A/N: So I was aiming to have this completed by the end of February, but it... grew a bit bigger than what I had originally anticipated. At least 3 days into March isn't so bad. This is the last chapter before I start moving the plot again. I figured an update on tech and politics was warranted, though.

"Welcome back to the Morning Report. I'm Lisa Lavender, and this is the first chance we've had to call in that rain check with Cinder Fall after the… abrupt turn of events during our last conversation together. Welcome back, Lady Fall."

"I'm glad to be here, Lisa. And I do apologize that it's taken so long to follow up with you. With everything that's been going on with Kuo Kuana…"

"Of course. It's no trouble at all. I think I can speak for everyone here at VNN when I say that whatever work you're doing to help the people of Menagerie is more important than making time for a news interview. We are grateful that you were able to clear your schedule at all."

"The brave men and women of ADVENT have been hard at work in the aftermath of the Grimm attack, and I firmly believe that the citizens of Remnant deserve to hear of their courage."

"Indeed. From the footage we've seen released so far, it looks like ADVENT fended off three Leviathans as they came in from the water."

"The video feeds show that a great deal of the Kuo Kuana docks are in ruins, but the damage would have been far worse were it not for the soldiers of ADVENT who gladly laid down their lives to protect their brothers and sisters of Remnant. The sixty-two who fell will not be forgotten."

"But you didn't fight alone."

"No. Atlas was instrumental in the defense of the docks. The coordination between their air superiority and ADVENT's ground forces was truly an awe-inspiring example of cooperation for the greater good. I am grateful for General Ironwood's trust in ADVENT, as well as his desire to help us fight for a better future."

"XCOM was also present, I believe."

"Yes, they were. Though I'm not sure their efforts in the defense of Kuo Kuana quite stack up to that of ADVENT and Atlas."

"I beg your pardon, Lady Fall, but unless the reports are inaccurate… they killed the giant sandwurm known as the Gigas, did they not?"

"The town guards killed the Gigas. The White Fang killed the Gigas. As I understand it, XCOM came in simply to steal the glory of the victory paid for in blood by the faunus."

"That's quite the accusation, Lady Fall."

"Tell me this, Lisa: how many reported deaths were there from the town watch?"

"According to the latest information released by Chieftain Belladonna… sixty-three."

"How many reported deaths were there from the White Fang?"

"Per the report, forty-four."

"... and XCOM?"

"Five."

"Interesting. So the faunus, the true heroes and heroines of the desert theater, paid the ultimate price tenfold. Sienna Khan herself rallies her troops and leads them to victory. Yet XCOM is the name on everyone's lips as the saviors of the Gigas fight? How… convenient."

"You mean to imply that XCOM was behind the original terrorist action?"

"I don't mean to imply anything, Lisa. I am only observing that ADVENT, Atlas, Kuo Kuana, the White Fang… they all gave their lives for the safety of the citizens. XCOM, by comparison, did not."

"... I think we'll end here for now. Stay tuned, and we'll be back with more questions for the Fall Maiden after a few messages from our sponsors."

While Sienna struggled to understand the idea of humans willing to lay down their lives for a city of faunus, she had to admit that XCOM's leader was a remarkably easy man to talk to. She found his honesty to be refreshing, and was surprised at how upfront he was about letting her know when her questioning touched on a subject he wasn't at liberty to discuss. Perhaps she'd been spending too much time around aspiring, power-hungry snakes within the ranks of the Fang, but Sienna was used to evasive answers that would try to change the subject to something more favorable.

But this Central Officer, though?

"So you say that this ship you are taking me to is Atlesian, and yet you are not from Atlas."

Bradford nodded. "Correct."

"So how did you get it?" Sienna asked. "In my experience, General Ironwood isn't the type to share his toys."

"... And what experience might that be?" The Central Officer countered with a knowing smirk.

That was another trait that Sienna couldn't help but respect. With the exception of the Belladonnas, no one who spoke with Sienna would dare make a callous comment like that. And yet Bradford was comfortable and confident enough to make a joke about theft to her face. That didn't mean he was exempt from a piercing stare, however.

"Sorry, couldn't help myself," her host apologized with a chuckle. "To answer your question, I got permission from Ironwood to attempt a salvage operation. The ship had crashed into Grimm-infested territory during the Vytal calamity, and the General had written it off as lost. Some of my best operatives were aboard that ship, however, so I had a vested interest in at least re-establishing contact with it." Bradford shrugged and finished, "He told me that it was mine if I was foolhardy enough to try and get it airworthy again."

Sienna's stare suddenly lost its hardened edge and changed into an expression of numb shock. "Seriously? That's all it took?"

The two of them crested a small hill, and Bradford gestured ahead of them. "Not sure how else you'd explain this."

Sienna never got a good look at the Avenger during the fight against the Gigas. Perhaps because the darkness of the night mixed with the near-constant muzzle flashes and explosions, or perhaps it was because her attention was focused on the giant murder-worm. But now, in broad daylight, she had her first chance to take in the view of XCOM's mobile command center.

It definitely resembled a ship that hailed from Atlas, but it also looked very different from any Atlesian airship Sienna had ever seen. Only two of the usual six stabilizer fins remained, and some homebrew modifications were installed to compensate. Propellers, oriented vertically, appeared to make up the other half of the aviation system, and a faint purple glow indicated that they were supported by veins of Dust.

The boxy weapon suites were also drastically reduced. Sienna couldn't see any of the usual rocket pods, nor was there any sign of a primary artillery system. She knew that the Avenger had provided bombardment support during the fight against the Gigas, and she recalled hearing the XCOM soldiers chattering about something called a 'Yay-ger,' but she couldn't see any armaments on the exterior hull.

The Avenger rested on a grassy clearing that served as a makeshift airfield, and several makeshift structures dotted the area around the ship. Several crews were running around on scaffolding (along with several of those armored suits that Sienna saw during the battle) conducting maintenance on the ship's hull. Additionally, Sienna noted a number of armed guards keeping watch over the landing field from the vantage point of rapid-construction watchtowers. As Bradford led her down the hill, they approached a checkpoint station manned by several soldiers in gear that Sienna had quickly come to recognize as XCOM's.

"Welcome back, boss." One of the men called out as the trio of soldier snapped a salute to their commanding officer. Nodding to Sienna, he added, "Ma'am."

Sienna realized that she was subconsciously expecting the soldiers to bow in acknowledgement of her rank and title once she noticed the twinge of irritation at the casual comment she received instead. Of course these people wouldn't bow to her, but it would have been nice if they had given her a greeting that was a little more respectful than 'Ma'am.' Either way, she opted to say nothing in response to the greeting.

"Lady Khan and I have further issues to discuss," Bradford informed his troops. At least he understood the concept of etiquette. "Are the Belladonnas already onboard?"

The soldier nodded. "Yes, sir. Arrived half an hour ago with Sabretooth. Ghira made it clear that they don't intend to settle in, but Kali was very keen to be shown around and meet some of the people her daughter's been working with."

"Good. Radio ahead and have Beags take them to the conference room on Deck 3, and ask Elena if the Archon would like to join us as well."

The Archon? That name sounded intriguing. Did XCOM have some kind of political or religious hierarchy as well as a military chain of command? Bradford led her past the checkpoint, so Sienna figured it wouldn't be long before she had an answer. As they walked across the field, operatives would offer greetings to their Central Officer. Sometime soldiers snapped a disciplined, practiced salute, while others would give a more informal handwave accompanied by a, "Welcome back, Central!" Nobody bowed, and not once did Sienna see a look of fear cross a soldier's face. She wasn't sure if that made Bradford a good or a bad commander.

They crossed into the shadow of the gargantuan ship, and the two soldiers guarding the gangplank saluted Bradford before waving them in. As Sienna passed by the nearest guard, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end as if she'd been handling a case of Lightning Dust.

"Everything alright?" Bradford asked with a sideways glance.

"It's fine," Sienna answered tersely.

Thankfully, her host didn't press her on what was wrong, and they ascended the ramp into the belly of the ship. From the inside, the differences between XCOM's and Atlas's aesthetics became even more apparent. Crates and supplies secured with tactical netting lay scattered along the hallway. Sienna could still see some of the clean, sterile look that Atlas strove to maintain. However, cosmetic damage remained unfixed in favor of more critical matters while wires and other internals from XCOM's modifications lay exposed rather than buttoned up and concealed from view. Operatives walked the hall, laughing with one another while they carried supplies down to the repair crews outside. And-

Sienna suppressed a hiss as she jumped away from Bradford and pulled her chain whip into her hand when a noise preceded something dropping from the ceiling and attacking the Central Officer. A small creature of white and blue (some sort of snake-like assassin) had wrapped itself around Bradford's neck and head and was staring at its prey with a sadistic grin. Within moments, the grin vanished as the monster found itself with the end of Sienna's weapon wrapped around its neck.

"Stop!" a voice called out, and Sienna looked over to see a woman dressed in black leather attire rush over and unwrap the chains from the (clearly shaken) little monster. The creature relinquished its hold on Bradford and instead slithered across the woman's outstretched arm, wrapped itself around her waist, and cautiously peeked over her shoulder at a now-thoroughly-confused Sienna.

A chuckle came from her right, and Sienna looked over to see an amused Bradford staring at her.

She couldn't say she shared in her host's amusement. "Is this supposed to be a prank?!"

"On you?" Bradford shook his head. "No. On me? It's become a game between Plissken and me to see if she can get the jump on me before I catch her."

Bradford shared a glance with the woman currently holding Plissken before adding, "We, uh… won't tell the kid's mother what happened."

"What is it?"

"A Viper," Bradford said, as though he was confused why Sienna would even ask. "She's just a kid, but the mothers fought alongside the Fang in the fight against the Gigas."

Sienna snorted. "I'd like to think I'd remember an encounter with such a striking creature. Are they a rare kind of faunus that's never been seen before?"

"No," the woman answered. "they are Vipers."

"Wait until you meet Dad," Bradford mused. He nodded at the woman and gestured for Sienna to continue with him down the hall. Sienna cast another glance back at the woman and the Viper (who, she noticed, was keeping its little eyes trained on her) before moving on with her host.

Sienna still wasn't satisfied with Bradford's explanation of the incident. "If those aren't faunus, then what are they?"

"We encountered them during our time in Vale," Bradford explained. "They live peacefully with humans like the one you just saw. Call themselves the 'Reapers' and they're very, very good at stealth. For whatever reason, their leader is very invested in our success, and has committed a great deal of resources towards XCOM's cause." He glanced over at Sienna and added, "I don't expect you to do the same, as I've already said."

The rest of the walk to their destination was much less eventful than Sienna's first encounter onboard the Avenger, and they arrived at the conference room in a matter of minutes. Inside, she saw both Ghira and Kali seated at a table while Kali chatted amiably with another one of Bradford's 'Reapers' as well as-

"... oh."

"Say hi to Dad," Bradford smirked. "He won't be offended if you don't bow."

That's good, because Sienna didn't intend to bow. The conversation stopped when Bradford and Sienna stepped in, and the three humanoid occupants stood up to greet the new arrivals. Kali smiled cheerfully at Sienna while Ghira bowed his head slightly. The Reaper kept her face impassive while she watched Bradford and Sienna make their way to the table. The Viper (Sienna guessed that he was the 'Archon' that Bradford had mentioned earlier) had a similar poker face as he stood —sat?— next to the Reaper. In front of the six occupants at the table were a glass of water and a tablet.

"Thank you for coming," Bradford started as he took a seat at the table. "In the wake of recent events, I felt it would be best to meet with Kuo Kuana's leadership to establish a rapport and determine how XCOM can best support your community."

"Is XCOM's support really necessary?" Sienna asked.

Kali's eyes grew wide. "Sienna!"

Sienna put her hand up to indicate that she had more to say. "I appreciate the timely reinforcements during the defense of our home, and I also appreciate that you lost some good people in the fight. But are we really concerned that another terror attack is imminent? And if it is, what if XCOM is halfway across the world?" She looked at Bradford. "As I understand it, your ability to arrive in time was due to fortunate happenstance."

Bradford nodded. "You are correct, Lady Khan. Your concerns are understandable, however I do believe that the resources of my organization could be beneficial in ways beyond an all-out defense. Our soldiers are inspirational and dedicated, our engineers are creative and our tech is potent, and our covert operatives are proficient at sniffing out trouble and quietly neutralizing it."

"He's right about that last point," Ghira added. "Remember that gang of hoodlums that have been causing a bit of a ruckus lately? The 'Crimson Fist,' or some equally stupid name?"

Sienna nodded.

"All it took was a week of work from one of XCOM's operatives, —one week of showing them how a professional gets things done— and those kids were suddenly on-board with helping him take care of real problems."

"The tech that Misha introduced them to didn't hurt either," the Reaper added. "They were sold on helping after half an hour with his grappling hook."

Interesting. Sienna wasn't sure what to say, so she opted to stay silent and wait for someone else to speak up.

Bradford obliged. "We aren't here to try and take power and leverage away from your operation, Sienna. We want to help you be more successful. That is what we do."

Sienna looked around the table before her eyes settled on the Archon. "You've been quiet so far. What do you think?"

Whatever she was expecting him to say, the series of hisses that followed her question definitely wasn't it. The Reaper could apparently understand the intent behind those hisses, as she offered what was apparently a translation.

"The Archon has unwavering faith in XCOM," the woman said. "They must succeed in their mission, for the good of Remnant. His trust in Central Officer Bradford is absolute."

Sounded like a religious cultist to Sienna. Then again, she'd heard similar declarations within the Fang, so what did that make her? The slight sense of discomfort coming from Bradford didn't escape Sienna's notice.

"He hasn't explained why he has such faith in me, nor what it is I'm supposed to be accomplishing," Bradford admitted.

A few more hisses, and the woman offered another translation. "You will know in due time. But it is not the Archon's place to tell you."

Sienna shot a raised eyebrow at the Belladonnas, asking if they found this to be as weird as she did. Kali shrugged while Ghira gave her no indication of his opinion. Fine. Time to play the role of the relaxed leader. Sienna took the glass of water in front of her, leaned back in her seat, and crossed one leg over the other

"Alright. Suppose Ghira and I agree to let you help. Can you tell me what it is exactly you plan to do?"

Bradford smiled. "My words weren't merely some attempt at impressing you. I am genuinely offering to station some of our personnel on Menagerie. Our combat operatives can work with the White Fang and Kuo Kuana's peacekeeping forces to help with security. Our recon personnel will remain on alert for suspicious activity and report it to your command structure. And while our engineers are a valuable commodity onboard the Avenger, we are willing to deploy one with our ground team to help develop countermeasures and early warning detection against future Grimm incursions.

"As for specifics? That's not really something I can give you. Adaptability is one of XCOM's strong suits, and I've never found myself regretting the decision to give my operatives the agency to conduct their own assessment of a situation and determine the best course of action to meet their goal. In this case, their goal is simple: work with local authorities to ensure the safety of Kuo Kuana and its residents." Bradford made a few keystrokes on his tablet, and a quiet notification ding echoed on the one before Sienna. "If you need a reminder of how effective XCOM can be at improvising and adapting, I urge you to review footage from the desert assault."

Sienna didn't need to refresh her memory with Bradford's pictures and videos. "And how many of your soldiers are you planning on deploying?"

"Depending on how comfortable you are with XCOM personnel within your jurisdiction, six at most: two combat operatives, one engineer, the covert operative who worked with the Crimson Fist…" Bradford looked over at the Archon as he finished, "and the Reapers have graciously offered to deploy one of their recon pairs with our Menagerie team."

"If my sisters do their job right —and they will do their job right— you won't even know they're there," the translator supplied.

"I see no downsides to this offer, Sienna," Ghira said. "Not only do we get additional assets to keep our people safe, but this is a chance to show that humanity can work with the faunus towards a common goal."

"You presume they can, Ghira." Sienna gazed steadily at Bradford. "You have given me no reason thus far to believe that you have ill intentions with your offer, Bradford, but that doesn't mean those intentions do not exist. I've spent enough time dealing with the Kingdoms of humanity to know that liars and thieves are talented at wearing masks. You will have to accept my caution."

Bradford nodded and took a drink from his glass. "I'd be surprised if you took my words at face value, to be honest."

Sienna watched as the Central Officer locked eyes with the Archon, and she noticed the latter give a near-imperceptible nod. The gesture clearly meant something to Bradford, since he nodded back before returning his attention to Sienna.

"Which is why I'm going to tell you the truth about XCOM."

Oh this should be good.

"We are not from Remnant."

Wait, what.

"I thought we were being serious here," Sienna said.

Bradford didn't flinch. "What gave you the impression that I'm not?"

"The part where you say you come from the stars."

"Tell any person on this ship that you have priority clearance Epsilon. and ask them where XCOM comes from. You will get the same answer every time: Earth."

Sienna raised an eyebrow and said nothing.

Bradford continued. "Half of the people in XCOM can speak languages you've never heard of. We have tech you've never seen…" He made a few strokes on his datapad, and Sienna's device whistled to notify her that it received five video files. "You can see it for yourself with what I just sent you, but at the end of the day? None if it matters unless you're willing to trust that it's not all some ploy to fool you."

"Blake told us about Earth," Kali said, gently, "about the war that she had to survive with her friends and with XCOM before she could come back. I know my daughter enough to know that she wouldn't lie about something like that to me. To us."

"This is absurd…" Sienna muttered. How was she supposed to believe that these people were star travellers? And yet, until this point? Bradford had been entirely open and honest with her about everything else. Was it because he knew he'd have to pull this lie off? Or was he actually not lying?

"So if you can travel through space…"

Bradford sighed. "Used to travel through space. Our method has been sabotaged, and so we're stuck until we find a way to fix it."

"Which means that what you saw yesterday is the full force of what XCOM has to offer to Remnant," Ghira added.

Sienna was actually somewhat relieved to find out that Bradford had at least some kind of ulterior motive to create alliances. She wasn't sure she was ready to adjust her worldview to accept the idea of someone with completely altruistic motivations.

Sienna glanced at the Archon, and a thought occurred to her. "Are you from Not Remnant, too?"

The Archon nodded.

Of course.

"So now what?" Sienna was pretty sure she already knew the answer, but the question needed to be asked anyway.

Bradford shrugged. "Try to resolve the sabotage. Figure out why ADVENT popped up overnight and what Cinder's purpose is. Forge alliances to help with Items One and Two."

Fair enough. "Well, I suppose we can at least start by allowing your proposed ground team to remain in Kuo Kuana. They'll report to Ghira, who will keep me apprised of anything they might uncover."

The Archon hissed, and the Reaper translated, "You have made a wise decision, Lady Khan. We will make sure to repay your trust in kind."

"Well I believe that settles that. Now then," Sienna said, her eyes narrowing slightly as she glanced at Bradford, "unless there is anything else to discuss, I believe you told me that you have a prisoner for me to see."

"Welcome back to the Morning Report. I'm Lisa Lavender, and here with me is General Ironwood, who graciously agreed to spend a few minutes of his time to weigh in on the events in Kuo Kuana. Thank you for accepting our request, General."

"Glad I could help. It appears that your program's audience has grown to include a wide range of people across all four Kingdoms. If I can help answer questions or assuage concerns on an international level, I believe it is my duty to do so."

"And we greatly appreciate your sense of duty, General. Ever since the tragedy of the Vytal Festival, I don't think anyone can claim that the Atlesian military hasn't been doing everything it can to keep the people of Remnant safe. Speaking of that, do you have any comments you would like to make regarding Atlas's involvement with the Kuo Kuana incident?"

"Only that I am proud of the men and women in our armed forces that exemplified Atlas's professionalism and commitment to security and safety. The forces of Grimm arrayed against us were great, both in number and strength, and yet we still prevailed."

"Indeed, General. We spoke with Lady Fall of ADVENT previously, and she had nothing but complimentary remarks for how well your two organizations worked together."

"The cooperation agreement between Atlas and ADVENT appears to have been a good idea. While most of our forces remain stationed in Atlas in defense of our Kingdom, we have a large enough fleet to where we can supply small battlegroups to aid in Lady Fall's efforts to maintain global security."

"And would you consider having a similar cooperation agreement with other security and defense groups?"

"You're referring to XCOM."

"Indeed, General."

"... Despite what we have heard from Lady Fall, I have not had the same experience as she in my interactions with XCOM. I have found them to be, for the most part, cooperative, and their actions in defense of Kuo Kuana certainly support that opinion. While it seems to me that their standard operating procedure would make it difficult to develop a cooperation agreement similar to the one brokered between the Atlesian military and ADVENT, they are certainly not an enemy at this time."

"And what of their ship, the so-called 'Avenger?' It is of Atlesian origin, correct? How did they get it?"

"It was from an agreement I personally made with XCOM's Central Officer. I cannot go into details, but suffice to say that XCOM did not steal it from us. At the same time, I would welcome a visit from the Avenger so that I could have a team of technicians sweep the ship to recover any assets that XCOM should not be in possession of."

"Well, if Central Officer Bradford is as cooperative as you say, General, I'm sure he will agree to your request."

"I hope so. Is there anything else you wish to discuss, Miss Lavender?"

"I think that's it, General. Again, thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to come on our program. It has been an honor to speak with you."

"It's no trouble at all. Thank you for having me."

Raymond Shen stepped into Dr. Vahlen's lab and smiled warmly as three sets of eyes looked up at him.

"Hello, Doctors," Shen greeted as he joined Vahlen, Tygan, and Oobleck in the lab. "How goes the science?"

"Excellently!" Oobleck (predictably) answered. "Dr. Vahlen's notes on previous Dust research have been… invaluable in developing improved ammunition technology for our operatives!"

"You'd think weapon and munitions manufacturers would have looked into research like this a long time ago…" Vahlen mused as her focus resumed on the microscope in front of her. "What we're developing doesn't seem particularly ground-breaking."

"Perhaps certain research divisions have already developed this tech, but they are unable to disclose their successes to the public." Tygan had one of the Reapers' 'Skulljacks' disassembled on the table in front of him, and Shen could see a heavy vial swirling with thick ribbons of black energy. "At the start of the Long War, I suspect you would have found the concept of plasma weaponry to be laughable. If it weren't for the videos released to the public, I can assure you that the rest of the world would still feel the same."

Vahlen made a noncommittal noise. "All I can say is that I'm glad live fire missions on Remnant are much rarer than they were back on Earth. While the Avenger has an impressive stock of Dust, it is very much finite. This last fight burned through ten percent of our overall supply, easily."

"Well, we did deploy every resource we had to that fight. Most missions only require one strike team, and they're not constantly shooting the entire time." Shen could see that Vahlen was not particularly impressed with that answer. In truth, the Chief Engineer shared her concerns to some degree. Depending on how long this shadow war got dragged out, would their stockpiles last without finding a way to resupply?

"Be that as it may," Vahlen continued as Shen stepped over to take a look at her work, "I'm hoping that improving the tech of our ammunition would go a long way towards conserving the amount spent on operations."

"I'm sure our soldiers will appreciate your work, Doctor," Shen said with a smile. He saw that she had several bullet cartridges open with the dust munitions spread out on the table. Arrayed before the Doctor were a number of devices Shen usually would associate with a chemistry project: mortar and pestle, an alembic, a crucible, and several burners.

"You'd be surprised how malleable Dust can be if you know how to work it," Vahlen commented, noting her associate's gaze. "Dr. Oobleck has actually been very helpful in offering his insights regarding Dust chemistry."

"Indeed!"

"He's mostly experienced with adding some to his coffee to 'give it a kick,'" Tygan added, amused. Shen honestly couldn't tell if the scientist was joking.

"Also true!"

Vahlen shrugged. "Well, I won't complain where the knowledge came from. At the end of the day, Dust Recombination gives us some options in developing ammunition to… 'give it a kick.' It also might let us take some Dust that's less commonly used in combat and use it as filler to help stretch out our supplies of the popular variants."

That certainly sounded like good news. "Oh?"

"On its own, Air Dust is pretty weak for any use beyond nonlethal applications. Combine it with Earth Dust, though?" A rare smile graced Vahlen's face, "Welcome to the world of high-impact ammunition."

Oobleck cleared his throat. "If I may, several combinations are already well known. Air Dust with Water Dust forms Ice Dust —a particular favorite of Miss Schnee— while Water Dust with Fire Dust forms Steam Dust."

"Indeed. However, some of my research with combining Elerium with Dust has given me insight into learning about how you can modify the properties of the material in ways beyond simple combinations." Vahlen wrinkled her nose as the fruits of her current labor didn't meet her standard of quality. She emptied out the crucible, added some fresh pinches of Dust to the bowl, and tried again. "I'm also curious to see if we can find a way to use this material for more combat applications than ammo."

"And here you were worrying that we might not have enough for our soldiers to shoot," Shen chuckled. "I do believe I've heard a comment or two about Dust being woven into armor."

Vahlen raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like another possible use for Air Dust."

Shen stepped towards Tygan's table to examine his work. The scientist was operating a modified spectrum analyzer, though Shen had to admit that he wasn't sure what the scientist was looking for in the mess of signals coming through. The mechanical components of the Skulljack looked both efficient and brutal. Shen had seen the videos of the Skulljack in use from when the Reapers demonstrated the technology for some of XCOM's operatives, but up close? Well, it's a good thing the Grimm didn't have souls.

"What are these?" Shen asked, indicating a trio of wires that extended from the base of the gauntlet. They didn't seem particularly sturdy, and so Shen could only assume they weren't part of the "murder the Grimm" aspect of the design.

"The wires that allow the wearer to draw from the siphoned supply of Grimm essence," Tygan explained as he picked up the disassembled gauntlet to study the wires a little more closely. "The wires are tapped into the operator's arm, almost like some kind of IV drip, and that seems to be a sufficient connection for them to use the… unique abilities that we've seen on the battlefield."

"It's quite fascinating, really. I'm looking forward to seeing if we can apply it to our own operators," Vahlen commented from her table.

Shen sighed. "Doctor, do you recall the comment I would sometimes make to you in private during the Long War?"

"Those who play with the Devil's toys will be brought by degrees to wield his sword," Vahlen quoted with a slight eye roll. "Have you no faith in me, Doctor?"

"It's a fair concern, Vahlen," Tygan admitted. He put the gauntlet back down and returned his gaze to the spectrum analyzer. "Operative Dragunova did tell us that the Reapers damage their souls as the cost for their power."

Shen nodded. "We worried about the moral implications of making an operative into a war machine. This Reaper technology has a cost that is greater than that. What happens when one's soul is damaged?"

"A good question," Vahlen answered, "but we already have several operatives willing to find out."

Raymond Shen did not like that answer. At all.

"I will leave the decision up to Bradford," he answered, a hint of edge in his voice. "I'm not arguing against the research, but we must think carefully before we move forward with testing."

"That's fair," Vahlen agreed. A small explosion from her table elicited a string of German curses from Shen's friend. She looked unharmed, but angry that the Dust wasn't behaving the way she wanted.

"Do you have any other plans to improve our weaponry?" Shen asked. "Just in case the Dust modifications take longer than expected.

Vahlen looked up. "You mean like developing an entirely new line of weapons?" She shook her head. "We don't have the infrastructure or tech for that. Unless Remnant is hiding some wondrous secret-"

"Like the Archon's Harvester?" Shen asked with a smirk.

"That we haven't already researched," Vahlen finished with a pointed look. "Perhaps we could find a way to incorporate Plasma tech into our Dust line of firearms. Superheating the Dust tends to have unpleasant results, however."

"Explosive results, I would say!"

"... Yes, Doctor. That is indeed what I was referring to."

"So what brings you here, Doctor Shen?" Tygan asked. "We've been caught up in showing you what we're working on, but I'm sure that you may have had another reason to join us in the lab."

Dr. Shen smiled. "Surely you must know by now that the pursuit of knowledge is one of my greatest joys in life."

Dr. Oobleck, however, had perked up at Tygan's observation that Shen probably had something interesting to share. "Yes, yes, it is wonderful that you enjoy listening to our adventures in the lab, but the wonders of practical engineering are truly magnificent! Please, you must share your latest developments with us!"

"I don't believe I will ever grow tired of your boundless enthusiasm, Doctor," Shen said with a smile.

He pulled a small device out of his jacket pocket, armed it with a flick of his thumb, and tossed it onto the floor. The device opened up into a small half-disc, whined for a moment as it powered up, and then projected a light blue energy field radially from the anchored gadget that separated Shen from Vahlen. He pulled a small pistol off of his hip and fired a few shots at the field (well away from his colleague). The semicircular barricade flared as it was struck, but otherwise remained functioning for another ten seconds before the device powered down.

"We are working to see if we can deploy multiple units simultaneously to create a more powerful field between nodes," Shen said as he bent down to pick up his latest toy to hand off to a curious Tygan. "The size is its greatest limitation, of course, but I'm sure our operatives will still find plenty of uses for a fifteen-second emergency barrier."

"Intriguing…" Tygan muttered, turning the device over in his hands. "I can see several fascinating applications that might stem from such a device." He looked up at Shen with a gleam in his eye. "Would it be alright if I keep this prototype in the lab? I would like to examine it further after I've made more progress with the Skulljack."

"Be my guest."

"What of your mechanized projects?" Vahlen asked, her attention back to the Dust before her. "I know you have assigned at least one team to making use of the numerous robotic units we found in the lower bays of the ship."

Dr. Shen nodded. "Indeed. While the Knights are only really applicable for small-scale applications, we are investigating ways to use their hardware to reinforce our operatives. Nothing concrete yet, unfortunately, but we are hoping to develop a support frame that will allow Strike Teams to deploy tech that was previously too heavy to combat." He pulled out a tablet and handed it to his friend. "I've already identified several candidates for training as Technical Specialists."

Vahlen hummed with approval. "And what of our bigger finds?"

"The Paladins are being used to repair and improve our MEC's," Shen answered, "and I believe the Spider Droids were used to supply Gidjit with hardware for his Avenger point defense systems."

"Logical solutions," Tygan agreed. "How is Lily doing with her projects?"

Shen smiled. "I suppose you'll have to pay her a visit down in the Skunkworks to find out."

"Alright, start-up check."

"Power is green across the board! Lightning Dust and Elerium hybridization is running smoothly."

"Engine is humming nicely, and nothing feels out of place."

"Excellent! Testing AI controls now. Confirmed: I have override functionality for mobility controls, camera controls, and hardware mount controls!"

"Lovely. Let's take her for a whirl on Lily's track around the Skunkworks."

"I believe we are indeed ready for such a venture, Sergeant Nikos!"

Pyrrha pushed gently on the gear stick, and the VI auto-assist did the 'heavy' lifting to move the stick into place with an audible click. A slight push on the accelerator, and the buggy rolled forward towards the wide-open lane that ran down the center of the engineering bay.

Lily's buggy (or the "Pyrrha Mobile," as Mac enjoyed calling it) wasn't quite in a completed stage yet, but it was certainly coming into its own. Light on armor so that Lily could go heavier on armaments and equipment, the angular vehicle consisted of an engine, a chassis, and a roll cage to protect Pyrrha if the car ever flipped. Jaune had wondered on more than one occasion why, if they were planning on making a vehicle for deployments, they weren't choosing to give it more armor, but Pyrrha actually liked the lightweight design. It felt more like how she'd fought before her injury. A set of hard light generators were installed (partially at Jaune's insistence) to protect the cockpit in a pinch, but they didn't seem to be weighing down the vehicle enough for Pyrrha to notice.

As she started to put the vehicle through its paces, Pyrrha noted that the steering assist worked just as smoothly as the shift assist. Her arms were still relatively weak, and so she wasn't capable of rapid turns all on her own, but having the vehicle's VI move things along for her made it so that driving wasn't as impossible as Pyrrha was expecting.

"I'm monitoring the VI function," Penny (or rather, 'Nichole') said, evidently thinking along the same lines as Pyrrha. "Everything seems to be working well on this end!"

"Same here," Pyrrha agreed. "Shall we try going a bit faster?"

"That's the idea!" Lily's voice chirped in Pyrrha's headset, "I've also set up several IR-sensitive targets for Nichole so that you can do a field test of the tracking system for the mounted weapon. Tag 'em with the laser you've got mounted while Pyrrha drives."

"And while you practice your sword strokes," Pyrrha commented.

"Err, right! Of course!"

Several guide lights lit up along the 'road,' and Pyrrha noticed the illuminated targets that Lily had mentioned. Over the quiet hum of the engine, she heard the pintle mount attached to the roof of the roll cage whir to life. While Pyrrha continued to follow the road lights, Nichole tracked and shot at the targets. As Nichole started to devote more of her processing power to the targets, Pyrrha noticed that the mobility auto-assist became a little more sluggish. Lily's "pit crew" (Penny, Nichole, Gizmo, and Mac) had installed a backup VI in the buggy, but it was obvious that Nichole's attentive assistance was superior.

Lily's voice piped up one more time to add, "Don't forget to see if the syncing feature with your tactical visor works!"

Right. That. Pyrrha flipped the visor forward, and her vision turned a slight tint of orange as the visor covered her right eye. At first, nothing else happened, but then holographic markers started to wink into existence as Penny's tracking software streamed data into Pyrrha's new HUD.

"It's working," Pyrrha confirmed, "and it will definitely be useful in the field. Nicely done, Lily."

"Thanks!" the young woman answered. Pyrrha was pleased to note the slightly breathless tone of the response."Do me a favor and check to see if the mortar algorithm is also working."

Pyrrha flipped a switch on her dashboard, and the multi-purpose mortar attached to the rear-left of the vehicle powered on. A new, minimally-intrusive readout popped up in her HUD, showing the status of the launcher and what kind of payload was loaded. More importantly, a predicted firing arc ran across her vision, with the impact sight trying to follow a semi-transparent crosshair that had appeared in the middle of Pyrrha's vision.

"This is impressive," Pyrrha said. "How much time did you spend on this?"

"It was Mac who pulled the allnighters," Lily admitted. "Said that Ares deserved nothing less than the best. The crosshairs also work for the secondary machine gun mounted in the front of the buggy."

Nichole hummed her approval for Lily's efforts. "It's amazing what Lily's team came up with! She is very inspiring when she needs to be."

"Alright, alright. Don't fill my head with too much praise, or I won't be able to do the pushups that I'm supposed to be cranking out right now. Have fun playing with your new toys."

The road veered into a particularly large turn, and Pyrrha decided to fill the Lily-shaped gap in the chatter with some conversation with her co-pilot. "So have you settled on Nichole?"

"I think so!" Nichole answered. "It is a very pretty name."

Pyrrha nodded in agreement. The turns were starting to get a little more tricky, and Pyrrha silently marveled at the effort and foresight that Lily put into setting up the course. The IR targets were varied in their location, with some just on the roadside others sitting atop stacks of crates, and still others hanging from scaffolding that almost touched the ceiling. Pyrrha noted that her visor kept track of the targets outside of her vision with small arrow indicators pointing in their direction on her visual periphery.

She could feel her arms getting a little tired from the constant exertion of correcting her course to stay on track, but she was also starting to get the hang of this whole driving thing. Plus, Pyrrha was enjoying the feeling of challenging herself, of pushing herself to her limits (now that she had limits she could push). It helped that Lily's dune buggy was a much smoother ride than Pyrrha had anticipated, plus the fact that Nichole was a lovely copilot. But the fact that she was behind the wheel, taking the turns, training with Penny…

Pyrrha felt like she had a purpose again.

"Diagnostic test of target tracking protocols complete!" Nichole announced. "My accuracy with the pintle mount is 87.29%, and I believe that number will improve as I continue to tune the aiming controls to account for the vehicle's mobility!"

"Wonderful," Pyrrha answered as she looped the vehicle back past its 'garage' to start a second lap. "Are you ready to test the Gremlin deployment protocol?"

"Yes! Please allow me five seconds to fully upload into my mobile hardware before unlocking the cradle. I believe I can eventually optimize the transfer process to reduce that time limit, but it's better to be safe for now."

Pyrrha saw Lily pause her sword strokes to give her an enthusiastic wave while the buggy raced past her little training area. "Of course. On your mark, Nichole."

"Beginning upload now!"

Even though Nichole had already left most of the auto-assist processing power to the VI, Pyrrha still felt another downgrade in the response of the controls the moment her copilot started to upload. On the count of five, Pyrrha saw a light change from red to green on her dashboard, prompting her to flip a switch that released the latches keeping the Gremlin drone docked just behind her seat.

"Upload complete!" Nichole confirmed, and a new, green holo icon appeared on Pyrrha's HUD. "Flight controls are stable! No issues detected while undocking from the vehicle while in motion."

Lily cheered over the comms, "Nice! I just got word from Gidjit that his latest set of repairs and modifications to Penny's hardware are complete. You feeling up to driving a little more so we can test the jumpseat, Pyrrha?"

"I'm getting a little bit tired," Pyrrha admitted, "But I still have some energy left. Should I swing around to Gidjit's workstation?"

"Yep!"

With Nichole's drone keeping pace, Pyrrha piloted her buggy towards Gidjit's section of the Skunkworks. As she got close, she found Penny waiting next to both XCOM's resident Cyberdisc and a (sweaty and panting) Lily.

"Salutations!" Penny greeted, and Pyrrha noticed a laser rifle slung over her back. "Thank you for agreeing to train a little longer, Sergeant Nikos! I promise I will do my best to make the most of it."

Pyrrha smiled. "Sounds good to me. Strap yourself in, and we'll get rolling."

Penny climbed into the back of the buggy and took a seat next to the supply lockers that accompanied the mortar in the trunk.

"I am secured!" Penny confirmed, "Please resume driving at your convenience, Sergeant!"

Pyrrha hit the gas, and the buggy rolled back onto the track.

"Alright, Penny. Let's run through the checklist."

"Full mobility and access to the lockers and mortar: check!"

Good. The idea was to have a set of hands in the back that could make adjustments or pull out equipment on the fly.

"Conversion of lockers into a makeshift stretcher: check!"

That was Ren's idea to give the buggy the ability to function as a rapid evac transport.

"Visual field: slightly more than one hundred and eighty degrees!"

Good. Pyrrha was the secondary gunner for any targets to the front, and a jumpseat passenger would be the secondary gunner for any targets to the rear.

"Excellent!" Nichole chirped, "Let's test the stability of the jumpseat with a live fire test!"

"Go get 'em, Penny."

"Roger! Laser rifle is armed, and I am combat ready!"

"I've keyed Nichole's flier to detect hits against the chassis, Penny. She'll follow you around the track while you try to land as many shots as you can on her."

The trio took one more lap around Lily's course, and Pyrrha could hear Penny snapping off shots every few seconds while Nichole followed around the twists and turns around the Skunkworks. By the time they rolled back up to Gidjit's workstation again, Pyrrha was well and truly exhausted.

"That was awesome!" Lily cheered. "Penny's accuracy was a little under sixty percent, so I'll see if I can look into improving the shock absorbers of the jumpseat to make aiming a little easier. Nicho can probably help me with that. But man, oh man, this is so exciting seeing my baby come to life!"

Pyrrha nodded from the driver's seat. "Your father must be very proud."

"He is! Dr. Shen helped us with the systems engineering for the project! This vehicle is a lot more complex than it looks, and Lily's father was very helpful in tying everything together."

"I… got a little carried away with some of the additions to the design," Lily admitted. "I learned a lot about engineering and manufacturing from the project, though, which I think is why Dad was happy to help."

"Well, I think it's safe to say that the shakedown run was a complete success. Should we break for lunch?"

Lily's eyes grew wide at the prospect of food. "Oh my god yes! I didn't want to say anything, but you have no idea how hungry I am right now!"

Pyrrha chuckled while she slowly undid the straps holding her against the seat. "I think I might have an inkling. But let's go see if Nora left any food behind for the rest of us in the mess hall."

The flash of fireworks erupted in the night sky and briefly illuminated Kuo Kuana's central plaza with a brilliant display of reds, greens, and blues. The colors revealed a city, alive and well, full of citizens celebrating their victory against the Grimm. People gathered to buy trinkets and knick knacks from vibrant shops, meet with friends and family, and watch as live entertainers took to the street to dance, paint, and play music. Streamers and ribbons criss-crossed the main thoroughfares, lit up by lanterns and torches that caused the walls of houses and storefronts to delight Kuo Kuana's children with a dance of multi-colored shapes and shadows.

Amid the music and the explosions in the sky, large screens played awe-inspiring footage from the battle. People gathered around to watch as helmet cameras offered a first-person view of XCOM's now-legendary airdrop, Atlas's explosive strafing runs against the Leviathans, and ADVENT's zealous fight against the monsters rising from the shallows. Soldiers silently barked orders, guns flared as they put down Grimm after Grimm, and the defenders of Kuo Kuana heroically charged to keep the forces of evil at bay. The footage provided for these public displays was carefully edited, however, to show not even a single death incurred by any of the forces fighting against the Grimm.

Major Annette Durand looked up at the falling embers of the latest salvo of fireworks for a brief moment before continuing to walk towards the middle of the central plaza while dragging several large pieces of twisted scrap metal and rebar behind her.

"Hello, lady!" a little faunus child cheerfully greeted. "Whatcha doing?"

The child's mother quickly pulled the child out of Annette's way. "Celine! Can't you see she's busy?!" The woman looked up at Annette apologetically. "I'm terribly sorry, ma'am."

The crowd cheered as another volley of colorful rockets shot into the air. Annette cheerfully laughed and answered, "It's no trouble at all. Please do not worry, especially tonight. My friend and I are simply gathering some materials to make a gift for Kuo Kuana."

"Hello!" Ruby waved from over Annette's shoulder.

"A gift?" the little girl squealed. "What is it what is it?"

"A sculpture," Annette answered as she carefully set down her supplies.

"Come along now, Celine. Let the nice lady work while you enjoy the festival."

"But I wanna watch them make the present!" Celine looked curiously at the pile of metal Annette had, and added, "Not sure how you're gonna make it, though. You haven't got any tools."

Annette tapped her forehead and winked. "I have all the tools I need, little one. But let me ask you a question: have you watched any of the entertainers out performing magic tricks tonight?"

"They were so cool!" Celine said, holding up her hand to reveal a small rose while she beamed at Annette. "One of them pulled this out from behind my ear. I didn't even know it was back there! Are you gonna do a magic trick, too?"

The absurdity of talking about magic tricks with a rabbit faunus gave Annette a good chuckle. She shared a look with Ruby before the Major gave the curious girl a sly grin and answered, "Magic? Yes. Trick? Hardly."

The little girl's eyes grew wide, and even the mother had enough curiosity that Annette could easily sense it. By now, a couple of other festival-goers had taken notice of the scrap pile in the center of the plaza and were idly watching to see what was going on.

Well, we best get to it. You ready, Major?

You forget that I've been doing this since before you landed on your ass at XCOM. Better question is are you ready, Captain?

Annette felt Ruby's unspoken affirmation, and so she started to gently pool psionic energy into her hands. Once she had enough, she used it to reach out, grab one of the long beams she'd dragged over, and lift it into the air. The display was met with a handful of gasps and whistles, and Annette took a moment to twirl the metal around for the sake of her audience.

Alright, Ruby. Hold it steady for me while I start to shape it, please.

Got it!

Once Annette felt Ruby's psionic energy joining hers in support of the beam, the Major shifted her telekinetic control to start bending and molding the beam. This material was tougher than what she was used to handling, but in addition to Ruby's assistance, Annette felt a secondary source of psionic energy pooling in the back of her mind and lending itself to help her meet the challenge. Carefully, she smoothed out the wrinkles in the metal and curved it into the shape of her liking. For someone who hadn't spent much time practicing telekinesis, Ruby was doing a marvelous job of holding the metal still while Annette worked.

Time to add a second piece. You doing okay so far?

Starting to feel the strain a little bit, but I think it's good for me. Let's keep going!

Excellent. This is where it starts to get fun.

The crowd around them was starting to grow larger now. Annette grabbed the second piece, smoothed it out like she did with the first, and got to work weaving them together. Little rips formed in the metal, and Ruby helped Annette merged the two halves into a lattice-like structure. As she worked, the Major saw her plan starting to take shape. The large, serpentine body rose up and curled into a gaping maw. When the two pieces were merged to Annette's satisfaction, she let Ruby hold onto both while she picked up the third piece and crafted it into the final section of the Gigas.

"Whoa…" Celine gasped. "That's amazing!"

Annette smiled. "It's not done yet. After all, somebody needs to fight the big, scary monster, right?"

Celine nodded, and Annette psionically grabbed one of the smaller chunks of metal she'd brought with her. Then a second. And then a third. As she crushed, bent, tore, and twisted the material, she thought back to the early days of her psionic art. Back then it was just her, Zhang, and the crude sculptures he encouraged her to make as an outlet for her untempered rage against the war that had upended her life. Ballerinas were her favorite, which was fitting in a way: her subject for today was just as graceful.

The first figure was clearly a warrior of the White Fang, armed with a spear aimed at the monstrous foe. The second was a soldier of XCOM, crouched low with her shotgun held at the ready. And the third? Well, it didn't take long for the crowd to figure out who the third figure was supposed to be.

"Is that… Lady Khan?"

"That's totally the Khan!"

"That's amazing…"

"Lady Khan looks so regal…"

"Such courage from our High Leader."

After an enrapturing thirty minutes of crafting the Gigas and its slayers, Ruby and Annette stepped back. Before them stood the monstrous body of the Gigas, reared up with its maw open and its teeth bared. Below the monster, standing defiantly with her whip-chain brandished, Sienna Khan stared unflinchingly at her foe. Behind the Khan stood the faunus and human soldiers, ready to support the High Leader as she pushed forward to defeat the foe. The sculpture wasn't more than a few meters tall, which put Sienna and her entourage at just below knee height (and even that was grossly downplaying the sheer size of the Gigas), but the audience was clearly in love.

Cheers and whistles broke out, and while Annette basked in the admiration of the crowd, she felt a small tug on her pant leg.

"What's it called?" Celine asked.

The audience fell quiet, and Annette hummed at the question. "What do you call it when you're faced with an impossible task, but you do it anyway because you know you can do it, and it's important that you show everyone else that you can?"

"Proof!" someone called out from the crowd. Celine nodded.

"Your High Leader was faced with the most fearsome monster to ever roam the desert," Annette said with a smile. "And yet, running away was never an option. Because she knew you were here in the city, and so were your friends. She knew your only hope was for her to do the impossible, to rally her brothers and sisters in arms, to fight side-by-side with strangers who were willing to help, and to stop the Gigas once and for all. The Lord of the Desert! How could anyone stand against it and live to tell the tale?"

Annette gestured towards the sculpture. "I suppose you will have to ask Lady Khan for the answer."

I'm not crying. YOU'RE crying.

Hush now, Ruby.

As the onlookers moved closer (but not too close, since they dared not damage the work of art that honored the Khan), Annette and Ruby were content to quietly slip into the background. Asaru, who had been quiet during this whole ordeal, stirred in Annette's mind long enough to let her feel a single thought.

… Beautiful.

Annette couldn't help but agree.

Bradford found himself once more leading Sienna Khan down the halls of the Avenger. Neither of them felt the need to fill the silence, and the Central Officer was happy enough to let Sienna take in the sights of his ship. The more that she saw of their operation, Bradford believed that the Khan would lean more and more towards trusting XCOM. They reached the main elevator and Bradford punched the button to take them down to the brig.

"We've passed several of your soldiers that have feline ears, and yet they clearly are not faunus," Sienna said as the lift rumbled to life. "Why is this?"

"That would be Blake Belladonna's handiwork."

"Explain."

"Some of the tech we developed on Earth allowed us to splice genetic features from others and apply them to our operatives. Every set of feline ears you see on on XCOM operative is because Blake graciously allowed us to use her DNA to enhance our soldiers."

The look on Sienna's face that told Bradford she had several questions, but the elevator doors opened before she could ask them. The duo was greeted by the security detail looking up from a card game on their tab, who stood up and offered a brief salute.

"Been a quiet day, boss," one of the operatives reported. "I think your favorite inmate has been trying to drive us crazy by bouncing the little rubber ball we gave him off the wall over and over again."

Bradford snorted. "I'm tempted to ask Nichole if she has The Great Escape in her databanks, but I don't want to give Roman any ideas. How's our other guest doing?"

"Keeps to herself," the guard answered. "Doesn't talk to anyone, and she hasn't eaten any of the food we've given her. She might still be in shock, I dunno."

"Well, I plan to pull her out of shock, then," Sienna growled.

Bradford nodded at the soldiers, who went back to their game while Bradford and Sienna started down the hall. It only took a few steps before Bradford heard a familiar voice sing out, "Well hello, Bradford. Finally come down to have a chat with me? I knew you'd be back sooner or- hey, where are you going?!"

"I don't have time for you right now, Roman," Bradford said, not even bothering to look at the criminal as he walked past the cell.

"You can't keep me here forever, you know!"

"Doubtful," Bradford answered without breaking stride. "You're right where Cinder claimed you deserve to be. I'm just doing her the favor of taking care of the logistics myself so she doesn't have to."

"Gloat all you want!" Roman shouted. "You can act all cool and tough in front of your girlfriend, but you'll be back sooner or later!"

"That's what he thinks," Bradford muttered to Sienna.

Keeping her eyes straight ahead, his guest responded, "That man seems to critically lack a sense of self-preservation."

"Nah. He knows I won't kill him."

"And why is that?"

"Because he might come in handy at some point."

"And until then, you're content to let him be a drain on your resources," Sienna mused.

"I learned a few years back that it's helpful to keep the long-term in mind when making any kind of decision. Either way, here's our next stop."

The two of them came to a stop in front of another cell, this one occupied by a solitary figure with its back to the door as it lay sleeping on the available bed.

"Amitola," Sienna said. The figure did not move.

That was clearly a bad idea. Bradford watched as Sienna's eyes narrowed, and her hands clenched and unclenched slightly.

"Amitola!"

The body jolted as Sienna growled its name. Ilia whipped around, her eyes grew wide at the sight of Sienna standing before her, and the young woman fell to her knees with her forehead pressed to the cold floor.

"Lady Khan, please forgive me."

Sienna's eyes remained narrowed. "Your actions caused Kuo Kuana, your people, to suffer the worst Grimm attack in history. Do you really believe that forgiveness would be as easy as simply asking?"

Ilia's body shook, but still she lay on the ground. "I… I…"

"Do not cry, girl," Sienna commanded. "You condemned hundreds to death, and it is only now that you find it within yourself to show remorse?"

That was a little more harsh than Bradford would have put it, but he couldn't say that Ilia didn't deserve to be dressed down like this. He recalled when the first report with a casualty count came across his desk and…

It almost convinced him to have another go at drinking away his problems.

"Lady Khan…" Ilia choked, "Please… just let me explain-"

"I don't care why you did it," Sienna deadpanned. "I don't care who told you it was for the greater good, or whatever equally idiotic drivel you were about to spew at me. Do you have any idea how far back you've pushed your brothers and sisters in their fight for a better life?"

A sob wracked Ilia's body.

"A faunus bombing our chieftain? And bringing so many Grimm down upon our heads that Atlas, ADVENT, and XCOM had to intervene to prevent our complete annihilation?! There is no explanation in the world that could justify such a stupendous lack of judgment."

The hallway grew quiet, save for Ilia's weeping, as Sienna closed her eyes and collected herself. Bradford knew that now was absolutely not the time to intervene. His only purpose here was to watch as Sienna dealt with her own, and to accept whatever judgment the High Leader chose to pass down.

"You are an embarrassment to your people," Sienna whispered. "Perhaps worse. I should kill you where you lay right now." That caused Ilia's head to shoot up, and her panicked eyes locked with Sienna's. "It's only fair to the hundreds of murdered souls who demand that justice be delivered."

"Please… please no…"

Sienna's eyes narrowed again at Ilia's pleading. "You do not have a say in your fate, girl."

Ilia sniffled, but said nothing as she kept her eyes on Sienna. Bradford cleared his throat.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sienna slowly turn her head to look at him and ask, "Do you have something you wish to say, Bradford?"

"Only if you allow it, High Leader Khan," Bradford answered, his eyes staring dead ahead into Ilia's cell.

The pause lasted one heartbeat. Then two. "I do."

"Ilia has disgraced herself, and, I assume, no longer has a place in the White Fang?"

"Correct," Sienna answered. "I never wish to see her face among my ranks again."

Bradford ignored the choking noise coming from the prisoner and continued. "Yet, from what my operative tells me, the way she fought against Blake Belladonna was nothing short of impressive. She faced off against a war-hardened veteran, and was able to hold her own."

"Her skill is known to me, Bradford. That she would take such a gift and use it for great evil is horrific. Make your point."

Here goes nothing. "Let XCOM take Ilia Amitola and apply her skills for the betterment of faunus all across Remnant."

Three heartbeats. Four. Ilia's eyes were wide with shock, and her breath was hitched in her throat as she waited to hear what Sienna had to say.

The Khan finally spoke. "And why should I believe that your judgment of what's best for the greater good of my people is any better than Amitola's?"

"Because XCOM pushed into the jaws of hell itself, shoulder to shoulder with your people," Bradford answered, his voice impressively even. "Because Blake Belladonna has instilled in us a deep-seated respect for the faunus."

Finally, he broke his gaze into the cell and looked into Sienna's eyes. "And because I am asking you to trust me."

Five heartbeats. Six. Bradford could feel Sienna's stare burning into him as she tried to figure out what his game was. Hopefully his steady heartbeat, his unflinching eyes, and his professional stance would be enough to tell her that there was no game.

"You see a faunus, one who kidnapped and almost murdered one of your men, one who brought the fury of the Grimm down upon Kuo Kuana, one who has done nothing to earn your benevolence, and you ask that I spare her life?"

"I ask to be given the chance to help her atone," Bradford answered.

Ilia started to say something, but Sienna swept her hand and almost shouted, "Silence, girl! Or must you be reminded so soon that you have no say in this?"

The Khan returned her attention to Bradford, and he could see the confused fury behind her eyes.

"You wonder why a human would speak in defense of a faunus," he asked quietly.

Sienna nodded.

"It is for the same reason that a faunus put herself in front of humans," Bradford said. "Who fought to defend a world full of humans who would never have the opportunity to give her their thanks. Who almost died for that world, and when we stitched her back together, picked up her sword once more to finish what she'd already started.

"She did so because it is right."

Seven heartbeats, eight. An amused smirk played across Sienna's face. "Perhaps I should tell Ghira how much of an effect his daughter has had on you. He would be quite proud, I think."

Bradford said nothing and merely waited for Sienna to pass judgment.

Nine heartbeats, ten. "Very well," Sienna sighed. She turned around and started to walk away. "She's your problem now."

Bradford glanced back at Ilia and gave a curt, "We'll talk later" before following Sienna down the hallway.

"Welcome back to the evening report. I'm Lisa Lavender, and with me now is Central Officer Bradford of XCOM. Thank you for being here, Bradford."

"Happy to be on, Lisa."

"Let's start with Atlas. I recently had General Ironwood on this program, and he expressed interest in having XCOM spend time in Atlas, presumably to strengthen relationships between your two organizations, but also to allow some of his technicians the opportunity to sweep the ship for sensitive tech that they would like to retain under Atlesian control. How do you feel about his request?"

"I believe it is very fair. XCOM would not have this ship if it weren't for General Ironwood's generosity. If he is requesting our presence in Atlas, then the least I can do is pay him a visit. I think he will find my crew to be very cooperative with his delegation of techs."

"Aren't you worried that he may try to claim some of XCOM's technology as his own? From the footage we've seen of the Avenger in action, it looks to be heavily modified."

"The General is a good man, Lisa. I'm sure he and I can come to an agreement beforehand, and that we will conduct this diplomatic visit with both sides acting in good faith."

"Two more things for you, Central. First, when we last talked with you and your crew, it was brought up that Pyrrha Nikos is with XCOM, though she has not been seen or heard from. Would we be able to talk to her now?"

"You're asking because Cinder is claiming we are lying about Pyrrha. She's asking that if we have Pyrrha, why haven't we put her in front of a camera."

"You have to admit that it is a salient point."

"I don't. XCOM is not Cinder's monkey, miss Lavender. We are not here to dance everytime she throws an accusation our way, because let's be honest, given how every other word out of her mouth is accusing my organization of something nefarious, we would have little time for anything else otherwise."

"But Pyrrha…?"

"She is alive, but not in a position to speak to the public with the grace and dignity that she deserves. Pyrrha Nikos will address the people of Remnant when she wants to, and not a moment sooner. Certainly not because someone like Cinder is taking cheap shots at the people who have lived and died at her side."

"Alright, thank you for that, Central Officer Bradford. Let's move on to the next topic. In my latest interview with Lady Fall after the events of the Menagerie incident, she made a comment that I'd like to give you a chance to respond to."

"Fair enough."

"In her interview, Cinder pointed out that ADVENT reported sixty-two casualties in the defense of Kuo Kuana's docks while XCOM reported only five lost defending against the desert assault. She-"

"Only five?"

"I'm sorry? That is the number XCOM reported to Menagerie's authorities in the aftermath. Has it changed since then?"

"No. I'm just struggling to understand how a raw death toll is an acceptable way to gauge an organization's devotion to a cause. Perhaps Miss Fall has a large enough troop count at her command where twenty lost here and fifty lost there are inconsequential in the grand scheme of things."

"I'm afraid I can't-"

"XCOM does not have the 'luxury' of considering soldiers to be expendable. We lost five good soldiers in that fight. Five exemplars of our creed, who asked the citizens of Menagerie to trust in our vigilance, and made the ultimate sacrifice to make good on that promise."

"Central-"

"Sergeant Holly 'Crusader' Sable. Rocketeer. She died making sure she sent her rocket down the throat of the Gigas, so that it would be weak enough for the final assault.

"Lance Corporal Victor 'Cash' Fuentes. Infantryman. Planted himself between the oncoming Canis hordes and a squad of badly wounded militiamen. He held the line long enough to allow the soldiers to get to safety before the dogs overran him.

"Gunnery Sergeant Nolan 'Digger' Greene. Assault. Died inside the Gigas as he paved the way for the rest of the commando squad to safely reach the monster's heart.

"Master Sergeant Avery 'Deadeye' Hitchens. Sniper. When the Wyverns rained bone and death down upon the frontline, she kept her rifle trained on the skies to bring those monsters down, one after another. She was rewarded for her efforts with a spike through the chest.

"And Tech Sergeant Matteo 'Ghost' Bianchi. Scout. Killed by a Lamnidae as he helped a squad of Menagerie's militia pull back to the safety of the watchtowers when the Gigas first appeared.

"So yes, Miss Lavender. There were 'only' five XCOM operatives who fell that day. But each one is a great loss, and each one died so that others may live. And I remember the names, faces, and personality of each one, as well as any soldier lost under my command. I dare you to ask Miss Fall if she can say the same."

"Central, can you get to the bridge in the next couple of minutes? Radio techs found something interesting."

Bradford caught Sienna's eye, and was about to explain what he'd heard before he realized she probably heard it, too. The sly grin that grew across her face all but confirmed it.

"Well that sounds interesting," she mused. "Shall we?"

It only took them three minutes to reach the bridge, where they were greeted by Captain Beagle, several engineers and officers, and what sounded like a recording of a modulated male voice in the background.

"This is Kyoto, broadcasting with Contact Code Jester-Seven-Four-Timer-Three, please copy… This is Kyoto, broadcasting with Contact Code Jester-Seven-Four-Timer-Three, please copy… This is Kyoto, broadcasting…"

"Picked up the signal only a few minutes ago," Beagle said. "Kyoto is…"

"Odei," Bradford answered. And if she was broadcasting a threat-level three, it must be serious.

"We've been hearing some other radio jockeys try to respond to the signal, but none of them have given proper identification, so the broadcaster just ignores them. I think this is the real deal, boss."

"Sam," Bradford called to one of the engineers, "can we get a live mic in here for me to respond?"

Samuelson nodded from his station. "... Done, sir. Mic is modulated to prevent audio identification. The comms are all yours."

"Ten-Four, Kyoto," Bradford said. "This is Rome with verification code Seven-Five-Three-Bravo-Charlie. Requesting cypher."

The broadcaster fell silent, then spoke again.

"Cypher Navajo. Verification One-Five-Jester."

Navajo? Then it wasn't actually Odei broadcasting. Bradford was expecting cypher Enigma, since Navajo was the "guest pass" cypher used to indicate that the person on the other end wasn't the covert operative, but instead someone who had been coached by the spook. That didn't bode well.

"Verification confirmed, Kyoto," Bradford answered. "Cypher response Timer-Two. Requesting Solace-Recoil."

Time to see what the SitRep was in Atlas.

"Alpha-Zero-Zero One, Dust-Zero-Zero-Two. Arendelle is Code Grimm. Narnia is Code Yagi."

Bradford almost choked. Alive: one and Dead: two? So Odei was the only surviving operative. At least it sounded like Weiss was doing okay, though 'Narnia' (Bradford wasn't sure who had that codename) was in questionable condition.

What the hell happened?

Bradford maintained his composure (barely) and answered, "Acknowledged, Kyoto. Timer Status One."

"Ten-Four, Rome. Arendelle Status Echo."

Odei was requesting extraction for Weiss?

"Arendelle Status Echo, confirmed. Victor-Caliber, Kyoto."

"Victor-Caliber, Rome."

The comms fell silent.

"Well I didn't understand any of that," Sienna commented.

"Then my Director of Covert Operations did her job correctly when she developed the system for her insertion teams," Bradford answered. "I must apologize, Sienna, but it looks like our time in Kuo Kuana has been cut short. That comm was a high-priority message, and we can't afford to delay our response. We'll stay tonight so that my people can enjoy the well-deserved festivities in the town, but the Avenger will be gone come morning."

Sienna nodded. "No rest for the wicked. I'll take my leave of your ship now, unless there is anything else you wish to show me."

As Bradford escorted Sienna to the gangplank, he couldn't help but wonder if Beagle was on to something about the whole idiom thing.

A/N: In case you're curious, Bradford's speech to Lisa was inspired largely by Commander Shepard's Paragon speech option to the rude reporter in Mass Effect 2. It's just so good, I couldn't pass up an opportunity for Bradford to channel his inner-Shep here.