Ruby practically dragged Winter into the passenger area of the dropship and strapped her to the seat. She quickly ran to the entrance and watched as the other mercenaries gathered into their dropships. Once the last one was aboard, Ruby stepped off the loading door and ran to the cockpit.

"We're all aboard!" she said to the pilot, her voice almost a yell. "Get us out of here!"

"Don't have to tell me twice," the pilot replied. "All Taijitu units, get airborne and climb to angels ten."

The engines on the dropships roared to life and pushed the aircraft over the battlefield the city had become. As they ascended, the White Fang below started to fire at it, though they failed to hit anything other than the bottom of the hull. Eventually, the sounds of gunfire faded into the distance along with the Vale skyline, and Ruby felt herself relax slightly. She pulled her scroll out of her combat gear and activated the device.

"Commander Ozpin," she said once the line had connected, "this is Red Wolf, do you copy?"

"I copy," Ozpin replied. "Go ahead, Red Wolf."

"Sir, we had to abort the mission," Ruby said. "We ended up trapped by the White Fang and had to request evac from Haven Base. "What are our orders?"

"Casualties?" Ozpin asked.

"One KIA," Ruby replied. "White Queen as well as our new recruit were wounded in action."

"I see" Ozpin stated. "Unfortunately, our outpost in Atlas is still under lockdown, so they're unavailable." The line went quiet for a moment as Ozpin pondered their next move. "Very well. Return Miss Schnee home, then return to base, understood?"

"Yes, sir," Ruby replied, and closed her scroll.

"So, what's the plan?" the pilot asked.

"Get us to Schnee Manor," Ruby said. "Once we drop Miss Schnee off, take us back to HQ."

"You got it boss," the pilot replied.

Ruby walked back to the passenger area of the aircraft as it banked left and headed off towards its destination.

"Here's the plan, people," Ruby called. "We're going to drop Miss Schnee off at home, then we're headed straight back to main base." Ruby then walked over to where the medic was still taking care of Weiss. "When you're done, meet me in the cockpit," she said to the man.

"Got it," he replied, not looking up from his work.

With that, Ruby walked back into the cockpit. She stood there waiting for nearly ten minutes before the medic walked up behind her. Ruby quickly turned off her voice modulator as she turned to the medic.

"How is she?" Ruby asked, just barely loud enough to be heard over the noise of the engines.

"She got lucky," he replied. "Must've been an armor piercing round, because it went completely through her shoulder with a nice, clean entry and exit wound. She's unconscious now, and if we don't get her proper medical attention within 36 hours, she could lose the arm, but she'll definitely make it through."

Ruby nodded. "And Ember?"

"She's going to need surgery to get the round removed, but she'll make a full recovery."

"Good," Ruby replied.

"Anything else?" the medic asked.

Ruby sighed. "No," she stated.

The medic turned and walked back to the passenger area and continued making sure the wounded were in good shape.

"What's our ETA?" Ruby asked the pilot.

"Well we've got some favorable winds going this way," he said, "so we're probably looking at about four hours or so until we reach Atlesian airspace, then another two before we make it to Schnee Manor."

"Okay. Let me know when we're ten minutes from Schnee Manor," Ruby said, turning back to the cargo area. "I'm going to see if I can't get a nap."

Ruby continued staring at Weiss' motionless form as she had for the past several hours, hoping that she would show even the smallest signs of movement. Eventually, she sighed and stood from her seat and walked back into the cockpit.

"How much longer?" she asked, the tiredness in her voice masked by the modulator.

"Was just about to call you up here," the pilot said. "We're about ten minutes out, but take a look at the horizon there."

Ruby looked out of the window into the distance. Outside and approaching quickly, there was a dull, orange glow coming from the horizon.

"Judging from our current position, that glow is probably coming from Schnee Manor, and police radio in the area is abuzz with White Fang attacks."

"Keep going and lower our altitude," Ruby replied. "I want to get a look at our situation before we actually touch down."

The pilot complied, and the aircraft, along with the other two dropships, pitched slightly downward and descended several thousand feet before leveling off once more. As Schnee Manor came into view, Ruby looked out over the grounds. She could see the telltale flashes of weapons fire against darkness, along with the occasional tracer sailing back and forth.

"You might want to call Ozpin," the pilot said. "I don't think it's a good idea to land under these conditions."

Ruby pulled her scroll out again and opened it before contacting Commander Ozpin.

"Commander Ozpin, go ahead," he said once the line was connected.

"Sir, it's Red Wolf," Ruby said. "Schnee Manor looks like it's under attack. Our pilot said that he doesn't feel like it's a good idea to land under these conditions, and I agree with him. What are our orders?"

The line went quiet for a moment. As Ruby waited for Ozpin's response, Winter stood from her seat and walked to the front of the craft.

"What's going on?" She asked. "Why haven't we-"

She cut herself off when she looked out of the cockpit window at the battle below

"It looks like your home is under attack," Ruby replied, turning to face the woman. "We're waiting for Commander Ozpin to tell us where to go from here."

"I need to get down there," Winter demanded. "My family is down there!"

"Can't do that ma'am," the pilot replied. "LZ is way too hot. We try to land, we'll get shot full of holes."

Winter reached for Ruby's pistol, but before she could get her hand even halfway to the weapon, Ruby quickly grabbed her wrist and maneuvered Winter's arm into a position that she had complete control over.

"Miss Schnee, with all due respect," Ruby said, the voice modulator hiding any strain from holding Winter's arm, "our duty is to keep you and only you safe. No one else in your family factors into this mission, so please let us do our duty."

Winter struggled for a moment against Ruby's grip before resigning herself. "Very well," she said as her posture slouched slightly.

"Red Wolf, come in, over," Ozpin said over Ruby's scroll.

"Red Wolf here, go ahead," Ruby replied.

"Your orders are to bring Miss Schnee back to base with you," Ozpin said. "We can provide more security for her here while the situation in Atlas calms down."

"Are you sure, that's a good idea?" Ruby asked. "What if she-"

"If she discovers the identity of any of our operatives, we can deal with it when it happens," Ozpin said. "For now, return to base."

"Yes sir," Ruby replied before reactivating her radio. "All units, this is Red Wolf, return to base, repeat, all units, return to Beacon HQ."

All three dropships flipped around and started to again climb to higher altitude. As they climbed, several White Fang members below spotted them and started to open fire. By the time they started, however, the dropships were already long out of range of their weapons. Once they reached altitude and had started their journey, Ruby brought Winter back and both women sat down in their seats for the long journey ahead.

Ruby stood from her seat, tired of listening to nothing but the ceaseless droning of the engines for the past several hours. She glanced over to Winter, who, along with the rest of her team except for Weiss, had fallen asleep after the stress and adrenalin from the day had worn off. She then looked over to Weiss, who still lay unconscious on the floor of the aircraft. With a sigh, she turned and walked into the cockpit. Outside the cockpit, window, Ruby saw nothing but water for miles in every direction.

"Ah, Captain, I was just about to call you up here," the pilot said after briefly looking up from the controls of the aircraft. "We've got another problem."

"What is it this time?" Ruby asked after turning off her voice modulator.

The pilot tapped the fuel gauge. "Just did some quick calculations. We've only got about three hours of fuel left. Not enough to get to base and not enough to turn around and get back to Atlas."

"Where are we going to end up?" she asked.

"Even assuming we can manage a perfect glide, we're going to end up ditching in the open ocean," the pilot replied. "If we hadn't had to loiter for so long in Atlas, we might have been able to make it on fumes, but as it is, we're not in a good spot right now."

Ruby sighed as she once again pulled out her scroll and contacted Commander Ozpin. "Sir?" she said. "We've got another problem."

"Go ahead, Captain," Ozpin replied.

"We're not going to make it back to base," she said, her voice seemingly growing heavier with each word. "Pilot just told me we don't have enough fuel."

"I see." Ozpin paused, causing Ruby to wonder what he was doing. "Do you have enough fuel to get to 33 degrees north 48 degrees west?"

Ruby glanced at the pilot, who looked at the dropship's fuel gauge, then to a GPS built into the controls, and nodded. "Yes, sir, we do," she replied finally.

"Very well, turn that direction and ascend to angels 12. Commander Goodwitch will be there to meet you."

"Yes, sir," Ruby said and closed her scroll.

"Are we going where I think we're going?" The pilot asked as Ruby turned to go back into the passenger area.

"Probably," Ruby said. "Let me know when we're about ten miles out. Looks like we might make it out of this after all."

"Captain?" The pilot called over Ruby's radio. "We're almost there."

"Got it, I'm on my way," she replied. Ruby once more stood from her seat and walked into the cockpit, this time with Winter following her.

When Ruby arrived in the cockpit, she started out of the window. At first, she saw nothing but clouds surrounding them. But, when they finally made it through she saw their new destination: the carrier that Ruby and her team had helped capture. Now, however, instead of the lift fans that kept the ship aloft, the ship had four massive repulsor jets keeping it in the air. In addition, the ship had numerous massive triple-barreled gun batteries arranged around the hull. In addition, the ship now had some of its combat aircraft on the flight deck, including several Hornets and Wyverns.

"Is that your base?" Winter asked in awe.

"No," Ruby replied, still looking at the massive ship. "We didn't have enough fuel to make it back, so we diverted here instead."

"Goliath, this is Taijitu two-three, requesting clearance to land," the pilot called over his radio.

"Roger that, this is Goliath," Commander Goodwitch replied. "Commander Ozpin already let us know you were coming. You are cleared to land."

"Goliath, this is Red Wolf," Ruby called. "Can you have medical crews on standby? We have wounded in need of attention."

"Already taken care of, Captain," Commander Goodwitch said, causing Ruby to let out a relaxed sigh. "See you on board.

Ruby turned around and went back into the passenger area. "Alright, people," she called. "Strap yourselves in, we're coming in to land on the Goliath."

Ruby sat down in her seat and put on her seatbelt. She heard the aircrafts engines start to spin up as they approached the carrier at the same time they started to switch to hover mode. As soon as the aircraft was over the carrier's deck, they matched the warship's speed while remaining at a nearly complete hover. Gradually, the three dropships started to lower their altitude towards the carrier's deck. Once the aircraft touched the deck, the pilot shut the engines down.

"Attention everyone, this is your captain speaking," the pilot said over the radio. "We have arrived at our destination. You are free to depart the aircraft at your leisure. Thank you for flying Beacon Airways."

Ruby rolled her eyes as she stood from her seat and walked towards the entrance to the aircraft. The door slowly lowered to the deck, revealing Commander Goodwitch standing outside along with two medical crews and two stretchers.

"Captain," the Commander said, "my medical team will handle your wounded. If you will follow me for debriefing?"

"Yes, ma'am," Ruby said with a nod. "What about the rest of my team as well as our VIP?"

"My crew will show them to their quarters."

Ruby nodded once more and started to follow Goodwitch into the carrier's island. The ship's layout, aside from the new cannons, was not to dissimilar from when the Beacon Company too control. The only other major difference was that anywhere there was an Atlesian symbol was painted over and replaced with the emblem of the Beacon Company. Commander Goodwitch pulled the door open leading into the island, and the two women walked through the corridors until they found their way to the Commander's quarters. Goodwitch pulled the door open, revealing a rather spartan room, with little in the way of decoration aside from a bed, desk, computer, and a large screen showing the Beacon Company's deployments around the world.

"Now," Commander Goodwitch started as she sat down in her chair and turned it towards Ruby, "Start from the beginning. What happened exactly?"

Ruby sighed. "Well, the first day went smoothly. We picked up Winter and brought her to Atlas International where we took our plan to Vale. Once we landed, we headed straight to the hotel, where we encountered a White Fang member asking if Winter was staying there. The receptionist, the woman we brought back with us, told him to leave."

"The next day is where everything went wrong," Ruby continued. "The morning receptionist leaked Winter's presence to the White Fang as we were leaving. The trip to Winter's meeting was uneventful, but we believe that there were White Fang members along our path reporting our movements. The White Fang started their attack while Winter was in the middle of her meeting. We pulled her out and attempted to get back to the airport, but we were blockaded by the White Fang. I contacted Haven Outpost to provide extraction, but we didn't make it out without one KIA and two wounded. From there, we tried to drop Miss Schnee off at her home, but it was under attack by the White Fang as well."

"I see," the commander replied. "Well, suffice to say that it's good you got out of Atlas when you did. Sources within the government have indicated that martial law may be declared, so Commander Ozpin has already ordered a full evacuation of Mantle Base."

"How bad are things there?" Ruby asked.

"We're not sure," Goodwitch replied. "We're getting conflicting reports. The official Atlesian statement is that they have everything under control, but Mantle base was reporting chaos before they went dark to start their evacuation."

"What about the other members of the Schnee family?" Ruby asked.

"You said their compound was under attack, correct?"

Ruby nodded

"One moment." Glynda turned towards the computer on her desk and brought up the recent news. Once she found what she was looking for, she stared at it for a moment, as though trying to process it. "Well it seems that both her father and brother were killed in the attack on their home."

"Are you sure?"

Glynda nodded. "Confirmed by the head of their home's security forces. According to him, the White Fang breached the home and found them as they were trying to make it to an escape vehicle."

Ruby paused. "Should I tell her?"

"If you wish," the commander replied.

Ruby stood there silently for a moment, thinking about what to say to Winter. "Was there anything else?" she asked finally.

"No," Goodwitch replied. "You're dismissed."

Ruby saluted. "Yes ma'am."

Winter sat staring blankly at the news article on the computer that was in the room she was staying in onboard the Goliath. Suddenly, there was a knock on her door. She stood from the chair, walked over to the door, and pressed the button to open it. The door hissed open to reveal the mercenary she had come to know as Red Wolf standing there still in her full combat gear.

"Miss Schnee," she said, her voice distorted, "I regret to inform you-"

"My family is dead," Winter said sadly. "I know. I just read."

"I'm sorry," the mercenary said.

Winter shook her head. "Don't be. As your pilot said, it was far too dangerous for you to land. Besides, by the time you could have done anything, it probably would have been too late already."

"If there's anything I can do," Red Wolf said before pausing.

"Thank you, but I need to be alone for now," Winter replied. "Besides, I think you should probably spend time with your wounded comrade."

Ruby nodded. "Very well."

With that, the mercenary turned and walked away as the door closed behind her. Winter stood from her chair, walked over to her bed, and laid down.

What am I going to do now, she thought as she slowly closed her eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep.

Winter awoke in her bed on the Goliath. She looked around the small, dark room for any sign of the time. When she found none, she stood from the bed and turned on the light, briefly blinding her as her eyes adjusted. Once her vision returned, she looked at the clock that hung on the wall across from the bed.

Nine o'clock, she thought to herself. Later than I thought it was. She sighed as she pondered what to do. I suppose I could find and thank those mercenaries for protecting me.

Winter turned and walked towards the door, which hissed open at her approach. She wandered through the corridors until she found a young woman in a Beacon Company shirt.

"Excuse me," Winter said as she approached the women. "Do you know where I could find Red Wolf?"

"Yeah, she's in the infirmary," the crewmember said. "Just keep following this corridor."

"Thank you," Winter said, nodding before following the mercenary's direction. Eventually, she arrived outside a large, plate-glass door with the word infirmary printed on it in large, bold letters. The door hissed open at her approach, and she stepped inside. Laying on one of the beds in a room was a woman who looked like a younger, almost mirror image of herself with a scar over her left eye. Beside her sat a young wolf Faunus with black and red hair, similarly colored wolf ears, and gleaming silver eyes.

"Weiss?" Winter said in disbelief. "Ruby?"

Both Weiss' and Ruby's heads immediately turned to look at her.

"Oh, crap," Ruby stated.

A/N: You ever have one of those days where everything that can go wrong does go wrong, anything that couldn't go wrong managed to go wrong, and anything that was already going to go wrong got worse? Yeah, that's the type of day team RWBY just had. Who knows, things may get easier for them. Of course, that's depending on Atlas not imploding along with everything else.

At any rate folks, thanks for reading! I'll be back soon with the next chapter. In the meantime, stay class, everyone.