Planet Remnant Forerunner Installation 0360

"Huh!?" Ruby sputtered.

"What is the meaning of this!?" Weiss demanded.

"It is as I said," General Ironwood said dryly. "You, your team, and the intruder you have brought onto our planet are under arrest. So I suggest you drop your weapons and come along quietly."

"And if we don't?" Yang questioned as she glared daggers at the general. The grip she had on her shotgun tightening, but making no move to aim it anywhere other than the ground.

The General sighed as he signaled his men to ready themselves. "Then you will force my hand and blow any chance of this ending peacefully. A move I find to be very ill advised given your current situation."

"Well isn't this typical." Blake hissed.

The Chief tensed as he regarded the General's men fanning out around him and his allies. He could faintly hear the sound of safeties disengaging and weapons being cocked. Taking a quick head count of the enemies, he estimated that his chances of victory would be slim if this came down to a fight.

Given that the Chief's opponents seemed to be normal soldiers with no shielding units, standard issue weaponry, and minimalistic body armor, he figured that even without the aid of team RWBY this fight would still be in his favor, but there was one major problem. He didn't know where he would go from here if he won. Perhaps rush the general and highjack his vessel, but he very much doubted the small ship had slipspace capabilities, which would leave him trapped on a now hostile planet. A hostile planet that was capable of training soldiers of team RWBY's caliber. That would not ideal.

On top of all that, it had been quite a long time since the Chief had to fight his fellow man. At least if he wasn't counting the times hey had been controlled by the flood parasite it's been well over a decade.

Ever since the Covenant had made their first appearance, the rebel factions had been the least of the UNSC's concerns. So of course the Spartan IIs had just about all been reassigned. It was far easier to rally behind suppressing an alien threat than a domestic one.

"John, are you alright?" Chief heard his AI companion ask through his helmet's speakers.

"I'm fine, just thinking about our next move." Chief replied promptly.

"You may want to think faster then, it seems like our allies have made their decision." Cortana stated.

That got Chief's attention as he quickly glanced over to see that team RWBY were in the middle of surrendering their weapons, albeit begrudgingly. Weiss and Blake had already handed over their weapons and Yang had tossed her borrowed shotgun aside.

"Hand those over too!" One of the general's men commanded as he pointed out the pair of golden gauntlets strapped to Yang's wrists.

Yang mumbled something unflattering under her breath, but quickly complied folding up the gauntlets and slipping them off her wrists. "Fine, they're spent anyway." She spat as she practically threw them in the soldier's face, causing the man to shout some colorful words back at the girl which she ignored.

The last one was their team leader Ruby. She had tossed aside her side arm right away, but her main weapon was still gripped tightly in her hands. This was a fact that didn't sit well with the general's men. "Hand over the rifle, Miss Rose!" One of them commanded.

"I'm not leaving Crescent Rose behind and you can't carry it." Ruby declared.

"What was that!?" The soldier shot back. "I said hand it over!"

Ruby shook her head. "I told you, you can't carry it. There would be no point in handing it over." She told the soldier.

"You think this is a game!" The soldier roared as he raised his rifle to point at the smaller woman's head. The soldier's actions caused every member on both sides to become very tense.

"Very well, but do not drop her." Ruby relented as she folded up the rifle and held it out with one hand.

The soldier hesitated for a moment wondering if this was some sort of trick, but then quickly reached out to snatch the large weapon. This was a move that proved to be a mistake as he instantly crumbled once the one-hundred pound weapon's full weight fell upon him.

The soldier screamed in panic as Ruby's weapon pinned him to the ground, causing the girl to shake her head and sigh. "I told you, you couldn't carry it. At least you kept my baby from touching the ground." She said as she reached down to reclaim her weapons, but she paused when she noticed that about half a dozen weapons were now pointing her way. "What, I didn't do it!?"

"Step back, Miss Rose!" One of the soldiers roared.

"I'm just trying to-" Ruby began before being interrupted by a hand being placed on her shoulder. Ruby craned her neck to see that it was Jaune and Coco, and her team were now close behind them. They also had their helmets off which allowed her to see the sour expression they were all wearing.

Jaune shook his head at Ruby before stepping past her to pick up her weapon and lug it over his shoulder. "I can look after this for you if that's alright." He declared to both Ruby and the General.

"Hey, you can't do that!" One of the soldiers argued.

"It's fine," The general declared before turning his attention back to Jaune. "Hell, Mister Arc. Glad to see you've made it back to us in one piece." He declared as he met the younger man's cool gaze.

Jaune scoffed at that. "Yeah I bet you're thrilled to see me again, Ironwood." He said sarcastically. "Speaking of, how is my team doing? Have they checked in yet?"

General Ironwood gave a nod. "They're doing well, all members are accounted for, and we have already dispatched rescue teams to recover them. Well done on that mission by the way, your team exceeded even my expectations."

The way the general said that made Jaune briefly wonder what expectations the general had. He wasn't being serious earlier about the general hoping he died on that mission, but now he wasn't so sure. One thing is for sure though, that mission could've turned out a lot worse for him and his team.

"Now then," The general said turning towards the last person still holding onto their weapons. "Spartan, I realize that peaceful resolution isn't usually how you operate, but I'm going to ask you to stand down."

The Chief's grip on his assault rifle tightened. The soldiers seemed well trained enough to notice this subtle action and began eyeing him worriedly. Chief found it slightly interesting that they suddenly seemed so intimidated when they had acted so confidant when disarming the others. Chief supposed he had the war propaganda to thank for that. If there was anything the UNSC were good about, it was selling the idea that their Spartans were unbeatable war machines. Not that he could blame them for that. It gave the people hope after all. However, none of that really mattered right now.

"Chief," Cortana spoke up again breaking Chief's concentration. "Penny wants to speak with you. Should I patch her through?"

Hearing that, the Chief looked over towards team RWBY's leader Ruby Rose who seemed to be focusing her attention on him. "Patch her through and keep us silent." He ordered.

"Roger, opening line now." The AI replied before a hum of static came through the Chief's helmet.

"Salutations friend!" The voice of team RWBY's personal AI came through Chief's helmet.

"Hello Penny, what can I do for you?" Chief asked while turning back to make focus on the soldiers surrounding him. They still haven't made a move.

"I bring a message from Captain Ruby!" Penny declared happily. "She would like to request for you to stand down." Chief made a surprised grunt, but before he could ask for her reasoning the AI continued. "She also says that everything will be okay, Mister Ozpin will help us."

"Ozpin huh, you sure about that?" The Chief asked.

"Of course, he always comes through for us. I'm sure when we explain the situation he will be willing to help you too." The AI replied without hesitation.

The Chief hummed in thought, but before he could make a proper decision he heard the general speak up. "Now is your last chance Spartan, are we doing this the easy way or the hard way?"

Chief noted the hard edge in the general's voice as he looked over to meet the man's eyes. They were laser focused on him and the Chief saw that the man's right hand was sneaking towards his side arm. It didn't seem like he expected this to go peacefully anymore. Then the Chief heard the sound of weapons coming free from holsters behind him.

Craning his head to look behind him, the Chief saw that the blond boy who had picked up Ruby's weapon and the members of team CFVY now had their weapons trained on him. "Don't do anything stupid big guy." The blond one warned as he pulled the hammer of his magnum back with his thumb.

The Chief gave his assault rifle's ammo meter one last glance, he only had about half a clip left, and no extras on hand. Realizing it wouldn't be enough for this many foes, he let a deep sigh slip through and whispered under his breath. "I guess there is a first time for everything." Then he finally released his grip on the weapon allowing it to fall to the ground before he spoke aloud. "I surrender."

The moment the Chief spoke those words, everyone seemed to visibly relax. Weapons were lowered and the tension in team RWBY's shoulders evaporated almost instantly. "Smart man," The general said before motioning for his soldiers to move. "Cuff them and bring them on board!" He ordered before turning to reenter his ship.

Following their orders, the soldiers drew forth a set of metal handcuffs to bind each of the hands of their new prisoners. Chief noted with some relief and confusion that the cuffs were small simple things made out of steel. More than enough to hold an average man sure, but a Spartan in full Mjolnir armor not so much. They could just barely fit around his wrists and if he actually wanted to break free of them, it would pose little problem.

The Chief also figured it would be a similar story for the members of team RWBY. So the question was what were the cuffs for? If he had to wager a guess, they were symbolic. They had already willingly surrendered after all, so the cuffs weren't actually meant to restrain them, but to show their compliance.

"Interesting." The Chief said to himself as he and the members of team RWBY were ushered onto the general's ship.

"What was that Chief?" Ruby asked.

"Nothing, just thinking allowed." The Chief replied.

After that the Chief was offered a seat which he didn't think he was allowed to refuse and before long everyone was strapped in and ready to go. About a minute later he was able to watch the ship's ramp retract, then the land fell away, and the Forerunner facility disappeared into the distance behind them.

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Planet Remnant City of Vale

When Ruby saw the city come into focus over the horizon, she couldn't help but sigh in relief. The flight had been fairly quiet and uneventful for the members of team RWBY. They were all either too nervous about the possible fate that awaited them upon their return, or simply couldn't think of any appropriate topics.

Ruby's sister Yang would normally try to lighten the mood with a bad pun in a situation like this, but the girl just didn't seem up for the task. Ruby couldn't blame her and for once she didn't really mind the silence. It gave her a chance to wind down and think about everything that had happened.

The last few days have been nothing short of crazy. They had thought that they found a treasure trove when they came across the Forward onto Dawn, but what they really found was a disaster. Sure finding a Spartan war hero was cool and all, but getting chased around the galaxy by relentless alien extremists, crashing her ship, and nearly dying multiple times kind of put a damper on things.

Then there was the fact that Ruby and her crew were coming home wear cuffs instead of metals didn't help matters. Still though, it was really good to be home and not having anyone trying to kill them. At least for now, when her dad found out what Yang and she were up to that might change. She may be an adult now, but dads never stop being dads.

Ruby's train of thought was interrupted when she heard a voice come over the ship's radio. It was the air traffic control apparently, they were asking for their identification codes. Ruby being a captain herself knew the routine quite well and of course their pilot was no different. He replied without delay and after only a few minutes for verification the ship was cleared for landing and they began their decent.

They had landed in the city's upper eastern district. This section of the city was closest to the Beacon and as such was almost entirely reserved for military use. The place we were landing was a sort of central headquarters for all of remnants scavenger teams, hers included, which was likely why they were here.

Before long the ship had touched down and the general's men were ushering the Chief, Ruby, and her team off the vessel in single file. However, after they walked no more than ten feet from the ship they came to a dead stop. Since the Chief was positioned at the front of their line, Ruby couldn't make out much beyond the far larger man, so she had to peek around him to see why.

What Ruby saw was the general's hands gripping tightly around each other behind his back. She also noted that his shoulders looked even more stiff than usual. When she looked beyond the general and towards the base itself it wasn't hard to guess why.

What Ruby saw were none other than Ozpin himself and his second in command Glynda Goodwitch striding towards them with purpose in their step. She also noted that Goodwitch looked particularly angry today, which would normally be nightmarish, but luckily her anger didn't seem to be aimed at her. So Ruby straightened her posture and tried her best to blend in.

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The Chief watched with some interest as a pair of unfamiliar figures approached their group. They both seemed to be middle aged and while it was very subtle he could tell that they carried themselves like soldiers. One was a grey haired man with a cane that seemed more for decoration than for walking and the other was a tall woman with curly blond hair and one of the meanest glares he had ever witnessed.

"Hello James." The Grey haired man greeted as he came to stand before the general. The man seemed quite relaxed compared to his companion.

"Oz," The general said with a nod. "Care to tell me what you're doing here?" He asked.

"Care to tell us, what you're doing here!?" The woman snapped as she stuck an accusing finger into the general's chest, this action quickly put the general's men on edge. A few of them were even already prepared to drawing their side arms when the general waved them off.

"I'm not sure what you mean Glynda?" The general retorted. "I'm sure you're both aware of the fact that I'm authorized to be here. Though to be fair, it has been awhile since we last saw one another in person. So perhaps you would like to see my ID?" He said sarcastically.

"Don't play dumb with me James!" The woman known as Glynda hissed. "I'm talking about what you're doing to our agents!" She declared before motioning towards the members of team RWBY. "Care to explain this!?"

The general sighed in frustration before replying. "Look Glynda I'm no happier about this situation than you are, but I'm acting under the council's orders. Its one thing that they led the Covenant here, but they brought an UNSC soldier onto our planet. We had one rule and your agents broke it. Now were at risk and the council refuses to take it lying down. That means they need to be held until they can be tried. You know how this works."

Glynda looked like she was about to argue, but Ozpin beat her to it. "What the good general says is true. Any interaction with members of the UNSC is a serious violation of our protocols."

"Oz!?" Glynda snapped as she turned back to face her companion. "What're you saying!? You can't seriously be about to let this happen?!"

"Calm yourself Glynda, all I said was that James was right, not that I agree with him. We have rules for a reason, but there are always extenuating circumstances. As such I believe it is important to have all the facts before we pass any judgments." He explained.

"So what, you want to just let them walk free?" The general asked.

"No," Ozpin replied with a shake of his head. "The members of team RWBY shall be held and tried as you have said. Ozpin declared.

Hearing Ozpin say this caused the members of team RWBY to tense while the general's whole body seemed to finally relax if only slightly. "Well, I'm glad you've decided to listen to reason Oz. To be honest I didn't think-"

Whatever the general was going to say died a horrible death when Ozpin gave him a knowing smile and cut in. "However, I will be taking the members of team RWBY and the Spartan into our custody from here on out."

"You can't be serious!?" The general snapped and when Ozpin's only response was to raise an eyebrow. "Oz, I'm operating under the councils orders."

"Indeed, but as am I." Ozpin retorted.

"What?" The general asked in confusion.

Ozpin shrugged before handing the general a small folder he had been hold onto since he arrived. "Pulled some strings, I still have a few friends upstairs it seems. In that folder is all the paper work for the transfer, you will find it to all in order."

The general gave Ozpin a skeptical look before flipping open the folder and skimming through the documents inside. After a moment of this he let out a defeated groan as he ran his hand down the length of his face. "Let me guess, this was Autumn's doing?" Ozpin gave a curt nod in response. "Of course it was, well I suppose that's fine as long as it doesn't come back to bite me. I just hope you know what you're doing."

"I wouldn't worry James, I have everything under control." Ozpin retorted.

With that said the general turned towards his men to address them. "We're transferring the prisoners to Ozpin's custody, from this point on you're only to aid in the escort of the prisoners."

"Actually James, that won't be necessary." Ozpin said waving off the soldiers. "Glynda and I will more than suffice as an escort." The general's head snapped back towards Ozpin so quick it looked like it might just pop off and he opened his mouth to argue, but Ozpin didn't have any interest. "That is of course unless you doubt my abilities?"

The general's mouth snapped back shut and his jaw clenched. Then after a huff he finally spoke. "Fine, suit yourself but be careful Oz." He warned.

"Of course, I will handle with the utmost care. Now if you will excuse us, I have to get these prisoners processed. I have a very busy schedule ahead of me today." Ozpin said before motioning for team RWBY and the Chief to follow.

Before stepping forwards, the Chief switched his attention towards Ruby. Noticing his attention the red clad woman tilted her head as if posing some silent question. The Chief motioned towards the new arrivals as if asking if they could be trusted. The girl in question replied with a smile and a nod. Figuring that was a good sign, the Chief shrugged and quickly made to follow after Ozpin.

From there the group was led away from the landing zone, a quick