AUTHOR'S NOTES: Didn't get quite as far as I'd hoped tonight, but I think Salem's grand reappearance can wait until next time. Quite a bit happening here as it is. Technically (get used to that word), this is the end of canon RWBY Season 7, but this story will continue on as Book 5.
The "Shepard Prayer" Ruby says is a reference to Alan Shepard, Jr., the first American in space. He famously said this just before being launched.
What Elm says at the end is "I don't speak English," and Marrow adds in French, "Me neither." Marrow is Canadian, after all; he's bilingual.
Near Kostrzyn, Republic of Poland
30 August 2001
I really hope this works, Ruby thought to herself as she watched her radar screen. The clouds obscured the GRIMM; she was at 30,000 feet, and they were below and ahead of her. Ruby closed her eyes and recited the Shepard Prayer: Please God, don't let me fuck up.
At that moment, the clouds parted beneath her, and Ruby could see the GRIMM formation. It was packed tight, in eleven wedges of five, staggered in altitude. Some were contrailing, but Ruby had a feeling that Salem didn't care if her drones were seen. They were there to die, but if even one got through and shot down the AWACS, it would be enough. "Ruby, Tally-ho! Bandits, course one-eight-zero, my eleven o'clock low. Raid count 55." Her voice broke on the number: it was classic GRIMM tactics, throwing more drones out than the defenders had missiles. In the far distance was the Oder River, and she could see the AWACS ahead and above. Haisla was standing its ground, trying to keep radar coverage as long as possible.
Her silver eyes registered movement. Ruby could see the three F-35s of Ace Flight, minus Elm, who hopefully was somewhere ahead of them with Nora—no, Ruby corrected herself, there's four F-35s! Dammit, Elm disobeyed orders. She was about to say something when Vine's voice came over the radio. "Ace Flight, check in. Vine locked."
"Harriet locked!"
"Marrow locked!"
"Elm locked!"
"Ace, Fox Three, salvo…now." Vine sounded bored. Not even Ruby's eyes could see the AMRAAMs launch at this range; the missile left no smoke trail. She glanced at her radar display. There were twenty miles between Ace Flight and the lead GRIMM echelon.
Ruby might not be able to see the missiles, but she saw their effect. The lead five-ship GRIMM element vanished in tiny sparks of light, and then the one behind lost three more. "Ace, Haisla," the E-3 reported. "Splash eight. Raid count now 47."
"Haisla, roger. Ace, maintain speed; Elm, assume CAP on Haisla with Nora." Ruby smiled and nodded, though naturally Vine could not see her. Vine had made a tactical call, and the correct one, adding Elm's two AMRAAMs to his flight—technically not disobeying her. Man, I got more to learn about this leadership stuff.
But that was for later; it was time to fight. "Rubies, Norns! Let's get in there! Fire at discretion!" She didn't want her seven aircraft waiting for her to make the call. Ruby switched on her radar and locked onto two GRIMM.
"Blake, Fox Three." The Tomcat had swung wide of Yang's wing and Blake fired her two Phoenixes. The huge missiles left a thick smoke trail as they climbed up to attack from above; Ruby thought they looked like two white claws. They struck moments later.
"Haisla. Raid count now 45."
"Haisla, Ruby, Judy," Ruby sent out; she didn't need a running commentary from the AWACS as a distraction. She accelerated, closing the distance. She was almost in range.
Haisla, to Ruby's surprise, ignored her. "Haisla, possible aspect change in target—Ruby, Norn, warning, bandits are splitting up."
Oh shit, Ruby thought, because she could see what the E-3 was talking about. The GRIMM formation was splitting up: about half of them were turning and climbing, back towards their tormentors behind them. The other half continued on their single-minded drive towards the AWACS. The range was now closing, way too fast. "Vine, Ruby!" was all she had time to say. "Hold position! We're going to merge!" One of the GRIMM rolled, giving her a view of its planform. "Climbing bandits are Beringals!"
"Ruby, Pyrrha, going high to backstop Ace. Ren, follow me." Ruby caught a glimpse of the F-22 and the J-10 climbing away, to get past the Beringals and help Ace Flight defend the E-3. Pyrrha started dropping flares, and succeeded in distracting a few of the Beringals. The odds were still heavily against Ruby Flight.
And then there was no time to think, because they were in the merge.
Blake threw out Gambol Shroud's decoys, then went to afterburner. The sudden appearance of five F-14s confused the electronic brains of a few of the Beringals for a moment, and Blake—who had switched to her two AMRAAMs—had that long to lock on and fire. "Blake, Fox Three." The two missiles shot off their rails and closed in on two Beowolves, the ones still headed for the E-3. The Beowolves broke formation, one going left, the other right. The one on the left almost dodged, but was fireballed a moment later; the AMRAAM on the right almost hit, but just missed. Blake mumbled a bad word and dropped out of afterburner to finish it off.
"Blake, break left!"
Blake snapped the Tomcat around and felt Gambol Shroud shudder as one of the decoys was hit, snapping the thin wire. She strained against the G-forces as a Beringal rolled in behind her, firing its cannon. She tightened the turn.
Yang saw her friend in trouble and cut across the GRIMM's turn. Side deflection shot. Gonna be tough. She didn't want to risk a missile with Blake so close. Yang was actually only average at math, so she eyeballed the shot without the gunsight in the HUD. Looks about right. She pulled the trigger, leading the Beringal. The drone detected her a fraction too late, ran into the shells, and was shredded. "Blake, Yang, tail's clear."
"Thanks," Blake puffed out, reversed her turn and went back into the fight, as Yang dropped in beside her.
Ruby blew past the Beringals that tried to intercept her, resisting the urge to duck as they went past. She dumped her drop tanks in her wake, hoping one of them might hit a GRIMM—the chances of that were about the same as Salem keeping her word, but the thought entertained her all the same. She spotted a Beringal making a long curve, headed for Yang, and skidded in behind it. It broke, but Ruby anticipated that. She switched to guns and opened fire. The twenty millimeter shells sawed the Beringal's left wing off and it went into a tight spiral, doomed by gravity now. Ruby went past and searched for another target, but then her eyes caught something else: below and to her left, she saw Weiss' Typhoon gunning down a GRIMM—but there was another stalking her, in Myrtenaster's blind spot. "Weiss, Ruby, you've got a Beringal on your ass!"
Weiss left off her burning target and threw the Typhoon to one side; the move saved her life, as the Beringal fired a missile. It chased a chaff cloud, and Weiss pulled off some speed and turned back into the Beringal—only for the GRIMM to do the same thing. They went into a scissors, but the Beringal forced Weiss out front. "He's on me tight." Weiss sounded more annoyed than afraid.
"I'm on him," Ruby called out. She rolled and dived, getting behind the GRIMM and Weiss. Her Sidewinders growled, but she couldn't be sure what the heatseekers were guiding on. "Weiss, Ruby…give me a shot here…breaaaak…now!" Weiss suddenly snapped upwards into a hard climb, and Ruby had her shot. "Fox Two!" She pulled the trigger, and a single Sidewinder was let loose. It guided and destroyed the Beringal just as the drone began to follow Weiss.
"Ruby, two Beringal, six o'clock high!" Yang's voice was shrill. Ruby twisted in her seat and saw the two GRIMM she had tried to hit with her drop tanks. She wondered if GRIMM could be programmed to get angry, because these seemed to be as they dived on her from above. Ruby wasn't left with much choice but to dive as well. She leveled out just above the tops of a forest below, and swore as cannon shells whipped over her canopy. She dodged them, but the GRIMM were now behind her.
Yang broke away from Blake and dropped the nose, locking on with an AMRAAM on the rearmost GRIMM and firing. It was a hip-shot, but it worked: the missile crossed the distance and obliterated the Beringal. It still left one on her sister, and Yang rolled to try and get in behind, only to be forced to break away as yet another GRIMM attacked her.
Ruby twisted and turned, pushing Crescent Rose to the limit, but the Beringal stayed with her, as relentless as the first one she'd fought just a few months previous over Twin Falls. It wasn't really fighter pilot etiquette to call for help, but she did, as she barely dodged a missile that blew up in the woods, confused by the ground return.
"Ruby, Weiss. He's mine." Ruby looked around frantically for the familiar shape of the Typhoon, but couldn't see Myrtenaster anywhere. "Ruby, break left!" Ruby pushed the stick to the left, vortices streaming from the F-16's wingtips and flanks as she made the turn. She had a split-second glimpse of the Typhoon roaring in, the trees bending in its wake, an IRIS just ahead of the Typhoon; had Ruby not made the break, it would have been odds-on which would have hit her first, the missile or Weiss. The Beringal vanished a second later, and Weiss barely vaulted the fireball. Ruby finished the turn and joined up on her. "Well, that was fun." she managed between breaths.
Pyrrha had let Ren take the lead, covering his tail as the J-10 caught up with the remaining Beowolves at the rear of the formation. Ahead of them, there was a swirl of a dogfight as Ace Flight engaged the van of the Beowolf formation. The GRIMM had, at least, given up their direct assault on the E-3 and were trying to defend themselves. A few managed to get through and headed for the AWACS; Pyrrha heard Vine calling out the leakers to Elm and Nora.
Ren blasted a Beowolf out of the sky, then caught movement in the corner of one eye. "Pyrrha, Ren, three Beringals, two o'clock high."
Pyrrha glanced in that direction. They were diving on Ren, not her; the GRIMM had not detected her yet, thanks to the F-22's stealth. "I see them. Break left; I'll take the Beringals." The J-10 made a hard left turn and dive, and Pyrrha rolled in behind the three ship. She fired a Sidewinder, blotting one from the sky, then made a slight shift right and fired another. The GRIMM finally realized someone was behind it, but it was too late for the second one, which went down in flames. The lead Beringal abandoned its pursuit of Ren and climbed away, but Pyrrha anticipated that: with one finger, she switched to guns; with three others, she pulled the F-22's stick back; with her other hand, she manipulated the thrust vectoring so that the Raptor slid on its tail. With one final finger, she pulled the trigger. The shells bifurcated the GRIMM. Pyrrha missed a breath as she flipped the F-22 end for end, pushed up the throttle, and resumed her course. "Pyrrha, splash three."
"Ren, splash two." Ren had dispatched another Beowulf. He'd only spared a quick look in the mirror, his trust in Pyrrha complete that she would cover him.
"Roger. Let's go help Ace. You have the lead." Pyrrha checked the sky around her. They were clear, so she fell in beside Ren.
"Pyrrha, Ruby. Joining up on your left." Pyrrha looked over and saw the four aircraft of Ruby Flight charging into the fight.
"Dragon Lead to Ruby! We're coming in from the northwest!" Pyrrha wondered who the hell Dragon Lead was. Her question was answered a moment later. "Dragon is four Fox Fifteens, groomed for GRIMM!"
"Marrow to Dragon!" Marrow sounded breathless. "Come on down! I've got ten of the bastards cornered!" Even through the mask and the radio, Pyrrha knew sarcasm when she heard it.
Ruby snickered at Marrow, but she saw the F-15s curve in from the north and begin engaging; she got a brief glimpse of the tailcode of one as it downed a Beowulf with a Sidewinder: LN. Lakenheath, she thought. Well, Ironbutt, it's about time you called in some damn reinforcements!
Ruby climbed and rolled inverted, to see where the leakers went. Elm and Nora were engaged now, but with Elm's F-35 loaded down with gunpods and Nora's A-10 being an A-10, they were not fast enough to get them all. One Beowulf skirted Team Thunder Thighs and headed for the E-3. Finally, Haisla dived out of the combat, the converted airliner's only chance at putting distance between it and the GRIMM.
"Not on my watch!" Ruby pushed the throttle forward and Crescent Rose ate up the distance. She made a split-S, raised the nose some, and ended up squarely behind the GRIMM. She selected her last Sidewinder, and it growled as it sensed the heat of the Beowulf. Eat this, mother-
The F-35 came out of nowhere, dropping in between her and the GRIMM. "Holy shit!" Ruby screamed, and her finger came off the trigger as if the stick had turned into a snake. Crescent Rose bounced, there was an audible thump, the throttle snapped back and out of her hand, and the F-16 suddenly stalled and dropped out of the sky. Hit the jetwash! Ruby thought frantically. Warning lights came on as the F-16 went into a flat spin. Sky and ground spun around her dizzingly, and Ruby resisted the urge to look, instead staring at her instruments to keep from getting disoriented. Okay, okay, altitude not too bad…hope there's no asshole GRIMM out there about to shoot me…nose down…come on, baby, you can do it… She pushed the stick forward as far as it could go—which on the sidestick F-16, wasn't much—and watched the altimeter. If the aircraft didn't recover soon, she was going to have to eject, which, Ruby reflected, would suck. C'mon, Crescent Rose, don't wimp out on me...
Finally, the nose came down enough that she tested the rudder pedals, and Crescent Rose started to respond. There we go. Okay, ease up on the throttle…here we go…ground's looking a bit close there, Rubes…little more power…power… She felt the F-16 bite into the air. Got it! Ruby engaged the afterburner and hauled back on the stick, and the fighter made a nice pullout with plenty of room to spare. Who the hell was that?
As Ruby climbed back into the flight, she saw the Beowulf she'd been ready to shoot going down, burning. A F-35 rode the kill for a slight distance, then pulled out and climbed as well, but not before Ruby saw the tail marking. Harriet.
"They're running!" Nora's voice resounded across the radio net, and Ruby's rage against Harriet took a back seat to shock. It was true: the GRIMM suddenly broke off the dogfight and fled east. Ruby watched, her eyes wide. She had never seen GRIMM run before, not like this. She had never heard of GRIMM running like this. In military parlance, the drones were routing.
It took the fighter pilots by surprise, but not for long. Now it became a race, as the pilots got themselves sorted out and turned around and chased down the GRIMM. A few managed to get away, as even Dragon Flight ran out of ammunition, but very few.
Ruby spotted a Beowulf down low, and her radar locked on. 30 miles. Extreme range for an AMRAAM. Nah, don't do it, Ruby. You're just pissed, and you're not going to pull that trigger out of spite. You're not. It would be dumb. Besides, who knows when you'll resupply? It'll never hit. You'll be wasting a missile. It'll never—
Ruby pulled the trigger. The AMRAAM was gone in a blur, and she followed it as the missile descended. Fifteen seconds passed, and Ruby shrugged; a miss, like she had thought. Then there was a blossom and trail of flame that ended in some poor Polish farmer's cornfield. Ruby smiled despite herself. "I guess I do feel better," she sighed. Then she gave it some thought. "No, I don't."
As she turned to rejoin her flight, Ruby caught the flash of something, sunlight off metal, or a canopy. She instantly looked in that direction, and saw something up high, probably around 60,000 feet. It was headed east as well, and Ruby dismissed it. Probably a recon-hell, maybe a SR-71. She checked her radar; there was nothing on it. Oh well. I got enough problems. She promptly forgot about the speck as she circled around for Weiss to join up.
Poznan-Krezsiny Airbase
Poznan, Republic of Poland
30 August 2001
Ruby taxied Crescent Rose into its hardstand. Vogelmord gave the crossed arms signal to shut down the engine, then pointed to the almost empty hardpoints—she had brought back one AMRAAM-and grinned. Ruby pulled off her oxygen mask and opened the canopy as he put the ladder in place. "Hey, how many you get?"
"Four," Ruby growled. She quickly unstrapped, and Vogelmord, noticing the murderous look on her face, quickly retreated back down the ladder. Ruby climbed out of the F-16, slid down the ladder, pulled off her helmet and tossed it to Vogelmord, then stomped out of the hardstand, headed to Ace Flight's section. Yang quickly caught up with her, helmet under one arm. "You gonna kick Harriet's ass?"
"Yep," Ruby snapped, putting special emphasis on the p.
"I saw what that sawed-off little shit did. I damn near popped her with an AMRAAM." She matched Ruby's stride. "I got your back, sis."
"Thanks."
Ace Flight had just shut down their engines. Ruby passed Vine's aircraft first, just as he stepped out of the cockpit; he looked at them quizzically. Next was Marrow's, who hesitantly began to follow. Neither of them had seen what had happened.
Elm had, but as she levered herself out of the cockpit, Ruby and Yang were already past and heading into Harriet's hardstand. Harriet was out of the aircraft, beaming at her crew chief, her back to Ruby as she held up three fingers, her helmet in her other hand. Ruby came up to her, grabbed her elbow, whipped Harriet around, and shoved her into the side of the F-35. Taken by surprise, Harriet stumbled and nearly fell, dropping her helmet. "You fucking little bitch!" Ruby shouted. "What the hell?"
"What's your problem, Rose?" Harriet snapped back.
"My problem!" Ruby's eyes blazed. "Didn't you see me, you stupid ass? On that last Beowolf? You dropped in right in front of me! Another half second and I would've put a Sidewinder up your tight ass!"
Harriet pushed off the F-35 and got into Ruby's face. "There was plenty of room for me to get that Beowolf!"
"There was plenty of GRIMM!" Ruby yelled.
Elm came around the corner, with a crowd of pilots and ground crew behind them. She jogged over, only to be stopped by Yang. "This is between the two of them," Yang told the big woman.
"Get out of my way," Elm hissed. "She's my wingperson."
Yang put her helmet on the ground. "She's my sister. Not a fucking chance."
"Look, as usual, you were too damn slow. I got the kill. End of story," Harriet told Ruby. "Now piss off. You're supposed to be—"
Ruby got a double handful of the front of Harriet's flight suit and slammed her back into the F-35. "You hit me with your jetwash, you chucklefuck!" Ruby screamed. "I stalled out and went into a flat spin! I almost bought the goddamn farm because of you, you Limey shithead!"
Elm shoved Yang to one side with surprising ease, took two steps forward, grabbed Ruby, and threw her backwards. Ruby did fall, but rolled to her feet. "Now that's enough," Elm said. "I saw what happened." She turned back to Harriet. "You screwed up, Bree, and you know—" She was interrupted by Yang grabbing her shoulder, spinning her around, and planting a metal fist into Elm's face. Taken as much by surprise as Harriet was, Elm went down. She looked up from the ground, spit blood from a split lip, and slowly got back up. Yang's fists were raised. "Touch my sister again and I will put your fat ass in the ground," Yang snarled. "You want to go?"
Elm raised her fists as well, which were much bigger than Yang's. "Ja, I want to go." She bounced around on the balls of her feet with surprising litheness. "We'll see who gets buried today."
Who would've thrown the first punch would never be known, because with a strangled scream, Harriet ran out from behind Elm and tackled Ruby to the tarmac. Ruby brought up her arms to protect her face as Harriet punched at her, then threw her body weight to one side, pitching them both over. Elm and Yang looked at their friend and sister dumbfounded, though both still had their hands up to fight. Vine ran forward, still wearing his helmet—which was a good thing, because Nora nonchalantly stuck out a boot and tripped him. Vine stumbled and landed hard. Marrow dashed forward to grab Weiss, who was trying to get to Ruby, and the two ended up intertwined with each other. The others crowded around, and Ren and Blake tried to push past to break up the fight, to no avail. Ground crews cheered their respective sides as Ruby delivered two solid blows to Harriet's face, only for Harriet to punch her hard in the side. They rolled away from each other and got to their feet, Harriet bleeding from the nose and Ruby coughing from the punch.
"Come on then," Harriet motioned her forward, grinning. "I'll give you all you want, you cunt."
Ruby couldn't think of something appropriate for that, so she just straightened as best as she could, balled her fists, and took a step forward. Yang and Elm looked at each other, neither sure if they should stop the fight, watch the fight, or start fighting each other again. Someone was yelling, but over the sound of cheering and money beginning to change hands, no one could hear them.
They heard something else, however: the sound of a pistol shot. The crowd ducked as one, and Ruby and Harriet froze. The din quieted, and Pyrrha stepped through the crowd, lowering her pistol. "That is quite enough!" She looked around. "What is wrong with you? Salem's forces are less than sixty miles away, and you're acting like it's Friday Night at the Fights!" She pointed towards the sky. "You think today's attack was it? You think she won't throw more GRIMM at us in an hour or two?"
"I quite agree." Vine got through the crowd. "We need to be refueled and rearmed immediately. None of this."
"She almost killed me!" Ruby protested, pointing at Harriet.
"Then we will take care of it," Vine said evenly. "Might I remind you that both of you could be arrested for what you just did? And you two?" He directed his gaze at Elm and Yang, who looked somewhat penitent. "Get back to work. All of you."
"Pilots, debrief in five minutes in the 77th ready room," Pyrrha ordered. "Ruby, go get yourself cleaned up, and remember who you are."
The crowd dispersed quickly. Weiss managed to get untangled from Marrow, who smiled apologetically, wagged his tail a few times, and made his way over to Vine. Elm and Yang regarded each other, and Elm laughed. "You hit pretty good for a shorty."
"Ha!" Yang smirked. "You'll tell your mama that a shorty kicked your ass." But there was humor in the words. She went over next to Ruby. "C'mon, Mike Tyson."
Pyrrha holstered her pistol, reached into a pocket of her flight suit, and withdrew some tissue, handing it to Harriet. She looked at it and wiped her nose on the back of her hand. "Go away."
"What is your problem?" Marrow asked.
"Oh, didn't you know?" Harriet adjusted the collar of her flight suit, which had gotten twisted in the fight. "She killed Clover."
Pyrrha's eyebrows rose, and Elm shook her head. "That's enough, Harriet. You're in enough trouble after what happened today."
"She killed him!" Harriet shrilled, turning heads; Ruby and Yang stopped, wondering if another fight was about to start. The diminuitive pilot took a step forward, thought better of it, and settled for just stabbing at Pyrrha with a finger. "You killed him," she repeated, and to those who were close enough, they were surprised to see tears in Harriet's eyes. "When he went over to Schleswig to meet that CIA chick, he was distracted. I could tell! I knew him, you know!" Another poke with the finger; Pyrrha did not react. "I knew him. And if he hadn't been distracted, he wouldn't have gotten killed. He wouldn't have! He'd be leading us today!" Harriet did finally reach forward and grab Pyrrha's flight suit; Yang grabbed Ruby before the fight could recommence. "You killed him, Pyrrha! You killed him!" She was openly crying now. "Just like your other boy—"
"Quiet." Pyrrha's voice was bitterly cold, and it silenced Harriet immediately. "You will not speak Jaune Arc's name like that, Flying Officer Bree. You are not worthy of it." She grabbed both of Harriet's hands and pulled them away from her. "I did not kill Clover Ebi. Tyrian Callows did. I do not know what your issue is with me, or Ruby, or anyone else in this squadron, but it will end here, now, or I swear that you will not return from your next mission, Harriet Bree."
"Whoa, whoa," Marrow said, putting his hands up defensively. "Calm down, eh?"
"I am quite calm," Pyrrha replied, turning her jade eyes on him; Marrow did not like at all what he saw in them. "But accidents happen in the air, just as they did today. And I have had quite enough of having to deal with Salem in front of me and a fire behind me, either a jumped-up little tart or the head of the Central Intelligence Agency." She turned back to Harriet. "Now either learn who your allies are, get over yourself and a dead man, or you and I will settle this elsewhere." Pyrrha pronounced the words like a death sentence. Leaving those words in the air, she turned on one foot and walked away, leaving a stunned group of pilots behind her—both Ace, Ruby and Norn.
"Uh, hey." They turned next to a USAF pilot. If there was a prototype fighter pilot, this man was it: he was tall, well-built, his hair slicked back and blonde. "I came at the wrong time, huh?"
"Who the hell are you?" Blake asked.
"Aaron Foulke, Major, 48th Tactical Fighter Wing." He gave them a winning grin with perfect teeth. "Dragon Lead. Or Dragon Lord—that's what they call me at Lakenheath." He laughed, but no one joined in. "Um. Well, anyway…wow, this is awkward. I'm supposed to report to commander, 77th Tac Fighter Squadron."
Ruby looked towards Pyrrha, but the Greek girl never stopped walking away, towards the barracks. "I guess that's me," she said. "Colonel Branwen's…somewhere." She had checked as she taxied in; her uncle's F-117 was nowhere to be seen.
"There was a hell of a furball up around Chojnice. He might've gone that way. We were headed that way when Haisla diverted us." Foulke tried another grin. "Glad we did too. Got three. Puts me at 22." Ruby did return the smile this time; at least Foulke could walk the walk, then. "Not sure what happened up there." He shrugged. "Anyway…like I said, this is really awkward." He scratched the back of his head. "There's a squadron of Fifteens headed down from Lakenheath; should be here later."
Ruby realized that Foulke was trying not to say what he was here for. "Major, please," she sighed.
"Right." Foulke shook his head. "We're here to relieve you. The 77th is ordered back to Lakenheath, immediately. We'll take over here at Poznan. Orders straight from SACEUR."
"Ironwood," Weiss said.
"Yeah, afraid so." Foulke shook his head again. "It sucks, okay? I've heard of you folks. I wish you were staying. From what they told us back home, a whole world of hurt from this Salem chick is about to fall on us here."
Ruby was quiet for a moment. "Major, did your orders say specifically that we were to leave for Lakenheath immediately?"
Foulke nodded. "Yeah. Ironwood called me himself. He said he wanted the 77th out of his AO as soon as we landed, or he was going to have all of you arrested or something. His words, not mine." He shrugged. "I don't know if he meant that last part. I mean, I damn sure wouldn't do it."
"Out of his AO, huh?" Ruby got a crafty look on her face. She looked at them—Weiss, Blake, Yang, Ren and Nora. "Is Swidwin technically in Ironwood's AO?"
"Not technically," Blake answered. "I mean, that's the Happy Huntresses' base. They don't take orders from Ironwood."
"So, technically, if we went there, we would be out of his AO, right?" They all began smiling, except for Ren, who simply looked noncommittal. Ruby turned back to Foulke. "Major, you didn't hear that, okay? You totally didn't hear that we may or may not head over to Swidwin and go say hi to Robyn Hill. And until you sign in at the base office, you technically haven't landed, so we can refuel and rearm, and whistle up some transportation for our ground crews."
Foulke adopted an innocent look. "Huh? I'm sorry, Captain Rose, did you say something?" He snapped his fingers, as if he had just remembered something. "Say, did I see a F-23 back there? I gotta check that out." He winked and began walking away, whistling.
Ruby Flight also began to walk off, but Vine cleared his throat. "Captain Rose." Their eyes met. "We also did not hear what you just said, did we?"
"Ich spreche kein Englisch," Elm said.
"Moi non plus," Marrow added. Harriet was sullenly silent.
"Thanks." Ruby gave him a tired smile. "Well, ladies…" Ruby said to her friends, "shall we go disobey orders? Again?"
"Huh?" Yang gave her sister a strange look. "Technically we're not!"