Well, there appears to be at least sufficient interest for me to continue this... and I've had an easier time writing this than original stuff... dang mindset that doesn't like to rewrite stuff I've already done... I need to work on that. At least I had a lot of time when my entire state was turned into an ice rink.

Bradford looked in between Ruby and Invidia. "You two know each other?"

Invidia nodded. "Ruby Shadeslayer Rose was my superior in the Dragon Riders."

"Invidia!" Ruby scolded. "You told them about us?"

The elf locked eyes with Ruby. "Aye. It was not something I did lightly."

"Ruby Rose?" Tygan looked down at Ruby. "That's not what you told us your name was." The big guy gripped his gun harder and rested a finger on the weapon's safety.

Ruby gave the three people she didn't know a glance before focusing solely on Invidia. "Why did you tell them about us?"

Invidia straightened. "Shadeslayer, these people are not our enemies. They are fighting a war much more dire than against Salem or Galbatorix."

"That's hard to believe." Ruby narrowed her eyes. "If we lost to either of them, likely two planets would be under either one of their sway."

The elf blinked. "These people already lost their war." Ruby widened her eyelids a sliver. Invidia held both her palms toward the Elder. "You know I cannot lie in this tongue. I did not trust them with the entire truth for months. The existence of Alagaësia, yes, but Remnant, the Riders, and our enemies came later. Of course, I have and will never reveal the Riders' deepest secrets to anyone."

The Rider took a deep breath through the nose. "We can trust these people?"

"We can." Invidia slowly nodded. "I have seen XCOM fight against their invaders and how they interact with those free of their opponent's control. They are much like the Riders in that regard." She lowered her hands but she narrowed her eyes like she was examining something.

Ruby lowered her head and sighed. She raised her eyes to Bradford. "I didn't know if I could trust you. If one of my chief healers can, so can I."

Bradford crossed his arms and glanced at Invidia. "This is the Shadeslayer you've told us about? The one that can level armies of monsters in seconds?"

"The same… but something's wrong." Invidia cocked her head. "I can't feel you."

Ruby clamped her teeth together to keep herself from breaking down then and there. "I can't feel you. I can't feel anyone in this room. I can't feel anything." Invidia's eyes bulged out of her head. "I can't feel my Aura either… I don't suppose you've heard from Cerise?"

"The field around the planet isn't that strong." Invidia looked over any inch of Ruby's visible body before locking eyes on Tygan. "Have you found any abnormali-"

"Here!" Ruby whipped her head around so her new scar faced the healer. She pointed at it with her only hand. "Right here. I didn't have this when I woke up back in Vale." Invidia gripped Ruby's shoulders and the Rider felt the elf breathing on her neck. One of the hands disappeared and fingers rested on either side of the scar. The healer started whispering in the Ancient Language. She at least still had her magic.

"There is something metal inside your head that I don't remember being there before." Invidia paused. "It's different than the one we found in the Commander, but it's roughly the same size. We need to prep her for surgery immediately." Ruby turned her eyes up toward Tygan. For the first time, she didn't try to hold her emotions back.

Tygan stared at Ruby for a few seconds before facing Bradford. "Central?"

"I need to speak to the Commander about this," Bradford said. Ruby whipped her head to the man. Bradford held a fist to his chin. "There's more to the situation than just this."

"With all due respect," Invidia started, "we need to identify what is suppressing Ruby as soon as possible. With what she is capable of, we can-"

"The Chosen Hunter called her 'Avatar.'" Bradford glared at Invidia. Ruby turned her head to look at the two. The way Invidia held her lips together… this wasn't good. "We still don't know what the hell the Avatar Project is. It's been a while, but I used to play video games back before and during the first invasion. Avatar is another name for player characters." He turned his head toward Ruby and narrowed his eyes. "She may look like your boss, she may have her memories, but she could be a result of the Avatar Project." He faced Invidia again. "I can't make that decision. Besides, we're landing in a half hour. It's not a good idea to perform surgery when this tub's losing altitude. Doctor, we need to speak with the Commander. Grizzly, you and Bobcat watch the door." The man with the gun nodded. "Points… make our guest comfortable." With that, the three men left the room."

Invidia glared at the door. "If you learned how to fly, maybe Tygan and I could perform surgeries." Her gaze softened as she turned her head toward Ruby. "Are you well?"

Ruby whimpered and doubled over. She felt her eyes start to leak as she stared up at the elf. "Something in my head is keeping me from knowing if my dragon's alive. How do you think I'm feeling?"

"I would like to search again." Invidia sat by Ruby's side and rested a hand on the back of the Rider's head. "Keep still and try to keep quiet. My magic is not as strong as it is on Remnant and Alagaësia." Ruby jerked her head down once and stayed silent. Invidia didn't need distractions. Ruby just stared at a single bolt in the floor while only half paying attention to the spell being cast. At some point, it felt like she was falling, probably the ship landing wherever.

While the ship was still descending, Invidia sighed. "I'm sorry, Shadeslayer," she panted. "I can't help you right now."

Why did she sound so exhausted? Ruby turned around and dropped her jaw. Invidia's face was bone white with only a little red on her forehead. Sweat covered her skin and drenched her hair. "What happened to you?"

"Something happened here. After I was first taken, I could use magic and my Semblance as well as I could in Alagaësia or Remnant. Now… something's changed."

"Well, did you find out anything?"

Invidia nodded. "There is an electronic chip in your head that isn't connected to your bionics. If it was like the one Tygan and I pulled out of the Commander, we would be able to get it out by the end of the day… but it's wrapped around your spinal cord. Back in Ellesméra or Mor'ranar Vera, I would need the help of other healers to treat it right. Now… we'd need to wait for the chief engineer to build us the right equipment. The infirmary will be well supplied but it's not enough for this."

Ruby's shoulders almost fell off her body. "So… you can't get the thing out of me?"

"No. Before you ask, I've already tried to return to Alagaësia or Remnant. The spells never worked here, even when I was at full strength."

"We're stuck here then." Ruby lowered her head and rested her hand on the back of her neck. She clenched her eyes and dug her fingers into her skin. "Then what do we do?"

"I've been working with XCOM since a week after I arrived here. Tygan said that he will help everyone who is not from here get back to their own worlds… but only when their war is over can they spare the resources."

Ruby snapped her eyes open. "I need Cerise back in my head… and I can't leave Crey and Angel alone for too long." She straightened up and turned to face Invidia. "Sitrep. From when you got here to now."

Invidia nodded before leaning against the wall behind her. "I was helping decontaminate Mor'ranar Vera when a portal opened around me. It… enveloped me, then I was standing in a white room with several people in an observation room in the wall in front of me. Soldiers then attacked me from both sides. I thankfully still had my sword and magic at full strength. I fought through them and out of the facility. They tried to follow but I outran all their soldiers and hid myself from their airships.

"I found the nearest river and tried to cast the between worlds spell but it wouldn't take. When night fell, I searched the stars to find myself. None of the constellations were the same. I looked to the moon for guidance. Instead, the texture is completely different. That's when I knew I wasn't on Remnant or Alagaësia.

"Then I started wandering the wilderness, avoiding their patrols, trying to find something that might have a hint of where I was. I found some abandoned civilian vehicles. Judging by their license plates, I was in a place called 'Montana.' There were weapons and plenty of ammunition in the cars. I scavenged as much as I could and proceeded farther up the mountain I found myself on.

"After passing through several abandoned cities and settlements, I heard gunshots ahead. I ran toward it and found a small encampment under attack. The people that attacked you were the same ones that I fought." Invidia grimaced. "ADVENT… They were firing on civilians. I couldn't stand by. I ran in and killed I don't know how many of them.

"Some time into the attack, XCOM arrived. They wiped out the remaining soldiers… and then turned their guns on me."

Ruby narrowed her eyes. "And you joined them?"

"I scanned their minds." Invidia looked at her feet. "I surrendered myself to them and they threw me in their brig. I thought I'd stay in there for a while. Then Elena, Rex, and Zenmato came in and interrogated me. Long story short, they put in a good word with Central, now I'm one of the chief medics here. In fact, I'm so valuable in that position, I haven't left the Avenger since I got here."

"So," Ruby crossed her good arm with her stump, "I'm assuming as an invaluable medic, you've learned a few things."

The elf nodded. "Twenty years ago, aliens invaded this planet and won. XCOM was defeated only because the country their base was located in betrayed them. Their Commander was taken prisoner and the command staff was scattered. Central eventually made contact with Shen senior and the two of them started to put the Avenger back together and reform XCOM."

"Bradford, Shen…" Ruby shook her head. "Are we sure we're not on the Vytal?"

"I never met him, but apparently the only things Raymond Shen had in common with Raina Shen were that they were elderly and had similar-sounding names. The Bradfords have similar personalities though." Invidia paused. "Anyway, when I first was brought aboard, we were only able to attack ADVENT in a small area around where the Avenger was landed. Then we received information that the Commander was being held in a gene clinic in the city of Seattle. As far as I know, that was our first time back in the city centers since the first war. Bradford and Jane Kelly, you might have heard her be referred to as 'Quiet,' were the only survivors from the mission. But they got the Commander out. Lily Shen received word of a power converter the Avenger needed to take off and we grabbed that as soon as we could.

"Less than a week after our first flight," Invidia raised her right hand and stared at it, "I felt my connection to my Aura and magic decrease. Shen and Tygan detected a change in ADVENT's psionic network an hour after that." She let her arm fall back to her lap. "That can't be a coincidence. They know we're out, and they know we're dangerous. They found a way to hold us back, but it's not complete." The elf faced Ruby. "Which is how I knew that there was something different with you."

Ruby nodded. "How long? Before and after."

"I'm been here four months in total, two before and after we rescued the Commander."

"From what you've seen, how well can they fight? Do they stand a chance?"

Invidia winced. "That… depends on who you ask." She pulled a Scroll like device out of a pocket and did something on her screen. "When you're cleared, and I'm sure you will be, you'll get one of these too." She handed the Scroll to Ruby. "This is what we call, 'The List.'"

Ruby took the Scroll and read the full title, 'List of Things XCOM Operatives Are No Longer Allowed to Do.' Weird name for a rule book but she'd seen worse. She scrolled down and read the first rule…

1) Operatives may not replace fragmentation grenades with pineapples. Rookie [REDACTED] nearly lost his life because the round brown thing he threw at a group of troopers didn't explode.

1a) The same goes for the reverse. We don't need grenades destroying the mess hall.

1b) The rule extends for all grenades and things that aren't grenades. We shouldn't need to elaborate on this!

1c) Seriously, we barely have enough food to go around as it is. Stop. Doing. This.

The Scroll slipped from Ruby's hands onto the bed. She swore her jaw followed. The Rider creaked her head toward Invidia. "These people are this planet's best hope?"

"Unfortunately. We can't afford to be picky about who we let in. Most of the soldiers here know how to act. The whole squad that rescued you are among those, though that is mainly due to Rex and Jane straightening the others out."

Ruby held her head in her hand. I'm never going to see Cerise again. "Tell me what we're up against. I can carry the team if I must."

Invidia started going into detail on everything she knew about ADVENT and their alien masters. Missions, enemy designations, current tactics of both sides, current weapon capabilities, everything. These people were no Riders, not even Huntsmen, but on paper, they were a nice guerrilla force. The problems came from the people who thought it was funny to swap grenades with all kinds of fruit… and there were a lot of those. Throughout the whole time, Ruby fought back waves of pain and loneliness that came from the lack of Cerise in her head.

Some time into the explanation, someone knocked on the door. It opened and a woman in her upper twenties walked in. She had a blue-green tactical vest on with an orange tank top with XCOM's logo underneath. Everything she wore had at least one kind of oil stain on it. Ruby liked the look of that. She could work with engineers. The woman blinked at Invidia. "Oh. I thought you would have gone operation room for prep by now."

"I would, Lily," Invidia started, "but I believe I discovered enough." She raised one of her hands. "We don't have the equipment to remove the implant right."

Lily hummed and looked Ruby up and down. "So you're the one that's got the whole ship riled up."

"Sorry to cause a fuss." Ruby shrugged. "I just wanted to pick up a cake and some fruit."

"If you ever get that chance, bring enough for the whole crew." Lily extended her left hand. "Lily Shen, chief engineer on board the Avenger."

Ruby took the offered hand and shook it. "Elder Ruby Rose."

"Elder." Lily cocked her head. "How old are you? You don't look a day over twenty-five."

"Thirty nine, forty in a couple months." Ruby took her hand back. "It's a Rider thing. Same with the ears and angled facial features."

"That would be nice." Lily paused. "I'm not here just for a social talk. The Commander wanted me to get measurements for basic prosthetics. It doesn't sound like you've got the run of the ship, but he's not afraid of having you walk around."

"Give me a piece of paper or two and I can give you detailed schematics." Ruby showed her stump arm to Lily, but more importantly, the interface on the end. "These things can take most limbs from my planet, but I'm assuming things are a little different here."

"Maybe." Lily knelt down and took a closer look at the interface. "Yep. This is a little more complicated than what I've done."

"Like I said, let me draw up a diagram and you can take it from there. Once I have an arm, I can take care of the rest."

Lily blinked at Ruby then faced Invidia. The elf nodded. "She designed her own bionics and those for thousands of others where we're from. Her kinds are the favorites of the military, firefighters, and many other groups."

"Good to hear." Lily faced Ruby again. "Supplies are limited around here, but I'll see what I can do."

Ruby nodded. "No gun in the arm yet. Got it."

Shen really wasn't lying about the lack of supplies. She had enough available to craft a simple prosthetic arm and some things to create a leg and an eye, though the last one really didn't need that much material. The arm Shen made in two days was literally barebones. Two metal cylinders formed an oval with the space in the center completely open. All the necessary electronics filled the tubes so Ruby had full range of motion in the arm itself and in the fingers. No skin, no gun, no other sensors, but it was enough to enable Ruby to craft a similarly built leg and an eye. At least the eye had a built-in targeting display for when she eventually got a gun. Those two were built in three days in the makeshift infirmary without many advanced tools. Shen was impressed, and apparently, some of the higher-ups Ruby wasn't in contact with were as well. While the newest ensemble of bionics were hardly up to Ruby's standards, they worked, and that was enough.

A day after Ruby finished her new bionics, Tygan, Invidia, and several others Ruby didn't know moved all the medical equipment from their temporary home and to the new infirmary, leaving Ruby alone in a fairly spacious room. It looked like it was designed for six people so the rest of the bunks would likely be filled at some point. Since Ruby was effectively under house arrest, the alone time gave her plenty of time to think.

Through a good chunk of that time, Ruby wished Beowolves were making a meal of her. Before this, her connection to Cerise had only been severed for an hour at most. Not even being apart from each other for a month hurt like this. She would rather only see Cerise through video calls than spend another hour without her soulmate in her head. In the few hours she got to sleep, she saw her dragon getting killed in the most brutal ways she didn't dare describe to anyone. Her Aura being gone as well grew to be less and less of a comfort, but there was always that faint glimmer of hope.

In her few moments of lucidity, Ruby asked Invidia to brief her on just about everything going on with and around XCOM. The people, the ship, the enemies, the mission, the tech, and many more things. The top soldiers weren't the ones that switched out pineapples and grenades. Rex and Jane Kelly were among them. Rex was in a similar position to Ruby and Invidia. He was a clone soldier for a galaxy-spanning Republic. It sounded like something out of Galaxy Wars, and if the library in Tenga's tower didn't say that the multiverse was a thing, Ruby wouldn't believe it. Also in the 'taken from my home planet' category were Rayla the 'Moonshadow elf,' Mercedes Romero the Blorg, and Phil Coulson… just a spy from another Earth. Invidia couldn't place a connection between anyone in the group.

Another thing was XCOM's scientific priorities. Getting whatever was in Ruby's head out wasn't at the top of the list… but not the bottom. When they finished figuring out how to build long-range radio towers, the Commander said he wanted the chip in Ruby's head investigated. That day couldn't come soon enough…

Ruby could only stare at the wall in front of her. On the other side, Tygan, Shen, and Mercedes Romero (the only other scientist onboard) deliberated what it was in Ruby's head. They'd been talking for over an hour. What more could there be to say? Ruby gripped the edge of the bed the doctors sat her on. She wanted to feel the metal bend beneath her but her bionic hand wasn't strong enough to do that.

A hand fell on Ruby's left shoulder. "Ruby, you need to-"

"Invidia," Ruby bit out, "if you say I need to calm myself one more time, I am throwing you through that bulkhead!" She pointed at the wall to her right.

The elf pulled away. "I apologize, Shadeslayer." Ruby growled and turned her head away. One upon a time, she wouldn't mean that when she threatened it, but those days might as well have been a century ago.

The door to the room opened and Ruby snapped her head toward it. Shen and Tygan stepped into the room. The engineer didn't even have a fake smile on. This wasn't good. "How bad is it?" Ruby asked.

"Without being able to examine the chip itself," Tygan started, "we believe it is designed to suppress all psionic abilities in its host."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "We figured that out before we knew what it looked like. Can you get it out of my head?"

"At the moment… no." Tygan raised his tablet and hit a few buttons on its screen before turning it toward Ruby. It showed a rectangular chip with an ovular bulge partially inside her brain. Ruby blinked. How was she alive at all? Tentacle like arms branched down toward the base of her head. "As Invidia told us, metal strands are wrapped around your spinal cord, but it's much worse than that." Tygan pressed a button and parts of the strands lit up red. "In some instances, they are buried inside your spinal cord and brain stem. Removal under the best of circumstances in the best facilities on Earth wouldn't be certain. Now, without the specialized equipment we need for this kind of operation, it would almost certainly kill you."

The Rider stared at the diagram, frozen in place. Brain stem… spinal cord… Halcyon healed that kind of injury… twice… Yang could do just about everything now… If only he was here… "So… you're not going to do anything?"

"It's not capable of transmitting or receiving," Shen started, "so there's no point in risking it. If there's any bright side to this whole thing, we believe that thing protects you from any psionic attacks on you, and the Commander has decided you're not a flight risk."

"You and I have different definitions of the word 'good.'" Ruby dipped her head. "Just… go…" No one else spoke. The door opened and but only two sets of footsteps left. She turned her head back toward Invidia. "I said go."

"I am going to take you back to your quarters." Invidia stepped forward. "You are physically unharmed and cannot stay in the infirmary. Judging from your body language, you don't want to move."

"You're right about that." Ruby sniffed as she stood up. "I have no idea when I'll know if Cerise is alive or not." She hugged herself. "That's…" Her throat constricted, stopping more words. Her left arm twitched.

"Come on." Invidia rested a hand on Ruby's back. "You need to go back to your quarters." Ruby's legs started to move without her wanting them to. She left the room and turned her head to the left. Mercedes… the big lump of hyper-intelligent fungus that stunk something fierce, stood that way and some of her tendrils and upper lumps raised. Invidia said that was her way of showing happiness of seeing a friend… then again, it sounded every living thing was her friend. Ruby just scowled and turned away. Maybe if she ever got Cerise in her head, she'd give the alien scientist a chance.

Ruby just let her legs carry her through the Avenger with only Invidia's hand guiding her along the way. They passed soldiers and other crewmen along the way to the nearest elevator. She paid them no mind. None of them pointed weapons at her anymore or even carried them with the purpose of containing her, so they weren't important. They only acknowledged Invidia anyway. There was no need to talk to them.

They entered an elevator and rode up toward the barracks but stopped a level short. The door opened with Central standing on the other side. "You two. Just who I wanted to see." She stepped inside and canceled the trip to deck one. Ruby blinked at the panel and glanced up at Bradford.

"What's the situation, Central?" Invidia asked.

"The tech Shen had working on decrypting the datapad from the last mission just called the bridge," Bradford started. "We have twenty-four hours to act before ADVENT retaliates against us in one of the worst ways possible." He stared right at Ruby. "Invidia says you're one hell of a fighter and mechanic. Can you fight now?"

Ruby narrowed her eyes. "What's at stake here?"

"Millions of lives in four of the largest cities on Earth."

"Four?" Invidia asked. "Why didn't we know about this before?"

Bradford shook his head. "They didn't locate Havens. They're after the city centers this time, and they're going to blame it on us." He focused on Ruby again. "We only have two full-time engineers on this boat and neither of them can fight. Can you?"

Ruby turned her eyes down. She really didn't want to… but these people were her best chance at getting Cerise back in her head. "I can."

"How good are you with bombs?"

"I've put together my fair share. I know what to look for."

"Maybe, maybe not." Bradford slammed a fist into the open door button. "Congratulations, Squaddie Rose, you're going on your first mission. Report to the armory, suit up, and pick out an unclaimed sniper and a secondary weapon."

Ruby barely nodded and stepped outside. A few signs hung that pointed toward the armory. She turned her head back. "What am I going to be looking for out there?"

Bradford grimaced. "Nukes." The elevator doors closed.

"Nukes?" Ruby cocked her head. "Bombs… in microwaves?" She shook her head. "Probably a local term."

You know all those recovery missions where you open a chest, get a thing, and that thing's never seen again? Yeah, it's seen now.

For those of you who've followed me for a long time, you might have seen this coming… Horns up! Bobcats down! The Thundering Herd is returning to Texas once again! HOP UNTIL FRISCO! HOP UNTIL FRISCO!