Even during the height of the summer, it wasn't hot.

Light would beam forth from the sun, it's rays lighting up the area during the day. While that created a day and a night, easily distinguishable from another, the ash and dust in the air kept the heat away. In reality, the temperature of the Wasteland hovered just below 60 degrees. The lingering radiation hot spots were responsible for any warmth in that land.

The Potomac was flowing heartily simply because the radiation kept it hot enough not to freeze. Pools of water existed, but those were irradiated pools, almost boiling with their own heat. Even the earth couldn't get any colder during this time of year, the ambient radiation cooking it.

This explained how during the height of what was once known as the summer months, she could be wearing her armor and storm coat and not feel the adverse effects of overheating.

Jane stood on the once familiar outcropping, gazing at the view. From here she could see Megaton in the distance, followed by the burned out town, a few rocky outcroppings, a gas station. All landmarks she had explored once.

Behind her was an unassuming wooden shack door, half bolted into the rock face. She stood there, arms crossed, trying her best to ignore it. On her arm, her pip boy was blaring an automated radio broadcast, endlessly repeating. She had long since drowned the noise out, instead standing at the cliff, thinking.

She had been on her way to the Citadel for resupply, right before heading for a newly arrived boat. Apparently there was a woman trying to find her daughter. The Enclave had been lying low recently, raider activity dropping, so she figured she would help out, if only to pass the time.

And then she had gotten the broadcast.

Standing there, she listened to the radio message once more.

This is an automated distress message from Vault-Tec: Vault 101. Message begins: It feels like you left home a long time ago, but I know you're still out there. I just hope you're still alive to hear this. Things got worse after you left. My father's gone mad with power. If you can hear this, please stop looking for your dad and help stop mine. I changed the door password to my name. If you're hearing this, and if you still care enough to help me, you should remember it. Message repeats:

Finally flicking a switch, she turned the radio off, breathing.

"Could I go back?" she mumbled to herself, crimson eyes going distant. Thoughts came to her aimlessly, idle fantasies where she could go back, shed her gun and her coat, live a peaceful life just fixing the vault, no danger, no threat of death. A soft smile came to her, the fantasy warming her heart.

In the distance, gunshots sounded, wiping the smile from her face.

No, this is the Wasteland. I can't go back.

Spinning around, she tore the door open, heading into the cave. Down the slope and past skeletons, she reached the end of the tunnel, and the beginning of the Vault. Standing there, she couldn't help but admire it.

Blue steel, faded yellowed numbering, it's cog shape proving distinctive. Truly it was a piece of engineering, something to be celebrated, even if it's secret purpose was much darker than originally thought.

Turning to the terminal, Jane typed in the password, her old friend's name coming naturally.

"AMATA. Don't make me regret coming back," she mumbled. Slowly grabbing her pistol, she held it loosely, ready for the worst. Her sword would be useless in the confined quarters, while her shotgun was a bit overkill for vault security armor.

The cog wheel screeched, rotating slightly on it's axis. Memories and thoughts unbidden came to her, constantly flashing in front of her face.

Why was she returning here?

Her entire life had been hell here.

Cold halls, unfriendly faces.

Adults who didn't care.

She closed her eyes, inhaling. These thoughts were useless. Amata needed her help and she was the only reason she was heading back into the vault.

Orange warning lights flashed, the door coming to a stand still. Even through her mask, the recycled air of the vault was distinct, the metal tang carrying the thickness of hundreds of years of collective human habitation. Stepping forward, her foot struck the metal grating inside, creating a metal thunking sound.

Beyond the flashing lights, blaring sirens, there was no movement. No people, no guards, not even a rad roach. A grimace crossed her face. How she loathed this place.

Heading for the door, she descended the steps, heading into the Vault. Amata wanted her help, and while she hated this place, she owed Amata. Those years of friendship and solidarity meant so much to her.

Behind her, the screeching of the vault door echoed, the cog slowly closing. It's echoing boom left a foul taste in her mouth.

"Fucking vault," she muttered, descending deeper.

A snarl escaped her mouth, arm flexing as the recoil from her pistol shook her. Ahead, another Grimm fell, it's forward momentum smashing it face first into the earth. Another shot, and the one behind it met a similar fate. A few beowolf were still charging, egged on with the death of their pack mates. Her crimson eyes flashed, the muzzle flash from her gun illuminating her briefly. The large calibre shots flew downrange, exploding against the lupine forms.

Jumping left, she avoided one of the flying Griffins from striking at her, instead sending a shot into it's wing, maiming it. It ended it's upwards trajectory, instead smashing into the ground. Stepping to the stunned form, Jane drew her sword, unceremoniously stabbing it through the base of the neck.

Spinning around, she slashed her sword, severing the limb from another Grimm intend on killing her. Thumbing the switch, lightning arced across the blade, just in time for a second strike. The Grimm, not expecting the charge, roared in pain, it's muscles tightening uncontrollably as the current danced through it's system.

"Fucking animals," she cursed, delivering a shot through the downed creatures skull. Misfiring neurons forced its muscles to twitch, leaving the corpse to twitch.

Seeing it was clear for now, Jane pulled out her scroll. "Liberty! Status update!" she yelled, jogging forward. A mess of airships had started heading for the school, and she had to get there. But being in Vale City limited her capabilities to get there.

"The Coliseum has been struck by an attack. Initial reports from Atlas Sentinels list White Fang offloading Grimm onto the docks. Before the units went off line, chemical tracers for explosives were detected. Bullheads have been loading Grimm into the City as well. Currently outbound communications to the other Kingdoms are down. I am fighting the Black Queen Virus now, but limited processing power limits me."

Turning a corner, Jane paused, seeing the group of boarbatusks chasing civilians. With a barely contained growl, she holstered her pistol, hand dashing beneath her armored storm coat. Bringing the LMG to bear, she fired, letting hundreds of rounds fly downrange, impacting on the creatures and completely missing the civilians.

Not checking on their condition, she dashed forward, heading towards the commercial district docks. Hopefully there was a Bullhead there she could commandeer. Beacon had an uplink to the CCTS network. While going to the actual building would be preferable, Liberty had pulled reports that there was a horrendous amount of Grimm activity surrounding the tower, making a go at the tower impossible. Fortunately the school had a physical uplink that ran right to the central tower. She could use that.

"Can you at least make local calls? Figure out what the hell is going on? Contact anybody?" she yelled, firing another burst with her MG32. The belt jostled as rounds flew through the mechanism, muzzle flash lighting the street up. Another pack of Beowolves fell, limbs exploding and flesh tearing.

"Local communications are being drowned out. My current hardware platform does not have the required capacity to override the network slowdown. In addition, the Virus is redirecting calls to random IP's, preventing a successful connection."

"Fucking Christ almighty!" she screamed, sword flashing. Another Grimm died. "Commercial docks 400 meters away," continued the AI. Jane nodded, springing towards the metaphorical finish line.

"Can you at least pilot a Bullhead?" Another slash, another shot, a burst from her LMG. Grimm fell before her in bloody explosions, coating her weapons and form in viscera.

"Affirmative," replied the AI. "Well thank God we've got that," she replied. Turning the corner, she felt like jumping for joy.

In the docks, on several landing pads, were the familiar shapes of Bullheads. A large group of people were entering them, probably intent on leaving. Her smile turned into a frown. She needed one of those ships, and a boatload of weak willed civilians wouldn't do.

Striding up to an airship, she grabbed one of the people, tossing them out via the back of their shirt. Aiming upwards, she fired a shot, getting the attention of the people inside.

"Alright people!" she yelled, ignoring the protesting man lying on the ground. "I'm taking this airship up to Beacon. Word is the situation up there is worse. If you come, there's a chance you will die. If you stay and get onto another ship, you still may die, but it's less likely. Make your choice!" she yelled, the engines of a nearby ship revving up.

A disgusted look crossed her face, seeing these people care for so little that they dashed madly out the exit, leaving a full ship. Not even the guy lying on the ground was putting up a fight. Withholding a curse, she stepped up the ramp, slapping her scroll into a nearby port. Immediately the engines revved, the door closing.

"Take me to Beacon Liberty! And don't spare the horses!" she yelled. Holstering her pistol and tossing her sword onto the bench seating, she stepped into the cockpit, staring out at the city below. The sun had fallen, leaving the only light coming from the city lighting. At least the power was still on. Things could get a lot worse if there was no power.

Spinning around, she flinched, not expecting it to be standing so close. Hoping to side step the thing, she cursed when it stepped to the left, blocking her.

"What the fuck do you want?" she spat, her voice coming out with a mechanical quality. "I don't have time to play twenty questions with you. Just answer me!" Her voice was somewhat hoarse, constantly cursing and yelling for the past hour had taken its toll.

Jane stumbled back when a clawed hand of it rose up, reaching for her. It came within an inch of her before impacting upon a greenish yellow barrier sprung up. Confusion spread across her face, hidden by her mask. What the hell was it doing with her Aura? Not that it proved to be effective, a few hits and it was gone.

The next thing she knew, she was pinned to the empty pilot seat, the length of her sword protruding from her gut.

"FUCK!" Her hands instinctively flew to the handle of the blade, hoping to pull it out. Despite the pain, her screams paused when the clawed appendages flew forth, grasping her hands, holding them at her sides. Looking up, she swore her heart stopped.

It stood there, blackened skull face and flowing black flames curling around, just inches from her masked face.

Jane had not felt fear in a long time. She had felt worry, like when she left the Vault for the first time. When she fought the Enclave, there was a small amount of fear, sure, but in all her years, even inside the Vault, she had never known fear like this. Cold, heart stopping blood freezing fear. She hadn't known fear like this at all.

Blood started to trickle from the corner of her mouth. Words were not coming to her, only strangled gasps and attempts to breath.

And then it's jaw opened, and it spoke for the first time.

Now, your soul is open. Its voice was cold, airy, drifting only slightly across the gap. It didn't feel like it was speaking, instead enforcing a will upon the universe. Words echoed inside her head, rattling around. If the thing had eyes, she knew it would be staring deep into hers, ignoring the lenses of her mask.

And now, it whispered, we can be onnnnne! With a burst, it flew forwards, into Jane. If one was standing outside, they would be able to hear the screams from within the Bullhead.

Yang bolted through the halls, making sure people had abandoned the building. Beacon was being overrun, White Fang fighting alongside Atlas mechs were sowing panic, gunning down everybody in sight. The Grimm were indiscriminate, targeting everybody who wasn't their own.

Most students had their weapons in their lockers, would couldn't be summoned until they were outside. Even still, something was jamming the network, preventing launch codes from sending the lockers. Only those who were at Amity Coliseum had their weapons, and they were too few defenders.

"Is anybody here!" Sprinting through the dorms, she pounded on doors, making sure everybody had gotten out. So far she had only run into a few people, but they already had their weapons and were heading for the courtyard where people were massing. According to some of the staff they had arranged for Bullheads to arrive, ready to evacuate to – somewhere.

She cursed, turning a corner. At the end of the hall was her room, and a little past that Jane's room. With a swift right hook she blew the door off the hinge, entering her dorm. Quickly, she grabbed her scroll from it's charging dock, as well as a bag.

"Ruby will want her weapon cleaning kit, Blake would kill me if I forgot her books," she grinned, stuffing the aforementioned items into the bag. If they were evacuating, it made sense to grab things of importance. She had the chance and it wouldn't weigh her down at all. Stopping by Weiss's bed, she grabbed the girls makup kit, the thing being the only object of importance to the heiress besides her weapon. She zipped the bag up and proceeded towards Jane's room.

Another swift punch and the door was gone, revealing the contents to her. A quick glance around the room for anything of interest.

Truth be told she didn't know Jane that much. Ruby seemed to have a better relationship with her than the rest of the team. Yang trusted the woman mostly because Ruby liked her. Despite any misgivings, all of her actions, after some thought, Yang was able to justify.

Besides the bed and the desk, there wasn't a whole lot inside the room. A large holoboard for schematics was hanging from one wall, although it was off. The bed was unmade, but nothing of interest was there. The desk was a similar state, with a few papers spread over the surface but further inspection identified them as school work that Jane didn't bother to finish. She grinned a little, knowing the fifth member of RWBY disliked school work just about as much as her.

The one object that caught her interest was Jane's funny bracer. Made of a tan metal with a large black screen, it lacked typical inputs, instead relying on knobs and switches to interact. She had stopped wearing the device a while ago, instead opting to use a scroll due to it's larger capabilities. That said, it must have some importance, as there was a cable running from the back into what she could only assume was a hookup point for the communications system that ran throughout Beacon.

"Must have some sort of significance, it's the only thing of note here." Grabbing it, she disconnected the cable from the wall, wrapping it around the device. Quickly stuffing it into the bag, she checked the closet, the only thing of note being the clothing Ruby had gotten for Jane.

Shouldering the bag, she dashed out the room, heading for the courtyard. Personal effects collected, her job was done. Heading for the end of the hall, she decided to forgo the stairs, instead firing a shot from her gauntlet through the windows, followed by leaping through it.

It was the third floor, so a bit of a fall was expected. Thankfully, Cardin Winchester of all people was below, fighting off an Ursa. Landing on top of the thing, she sent both fists forward, her semblance augmenting her blows to rip through the Grimm.

Ignoring his startled cries, she leapt off the now dead creature, springing towards the familiar sounds of combat. On the way she blew through Grimm, her shots punching through bone plate and flesh, shotgun blasts echoing. It wasn't long until she arrived at the courtyard, a mass of students and staff fighting against the Grimm. From what she could tell most of her class was here, with enough of them actually having weapons.

"Weiss!" The white haired heiress spun, looking for the source of the call. Her light blue eyes alighted upon Yang. "Yang! You're ok!" she yelled exuberantly. A flick of her rapier and a white glyph took shape, sending an ice shard through an Ursa. The hunter in training dashed over to the blond, a tired smile on her face.

"Where's Blake?" Weiss paused, as if thinking. "We split up earlier, she went towards the dining hall looking for any more students!" The sounds of combat were doing their best to drown out their conversation, spaced between shotgun blasts and the whistling of a rapier as they fought Grimm.

"What about Ruby?" yelled Yang worriedly.

"I haven't seen her! She was up at the coliseum when this all started!" grunted Weiss, stabbing a boarbatusk through the face. With a squeal it died, smashing into the earth. A flick and her sword was out, casting another ice glyph.

Yang was silent, instead punching an Ursa in the face. The force of her semblance augmented fist mixed with the dust round propelled t back, smashing into one of it's brethren behind her. "I'm going for Blake!" was her reply. Not waiting for a response, Yang dashed towards the school dining hall. Spinning on her heel, she yelled black to the heiress.

"Try to find Ruby! I'm going for Blake!" Weiss nodded, huffing slightly. Yang was too far away to hear her curse the blond for being an idiot. Instead, Yang ran towards the dining hall.

Sprinting, Yang fired her bracers, ending Grimm at a distance with the explosive dust rounds. The dining hall was a fair distance away, separated by an open common area. Inside that common area, framed by trees and gardens. There were a few Grimm in the field, Atlesian mechs doing their best to fight them. Surprisingly, they proved effective, focusing fire to eliminate the few Beowolves attacking.

Seeing one of the mechs was about to be overwhelmed, she fired a shot, the round tearing an arm from the Beowolf. With that, the Grimm in the area were dead, the sounds of gunfire silent. Bending over to take a breath before she continued, she relaxed her aura, focussing it onto restoring her energy rather than protection.

CRACK!

A shot echoed across the field.

A bullet from an Atlas mech is specifically designed to pierce armor. Utilizing a titanium jacketed lead round, it was one of the few bullets in circulations that utilized dust to go from subsonic to hypersonic. The rounds had proved effective at piercing Grimm hide, and in some cases actually cracking through the thicker and more bullet resistant bone plates.

Which is why Yang found it surprising when one of these shots flew through Yang, her lowered Aura doing nothing to protect her.

The shot passed through her shoulder as if it was paper, continuing onwards behind her. Her head snapped back, a scream tearing from her throat. Her lilac eyes flicked to red, anger clouding her vision. Everything was a blur. There was movement, her left hand fist impacted metal. The sound of popping electricity, of gunshots impacting on her Aura echoed around her with no discernable source. It was over in less than a minute.

Amid the destruction, several of the Atlas mechs were completely wrecked. Bent over, her breath was ragged, the soft dripping of blood somehow being louder than the distant sounds of combat. Her free hand moved to her shoulder, pressing against the jagged hole.

"Ah fuck," she cursed, her breath becoming more ragged. Somewhere in her mind, a scrap of field first aid came to mind. "Like a bandaid," she breathed, reaching behind. Her middle finger grazed an exit hole.

Relief flowed through her, happy that she wouldn't have to dig for the bullet. When she and Ruby had first started designing their weapons, their dad had made sure to drill into them everything relating to firearms, including emergency first aid.

Satisfied that there wasn't a bullet still in her shoulder, she flared her Aura, focussing it on the affected area. Within seconds, the blood stopped pouring from the wound. The flesh tickled and itched, physical signs that it was starting to knit itself back together. Ordinarily she would take an hour or two for it to heal enough to start fighting again, but she didn't have time to spare.

"BLAKE!" Her hoarse scream ripped across the field, even as she started moving towards the dining hall. Her wound screamed at her, protesting the motions of her right arm as she moved towards her objective. If her memory was correct, then it should be just around the corner.

Rounding said corner, her lilac eyes flicked around, looking for the familiar black hair and bow of her partner. "Blake!" she called, looking around. A knot of worry started to form in her gut. If she wasn't here, then where the hell did she go?

"Blake! We're evacuating! We've-"

A scream interrupted her. She spun around, identifying the source of the noise. Looking through the windows of the dining hall, her heart stopped.

Blake was lying on the ground, spread eagle. Her weapon was no where in sight. Above her stood a red haired man, clothed in a black jacket with red floral design. His face was hidden by an easily identifiable mask, marking him as a member of the White Fang. But that wasn't what she cared about.

He was holding a sword, completely crimson, glowing faintly, and it was stabbed through Blake's stomach.

Her blood boiled.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" With her proclamation, there was light. There was anger. There was righteous fury. Her blood boiled. The pain in her shoulder was forgotten. Ruby was forgotten.

Her arms flicked behind her, firing a shot each. She flew forwards, fire streaming from her form, crimson eyes burning with hate. She saw his arrogant smirk as he sheathed his blade, dropping into a ready stance.

She brought her right fist to bear, ready to clock him across the face. Her vision tunneled, only seeing his face.

There was a flash of red.

Pain.

And then she knew nothing.

The air whistled through her hair, the steady roar of the rocket locker being the only sound she could hear. In the distance was the Atlas Dreadnaught, hovering gently in the air. Somewhere in her mind, she compared it to a Nevermore, hovering gently far above where anybody could reach it, waiting for the perfect time to strike.

Her scythe was hooked solidly onto the end of it, holding her steady. Mentally, she was reviewing an admittedly thrown together plan. She would have to land on the dreadnaught, find a way inside, and override the system so that the mechs would start working properly again. Getting additional fire support would also be key, as Grimm were getting into the city and the mechs alone wouldn't cut it.

Her train of thought was interrupted when her scroll vibrated. It was stronger than usual, prompting her to pull it out one handed. It was somewhat difficult, as if she let go of her scythe then she would very well go flying off the makeshift transport.

Pulling it out, her confusion mounted. Instead of the standard PIN, there was a single red dot bouncing side to side across the screen.

"Ruby Rose! You must connect this unit to the Dreadnaught local network. Your skills in computers are severely lacking."

An owlish expression was on her face. "Who are you!" she yelled, staring at the device incomprehensibly.

"My designation is Liberty Prime. An Artificial Combat Intelligence residing in Jane Freewrite's Personal Information Processor. Main contact with the terminal was lost so this backup program was enacted with instructions on how to proceed. Do you have any further questions?"

Ruby's mind was blank. An AI? Like Penny? This was Jane's doing? How did she get onto her Scroll?

"O-ok?" she responded, not sure what exactly to do. "Get to the ship, plug you in, got it!" Stowing the scroll, she checked her progress. Seeing she was almost there, Ruby readied herself. Right as the locker was about to hit, she fired her scythe, propelling herself enough to slow the impact down to something manageable.

Rolling with the momentum, she traveled a few feet, the locker slamming into the hull.

"Oh that could have been better," she mumbled, swaying slightly. Glancing to where the locker hit, she was surprised when there was in fact no locker, instead a clear entry hole into the ship itself. A part of her worried that a student's rocket locker was able to punch through the hull of a modern warship. Shaking her head, she threw those thoughts aside, instead using the hole to get in.

"Alright, to the bridge to the bridge to the bridge bridge bridge," she sang, dashing along the halls. Despite being a full service warship for the largest military in Remnant, the place was suspiciously quiet, there being no servicemen lying around.

It wasn't long until she arrived at a set of double doors, painted grey with the military logo printed onto the top. Checking around, she found a terminal on the wall, probably to get in. Reaching into her skirt, she pulled out the scroll. Again, the red dot bouncing from side to side was present.

"How do I get in?" she asked. The light stopped bouncing.

"Accessing local network. Configuring administration privileges. Resetting password. New password is 1234," was the efficient reply. Nodding, still confused as to the existence of a Penny-like AI residing on her scroll, Ruby entered the code on the panel.

"1, 2, 3, 4," she murmured, typing them in on the console.

WOOSH!

The doors slid open slowly, the movement silent. A different part of Ruby admired the dedication to engineering these doors. They were silent enough that the click of the lock was louder than the motors themselves.

Quickly entering, she slapped the lock button again, the door closing shut behind her. Again, a small click followed, signalling the door was locked. Turning her attention to the room, she took in her surroundings.

The screens and holo-panels were deep red, with warning lights flashing all over. The room was abandoned, like the rest of the ship, and warning tones sounded from more than a few terminals. Scanning around, she found what looked like the captain's interface, upon which was a simple scroll, the screen dominated by a black chess piece.

"A Queen?" she mumbled. This wasn't making much sense. Where were the White Fang? Surely for a ship like this somebody had to be here to maintain control.

"Please insert the unit into the terminal." She jumped, the baritone of Liberty Prime startling her. She glanced between her scroll and the one in the terminal.

"But there's one already there," she replied, gesturing vaguely to it. With a start she noticed the back of her scroll heated up.

"Then remove the scroll and hold onto it. There is a chance it holds information that will be useful. Once I am uploaded retrieve your scroll and exit the aircraft." Ruby nodded, reaching for the scroll. With deft movements, she unplugged the scroll, inserting her own.

A red progress bar began to load on the screen, indicating the upload. The screens and terminals around her froze, before blacking out. Green text in command line format began to stream upwards at a dizzying pace. While she wasn't great at computers, she did know that anything using a command line interface on such a scale had to be incredibly capable. She wasn't sure if even Penny could do this.

10%

Her thoughts stopped, the lifeless face of Penny coming to the forefront of her mind. She bit back a sob, emotions swirling.

"You're an AI, right?" she asked, leaning heavily against a desk. Liberty took some time to respond.

25%

"I am. I presume you wish to know the fate of the unit known as Penny?" She nodded. Apparently Liberty had enough access to the cameras to see this, as he continued.

42%

"While the mechanics of Aura integration into an Artificial unit are unknown to myself, the machine code behind it appear to be the same. With the limited knowledge stored on this vessel in regards to the P.E.N.N.Y. project, it should be possible to restore her using a recent data backup from approximately 3 days ago."

67%

"That's, good I guess," replied the young huntress. Truthfully Ruby was glad for at least the hope that her friend might be ok.

"Well well well, no wonder you weren't on the roof, you snuck inside!" Her head snapped upwards, seeing where the voice came from.

Roman Torchwick stood there, cane at the ready, aiming directly at her. Ruby paled, realizing that the door had been quiet enough that she didn't hear. Rather than congratulate the designer, she was now cursing him.

"What, you thought removing the scroll would end this virus? It's in the system Red, although I must say, you appear to have crashed the system!" His jovial tone didn't betray the annoyed look on his face.

82%

Her eyes flicked over to behind him. He seemed to be alone, his accomplice Neo nowhere to be found. Behind him, the door was still open. Apparently he didn't believe in closing doors after him. Glancing to her side, she saw a progress bar pop up just behind him, detailing the progress for her alone.

94%

"Sadly, this is end of the line Red! You and your goody two-shoe friends will never make it out alive from this city!" Noticing her confused face, he smiled. "Oh, you didn't know!" he asked, fake shock etched across his face.

"Well," he continued, bowing slightly. "I suppose I could let you know what's going to happen." He laughed, gesturing out the window. "You see that massive Grimm just floating out there, dropping new ones? That was never quite the plan, at least, that I was aware." He was monologuing, building up to something. Whatever he said could be useful. She prayed that Liberty actually slowed down.

97%

"The actual plan is this Red, we're going to crack Vale open like an egg, let the Grimm run rampant throughout the streets. It'll be gory and of course some will die, but in the end, the White Fang get a city and public approval! After all, they will come and save the day." He laughed, as if the entire thing was funny.

"You're talking about killing thousands!" She couldn't comprehend this. This was above petty thievery, above crime. This was – insane.

"Nine hundred thousand, give or take specifically," he replied, a smirk on his face.

100% - RUN!

Ruby didn't hesitate. Using her semblance, she grabbed the scroll, before firing her scythe, propelling herself through the door. A few consecutive shots and she was outside, springing along the hull of the airship. She stumbled slightly when the ship moved, taking the surface out from underneath her. Ignoring it, she kept running, before throwing herself off the edge of the ship, throwing herself towards the earth.

Blinding pain issued forth from her ankle. Of all the places for a damn arrow to pierce, it had to be the most debilitating place of all. She tried to stand, but couldn't put any pressure on it, instead crying out and stumbling back down.

The light clicking of heels echoed, tracing itself around from behind her, before stopping in front of her.

"It's unfortunate you were promised a power that was never truly yours," spoke the voice. Pyrrha bit her lip, not willing to give Cinder any satisfaction. She knew that by coming up here, that by fighting what Ozpin considered a severe threat, that she probably wouldn't make it out alive. She could help but curse herself, her dreams of dying selflessly and in combat seeming so naïve now. She should have known, you don't die honourably, you just die.

"But take comfort in knowing I will use it in ways you could never have imagined," she continued. Reaching down, an unfamiliar hand grabbed Pyrrha's chin, pointing her head up. Her green eyes stared into Cinder's own dark amber, anger, hate, and loathing all swirling for dominance. Conversely, Cinder looked pleased, like a cat that just got a bowl of milk.

Pushing herself from Cinder's hand, she looked her dead in the eye, flicking some hair from her eyes with a head jerk. A conversation with Jaune came to mind. For some reason, she felt she had to ask a question.

"Do you believe in destiny?" Cinder frowned slightly, head tilting. Apparently she didn't expect that, although, Cinder didn't seem the type to let this happen often.

"Yes." The reply was said with conviction, as if that very truth had been tested in the fires of faith. Despite the fact that she was about to die, Pyrrha didn't hate Cinder. Not in this final moment. Perhaps it was because, on death's doorstep, she had found somebody like minded? Or perhaps she understood that they were both fighting for something, and both thought it right?

Her attention was taken away when she noticed Cinder stand up, conjuring her bow into existence. If it were any other day she would marvel at it, wondering how exactly she did that.

Her green eyes glanced behind Cinder, hoping to catch the night sky one last time.

"Right on time, huh?" she chuckled, wondering just how well Cinder had planned this, that a bullhead was on it's way right as she was about to wrap up.

"What?" At this, both women looked at each other with confused glances.

"Your bullhead, coming to pick you up once you're done?" asked the invincible girl. "If you're going to kill me at least answer my question," she bit. Cinder turned.

At once, Pyrrha knew something was wrong. Cinder's form tensed, her right foot placed slightly ahead. Where before she had been slow and languid, now she was ramrod straight.

"Interruptions always getting in the way," mumbled the Fall Maiden. Readying her bow, she fired a shot towards the incoming bullhead. The arrow flew straight and true, aiming straight for where the pilot's seat should be. It impacted cleanly, spearing the glossy pane, impacting what had to be the pilot.

Despite the expectations, the ship did not waver, nor did it crash. Instead, it kept on coming. Frowning, Cinder pulled another arrow into existence, aiming solidly at one of the engine intakes. If she couldn't kill the pilot, then she would crash the stupid thing. Right as she went to release, several things happened.

Something struck her in the back, throwing her off balance. The shot flew wide, impacting a nearby Grimm. The bullhead began a final approach, gearing up to deposit whomever or whatever was inside. From the edge of the now destroyed tower, Ruby jumped up, readying to save her friend. And finally, a piercing pain enveloped Cinder's side.

"You BITCH!" Creating another arrow, and ignoring the sword impaled through her side, she spun around, slamming the arrow into Pyrrha's back with her hand. The warrior screamed in pain, already crippled from the ankle shot, went down.

"Pyrrha!" screamed the young scythe wielder, unfolding her weapon. Cinder spun, wrenching the weapon from her side. A press of a now flaming hand and she cauterized the wound, much to her displeasure. It would scar, horribly, but she didn't run the risk of bleeding out now.

"You think you can just stop me?" she yelled, splitting her bow into two daggers. "I've worked too hard for this moment! So many months of planning for this! I won't allow two girls to ruin everything!"

The bullhead touched down.

Remembering her lesson, Cinder backed up, making sure nobody was behind her. To her right lay the incapacitated huntress and Ruby, the brunette having pulled her away from Cinder. To her left was the bullhead, doors closed.

The doors clicked, and a hydraulic hiss escaped, the side door sliding towards the rear.

Cold.

That was the first thing she felt. Ever since gaining the fall maiden powers, Cinder had never been cold, it's constant warmth making sure she was never so much as chilly. Even holding ice didn't phase her. Almost doubly so since she grabbed the other half of the powers from Amber below the school.

But this, the very air became cold, uncomfortably so, to the point that she began to shiver. In her peripheral vision, she noticed it wasn't restricted to herself, both the passed out Pyrrha and Ruby noticed the dip in temperature.

And then the figure stepped out.

Steel capped boots, heavy armor, a thick, armored storm coat, the figure was familiar to her. Jane Freewrite, the anomaly in her plans, the one who came out of completely nowhere and threatened to ruin everything. But to say this was the same person as in the tournament would be akin to comparing apples to oranges.

This Jane Freewrite was very different. A black fire seemed to roll up her form, hoarfrost forming on the metal sections of her armor. Her helmet was almost coated in the stuff, the frost somehow forming in a facsimile of a grinning skull. The lenses of her helmet were glowing brightly, far more than they were supposed to. But most of all, the one fact that set her apart from before, was how if she looked away, Jane's form flickered, as if it wasn't quite there.

This may be wearing her armor, and using her sword, but this was not the Jane Freewrite she was familiar with.

"Jane?" Ruby's voice broke her concentration. 'Jane' turned her head, glancing towards Cinder. All at once, she felt like something had stepped on her grave.

"Your soul," it spoke. It's voice was there, clearly Jane's, and yet, there was something different. An otherworldly echo, as if some creature from the darkest pits of the unknown lands had copied her voice and was using it.

"It is bright, like a star," she continued. Cinder took a step back, fear taking hold of her.

"We will enjoy taking it from you."

I do not own RWBY or Fallout 3. All works belong to their respective creators.

A bit long since the last update, but honestly, I had trouble pumping out this chapter. I had some idea of what I wanted, but diverging a little required some creativity. Hopefully the updates will be back to a once a week or so format.

Originally the chapter was going to start just shortly before events went down, but this felt easier to work with. So yeh.

Also, I asked back in chapter 8 about somebody possibly doing a commission for me as a cover? I never got a response for that, just wondering if anyone is interested.