The RWBY V3 blue ray/DVD has finally released along with its soundtrack. Kind of figured it's a good idea to promote the stuff I base my work off of when certain things happen. On a side note RWBY Chibi should be out by the time this is released so there is that.

This chapter is a bit shorter than the last few, but I never intended for these to ever go over 7,000 words like the last 4 chapters. Sometimes it just works out that way with what they had in them and what needed to get done. Penny is always a joy to write for along with certain character interactions which seem to write themselves once I get the ball rolling.

Now how about we see what's happening with our cast.


"Should we be worried about that guy we left behind?" Ruby asked peering behind them and into the darkness for any sign for movement or life.

"With the main entrance blocked off he'll need to go through 3 separate sections and a service staircase to reach the room. We should be long gone by the time he manages to reach the hanger." Penny said as she pressed her hand to a panel opening a door.

"That is one hell of a storage area." Yang peered into the room seeing what equated to a small warehouse with racks of wooden crates stacked 20 feet high.

"The item you are all after should be held in one of the crates."

"You wouldn't happen to have access to the computers in here would you?"

"Most of the non-essential systems were shut down and I'm currently locked out of my communication device." Penny looked around the room scanning for anything of use. Walking down the isles she pulled a crate off of its shelf. With sword in hand she wedged it under the lip and pried it off revealing Styrofoam packing peanuts. She reached into depths only to pull out a mechanical leg.

Yang and Weiss continued past Penny as they looked down at their scroll in an attempt to find the matching label on one of the crates. A series of numbers and letters with little to no meaning besides marking what they needed to retrieve. As Yang and Weiss went in search of the item, Ruby was standing next to Penny as she fished through crates in search of a replacement limb that wasn't a hand, leg, or other miscellaneous piece. Ruby pulled another crate from the shelf and started digging into it.

"So are you going to tell them?" Ruby asked, looking around to make sure Yang and Weiss weren't around.

"Tell them what?" Penny stopped momentarily wondering what her friend was asking.

"The whole robot thing you have going on." Ruby motioned to Penny's missing arm. She was glade that her team had mistaken it for a prosthetic and not a component of her body.

"I'm still unsure about others knowing what I am."

"You're Penny. That's what and who you are. Just like how I'm Ruby and Yang is Yang." Her answer, though nonsensical to most, managed to reach Penny giving her perspective on how the young leader thought.

"I'll try to judge their reaction by using subtle cues and questions."

"Subtlety isn't something I can see you doing."

"What are you two talking about?" Yang asked as she walked over with a black box the size of a small computer tower in hand.

"We're just discussing our views on discrimination due to a person's origin."

"You mean like Faunas?"

"We were talking about the topic of people being born into certain lives. People disliking others for things they wouldn't have control over." Penny tried driving the conversation towards her being while watching Yang for a reaction.

"Well it's not like they made the decision to be born. Not to mention the world is full of bigots who fear anything different from themselves. Luckily Beacon seemed to draw in a mostly decent crowd compared to what makes up the general populace."

"Do you happen to know what this is, Penny?" Weiss pointed to the black box Yang held under her arm.

"That is an Atlas communication coder. One of the newer models too." Penny looked over the serial number on the side before looking back at Weiss. "With this you could decipher incoming messages or code outgoing messages."

"Well at least we know why junior wants this so much. Can't even imagine how many messages he just had saved and waiting to be cracked open. Wonder if this counts as treason? We're not a citizen of Atlas so Ruby and me are cool, but you two might not get away with this. If you want you can crash in Patch once this is over. We have a guest room if you don't mind sharing." Yang said with a smile watching Weiss deep in thought over their actions.

"A single missing coder along with a prosthetic arm shouldn't be enough to trace us." Penny responded as she continued sifting through the crate for a limb.

"You ever find a replacement arm?" Yang asked, setting the box down next to them.

"No, just pieces that I don't have time to assemble together. Let's go to the hanger and leave. I'm unsure how long we have, but we can't risk another encounter when our goal is so close."

"Penny, we need to get this back to Junior." Weiss sounded torn over having to refuse the request after everything Penny lost to help them.

"Then I'll just have to retake the ship myself." Penny said raising her one arm and sword since the other swords were shattered in Ruby's defense.

"Can't you just wait? If we talk this over with Ozpin and the others I'm sure we could divert some resources to capturing the ship." Weiss argued not wanting the injured girl running off into battle.

"Time is something I don't have." Penny held her hand over her where a heart would have been and felt the thrum of her generator. "I'm not who you think I am."

"I knew it!" Yang cheered while running around Weiss. "You and Blake each owe me so much Lien. Maybe I can start collecting on other bets and break even by the end of tonight."

"We don't know that for sure. She could be talking about something else." Weiss argued as Penny looked between the two in confusion.

"What are you two even talking about?" Ruby nearly yelled in frustration over an ongoing bet in her team that she wasn't a part of.

"A few of us started placing bets on what Penny is." Weiss said sheepishly while avoiding direct eye contact with Ruby.

"I placed my money on an Atlas clone. It explains her social awkwardness because she would have lacked proper contact with others growing up in a lab." Yang stated proudly as she pointed at Penny. "Weiss guessed the general's illegitimate child who he raised as a personal soldier to keep her away from the public eye."

"What did Blake guess?"

"She said Penny was a robot designed to look like a person." Yang waved off the idea as science fiction that Blake might have read.

"I'm not human." Penny said while shutting her eyes in fear of the reactions she'd see from Yang and Weiss.

"No one had any money on Faunus so it's a wash I guess."

"I'm not a Faunus!" Penny yelled trying to get them to understand as she gripped at the torn skin just above where her missing arm would have connect and tore it upwards to her neck. They could see the steel that reached up and around her neck in a way that shouldn't have been possible. Their minds grinding to a halt at the sight while trying to process it. "I'm not even human. I'm something this world hasn't seen for a very long time."

"Penny, are you okay?" Ruby asked seeing her beginning to worry about the others thoughts.

Realizing what was happening Yang took immediate action and stood next to Penny. "Its fine, Penny. We don't care about any of that. You've helped out Ruby and that speaks volumes about you."

"Weiss?" Penny looked over the Heiress expectantly.

"Atlas is known for turning their students into soldiers by the time they graduate." She mentioned thinking back on what might had happened had she stayed in her home. "From what I've seen you're more human than what tends to come out of the kingdom."

"Does this have to do with why you're so determined to return to Ironwood's warship?" Yang asked as Penny looked away from them in worry.

"A precaution was used to keep me under control should anything happen or I decided I didn't want to work for the kingdom that made me." She pressed her hand to her chest again feeling the thrum that kept her alive and the buzz of what was directly next to her 'heart'. "When my system detects an intruder it shuts me out of everything that could be used to connect wirelessly. It forces me to return to the nearest command center or face termination."

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked with worry over what could possibly take Penny.

"An explosive built into what contains my soul. If I don't reconnect with the command center on the ship's bridge the explosive will go off to insure I don't fall into the wrong hands."

"If that was the case why didn't you try to get back to the ship the moment your signal cut out?" Weiss asked trying to figure out why Penny decided to maintain her guard over the facility over living.

"Why did you help us instead of saving yourself?" Ruby began to worry whether her appearance had doomed another.

"At the time I thought I was content with performing my duties, but every time I meet you things start going off from the simulations. I wasn't meant to grow this fast and each time we talk I start to feel things that shouldn't be possible. My father called it something akin to a phantom imprint from my soul. Tightening of the chest, pain, the feeling of a beating heart in me, things that I shouldn't be capable of, I can feel them sometimes. I saw you and I didn't want to die." Penny's voice became slightly distorted from the surge of emotions. "I want to live and have a life!"

The group looked at Penny with varying levels of sadness at the revelation. The young android would have likely broken down if tears if she was capable and Ruby seemed just as ready. Weiss' face shifted from sadness to disgust over the lengths the military was willing to go to keep Penny theirs, a living being who held a soul. Yang seemed to take it as well as Ruby with her holding back tears after hearing Penny's declaration for life.

"Let's get moving." Ruby placed her hand on Penny's shoulder and gave a smile. "The faster we get to the hanger the faster we can save Penny."

Penny looked between them seeing the determination that burning in them growing even stronger. "Thank you."

"It's only right to help out someone in need." Weiss offered as Yang continued to hold the black box in one arm. They left the storage room and began walking through the surprisingly blood free halls.

"The hanger shouldn't be much further now." They had been glad over the lack of beasts, but the silence that accompanied it began to eat away at them. Reaching a large steel door Penny pressed her hand to the console only for it to flash red.

"Want me to punch the door?" Yang offered knowing that it would eventually give if she hit it hard enough.

"Atlas security for most of its high end facilities tends to end in the destruction of its assets if a security breach is detected and successful." Penny reached behind her neck and an audible click was heard as she withdrew her hand. A black cord with a plug at the end was being drawn out in her hand. Approaching the console she plugged the cord into it and the red screen switched to green.

"Any other talents we should know about?" Ruby watched in awe as the cord was withdrawn back into Penny's neck.

"Not that I am aware of. The ability to physically connect to devices proved essential if a wireless means was ever impossible."

The door slid open revealing a white ship suspended by cables with four wings sprouting out if it in a 'X' pattern. Each wing had a thruster on the end of it along with one larger thruster on the back of the ship. One metal square box was attached to the underside of each wing. What looked like a black light ran across the back of the wings with a substance of some kind filling it. Approaching the ship the back opened like a ramp revealing 6 seats and a door leading to the cockpit.

"I don't even recognize this model." Weiss commented while she looked over the entire design.

"Directional thrusters with the ability to rotate, four optional payloads with the ability to attach bombs, room for troops in the back, and a sleeker and more aerodynamic design." Ruby began going through what was visible from the exterior. "Atlas built a new fighter."

"A what?" Yang asked wondering what a single small ship could do.

"They were more common during the war when the kingdoms fought. People realized they'd need ships dedicated to attacking other ships so they build fast and maneuverable models that could out pace normal transports. They fell out of use since combating Grimm never required something so fast and specialized."

"Weiss, your kingdom really looks like its preparing itself for another war." Yang could only begin to imagine what else had been made to help combat other kingdoms.

"Atlas is just being cautious." Weiss argued knowing they were always a technology centric kingdom ahead of the curve.

"From here it looks like a paranoid kingdom getting ready to lash out."

"Fine, I'm part of a paranoid kingdom that is coming dangerously close to what our grandparents fought in the Great War and the SDC is somewhere at the heart of it all." Weiss clenched her fists in anger over admitting what she'd seen happening around her home. "If I stayed in Atlas I just would have become a cog in their machine, unable to change anything. I planned to return and set everything right one day, but not until I know Vale and all of you are safe."

"That's so sweet of you." Yang pulled Weiss into a crushing hug and lifted her off of the ground.

Ruby and Penny laughed as Weiss continued her futile struggle to break free of Yang's grasp. A sense of normalcy began to return to them from Yang's antics. As she was lowered back down Weiss began to relax and stop her struggling. Yang released her and stepped back expecting a flurry of blows except none came. Weiss held her ground and stared off into the floor in thought.

"Sorry about that Weiss."

"No, it's fine. I'm still trying to adjust to that amount of contact." Weiss couldn't say 'hug' with the word feeling still so foreign to her. Though here team had really began feeling what she thought a family should be.

"Would our ace pilot feel up to getting this thing moving." Ruby said with childlike glee at the thought of riding in something the public hadn't ever seen.

"Of course." Penny responded as they walked up the ramp. Ruby followed Penny into the cockpit while Yang and Weiss strapped themselves into the seats.

The cockpit had two chairs and an impossible number of buttons lining the console along with the overhead dash. A number of switches with lights blinked confusing her even more until Penny took her seat and began running her hand over some. The engines began to hum to life and the cables released from the craft. Pulling her connection cord Penny slid it into the console and ran over how much control she held over it. The craft continued to hover mid-air as the wings lit up and the nose began to tilt upwards pointing the thrusters at the floor.

"How is this possible?" Ruby began to slide back into her seat.

"Anit-grav units built into the wings to maximize takeoff and landing potential in any environment."

Looking forward Ruby saw the ceiling begin to part like a sliding gate. Each one pulled back revealed another behind it until rain began to fall from above through the opening. Penny looked to Ruby and gave a nod as the engines began truly working. Ruby could feel herself being pressed back by how quickly they were rising out of the tunnel. The dark tunnel was soon replaced with the clouded sky and burning city landscape as they launched out of there and the craft leveled off while slowing down.

"How do I work the intercom?" Ruby sheepishly asked unsure of what to press.

"This one here." Penny pointed out a switch.

Ruby flipped the switch and grabbed the box it was connected to. "This is your copilot Ruby Rose speaking. I'd like to propose splitting our forces to insure the package doesn't get damaged and Penny makes it back aboard the ship."

Ruby couldn't hear a response and tried to jump from her seat when something hit the door. Sliding the door open Yang poked her head into the compartment. "You think Penny and you can retake that ship?"

"It's just some Atlesian knights. Now get ready to jump we should be approaching your stop." The back of the ship opened up and a gust of wind filled it. Ruby waved goodbye to Yang who quickly threw Weiss over her shoulder before leaping from the ship.

"Your sister seems to be in high spirits." Penny and Ruby kept an eye on the monitor as Yang and Weiss descended towards the ground.

"She knows how to get all of us to smile. Now what did you mean earlier when you said 'you we aren't something remnant had seen for a long time?'"

"My father created me to be his daughter, but he didn't have everything he needed to complete me. Atlas came in and saw what he was making and offered to help him in exchange for me becoming part of the military. They had tales of an old man brining a doll to life to replace a lost loved one and granting powers of others. In the end I couldn't perform the tasks they wanted and was designated as a combat unit." Penny recalled her father's stories about the legends he was made to research in an attempt to bring them to life.

"Don't worry Penny we'll make it through this. Shouldn't be too hard for me to destroy a few Atlesian knights keeping guard. Just stay behind me once we board and I'll take care of everything. You don't happen to have any spare parts aboard the ship do you?"

"I shouldn't require more than 17% of my combat capabilities to take care of anything we encounter."

"Just let me handle it. I don't think I could pilot the ship if it ever came down to it."

"You might want to hold on." Penny focused on the craft ahead as a flash of lights erupted beneath it.

The directional thrusters on the rear of their ship began to shift independently of one another in ways no single person could manage. The entire craft tilted upwards on the spot and shot forward causing the bullets to completely miss. The turrets would track the vessels movements, but the way it continued to shift threw sceneries the targeting computers weren't programmed to predict.

Ruby was gripping her seat with both hands in fear of the belts that wrapped around her coming undone as her world was turned upside down. The quick turns starting to press into her from the g-force being exerted. Even with her training Ruby was having trouble tracking the hail of gunfire that surrounded them. The rounds tracing through the air in flaming streaks which came uncomfortably close to their wings and between them.

Penny, why aren't the hanger doors opening?" Ruby asked as they continued through the barrage of bullets that were beginning to cut into the wings and warning began to flash on the console.

"I can't connect to the ship with my communication system deactivated, so I'm going to create an entrance."

A number of missiles spewed from their holders on the craft's wings and slammed into the door engulfing their field of vision with smoke. The ship shook as it tried to decelerate as quickly as possible. Passing through the smoke Ruby closed her eyes in fear of what she might see fast approaching when it came to a jarring stop before landing. Opening her eyes she saw a number of atlas gunships parked around them dormant and waiting when her stomach began to churn. Unbuckling herself Ruby fell out of the craft and onto her knees before trying to emptying her thankfully empty stomach.

"Is this what Jaune goes through every time we take a trip." Ruby said to herself in dread as she came to a new understanding of her flight impaired friend.

"Ruby, are you alright?" Penny asked stepping out of the vehicle and over to her kneeling friend.

"I think I may have a problem with flying now."

"There might be some medicine onboard for airsickness." Penny offered Ruby knowing that the facility was likely fully stocked before everything happened.

"I'll just try to avoid small crafts for now. It should pass as long as I don't do anything to crazy." Ruby looked up and began to take in just how large the hanger portion of the ship actually was. Ships were suspended from grappling cables with a number of deactivated robotic arms around them that were likely used for maintenance. "Do you know how to reach the bridge?"

"It is only a matter of finding which doors are easiest to break down." Penny said as the blade of her sword folded back revealing the chamber hidden within the weapon. A green light began to grow at the end of the barrel when she pressed it to the bulkhead and a shower of sparks formed from the melting metal.

"Should you be doing that?" Ruby asked as Penny continued to cut through the bolts that kept the door closed.

"If we want to proceed during a lockdown it's one of the few ways forward. Do you have a suggestion for proceeding forward?"

"I just thought that infiltrating this would involve sneakier spy stuff and fewer explosions."

The door feel from its hinges falling back into the hall it sealed. The edges still bright orange from the heat that sheared through it. They both walked into the hall and were met with an Atlesian knight whose face lit up red at the sight of an enemy. As it tried to draw its rifle a beam of green pierced its head forcing it to fall to the ground dead. Smoke emanated from the barrel of Penny's gun while the blade snapped back forward reforming the sword.

"Penny, I was going to take care of the fighting." Ruby pouted at having her injured friend take action in her current state.

"I'm sorry." Penny apologized while looking slightly disappointed. "You can take the lead from here on."

"Thank you." Ruby took four steps forward and ran into a sealed door. Ruby looked back at Penny who nodded in understanding before taking out her weapon and torching through the door.


"Kind of glad we have the suits on right now." Yang said as rain continued to fall and roll off her helmet. "Completely ruins my hair and I can't usually have it completely protected with just an umbrella."

"Just be thankful I came instead of Blake." Weiss held her focus on the glyph she held over the box to keep it dry.

"If Blake was here she would have thought about grabbing a container to store it in."

"It was just a slight oversight on all our parts." Weiss defended while allotting blame equally to those involved.

"I hope Ruby and Penny are alright." Yang looked up into the sky seeing the ship hanging just below the clouds with a plume of smoke rolling out if its side when something seemed to pass through it and into the vessel.

"I'm sure Penny is a very capable pilot." Weiss reassured Yang as well as herself at the sight. "I'm surprised you're not more worried about Blake."

"Blake can take care of herself. If anything happens to her I'm sure Dunstan wouldn't mind the fiery retribution I had instore for him."

"Not too sure Ruby would be happy with you going after her teacher."

"I can downgrade from a fiery retribution to just retribution, but I won't go any lower." Yang smiled as they rounded the corner to the club.

They both froze at the sight of the dead giant that lay in the street. Its entire body was covered in injuries along with a large portion of its chest being blown open exposing the organs. That along with a few beasts that lied dead around them gave off an image of what had happened in their absence. Seeing the battlefield they both rushed to the club fearing the worse. The halls were full of bodies of man and beast alike, but whether the people weren't infected couldn't be determined off of appearance alone.

Reaching the steel door Yang looked over to Weiss hesitantly and knocked on the door. When no response came she hit it harder hoping it would grab someone's attention. They heard the mechanisms behind the door begin to shift and got into a fighting stance incase what they saw were beasts. As the door cracked open Yang was greeted with the barrel of a pistol inches away from her face. The barrel was just as quickly pulled away as they saw Dunstan holstering his gun.

"Glad to see you're alright." He held out his hand as Yang walked past him in search of her partner. "So did you get what you needed?"

"It was a bit more difficult then we first thought, but we did retrieve it." Weiss said as the glyph holding the box hovered over to a table before vanishing.

"Ruby outside poking at the giant?" Dunstan asked as he noticed the lack of his students red cloak.

"That's where things get a little more complicated." Weiss coughed into her hand as she walked over to a table and pulled out a chair. "Would you like to sit?"

"If she managed to get herself killed again this is going to be quite the hassle since she'll need a ride to get back." Dunstan grabbed the chair and sat down at the table.

"Well my partner wasn't dead last I saw her." Weiss gave a fake smile of confidence as Dunstan continued to stare into her. "She's in good hands. Penny wouldn't let anything happen to her."

"Is she half as good as any of you?"

"She could have probably taken any of us in a two on one match." Weiss knew what Penny was capable of from what she saw before.

"Why can't she take you now?"

"She may have lost an arm and most of her weapons protecting us." Weiss slid into her seat as worry began to take her.

Dunstan raised his hand into the air and two drinks were placed on the table. "Can you explain to me why an injured fighter is with my student, possibly dragging her down?" Dunstan took a drink from his glass then looked at the one in front of Weiss.

"Penny needs to get onboard that ship. She won't survive unless she returns to it."

"What could this pace possibly hold that could save one life?"

"Penny had a device put into her when she was made. If she doesn't return it will kill her." Dunstan did a spit take at hearing that another being was made before coughing up the portion of his drink that entered his lungs.

"She's what?" Weiss never thought she'd see Dunstan so excited over something.

"She's not exactly human or faunas. She was built by her father and finished by the military. Ruby is one of her friends and has taken it upon herself to save Penny."

"Was there anyone else who was like Penny?" Dunstan asked franticly in worry of what could happen if anyone managed to copy the Doll.

"No, Penny is the only one of her kind. Atlas couldn't get what they wanted so she was trained as a Huntress. Why do you even care about this?"

"Because I had a friend who sounds dangerously close to what Penny is. Though I guess it could be the other way around with how you described her. I can trust Ruby to properly handle the situation should anything arise. So, are you going to take your drink?"

"If I'm going to take over the SDC one day I can't be swayed by such base temptations." Weiss felt proud refusing Dunstan who continued on his drink.

"Afraid you can't handle a little apple juice." Weiss looked back at her drink seeing tiny bubbles within the liquid and wondered if she had refused to drink juice out of worry.

She grabbed the glass and slowly raised it up to her mouth. Tipping the glass she began to partake in the drink. After the first sip she recognized the substance and set it back on the table. "You ordered me cider!" She almost felt insulted by the choice in drink.

"It's just a kiddie drink, nonalcoholic and all that with some carbonation." Weiss continued to give him a deadpan stare. "Not happy with the lack of poison in your drink or was it the missed opportunity?"

"Think Vale can return to normal after all of this?" Weiss went back to her drink and started nursing it not wanting to cover her past parties her father made her attend.

"The wounds might heal, but the plague tends to leave deep scars in everything it touches. I've rarely seen any city suppress the plague let alone push it out, but Vale might just do it. Given time this city could become something similar to what it was. Maybe even have a nice market for people to go to during the day once the streets are cleared out."

"You think Ruby is going to be fine?" Weiss asked Dunstan as he finished his beverage.

"If all she has to deal with is some tin soldiers I doubt we have anything to worry about. For now let's see if Yang and Blake have our new comm line set up with our host."


Taking the ship should be no problem whatsoever. I mean the only thing that's onboard is a few crummy knights who are only a real threat in large numbers. So everything should go perfectly fine for Ruby and her crippled friend who is no longer combat ready.

Now for some of my opinions on the songs released since a lot of them have great allusions to the show and characters. Some of these can only be inferred since character names are never said, but given who's around when they happen and the lyrics in them you can consider these educated guesses or opinions.

1. When it Falls: A solid opening that while not as great as the first two gives the feel for the turning point in the season. Could double as a Cinder song since the full version has parts of her speech in it or just the villains' theme in general since they came out on top this volume.

2. I'm the One: Emerald and Mercury's song when going against C&Y. It gives us a lot more on their backgrounds. We learn that Mercury's father beat him. Emerald was unloved and possibly an orphan with parents telling their kids to avoid her further isolating her.

3. It's My Turn: RWBY vs ABRN and really feels like a song about Blake finally breaking away from her past. Looking back on life and seeing just how Adam controlled and twisted her for his own gain before leaving. Gives a bit more info on what Blake's life was like with Adam so that's a plus.

4. Not Fall In Love With You: One last song for Arkos about Pyrrha learning that she feelings for Jaune. Good song that gives us a bit of a view on how. It gives us a chance to hear about how she worries about whether Jaune would like her the same way she likes him

5. Neon: Not much to say hear. It's a song about Neon thinking see's the best and taunting Yang.

6. Mirror Mirror part 2: A song going over what Weiss' life was like before Beacon and how isolationism is how she dealt with others to avoid pain. Nearly made me cry when I started listening to the lyrics. Later evolves into how she's coming out of her shell and continuing to grow in her views.

7. Divide: Some say Cinders song I say Salem's. A song about dark times to come in the series going forward. Guardians dying, kingdoms divided, doom and gloom.

8. Cold: A Blake and Yang song. Yang comes into Blake's world and lights it up allowing her to enjoy more in life with each other. The later parts of the song could be Yang dealing with Blake's absence or Blake's feelings on leaving Yang, either way fits with them wanting to see each other again by the end.

Songs are good and all, but I would kill to have some of these facets of the character explored in show instead of in song form. Think of how much this could add to Weiss if we got to see just how awful her life was before Beacon. Would have been nice to see some more interaction between Yang and Blake too since Blake was nearly completely absent from this volume excluding the last few episodes. Out of every episode I would have gladly cut 'New Challengers' just to have a bit more development or team interactions at the fairgrounds before everything went to hell.