Yes, I finally actually got around to posting this! Nearly three months after I posted the last chapter, and I have honestly got no excuse for failing to do put a chapter out earlier. Christmas, work, and university all have been fucking me over for a while. But I'm back, doing this again all while trying to not die in school.

Also, as a note, yes, I made Qrow Ruby's father, Summer will explain everything later. If, perchance, you are wondering why I did this or my logic behind the change, please PM me so that we can talk.

Xcom to Firaxis and RWBY to Roosterteeth.

Weiss… Schnee family estate… Two days before the UEF makes planet-fall on Remnant…

The absolute abhorrence of one's own parent is not something that one should not easily acquire.

But it seems Jacques Schnee just loved making it easy, didn't he? Because for Weiss, hating that man was almost as easy, if not easier, and substantially more natural than breathing.

After all, there were at least a dozen or more reasons for her to despise the man she called father. First, and most obvious, his hatred of the Faunus.

Weiss didn't grow up the best and many of her early opinions of the other people on Remnant were clouded by the fact that the White fang had targeted her and some of her family's friends in her early days. But ever since her time with Blake at Beacon, she'd realized how unreasonable she had been in her attitudes towards regular Faunus.

Secondly, his treatment of… well, Weiss.

He was the one who stripped her of her title as Heiress after that fiasco at the concert, he was the one who tore their family apart just to make a quick buck. He disowned Winter, he was the one who forced Weiss into becoming a prissy little princess (Despite her own reservations calling herself that) and arguably, what she found most damning of all was how the rat fink bastard had moulded Whitley.

Despite only being a few years younger than her, fifteen at the oldest now, Whitley wasn't always as much of an ass as he currently is. In many ways, during his younger years, Weiss thought of her younger brother as quite a good child, kind and playful. But after Winter left to train at Sanctum and Weiss expressed interest in following her older sister shortly thereafter, the trio's father had taken ahold of Whitley in retaliation.

Originally, he had planned on giving Weiss the title of Heir of the SDC but due to her insistence on becoming a huntress at such a young age, Jacques hadn't pushed it onto her, letting her live out her fantasies, waiting for the real world to catch up to her all the while moulding her younger brother into a tool.

His tool.

This was also around the time when their mother became more distant than usual, thus making it exceptionally easy for Jacques to impose his own moral compass on Weiss' once childlike and idealistic younger brother.

Where their mother would always tell them tales of great huntsmen and huntresses fighting back the Grimm on the daily, Jacques would always make sure to point out all the horrible things hunters have done to Whitley. From that early stage in his life, Whitley lost his trust in the hunters that protected the world, even going so far as to hate anyone who wanted to become one.

Including his siblings.

Which, honestly, hurt Weiss deeply. He would call her such horrible names, call her condescending things as if he was somehow better than her. That he was somehow superior for not training with the Semblance that their family had wielded for generations. He still cared about both his sisters, but it was masked behind a veil of hate or apathy.

Regardless, Weiss had many reasons to hate her father, many more reasons than any child should ever reasonably be gifted with.

But her final reason was what hurt the worst. He was the one who took her away from Ruby. From her friends. Her family away from home.

Contrary to how she acted towards her team's leader at the start of their time at Beacon, she had actually grown quite fond of the red-haired girl. To her, Ruby was an unending well of positivity, something Weiss herself adored.

"What I wouldn't give to see them again," Weiss began to reminisce as she looked at a picture of the team of four that they had taken a month or so before the Fall. Slipping her scroll away, Weiss sighed as she gazed off the balcony on the top of her home.

A tap on her shoulder, "So sister, enjoying the view?"

Turning around, Weiss saw Whitley behind her, that condescending smirk plastered on his face, "Beacon's was better."

Whitley chuckled, "True enough. As much as I enjoy this porch, I wouldn't mind seeing Atlas from the top of the academy's tower. It would be quite beautiful."

"Ok, Whitley, what do you want? You wouldn't just start talking to me for no reason whatsoever," Weiss said, annoyance in her voice.

"Am I not allowed to talk to my sister?" Whitley asked, playfully faking pain in his voice.

"You were only ever interested in my life before Father started making you hate hunters," Weiss grumbled.

"Well… you are right, I have been quite distant, haven't I?" Whitley agreed, "I'm just… concerned."

"Concerned for me?" Weiss asked, "Concerned about what?"

"Well, your mental state," Whitley said, "Something was obviously bothering you at the reception, what with the whole summoning a boarbatusk in the middle of the hall."

"She was being an ass…" Weis began, cutting herself off, "She was being unpleasant. She had no right to say that about Vale."

"Well, she had a point," Whitley said, earning a look of disdain from his elder sister, "Please let me explain, sister…"

"No, I won't," Weiss cut her brother off, "You weren't there, you did see what I saw. It wouldn't have mattered if every single cruiser from Atlas was there. They got plucked out of the sky like it was nothing. Honestly, more military forces there would've just made things worse because SOMEHOW someone hacked they systems controlling the AK-200s and turned them on us!"

"But…"

"There are no buts," Weiss abruptly shut her brother down, "Beacon wouldn't have survived, we wouldn't have survived if it wasn't for the hunters. There are some things the military is good for, that wasn't one of them."

"Weiss, I feel like you're taking this a bit too… personally…"

"AND ANOTHER THING!" Weiss growled, pointing an accusing finger at her brother, "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW QUICKLY IRONWOOD'S SHIPS FELL OUT OF THE DAMN SKY? DO YOU? BECAUSE THEY BARELY WERE OF ANY HELP TO US! AT ALL!"

"The hunters fight the Grimm and we're the best at doing it," Weiss continued, "Atlas can only do so much, even with all of our Knights and Paladins. We can't do everything. Besides, unless we equip every single soldier with gear that would be rated to at least, AT LEAST, huntsmen standard, Ironwood would just be sending them into a mulch machine."

"Weiss, you're being irrational," Whitley firmly replied, his voice hardening a small amount, "I know that I don't understand the full situation, but please just listen to me for once in your damn life before you go preaching!"

Weiss was surprised, her brother never really ever raised his voice, Whitley taking his sister's laps in speech to continue with his own tangent, "I understand you hate me for not supporting your decision to train as a huntress and you have every right to. But I don't disapprove of you for wanting to protect people, I just don't think becoming a huntress is the best way to do it. Those schools are archaic and worse, we've been losing veteran hunters every almost every day for the past decade. There are more Grimm now than ever, and far more powerful ones."

"Do you really think any number of hunters could kill that dragon thing that attacked Beacon?" Whitley inquired, causing Weiss to do a double take, "Yes, I overheard it when Ironwood was speaking to father. The only reason you are alive is because of your partner and that professor from Beacon. And there will come a day when they won't be around to save you."

"Please, Weiss, mother has been wasting her life away drinking because of father," Whitley pleaded, "What do you think would happen if either of you two were to die? What do you think would happen to her?"

"You're guilt tripping me, stop it," Weiss said, pushing her brother back, "Mother abandoned us, all of us."

Whitley sighed, "Fine, do as you wish, escape back to your team if you want. But if you die, don't expect to be alone for very long in whatever afterlife there might be."

"You were always her favorite, afterall."

Patch, Owen family household…

It had been just about a month since he woke up, and Gabriel was already feeling better. Not that it was particularly difficult, almost easy, to get better, seeing as he was previously an unconcious, one-armed man. Almost anything is a step up from that.

Now he was fully back on his feet, continuing to regain his lost weight and strength, though he was still missing his arm, which made it somewhat difficult to do certain tasks. But, that never really deterred him, as he continued to re-train himself how to fight one handed with both Darren, Yang and Tai. Tai, for his part, was able to keep up in hand to hand combat quite well with both Gabriel and Darren, being his prefered method of combat. Yang, having finally accepted her new metal arm, had also done well, though not nearly to the degree of her father.

Between bouts with his sparring partners partners, Gabriel had also continued to re-train himself with Katana. It went well, seeing as how he almost exclusively utilized the blade one handed for quick strikes. Because he never really had to worry about the power behind any individual strike due to the nature of the Chosen's weapon, being that it cut through nearly any and everything in its path, one handed was the only way he had ever needed to wield it. But that was when he could also utilize the blade two handed if he desired. Now, he had to adapt to the missing weight on his left, as well as the inability to switch grips.

While it wasn't easy, he did manage to accomplish it in a timely manner, quickly gaining complete control over his de-limbed body.

But combatives weren't the only thing on his mind, taking care of his three children was also quite high on his list of things to do. He spent many an hour walking with the three, Aaron and Jane in a stroller, Angela and Emerald to his side, going through the small forests Patch was home to. During this time, he had also begun to familiarize himself with the town of Patch, only a couple minutes drive away from the three families houses.

Apparently, the people of the town had grown to see himself and the rest of Alpha as heroes. Some credited the survival of Vale to the four, despite their adamant denial of the praise, while others gave more personal gratification to the individual for a specific family member's survival. Gabriel alone had been stopped many times while out shopping by people wanting to say thanks for saving someone. It was sort of like what occasionally happened when the four went to any Resistance Havens back in the old days.

Regardless, his nearly year long coma had done little to dampen his psionic abilities. Not that he could just shoot a Soul Storm off whenever he felt like, but it wasn't as if he was incapable of utilizing the power. His abilities revolving around the creation of energy based constructs remain around the same and while he had tried to make an arm for himself, if had proved annoying to maintain consistently over long periods of time, and thus was voided. That being said, he could still create one if necessary.

Though now, after training with Darren for the late morning and some of the early afternoon, Gabriel had decided to make dinner, something a little fancy, but nothing to hard. Ratatouille came to mind, with side of some Lobster broth and noodles. He cooked in silence, mainly because everyone else in the house was sound asleep. Emerald herself had taken to practicing with Yang, trying to become better in hand to hand combat. Not that she wasn't but she was nowhere near the level of her training partner. Both girls had worn themselves out, retreating to their houses and beds to take a much needed rest.

Angela, for her part, was napping with Aaron and Jane after taking the two for a relatively long walk mid-morning. The walk was primarily to calm down the babies, Jane being the culprit of many awakenings in the middle of the night, which both he and Angela took turns dealing with.

All that said, Gabriel cooked dinner for the family over the course of an hour and a half or so. While one would think that it would be difficult to cut vegetables with one hand but it wasn't all that difficult for him. Creating a psionic hand like appendage to hold it in place was annoying, but easy enough to considering it was all he had to focus on, save for cutting the vegetables.

Once all the food had been made, he turned the oven to keep warm setting, plasing the dishes inside to stay at heat. Dispersing the construct was once his left arm, Gabriel grabbed a glass and some whisky, pouring himself a shot. The clock said it was around five thirty, so he would wake everyone up to have dinner in around half an hour.

Gabriel sat on the couch, taking a small sip of the fiery liquid. As he did, he heard someone coming down the stairs.

"Hey honey," He greeted, "Put the babies to sleep?"

"Getting Jane there is hell," Angela sighed, "But yeah, they're asleep like logs, those two."

Gabriel smiled, taking another small sip, "Is Emerald up?"

"Not yet, I'd give her twenty, maybe thirty minutes," Angela shrugged, walking next to her husband, "What's on your mind, Gabe? You look lost."

"You know what's on my mind, Angie," Gabriel replied.

Angela plopped herself down on the couch, next to her husband, "You're worried about Ruby, I get it. But she's fine, Qrow's been following them since they left."

"I guess you're right," Gabriel admitted, "That doesn't mean I can't be worried for her. She is my niece, afterall."

"Our niece."

"Yes, our niece," Gabriel smiled, kissing his wife's forehead. He placed his whisky on the coffee table in the center of their living room, wrapping his arm around Angela's shoulders, "So… you like being a parent?"

"Yeah," Angela said, snuggling closer into her husband's embrace, "Now I sorta understand what my parents felt with me."

"I wish they were here now," Angela mumbled, "To see all we've done, what we've become. I mean, we've done more than we could've ever imagined in our lifetimes."

"If only they could see us now," Gabriel finished, "Yeah, I get that feeling to."

Angela smirked, climbing on top of her husband's lap, "Maybe not right now, though."

"Right now?" Gabriel chuckled, "Really? We could at least wait till Emerald is actually asleep instead of just napping."

"Yes, right now."

"But we…"

"I know we did it last night," Angela put her finger to her husband's lips, "But I went eight months without that nice, juicy sword and I need to catch up."

"Please never call my dick a sword," Gabriel blank stare just egged Angela on more, "It feels wrong..."

"I don't care, I just don't want to feel my legs tomorrow," she whispered seductively in Gabriel's ear, all the while a hand snaked down his pants, while her other hand pulled a rubber out of her pocket. As the two began to kiss and… well, fornicate, another set of feet could be heard traversing down the stairs.

"Mom? Dad?"

Angela's face turned red as a beet when she heard Emerald's voice, "Emerald, whatever you do, do not come into the living room."

"Why?"

"Please don't, Emerald, just please don't," Gabriel called out, "Do you really want to see your mother and I having se…"

"NOPE!" Emerald screeched, her footsteps heard rushing back up the stairs, "NOPENOPENOPENOPE. SO MUCH NOPE!"

"Thought so," Gabriel said, "Now, where were we?"

A few minutes later, ten at most, the three people were sitting at the table, though Emerald was barely touching her food. Gabriel glanced over at his daughter, "Are you… hungry? Does it taste like shit? If it does, I'd like to know."

"No it's fine dad," she replied, flipping a piece of zucchini over with her fork, "But you do have a room."

"First off, blame your horny ass mother…"

"HEY!"

"Secondly, I know that we have a room."

"Then why did I come down and see that?!" Emerald said, exasperated, "No one wants to walk in on their parents haveing sex!"

"Alabama," Angela coughed into her hand,.

Emerald looked over at her mother, "What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Fine, whatever" Emerald shrugged, chewing a piece of eggplant.

"Anyway, regardless of the shit that just went down, how was your nap? Training with Yang?" Gabriel queried.

"The nap was fine," Emerald replied, "So was the training with Yang. She didn't hold back… at all. It was "

"Well hey, you're training in something you've done little of before," Gabriel remarked to his daughter, "CQC is never the easiest thing to learn if you aren't trained in it to start. You're more used to fighting with weapons not your fists. It's a difficult transition."

Emerald looked at her father, "How did you learn it then? You're one of the best hand to hand fighters on the island, possibly on Remnant."

"I learned young, when I was six," Gabriel said, "Then I taught your mom. We still spar sometimes and I always seem to win."

"Not always," Angela retorted, "Sometimes I win."

"When I let you win," Gabriel replied, "Besides, I've only beat you in a few times when we go shooting."

"Fair," Angela said, "Anyway, some people used to call your dad a prodigy in martial arts and I wouldn't disagree. You should've seen some of his earlier fights. He took down a person twice his size when he was ten."

"TEN?"

"Ten," Angela said, "Believe me, he probably would've started kicking ass earlier if it wasn't for school. Oh, and the fact that, despite being one of, if not the best martial artists I know, you father hated tournaments, especially when he was competing in one."

"It just always felt unfair to me," Gabriel said as he began to reminisce, "I'd be placed in a group of people my age and I'd end up winning every fight. It felt like I was a fucking terminator fighting a damn toddler."

"A… terminator?" Emerald asked, "What's that?"

"Old pop culture reference from back home," Angela explained, "It's from a movie warning about the dangers of AI and such."

Emerald nodded her head, "That sounds interesting."

"Eh, it sounds good on paper but let's face it, Angie," Gabriel said, "The movie was plagued with cheesy one-liners."

"It was a film of its time," Anglea agreed.

"Of it's time?" Emerald queried, "I'm assuming it's old, right?"

"It came from a time when it action movies were popular," Angela explained, "Big, burly military dudes do burly military things. It was a complete shit-fest of over the top weird."

"Seems like fun," Emerald said, "Yang might enjoy them."

"Corny humor has always been her thing, so yeah, probably," Gabriel said, eliciting grins from the other two occupants of the table.

The three finished their meals and Angela began to remove the dishes on the table, "So, wanna watch a movie?" she asked.

"Not on the couch, no," Emerald replied, a smirk growing on her face as she watched her mother's own become red.

"We'll be more careful next time, I get it," Angela growled, "AND YOU DON'T HAVE TO RUB IT IN!"

"I get the feeling you might be annoying your mother," Gabriel said, rustling his daughter's hair.

"You two started it."

Blake… Menagerie… Around the same time…

It had been three days since those two assholes from the White Fang had came knocking. In those days, Blake had been stewing in her thoughts, systematically planning out how she, Terra and Sun were going to take down Menagerie's subfaction of the White Fang. Sun had already proven himself a capable combatant, multiple times over, so it wasn't like she was bringing a little baby into a Grimm infested cave or something. Terra herself was no slouch either, using a modulor Dust rifle in their fight against the Sea Feilong.

The actual disassembly of the Fang wouldn't be difficult. The removal of their power base wasn't going to be difficult by any stretch of the imagination. At best, the Albain brothers would be the most challanging aspect of the assassination. But there were still issues.

Primarily ones of convincing the Faunus of Menagerie that what they were doing was right. Most of the people on Menagerie couldn't give a rat's ass about what happened in the other four kingdoms so long as it didn't directly affect them. Presenting the White Fang as nothing more than a terrorist group that would just make life worse for Faunus in the long run would definitely galvanize the population to her side.

But to convince the people of Kuo Kuana of the dangers that the White Fang posed along with the evils that they had committed would be difficult. Very difficult, at that.

"Hey Blake," Sun called out, "Are you seriously still sulking in your room? It's been days."

"Sun, I'm planing."

She heard audible slap coming from just beyond her door, definitely Sun, "I know that! But at least let us help!"

"Sun, as much as you want to, I know the Fang and their tactics better than you ever will," Blake replied, "Just let me plan. Did you give out those pamphlets yet?"

"YES WE GAVE OUT THE PAMPHLETS!" Sun replied, obviously annoyed, "No one gave a damn…"

"That's not entirely true, Sunny boy," Terra countered.

Blake could practically hear Sun's eye's twitching, "You… wh… why did you call me Sunny Boy?!"

"Yeah, I did," Terra replied, "Anyway, Blake, some people actually took your pamphlets to heart, but most either didn't care or were to deep in with the Fang to give us the time of day."

"Did any say that they would help?" Blake called back out.

"None directly, no," Terra said, "None were really all that eager to join us, but the people who actually took the pamphlets did say they would consider it."

"Better than nothing, I guess," Blake sighed, opening her door to the two monkey Faunus, "Anything new on the Albain brothers?"

"Other than that they're still in their shrine? Nope, nothing new," Sun said, "They've got an increased presence around it, but other than that nothing's changed."

"Any way we could get in? Hack their systems? Maybe intercept some communications?"

"I did bug the area in and around the shrine," Terra said, "That should at least give us some info on what they're planning."

"Well, that's some good news, at the very least," Blake sat on her bed, looking at Sun, "Did you see any Fang members?"

"Few here and there, yeah," Sun replied, "I think they might have a camp to the east, though I'm not sure."

"How many?"

"I don't know, I was handing out pamphlets," Sun cheekily bit back, noticed Blake's relatively annoyed reaction and continued, "Half a dozen to a dozen were in the market when I went down there, other than that I don't know."

"I'd peg the number to be around five or six dozen, but that's a low-ball estimate," Terra commented, "With the number of people in Kuo Kuana, I wouldn't be surprised if there were upwards of two hundred Fang sympathizers, if not outright supporters."

Blake gave her chin an inquizitive stroke, "I'd bet you're right with the six dozen for their militia strength. I doubt all of them are fanatics, but…"

"Well, that's still six dozen possible threats," Sun pointed out, "Some of them are probably highly trained, like us."

"Yeah, Fang assassin's can rival hunters in some regards," Terra continued, "But there should only be three or four at most."

"And I think I know one," Blake muttered.

The two monkey Faunus turned to her, "Who?"

"Ilia," Blke said, "A chameleon Faunus. She's an old friend who's parents died in a dust mine accident."

"And you think she's one of them… why?" Sun asked.

"She's a very good fighter and someone who can blend in almost anywhere," Blake explained, pointing out the window, "She could literally be sitting right there and we probably wouldn't be able to notice."

The trio heard a rustling in the branches, "Oh come on, that's bull shit." Sun muttered, "We're going to investigate that, aren't we?"

Blake nodded, opening the window and drawing Gambol Shroud. As she leapt out, there was a black blur shot out of the tree, landing in front of her. The blur looked to be the shape of a young woman, one that quickly took off, dashing away from her.

"Come on! We can't lose her!" Blake shouted as she gave chase. Both Sun and Terra leapt out of the window, following suit to catch up to Blake. The chase began, the trio in pursuit of the nimble girl. Running to a more residential area of Kuo Kuana, she leapt up one of the buildings, using her weapon like a lasso to hoist herself up the side of the wall, where she began to run along the roofs of the buildings.

"Shit…" Blake muttered to herself, "We can't let her get away!"

Quickly, she ascended the wall, leaping from the ground to the ledge of the roof, followed by Sun and Terra in short order. The spy glanced back and growled, slashing at some of the rooftop piping of the houses, unleashing a cloud of vapours to distract and disorient her pursuers. Blake barreled through the smoke, continuing to chase after the spy. After running across a dozen or so rooftops, Blake reeled back her arm, throwing Gambol Shroud as hard as she could at the spy. The spinning blade was deflected by her prey, landing back in front of Blake, who quickly retrieved it.

"Who are you?" Blake asked, leveling both blades at her adversary, "Why were you spying on me?"

Her adversary gave her no response, however the colour of her skin did change to red, her blade extending out into it's whip form. It was then Blake realized the identity of the spy, "Ilia? Is that…"

"You shouldn't be here," Ilia responded, "You shouldn't have come back."

"And why's that?" Blake questioned, "Menagerie is a place where anyone can come and feel safe."

"You betrayed the Fang, Blake! We trusted you, I trusted you!" Ilia bit back, slashing at her friend with Lightning Lash. Blake swung Gambol Shroud, blocking her once friend's whip-blade, shooting a bullet back at the chameleon girl.

"I didn't betray anyone," Blake retorted, Ilia nimbly dodging the bullet, "The Fang changed, Ilia, you and I both know it!"

The two sets of blades clashed on the rooftop, Ilia gritted her teeth, Blake returning a low growl. The two dueled, though it quickly became clear that neither combatant actually wanted to harm the other. The fight finished shortly thereafter, Blake sheathing Gambol Shroud, Ilia doing the same for Lightning Lash.

"Soooo… that's your friend?"

Blake glanced over her shoulder as Sun and Terra made their way onto the roof she and Ilia stood upon, "Yup. Sun, Terra, meet Ilia, Ilia, meet Sun and Terra."

"While that's nice and all, I have some questions for you," Ilia huffed, returning Blake's attention to herself, "And I'm only going to ask it once. Why did you come back?"

"The Fang," Blake replied, "I'm here to stop them."

"We," Terra muttered again.

"Yes, we," Blake repeated, "We are here to stop the Fang."

"And you two?" Ilia gestured to Terra and Sun.

"Lady, I just followed Blake here," Sun said as he crossed his arms, "Couldn't have her getting hurt."

"And I was ordered to tail the two and keep them safe," Terra explained.

"So you want to stop The Fang," Ilia confirmed, receiving a nod from Blake, "Then you won't get any help from me."

"Why not? You and I both know all they're doing is worsening life for the average Faunus," Blake retorted.

"The Fang has done nothing but help Faunus. We've shown the world that we aren't afraid to hit back," Ilia said, earning a glare from Blake.

"Don't tell me you don't know what they did to Vale, to Beacon," Blake growled out. Ilia cocked her eyebrow, unsure as to what her former friend was talking about, "They attacked innocent people. They released Grimm into the city and into the school. That isn't showing the world that you're not afraid, it shows that you're crazy."

"But we… we didn't…"

"Adam cut off my partner's arm!" Blake yelled, "He nearly killed me!"

"You abandoned him!"

"ADAM'S INSANE!" Terra interjected, "Twice, he wanted to attack Vale. TWICE! He wanted us to kill innocent people just because he could!"

"Humans have to pay for their crimes," Ilia said, very sure in her tone.

"Humans?" Terra replied, "You do realize half the reason we one the Revolution is because Humans helped us, right? Or do they not teach you that here?"

Ilia huffed, "Still doesn't forgive all the things they did…"

"Alright, enough," Sun interjected, turning and pointing to Ilia, "Look, as much as you want to deny it, what the Fang did in Vale is wrong. What they did at Beacon is wrong. You may have prejudice against humans but whatever those prejudices are, there is no way you could justify attacking people who had nothing to do with anything."

Ilia glared at the three Faunus that stood before her, fist clenched at her side.

"Please Ilia, help us," Blake pleaded, "It's not too late. We can stop the Fang together, like back in the old days."

The chameleon girl looked to her once friend, a tear forming in her eye.

"I'm...I'm sorry Blake…" she said, her skin changing to reflect what was behind her, "I… I can't."

The Avenger… Operation Light the Dark, phase 1…

"We're ready Commander," Lily said, her voice coming through Summer's datapad, "The Warp Rift generator is online, all components are functional and in the green.."

"Tygan? Vahlen?" Summer asked as she flicked across her datapad.

"We'll be close at max capacity once the Warp Rift is open, Commander," Tygan replied, "That being said, all subsystems will still be online and The Avenger is completely sealed off from the outside. Life support systems are fully functioning."

"We are ready to proceed when you are," Vahlen continued,

"Alrighty then," Summer said as she turned to Bradford, who was currently meaning the pilot's seat, "Bradford, start it up. Let's get moving."

The Avenger's engines thrummed, lifting the 200 meter long hulking ship off the ground. The ship rose into the air, kicking up dust as they went.

"Activating Warp Rift generator," Summer said, pushing some dials on her datapad, the purple rift ripping a hole in space/time in front of the ship, "Are we stable."

"We're stable, as predicted," Vahlen said.

Summer's expression changed from one of nervousness to that of pure determination, "Bradford, we're good to go," she said, switching her datapad over to the shipwide intercoms, "All hands, we are entering the Rift, brace for warp. Templars, begin Solace."

Summer began to project a field of psychic energy around herself, encompassing the entire bridge area. Shortly thereafter, The Avenger entered into the Rift, the entire ship shuddering for a moment while it passed through the swirling purple hole in space/time.

"EVERYBODY HOLD ON!" Bradford shouted, "THIS SHOULDN'T TAKE VERY LONG!"

He was right and ten or so seconds after The Avenger passed through the Rift's opening, it exited. Right in front of a building.

"SHITSHITSHITSHIT!" Bradford jerked The Avenger to the side, narrowly avoiding the building. He sighed and slumped in his chair, "Ok… crisis averted… alright, Commander, where are we?"

"Well…" Summer replied, tapping some of the controls on the holographic display table, "Seems like we're in Mount Glenn. The place is famous for being infested with Grimm. Building a fort here would be difficult."

"So where would you suggest we move?" Bradford replied, "I'm only seeing a few dozen good spots to actually put down for a fortified area."

"Put us down southeast of Vale," Summer said as she marked Vale and the prospective area on the map, "It has some natural defences, it's on a hill. We should be good to set up shop there."

"Alright, taking us over now, probably be twenty minutes," Bradford acknowledged, "You think this is really a good spot?"

"It's probably going to be the easiest place to actually defend unless we set up right on top of Vale, so yeah," Summer replied, "Besides, it's close enough so the troops stationed here can help Vale."

"So we won't need the people to go to Vale?" Bradford asked.

Summer nodded, "Exactly, which means we can send the people who were supposed to be in Vale to Menagerie. Which means we can get them on our side easier."

Bradford nodded, but ultimately he didn't say anything, continuing to direct the Avenger towards the hill. Summer then left for one of the newly renovated facilities, around half of which had been converted into extra crew quarters so that more people could be brought on board. Currently, one of the rooms was taken up by Merek, Annette, Jake and Olivia, seeing as how Annette insisted on coming and she wouldn't leave the kids behind.

"Annette?" Summer's knuckles rapped on the door, "You home?"

Summer heard a groan and the rustling of bedsheets from the inside of the quarters, "Oui, Summer. Any news?"

"Well, we're on Remnant now, how are you feeling?"

"Well…" the door to the room cleanly slid open, "Jake just left to go see Shen. He wanted to get fitted for a set of Warden armour. Olivia and Merek…"

"Hold up, fitted for warden armour?"

"We'll, he's always wanted to fight on the front lines, so yeah," Annette rolled her eyes, ushering Summer inside, "I don't fully understand it, but he's a good shot, helped some of the militia back home with cleaning up Advent patrols a year or two before the war ended."

Summer sighed, following her to the table in the center of the room, "Fine, I'll let him. What about the other two?"

"Those two went down with Elena and Tisha," the french women said, the two taking seats next to each other, "Olivia wanted to try using one of those Shadow Lances she's seen them use."

"Well, I'm definitely not letting her join any operations," Summer noted, "She can use the weapons, but she isn't going out."

"Don't worry about that, I already made it clear. Besides, if Jake does want to go on a mission, his dad will go with him," Annette replied, "Anyway, excited to see your kids?"

Summer shuddered, "Well… yeah. I just hope they feel the same."

Annette rolled her eyes, "You're getting yourself far too worked up over that. Summer, your kids want to see you again, trust me."

"Depends," Summer sighed.

"On?"

"Whether or not Qrow and Tai told them the truth," Summer meekly replied.

"The truth?"

"I… I just…" Summer's was getting a bit anxious, her breath quickening.

Annette placed her hand on the slightly younger woman's shoulder, "Breath, mon amie. Then talk."

Summer took a deep breath, "Alright… I'm fine…"

"Now spill. What's wrong."

"So I've told you about how I married Tai, right?" Annette nodded and gestured for Summer to continue, "I lied."

"Hold on, what?"

Summer's shoulders slumped down, "Okay, so, when we were at Beacon, Qrow and I got into a relationship. I wanted to settle down, but Qrow said he didn't want to."

Annette's eyes flashed with purple, "So he's a womanizer?"

"Nonononono," Summer was taken back, shaking her head, "Not at all. He cared about me, all of us, actually, but his semblance involved Bad Luck. He always said the people closest to him get hurt, badly. He didn't want that for me."

"I always wanted kids. So after a year of convincing him with the help of Taiyang, we tried and I got pregnant," Summer giggled, "I remember something about him not wanting a kid so it would definitely happen."

"So how did that lead you to lying?"

"I'm getting to that," Summer said, "Anyway, two years before Ruby was born, Tai and his ex-wife, Raven, had a kid named Yang. Despite Tai being an amazing person and a great Dad, Qrow and I had to help take care of Yang when she was young. Mainly because she was a *bit* of a problem child."

"Well, when Ruby was born, Qrow and I had an argument. I told him that Ruby would need a father and Qrow said that he was too dangerous to be around his daughter for any long period of time," Summer began to tear up, "I said that I didn't care that he thought he was dangerous, he was still a part of our family and he said something like: 'It is precisely because I care that I can't be around.' Tai eventually calmed us both down and put forth an idea."

"And that was?"

"Well, the deal was something like him taking on the responsibility of being Ruby's father if Qrow felt that he would be too dangerous. Of course, I loved Yang like my own, so I also agreed to act like their mother until they were older. I made the demand that Qrow would also be involved in the family, because Ruby was his daughter. But we also agreed that if anything were to happen to any of us, we would tell Ruby the truth."

"And you don't think they did?"

Summer shrugged, "I… honestly don't know what to think. Qrow probably drank himself into a coma when they found out and Tai probably didn't know what to do, so he might have just took care of the kids and forgot about the agreement."

"So you're worried about them not telling your kids and them not taking the truth well?" Annette mused, Summer nodding solemnly in response.

"I just don't know what to say, do… how to act, anything really," Summer replied, "I mean, I've changed."

"Ten years of war will do that to a person…" Annette agreed.

"Tai and Qrow probably romanticized me, made me seem like this perfect person and I…" Summer paused, "I just don't want to not be what they wanted. What they think I am. Who they think I am."

"You're probably just as caring as you were back then," Annette assured.

"I… you're probably right…" Summer sighed, "I just hope they see it-"

Summer's datapad buzzed, "Commander, we've landed," Bradford's voice came through, "I've started scanning the surrounding area to prepare for the rest of the wave one troops to come through tomorrow. Anything else we need?"

"Set up a rotating guard, six to a squad, switch every two hours, for ten total. I'll go out for the first watch."

"Understood Commander," Bradford's voice blinked out.

"Well, Annette, I gonna go," Summer said, "And… thanks for letting me get that out. It wasn't the easiest thing to get off my chest."

"No problem," Annette replied, "Just be sure you tell her the truth."

Summer paused for a moment, "I will…"

Oniyuri…

"I've only heard stories of Oniyuri," Pyrrha muttered to herself, as the group of 5 continued to walk around the abandoned town, "I never thought that I'd ever actually see it with my own eyes…"

"This place feels like Mount Glenn…" Ruby remarked as she kicked a pebble with her foot.

"It is, in a way," Ren said, "Though where Mount Glenn was done under the supervision of Vale, Oniyuri was mainly done by some of the wealthy elite from Mistral."

"And it didn't turn out any different," Nora mumbled.

"Well, whatever this place is, it's creepy," Jaune said as he scratched his head.

Ren nodded in agreement, "There are a lot of bad memories here, it's bound to be creepy."

"So what do you think happened here?" Ruby questioned, "I've got a feeling that it wasn't abandoned for lack of trying."

"Probably a Grimm attack, from what my father told me," Pyrrha answered, "Though, honestly, I'm not really sure."

"I think I know…" Ren mused, his face saddening.

Nora looked over to her friend, "Do… do you think THAT did this?"

All Ren did was nod in dismay as Nora sniffled, remembering the fate of her home village. The other three of the group were at least somewhat confused by what the two childhood friends were thinking about, but decided it was best to leave it be.

"Sooooo…" Ruby said, determined to change the subject, "How far are we from Mistral?"

"I'd say around a week and a half if we don't get sidetracked…" Jaune said jokingly, "That also relies on the map actually being up to date."

"It's worked so far," Pyrrha replied.

"It's taken us off the path at least three times," Jaune rebutted.

"I'm pretty sure that was you, Jaune," Nora said.

Janue sighed, "Yeah, yeah, I get it. Blame m-"

Ren raised his hand, silencing his friend, "Something's coming."

Soft pattering of feet was heard off in the distance and the group of five unsheathed their weapons. They formed a circle, covering each direction and the sound of running drew ever closer.

"Where is that…" Pyrrha muttered, "ABOVE US!"

Quickly shifting Miló into it's spear form, Pyrrha launched the weapon at the assailant, only to find it knocked aside, embedded in a wall. The person let out a maniacal laugh, the blades on his wrist folding outwards.

As soon as the madman landed, Ren and Nora were on top of him. Nora swung Magnhild vertically down, barely giving the lunatic any time to dodge the strike. That being said, he sidestepped the swing, blocking Stormflower as he went. He planted his foot on the hammer, using it as leverage to push off and kick at Ren.

As Ren went down, Ruby, Jaune and Pyrrha engaged. Jaune was the first to the front, slamming his shield into the madman's face before cutting at him with a powerful downward slash. The assailant barely let up, blocking the strike and attempting to deliver a powerful kick to Jaune's stomach. He was cut short, however, when Pyrrha threw Akoúo̱ at him, striking him in his stomach, sending him flying.

This, however, did little to phase the man as he rolled out of the hit and launched himself at Pyrrha, performing two slashes with his gauntlet blades. The champion parried one of the strikes, though couldn't parry the second, resulting in a gash across her cheek. The man raised his hand for another strike as Ruby shot forward, her semblance plus the recoil of Crescent Rose sending her rocketing into the group's assailant. With a ton of force behind an exceptionally strong kick, she sent him flying through a nearby wall.

"Is everyone okay?" she calls out, as the five regrouped near the wall.

"He nicked my face," Pyrrha muttered, "I'm out of practice."

"Well at least you're still alive," Jaune said as he helped her stand up.

A maniacal laugh was heard from the hole in the wall where Ruby kicked the man. Everyone turned, "Whoever you are, we aren't looking for trouble."

"And yet, trouble seems to have found you…" The man said, stepping out of the shadows cast by the broken building. His smile was probably one of the most unsettling things any of the group had seen, ever.

"And who might trouble be?" Jaune growled.

"Trouble's gonna be a pancake soon," Nora muttered, hefting her hammer up.

"Who I am?" the man said, gesturing to himself, "Who I am is none of your concern to any of you. Well, not too you two," he gestured at Nora and Ren, "Or you two," he then gestured his hand at Pyrrha and Jaune.

"But you," he pointed directly at Ruby, "I'm very interested in."

"What do you want with her?" Pyrrah said defensively.

"Oh ho ho ho!" the man laughed, his grin widening, "I'm just here to whisk you away-"

"Like hell you are," Ruby gripped Crescent Rose tighter, "You aren't taking me anywhere."

"So the rose has thorns!" the man maniacally laughed, "Oh little flower, I never said I'd give you a choice!"

The man launched himself forward, catapulting off of Jaune's shield high into the air. Both Ruby and Pyrrha shifted their weapons into their ranged variant, laying down heavy fire on the lunatic. He responded by blocking the bullets fired, dodging the ones he couldn't block before landing. Nora, Ren and Jaune all proceeded to attack simultaneously, Jaune and Nora from the front and Ren from behind. While both Jaune and Nora were blocked by the assailant, Ren had managed to get a clear shot at his back. Moving in for the kill, Ren prepared to stab the man in the nape of his neck.

That was until, however, a scorpion tail shot out from the man's trench coat, smacking Ren across the chest, sending the green ninja flying. Nora, enraged, swung her hammer in an uppercutting motion, fully intent on taking the man's head off. That being said, he dodged the swing and returned the favor with a strong headbut and several slashes to the chest, all before he launched her back with a well placed kick to her sternum.

After kicking Nora, the man came after Jaune with his stinger, who blocked the extra appendage with his shield. Dropping the shield and side stepping out of the way, Jaune managed to land a hit on the scorpion man's center of mass with Crocea Mors. However, the man managed to spin out of the strike, slamming into Jaune's side with his tail.

Almost as soon Pyrrha rushed at the man while Ruby continued to lay down covering fire. Pyrrha thrust Miló's sword form forward, before swinging it in a deadly arc with enough force to decapitate anyone foolish enough to be standing in it's way. The man responded with a strike to the stomach. Pyrrha, annoyed, grabbed the man's weapons with her semblance, and thus the rest of him too, and threw him to the ground.

"Well, you do pack a punch, girl…" The man said as he pushed himself back up, "But it's not enough!"

In a feat of blinding speed, the man rushed the Invincible Girl, practically appearing in front of her in what was tantamount to the blink of an eye. Pyrrha barely had any time to react as the man's hand glowed purple, reaching for her face as his stinger came in for the kill.

Luckily, she didn't have to react.

Almost as fast as the faunus had gotten in her face, did he practically disappear, launched half courtyard away. Pyrrha glanced back at Ruby, who had holstered Crescent Rose temporarily, and instead was holding what looked like a silver string.

"Stay away from my friends," Ruby growled, redrawing Crescent Rose and igniting its energy blades.

The man grinned, "You really aren't making this easy, are you?" he shed his trenchcoat, "Ah well, the struggle's all part of the fun!"

He sprang forward. In response, Ruby twirled her scythe and struck him in the chin with it's back end, launching him into the air. She leapt up after him prepared and determined to finish him, only for the mad man's hands to glow purple as he grabbed and threw her face first into the ground.

Ruby groaned as she tried, and subsequently failed to get up, "My… My aura feels drained. What is that?"

"Ah well, looks like you weren't strong enough," the man said as he landed, "And it looks like you're coming with me!" his stinger reared back, ready to strike.

The stinger reared back for a final strike, aimed at her abdomen. The tail flew at her…

But no strike came. After a few seconds, Ruby looked up to see Qrow standing over her.

"Hey kid," Qrow said, "How's it going?"

"Uncle Qrow?"

"Well, well, well," the maniac said as he acrobatically leapt back, "This is exhilarating! A true hunter and Qrow Branwen no less!"

"And who the hell are you? And why are you chasing my dau…" The hunter paused, "Niece?" Qrow said, gesturing for the hunters in training to get behind him.

"Why, my name is Tyrian. Tyrian Callows," the now named Tyrian bowed, his stinger poking above his head as he did, "And as for why, I was tasked with the retrieval of this girl by my queen."

"Wait…" Ruby said, "I know you. You're the person that weird Grimm man told me about!"

"So you do know me!" Tyrian laughed, "But yes, her grace wants you, little rose and bring you to her is simply what I must do."

"Like hell you will," Jaune said defiantly.

"You put on a brave face, boy," Tyrian mocked, "And I'll get back to you later. But for now, you," he pointed at Qrow, "Lets see what you can do, Hummingbird!"

"You're on, ass-" Qrow was cut off as his opponent slammed into him at full speed, laughing as he did. Qrow managed to block the two strikes Tyrian threw at him, slashing vertically at him.

"Come on, we have to help him!" Ruby said as she managed to heave herself upwards. Pyrrha, however, moved in front of her friend, stopping her from entering the fray.

"Ruby, no," The red-head said, "Even if we did, all we would do is get in the way. They're moving too fast."

Jaune cocked his eyebrow, "Even for you, Pyr?"

"Yes," Pyrrha replied to Jaune, "I noticed it earlier, but his wrist blades were somewhat resistant to my semblance. On top of that, I've never faced someone as fast or as unpredictable."

Ruby looked back at Qrow, as he and Tyrian continued to strike at each other, their two blades clashing, sending sparks flying as they did. Qrow shifted his weight and sidestepped, causing Tyrian to lose his balance and fall forward a slight bit. Taking advantage of this, Qrow lashed out with a devastating kick to Tyrian's chest, sending him flying back. Qrow leapt into the air after him, bringing Harbinger down on the scorpion faunus' raised blades. The clash created a shockwave, breaking one of the nearby roofs.

Tyrian glanced at the broken roof, grinned maniacally and returned his attention to Qrow, who himself grinned back. Until, that is, Tyrian began firing from the two double-machine guns on his gauntlets.

"Come on, we have to do something!" Nora shouted, rushing at the scorpion man.

"NORA WAIT!" Jaune shouted as she attempted to slam her hammer down on top the maniac. It was, as expected, to no avail, as Tyrian swiftly disengaged from fighting Qrow, instead kicking Nora's leg's out from underneath her, causing her to fall. As she fell, Tyrian went in for the kill, both his hands glowing in their purple aura.

Pyrrha threw Miló again, forcing Tyrian to dodge off to the side, giving Nora time to get back up, where she swiftly retreated to the rest of her team.

"Don't get in the way!" Qrow ordered as he and Tyrian continued to duel. Ruby, rather than listening to him, decided to rush over to one of the buildings to gain a height advantage on the two.

"RUBY! W-. Oh, what's the point…" Jaune said, "Pyrrha, think you can hit some shots?"

"Definitely," his girlfriend replied, switching Miló to it's rifle form. Both she and Ruby began to fire at Tyrian, who seemed to dodge or block every single one of their bullets.

Ruby growled, condensing a small amount of Psionic energy into her palm, "Just like I practiced… breath, Ruby, breath…"

Ruby extended her palm outwards, unleashing a Volt at Tyrian. The silver arcs of electricity surged forward, striking the scorpion man, who became enraged at the attack. In the blink of an eye, he went from fighting Qrow being up right next to her.

"You'll pay for that!" he screeched, striking Ruby in the face as hard as his aura infused fist could, sending her crashing through one of the lower buildings. Ruby barely had time to get back up before Tyrian was right in front of her ready to stab her with the stinger.

He was going for the kill now, it was obvious for her to see. The world seemed to slow for her, as the stinger krept closer to her body. She heard the cries of her friends, of Qrow.

Then she felt something warm drip onto her.

Something red.

Blood.

Qrow stood above her, the stinger through his gut. He coughed and grinned weakly, "Sorry… kiddo."

Tyrian threw Qrow off the stinger, the man's body, smashing against a nearby wall, "And now, little flower," the maniac cooed, "For you…"

Ruby felt rage boil inside her, streaks of silver lightning emitting from her body, scorching the ground around her. All the people present noticed the lightning, their fears growing. Ruby stood up, cold fury in her glowing silver eyes. Tyrian took a step back, before regaining his courage and leaping at Ruby.

Ruby flicked her wrist, her psionic whip cracking Tyrian in the head, sending him careening across the courtyard. She thrust her hand forward, fully intent on killing the scorpion man for what he did, the psionic whip obeying. As Tyrian was about to get impaled through, Ruby instead had another, substantially more sadistic idea.

She willed the whip to instead wrap around Tyrian's tail. Tyrian was surprised by this but as the searing heat of the whip increased, he realized just how screwed he was. With a sharp pull, the whip cut clean through his tail.

"ARGH!" he screeched as he saw his stinger drop to the floor, "YOU… YOU BITCH!"

But Ruby wasn't done yet, as she willed the whip to take one more thing from the madman. The rope wrapped around his wrist, the raging heat causing Tyrian to scream in pain. Another sharp pull and Tyrian now had a cauterized stump for a hand. As he cupped his now stumpy hand, Tyrian shot a glare at Ruby, who herself glared back.

"YOU… YOU… The Queen… she'll forgive you," Tyrian raved, the lunacy obviously going to his head, "She'll forgive you for this…"

"Then tell her I'm coming," Ruby replied, "Now…"

"RUN."

A yelp was heard as Tyrian scampered away, his tail both figuratively and literally between his legs away from the brunette. As soon as he was out of sight, and the patterning of his feet couldn't be heard, Ruby's eyes stopped glowing as she rushed over to Team JNPR who were bandaging Qrow with what little medical supplies they had on them.

Unfortunately, they had no nanomedikits, which would've patched the wound up quite neatly, so they had to rely on gauze and cloth.

"Is he going to be alright?" Ruby asked fearfully, as Ren handed her back her weapon.

"I… I don't know," Jaune said, "His heart is still beating and he's still breathing, so yeah, he's alive."

"We have to go chase that bastard down!" Nora declared, "We can't let him hurt anyone else!"

Ren shook his head, "No, that would be far too risky. We don't know where he is now, so finding him would be difficult, if not impossible. We should just continue on the road to Mistral."

"But Ruby-"

"Nora," Ruby said, "I did that because I got mad. I don't think I could do that without someone getting me mad."

"Then we go to Mistral," Pyrrha stated as she stood up, "We don't have any time to waste."

"I agree, kid," Qrow groaned, his head lolling to look at the group.

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby exclaimed, tears of joy streaking down her face, "Are you…"

"I'm gonna be fine, Ru," Qrow replied, coughing once before continuing, "The poison was meant for you. Which means it wasn't meant to kill. Besides, even if my aura can't get the poison out of my system, it should be able to close up the cut."

He coughed again, "Hey, all of you…"

"What's your favourite fairytale?"

That's a wrap, hope you enjoyed, please leave a review and contact me if you have any questions.

Narsauce out.