(A/N) So… uhh… been a while. Didn't mean to keep y'all waiting for six goddamn months, sorry. Was focusing on another fic for a while, then I had eye surgery and got off my writing horse altogether for a month or two. Hopefully, it doesn't take as long this time around.

Still, I gotta thank this story's Beta reader for being patient - Wesley was on me just about the second I said the first draft was done. So uhh… thanks man.

Aaaand if you guys wanna yell at me for my bloodlust, here's an invite to my Discord server 3jf9w8u Just know that I am not responsible for the horrors you may find within...

Chapter Six

The Albuquerque Blitz

/-\ Ruby Xiao Long /-\

I gasped, paralyzed by the… the monster in front of me. I was instantly reminded of the funny-looking bugs from Starship Troopers – how I laughed at how silly they looked in that movie. I wasn't laughing now, with a monster made of claws, spikes, chitin, and hatred eying me up like a juicy steak.

That was when Blake stepped forward, putting herself – and her pistol – between us three and… it. After a moment, Yang's arm pushed me behind her as well. I could see her shake – I could see both of them shake.

I did too, my breath quickening as I took a step backwards on the dingy carpet, thigh brushing past the worn and sturdy-looking coffee table. All in the sudden, distant gunfire broke out – automatics, it sounded like. Before I could even take my gaze off the window, a bang assaulted my ears.

Blake had fired her pistol.

By the time I refocused on her, she'd already fired thrice more, my gaze catching the spray of neon yellow blood out of the creature's skull as it plastered onto the far wall. The monster screeched as it leaped forward, impaling Blake in her stomach and tackling her to the-

She vanished.

In a moment, more shots rang out, Blake's angry and fully-intact form charging the creature from the kitchen as the creature's spike-like leg landed only an inch from Raven's unconscious body. Somehow, she bumpfired her weapon, spitting the rest of the magazine's contents from the barrel faster than any of us could blink.

The quadrupedal creature stumbled, looking up dazedly at Blake as she delivered a powerful kick that sent it out the living room's window and onto the yard. Before we could even think about catching our breath, two more of those things jumped down from the hole in the ceiling, one even landing on Blake.

Yang instantly dove at the creature, grabbing its wrists and grappling with it. The other creature locked eyes with me, scuttling forward as its jaws snapped excitedly. I gasped. "No, no, no!" I shouted, desperately dodging its first swipe, but not its second.

Thumping against the wall, I yelled in pain. My aura took it – and the TV tray that landed on my head, too – but I didn't know how long that would last. I scrambled away just as the creature's legs splintered the floor where I laid a moment ago.

Glass shattered once more, shards exploding around the creature's mandibles. It paused its assault, another glass sailing past its head a moment later. "Get away from her, you freak!" Weiss shouted, another glass in her hands.

It hesitated, gaze flicking to her for a moment. I dove towards the fallen TV tray, shooting to my feet and using it as a shield when the monster came for me again. Its talons pierced the wood easily, scraping off my aura in the process. I twisted the tray, diving on top of it and pinning the monster's arm to the ground.

Weiss grunted in effort, drawing my gaze just in time for me to see her overturn the coffee table onto one of its legs and jump onto it. The monster screeched as the blunt but thin wood dug into its exoskeleton, crunching the appendage into nonfunctionality.

It squirmed beneath me, trying desperately to escape. In the background, I heard Yang and Blake struggle to take their opponent down, the sickening crunch of bones bouncing off chitin reverberating through the room.

I desperately hung on, trying to keep the alien immobilized as Weiss got up, hefted the still-boxed ceiling fan upwards, and brought it down on the creature's skull with a cry of fury. It screeched as she lifted it up again, arms shaking. The next strike brought a wail from the creature, but it still squirmed beneath my weight.

I wiped spittle and neon blood from my face as the third hit came, the box dented and covered in gore. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the creature barely twitching as it tried to raise its head once more, one mandible hanging by a fleshy thread while the other was bent and deformed.

Her last blow came down and completely crushed its skull, the body going still after only a moment. I didn't even think about resting, scrambling to my feet and unhooking the TV tray from its arm before rushing towards the beast that still battled my sister and our friend…

…only to see it slump to the ground, its armor plating almost completely destroyed by Yang's knuckles and Blake's boots, both stained neon yellow.

Just as we breathed a sigh of relief, the first monster – the one Blake had shot repeatedly and kicked out a window – slowly stood up outside, screeching. I barely had time to brace before it jumped back through the window, taking an opportunistic swipe at Weiss and sending her to the ground.

I swung my TV tray, breaking it over the monster's back. Just as I jumped away, a black form leaped through the shattered window, impacting the creature and sending it into the wall.

"Get away from my family!" Penny shouted, her dog-like robotic form looking ready to pounce.

The creature slowly started to get its bearings, but I didn't stand around waiting for it to make its next move. I charged, batting away its claws with a swing of one of the TV tray's legs that I still other got slammed into its jaws as hard as I could, but it wasn't enou-

Blake kicked it, ramming it through as the stick came out the other side of its neck. It instantly went limp, only the occasional twitch of its jaws telling us that it had ever been alive in the first place.

I sighed in relief, the threat having passe- I stiffened. "Weiss!" I shouted, running over to her groaning form, still on the floor. "Weiss, are you okay?"

"Y- Yes." She sat up, groaning as she did so. "My aura took the hit. I'm just… not used to this, is all." She said. "What about you? I saw you get thrown into the wall earlier."

"My aura took that too." I helped her to her feet, looking at Blake and Yang. "And you two're good?"

Blake nodded. "I am, but I would really appreciate a better weapon than whatever this thing is." She said, holding up the spent pistol.

At our feet, Raven groaned, squirming on the floor.

"Umm…" Penny let out. "What do we do with… with… errProfaneDesig!Raven?"

Yang crossed her arms. "Well, we're not leaving her here." She said, bending down and throwing her unconscious body over her shoulder. "She said she did this on purpose. I just…" She sighed. "I need to know why."

I nodded to her. "Penny, is there anything telling people where to go for situations like this?"

"Scanning…" The robot said. "The nearest safe location would likely be the military garrison established at the start of the invasion in Bear Canyon Open Space. It is approximately zero-point-six miles from this location as the crow flies."

"Well, that seems like as good a plan as any." Blake said, tossing her pistol away. "Let's load her up into the van and head out."

We all nodded, following her out the door. Just as we did so, a massive explosion bloomed into the distant sky, the sound reaching us a couple seconds later. The gunfire resumed afterwards – rifles, heavy machineguns, and even heavier stuff.

Out of the bellowing black smoke cloud – the remnants of the gigantic fireball – a large and purple floating disk emerged. As it lumbered forwards, lights shone on its underside. Plasma shot forth, striking the ground beneath it.

Just as suddenly as the UFO appeared, the deafening roar of fighter jets assaulted our ears. I looked up just in time to see two pairs of F-22 Raptors zooming towards the alien craft. Their bay doors opened, launching dozens of missiles in one go.

As the missiles rocketed towards their target, the UFO shot green globs of plasma at the attacking aircraft. Three were destroyed outright while one managed to break off just in time to only clip the wing, completely disintegrating it and sending the aircraft into a flat spin. The canopy blew off a moment later, the pilot jetting to safety as the plane spiraled towards the ground. Seconds later, a new, smaller fireball rose up from the crash site.

Finally, the missiles impacted the alien craft. Nothing seemed amiss – like they had absolutely no effect whatsoever. I read somewhere that our missiles had to hit a very small part of a UFO to have any effect, and that the alien point defense tended to shoot down any missiles launched from their typical range.

All of that meant those three pilots died for nothing.

My fists balled up as I stared at the ship, willing it to- A single, massive explosion rocked its hull, purple flames and blue smoke bellowing out of the gnarled metal at its front. Ever so slowly, it began ascending into the deep blue sky, gradually fading from our view.

We all glanced at each other for a moment. "I believe it is time for us to leave." Penny said, hopping into the back of the still-open van.

"Y- Yeah, what she said!" I shouted, jumping in after her. I snagged one of the laser rifles from the pile, Raven's body hitting the mattress as I passed it on the way to the passenger seat. I rolled down the window and pointed my weapon outside, eyes on the lookout for any aliens in our path. My sister opened the driver door, leaping into her seat and quickly mounting her phone onto its holder on the dashboard; the GPS pulled up.

Two loud bangs came from behind us – the rear doors shutting. "All in!" Blake shouted.

Not a moment later, Yang hit the gas, the tires squealing as they struggled to find purchase. The engine roared as we finally rocketed forward, whipping around an otherwise gentle curve…

…just in time to see a fleeing man get gunned down by one of those big things.

My eyes narrowed, flicking my rifle to automatic and opening fire as we drove by. Its pained roar faded into the distance as we sped away, our vehicle turning another corner as the alien fell to its knees.

Both plasma and yellow tracers flew between buildings only a few blocks ahead of us. My sister gasped, yanking the wheel to the side only a moment later. The van reared up on two wheels as it just barely made the turn onto another side street, slamming back down onto the pavement.

"That was our exit!" Yang shouted. "Penny, which way?!"

I looked back ahead of us just in time to see a semi-truck fly past us – its humongous and boxy trailer set ablaze by alien weapons fire.

"In three-hundred feet, turn left." Penny said.

Green plasma flew past our windshield and I whipped around, firing out the window at the two Greys on the sidewalk. They collapsed, landing next to the body of a little girl they stood over.

"How far is three-hundred feet?!"

Behind me, I heard glass crack. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Blake leaning out of the now-glassless driver-side bay window, a rifle in her hands. My attention was stolen away as something big peaked out from the buildings ahead of us to our left. A blue shot erupted forth, striking the van just above my head and tearing off the roof.

I yelped, flinching back into my seat as Yang swerved, another bolt of blue passing only feet from my face. Coming to my senses, I stood up, braced myself against the seat, and laid down suppressing fire over my sister's head at whatever the hell was shooting at us.

As it turned out, it was a gigantic combat mech.

The same model that was responsible for Ren and Nora's deaths.

I immediately shifted my aim to its left leg, trying to shoot out one of the many joints that glued the overcomplicated things together. A second burst of lasers joined my semi-inaccurate fire – the vehicle throwing us both off.

It was still enough to knock it over, but not before it sent another blast screaming over my head. I yelped, ducking back down into my seat as it wobbled and fell over, blocking the street.

"The way is now inaccessible." Penny said. "Calculating alternate rou-"

"What the ever-living fuck is going on?!" Raven shouted, now apparently awake.

I didn't have time to look back at her. Instead, I raised my rifle and shot out of the window's remains at a group of big green aliens that had a pair of armed civilians pinned behind a waist-high brick fence. As we sped past, the aliens turned towards us, giving the civilians a chance to poke their weapons out and open fire.

"Penny, where to?!" Yang shouted, swerving around the burning hulk of a car in the middle of the road. Right on the other side stood a pair of Greys, plinking away at a building with their green guns. Before they even had the time to turn towards us, they were already under the van's tires.

"Turn right at the next block!" Penny shouted. Yang did so, the tires screeching on the asphalt. Yang screamed as we saw what lay in front of us, stomping on the brakes. A giant, silvery-white disk floated above the street, big guns pointed towards the burning wreck of three military Humvees and a dozen dead soldiers. "Reverse immediately!"

A laser shot out from behind me, striking the disk in the back. "Shoot it!" Blake shouted.

More lasers joined the first as I shouldered my own laser rifle, pelting the hull of the alien craft as it turned towards us. The van finally began to reverse as the floating disk completed its turn, the marred surface – deeply gouged and pockmarked from both ballistic weapons and our lasers – beginning to form seams, to morph into a different form.

…that was completely and utterly bristling with plasma guns.

Yang yanked the wheel, sending all of our shots wide, but also dodging the disk's attacks. Then the van rammed into a parked car, lurching me into the center console. My sister threw the vehicle back into drive, but nothing happened. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" She shouted, to no avail.

"Scatter!" Blake shouted, leaping out of the van's torn-off roof with her sword in hand.

Shakily, I reached for my door handle and spilled out onto the ground, groaning. I forced myself to my feet, shouldering my rifle. I nearly dropped it again when I saw how Blake dodged and weaved through the green globs that aimed to end her. Behind cars, around lampposts, even simply twisting in midair, she dodged them all and still had enough time to plink away with her sword/pistol.

Finally, I got up, darting around the parked – and trashed – Honda Civic that Yang backed into. In a flash, she was next to me, big laser gun in her hands. We both stood up, bracing our weapons against the car's roof before opening fire on the disk.

Red streaks pelted its position, but something must've been off with our weapons – I'm pretty sure not a single one of Yang's blasts actually landed while only one of my own did. Either way, we succeeded in getting its attention.

As its smoldering and bent form shifted towards us, we both ducked down. More laserfire boomed out from beyond our cover, but I certainly couldn't see it. "Get out of there!" I heard Blake shout.

I didn't need to be told twice and neither did my sister. We both bolted to a half-ruined building behind us, plasmafire right on our heels as we stumbled over the loose bricks that had once been a wall. I hissed in pain, one of them striking my aura just as we ducked back into cover.

Yang opened her mouth, but before she could speak, the loudest gun I'd ever heard cut her off. I instantly threw my hands over my ears, trying to drown out the endless drumming of a machinegun. After a few moments, the shock wore off – ears adjusting to the new and semi-distant noise.

Peaking back around the shattered wall, I saw someone on the gun of the least-wrecked – but still totaled – rear Humvee. Their helmet was missing and blood ran down the front of their grey gas mask, but they were still very much alive. Glass shattered to my right, and I saw Yang poking her lasergun out a window before opening fire.

I joined her, bracing my own weapon against the broken brick wall and opening fire. The disk's back was turned, firing at Weiss and Raven's position behind another parked car across the street. Time slowed to a crawl as one burst of plasma sailed directly towards her white-haired head…

…and magically curved away, a touch of purple tinting the otherwise-green projectile.

Still, the car they hid behind began to smoke. Raven grabbed Weiss by the back of her shirt, diving behind a decorative wall just before the vehicle exploded. One of its doors flew off the hinges, impacting the wall I hid behind and visibly denting it, the roof sagging another few inches.

My eyes widened. "Out of the building!" I shouted, sprinting back through the shattered wall. Sparing a look behind me, I saw my sister dive through the window and scramble forward…

…just as the building collapsed.

/-\ Blake Belladonna /-\

I rolled to the left, dodging another blast from the mechanical disk thing. Before I could do anything else, the building that my friends hid inside collapsed and kicked up an opaque wall of dust. "Yang!" I shouted. "Ruby!" Before I even knew what I was doing, my feet carried me into the clou-

I let out a yelp of pain, plasma striking my back. Quickly diving into cover, I assessed my options. With a sad sigh, I muttered an apology before leaping back up and charging the disk. It was in the middle of turning towards the machinegunner perched atop the destroyed army car and clearly I couldn't distract it anymore.

Plan A was out the window, I had to end this now.

With that thought, I shifted Gambol Shroud into its sword form and took a chance. Leaping up, I landed on one of its sides – the side not currently taking high-caliber machinegun fire – and plunged my sword into its metal innards through a gap in the armor plates.

The disk immediately started wobbling and randomly shooting, plasma flying into buildings and cars that lined the west side of the street. I yanked my weapon out, jamming it back into a different place. This time, the craft stopped mid-air, a single poof of smoke venting out through its sides before it was engulfed in flames.

I jumped away, Gambol Shroud red hot, as the robot crashed into the ground.

The moment my boots hit the asphalt, I turned-tail and ran towards the dissipating dust cloud – I didn't even see the disk-thing explode. What I did see was two humanoid forms shambling through the dust. My Faunus hearing – preserved through the fight via aura – heard them both coughing up a storm.

I reached them just as their stained forms became truly visible through the cloud. Both of them were caked in tan-ish dust and each cough or sneeze brought more dust out of their systems. "Yang! Ruby!" I shouted, immediately checking them over.

"Ugh, Blake, we're fine…" Yang said, dusting off her tank top. "You deal with that… thing?"

I glanced over my shoulder, seeing its smoldering wreck take a few more machinegun bullets from the soldier in the distance. "…Yeah, I'd say so."

"Good." Ruby said, coughing. "Now we just gotta get the van unstuck." Then a pair of grey-skinned and bug-eyed aliens kicked open the door of a house across the street. I barely raised Gambol Shroud in time to get one, the other being kicked into next week by Penny's robotic form. "Maaaaaybe we should put someone on lookout duty while we do…"

"No shit." Raven and Weiss said at the same time.

I whipped around, seeing the two of them suddenly behind us with a thin purple line connecting their heads. Both of their eyes were heavily dilated, purple rings surrounding their otherwise-normal-colored irises.

While I was busy wondering just what in the Gods' names was going on, Penny trotted up to us. "What have you done to Acquaintance!Weiss, ErrProfaneDesig!Raven?"

They glanced between each other. "Ah, apologies." They said, again in unison. The purple line between them faded, as did the rings in their eyes.

Weiss shook her head. "Well… that was an experience."

"Did she hurt you?" Yang asked, glaring at the only actual adult here.

Raven laughed. "Hardly." She said. "In fact, it was more to make sure your little cat friend over there hadn't done anything to you."

"I can confirm." Weiss said. "She… it was like she was reading my mind, but I could also read hers. We could… use each others' bodies."

Yang growled. "You were mind-controlling her?!"

Raven's half-smirk vanished in an instant, replaced by a frown. "That was a mind merge." She said. "There is a very good reason why I don't mind control people – especially not innocents like Snow White, here. Not without a very good reason."

An explosion boomed in the background, making all our heads – and guns – dart towards it. "Fine." Yang said. "We've got other things to worry about right now, but don't think for a second that we're done here."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Raven said. "Alright – Snow White, Catgirl, and Ruby, you're on overwatch. Yang, try to get the car unstuck. I'm gonna go talk to the soldier girl over there." She said, walking away before I or anyone else could say anything.

Ruby just… glanced between us. "So… do we…?"

I shrugged. "Seems like as good a plan as any – we can't stay here, that's for sure…"

/-\ A Private In Way Over Her Head /-\

I kept the M240 trained on the Cyberdisc as it fell, the catgirl leaping free from it. Even though the alien robot exploded, I shot it a few more times just to be sure – that thing had taken out my entire column of Humvees, I was not taking any chances.

Speaking of chances, I still had no fucking idea what that catgirl's story was. She obviously didn't like the aliens and several people looked like they were helping her – even talking with her now. Then again, I definitely saw the red-caped one take a plasma bolt to the leg.

That wasn't something a person could just… walk off.

With that in mind, I shifted my aim over to the grou-

An explosion boomed behind them, demanding my attention. It was far off, though – nothing visible from my position. Except the rising cloud of black smoke, that is. And that's when one of the group started walking towards me.

I immediately snapped the M240's sights to the filthy-looking woman as she slowly approached. "That's close enough." I said. "Identify yourself."

She stopped, though didn't seem particularly threatened by the machinegun pointing at her face. "Raven Branwen." She said. "Retired captain in the army."

My eyes narrowed. "What unit? Where'd you serve?"

"First Cav, First Brigade, Fifth Cavalry Regiment." She said. "McGovern Base in that frozen hell, Bosnia."

My grip slackened slightly. "…MOS?"

"Nineteen Charlie." She said. "Guessing you're an Eleven Bravo?"

I nodded. "Yeah, guess that'll have to do – can't exactly verify any ID you gave me right now." I said, swiveling the M240B to face away from her. "So, Captain, who the hell are those civvies over there? Pretty sure one of them has cat ears and another one took a plasma to the leg and still has it."

She huffed. "I'm not sure myself, actually." She said, another explosion booming far behind her. "But I am sure that now is not the time nor the place. Do you still have comms with your command?"

I shook my head. "Nope, been jammed from the start."

"Well, that's inconvenient." She tisked. "Guessing your Humvee ain't exactly in working order anymore either."

I looked down, seeing that the entire engine compartment of the vehicle was completely missing. What stood in its place was a smoldering lump of slag, a single, bloody arm bone fused to it. I was extremely glad I'd masked up. "What was your first clue?"

"Fair. Here, toss me an ammo can and grab that two-forty of yours – we're getting out of here." She said, walking the rest of the way to my wrecked HMMWV.

I frowned. "I can't just… abandon my fucking post!" I shouted, barely noticing the shadow of a cloud rolling over us. "I've gotta link up with command – get back to base. There's an evac zone there. for.. the…" I trailed off, gaze slowly drifting upwards as a massive alien ship floated by.

It was easily large enough to blot out the sun – it was probably bigger than the Empire State Building even!

At least, that's what it looked like. I didn't really care about the specifics, just that there was a big-ass flying brick with obvious weapon ports that were glowing.

…and getting brighter.

Before I could shout a warning, the weapon discharged into the ground to the north – right where I knew the base was. My mouth fell open as I stared through my gas mask's eyeports – stared at the massive cloud of debris rising high into the sky. It… looked like it was mostly dust and debris, but I could clearly pick out the sheared-off turret of an M2 Bradley, flames licking its underside as it rocketed ahead of the rest of the cloud.

Before I could stare any longer, I felt a pair of hands grip me by the shoulders, hoisting me up and out of the ruined Humvee's turret. I gasped, kicking and struggling at the unknown force and even managed to get away. I drew my sidearm, whipping around to shoot the alien bastard that tried to-

I paused, my sights on the so-called Captain. We laid there, each sprawled out on the ground staring each other down for a moment as dirt began raining from the sky. As I finally shifted my aim away from her, she lunged forward, sailing over me….

…and into a brawl with a teenage boy.

Just as I was about to ask what the fuck she was doing, I noticed his eyes. They glowed bright amber – as if someone was inside the boy shining flashlights through them. As the Captain grappled, I saw a nasty gash on his abdomen – another clue.

"Raven?!" A familiar voice shouted. A moment later, a blur of blonde tackled the Captain to the ground. "What the fuck are you doing?! He's just a-"

I shot the zombie as it lunged for the entangled pair. It wasn't enough to kill the bastard, but it was enough to make it turn towards me. I squeezed off another couple rounds as vomit and blood started dribbling down the once-boy's chin. It was only a few paces away when I finally made enough holes in its olive-skinned head to take it down.

My relief was very brief, however, as my gun was yanked away from me. I scrambled towards it, but was only met with the afterimage of a boot heading straight towards my face…

/-\ Blake Belladonna /-\

The murderer slumped to the ground, unconscious.

I ejected her pistol's magazine, confirming the chamber was empty before sticking it in my waistband. Only a single look at the boy she'd shot told me there wasn't anything I could do. Even if I unlocked his aura, his injuries were too great.

That didn't stop Ruby from rushing to his aid. "What do we do?!" She shouted. "He's… he's bleeding from everywhere!"

I sighed. "He's… already dead." I said. "Whatever we do, he's not gonna make it."

She stared at me for a moment, then turned her head back to the motionless near-corpse of the boy. I sighed again, walking towards Yang a few yards away. Some of the dirt and grime from Raven's clothes – or bare skin – had rubbed off, staining my friend's hands and even left a streak on her face. The woman herself was not resisting, only glaring up at me as her daughter pinned her to the ground.

In a flash, I knelt above her. "You and that soldier just killed a kid."

"Chryssalid Zombie, actually." She said, not a hint of remorse in her voice. "The boy's been dead for a bit already."

"How can you say that?!" Yang shouted. "Zombies aren't real!"

"Just like aliens weren't, last year?" She asked. "In about a minute, two baby Chryssalids are gonna rip their way outta his chest. I'm being incredibly patient with you, but you need to start shooting his chest right fucking no-"

Yang slapped her across the face. "First you abandon us, then you make us suffer by not paying your fucking child support, and now you help murder a kid right in front of us!" She shouted. "We're not doing anything you sa-"

"Uhh… Yang…?" Weiss let out.

She whipped around. "What?!"

"Something feels… very wrong with that boy." She shivered. "It's… there's… something inside him."

Suddenly, Raven started struggling against Yang's grip, though her aura-enhanced strength made it completely pointless. "They're hatching!" She shouted. "Hurry! Shoot them, stab them, I don't care, just do something!"

I saw a flash of motion out of the corner of my eye. I turned to it just as Ruby let out an eep. "He's still alive!" She shouted, still kneeling over the boy. "What do we-"

"Get away from there!" Raven shouted. "Ruby, please! Get away!"

The boy's body twitched, but not a speck of life returned to his unnaturally bright eyes. A demonic screech rumbled up from his throat, but his mouth didn't move. Faintly, above the distant gunfire and explosions, I heard… chittering coming from inside his chest.

Then a sharp and familiar clawed hand burst through his white overalls, another following a moment later. Ruby screamed, Weiss screamed, I screamed, everyone screamed. And the chitinous body of that same bug thing that attacked us in Raven's house emerged from the boy's body, followed by another bug thing.

My surprise gave way to instinct, my body almost moving on its own as I leaped forward. I intercepted one, bisecting it as it raised its claws to strike at Weiss. The other was too far along, reaching Ruby before I could do anything.

She ducked under the strike with surprising ease, rolling away and towards the rest of the group. As I caught the last bug-thing with a reverse slash, I noticed her blue eyes had a purple ring around them, a thin line of energy connecting her head to Raven's.

Almost as soon as I noticed the purple line, it vanished. Ruby blinked, the energy gone from within, before falling to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. I ran over to her, sliding onto my knees.

Another slap rang out. "You said you didn't mind control people!" Weiss shouted.

I didn't even spare them a glance as I checked Ruby's vitals, the girl herself squirming. "I had to!" Raven shouted. "You idiots wouldn't listen to me and I wasn't about to let my daughter become a Chryssalid shish-kabab!"

Yang reeled back in shock, releasing her. "Your… daughter?"

Raven sat up, wiping a clump of hair out of her vision. "Yes, daughter." She said. "If we get out of this, I'll explain everything."

My friend grunted. "…fine." She said, standing up. "Van's unstuck. Let's go."

As Yang stormed off – Weiss hot on her heels trying to calm her down – I helped Ruby to her feet. Her gaze ratcheted towards the boy's desecrated corpse. "O- Oh my God…" She let out.

I turned her head away and was about to comfort her, but then she retched. I dodged the vomit with an afterimage, then knelt behind Ruby and held her hair back. That sight – along with… the boy – almost made me join her. I… managed to keep it down – barely – but if it was me from two or three years ago? I knew my own lunch would be right next to hers.

After what seemed like hours, she finally finished up, shakily getting back to her feet. When I looked back to Raven, she was picking up the brown-haired soldier, carrying her with us. After another minute, we met up with Penny and the others in the van and drove off.

We still had to shoot the occasional alien as we zoomed through the streets, though they were much rarer than earlier. The gunfire also had died down as we drove on, going from a near-constant but distant noise to only an occasional staccato or explosion. We stopped seeing any and all survivors too, the only exception being a single gun barrel poking out of some shadowy and shattered window.

All of us started to breathe a little easier as we neared the edge of the city, though the lack of walls on such a large settlement still made me do a double-take. Either way, we'd finally reached the cover of the mountains. We still drove the van on the highway – though we had to dodge the occasional abandoned car – due to simplicity's sake.

And Penny could no longer connect to whatever mapping service these people used.

Yang pulled off the big six-lane highway almost as soon as she could on Raven's advice – said we'd be a target since it was enclosed by concrete barriers on both sides up ahead. All of us – sans the soldier, who was still unconscious – kept our weapons primed as we rolled through a much smaller town.

Here was just as bad as the big city, though there was no gunfire nor explosions in the background. The only things to look at were the bodies – both Human and alien – in the streets alongside their wrecked cars and smoldering homes.

We… didn't stay long – barely long enough to steal a full tank of gas from an abandoned station. When we finally reached an uninhabited strip of the highway, we all breathed a sigh of relief. Weiss promptly collapsed onto the bed, right next to Ruby. She, on the other hand, looked even more tired, but I didn't have to be a psychic to tell her thoughts kept her awake… mainly because she kept glaring at Raven.

The woman – whom I've yet to hear a single word of praise about from either Yang I knew – sat in the back of the van, looking out the rear windows with a laser rifle in her lap. Not even Penny wanted to be near her, choosing instead to dock her robotic form to the charging station even though it had no power.

I, meanwhile, settled in for the long haul – a few trips to Vacuo in my… other occupation told me that traveling through a desert in an open-top van was not going to be fun. So I started organizing our limited water supply and making various shade-giving hats for each of us out of some visor caps and pieces of cloth we'd found.

I was in the middle of making the second Vacuoan-style hat – though Raven told me they called it a flap-hat? – when I noticed Yang had slowed down slightly. I was just about to ask what was going on when I started hearing rumble strips…

…in musical tune.

Glancing over at Raven, I noticed she was humming along. "…Are these things… common here?" I asked. "I don't think we have anything like it on Remna- err… where I'm from."

"There's only five in the world." She said during a break in the song. "It'll start back up in a minute, but this is 'America the Beautiful'."

Ruby nodded along. "I hope it stays beautiful after this is all over…"

"Don't we all…" Raven said.

The music started up again and I found myself humming along as well, I didn't know what this 'America' was or why it had a song about it being so beautiful, but the somber-sounding tune just… clicked right now.

It made the otherwise silent drive bearable.

(A/N)

Welp, Albuquerque is no longer a thing in this story and another canon member of the cast is dead. No, I didn't name him in-story, buuuuuuut the hints are there – do with that info what you will. Man, this fic has a named-character bodycount greater than Ruby-B312 – my other fic – which is literally ten times longer.

I'm sure the Blood God would be proud.

Fun fact: the original plan for this chapter was for Team BRWL+R to bring the soldier to the base – the one we don't see because it got blown up by the Terror Ship – and then do a Last Sand, only getting saved when an XCOM Skyranger showed up. Also, I came this close to nuking the city when the team was already at a safe distance. I've decided that I want to save the nukes for something special though.

I'm so reassuring, aren't I?

Anyways, time for Reviews!

MarauderPrime12 said – "Excellent chapter"

'Preciate it, man. Sorry ya had to wait so long for the next one.

Tassadar112 said – "So it looks like rwBy is close to joining the ranks of the Imperial Guardsmen."

Hehe… I mean, they've got lasguns – what's a Guardsman without his trusty flashlight?

Wesley9516 said – "Your a terrible person and I hate you.

Can't wait to talk to you about this chapter in the Discord."

Aaaaaanyways, that's all I've got for today! Stick around… sometime for the next chapter, "Revelations on the Road"! Which will be out eventually. Probably.