spartan made both girls jump, neither had seen him in the past few weeks, having been excused from classes and placed on a probation that restricted them to their dorms since the overpass incident. The last they had seen of him was for punishment platoon; something none of the girls wanted to risk going to again.

"Hello chief." Ruby said carefully, standing up straight as Chief walked into the room from a side door, his eyes narrowed slightly at the both of them.

"What can I do for you two today." Chief asked, approaching his chair and pulling it out to sit down.

Ruby looked to Weiss, then back to Chief, with a steadying breath she held out the piece of paper. "Team RWBY would like to formally request that we be able to help in engaging the white fang." Ruby said, staring chief in the eye as he took the paper, he held her gaze for a few moments before looking down at the paper.

"Hmm...you spoke with Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch about this…" it was a statement. But Ruby nodded.

"Professor Goodwitch lifted our probation yesterday, and we talked about it then." She said, "our team has a lot of experience in engaging the white fang, and while we made a mess of the last encounter…" her voice broke a little there, but she cleared her throat and continued, "I still believe my team is the best one to get the job done."

Chief set the paper down and leaned back in his chair, "and your team is behind you on this?" He questioned, "this isn't something that you and Ms. Schnee have thought up without telling your other teammates?"

"We've spoken about it at lengths the last two weeks." Weiss said primly, stepping forward, "and we are all in agreement, Yang and Blake just had prior engagements this afternoon."

Chief nodded slightly, "your team is good," he began, "no one can deny that, but you all need to understand that if, IF, I approve this, then you will answer to the huntsman in charge, whether it's me or the next stripe in the column, you can't cowboy up and go off on your own."

"We know," ruby said, "and we won't abandon the mission."

"Can you say the same for the rest of your team?" He asked.

Ruby hesitated.

Chief sighed, "I will take this under consideration." He said, sitting up straight once more, "to confirm what you probably already know, Ozpin has saw fit to grant me permission to look into the White Fang and deter them how I see fit, he has also given me permission to have Two HIT teams to help with missions as need be with a third on stand-by." He looks between the two girls, "you're the third team to approach me about joining."

"Third?" Ruby asked.

Chief nodded, "Private Arc volunteered his team this morning during training, I accepted him immediately, the other team is team RUST; third year team, I havent had to deal with her team as of yet, but they have experience on their side." He held the paper up, "I'm not going to reject this request, I'm going to think it over, I'll have a decision for you by the end of the week, understood?"

Ruby nodded, "understood."

"Now, I have papers to grade, and I'm sure you both have homework to complete, you're dismissed."

The two left the room, letting the door close behind them, "well...it wasn't a no." Ruby said as Weiss sighed.

"But he's got the choice of having a third year team. They'd be the logical choice."

"Unless you take into account that we work great with Team JNPR, let's just hope we get chosen, there's not much else we can do."

"You're right," weiss sighed, "and even if he chooses RUST for a primary spot, we still have a chance to be the Stand-by team."

"Always staying positive!" Ruby cheered as they continued on.

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Chief watched as his last class before lunch walk out as the bell rang, "don't forget we have a test over the rank structure of the Atlas Military tomorrow." He called to them as he put the homework up in his desk before walking out of the room, greeting the occasional student as he walked to the combat classroom, where Professor Goodwitch was busy cleaning up the combat floor.

"Chief." She said in surprise as the last piece of rubble fell in place, "I didn't think I'd see you before tonight."

"Some things came up-" he stopped as he looked around at the carnage in the room. "But first what happened here?"

Glynda sighed, "the effects of having Nora Valkyrie face Yang Xiao-Long."

"Who won?" Chief questioned, putting his hands behind his back.

"It ended in a tie and both of them launching each other out of my classroom." She shook her head "so, what is it you had come up? Do we need to reschedule our...arrangement?"

"Nothing like that." He assured her with a smile "I simply wanted to ask if you approved Team RWBY's request to join my mission?"

Glynda nodded as she holstered her riding crop, "I signed off on their written request, why?"

"Do you truly think they're ready for this?"

"They're a well rounded team who has previous experience dealing with the fang, I believe with the right guidance that they can do great things."

Chief nodded, "I agree...but I'm concerned about Ms. Belladonnas former connections to the organization, her naivety that the members are simply misguided, and the obsession she has with bringing them to justice."

Glynda sighed, "if it was just her trying to join. I wouldn't have approved it, but her team is good at keeping each other grounded. Theyll keep her from overstepping any boundaries." She stared at him for a moment, "but you already knew that, didnt you?"

He inclined his head, "I needed a second opinion, from someone who isn't biased towards team RWBY, and there's no one else's opinion that i trust more than yours."

Glynda blushed slightly, "well, I'm glad I have your trust…" she said, quietly.

Chief smiled that small smile that she liked to think was reserved for her, then offered his arm to her, "would you like to accompany me to lunch?"

Before Glynda could accept the offer, the arena speakers crackled to life.

"Hate to interrupt chief." Cortana called out, "but there's a situation going on in the comms room, you both are requested there."

Chief and Glynda shared a look before both took off out of the room.

Many made the mistake that Beacon Academy was a school only for Huntsmen, and while it is true that the prestigious academy does cater more to Huntsmen, it also has several classes aimed in the support of them, medical training, supplies and even telecommunications; why, beacon hosted one of the greatest communications rooms in Remnant.

And it was here that Glynda and Chief found utter chaos in the forms of several students and teachers aids running around in a panic.

"Chief!" One of the third year students that Chief vaguely remembered from his class exclaimed as he ran over with several other following, all of them began speaking at once, "chief we need your help there's some crazy shit going on!"

"Team CFVY is dark-"

"-CRDL is injured we have to-"

"-Not Grimm or White Fang I don't know what-"

"-unknown amount of Civilian casualties-"

"-AT EASE!" Chief roared out, making the students all stop talking and freeze, "you." He pointed to the student who first approached him, "the situation, go."

"Team CFVY and Team CRDL were on a mission to help clear an infestation of Grimm just outside of Old Post." he began, "about two hours ago communication stopped, we thought they had gone down for maintenance and didn't tell us like usual bit...about fifteen minutes ago…" be hesitated, "Gidgit is there comms man right now, shes still working on re-establishing contact."

Chief looked up, spying a station on the other side of the room where a young woman was furiously tapping away at her computer, one hand easily entering information into whatever call sheet was open while the other was calling numbers on a landline phone at her side, then from a backpack on her back, several spindly appendages were tapping away at several other monitors, glowing green goggles covered her eyes and her long black hair almost hid the fox ears atop her head. At her side the professor of the room was doing his best to help her.

Chief advanced to their side, "status report Professor Dinkle, what's going on?"

"Old Posts getting hit by an attack." The professor said, barely looking up from the transmission antenna he was fiddling with, running a hand through his thinning hair before pushing his coke-bottle glasses up, "it's not grimm or white fang."

"It's something new." Gidgit muttered, catching chiefs attention as she switched screens without stopping her work on the other, "Cardin Winchester, leader of team CRDL called fifteen minutes ago, transmission was staticky and hard to keep in focus, but it was enough."

"Pull it up, I want to hear it."

"I'll do you one better." She said as she swiped her hand on the screen, making a video pop up, "he contacted via his scroll, don't know how he Jerry rigged it but it works." She hit play and Chief felt a chill go down his spine at the hauntingly familiar sounds of battle filled the room.

Cardin was holding his scroll up to his face as he dragged a groaning body into cover as pulsing green plasma flew all around him, "this is Cardin Winchester, Old Post is under attack by-" he was cut off as an explosion rocked the building, "Sky! Keep them off us!"

"I'm trying! There's too many! AAAAAGH!"

"Sky!" The screen went shaky as Cardin dropped his scroll, the camera showing the large teen tackling a squat humanoid thing, throwing it across the street as he picked up his teammate, dragging the injured teen away as several other figures approached, the video abruptly cut off as a large foot stepped on the scroll.

Chief stared at the now blank screen as Gidgit began to speak.

"I've called several hunter teams in the area and none have responded, police and first responders are likewise unreachable-" she stopped as she saw chief slowly begin to rewind the video, stopping on the figures, "I'm running a database check on any and all humanoid grimm that our teams have faced, I'm hoping to find some kind of-"

"You won't find them in the database." Chief said grimly, his hands clenching as he stood up straight, then looked to Gidgit, "get in contact with military forces, tell them we need a QRF in this area and to make it snappy, everyone else," he turned to look at the room, "this is priority alpha, I want all non essential personnel out of this room now! Third years and above return to your stations, we need any and all air support and Hunter teams in this area yesterday! Move it!"

Everyone ran to carry out his orders as chief put a hand on Gidgit's chair, "reestablish contact with our HIT teams, we need to know the strength of the enemy."

"I'll try, but I think their transmissions are being jammed." Gidgit muttered, her hands still moving in a blur over the keyboards"Vale council isnt answering any calls at the moment."

"Then contact the base directly."

"It won't do any good, during peace times they house only a skeleton crew for the comms, to even scrounge up a platoon would take over four hours."

"We don't have four hours." Chief growled as he turned and began to walk to the exit, "send a message to All HIT teams in Beacon as well as any Bullheads we have, I'm gonna need volunteers for a rapid evacuation of civilians and Huntsmen" he turned to Glynda, "send mission alerts to Teams JNPR, RUST, and RWBY, I'll be needing them above all others."

"Chief what is going on?" Glynda asked as she began to type out the message. "Who is attacking us?"

Chief stopped at the exit. "It's the Covenant," he said as he spared her a glance, "They're on Remnant...may god help us all."

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Jaune fixed his chest plate on as he ran into his dorm room, where a flurry of chaos met him as his teammates gathered their supplies, "we got everything?" He asked as he grabbed his DMR and clipped Crocea Mors onto his side.

"Ammo and emergency supplies are good," pyrrha reported as she shifted her weapon and put it on her back.

"Scrolls charged up and headsets programmed for channel 3." Ren called as he ran out of the closet.

"Playlist for second official mission ready!" Nora chirped.

"Alright guys let's hit it!" Jaune called as he put his helmet on, the four teens ran out of their dorm as team RWBY did the same.

"You get the message too?" Ruby asked as they all ran down the halls.

"Yeah, something big must be going on." Jaune said as he looked around, several other beacon teams and even a few Haven and Vacuo teams were all hurriedly leaving their rooms and heading in the same direction that they were.

"Do you think it's the white fang?" Yang asked.

"No, it would've said so in the mission alert." Weiss said in a matter of fact tone, "maybe a grimm incursion?"

"Look! Its chief!" Nora called as they got to the air docks, where Chief was standing in full armor, having a discussion with Professor Ozpin as the teams approached.

"I could not get General Ironwood to send any of his ships in support." Ozpin said softly to Chief, "but Vales militia is mobilizing, hopefully they'll be reinforcing you within two hours."

"Tell them to get the lead out." Chief said in return, looking up at the students as Ozpin began to walk away,"at ease!" He called and quickly the students settled down, "two hours ago, communication with Old Post went dark; forty five minutes ago we received a transmission from one of the HIT teams stationed in the town, they are under attack by an enemy that none of you have ever faced before." He held his scroll put and a projection of the video came up, showing the face of the enemy, "this, is the Covenant. How they reached this planet I don't know, what I do know is that they are here, and that they've attacked a large settlement; the Covenant is not known for taking any prisoners, and given the chance, they will kill you." He put his scroll up and looked at the teams congregated, many looked terrified, "I am not forcing any of you to come with me, but we need to evacuate teams CFVY and CRDL as well as any civilians we can, three teams I know will come, but this mission is still voluntary." He looked around.

Jaune stepped forward, "Team JNPR volunteering for the mission Chief." He called as Rebecca stepped forward as well.

"Team RUST volunteering for the mission chief." Rebecca said, hands resting on a pair of knives with antler handles.

Ruby hesitantly stepped forward, "Team RWBY will also volunteer chief." She said.

"If those guys are going I'm definitely going." Sun called with a grin, his team stepping up behind him,"these guys too."

"Team ABRN will also be going." Arslan Altan called, stepping forward, "we owe Team CFVY a lot."

Chief looked around, "anyone else?" He waited a beat, then nodded, "any teams staying behind be prepared, depending on the size of the force, the Covenant may target Beacon next. Teams RUST, JNPR, RWBY, ABRN and SSSN, load up, we have dust off in five mikes, Arc, come see me."

The teams all scrambled to the bullheads, Jaune ran over to Chief, "yes sir?" He asked.

"You're my second in command for this Arc." Chief said holding something out, Jaunes hand came up and took a pair of small metal pins from Chief, "I'll be relaying orders to you for the rest of the HIT teams, understood?"

Jaune gulped and nodded, "Aye, Aye chief."

"I'm counting on you, Sergeant Arc." Chief said, "Now go make sure they're all squared away."

"Aye chief." Jaune said, turning and jogging to the bullheads as Glynda walked over.

"Qrow just contacted us." She said as she reached him, "he'll meet you in Old Post, he's got a few seasoned huntsmen with him."

"That's good, we'll definitely need their help." He said as they began walking to the bullheads, "will you be joining us?"

"Ozpin wants me here to coordinate." She said, stopping as chief put a foot on the bullhead, "be careful out there Chief. If they're as tough as you say they are…"

"Our main priority is evacuation, we won't engage the covenant unless necessary...and even then I will be the one engaging…" he looked down, "the Covenant will not take this planet...that I swear."

"Just...please take care of these children," glynda said softly, putting a hand on his cold armored shoulder, "and yourself for that matter."

Chief put his gloved hand over hers, "I'll be seeing you for dinner tonight." He said, before stepping fully into the bullhead as it took off.

Glynda watched five bullheads fly away, two full of the five volunteer hit teams, and three for evac purposes, "all of you...be safe…"

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Today was not Cardins day.

To be fair, the whole mission was just one big kick in the Teeth since it started the week before, he had thought, after his apology to Velvet, things would have gone a lot smoother; but it seemed that Team CFVY was good at holding grudges. And Coco had made it her mission to make his life miserable.

Not that he didn't deserve it, but he at least deserves some professional courtesy didn't he?

Then the freaks attacked, he couldn't call them anything else, skinny bird like creatures with shields made of some type of light covering their arms and pistols that spewed green plasma at them; they had attacked that morning with a contingent of squat orange beasts at their side, easy to kill but there were a lot of them, it had taken all of their training to simply stay on their feet during the initial onslaught.

Then their leaders had taken the field, they were enormous, easily clearing eight feet, with ugly, brutish faces and gray skin, these beasts were the most armored of them all, and seemed to be covered in some kind of force field that crackled and popped as dust rounds pinged off of them without hurting them.

It was a wonder that they had even survived til this point, the town militia had been routed and were now holed up in city hall, whole Cardin and Sky limped through the back streets, they had been cut off when Sky had convinced him to take shelter in the half destroyed comms tower so they could slap together a crude radio with their scroll;it ended with a short message being sent, both scrolls destroyed, and Sky injured by what Cardin assumed was a grenade. He didn't even know where Dove and Russel were, having been separated from them when the monsters pressed the attack.

"You think Team CFVY Is doing any better?" Sky asked through gritted teeth as Cardin set him down by a burnt out truck, he was clutching his halberd like a lifeline, hugging it close to his body.

"I can hear Coco's gun so I'm gonna say yes." Cardin muttered as he took a med kit off his back, "let's see your wounds."

"I'm fine."

"Whatever they hit you with blew a chunk of meat out of your side." Cardin snapped, "let me take care of it."

Sky glared at him, but nodded, wincing as Cardin pulled his armor away from the damaged skin, most of the right side of his body was covered in burns"hell of a first mission, huh boss?" Sky asked as Cardin began dressing the wound.

"Yeah, hell of a first mission…" cardin agreed.

"You think Dove and Russel are okay?" The anger and pain left his voice, replaced by anxiousness and fear, "what if they didn't fall back? What if-"

"-don't think about what if." Cardin cut him off, "they were with the Militia members, so they're probably in the town hall. Waiting for our sorry asses to show up.' He looked around as he finished the bandages, "that'll hold until your aura recovers."

"What kind of weapons are those? They cut through my aura like nothing…"

"I don't know but we need to get back, can you stand on your own?"

"Barely." Sky sighed getting to his feet, using his halberd as a makeshift crutch,"but we need you to defend us right?"

Cardin nodded, pulling his Mace off his side. "Yeah, lets try and get back to city hall."

Sky sighed and began limping down the alleyway, Cardin looking about as they went, "maybe we should just skin out man…" Sky started as they walked, "these things are dangerous, what if-"

"-we aren't leaving until we have Dove, and Russell with us," Cardin said firmly as they continued moving, "and we definitely won't leave until civilians are evacuated and we regroup with team CFVY."

"-they're almost dead anyways we should-"

"No! We are regrouping with them and that's that Sky!" Cardin snapped, glaring at his teammate, who shrank back slightly.

"Alright...let's keep going then." Cardin led the way as they left the alley and went into one of the side streets, Sky did his best to keep up with him as they got closer to city hall.

"You've changed man…" Sky said quietly. Making cardin look back at him, "for the better." He added quickly, "beginning of the year you wouldn't have gone out of your way to drag my sorry ass back…"

"Lets focus on the task at hand sky." Cardin said, giving his friend a tired smile.

"Yeah...yeah alright…I was just saying I-"

The sound of shattering glass made Cardin turn around quickly, his eyes widening as he saw Sky slowly fall forward, a clean hole a few centimeters in diameter in his chest, "SKY!" he shouted, barely able to dodge another round aimed for him, he grabbed Sky by his armor straps and hauled him to safety behind a nearby truck, chattering and the sound of something jumping from rooftop to rooftop made him pull his mace out, his eyes skimming the rooftops until he saw a blur land on a blue house across the street. Without thinking he activated the crystal in the head of his mace and sent a powerful explosion into the house, forcing the thing to fall back.

"Fucking hell…" sky gasped out, his hand clenching at his new wound as it freely bled, "fucker got me good…"

"He can't get us here." Cardin muttered, looking over to where Sky had dropped his halberd, "and our long range weapon is too far for us to use…"

"Then we need to skin out…" sky rasped, "we stay here that thing will get us."

"We break cover then it definitely gets us...we'll have to wait him out, hope they send someone to get us."

"How long will that be?:

"I don't know…" cardin admitted, watching as blood slowly puddled around his friend, "i don't know."

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Chief looked at the children in front of him, most were checking their weapons as a ploy to keep their minds off the upcoming mission; Others were watching the windows with faraway eyes, mentally preparing themselves for the mission. Ruby was nervously fiddling with her scope, fingers shaking slightly while Jaune was muttering to himself while he loaded one of his magazines. Having unloaded and loaded it several times in the last forty five minutes.

With a sigh Chief stood. "All eyes on me." He commanded, making everyone look up. "Our mission is search and rescue." He began, "we get our HIT teams, get the civilians and fall back."

"We're not gonna clear the town?" Arslan asked.

"There's no telling how large the attacking covenant forces are, it could range from a small strike team to a full battalion, so we will get our people and fall back; Rose, you, Togo, and Nikos will be Red Team, you will be providing sniper cover for the town square. Xiao-Long, Valkyrie, you two will protect the airships while Versaillas, David, Stone and Shiko will be focusing on helping the evacuation along, you five will be Blue team,. Schnee, you will be heading yellow team with Uriel, Hori, Belladonna and Ren I want you to scout the town, find any injured civilians or huntsmen and bring them back to our line; any firefights or persons you can't reach will be reported to either myself or Sgt. Arc, Arc, Greene, Chloris, Altan and Ayana, you'll be with me as green team, we'll holding the perimeter and help the Yellow team with their mission as needed. Understood?"

"Yes sir." they all chorused.

Chief looked at the students, pulling his helmet off to look at them, "this is not a mission any of you are familiar with, our enemy will be shooting to kill; so all of you must be prepared to do the same." he looked to Ruby, "but if any of you come into contact with Hunters-creatures larger than even a Ursa Major- you will disengage, none of you have the strength to take them on your own."

"Five minutes chief!" Foehammer shouted back, "better get ready, LZ looks hot!"

Chief put his helmet back on, "Xiao-Long, Valkyrie, you're on point, Red Team you're behind them with the rest of blue team, teams Green and Yellow will follow Mark?"

"Sync!"

"ONE MINUTE OUT!" Foehammer shouted as the airship rocked dangerously, "Flaks bad! Gonna need to hit the afterburners hard!"

Chief pulled his rifle off his back, "Cortana monitor the students Aura, we don't need any casualties out here."

"Got it Chief."

Suddenly the airship went into a steep dive, "Hang on to your britches kids we're going for a ride!" Foehammer snarled, levelling out at the last second and opening the bay hatch, "GO GO GO!"

Chief jumped out, Yang and Nora at his side, Needler rounds sparking off his armor, the city center of Old Post was a warzone, dust rounds and plasma bolts flew back and force across the destroyed courtyard as Jackals slowly advanced with Grunts at their back, several Jackals jumped from rooftop to rooftop, firing off Needler rifles and Carbines, Chief immediately raised his gun and fired off rounds at the snipers,"Valkyrie, left side Yellow building!"

"On it Chief!" Nora shouted, firing off several rounds towards the building, ducking as several plasma bolts flew towards her; the building exploded into fire and debris as her grenade rounds did their work.

"Xiao-Long with me!" Chief commanded as he moved forward, firing at the advancing squads.

"Get some!" Yang shouted as she dove into one of the squads, her fists lashing out and sending several grunts flying.

"Rose! Clocktower twelve-O'clock!" Chief shouted, one hand going up to indicate the half ruined tower. "Get your team in there!"

"Yes sir Chief!" Ruby called, running across the field with Pyrrha and a small auburn haired boy with Husky ears followed, both firing rounds from their rifles as they went.

Jaunes feet hit the ground and immediately he had to duck as incoming fire splashed around him, "Shiko! Get suppressive fire on that squad! Sun, Neptune! Help him!" he ordered, firing his DMR as the others followed his orders.

"Brutes incoming!" Chief called out as the ape like aliens came charging in, spiker guns sending deadly rounds at the students, Yang let out a cry as one slammed through her aura and struck through her shoulder.

"Yang!" Weiss called out, running towards her downed teammate.

"Arc! Grenades!" Chief ordered, pulling the baseball sized compact explosive out of it's pouch and throwing it as Arc did the same. The grenades exploded and sent two brutes flying, their shields shattered, the last one threw it's weapon down and roared as it charged.

'SUN WATCH OUT!" Scarlet shouted as the Brute jumped towards the monkey Faunus, arms raised to slam down on the unsuspecting Faunus, only for it to be thrown to the side, purple blood painting the sidewalk as it's head practically exploded.

"Good shot Rose keep racking them up." Chief said into his radio, holding a thumbs up to the red reaper in the clock tower, her hands shaking from what she had just done.

"It couldn't be helped Ruby." Pyrrha said softly as she drew a bead on one of the grunts, "these things are trying to kill...we have to be willing to do the same."

Togo nodded, giving the young girl a small nod before taking his own shot at one of the downed brutes.

Jaune reloaded his rifle as Chief lowered his, "hostiles are falling back." he said into his radio, "all teams regroup at city hall, Red Team stay in the clock tower, alert us if there's any sign of a counter attack.

"Got it chief."

Chief slowly jogged over to city hall where the rest of the HIT teams were gathered, Weiss was busily fussing over Yang's arm, flinching every now and then when Yang would let out a growl of pain.

"Son of a bitch this hurts." she muttered, "Aura didn't even stop it."

"You're lucky." Chief said, kneeling down beside her to look over the wound, "just a few centimeters to the left and it would've pierced your lung."

"Greeeeat."

"Arc, take care of this," he called over to the sergeant, 'Blue and Green teams secure the area, Schnee, Greene, Altan, Sun, with me."

The four students followed chief as he approached the front door, "This is Master Chief Petty Officer John 117 with Beacon." he called out, "Open up!"

Slowly the door opened and four middle aged men in mottled gray uniforms stepped out, weapons at the ready, old, dull gray armor covering their chests and arms, two were wearing helmets and one was wearing a dusty boonie cover. The leader had longer hair then his compatriots, as well as a nasty gash on the side of his face.

"Master Chief," the man greeted as he walked over, "I'm Staff Sergeant O'Leary, Gonna admit, we were worried no one was coming."

"What's the situation Staff Sergeant?" Chief asked as they began walking into the building, he looked around at the civlians who were lined up against walls and on tables, most were injured, with a few haggard looking nurses treating those that they could.

"Hunter team that was here is dead, HIT teams shadowing them are still up..for the most part." O'Leary said, "had one of the leaders posted up on the roof with that gigantic gatling gun of hers til a sniper got her, she's currently being treated alongside her partner." he sighed, "we're missing who know's how many civilians, and two HIT students missing."

"Which two students?" Chief asked.

"Sky Lark and Cardin WInchester," Velvet said walking over, her right ear had a noticeable split and her battle uniform was covered in tears. "They got separated during the initial attack, Dove and Russell tried to go after them but…" she stopped and looked down, "they were hit by one of those...blue pulsating grenades...they're still out."

Chief turned to Weiss, "begin your search Schnee, Winchester and Lark are priority."

"Yes Master Chief." Weiss said dutifully as she walked out, calling for her team as they moved.

"We'll begin extraction as soon as the city square is secure. Until then get your men ready, the Covenant will be counterattacking soon."

WVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

Cardin looked around the corner of the truck, cursing as he spied several more bird-like creatures appearing, "shit there's a whole squad of them now." he whispered as he looked down at Sky, who was struggling to keep his eyes open.

"All of them with that same rifle?" He mumbled.

'I don't think so, but still bad…" Cardin sighed, then roughly shaked Sky, "Stay awake, you can't pass out here…"

"Thirsty…" Sky croaked out, the shaking having only made his eyes open a little more, "got any water?"

Cardin let out a shaky breath and pulled out his small canteen, putting it in the other boy's bloody hands."Last of it, sip it."

Sky took the canteen and brought it to his lips, finishing it in a few small sips. With a sigh Sky let the Canteen fall to the ground, "Cardin...you gotta make a break for it."

Cardin shook his head, "I'm not leaving you here man, we're gonna make it out of this together."

"I'm done already bud…" Sky whispered hoarsely,"least this way we won't both go out…"

"No! We're both getting out of here! I know I heard bullheads flying close, maybe they brought reinforcements-" he stopped as he heard approaching footfalls, he glanced around the edge once more to find the creatures approaching slowly. "Son of a bitch…" he looked at SKy who allowed his head to fall back against the truck, eyes still open.

"No need for both of us to die Cardin...just go…" he mumbled.

Cardin shook his head fiercely, tears gathering in his eyes as he hefted his Mace, "I'm not leaving you here, I'm killing these fuckers and dragging your ass to city hall."

"Cardin wait-" Sky started as Cardin dodged around the truck, his mace coming down to crush the skull of the nearest creature; he activated the crystal and sent the others flying, "Come on you flightless fucking pigeons!" he snarled, diving to the side as several rounds of green and pink flew towards him, he came to a kneeling position beside Sky's Halberd; which he hefted and aimed towards the nearest enemy, shooting off a Dust round that knocked the thing off the roof before diving back to the truck as the others relocated.

"Cardin just get out of here damn it…" Sky growled out. "Forget about me, go."

"Fuck you Sky, now shut up so I can save you." Cardin snapped, wincing as a needler round pinged off his armor, he aimed and fired the Halberd-rifle once more, barely missing one of the snipers.

A burning sensation sprouted up in Cardins chest; he looked down in surprise to see that one of the green bolts had struck him, turning his armor into a melted mush. Quick as he could he removed the chest piece a second before another round tore through his stomach.

"Cardin!"

Cardin fell back against the pavement, firing Sky's halberd at the approaching squad, who simply avoided the shots, chattering to each other as they approached, cardin growled as the halberd ran empty, no ammunition left

"Come on then fuckers." He growled, pulling his mace, "COME ON!"

*CRACK!*

the anti material round tore through the side of the lead kig-yars head as a heavy machine gun opened fire, killing two more as the rest scattered, taking shots at the new arrivals

"Keep them off of the kids Kaz!" A gruff voice shouted as Cardin fell to his knees, his eyes widening as a large behemoth jumped in front of him, absorbing several rounds from the enemy marksman. "Get to cover." The large spartan ordered cardin, tossing him a med kit, "get you and your friend patched up."

Another CRACK! Filled the air as another kig-yars head exploded in a fine purple mist, cardin scrambled away from his savior and back to Sky's side, med kit clutched to his chest.

"Is it chief?"

"No...definitely not…" Cardin whispered as he dragged Sky a little ways from the truck and began patching him up.

"That stomach wound looks bad…" Sky mumbled.

"I'll be fine." Cardin grimaced as the gunfire died down, looking up as the Spartan slowly walked towards him, dead Kig-yars littering the street.

"Alright there?" he asked, his voice crackling over external speakers, "Does he need evac?"

"He'll need an actual medic...but this will hold for now...who...are you?"

"Jorge-052." he said, the lights on his head flashing twice, "I'm here to help."

"We're both here to help." a new voice said as another Spartan approached from a pile of rubble, sniper rifle in hand. "Though one of us has been on that trail for a while now."

"Kaz, scout ahead and see what you can find, report back when you can."

"Can only go a few blocks, Covenant Jammers are in place."

"Do what you can. "

With a slight nod Kaz began to move, Jorge knelt down and pulled his helmet off, looking at the two, "do you need help moving him?"

Cardin slowly shook his head, "just need his Halberd to help keep us steady."

Jorge nodded slightly, "Stay behind me while we move, if we take fire do not engage, me and Kaz will do what we can."

"You guys are like Chief right?" Sky asked, wincing as Cardin helped him to his feet, pale and shaky from the blood loss."

"Figured you knew Chief." Jorge chuckled as he stood up fully, putting his helmet on, "come on, let's get you two out of here."