A/N: Hello everyone! Welcome back. Couple of things to get out of the way before we get this show on the road, mainly because there will be no A/N at the end of the chapter.

First, as I mentioned previously, I will be posting the next chapter sooner than I usually do. On the last A/N, I said that the turnaround would be "no more than a week," but I miiiiight push that to a week-and-a-half or two weeks. But you definitely won't be waiting a month, which has been the norm for a while now.

Second, I will be running another QnA on the Discord server this coming Sunday (so October 27th) starting at 9 am and running for the usual 24 hours. I suspect some of you will have questions.

Lastly, I made an announcement on the latest TFTA I posted, and I will be repeating that announcement here. Starting soon, I'm planning on running a writing contest on the Discord server to entice more writers to have a crack at creating content for the TFTA project. If you are at all interested in trying your hand at writing something for TFTA, now is an excellent time to join us on the Discord server and check out the details for what I'm planning. I've been seriously impressed by some of the background lore and stories (both interesting and amusing) that the TFTA writers have come up with for the project so far. I would love to have more people join in to expand more on the world of REMCOM.

Alright, that about sums everything up. Enjoy the chapter, and look forward to the next one in less than two weeks.


"Downside teams, prep for Warsaw."

Arslan felt a jittery twinge grow in her stomach at the sound of Lieutenant Kelly's voice in her ear. This was it. Her biggest REMCOM operation yet. Sure, she was part of the Dagger Team op to infiltrate the Schnee Manor (and was still a little tired from a lack of a good night's sleep between then and now), but that was a straightforward mission of, "follow the lead of Annette and the Reaper scouts." The defense of Kuo Kuana was a big-scale REMCOM op, but that one was simple, too: kill Grimm and protect the innocent.

This, though? This was going to be a riot.

In addition to the local huntsmen teams that Odei had managed to recruit during her months undercover in Atlas (like FNKI, RAPS, and LSTR), Bradford had chosen to deploy most of REMCOM's huntsmen for Warsaw: Arslan's ABRN, CFVY, Chrom, and Ilia. After Cinder had made her bold claim about huntsmen when she announced her existence to the world, several teams of huntsmen and students alike publicly aligned themselves with ADVENT forces. Arslan hoped that they did it as a necessary evil to help maintain public confidence in the huntsman profession, but it didn't change the fact that it meant ADVENT had huntsmen at its beck and call. So if there was going to be a riot in the Downside, there was a high chance that ADVENT would send in the huntsmen. If that was the case, the locals would need huntsmen of their own to protect them.

"Nervous?" Reese asked as she stepped up to the window next to Arslan. ABRN's leader had to do a quick double-take before she remembered that there was a reason why the Reese standing next to her looked like an entirely different person.

If Arslan were to glance at any of REMCOM's huntsmen -even herself- they would look nothing like what she was used to. Early on in the planning of Operation Warsaw, Coco had pointed out that REMCOM didn't really need to give ADVENT any easy ammunition in terms of proving that the riot was orchestrated. Why give away REMCOM's involvement in it by deploying easily-recognizable huntsmen? And so with Bradford's approval, the Avenger's resident fashionista had taken it upon herself to provide each huntsman and huntress with a stylistic makeover. Vibrant colors were replaced with muted grays and dull browns, hair and eye colors were concealed with temporary hair dyes and contact lenses, and even their weapons had been spray-painted pure black to hide their details (though some weapons like Coco's minigun were simply too iconic to try and change). Arslan had to admit that she was impressed with Coco's ability to replace Arslan's usual loose-fitting clothes with something more casual without sacrificing the martial artist's range of motion.

She could recognize her own teammates because she'd spent the last year living with them, but she doubted anyone else would recognize ABRN even if the riots gained media attention and became globally broadcasted. Reese would just have to remember to stay off of her board (much to her chagrin).

Arslan nodded and answered her partner's question. "Who isn't?"

Everyone was tense. When word spread that Warsaw would be ignited today, the locals were both energized and nervous. Finally, something would be done about the injustices suffered at the hands of ADVENT. And yet, nobody held any delusions about what the future held. After today, nothing could go back to being the same.

Young children were given strict instructions to remain inside. Some teenagers were playing in the streets to keep up the façade that everything was business-as-usual while their friends slipped from building to building in the shadows to finish last-minute preparations. Adults lingered on their porch steps, enjoying the brisk morning air while they maintained a chain of eye contact with one another so that messages could be passed down the streets without a single word being spoken.

ADVENT, too, was on edge. Their patrols through the Downside remained as regular as ever, but Hogarth reported that their mannerisms, behaviors, and routes had changed. A reflection, he claimed, of the fear and paranoia slowly creeping into their souls. Indeed, the patrol that walked past Arslan resembled nothing of the proud, self-assured soldiers that she had seen in the footage recorded by Lieutenant Kelly mere days ago. Their shoulders were tense, their hands had a death grip on their weapons, and their heads were practically on swivels with how often they looked left and right at the people they walked past. Evidently, the Lieutenant had requisitioned the assistance of a psi operative to subtly apply a dash of psi panic to the patrolling soldiers in the days leading up to Warsaw. From the looks of things, the plan had worked beautifully.

"We have a green light on Warsaw. Repeat: green light on Warsaw," Kelly announced. "Aggro, you're up."

Arslan watched from her vantage point at a third-story window as Nadir and Bolin (or rather… "Aggro" and "Obi-Wan") casually stepped out onto the curb and started chatting.

"ADVENT patrol coming up on your six in thirty seconds," Hogarth advised.

A few seconds later, Arslan could start to feel Nadir's semblance pull her attention towards him like some kind of emotional magnet. Nothing about how he looked or behaved changed from a minute ago, but Arslan struggled to keep her eyes off of him as he tapped his ear to switch his comm to accept and relay external sounds.

The ADVENT patrol came into view and quickly confirmed that they were feeling the same compulsion.

"Hey! You there!" the Officer's voice echoed in Arslan's ear. She couldn't help but quietly laugh at the fact that the soldier who accosted Ilia had started with the exact same line. Apparently ADVENT wasn't interested in learning from their mistakes.

"We should head down," Reese said quietly. Arslan nodded, and they slipped away from the window while listening to the scene play out on the street below.

Nadir looked up from his conversation with Bolin.

"What are you two doing?" the Officer demanded.

"Standing on the street," Nadir answered. "Are you going to tell me that's a crime?"

The Officer got up into Nadir's face and dropped his voice down so that only Nadir and Bolin could hear him. Or so he thought.

"So that's how it's going to be?" the Officer said, his voice crystal clear for Arslan. "Gonna try to act cute to get a rise out of us? My men put their lives on the line out here every day for your safety, and this is the thanks we get?"

Nadir snorted. "Go fuck yourself. How's that for a thank you?"

"Socks?" Lieutenant Kelly asked over the comms. "Bump up the paranoia, if you please."

"You're playing with fire, kid," the Officer snarled. He gestured to the weapon resting on Nadir's back. "You're a huntsman? Are you sanctioned by ADVENT, or did you go rogue?"

"Fuck. Off. Huntsmen answer to the people, not to ADVENT. You don't get to decide who's a good guy and who isn't. I'm not the one jumping down the throat of a civilian minding his own business. I'm not the one acting like a thug while I represent an organization with a PR problem. Maybe you should stop and think for a moment about what you're doing and get the hell out of here."

Apparently, that didn't go over too well with one of the soldiers in the patrol. "Hey! Don't talk to the Captain like that!"

"I'll talk to the Captain however I damn well please," Nadir shot back. "You can pretend all you want that you have authority down here, but if you haven't learned by now that you've got no respect…"

The soldier pulled out his rifle. "Last chance, asshole. Apologize to the Captain. Right now."

Even the Officer looked surprised. "Soldier…"

Bolin stepped up next to Nadir to 'protect' him from the trooper. "The hell is this? Get your guy back on his leash before he does something stupid."

"Fuck you!"

"Soldier!"

"What? You gonna shoot an innocent civilian?" Bolin asked. "Come on, then! Show the world how scummy your kind is. Come on. COME ON."

Just like that, Arslan watched as the first shot of the Downside Riots was fired.

It was almost too easy. Amid the yells of his officer, the soldier shot Bolin at point-blank range. Arslan cringed as her teammate allowed the shot to send him flying backwards while Nadir yelled in anger. In one swift motion, he pulled his rifle off of his back and fired off a three-round burst into the offending soldier's shooting arm. The trooper dropped his gun immediately and scrambled away while the rest of the patrol began to react to Nadir's attack. Reese joined the fray moments later, dumping the low-caliber ammunition from her twin revolvers into the direction of the squad to force them to retreat while Arslan helped Nadir attended to Bolin.

Socks, it seemed, was maintaining his psionic pressure. Once the ADVENT squad found some cover behind vehicles, fences, and whatever else they could find, the troopers readied weapons and began to fire upon ABRN. The Mistrali teens quickly ducked behind cover of their own, with Reese and Nadir returning fire while Arslan and Bolin hunkered down.

"IS THIS GOING TO BE ADVENT'S LEGACY?!" Nadir yelled while trading shots with the troopers. "ATTACKING INNOCENTS IN THE STREET JUST BECAUSE YOU FEEL LIKE IT?"

"YOU WOUNDED AN OFFICER OF THE LAW," one of the troopers screamed back. "STAND DOWN IMMEDIATELY."

"YOU SHOT MY PARTNER POINT-BLANK IN THE CHEST, ASSHOLE. GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE."

"The Officer just radioed for backup," Hogarth reported. "Local precinct's station just became a flurry of activity. Two bullheads are en route."

"ADVENT PUNKS, FUCK OFF!" Reese shouted. Arslan snorted, recalling the memory of MacAuley promising to pay Reese a modest bonus if she dropped that line during the operation.

The taunt delivered its intended effect, as the enraged soldier fired his gun on full-auto at ABRN's position. With a nod from Reese, Arslan sprinted out of her cover like an XCOM Scout, her Aura absorbing and deflecting the shots she couldn't dodge as she grappled and swung to the offending trooper, planting both feet on his chest and knocking him down. Grabbing his gun, Arlsan swept the automatic rifle across the now-flanked troops, forcing them to hunker down as the rounds cut into their cover. When the magazine was spent, she used her rope dart to swing back to safety with her newfound weapon. There was probably someone among the freedom fighters who could make use of this once the fighting started in earnest.

It didn't take long after that for the air to hum with the twin engines of ADVENT's bullhead reinforcements.

"THIS IS ADVENT," one of the bullheads announced via loudspeaker, "FOR THE SAFETY OF THE CIVILIAN POPULATION, WE CANNOT ALLOW THIS SEDITION TO CONTINUE. LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPONS AND SUBMIT TO DETAINMENT, OR WE WILL RESTRAIN YOU WITH EXTREME FORCE. HUNTSMEN TEAMS WILL BE DISPATCHED IF NECESSARY."

A single crack echoed overhead, and Arslan watched one of the dropships shudder and list sideways.

"Pilot neutralized," Hogarth confirmed. "Relocating."

The dropship's tilt grew worse and worse as the seconds wore on. The other Bullhead moved out of the way to avoid being hit, while the first careened towards the ground. The Downside shuddered from the impact of the explosion, and it was as if a match was tossed onto a stockpile of Fire Dust. ADVENT soldiers began to open fire from the opening of the second Bullhead while the first squad joined them. More patrols that were drawn to the firefight came running up the street to support their beleaguered compatriots.

At the same time, civilians poured out into the streets, yelling and ready to fight back. Some answered ADVENT's offensive with an array of small arms fire while others quickly rolled out and deployed makeshift barricades to provide a defensive line for the Downside's freedom fighters. Arslan pulled a gun out of an ADVENT trooper's hands and smacked its owner in the face with its stock, then leapt backwards to rejoin her team. Now that the deed was done, there was no way ADVENT could back down from the fight without appearing weak.

Operation Warsaw was underway.


"Wake up, Ruby."

Ozpin watched as Salem worked to rouse Ruby Rose from her fatigue-induced slumber. She killed the Apathy hybrid with a snap of her fingers to remove its lethargic effect on the young huntress, turned down the resonance equipment that she'd left on to generate a constant, disorienting effect, and waited for Ruby to wake up. She didn't have to wait long before her victim stirred from her resting place on the floor of the dais.

Salem had left her alone for about an hour while she went to fetch Ozpin. She made the "generous offer" of allowing Ozpin to watch the process of Ruby's… transformation. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Salem had said. After all, not only was this the first time she was finally able to play host for her oldest friend, but it was also likely the last chance he'd get to watch Salem do her work before he finally ceased to exist. Salem was all too happy to remind him of that.

And so here he was, sitting on an observation bench several paces behind Salem at her console, with a Seer and another of her Apathy hybrids to keep him company. It seemed that, after the successful trial run of pairing up Ruby with that combination of guards, Salem was eager to conduct further testing of their efficiency on her other captive.

Well, so far so good. Everything seemed to be just fine. Just… fine.

Ruby staggered to her feet, legs wobbling and eyes haggard. Salem's preparatory measures had done their job.

"What… do you want," the girl asked, her listless tone matching her posture.

"It's time to continue, child," Salem answered.

"… Oh."

Salem tutted in annoyance. "It appears that I made my Apathy hybrid too potent," she muttered. "I'll have to make a note to tune that later."

Ah, so the one sitting next to Ozpin was similarly overpowered? Well, that shouldn't be a problem.

Probably.

Salem made a few motions on her console. An armature swung into position inside Ruby's chamber, took aim for a moment, and then jabbed her with a needle. The young woman glanced at it with idle curiosity, and Ozpin wondered what Salem was even trying to accomplish.

But then whatever serum Salem had injected Ruby with must have kicked in. Ozpin watched as her eyes grew wide and she let out a gasp before dropping to her knees.

"Much better," Salem said. "Are we awake now?"

"Go to hell," Ruby spat.

Salem sighed. "Oh, come now. There's no need for incivility. We are here for a very important reason, so please at least try to be professional about it."

"What's the point? You caught me. Congratulations! So you expect me to just sit here like a good little girl while you do your sick, twisted experiments on me?"

Ozpin idly wondered why Ruby wasn't even trying to break through the glass of her chamber. Sure, she didn't have Crescent Rose, but she still had her fists? And yet, she was just standing there, glaring daggers at Salem, not even bothering with any attempt to escape.

Perhaps she'd seen enough of Vahlen's interrogations at XCOM to know that it was futile.

"Child… these aren't 'sick, twisted experiments' that we're conducting here-"

"Then what are we doing here?"

"As I told you before," Salem said with annoyance, "we are preparing you."

"That doesn't sound any better."

Salem sighed for a second time in two minutes. "We need you for a great purpose, child. Perhaps the greatest purpose you could imagine. But in order for you to fulfill that purpose, you must be ready."

"You said something about me being empty before you left me in here," Ruby said. "What were you talking about?"

Oh dear. If only Ozpin could have warned Ruby about not giving Salem the opportunity to monologue.

"You and your lineage provides the ideal vessel for my colleagues," Salem said. "The only possible vessel, actually. Over many, many years of arduous labor, we have developed a methodology for making sure the transference runs without issue. We have become very good at what we do, but we learned early on that the recipient of our gift needs to be… hmmm, broken in is such a crude way of putting it, but I suppose it gets the point across."

Ruby snorted. "Are you going to tie me to a chair, force my eyelids open, and force me to watch violent propaganda for hours on end until I'm suitably brainwashed?"

"If I was going to have you tied to a chair, girl, you wouldn't be standing right now," Salem deadpanned. "No, I'm not talking about anything as barbaric as that. I just need to break your spirit so that my equipment can do its work. And maybe if we're lucky, you'll put on a Silver Eyed spectacle for me."

The young woman glared at Salem through the glass, but said nothing. Salem took that as her cue to proceed.

"Now then… let's see how well you hold up."

At the snap of her fingers, one of Salem's thrall assistants rolled a small cart over to his master's console before withdrawing immediately. Ozpin watched as Salem turned to examine the cart's contents, humming to herself as she did so.

"I think it would be best to start with… this one," she said, hefting up a large piece of metal that was painted red, black and silver.

Ah. Crescent Rose. Certainly an... effective place to start.

"Yes, well done," Ruby drawled. "You found my gun after you had your goon masquerading as my mother kidnap me."

Salem ignored Ruby's jab and examined the weapon. She held it out and unpacked it into its scythe form with a flick of her wrist.

"A marvelous weapon, I must admit. From what I understand, it was painstakingly and lovingly crafted by you from start to finish, was it not?"

Ruby said nothing.

"How much of your life has been spent training with this weapon, I wonder," Salem mused as she examined the details of the scythe. "How much of your identity is tied to this weapon?"

Ozpin could already tell where this was going. And unless Ruby was incredibly stupid, he was fairly certain that she was catching on, too. She tried to act casual, but her hands were shaking ever-so-slightly, and Ozpin saw her swallowing hard. Salem would have noticed the same details. He felt bad for Ruby, but… it didn't really matter in the end, did it?

"Identity is such a fascinating thing," Salem continued. "Everyone tries to figure out what defines them. Huntsmen, though…? Well, there aren't many people who truly devote themselves to something the way your kind does."

Ozpin watched with idle curiosity as Salem's hands started to glow yellow, then orange. It didn't take long for Crescent Rose to glow as well. To Ruby's credit, she managed to keep her reaction muted. At least somewhat.

"You understand, don't you, girl?" Salem asked. "What it's like to put so much of yourself into something… and then… see it… destroyed."

The weapon slowly turned into red-hot putty, and Ozpin saw bits of it drip and pool into a pile of slag at Salem's feet. Ruby put her hands to her face and started to scream.

"Aaaaaaaggghhhhh noooooo! What have you done?! My precious weapon!" She put one hand up to her forehead and rolled her eyes back. "What ever will I do now? The horror… the horror! Oh...what a cruel, cruel world!"

For once, Salem was the one who said nothing. And though Ozpin couldn't see her face, he was certain she wasn't pleased by her prisoner's antics.

"Seriously, if you think destroying my weapon is the best you can do to break me?" Ruby snorted. "You might as well give up now."

"The best I can do…?" Salem mused. She returned her attention to the cart next to her, pored over its contents, and smiled.

"I suppose I'll have to step up my game, then."

She reached over and grabbed something from the cart. A jingle of aluminum greeted Ozpin's ears as Salem picked up a handful of silver-colored necklaces.

The reaction from Ruby was nearly instantaneous. One hand flew to her hip before her eyes grew wide.

"No.."

"Perhaps I misjudged you, girl," Salem said, picking up the pendants one by one to look at their inscriptions. "I will admit that I was sure it was that scythe of yours that carried the heart and soul of your essence as a huntress."

"Please…"

"I was so sure that breaking it would break you."

"Don't do this…"

"But it appears that your spirit lies in something else."

"Don't do this!"

"It lies in the people you have invested yourself in."

"NO!"

The necklaces grew red far more quickly than Crescent Rose did.

Ruby Rose, however, began to grow silver.

"DON'T DO IT."

The necklaces fused together before falling through Salem's fingers to join Crescent Rose on the floor.

Ruby wailed, this time in earnest. Her fists were clenched, she fell to her knees, and she let out a guttural, rising, groan of pure agony as a combination of psionic and Silver Eyed energy swirled around the chamber like a vortex. Several sturdy-looking instruments in Ruby's cell started to glow white-hot, and energy lines lit up, crisscrossing along the floor as they traveled back to Salem's console.

Ruby's pained cry reached a crescendo and transitioned into a full-blown scream, unleashing the charged energy in her cell into an outward blast as she violently cried out in pain at her loss.

This…

This was not okay.

Gods above, this was not okay.

Ozpin's breath hitched in his throat as though a fog had been lifted from his eyes. He cast a sidelong glare at the creature sitting on his right, and he realized just how dangerous Salem's latest creation was. The Apathy were dangerous. Ozpin knew this, objectively, and was fully aware of the power Salem had bestowed upon them. And yet, even being armed with knowledge of their curse, he hadn't been able to help but allow himself to slip into the comfortable feeling of not caring as he followed Salem to watch her break Ruby Rose.

How had he let himself succumb to this?

He looked back into Ruby's chamber and noticed that the glowing sensors appeared to pull away a large portion of the young woman's unleashed energy. Ozpin watched as it flowed towards Salem's console, the snaking wires humming with the power they contained. If Salem was goading Ruby into unleashing her spirit and using those absorbers to drain her of her energy, then he didn't really have much time to try and rescue her.

The energy storm subsided, the absorbers shut off, and Ruby stayed on her knees.

"Beautiful!" Salem cried. "Absolutely wonderful, child. You should be proud of yourself."

The only response Salem received for her praise was the sound of Ruby weeping from within the chamber.

"That was quite a lot of energy you expended in there, little one." Salem leaned closer to her console to examine some of the readings. "Those must have meant a lot to you. You should be proud of yourself for having so much empathy. It is, after all, the key to your ascension."

Ruby was too drained to respond.

"But… we're not quite ready yet, it seems," Salem continued. "If my readings are correct, there is still more spirit left in you. Spirit that we'll need to erase in order to make room for your new friend."

So there was still a chance. That was good.

Sort of… not like Ozpin could do much to help Ruby anyway-

No.

No.

Fight it. Fight it, and find a way to save Ruby.

Get her out of here, no matter the cost.

"Let's see…"

An annoying clicking sound drew both Ozpin's and Salem's attention. On Ozpin's left, the Seer keeping watch over him continued to make the insistent noise while its orb-like head flashed repeatedly.

"Not now," Salem said.

Somehow, the Seer's clicking became even more urgent and annoying.

Salem sighed and turned her attention to the monster.

"Show me."

The Seer's head swirled with colors before shapes came into sharp focus, revealing an ADVENT commander.

"My Lady," the officer began, bowing his head, "we have a dire situation in the Atlesian slums. A full-scale riot has broken out. The filth must have been planning this for a long time, because they are far more organized than they have any right to be."

"So handle it," Salem answered tersely. "That is your job, is it not?"

"They are being supported by huntsmen who went into hiding when we began our inquest after the Fall of Beacon," the commander answered, "as well as some others we don't recognize. Our own huntsmen teams are enroute to engage… but I fear that they will not be enough. My Lady, I am contacting you to request Lady Fall's backup."

Salem rolled her eyes.

"Fine. Done. Now leave me alone."

With a wave of her hand, Salem cut off the connection to the ADVENT commander.

"Contact Cinder and relay the message," she said to the Seer. "I don't have time to do it myself."

Salem turned her attention back to her prisoner. "My deepest apologies for that interruption. Some people simply have no sense of tact when it comes to matters as important as this."

"… How dare you."

Salem cocked her head, though Ozpin knew that she wasn't actually confused. She was just relishing in Ruby's anguish.

"What do you mean, child?"

"Those people were heroes. They died without a second thought so that-"

"So that others may live, yes yes," Salem said, waving her off. Disgust was written all over Ruby's face as she glared at her captor. But Salem was busy looking over the contents of her handcart. "Let's see… what would be a good… ah. This should do nicely."

Ozpin's heart sank as he saw Salem pick up a handgun. A rather ornate handgun.

Ruby's expression of simmering hatred exploded into full-blown rage.

"I need you to be empty, girl. Your performance before was wonderful. Marvelous. But we still aren't done. The chamber is calibrated now, and it's ready for your final act."

"I will destroy you if you do anything to that," Ruby hissed. Hints of silver flashed in her eyes, and her fists clenched and unclenched as she stared straight at Salem. She was done, it seemed, with trying to look like Salem's antics weren't getting under her skin.

"Oh?" Salem asked, "Does this one have more meaning for you than the tags?"

"IT'S ALL I HAVE LEFT OF HIM, YOU MONSTER."

Ozpin could practically feel Salem's grin as her hand grew hot for a third time.

"Perfect."

"NO!"

Salem didn't even have to wait for the handgun to start melting before Ruby's rage became manifest. Purple and silver energy arced along her body as the weapon slowly began to change from polished silver to dull yellow, and the young woman launched herself at the wall that stood between Ruby and her tormentor. The clear material cracked ever-so-slightly, but showed no sign of failing as Ruby desperately tried to stop Salem from destroying the gun. All she could do, though, was watch in horror as the metal began to crack and cavitate under the pressure of Salem's fingers.

And that was when Ruby screamed.

It was an unholy sound, driven onward as she watched the destruction of Zhang's beloved handgun and charged by both her Silver and Psionic energies running rampant. The absorbers, despite being tuned by Salem after Ruby's outburst from the tags, burned even hotter than before as they siphoned off all of the energy Ruby emitted.

It was now or never.

The Seer was still distracted with Salem's orders. Salem herself was focused on the readouts from her console, even as the handgun started to flow between her fingers. The console that Ozpin had been studying for the last few minutes as he tried to understand if there was anything he could press to break Ruby out of that cell.

When he saw a button light up after the absorbers started to siphon off Ruby's energy, Ozpin knew that he wasn't going to get a better guess than that one. He turned his attention inward, only for a moment, before he saw time slow down around him.

Down to 1/12th its normal rate, to be exact.

Ozpin easily dashed out of reach of the Seer and ran for the console. Salem hadn't even begun to turn her head in his direction by the time he reached his target and smashed his chosen button. For a split second, he glanced at the burning-hot metal in Salem's hand. His drive to make sure Ruby survived overrode his momentary contemplation of how to extract semi-liquid metal without depleting his Aura, and so Ozpin forced himself to pull away from temptation. Maybe if he survived all of this, he could recover the remnants as an apology to the young girl who never asked for any of this.

At 1/12th the speed of time's usual flow, Ozpin watched the cascading effects of his actions while he ran away from Salem and her console.

Almost immediately, the energy lines connecting Salem's console to the absorbers grew dark. A few seconds (or rather… a third of a second) later, the absorbers themselves powered down. With nothing to siphon off their destructive force, Ruby's chaotic energies started to pool within the chamber and push outwards. The containment glass cracked, and Ozpin watched as one, two, three fracture points began to spiderweb their way towards catastrophic failure.

Ozpin dove behind some crates moments before the glass shattered and blew outwards like a grenade. In the floating pieces of glass he saw a mirrored image of Salem being knocked backwards by the blast, flying in slow-motion as a look of shock grew on her face. Once the shrapnel passed overhead, he raced towards Ruby, put one hand on her shoulder, and brought her into his own flow of time.

He didn't know how she would react to everything that had just transpired. He didn't know how she would react to time suddenly crawling to a near-standstill. He didn't know anything that was going on through her mind right now. But Ozpin still needed Ruby to understand one very important instruction. Regardless of what happened to him, Ruby needed to escape.

So he focused the full breadth and depth of his need for Ruby to escape, to survive, into a single word.

"Run."

Eyes of iridescent silver looked up at him. They flicked over to where Salem was almost finished with her slow-motion fall, and for one gut-wrenching second, Ozpin feared that Ruby would burn precious time she needed for an escape and try to exact revenge for… everything.

But before Ozpin could say anything, Ruby nodded. And before Ozpin could do anything, Ruby grabbed him by the arm, slung him across her shoulders…

And ran.


In the cargo hold of a Bullhead, Weiss and Winter sat across from each other in silence. The airship was not marked to identify itself as belonging to Atlas, ADVENT, or any other entity on Remnant. It had arrived at the Schnee Manor's private landing pad, and the pilot did not even bother to step out of the tinted cockpit before opening the bay doors for the ship's waiting passengers. Not a word was spoken over the intercom during the entire flight, either. According to Winter, her first flight out to Merlot's lab went the same way.

No weapons. No electronics. The only thing Weiss had on her was a book, since she asked her father oh-so-nicely for it.

Since they couldn't see outside the hold, and their pilot wasn't talking to them, the only thing the two women could do was sit in the gunmetal colored cargo hold and wait.

"You know it's a trap, right?"

Weiss looked up from her book to see Winter staring at her. Her face looked impassive, but something told Weiss that the question had been bugging her sister for a while.

"Obviously," Weiss answered, closing her book and setting it aside to give her full attention to Winter.

That answer appeared to upset the woman rather than comfort her. "Then why did you come?"

"Because Father asked me to come," Weiss answered. "It is a good opportunity to see Merlot's lab, and to support my sister."

Weiss's follow-up, it seemed, served to upset her sister even more. Winter's stare was hard, and Weiss noticed a slight shake in her hands. The usual ice-cold demeanor of Winter Schnee was still there… but so was anxiety.

"Weiss."

Oh… right.

Sometimes, Weiss caught herself still struggling to adjust to the idea of Winter caring about her. At some point during the last few months, Weiss realized that Winter had always cared about her, but she was standoff-ish and aloof during their youth in order to help acclimatize Weiss to the brutal nature of reality. Especially for a Schnee. Winter knew that, regardless of how cold she acted, Weiss was still safe (relatively) under Jacques's care. The man was a monstrous excuse for a human, through and through, but his fierce protection of the 'family name' meant that he would do everything to make sure no harm came to Weiss.

But now that they were in a situation where Weiss was in very real danger, and Winter couldn't do anything about it? Weiss could see fear in her eyes.

So what should she tell Winter? What could she tell Winter? Weiss reminded herself that they didn't know if Winter was actively compromised, and so she couldn't mention that she'd informed XCOM of her trip to Merlot's lab. Nor could she mention that Odei had provided her with a tracking beacon months ago.

"You act as though I had a choice," Weiss said. "After pulling that surprise song on Father during the gala, I couldn't exactly say no to his request that I accompany you to Merlot's lab, now could I?"

Weiss watched her sister consider that answer before Winter finally conceded with a nod. "I suppose you couldn't," she admitted. "Either way, I don't like this."

"Nor do I," Weiss agreed, "but I feel better knowing that I at least have you."

"Do you, though?" Winter asked, leaving the implication unspoken.

Their silent journey lasted another twenty minutes before Weiss started to feel a sudden shift in g-forces. From her countless hours of flying in the hold of the Skyranger, she could guess that their Bullhead pilot was maneuvering for a landing.

"We're here," Winter said, evidently coming to the same conclusion.

Moments later, the airship shuddered as it touched down on solid ground. Their pilot remained completely silent as the bay doors slid open and Weiss got her first good look at her surroundings.

The pilot had landed them inside a large hangar bay. Weiss's first thought was that it reminded her of movie nights back at the Anthill, as the structure was reminiscent of the fighter hangars on a Star Destroyer or the Rebel base on Yavin IV.

Just how much traffic did this Merlot have coming in and out of his lab?

Quite a bit, it seemed, judging by the boxes upon boxes of supplies she saw. Some massive cargo containers were organized on one end (near what had to be some kind of delivery entry) while the smaller crates were organized into lanes throughout the rest of the hangar and lashed down by heavy netting. Perhaps to keep the wind from blowing them open?

Speaking of the wind, a gale force storm appeared to be raging outside the hangar. There was some foliage clinging to life on the rocky outcroppings that dotted the edge of the cliffside entry, and they were in a state of perpetual battle against the forces of nature. It was slightly mesmerising to look at, but Weiss also noted that stormy conditions like that were a perfect way to make sure that nobody would come wandering this way and stumble upon Merlot's lab by mistake.

Several robotic guards, some red and some white, patrolled the aisles of the hangar. These robots, while reminding Weiss of Atlas's Knights, were absolutely more advanced than Ironwood's shock troops. Both kinds of guards sported far heavier plating than the Knights, and the white-colored robots hefted deadly-looking miniguns while their red-colored counterparts carried large, energized glaives.

And if the bipedal robots weren't enough, Weiss's visual sweep of her surroundings also revealed multiple turret emplacements. Turret barrels of varying calibers were all pointed at the mouth of the hangar, ready to shoot down any unauthorized craft trying to enter, or tear up any soldiers that jumped out of them. A slight sense of worry started to creep up into Weiss's gut. If (or rather… when) XCOM chose to attack the lab, they would be in for a serious fight. Even with all of their combat experience and tech-based tricks up their sleeves, how many would fall in the first few minutes of an attempted breach?

She shook away the thought and looked ahead towards the entrance. Merlot seemed to also have some flesh-and-bone guards to complement their robotic cohorts, Weiss noticed. A second look at the robots patrolling the hangar revealed that they were accompanied by one or two human guards, evidently moving among the supply crates with a manifest sheet to take inventory of the incoming cargo. Several more were posted at the main entrance, and while they were far less impressive than the deadly-looking mechs, two of them were approaching the Schnee sisters now.

Before Weiss could greet her assumed escorts, an imperious voice boomed throughout the hangar.

"Welcome, my little Schnees!"

Weiss cast a sideways glance at her sister and quietly asked, "Merlot?"

Winter answered with a nearly-imperceptible nod.

"It appears that I've received one more guest than I was previously expecting."

If this guy was so full of himself that he would install a PA system so that he could play The Man Behind The Curtain, Weiss decided to take a chance and assume that his little toy came with audio playback as well.

"Yes," she answered, speaking loudly to do her best to be heard over the background winds. "Father asked me to accompany Winter. He said you would understand and be agreeable to the arrangement."

Her guess proved to be correct almost immediately.

"It is not ideal to have visitors scurrying about, I'll be honest. But I will make an exception for you. Please, come in."

By this point, the guards had arrived to escort them. The first thing Weiss noticed was the lack of an emblem on their uniform identifying the guards as Atlas military, ADVENT, or anything else she knew from Remnant. Which meant that, in addition to his array of mechanized defenses, Merlot also appeared to have a private army of mercs.

"One moment, please," the first one said. He held out a small device in his palm that crackled with yellow energy before it released a large pulse. Weiss winced as she felt the static discharge wash over her body, followed by a slight shock on her lower back.

"Debugging protocol," the other guard explained. "The Doctor has a strict policy of no visitor electronics inside the facility."

"He is very protective of his intellectual property," the other added.

Weiss took another glance at the death bots and replied, "Evidently."

The first guard gestured to the book in Weiss's hand. "You're going to have to either put that back on the transport, or surrender it to us for the duration of your stay."

Weiss rolled her eyes, but spent a few moments returning to the Bullhead to place the book back on one of the empty seats before returning to her sister's side. As the guards led the two women out of the hangar towards the main entry doors, Weiss winced again and barely suppressed a yelp as she felt something sting her shoulder. Winter gave her a concerned look, but Weiss quietly waved her off. The sensation passed almost as quickly as it had come, she wasn't feeling dizzy, sick, or any other poisonous effect, and nobody but Merlot's people should know about this place, so it wasn't like a White Fang assassin was trying to kill her.

The only other group who (hopefully) knew of the lab's location was XCOM.

The two women carried on following their escort through the entryway, and Weiss got her first good look at the lab proper.

It was clean. Very clean. Pristine corridors ran ahead of the party as they stepped along impeccably-cut floor tiling. The walls were perfectly white, with futuristic-looking struts and braces supporting the subterranean superstructure that Merlot called home. Heavy pipes ran along multiple paths, pumping ventilated air and who-knew-what-else throughout the facility. Perfectly polished glass allowed Weiss to look into several rooms where she could see… Grimm being held in captivity?

Weiss was always led to believe that it was almost impossible —Jacques spent an ungodly amount of money just to restrain that Gheist long enough for her to fight it— and yet Merlot had them in spades. Upon closer inspection (well… as much as she could while the guards led them onward), the Grimm weren't quite like any species she recognized. She could see some that resembled Beowolves, Boarbatusks, and Ursa, but they were all… different. Modified in some way.

Mutated.

Weiss was liking this less and less.

A sense of dread filled the air that reminded Weiss of how she felt while staying at the Schnee Manor ever since her return to Atlas. While the Grimm experiments were certainly unsettling, nothing she could see in the facility so far seemed to justify the feeling.

As Weiss's group carried on, they passed by more teams of robotic soldiers in almost every hallway. Weiss had originally wondered why Merlot kept so many guards, since she'd never heard even a whisper of a rumor of any kind of break-in at the lab. Now, though? If the Grimm on display in the front were any indication, the guards seemed to be ready to keep the Grimm in as much as they were ready to keep intruders out.

"Keep up, please," one of the guards called out as he led the sisters through the labyrinthine facility.

They passed by several large, sturdy doors as they travelled through the halls. Some of them were flanked by a pair of robotic guards, and others appeared to be more heavily reinforced than usual. Weiss did her best to avoid letting her imagination run rampant regarding what went on behind some of those doors, and focused instead on her purpose. She was here for Winter, and she was here for XCOM.

"This way," the guard said, gesturing through an open door at the end of yet another hall.

The Schnees obliged, and Weiss had to wait a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dimmed lighting. Once she could see again, she quickly recognized the equipment and furniture present to be that of an operating room. Complete, much to her growing concern, with a table-chair equipped with restraining cuffs and a surgeon's table with an array of nasty-looking tools.

Weiss felt her sister stiffen next to her, and she wondered if Winter had been conscious the first time she'd been in here. Judging by her reaction, Weiss guessed that she'd been knocked out first, and then wheeled in afterwards. Or perhaps she was getting traumatic flashbacks?

"Don't worry, Winter," she said, trying to be encouraging. "You went through it once, so it shouldn't be a problem on a second go-around, right?"

"Actually, Miss Schnee…"

Ohhhhh, Weiss did not like that opening.

"Sister Dearest will be settling in for a nap in a different room. This one? This one is for you. Please make your way to the chair so that my guards can strap you in."

"This was not part of the plan," Weiss shot back, glaring at the guards as they moved to approach her.

The guards hesitated when both women brought their fists up.

"Actually, that would be incorrect," Merlot sneered over the PA. "You see, your father and I have come to an… understanding. I would never even dream of something like this without his… blessing."

"I told you it was a trap," Winter muttered. Weiss suspected that the scolding was more for Winter's own sake than anything.

"So be a good girl and get moving," Merlot commanded. "It would be a shame if my guards had to damage your precious face before our work begins."

"Give it up, girls," the guards called, brandishing their guns. "We know you Schnees are special, but it's you two against an entire base of guards, robots, and countermeasures, and you aren't armed."

"Wrong on both counts," Weiss sassed, "but I suppose that's to be expected from knuckle draggers like you."

One of the guards racked his gun, and Weiss had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at the utterly pointless effort to intimidate her.

"Last chance," the guard growled. "Get in the chai-"

A pair of pale-blue bolts flung by Winter knocked the breath out of the guard's throat and sent him and his partner sliding along the floor. Weiss's hands began to glow white, and she felt a familiar surge of energy as two friends stepped into existence behind her.

"So you chose to do this the hard way!" Merlot cried out with… was that glee? "This will be most educational."

"You forget, Merlot," Weiss called out as Conrad and Eshragi charged the two guards and ripped the rifles from their hands before they had a chance to get back up, "A Schnee is never unarmed."


"Bullhead coming in."

"Eyes open, Outrider. Odei is pretty sure that this is the one."

Like clockwork, the entirety of the breach team took cover. Operatives ducked into shadowy crags while pulling beige-colored cloaks over themselves to blend in with the cliffs. Reapers blended themselves into the shade of their surroundings. The new EXOsuit operators projected distortion fields to further obscure the presence of the XCOM operatives standing by on the cliffs. On top of all that, the ever-present stormy weather made the job even easier, as a combination of the rain, high winds, and lack of sun both kept the operatives hidden and kept the Bullhead pilots focus on their hangar approach and nothing else.

Yang wasn't a fan of letting herself get drenched while sitting around doing nothing but waiting… but if that was the order that Bradford gave, then she'd be damned if she wasn't going to follow it. And the moment that Bradford gave the order to go loud?

Merlot was going to regret every choice he'd ever made that led up to this moment.

The Bullhead passed overhead as Yang remained huddled underneath her camouflage cloak. To her left was MacAuley, and the two of them shared a look with each other. Both of them would not be wading into hell alongside their usual partner, since both Blake and Beagle were tapped for Gatecrasher's other objective.

After the Bullhead had pulled into the hangar, Yang keyed her mic to Beagle's channel and asked, "Shadow, how are you looking?"

"All set," Blake answered, "Lily is ecstatic that we're using one of her stealth gremlins, and we're carrying enough explosives to level a small town."

"What Sabretooth is saying is… Unlimited Beep Works is a go."

MacAuley let out a snort from under his cloak. Yang keyed her comm for a final, "Sounds good, Shadow," before switching back to the main channel.

Just in time for her to hear Elena announce, "We have eyes on Elsa and Jadis."

"Then it appears that my device is still functioning," Odei answered.

"Not for long," Alonso warned. "We have seen at least one other arrival this morning with human cargo. It appears that the arrivals are subjected to an electric pulse before entering the facility."

Given that the Reapers had apparently been camped out here since deploying with Pyrrha and Jaune last night? Yang was inclined to take Alonso at his word.

"Damn."

"Worry not. We are prepared for this setback."

Yang wasn't surprised. For a group of recluses who lived in Mountain Glenn all their lives, the Reapers had proven time and again how good they were at reconnaissance and tracking. From above, she heard the muted report of a rifle.

"Target marked," Elena confirmed. "We will be able to easily locate them after the breach."

The breach. A chance for XCOM to hit ADVENT where it hurts. A chance to uncover Merlot's secrets, and hopefully score some good will with the people of Atlas (and possibly Remnant) for shutting the mad scientist's operations down. A chance to rescue Weiss and Winter, and get them to safety aboard the Avenger. And for Yang? A chance to let out her fear and rage upon a deserving target after finding out that her baby sister had been captured.

Bradford had pulled out all the stops for this op. With Warsaw being fought with the manpower of the residents of the Downside, XCOM was able to deploy six full Strike teams to Gatecrasher and make sure that Merlot's lab was nothing but a smoking ruin after they were finished.

Strikes Two, Three, and Five would be deploying to the hanger for a frontal assault. Strikes One, Four, and Six would be staying topside to deal with Merlot's robotic patrols, handle any ADVENT reinforcements that were re-routed from Warsaw, and make sure that Merlot wasn't able to escape like a rat through the secondary exit that Elena's scouts had identified during the night. With Ruby missing and Blake assigned as Beagle's covert escort, Yang had chosen to attach herself to Strike Five. Knocking on the front door sounded more fun, anyway.

Throughout the morning, Firebrand had been slowly ferrying in the Strike Teams to the AO. She flew the Bullhead in low and dropped the operatives ten miles out, and the teams then followed the directions of the Reapers in order to get into position while evading detection. Jaune and Pyrrha were stationed nearby to provide comm and resupply support leading up to the breach, followed by heavy firepower support for the topside teams after the Gate was officially Crashed. Several pilots sporting Albatross suits were also standing ready by the cliff so that they could fly down and evac wounded soldiers at a moment's notice once the fighting began.

With topside getting mechanized backup from P-Money, Dr. Shen had found a way to provide similar support for the door kickers. EXOsuits. Cannibalized Atlesian Knight frames that were converted into a motorized mechanical exoskeleton that the operatives could use to carry heavier gear into combat. The ones for Gatecrasher were equipped with Hard Light Shield generators and an experimental Distortion Field projector. Each door kicker squad had two EXO operatives, which should be enough to provide some serious protection for the squads. And given how much firepower Merlot was packing in his hangar entrance, it sounded like XCOM was going to need it.

And so the cliffside teams were dug in all along the rocky terrain, waiting for the order to finally go in with guns blazing. Alonso's Reaper team had spent most of the night and morning setting up climbing ropes and anchors for the Strike teams to use, so getting down into position was a simple matter of being careful and taking cover when a Bullhead's arrival was announced.

"All teams, be advised: Operation Warsaw has begun. Stand by for one hour for Gatecrasher to commence."

A twinge of excitement stirred in Yang's gut. Soon, it would be time to rend metal. After everything that had happened in the last 24 hours, she could use the rush of adrenaline to release all that pent up rage that had nowhere else to go. Yang could also use it to shake off the shivers she was starting to get from sitting motionless in this rainstorm.

"Alright, door kickers," Beagle called out over comms, "Readiness check. Strike Two?"

"Ready," Altinsoy confirmed.

Strike Two was usually commanded by Ruby, with Jane as her second. With RWBY scattered and Jane in Warsaw, though, Strike Two was temporarily changed to the "tech support" squad for Gatecrasher with all of the combat Engineers who made it to Remnant. They were also the ones given the honor of carrying Lily's combat Gremlins into the fight. Rounding out the squad were several soldiers pulled in from Strikes Eight and Nine.

"Three?"

Apollo answered, "Good to go, sir."

Three usually had CFVY attached to them, but those guys were also deployed to Warsaw. So like Strike Two, Strike Three was filled with operatives from Eight and Nine, as well as a couple of local Remnans who joined XCOM from Kuo Kuana.

"Five?"

"All set, boss," MacAuley answered. "The kiddos are itching for a fight."

"Hell yeah, we are!" Nora cheerfully whispered.

While Jaune and Pyrrha were topside (for obvious reasons), Nora and Ren chose to join the rest of their squad down on the cliffside. Yang jokingly challenged Nora to a "friendly" competition about who could make the biggest explosion during the assault, and was pleased when the expression Nora gave her indicated that the challenge was not going to be taken as a joke.

"Alright. We've been over the plan a few times already, but just to make sure it's clear: Reapers are already getting into flanking positions before the fireworks start. Right, Outrider?"

"It's already done."

"Great. So when the order comes to go over the top, Reapers are gonna make some noise to draw attention. Then the EXO's are going in, followed by Strike Two. If the EXO's are under heavy fire, the Twos are gonna toss some Smokes and Shen's deployable shields so that the rest of the breach teams can get into the hangar and into position. We're going to need BFG and Hammertime to hard counter those melee 'bots, so check your fire and make sure you're not tagging our own heavy hitters.

"Reapers have holo-targeting capabilities, so they'll be marking HPT's for our explosive experts. Gremlin operators are also gonna have a crack at field-testing the EMP emitters on their new toys. From there? We do what XCOM does best: adapt and improvise. You all know the objective: get in, get Elsa, get whatever goods we can on Merlot, and get out. How we do it depends on what the fucker tries to throw at us. Stay frosty, and we'll get through this like we always do."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Yang whispered under her breath.

She braced herself for one more hour of agonizing waiting, but the silence only lasted a few minutes before Elena reported, "Guards just left their posts at the front door and ran inside."

"Several of the mechanicals, too," Alonso added. "Elsa might be in trouble."

Yang's heart started to race. If Brad didn't give the greenlight to attack, she wasn't going to follow protocol and let her friend come to harm.

Beagle swore. "Boss, you hearing this?"

"I am. We can't afford to wait an hour if Elsa is in danger."

Hands balled into fists and anticipation flooded Yang's senses. In a few moments, she would get the chance to channel all of her anger —at Atlas, at Jacques, and now at Merlot— and focus it like a laser on those that dare to get between Yang and her sister. If Ruby was being held here, Yang was going to find out. And she was going to crush anything that tried to stop her.

"Gatecrasher: All lights are green. On Captain Beagle's command, go loud."

Just a few more seconds…

"Outrider. Light the candle."

Just a few more seconds…

Gunshots fired overhead, and several explosions rumbled in the hangar.

"EXO'S, YOU'RE UP."

That was good enough for Yang. Ember Celica cracked, and Yang launched herself up the cliff just as the EXO operatives crested the edge of the hangar.

It was time for the beatings to commence, and Yang was more than willing to deliver them on behalf of XCOM.

And on behalf of her missing sister.


"Run."

Ozpin hadn't expected Ruby to grab him before she followed his instructions. He hadn't expected her to be able to carry him while making a quick escape. His plan had been to bring her into his time flow, let her run off, and hold onto his semblance for as long as possible before passing out and accepting whatever consequences Salem deemed fit for him.

But Ruby had a different idea, it seemed.

Perhaps it was because she had a small frame that Ozpin forgot Ruby was a Remnant-born Huntress, XCOM Captain, and Silver Eyed Warrior all rolled into one, so it really shouldn't have surprised him when Captain Rose slung him over his shoulders and took off down the length of Salem's labs and kicked the door open at the far end of the hall.

Despite the sheer power in her movements and the speed of her steps, Ruby was taking a surprising degree of care in making sure she didn't jostle her passenger more than necessary.

"If I become a burden," Ozpin said as Ruby bolted down the hall, "leave me and escape. I will maintain the dilation for as long as possible. You must survive, Ruby."

Without turning to look at him, Ruby answered, "That's not an option. You're coming with me."

Ozpin wanted to argue, to point out that, no matter how much Ruby wanted it to not be an option, there were always things that nobody could predict or control. But the conviction and simmering rage in her voice made it clear that she would not be reasoned with on this matter. The best Ozpin could do was maintain his semblance and hope that everything turned out alright.

With the time dilation in effect, Ruby dodged everything almost effortlessly. About thirty seconds into their run, Salem appeared to have finally found an emergency button, because alarms started to blare. Ozpin noted with some amusement that the alarms sounded funny when slowed down to 1/12th their usual speed. Thralls started to flood the light-dappled hallways, but Ruby had no issue dipping around them as she carried on running with Ozpin slung over her shoulders.

As she ran, though, Ozpin could see Ruby's energy start to flag. Though her adrenaline was still running high, the immediate threat had passed, and so her silver-eyed reaction was starting to subside. While he didn't doubt the innate physical strength of his student, Ozpin knew that the likelihood of their survival dropped significantly if Ruby could no longer rely on her silver eyes to give herself that extra push.

He needed to say something.

"Ruby, think of everyone who needs you."

The hairs on the back of Ozpin's neck stood on end as he felt a familiar energy roiling up through the hall. That… wasn't going to be pleasant when it finally caught up to them.

"They are calling out to you, Ruby, and you know in your soul that the call cannot go unanswered."

An eldritch scream washed over them, and Ozpin could feel Ruby wincing as she felt the full weight of Salem's rage. She stumbled, ever-so-slightly, as she pushed onwards up the hall.

"Focus, Ruby," Ozpin urged. "Think of your team. Think of Blake. Think of Yang."

Several of Salem's Grimm monstrosities started to appear in the hallways, searching for the escaped prisoners. No Apathy or Seers, thankfully, but several humanoid thralls that exhibited freakishly inhuman musculatures started to fill the ranks of those trying to stop the jailbreak. The hall was starting to get a little crowded now.

"Think of Weiss."

Maybe it was the stress of Salem's scream that pushed Ruby's silver energy back over the edge, but the effect of Ozpin's reminder that Weiss was waiting for her was immediate. A small shockwave of energy rippled outwards from Ruby, knocking back the closest assailants as the young huntress continued her sprint with renewed vigor.

"Think of those who died so that others may live," Ozpin said while Ruby shoulder-checked a thrall hard enough to send it flying in slow motion. "So that you may live. Zhang. Vance. Bolts."

Ozpin felt another surge of energy up ahead, and his heart skipped a beat. Salem wasn't making this easy.

"Think of what they were fighting for, Ruby. Think of what they wanted you to fight for."

They rounded a corner, and Ozpin heard Ruby let out a small gasp. At the end of the hall was the front door. Beyond the door lay freedom. In front of the door, however, stood Summer Rose.

"Life is beautiful, Ruby."

He could feel the psionic rage boiling up inside of his savior. The anger at Salem was radiating from her body.

"It is precious."

Ruby crouched low and tightened her grip on Ozpin.

"And it must be protected."

Ozpin's world became a blur. He was solid, and yet… not. Rose petals flew in and out of his awareness, and he was fairly certain that he and Ruby were racing forward towards the door. At least, he could sense Ruby. But he couldn't see her. In fact, he wasn't even sure she was holding onto him anymore, even though he was fairly certain that he was somehow being pulled along with her. However, he couldn't really see anything through the mass of rose petal-

Ah.

Like a supercharged wrecking ball, the flurry of floral energy that called itself Ruby Rose exploded through the door. And yet, even though they'd made it out of the witch's lair, Little Red and the Wizard weren't out of the woods yet.

The oppressive atmosphere of the Grimmlands weighed down on Ozpin, though their effect was repulsed by the sheer force of will that Ruby exuded. The Grimm were everywhere, and Ozpin was certain that Salem had already used her connection with the monsters to mobilize them against the escapees. But just like everything else, they moved at an incredibly slow pace thanks to Ozpin.

But he wasn't sure how much longer he could hold out.

"That was absolutely incredible, Ruby," Ozpin commended, "but it's getting more difficult to maintain the dilation. You need to run."

Even Ruby's voice sounded slightly different as she answered, "Not without you."

And so, to prove her point, Ruby ran. To where, Ozpin didn't know. His vision began to grow blurry as he spent all of his energy focusing on his semblance, and so he could only trust that Ruby had a plan for taking them to safety. The only thing he could do was buy her as much time as possible.

Ozpin thought he heard Ruby say something, but he couldn't quite make it out. His tunneling vision soon gave out, and darkness consumed him. And still, Ozpin focused for as long as he could on maintaining his semblance. He didn't know how much longer he would last before he finally fell unconscious and his semblance gave out. But before that happened, a singular thought crossed his mind.

Regardless of whatever happened to him, he hoped that Ruby made it.


Crunch. Crunch.

Ozpin wasn't sure at what point in time he'd regained consciousness, but the first thing he noticed was the sound of dirt crunching underfoot. The second thing he noticed was the sensation of being pulled, little by little, in time with the audible footsteps. His vision still eluded him, and so he couldn't see who was dragging him along. Perhaps Ruby had finally heeded Ozpin's plea to abandon him and save herself. Perhaps he was being dragged back to Salem by one of her henchmen.

Oh well. If he had to trade his life for Ruby's, then so be it. His time was almost up, anyway.


The second time he regained consciousness, Ozpin's eyes decided to cooperate. While the world came into bleary view, he tried taking stock of his present situation. No chains or restraints seemed to be bonding him, which was already a good sign. The air blowing against his face was slightly cool and damp, though he could smell the acrid scent of smoke. He realized his body was propped up against a wall and wrapped in some kind of sturdy fabric, though not so tightly that he couldn't move.

As his vision came into focus, Ozpin saw that he was in what looked like a small cavern that was dimly lit by the glowing embers of a small fire. Sitting across from him was Ruby Rose.

"Welcome back, professor," she said. There wasn't any sarcasm in her voice, nor any sense of relief, or joy… or much of any emotion, really. She looked exhausted, judging by her hunched posture and the bags under her eyes.

"Hello, Ruby," Ozpin answered. First thing's first. "Is everything alright?"

Ruby snorted. "That's a relative scale, isn't it? We managed to not get captured, I managed to find this hideaway where we could finally rest, and now you're awake, which means I wasn't dragging around a corpse this entire time. But I can still hear the howling of the Grimm outside from time to time, Salem's psychic rage still touches my mind every so often, I don't have a weapon because the bitch melted it down, we have no food, and I have no idea what to do from here."

"Appreciate the small victories," Ozpin said quietly. He noticed that Ruby wasn't wearing her cape. A realization finally clicked for him, and he looked back down at the fabric wrapping his body. It was red, with a combination of XCOM's insignia and Ruby's symbol emblazoned in the center.

He looked up at Ruby questioningly. "Yours, I assume?"

She nodded. "Figured it might help bring you back to the land of the living."

"Indeed," Ozpin agreed. "The fire probably didn't hurt."

"Zhang taught me that," the young huntress answered. "It was tricky finding everything to get it started, and even trickier keeping it low enough so that the smoke wouldn't give away our position, but…"

Ruby lowered her voice an octave and a half and tried to mimic her mentor. "Learn to thrive in the face of adversity. Temper us in fire, and we grow stronger. When we suffer, we survive."

"That sounds like Zhang, alright," Ozpin chuckled.

Ruby gave him a curious look, but said nothing. The two of them sat for a bit, staring at the embers and thinking about their situation.

"How long have you been able to do that?" Ruby asked. "The time thing."

"Years," Ozpin answered.

"Then why did Salem let you in the room to watch?"

"Because I kept it a secret from her."

"How?" Ruby asked. "It seems like you two are really close -which is another question I have, but I can ask it later- so I can't believe she didn't know you could slow time. Especially since you've fought before, and you lived in a clocktower. I mean… really? Even I guessed that your semblance was time related."

Ozpin smiled. "So did she. She thought she knew everything about my semblance, because I made sure to use it when we fought. Or, at least parts of it. I made prodigious use of my semblance to make sure it never seemed like I was holding back: distorting myself for a few seconds in combat, slowing down other creatures that she sent to attack me, rewinding my steps by a few seconds to evade an assault…

"But I never let her know that I could slow my own time flow to the degree or the length of time that I did today."

"Yesterday," Ruby corrected. "I'm pretty sure it's past midnight."

"Then you should get some rest," Ozpin said. "You've performed admirably, Ruby, but I can keep watch while you sleep."

The young huntress shook her head. "Not before I get answers on what happened. I almost died because of that madwoman. She ripped my heart out and murdered my soul by destroying…" she trailed off and grew quiet. The clenched fists and constricted throat did not escape Ozpin's notice.

"All in the name of some bullshit plan," Ruby finally continued. "I think I deserve to know why."

Ozpin stared at his companion. Despite the fatigue that was creeping into her face, the steadfast determination was undeniable. Ruby was right. After all that she had suffered, after everything that Ozpin asked of her despite having just been emotionally and spiritually tortured…

He owed her this much.

"Alright," Ozpin said. "It's a long story, but I suppose we aren't exactly pressed for time. But first, I think some reintroductions are in order."

Ruby quirked an eyebrow. Then, when she saw that Ozpin was serious, she shrugged, stood to her feet, and offered a salute.

"Alright… Hello, Ozpin. I am Captain Ruby Rose."

Ozpin couldn't help but smirk. How fitting that she included her officer's rank from XCOM.

He returned the salute, and answered, "At ease, Captain Rose. I am Central Officer John Bradford. Welcome back to Earth."