Gunfire echoed down the halls of the Forward onto Dawn as the observation deck was transformed into a battlefield. Covenant rushed in from every direction while the Chief, Ruby, and Blake tried desperately to hold them at bay.

"This is endless!" Blake shouted after she emptied another clip of her increasingly limited ammunition into the enemy lines. Then when she reached for another clip and realized she was completely out, she couldn't bring herself to stifle the groan that came a moment later. "Oh that's just great! This couldn't possibly get any worse!"

"I'm so sorry Blake! This is all my fault, god why am I such an idiot!" Ruby apologized as she fired several rounds of her rifle, each one striking home and dropping either an enemy Grunt or Jackal. "With that said, you shouldn't say something like it can't get worse! You know that could end up jinxing us!"

Then almost on queue the voice of Penny, team RWBY's AI companion came over their intercoms. "Attention friends, there's currently two more Covenant boarding ships heading this way!" She warned.

"See!" Ruby shouted.

"What, there is still more of them!?" Blake hissed before turning towards the Chief. "This isn't going to work! We need to make a run for it if we want to stand a chance!"

The Chief seemed to agree since he gave a quick nod before speaking into his helmet. "Cortana we need an escape route yesterday!"

"Already working on it Chief!" Cortana responded and a moment later a way marker appeared on the Chief's heads up display. "Motion sensors detect minimal hostiles in the shaft we came in through on our way here. If we use that to drop down to one of the lower levels we should be able to slip right past the Covenant."

"Roger," The Chief said before looking towards Ruby and Blake. "You catch that?"

"Yes, sounds like a good idea." Blake replied before addressing her leader. "Ruby?"

"That sounds reasonable to me." Ruby answered. "What do you think Penny?"

"My sensors also indicate minimal threats in that direction, so I think it is a sensational plan Ruby!" Penny replied excitedly.

"Good, then that's the plan. All we need now is Weiss and my sister! Penny any idea where they are!?" Ruby asked.

"They're in between our location and the ship. I've already notified them to hold their positions until we arrive. Sending destination beacons to your heads up display now." Penny replied before arrows appeared in their field of vision. There were two blue arrows marking their teammate's locations and one grey arrow marking where their ship was docked.

"Alright team, let's move out!" Ruby shouted before she flipped a small switch on the side of her rifle, causing it unfold and extend into something akin to a scythe.

Ruby then crouched low and fired the thrusters on her back, propelling her body towards the far end of the room. Blake and the Chief followed soon after, Blake making use of her suit's cloaking device to try and avoid attention.

Before the group could make their exit, a pair of Elites quickly moved in to block their path. Both Covenant warriors were armed with a pair of Needlers, one in each hand. Their glowing violet quills promising a painful demise to anyone caught out by them.

"Get out of our way, or else!" Ruby threatened as she continued her charge.

The Elites chuckled to themselves, clearly unimpressed by their opponent's attempt at intimidation. Then they raised their weapons and they began to hiss as they spat four streams of violet energy needles each directed straight at the red clad warrior. Ruby dunked back while raising her weapon so that it was facing sideways before activating a set of small thrusters on each end of the rifle-scythe. When the thrusters fired it caused her body to begin spinning in her hands allowing her to deflect and/or shatter every single incoming quill.

Then once her enemy's weapons were spent, Ruby aimed her weapon backward before turning up the thrusters once. She was propelled forward at rapid speed and when she added her suits thrusters on top of that, she became a blur of red steel.

The Elites saw Ruby coming, but were still reloading and only had time to flinch before she zoomed past them, hooking her weapon around one of their necks as she went. She then reversed thrust on her suit, spun in place, and fired the thrusters of her weapon again forcing the blade of her scythe right through the Elites neck thus removing it from its shoulders in a spray of blue blood.

The second Elite now very alarmed and with primed weapons, tried to take aim at Ruby. Ruby was faster however and used the momentum of her last attack to twirl her body and launch herself forward, thrusting her scythe blade straight into the Elite's chest, impaling it.

The impaled Elite cried out in a mix of horror and pain, and somewhere in his distorted death thralls must have been an order or two since a moment later a group of Grunts broke from their positions to charge toward Ruby. Each Grunt was armed with a set of two plasma grenades, one in each hand, and they had a maddened look in their eyes.

"Ruby, what out!" Blake warned as her and the Chief began to rake their weapons across the approaching enemy's position, taking out several Grunts in the process. There were still more kamikaze coming however, so Ruby spun around with the Elite still impaled on her weapon and she flung his limp body into the charging Grunts, knocking them to the ground.

As the Grunts fell, they lost their grip on their plasma grenades sending them clattering onto the deck near their feet. Unfortunately for them, the explosives were already armed and went off a moment later, killing the whole group and sending meaty chunks flying in all directions. Ruby yelped as she went into a slide just barely avoiding the raining gore before pressing onward into the Dawn's winding corridors.

Meanwhile Blake swooped in close behind her, snatching up one of the few plasma grenades that had managed to survive the carnage. Then she took aim at an energy sword wielding Elite coming down the corridor towards their right in an attempt to flank them. She smirked under her mask as she pressed the activation switch on the grenade causing it to hiss, before letting it fly.

Blake's aim was true and the plasma grenade struck the Elite square in the chest, sticking it in place. Noticing the soft impact, the Elite stopped in place for a moment, looked down to see the hissing explosive, and then let out a defiant roar before charging forward with reckless abandon.

Luckily the Elite's moment of pause was more than enough for Blake to roll on the ground and pick up a pair discarded Needlers and promptly open fire on the Elite. The Elite didn't try to evade instead allowing its energy shield to take the blow. The Elite's shields flickered wildly as each needle struck and bounded off of them before finally the shields failed and a half dozen needles punched through. The quills cut through armor, flesh, and bone, planting themselves firmly into the Elite's limbs and torso.

The Elite wailed as it toppled over grasping at one of its on wounds with one hand while the other discarded its sword in an attempt to rip the plasma grenade free from his chest. Both efforts proved futile as the grenade finally detonated sending not only Elite chunks flying, but a deadly spray of energy needles flying in every direction, striking and killing several nearby Grunts and Jackals.

The Chief was the last out of the observation deck, busying himself by offering suppressing fire on the Covenant forces that just unloaded from a new pair of boarding ships. Once he was sure his allies had cleared the path ahead, he tossed a frag grenade into the enemy mass before turning away and making a mad dash to catch up to Ruby and Blake who were about to enter the shaft he had leading down to the lower levels.

When the Chief caught up he found that his allies had both come to a stop. Both were staring down into the huge dark shaft that was still venting air. While he couldn't read their expressions through their helmets, he could see their unease in their body language. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"The hull must be breached, we'll need to be careful or we'll be sucked into space." Ruby replied.

The Chief gave a nod of understanding, before asking. "Can the two of you handle that climb?"

"Should I find us another route?" Cortana offers.

Ruby and Blake looked at each other before glancing back at the Covenant chasing after them. Their choice was clear. "There is no time! Blake I need you to give me Gamble Shroud, I have a plan!" Ruby declared.

Blake tilted her head slightly to show that she didn't quite see where this was going, but didn't seem in the mood to argue. "Alright, but just so you know it's all out of ammo!" She warned as she offered her weapon over to her leader.

"Not a problem, just do me a favor! When I say the word, I want you to fire your weapons rear mounted thrusters." Ruby replied as she grabbed hold of Gamble Shroud. She then took aim at the far wall and threw it as hard as she could while making sure to keep a firm hold of its carbon fiber strap. "Now!" She shouted right as the weapon was about to be sucked into rushing air current. Blake did as instructed, pressing a button on her wrist and causing the weapon to spring forward like a rocket to smack against the far wall before getting wrapped up around a large iron pipe.

Ruby gave the strap a good tug to make sure it was secure. Then wrapped it around herself before offering a arm to each of her companions. "Alright guys, you better hold on tight!" She declared.

Realizing what their red clad companion's plan was, Blake and the Chief shared a look, and Blake gave a shrug before compiling with her leader's orders. The Chief gave a nod in return before clamping onto the small girl's side with enough strength to get a squeak out of her. Ruby didn't complain however, instead she took a step back before leaping headlong into the shaft sending the three of them into free fall.

The group continued to tumble, pulled down by the harsh suction of the vacuum until the carbon fiber strap pulled taut and they were left hanging. Ruby then kicked off the wall and fired her own thrusters, sending them swinging back across the gap and straight through an open door a few levels below the one they had entered the shaft from.

Ruby then gave Gamble Shroud's strap a good tug, casing the weapon to dislodge from the piping and practically fly back into her hands. "Thanks a bunch, Blake!" She said happily as she handed the weapon back to its proper owner.

"Your welcome Ruby, now let's go find our friends and get out of here!" Blake responded before she heard a muffled roar echo from a few floors above them. "Preferably before they catch up!" She added before the three of them booked it down the corridor.

/////////////////////////////////////////////

Elsewhere on the Dawn a lone Sangheili (Elite) crept down one of many corridors, making sure to stay low, and listening as distant cries of his brothers echoed through the halls. Even without the obvious sounds of combat, he could sense something was amiss so he stayed focused. He had his trusty energy sword in hand, already activated, and ready to cut down any heretics that dared to cross his path.

A few paces away, another silently waved to gain his attention. The two drew closer to each other and began to exchange hushed words in their native tongue. In the distance they heard an explosion and the second Sangheili shouldered his plasma rifle before they both turn towards the source of the commotion. Blocking their path is a sealed metal door of standard make. A sturdy door to be sure, but not one designed to hold in real combat.

The sword wielding Sangheili decided to take point and reached for the door control to open it, but he never got a chance. The moment he reached for them another one of their comrades, it was a low ranking Sangheili by the look of it, came flying in to slam against the wall of a connecting hallway just a few feet away. As it staggered back to its feet and tried to pick up the plasma pistol it had dropped, a figure in white armor jumped out from around the corner with blinding quickness, and stabbed the Sangheili straight through the chest with a thin saber like blade.

The Sangheili screamed in agony, his mandibles snapping wildly as if he was gasping for air, and perhaps he was. The blade did look to be wedged around where the lungs would be and it looked like it was emitting a strange white mist. The mist's purpose quickly became clear when the Sangheili's movements began to slow, becoming more and more labored with each breath he took until a thin layer of ice appeared on the surface of his armor. Soon enough the mist had frozen him solid.

Now able to see the figure clearly, they realized that it was a human female in white battle armor of an unusual design. At first glance they thought it was the armor of their demons (Spartans) and cold terror gripped them. Almost making the two proud Sangheili flee in disgrace, but then they noticed that something was off about the female.

While the armor the female wore was certainly similar to that of the demons, she was far too small to be one. Most demons stood nearly as tall as the Sangheili, but this one was barely any taller than an Unggoy (Grunt). This realization returned their confidence.

The white armored female must have noticed since she quickly withdrew her sword and stepped away from the frozen heap, spinning the barrel of her weapon as she moved causing the blade to glow red. She then turned toward the two Sangheili warriors before speaking up. "Are you two just going to stand there and watch?" She asked in a challenging tone.

The Sangheili didn't seem pleased by the display and they both let out a roar of anger. The armored female scoffed as she charged as the sword wielding Sangheili charged in while the second took aim with his rifle. The plasma rifle quickly came to life, releasing bright beams of green plasma energy, each fired with practiced aim.

As the first plasma blast impacted the human's armor the familiar sheen of an energy shield sprang up to deflect it. Then she burst into action. She swung her weapon wildly, each slash creating a shield of hard-light energy to deflect the rifle fire.

Then the rifle wielding Sangheili took a few steps forward placing himself right in front of the door. This action turned out to be a mistake however as a moment later an explosion erupted from behind it, blowing the door off its frame, and crushing the unsuspecting Sangheili under its weight.

Hearing the blast, the sword wielding Sangheili spun around just in time to see another human female in yellow armor step into view from where the door use to be. Another regrettable misstep since he found a thin red blade poking through his chest a moment later and only darkness followed after that.

////////////////////////////////////////////

"Never take your eyes off the enemy in front of you." Weiss said as she pulled her blade free from her now fallen foe. Then she turned her attention towards her yellow clad companion. "You couldn't have done that any sooner, Yang?"

Yang shrugged as she began to speak. "Hey you can't rush these types of things. If I hadn't waited for just the right moment, it wouldn't have been such a 'crushing' defeat for them."

Weiss rolled her eyes behind her helmet and her whole head along with them, just to make sure the effect wasn't lost on her friend. "Well I see your sense of hummer still leaves much to be desired."

"Yeah, yeah, you know you love it." Yang retorted before taking a quick look around and adding. "So anyway, it looks like we cleared out this area, what do we do now?" She asked.

"I guess we just wait for Ruby and Blake to arrive. It's safer for us to stick together and to not wonder too far." Weiss replied.

"I guess that's true," Yang said with a nod before trailing off slightly and glancing down the corridor. There was something shimmering there. It looked like something was there, but it wasn't. After taking a second to properly process that thought, Yang's eyes widened in realization. "Oh, crap! Weiss look out!"

Weiss heard her allies warning, but before she could even turn around to see what the threat was, Yang was already in motion. Pushing her white clad companion aside she leapt forward firing off a few rounds from her gauntlets. Though they were at a fair distance, her shotgun slugs were right on target, but from the simmering void a small round energy shield was deployed to deflect them. Though the fiery discharge did have some effect, it caused the enemies cloaking device to flicker and fail revealing a Covenant Jackal beneath it.

The reveal didn't allow Yang to breathe easy however. Of course a single Jackal wouldn't normally be cause for concern, but the small alien was packing some serious heat in the form a fuel rod cannon. The Jackal began to cackle as it fired off a single green plasma round from the cannon aimed directly at his yellow clad enemy.

"Yang, be careful!" Weiss shouted, honest concern clear in her voice.

"Don't worry Weiss-cream, I got this!" Yang declared before fingering a switch on her suit and shouting. "Dust overdrive!"

After that Yang slammed her fists together and her armor began to glow like the sun once again. Only this time her energy shield began to expand outward like a sponge soaking up water. When the plasma blast finally collided with the yellow clad brawler and erupted in a massive misty green explosion of raw energy.

The Jackal began to howl in joy, but its celebration was quickly cut short as the fiery green mist cleared, and revealed a very much intact Yang Xiao Long. The Jackal then let high pitched screech of disapproval, before he readied another shot.

"Oh no, you don't buddy!" Yang roared as she lowered her over-shield and sprang forward, aided by the thrusters attached to her gauntlets. In the blink of an eye she had cleared the distance between her and the smaller alien and was now towering over it. The Jackal still tried to fire off a shot, despite it being suicidal at this rang, but Yang countered by delivering an uppercut to the barrel of the fuel rod cannon.

The impact forced the weapon to point upward, but it also caused it to discharge sending a plasma blast straight into the low hanging ceiling above her. Rather than explode on impact like one would expect, instead the plasma bounced back down striking the fuel rod cannon and causing a chain reaction that set off all of its remaining ammunition. A heartbeat later and the weapon erupted in blast three times larger than the one from a moment before and both Yang and the Jackal were quickly enveloped in it.

"Yang, no!" Weiss screamed as she watched her friend disappear in the fiery green mist.

////////////////////////////////////////////

The Chief along with Ruby and Blake had now made their way down a few corridors and were nearing their objective. They hadn't met any more opposition since they left the observation deck, but the Chief stayed vigilant. Making sure to keep an eye out for any possible threats and remaining mostly silent. His silence was not only meant to hide their presence, but also to better allow them to hear enemies coming.

The silence was only broken when Cortana spoke to him through his helmet. "Hey Chief, is something bothering you? You're even less talkative than normal today and you haven't said a word