"I remember when The Emerald Knight had breached Mistral. We were unaware that he had been sneaking into the Kingdom with his team, even worse?"
"They snuck right through the front doors to the kingdom, and when they entered? It was too late to stop the rest of Vale from swarming us."

-Unknown Mistralian Ranger when interviewed about The Battle Of Mistral

Present Day
Mistral Outskirts

Only a couple days of driving had gone by as The Master Chief drove through the beautiful lush grasslands, he was almost there.

Almost to Mistral, where everything would change.

Much of the time had been spent driving, and also listening to Cortana and Oscar talk. It wasn't anything to take note of, simple things that Oscar- or Ozpin could answer, basic information about what had changed in the world of Remnant.

"Hey, Chief?" asked Oscar.

"Yes?"

"You fought in The Great War as well, right?" the boy asked.

The Master Chief was silent for a moment, and finally responded after a few seconds of waiting.

"Yes, I did. Why?"

"What was it like… for you, I mean. I've only seen things from Ozpin's perspective, and I've heard only a couple of stories that turned into crazy legends, so I guess I'm wondering what really happened from your perspective." explained the boy.

Everyone went silent, the only thing being heard were the sounds of nearby fauna and the engine of the Warthog.

"Brutal," The Master Chief finally said.

"Brutal?" asked Oscar.

The Master Chief nodded, and he began speaking further,

"The war was fought in close quarters, while firearms were indeed a thing they weren't used as much as they are today. Everyone fought with a club or a bladed weapon most of the time, in order to win one would have to be either more skilled or stronger than the enemy," he said.

Oscar had known that much, but he didn't dare interrupt The Chief.

"Of course, fighters relied strongly on their auras and semblances, which depending on who they were… made them a threat, even to King Dias and myself." he said.

"Like Wulf Geats?" asked Oscar.

Wulf Geats…

The Master Chief remembered the name, and then remembered the last battle he fought during The Great War.

The clanging of blades, the smell of blood in the air, the storms that were created by Oz himself.

It was violent and by far the most brutal battle that The Master Chief fought in, and despite all that chaos, Commander Wulf Geats most certainly stood out to Chief the most in that memory.

"Yes, exactly like Wulf Geats." The Master Chief said finally.

"Why did you spare him?" asked Oscar.

"Oscar!" cried Cortana but Chief simply raised his hand and swiped it across the projection of his friend.

"It's fine, Cortana." he replied.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend-"

"It's OK," Chief said.

The ride continued in silence for what felt like hours, until The Master Chief spoke once more,

"There had been enough bloodshed," he said.

"What?" Oscar asked.

"Why I spared Geats. There had been enough bloodshed throughout the war, and Geats was a good man." The Master Chief said.

Yes, Commander Of The Mantilian Knights, Wulf Geats was indeed a good man. He was a man of honor, a chivalrous knight who had gained John's respect throughout the war.

"Oscar?" questioned the Master Chief.

"Yessir?"

"Whatever happened to Wulf Geats?" he asked.

"The history books never really mentioned what happened to him… they said you killed him, actually." said Oscar.

Killed him? No, he didn't do that…

However, The Master Chief remembered the code of The Mantilian Knights, they were an honorable sort.

If the Knights could not obtain victory, then they should not come back to their home at all.

It was almost like the old order of Spartans in that regard, he remembered learning that in Ancient Greece, and more specifically, the people in Sparta, the land that which all Spartans trained in, believed that if the Spartans lost their battle, then they should not have returned to their home at all.

After the final battle in Vacuo… Chief had let Captain Geats live. He did not do so in an attempt to shame the warrior, but rather…

Rather what?

The SPARTAN-II shook his head. He didn't need to think about such things, he didn't need to think about Geats. The Great War ended almost a century ago, the man was dead and The Chief was not, that was that, there was no way he could change his actions no matter how much he wanted to.

"You know, I don't recall you ever thinking about the enemy a lot." the voice of Cortana echoed through his mind. "That's…"

"Not like me?" The Chief asked over their internal comm's.

"Yeah, not like you. I don't even remember you talking this much during the war."

Chief knew which war his companion was talking about…

Yes, The Human-Covenant War. A war where humanity was almost wiped out and burned to a crisp by an alien menace who believed it was their right to do so for their "Gods."

Those "Gods" being The Forerunners, a species who were wiped out by their own creations- a necessary sacrifice in their fight against a threat that would be burned into The Chief's mind forever.

"Perhaps Oz and the rest of Odyssey rubbed off on me," he said plainly.

The drive remained quiet, Chief did not respond to the young Oscar's question and instead the Warthog persisted onward.

The Chief stared at the scenery… Mistral was as beautiful as ever, he remembered how during the war, the scenery was still a wonderful sight even to this day, no, the sight was even better than before.

Yes, much better than before. The Master Chief could still remember the first day he landed on Remnant, and how the Mistralian Rangers had found the remnants of The Forward Unto Dawn and swiftly began attempting to access the ship.

It happened so, so long ago…

THE EMERALD KNIGHT

Many years ago...
Forward Unto Dawn

The Master Chief leaped out of the cryo-pod. There was no time for greetings, The Dawn had crash landed on an unknown world and there were intruders.

BANG BANG BANG!

BANG BANG BANG!

The poundings against the hull of The Dawn were fierce and loud.

"Chief, the external threats are human but…"

"But what?" the super-soldier asked as he swiftly took his MA5C which rested beside the cryopod.

"Well, the planet we've landed on is unknown. It's possible we've landed onto a planet outside of UNSC jurisdiction, most likely far out into unknown space. However, the external threats are human, but they're wielding… strange gear," she said.

Strange gear?

The Master Chief shook it off, it didn't matter. First thing was first, he was going to establish communications with the "external threats" and if communications broke off then well…

He was going to have to do what he did best.

The SPARTAN-II slung the rifle onto his back, the MJOLNIR's magnetic holster quickly took and kept the weapon and he soon grabbed a nearby M6D and holstered the pistol at his side.

"How many of them are there?" asked the SPARTAN-II

"Twelve, they've been trying to access The Dawn, but the security systems have kept them at bay, but I don't know how long they'll last. The ship is well…"

Torn apart. He knew that.

He walked over to the console and took Cortana out of the terminal she was placed in and soon placed the data-chip into the back of his helmet.

DATA CHIP RECOGNIZED his HUD read.

"How long have I been in cryo?" he asked.

"Exactly four months, Chief."

Four months since the war ended...

"Cortana, upload images of the hostiles as well as any and all fallout plans should violence be necessary." he ordered.

There was no response, instead several images appeared on the side of his HUD which he looked at as he began walking throughout the ship.

The men in question wore odd combat gear… they appeared to be wearing metal plating of some sorts, and they held bows in their hands, with a quiver on their backs that were filled with arrows.

"Seems like we've landed in some medieval fantasy land," joked Cortana.

"Is the armory accessible? Are there any more weapons that can be used?"

"Only half of the armory is remaining, we also have the vehicle bay which still has everything, though I can't say if everything in the bay is all intact." she said. "The other half of the armory, however, is with another part of the ship which crashed somewhere on this planet."

"Which half?" asked The Master Chief.

"The half with all of our… 'special' equipment, as well as what The Arbiter donated us." Cortana replied.

So the other half of The Dawn's armory was gone, the other half which also contained the most powerful weaponry that had been developed and used during The War, parts of it were gear designed for UNSC's most elite of special forces while parts of it contained The Covenant's deadly plasma weaponry.

The Chief would have sighed, but complaining would do no good. Luck appeared to not be on his side, but that didn't matter.

He would make his own luck and secure that other half of the armory after dealing with the intruders. If things went well, then he'd have temporary allies to rely on when going off to claim the gear.

The Master Chief began walking, his body and mind were prepared. Should hostilities arise, the battle would be over swiftly.

The Master Chief stepped out of The Dawn, and stared at the men in front of him, their weapons were quickly raised, and The Master Chief only raised his hands.

"I do not seek a fight," he calmly stated. "As you can see, my ship has crash-landed, I am not a threat."

"The machine speaks! It truly is a gift from the Gods!" cried a bowman, who lowered his weapon.

"Machine who was sent to us by The Holy Gods who created our beautiful home, you have landed into The Kingdom Of Mistral, surely you will fight with us against the filthy Valian Kingdom and fight for King Alexander!" shouted another.

"See? Totally a medieval land," Cortana remarked.

The Chief wanted to shake his head… was this how Guilty Spark felt when The Covenant called him a 'Holy Oracle?'

"I am not sent here by your God, I come from a different place and after a long battle my ship was left stranded throughout space and crashed here." he said.

The bowmen looked amongst each other and finally, one man who wore a red coat of some sort whom Chief assumed to be the leader of the faction stepped towards The Chief.

"So… you were not sent here by The Gods who blessed our fair and noble King?" he questioned.

"That is correct,"

A moment of silence filled the air, it lasted for only a few seconds…

"I don't like this," Cortana remarked.

"Then he's a demon!"

An arrow was soon fired at The Spartan II who only reacted as prompted.

In an instant, he caught the arrow and threw it back at the attacker with strength that it tore through the man's body.

The leader of the bowmen soon drew a dagger and attempted to thrust the bladed weapon into The Chief's armor. However, the armor withstood the blade with no difficulty, in fact there wasn't even a scratch on the SPARTAN-II's armor!

The Master Chief then responded, grabbing the man's hand which held the knife and soon threw him against the hull of The Dawn.

"Kill the demon!" cried another bowman.

The Master Chief simply took his MA5C off his armor while grabbing his pistol from his holster.

In one hand, he held his assault rifle and aimed it at the first target he witnessed while he aimed his sidearm at another and as soon as his targets were acquired, he began firing.

RAKATATATATATATATATATATATATATA!

BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG!

The bowmen soon began pulling back from The Dawn, attempting to find some cover.

However, The Master Chief refused to allow the enemies flee, and thus he readjusted his aim, this time going for the legs.

Bowmen soon began falling to the ground like flies, screaming in pain before their cries were suddenly silenced by the sheer amount of firepower.

His motion tracker soon lit up, and the man that he had thrown against The Dawn was charging towards him. The Master Chief simply turned, his MA5C still contained rounds in its magazine, and a measly ten rounds would be more than enough to kill the leader.

Before The Master Chief could pull the trigger however, the man was already in front of him and soon landed a punch against his armor, a punch that sent The Chief flying back. His HUD lit up, with one blow ten percent of his shielding was gone and then as The SPARTAN-II fell against the ground the rest of his shielding took the rest of the fall with no problem.

"Chief!" cried Cortana.

"Foolish mechanical demon! The Goddess Athens has blessed us all with aura, and we'll use it to kill you bastards!" said the leader.

The Master Chief's energy shields quickly recharged and as he got up he noticed something was about to rise from beneath the ground he stood on.

Quickly, the soldier jumped back, and then saw a massive stake made from the Earth rise up.

"Well, it seems like these guys are a bit more… medieval land than we thought," quipped Chief's AI companion.

"Any ideas?" questioned the SPARTAN-II.

"None at the moment, I'm sorry Chief but-"

"It's fine," he replied.

The threat possessed abilities that were unknown to both him and Cortana. However, it was clear to the SPARTAN-II that the target possessed some form of supernatural abilities unlike those under his command that allowed him to manipulate the Earth, and hit hard.

Very hard.

He would have to be careful when dealing with him, as long as he didn't underestimate his foe he wouldn't end up dead.

Raising his assault rifle, the Master Chief fired his remaining few rounds at the hostile who simply raised his arm and defended himself from the rounds. The SPARTAN-II watched as the man grit his teeth in pain, but the rounds bounced off as if…

"They have energy shielding?" Cortana asked.

The Master Chief was now more cautious.

Superhuman strength, supernatural abilities, energy shielding… this man was certainly a threat, and The Master Chief was certain he could give one of the weaker Elite's a run for their money.

However, The SPARTAN-II would not dare retreat. This man was like a Brute or an Elite, the only addition was the supernatural abilities that this man had.

Abilities which The Master Chief had already found a way to overcome.

The SPARTAN-II's brain went into overdrive, everything began moving slower and slower for him. Before the soldier in front of him could raise his hand to control the ground beneath their very feet, The Master Chief had already taken a frag grenade from his belt and tossed it into the man's direction and then he began running as fast as he could.

One…

Two…

KATHOOM!

The grenade blew up in the man's face, and the man was now blinded.

The Master Chief knew that the grenade killing him would be a 50/50 chance, but judging by the man's state, it appeared that the enemy's supernatural abilities had a limit…

A limit which was now going to break.

In an instant, The Master Chief slammed his elbow into the man's chest as hard as he could, sending him flying against The Dawn's hull. Before the leader could recover, The Master Chief then moved forward, swinging his right arm as hard and as fast as he could at the man's skull.

He fell to the ground, however, the man wasn't dead yet…

The soldier kicked himself off the ground and counterattacked, slamming his fist onto the helmet of his opponent and sent a kick aimed at The Chief's legs, hoping to knock him down.

The SPARTAN-II easily predicted the second move and grabbed the man's leg and using his own, he stomped on the leg of his enemy as hard as he could

CRACK

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

The leader of the bowmen let out a bloodcurdling scream, and with that The Master Chief knew that the man's limits were broken, along with his leg.

The SPARTAN-II lifted the man up by his neck and slammed him against the hull. Peace talks were over, now it was time for interrogation.

"Who are you? How many of you are there?" he asked.

The man coughed and wheezed, and then spat in The Master Chief's visor.

"There are many of us, you mechanical monstrosity… we'll find you and your demonic vessel and we'll kill you, you understand demon? We'll fucking kill you," he said.

"Chief, Dawn's sensors are picking up more organic contacts." said Cortana.

"That is if The Grimm don't getcha first, demon." the leader laughed. "You and the rest of King Dias's forces can go to-"

SNAP

Using only the tiniest bit of pressure, The Master Chief crushed all the bones in the man's neck before he could speak any further. There was no use in letting this man live, he was completely useless.

"How many contacts?" the SPARTAN II asked Cortana as he dropped the man to the ground.

"A lot," she said.

The Master Chief looked at his weapons, and finally came to a conclusion…

This wasn't going to do.

"How much time will I have to prepare against them?" he questioned.

"I'd give it about… two minutes at best," she replied.

Two minutes to raid the armory and prepare a last stand then. That would be fine, already the entrance to The Dawn would be a good place to stage it, he just needed to get everything set up.

So, The Master Chief went off to prepare his last stand against a group of forces he knew nothing about…

THE EMERALD KNIGHT

Mistral
Present Day

The drive had finally stopped, and finally… The travelers had finally reached their destination.

In front of them, was the entrance to the Kingdom Of Mistral itself.

"Oscar, does Mistral leave its borders unprotected?" asked The Master Chief as he gazed at the simple entranceway.

"No, not really… these borders are supposed to be protected by the Mistralian Guard," the boy replied.

Mistralian Guard. That was new, thought The Master Chief as he continued gazing around. It was strange, he couldn't detect a single soul, heck, not even his motion trackers were picking anything up…

"Patching the Warthog's radio in with Mistral's CCT Tower, Chief. It turns out the Guard is still around." Cortana said. "You also might wanna respond to them as soon as you're patched in."

The Warthog's radio soon lit up with the sound of a masculine strong southern accent,

"This is Guard Captain Blu. Unknown vehicle, please move into the kingdom if you're wishing to stay. If not, we will treat you as hostile." the voice spoke.

"Understood, Captain. Apologies, we were worried that something was going on." replied The Master Chief who began driving forward into the kingdom slowly.

"Everything's under control, pal. I take it you're not from here?" Blu questioned.

"No sir, I lived alone in Mistral's outskirts for most of my life." lied The Master Chief.

"I gotcha, not everyone's seen The Kingdom. Go ahead and make a quick stop as soon as you enter, we need to just do a quick checkup before letting you proceed." Blu replied.

"Understood, Captain." said The Chief.

As soon as the Warthog went through the gates, The Master Chief stopped and his motion trackers soon lit up.

One yellow dot, moving toward his position from the left. The SPARTAN-II turned his head and saw a man exit from a door, a crossbow was held in his hands. The gear he wore also helped him blend in with the wildlife, and it reminded him somewhat of the Mistralian Rangers that Chief fought during The Great War.

"Nice armor, you uh… some sort of merc?" asked the Captain as he stepped closer, and proceeded to inspect the Warthog.

"Something like that," replied The Master Chief.

"What's the U.N.S.C? I aint ever heard of these guys…" asked Captain Blu as he read the text on the Warthog.

The Master Chief pondered… he needed a good cover story. He wanted to make sure that nobody, or at least little people as possible knew the truth about him and the UNSC's small presence on Remnant.

He began thinking and quickly found an idea…

During The Great War, many villages would find themselves swiftly run down by The Grimm. People would claim to be from small villages, but nobody would know if it was true or not.

Perhaps that lie could work now as well.

"It's the name of my home, pronounced Unsck." the super-soldier lied.

"Unsck? Weird village… I aint ever heard of it." replied the captain.

"It was a large village, they commonly crafted vehicles like these, however it was destroyed 30 years back." replied The Master Chief.

"Shit? For real?" asked the Captain as he looked up at the Chief's visor, and then he shook his head. "Explains why you'd be a merc then…" he said.

The Master Chief did not respond, instead he only watched the Captain as he inspected the Warthog.

"Is there a problem, Captain?" asked the SPARTAN-II.

"No siree, but is it alright if I ask for you to take off your helmet? The kid is fine, but I don't know if you're human or not." said the Captain. "Aint nothing personal, its just… things have been tense ever since Beacon's Fall, The White Fang have moved on over here and the Council just wants me to start doing some background checks." he explained.

"He's human, sir. It's just… he has some bad scars," Oscar spoke up.

The Captain's eyes widened, not in shock but rather… understanding and he nodded.

"Apologies then, pal. I'll trust the kid's word if he says you're a humie." he said.

"It's fine, Captain. Perhaps you can help us, is there anything going on?" asked the SPARTAN-II.

The Guard Captain scratched his chin in thought and nodded.

"You aint a huntsman, but you're a mercenary and judging by those toys you got loaded in your backseat… you're locked and loaded. Huntsmen have been going missing or dying by the day, Council could use you if you're needing some lien." he said.

"I see," replied The Chief who then turned his head back to the road. "Thank you then, Captain Blu. Am I free to go?" he questioned.

"Yessir, everything's fine on this end. You can go ahead and head out, but if you don't mind me askin one little thing…"

"Go ahead, sir. I have time," said The Master Chief.

"That armor. Did your people make that as well?" asked the Captain.

The Master Chief fell silent and thought back…

Back to days whenever he was with "his people."

Whenever he fought side by side with the members of Blue Team, and brave Marines like Sergeant Major Johnson.

He turned his head towards Captain Blu and nodded.

"They were made by the best of my people," he said.

The Captain nodded.

"Whoever they are, I imagine those men and women are sleeping peacefully. You're doing a good thing wearing that armor, its your culture and I bet those craftsmen are proud of you for wearing it." he said as he then backed away from the Warthog.

"You're free to go, pal! Hope you enjoy being in the Kingdom of Mistral!" cried Captain Blu. "Have a good one!" he said.

"To you as well, Captain!" replied The Chief.

Then he drove off throughout the streets of Mistral…

The Master Chief parked the Warthog near an abandoned apartment complex.

It was far from most of Mistral's citizens, yet it was also close to the epicenter of Mistral's kingdom. Where all the bars, the shops and restaurants resided, and most importantly… where Haven Academy resided.

The SPARTAN-II turned towards Oscar, waiting for the boy to give his directions.

"What now, Oscar?" asked The Master Chief.

"Well… Oz wants us to go ahead and split up. He wants you and Cortana both to gather some intel from Leonardo, its mainly just looking for Qrow Branwen and Team's RWBY and JNPR but if you find anything else…" the boy explained.

"We'll let you both know," said Cortana, finally speaking up.

Oscar smiled and nodded.

"While you two are doing that, I'll go ahead and start searching through bars, I imagine one of us will find Qrow eventually." he said.

"You have a scroll, right?" The Master Chief asked.

"Uh… yeah, why?"

"Show it to me, if something happens I want you to contact Cortana or vice versa. If Oz believes that Leonardo is indeed working with Salem, we should be on our toes at all times." He said.

"That's not a bad idea, Chief. I think I can install a quick program which should allow Oscar to communicate with us both." she said.

The boy pulled out his scroll and soon text began displaying on The Master Chief's HUD and then vanished as soon as it appeared.

"Done!" the AI cheerfully said.

"Already?" the boy asked as he opened up his scroll, and saw a small icon which consisted of two dark blue circles, underneath the icon read "Cortana."

"Yup! Remnant's technology, despite being so advanced is easily crackable." the AI replied.

"Wow… Ozpin said you two were amazing, but this is incredible. Most scrolls were designed to be hack-proof, and only Atlas's technology can crack into a scroll." he said.

"Did you hear that, Chief? Dias called us amazing," the AI said.

"Yes, Cortana. I heard that." The Master Chief said.

Oscar then closed his scroll and proceeded to hop out of the Warthog, the magnum that The Master Chief gave him was holstered at his side.

"I'll go ahead and leave then, you two take care." the boy said.

"To you as well, Oscar." The Master Chief said.

The boy then left, walking into the civilized district of Mistral.

"Unsck?" Cortana asked, referring to the conversation with Captain Blu.

"I had to think of something," The Chief replied with a smile as he stepped out of the Warthog, and as he did so he took Sigurd and placed the weapon onto his back. "The less people who know about the UNSC's presence here on Remnant, the better."

"Well… it was quick thinking. I remember when you had the hardest time adapting to this planet when we first came here." Cortana replied.

"So do I… I remember the looks on everyone's faces when we thought Ozman was talking about the dust you'd find on old furniture or equipment," Chief replied as he began thinking back to when he had first gotten settled in with The Valian Military.

"Speaking of Oz. I think we should have a chat about everything that's been going on," said Cortana.

"Is there something you're worried about?" asked The Master Chief.

"Do you remember what happened after the war? When Dias sent us off to fight Salem?" she asked.

The Master Chief didn't need to respond. He remembered alright…

Many years ago…
A month after The Great War ended

The Master Chief was hunkered down, there was only one other person with him and that was Sergeant David Hatley, who had been firing his SRS-99 at as many Grimm as he possibly could, while The Master Chief had toggled Sigurd to automatic. The SPARTAN-II was pulling the trigger, gunning down the creatures of Grimm, cutting a line for Corporal Holland, who said he was "going to take one for the team."

"Hey, bitch!" the voice of Corporal Tyler B. Holland of Fireteam Odyssey shouted as soon as he came face to face with Salem.

The witch turned, her fingers danced with a fireball and she was preparing to launch it at The Master Chief's cover.

"How bout you try surviving this, you dirty skank?" he asked as he pointed a target locator at the woman and held the trigger.

"The target's been locked, and The Dawn is firing ARCHER missiles! Get down, Chief!" Cortana cried.

"When I die, Chief, tell my ma I didn't forget nothin!" Were the last words The Master Chief heard from Holland.

After that… the missiles dropped onto the battlefield. Directly onto Salem.

"Chief, you can't simply survive getting hit by Archer missiles. No amount of magic could possibly have saved Salem." said Cortana.

"I know," The Master Chief replied.

"Do you remember how Oz kept secrets from us?" she asked.

"I do. We had suspicions that there was something to The Grimm, something like Salem but he refused to confirm it until The Great War ended." replied The Emerald Knight.

"I think we should take under consideration that Oz might have more secrets," she said.

The Master Chief went silent as he walked through the streets of Mistral. Oscar was long gone, off in some bar trying to find this mysterious "Qrow Branwen."

It was a silent walk. The Master Chief took notice of the many looks he received from civilians, however none dared approach the SPARTAN-II.

"What do you think about Oscar?" asked Cortana, whom the Chief had thought wanted to change the subject.

"He's a good kid," said the SPARTAN. "He's smart, but he also gets nervous easily."

"I was thinking the same thing… but you can't blame him for getting nervous, we've seen these things hundreds of times."

The Master Chief knew that. He'd seen many new soldiers, both in The Great War and in The Human-Covenant War be nervous about entering the battlefield and how could they not? There was a strong chance they would lose their life.

It was simply human for them to be afraid of death.

"Hold on… since I'm connected to Mistral's CCT Tower, I'm going to try and locate Qrow myself."

"You just remembered you could do that?" asked The Master Chief, who was now worried, and for very good reason.

It was never like Cortana to simply "forget" things that she believed or knew she was capable of doing.

"I know what you're thinking, and it's fine. As of right now, I had to make a small copy of myself and I''m currently getting caught up on Remnant's history. Right now I'm getting started on the aftermath of The Human-Faunus War," she said.

"There was a race war?" asked The Master Chief.

"Indeed there was. It lasted as soon as it started, but everything was catastrophic. After the war, a family known as The Belladonna's eventually formed The White Fang, a peace organization for faunus rights at first, but Ghira Belladonna stepped down. Another faunus named Sienna Khan took over, and she's the first non-Belladonna faunus in charge of The White Fang." Cortana replied. "Theeeennn things changed,"

"They became violent," The Master Chief replied.

"Exactly. Anyways, I just got done looking at the aftermath, I also went ahead and started taking a small looksie at the new government Oz had set up, and it… works surprisingly well, though Vacuo could use a bit of a 'push' if you get my saying." Cortana spoke, suddenly changing the subject.

"The Kingdom Of Vacuo has always been anything-goes, it doesn't surprise me that there isn't much government outreach." said The Chief. "Can you tell me about Atlas? Dias had mentioned them for a short moment and said something about how they replaced Mantle."

"The Kingdom Of Mantle still exists, somewhat. Barely, actually. They're right below Atlas now, and The Kingdom Of Atlas itself is… a gigantic floating city above Mantle."

"A floating city?"

"A floating city, Chief. Mantle was always known for having creative scientists, but the things they've done with dust is insane!" said Cortana. "They're using gravity dust to hold the city up, do you know how much that would take?"

"How much?" asked John, who was now… curious.

"Lets just say? It'd take a lot, Chief. For starters, such a city would have to use up to about 1.5 quintillion tons of gravity dust to keep it afloat for a single minute, I don't know how Atlas is getting this much dust, but it's extraordinarily gigantic. The Schnee Dust Company would have to be mining a lot of dust!" cried Cortana.

"Schnee Dust Company?"

"Yes, the company was founded by Nicholas Schnee. You remember him, right?" Cortana asked.

The Master Chief paused for a moment… the name sounded familiar to him, and he did his best to think back.

"He was…"

"The kid we pulled out of the caves. It seemed our 'generous' actions changed him," Cortana said

"How so?" questioned The Master Chief.

"When The Schnee Dust Company was founded, Nicholas Schnee had done a lot with it. He found many new dust veins throughout Remnant and had begun the process of creating new mines, all with much better working conditions than other companies had at the time. Though that seems to have… changed when his son in law took over," Cortana said.

The Master Chief had a good idea as to what had happened by the tone in Cortana's voice. The in-law became greedy, most likely the company was being run through the dirt.

He shook his head, his memory of the young Nicholas Schnee raced through his mind. What became a stuck up angry kid turned into a brilliant man, and Chief knew that the boy's father would have been proud.

"He'd be ashamed," the SPARTAN-II muttered as he thought about how Nicholas would have reacted.

The rest of the walk continued in silence, and The Emerald Knight looked over at the kingdom which surrounded him…

Many people walked throughout the streets, many with smiles on their faces.

Young children with their families… the elderly sat on benches feeding the children…

It hadn't been like this during The Great War, The Chief thought as many memories began circling through his mind…

Slaves forced to march with heavy bags.

Frail, dying they all are.

Mistralian Soldiers enforce martial law, some civilians are beaten, some are shot on sight. Anything to get rid of emotion, anything to get rid of negativity they said.

The Master Chief shook his head. Those times were over, now were the times of peace that King Dias had brought on.

He continued walking throughout the streets, and soon looked up…

There he saw a gigantic building, one that was unfamiliar to him.

"Cortana, is this it?" he asked.

"It appears so, Lionheart's signal is coming from that building." replied Cortana. "I'm not picking up anything else, which is… strange." she said.

"Why's that?" asked The Master Chief.

"Because his scroll is the only one I'm picking up. There's nobody else there, John."

"Is that a problem?" he questioned.

"It's almost time for classes to begin. Don't you think there would be teachers around?" asked Cortana.

"Dias had something in mind for initiations… something about having the students prove themselves in Grimm territory. Perhaps they're preparing the initiation?" questioned The Master Chief.

"Perhaps, but this many teachers out? I don't like this, Chief… stay on your guard." said Cortana.

The Master Chief nodded and proceeded to step forward, and he began walking into the halls of Haven Academy.

The Emerald Knight

Haven Academy
Present Day

He smelled him.

The Enforcer could smell him, it was him. He could smell his altered blood, the blood that was not human anymore. He didn't know how he could recognize such a scent, nor how he smelt it.

Perhaps it was because of what his queen did to him?

"I will make you more powerful than any man or woman to ever exist in Remnant," she told him.

Yes, she did. She did just that before putting him to rest for so long, and she did so much more to him, and gave him so many gifts.

"You will be the first to join my perfect kingdom, and you will lead it just like you have led before. Would you like that?" she asked him.

"Yes!" he had cried. "Let me serve you my Queen, if you wish to restore my honor then my wish shall be to make your kingdom be true!" he told her.

Yes… The Queen, his beautiful Queen Salem told him this. She complimented his ability as a leader, and as a killer of her creatures and proceeded to offer him a place into her future army, her future kingdom.

Once, The Enforcer had fought for a beautiful powerful army. He led them into battle as a brilliant leader, and his battles always had a victory. He was always victorious, and when his name was spoken, it was revered with honor. He was respected as the most honorable of his forces.

Then he came.

They called him The Emerald Knight, The Master Chief, John-117.

It didn't matter what name he had at this point.

What mattered was what the man did.

He had shamed him, dishonored him. Never again could he go back to his home, never again could he see those beautiful lands that he had happily walked on as a child.

"You will do many great things for our people," a man whom he forgot once told him. "Carry our name with honor, and never retreat in battle!" the man had told him.

He had done that.

Then it was taken away..

BY HIM

HIs blood began to boil, and he clenched onto his beautiful sword tightly, and he started breathing heavily and panting over the thoughts that began flooding his mind.

KILL HIM

KILL HIM

STAB HIM THROUGH HIS HEART

TEAR HIM LIMB FROM LIMB

MAKE HIM KNOW PAIN

KILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILL

KILL HIM

The Enforcer was prepared to disengage the camoflauge, already he could hear the cries of The Emerald Knight, already could The Enforcer taste his flesh.

It excited him greatly.

He was prepared to strike as soon as his target began going up the stairs, but before he could send his blade into his heart, he heard a voice...

The voice of his Queen.

"Quell your anger, my oh powerful Enforcer, my beautiful commander." she said. "Just wait a tiny bit longer, you will have your revenge soon." she spoke through their link.

His anger, for the soldier faded, his lust for his blood went away and his grip loosened on his beautiful weapon.

"Ssshh my beautiful blade... " he cooed. "You shall drown in his blood soon,"

Thus, The Enforcer began obeying his Queen…

And he kept watch.

The Emerald Knight

Haven Academy
Present Day

The Master Chief walked through the grand hall of Haven and soon a marker appeared on his HUD, leading up the stairs.

"Is that where he is?" asked the SPARTAN-II.

"Yup, that's where Lionheart is." replied Cortana. "I'll see if I can't get anything from his scroll while you're distracting him." she said.

"Understood," replied The Master Chief.

He began walking up the stairs to Lionheart's office, taking great care of his surroundings.

Something felt off, and he didn't know why… perhaps it was paranoia?

Then a yellow dot quickly began moving throughout his motion trackers.

"Cortana, are you picking something up?" asked The Master Chief.

"Motion trackers show a friendly moving but… I'm not picking anything up that's UNSC related." she replied.

The feeling of paranoia soon left The Master Chief, and he wondered what was going on.

He had been on ice for a while, him and the armor both, and while Cortana did have the MJOLNIR MARK VI's nanomachines get to work on modifying the armor, perhaps some things were still needing to be touched upon and be reset. Due to everything that had gone on… he hadn't even thought about it.

"Cortana, we've been on ice for a while and haven't made sure to reset everything. Can you go ahead and do that? Start with the motion trackers first, and go from there."

"Good idea, we've been in ice for a long time. Almost a century, can you believe that?" she asked.

"Almost a whole century… Remnant's evolved so much," replied The Master Chief as he then moved close towards the door. The SPARTAN-II proceeded to knock on the door, waiting for a response of some sort.

"Come in!" cried a voice.

The Master Chief did so, opening the door and walking through.

"Leonardo Lionheart?" he asked.

He looked to his left and saw a short man with long gray hair and a long gray beard sitting in a chair, shuffling papers around and hoping to get them in order.

"Yes, I am him. What can I-"

The man looked up and his eyes widened at the sight of The Master Chief.

"Ozpin sent me shortly after his death, his orders were to go to you as well as link up with Qrow Branwen." The Master Chief said. "However, I do not know where Qrow is located… so I'm going to have to ask you for his location." he stated.

The Master Chief already knew he could get Qrow's location, but this was more along the lines to see if Lionheart was as traitorous as he thought the Headmaster was out to be.

"Ozpin… sent you?" asked Lionheart who began sitting up straight, his eyes gazed into The Chief's visor. "I'm sorry, but he never informed me of you before. Exactly who are you?" he questioned.

"All I will say is that I am his last resort, I am a rather late addition and I was woken up specifically for these circumstances." The Master Chief replied.

There was a small pause… and the man scratched his beard.

"Are you… The Knight, he had kept locked up?" he questioned.

"You already know the answer to that," replied The Chief.

The Headmaster nodded and then started to speak,

"I'll assume you were the cause of those explosions and killed The Cerberus as well?" he questioned.

The Master Chief nodded.

"I apologize for not being… discrete," he said.

"It's fine, it's good that you've come then. That Cerberus has been targeting our huntsmen, along with guarding your… craft. Hopefully we'll be able to keep the kingdom safe, along with your ship." Lionheart said and he soon tore a sheet of paper and began writing on it. As soon as he was done, he handed the sheet of paper to The Master Chief.

"What's this?" The Master Chief asked.

"The address of where Qrow Branwen is staying at, he has a group of students with him as well. Should you need anything else… feel free to contact me," replied Lionheart.

The Master Chief looked at it and then saw… something else.

Leonardo's arm was shaking, as if he was afraid.

"Is everything alright?" asked The Master Chief as he took the paper.

Lionheart pulled his arm back as soon as The Master Chief took the sheet.

"Of course it is! It's just… nerves ya know?" laughed the Headmaster.

The SPARTAN-II nodded in understanding.

"Thank you for the information, Headmaster Lionheart. I shall direct my questions towards Qrow from now on." he replied.

With that The Master Chief began leaving the office of Lionheart.

"So?" he asked Cortana within his helmet.

"Chief… this is bad," replied Cortana. "We need to go to Dias, now!" she shouted.

The Master Chief didn't respond, instead he began walking faster and faster.

"Is he in trouble?" asked The Master Chief.

"No, but Lionheart… Lionheart has been giving information up to a Doctor Arthur Watts, and I'm not sure if he's aligned with Salem, but the information that's being given up… it's information about the huntsmen that are on assignments. It's not just The Cerberus that had been targeting huntsmen, he's been having them assassinated!" she cried.

Shit.

"Inform Dias. I'll be there shortly," said The Master Chief and as soon as he exited Haven Academy, he began running.

THE EMERALD KNIGHT

Haven Academy
Present Day

Arthur Watts stopped looking through Haven's security cameras and he was… surprised.

He heard the stories of The Emerald Knight, every boy his age had heard them no matter where they were. Whether it be in Vale, Vacuo, Atlas or Mistral, The Emerald Knight was a well known hero, just as much as the almighty Alcides who had conquered The Gods and created Mantle, or the lethal and quiet Ji-Yeng, who had assassinated Mistral's oppressive ruler and started the kingdom's golden age.

However, The Emerald Knight most certainly did not look like a knight. He didn't look like how he was described in the books at all, he looked so much different. The armor he wore was not that of a knight, nor did it look anything like the Atlesian combat armor that was worn today.

"What is your synopsis, Doctor?" the voice of Salem spoke.

"I don't even know where to begin… the armor is certainly unnatural, I'd go as far as to compare it to Atlas's prototype BALDUR suits." he replied. "I can't identify any weaknesses in its structure, as of right now anyway but… if the suit is indeed power armor, I might be able to create something right now, but with such little information I'm not sure if it could work, your grace." the scientist explained.

"Go ahead and return after you go with Cinder to The Branwen Tribe, Doctor" she said through her Seer. "I would rather have success than a maybe, and it wouldn't be beneficial for you to stay here any longer." she ordered.

"Yes your grace. I will do as you ask, but… are you not worried about your Enforcer?" asked Watts.

"The Enforcer will be fine, The Emerald Knight cannot kill him, I have made it so. The modifications that I've done to his body have been substantial. Can he be defeated? Yes, but with everything I've done, he cannot be killed. He will return, and when he does so he will have the information you need to craft something that will take down The Knight." she replied.

"I understand then, your grace. I shall do as you ask then," he spoke.

With that, the communications died down and the Seer allowed itself to fall gently asleep.

The Emerald Knight

Mistral Kingdom
Present Day

The Master Chief stopped the Warthog. He had gone back to retrieve it from the abandoned complex that was initially, going to be used as a potential base until Oscar found Qrow, however now that Qrow had been found… a new base had been set up, a nice simple place to set up shop until something else happened.

"Is this it?" questioned The Master Chief as he stared at the new apartment in front of him.

"It is, and we haven't been followed at all, so… go ahead and enter, Chief." replied Cortana.

The Master Chief nodded and soon exited the Warthog and started walking towards the front door and then… knocked twice.

"I'm comiinnggg!" a high pitched voice cried.

So, The Master Chief waited.

And he waited.

Then, a smiling young girl with crimson hair and a black and red attire opened the door.

"Yes?" she asked, that bright smile still on her face and finally he asked his question upon gazing at her face for only a few moments.

"Is Ozpin there?" he questioned.

"Um… he's…"

"In the body of a young farm boy named Oscar, I know." replied The Master Chief. "I'm his plus one," he said.

The girl's eyes widened, she understood it seemed.

"Then, yes! He's here! Come in, come in!" she said with a smile.

The Master Chief did so, ducking his dead down so he wouldn't knock his head into the door frame on his way in.

"Ozpin! You didn't tell us your plus one was a space marine!" the young girl happily cried.

There were loud audible gasps and as soon as The Master Chief entered the living room, he found himself surrounded by three other people.

"A space marine? You're kidding!" cried a girl with orange hair.

The Master Chief looked around, taking notice of two boys. One wore a green outfit and had long black hair with a single pink highlight in it. The other boy had shaggy blonde hair and wore a black hoodie with… a rabbit on it.

Seeing that reminded him of Kelly.

Oh did he miss her…

"Hey, what's all the fuss about!" cried an older gruffier masculine voice.

The Master Chief turned and saw a man with spiky black hair and crimson eyes. He wore a simple white and black outfit, and in his hand was a flask. The man's eyes widened as soon as he saw The Chief and soon stepped aside which is when The Master Chief saw Oscar.

"Hello, John." the boy, no, this wasn't Oscar…

This was King Dias.

"My liege," replied The Chief.

"Liege? Wait, you were a king?" the girl in red called out.

Dias nodded while the man who had been gazing at The Chief looked down at the once former King and then back at The Chief.

"Holy shit… you weren't kidding when you said he was in ice," he spoke.

"Students, and Qrow… this here is one of my best friends, a man who helped make Remnant into what it is now." said Dias. "This man… is The Emerald Knight,"

And that wraps things up for this chapter. I hope everyone enjoyed this lengthy (at 8k words holy shit) chapter and also the previous April Fools chapter.

Anyways, I'll go ahead and quickly state a couple things and then I'll be off, one of which is important and I'll start on that now.

"Why have things changed throughout the fic? What happened to King Oz?"

I've decided to retcon a few things, and I've essentially rewrote a good bit of the previous chapters so they would look nice. Some things have been canned simply because they looked bad, were ridiculous, or just were unnecessary in my point of view. Oz's name as King being one of those things. A few other minor plot details have changed, and that would be because of the reviews left to me by CheesusChrist and Leonard Church (thanks you two)

The entire plot and all for The Emerald Knight however, has NOT been changed. It's still the same fic you all know and love, its just the previous chapters look... a tiny bit better for new readers. I think the most that's been changed has been Chapter 2 which looked honestly, atrocious in my eyes and needed to be changed. Chapter 1 has also been changed up a bit, but it still contains the same things as the older one did.

Due to this website and how it does things, the new updated chapters may take some time being posted so if you wish to take a look at them, please be patient.
Also, the previous chapter? It is a joke. Have to say that. The previous chapter is 100% a joke and was meant for the sole purpose of humor.

Anyways, that important tidbit is done for. If you don't care about anything else I have to say, that's fine. Hope you have a good day/evening!

"Why did you write a shitty April Fools chapter?"

Out of spite. Someone else had wanted to do that for their fanfic and I'll be honest... it was bad.

Really bad.

So I wrote that out of spite, and it's probably one of my finest (and worst) moments. Will it stay up? Yes, yes it will.

"Why has it taken you so long to update? You last updated in November you fucking clown!"

I'll admit, I've been a lazy fuckwad and I've also been dealing with a few small but rather tedious things in life, not only that but I've also been working on another fanfiction which I've gotten 9 chapters in and it's about 65k words in total I believe. It'll be uploaded when its done, and if you're a fan of Fate I think you'll appreciate it. If not, that's fine and understandable. I've also been doing a thing with another author, that author being my best friend, Roach99.

"Will you continue this fic?"

Yes. I will, and the next chapters will be just as long and filled with things such as this one (and there probably won't be any AN's unless if something comes up)

Anyways, that's... honestly all I have to say. Thank you to everyone for sticking around for so long and I'm sorry for this lengthy AN.