Chapter 38 - Who Dares Win


"If I ever volunteer to go on a mission that involves Deathclaws again, please hit me on the head." Jaune grumbled, folding his arms and pouting, as he and Ruby slowly made the way into the Citadel.

"Come on now, it wasn't that bad." Ruby said, patting Jaune's shoulder with one hand while holding the Tesla Coil with another, silently reflecting that she'd probably break her power-armored hand if she tried such a thing.

Jaune just gave Ruby a blank look, before sighing and looking away, pushing the doors towards the Operations Room where they'd met Paladin Tristan last.

As it turned out, the answer was yes.

Yes, Deathclaws could be worse than Ursai Major or dragons.

Sure, a dragon from Skyrim flew and breathed fire and was far stronger and heavier, but it didn't have two claws as well as a mouth full of sharp teeth, and they didn't tend to burst out of the sewers in groups.

And unlike Ruby, who simply shot at them from a distance with her "customizable high-impact sniper rifle", he'd had to deal with them up close.

Honestly, he could understand why his family had kept his great-great-grandfather's sword and shield-sheath. As he idly rubbed the two golden crescents on his sheath, he could definitely see how the shield-sheath had outlived most of its wielders.

In the tunnels of Old Olney, it had stood up to the charges and claws of Deathclaws, just as it had stood up to laser beams and plasma rounds when he'd helped Ruby and the science team escape Project Purity.

Deathclaws were still more terrifying than any Grimm he'd ever seen, though.

"You found a Tesla Coil?" Paladin Tristan asked incredulously, snapping Jaune out of his thoughts, as Ruby handed over the weird device. "Excellent! I'll see to it that this reaches the Scribes immediately! You've done good work, soldiers."

"Thank you, sir!" Ruby beamed and threw up a sloppy salute, one that had Paladin Tristan's eye twitching. He quickly reigned himself in, though; he knew the young Ironwood's situation.

Jaune, for his part, remained quiet.

He couldn't help but feel like that wasn't all he had for them. He'd made that mistake enough times in Skyrim, and gotten Yang involved in more trouble than she deserved.

"Are you ready for your next assignment?" Tristan asked, vindicating Jaune's concerns. Seeing Jaune's expression, though, Tristan desperately added: "We don't have time to spare."

"We're good to go." Ruby reassured him, missing the look on Jaune's face. As he buried his face in an empty palm and began rubbing his temples, wondering if he'd been this bad, Ruby continued on: "What's next?"

"Based on the data the Sentinel and Rothchild pulled from the relay station, we've identified the Enclave's second base of operations at Adams Air Force Base, outside of DC." Tristan explained. "Unfortunately, the Enclave have begun regrouping and fortifying the area around it."

"I assume you've got a plan?" Jaune spoke up. He still wasn't familiar with the geography of the place, but he didn't fancy the idea of fighting his way through the entire Enclave to get to their new base of operations.

"We've tentatively identified an alternative route; through the Presidential Metro used by the government before the war." Tristan nodded. "But you're going to have to be on your own again."

"You're sending just the two of us? By ourselves?" Ruby asked in disbelief.

"The rest of the Brotherhood will be providing a distraction so you can slip in undetected." Tristan further elaborated, knowing what he was asking of the two. "Once you breach the Presidential Metro and get to Adams Air Force Base, send us a signal. We'll give you the chance to infiltrate and neutralize the base."

"Can we count on any additional support?" Jaune pressed, unwilling to let that be all. He may not have been all that confident in his ability to survive by himself, but there was no way he could let Ruby come with him. No way he could protect her as well as himself through the Enclave base.

If there wasn't, he'd be doing this alone.

Tristan closed his eyes, trying to think of something. He knew of the rumors and legends that were emerging around Ironwood and Arc, of how they'd fought a Super Mutant army outside of GNR (including a fucking behemoth of all things), of how they'd defeated a full dozen platoons in the sewers while escaping Project Purity, and of how they'd stormed the mysterious Site R and rescued Sarah Lyons. While he was sure most of the tales were exaggerated (a Wastelander going toe-to-toe with a behemoth with just a sword and a shield? Yeah, right!), Ironwood and Arc, at least, did seem to have a knack for surviving and succeeding against the odds (like how they'd come back from Old Olney with the Tesla Coil).

But that didn't mean they were invincible.

Hell, Arc had been in a fucking coma for two weeks, after they'd recaptured the purifier!

They were his soldiers. He had a duty to them, just as they had a duty to the Brotherhood.

He couldn't let himself be blinded by their reputations like others were.

"I'll mark out a location for an aerial resupply." Tristan finally said, opening his eyes. "When the battle starts, we'll try to sneak in a Vertibird with some supplies, and hopefully a working Tesla Cannon as well. Hopefully, in the chaos of the fighting, nobody will notice a few more Vertibirds."

"Hopefully." Jaune echoed, not liking the sound of things.

It was the best plan they had, perhaps, but that didn't make it a good plan.

-EVERNIGHT CASTLE, LAND OF DARKNESS, TWO SECONDS AFTER THE TRIUMPH-

As Ruby and Pyrrha stared at Yang, as she stood up over Salem's lifeless and headless body, all Ruby could do was wonder how in Oum's name Ozpin's plan had gone so wrong.

Then Yang turned to face them, and they instinctively took a step back.

It was the look in her eyes.

Pyrrha had known Team RWBY for almost 5 years at this point, and while they weren't the best of friends she liked to think that she at least knew the blonde boxer well.

Well enough to know that she had never seen such ferocious intensity in her eyes before.

Not even when her hair had been cut.

For Ruby, it was even worse. She'd known Yang all her life; Oum, she'd practically been raised by her, after Summer had died and their dad had broken.

She had never seen such an expression on her sister's face before, but she could read her eyes.

Desperation.

Loss.

Fury.

Possessiveness.

What had happened to her?

"Yang?" Ruby whispered unceratinly, taking a tentative step forward.

"Ruby, stop!" Pyrrha shouted, her hand shooting forward to block Ruby's path. "That's not Yang! Look at her arm!"

Indeed, as Ruby paused once more, and studied the figure in front of her more closely, the differences slowly growing more apparent.

Her hair was disheveled, her clothes were torn, tattered, or brutal and barbaric, and there were a lot more scars and dirt on the person in front of her.

Not to mention the lack of robotic arms.

And yet, she could read her eyes, as easily as she could her own sister's.

"Must be Neo or Emerald." Pyrrha continued with a frown.

"But why pick such an obvious disguise?" Ruby pointed out, still studying the figure in front of her. "Who would this disguise fool?"

"Maybe it's to throw us off." Pyrrha suggested.

"And what about Salem?" Salem's body, indeed, showed no signs of regenerating, or even moving.

"I don't know." Pyrrha admitted, now crouching low. "Either way, let's find out."

Before the impostor in front of them could react, Pyrrha was already shooting towards Yang, blade in hand.

Yang's eyes widened.

The red-headed girl was fast! Faster than even Aela was!

On reflex, she Shouted: "FEIM!"

Pyrrha's eyes widened, as she simply passed through Yang's body. Was it one of Emerald's illusions?

No, but Ruby had seen it!

She didn't have time to think any further, as instinct screamed at her to raise Akoúo̱ up, just as the Yang suddenly re-materialized, already throwing a fist at her.

Pyrrha grunted, and her knees almost buckled from the sheer force.

She was used to sparring with Yang.

She knew that Yang could easily hit like a Beringel.

The blow from this Yang, however, felt like a Goliath was trying to crush her.

Her instincts screamed at her once more.

She leapt back as Yang tried sweeping her feet out from under her, glaring at her all the while.

She glared back, refusing to back down.

She didn't know what was going on, why... whoever this was, had killed Salem, or why they were pretending to be Yang.

She just knew she couldn't miss her chance to finally avenge Jaune.

She couldn't let there be any more loose ends.

It didn't add up, though.

Neo and Emerald weren't nearly that strong. The only one who could have been that strong had been Hazel, and he was dead.

Behind them, Ruby was wavering, confused. She knew she had to help Pyrrha, but what about the Yang in front of her?

Pyrrha just roared and charged in once more, swinging his sword at her.

The Yang in front of her blocked and parried each one of her swings with her bone gauntlets.

That wasn't Yang's fighting style.

Yang wasn't fast enough to match her blow for blow.

More importantly, Yang would have dodged, ducked, and weaved, like a boxer, rather than simply take each blow head on and waste her Aura.

To her surprise, the Yang in front of her suddenly opened her mouth.

"YOL TOOR SHUL!"

Pyrrha's eyes widened as a torrent of fire suddenly erupted from her mouth, and quickly ducked behind her shield as the force of the flames forced her back.

That wasn't an illusion!

What in Oum's name was going on?!

"Pyrrha!" Ruby finally leapt into action, charging at Yang with Crescent Rose as she saw Pyrrha in danger. She would not let another friend get injured because of her incompetence!

Yang easily spotted the telegraphed attack, but her eyes widened in surprise as the ravenette suddenly became a red blur.

"WULD!"

Yang shot off to the side as Ruby re-formed, scythe swinging down at where she had been earlier.

Her eyes narrowed.

Who the hell were these girls and why were they even attacking her?

She heard a sound to her right and turned her head, just as the redhead's sword stabbed through the air, where her head had been two milliseconds earlier.

She gripped it by the blade and held it up, before Shouting: "FUS RO DAH!"

Pyrrha was caught up in the unexpected blast, and sent flying into a nearby pillar.

She quickly got to her feet, though, and readied herself once more, before her eyes widened as she realized something.

Her right hand was empty.

Where was it?!

Her eyes narrowed as she saw it, held in the impostors hand.

How...

HOW...

HOW DARE SHE?!

Pyrrha Nikos's vision turned red.

Yang looked at the sword, about to toss it to the side contemptuously, not needing a sword.

Something stopped her, though.

As she looked at it, she saw the polished metal.

White metal.

Like nothing in Skyrim.

But not nothing she'd ever seen before.

Something about it was screaming at her, distracting her from everything.

Then it glowed black, and suddenly someone was screaming at her.

"LET GO OF JAUNE'S SWORD!" Pyrrha roared furiously, using her Semblance to rip it out of the impostor's hands, even as she was leaping forward and smashing the impostor away, bashing her face with Akoúo̱.

Pyrrha gingerly touched Jaune's sword, mentally apologizing for losing it, before glaring back at Yang.

Ruby joined Pyrrha, but soon noticed something the furious girl hadn't.

Blood.

Yang, for her part, got back up onto her feet, ignoring the pain in her face, and the blood flowing out of her nose.

All she could focus on was one word.

Jaune.

"Shouldn't her Aura have healed her by now?" Ruby asked, confused, pointing the nosebleed out to Pyrrha.

The surprising inconsistency was enough to momentarily shake Pyrrha out of her anger, as she instead remembered a blonde idiot who'd gotten a cut that hadn't immediately healed, five years ago, during Beacon's Initiation.

Had they been fighting someone without Aura the whole time?

Then what in Oum's name was that?

Why would someone without Aura be in Salem's castle during their attack on it?

How had someone without Aura killed Salem?

"Did you say "Jaune"?" Yang asked, hope filling her voice, surprising the pair. That had not been what they had expected at all.

Yang didn't notice their confusion as she instead pressed on, remembering Vomit Boy's empty sheath. "Does... did that sword come with a white sheath that turned into a shield, that had two golden crescents facing down?"

Ruby's and Pyrrha's breaths hitched in their throats. Ruby knew weapons, and Pyrrha knew her partner's weapons.

But how did the woman in front of them know about the shield-sheath of Crocea Mors? It was gone, having disappeared with Jaune's body during the Fall!

"It did." Pyrrha said cautiously, even as she lowered Crocea Mors and Akoúo̱. Did... had she seen it?

"Then, do you know a Jaune Arc?" Yang pressed on excitedly, glad to finally be getting somewhere. "Tall, blonde, hopelessly naive and foolish. Says stuff like "strangers are just friends you haven't met yet" and "an Arc never goes back on their word"?"

""..."" Ruby and Pyrrha both just wordlessly nodded, feeling the familiar pains of a lost friend, partner, and something that could have been more.

"Then, do you know where he is?"

Ruby and Pyrrha both looked away bitterly, as old wounds reopened. But this woman clearly knew Jaune, so...

Finally, Pyrrha bluntly answered: "He's gone. During the Fall of Beacon, years ago."

Yang felt like shouting to the heavens, rolling her eyes in exasperation. Why was everyone talking about Beacon?! She knew about his first death from him; she wanted to know about whether or not he'd survived his duel against the First-Born of the God of Time!

Time...

Yang's eyes narrowed, as a thought suddenly struck her.

"... this is going to sound weird." Yang cautioned, holding her hands up to show that she was unarmed and meant no harm as she stepped forward slowly. "But has a black dragon attacked yet?"

"Yet?" Ruby echoed, looking to Pyrrha.

Pyrrha simply fixed the Yang lookalike with a glare, losing her patience once more at the constant reminders of her loss.

Ruby stepped forward though, seeing the earnestness in Yang's eyes, the honest confusion.

"... there was an attack by a black dragon, during the Fall of Beacon-" Ruby began, trying to ignore the pain of the memory.

"Not Beacon." Yang groaned, rolling her eyes. "I mean, has a black dragon attacked a walled city, with the cold seas behind it and hills and forests before it?"

Ruby and Pyrrha blinked, exchanging a look. Was she talking about Argus? Either way...

"Not that I know of?" Ruby said slowly. "The only dragon attack so far was at Beacon. Why? Is there something we should know?"

"I see." Yang simply said, pursing her lips in thought.

Then she began to walk away.

"Wait!" Ruby shouted, zipping in front of her with her Semblance. "What was with all those questions? And how do you know Jaune?"

"Jaune's alive, for now." Yang replied off-handedly, already planning her next moves as she pushed the little ravenette aside, before a hand gripped her shoulder tightly.

"What do you mean, Jaune's alive?!" Pyrrha demanded, refusing to let go. "And what do you mean, "for now"? Who in Oum's name are you, anyway?"

"My name is Yang Xiao-Long, of Bravil." Yang replied, drawing herself up to her full height. "And I saved Jaune Arc's life when I pulled him from a collapsing tower nine months ago."

The silence in the air was so thick even Jaune would have noticed it.

"Anyway, after I saved him (and Vomit Boy threw up on my shoes), he's owed me a life debt. I'm here to make sure he keeps his word." Yang finished off, folding her arms and glaring at the pair. "So if you'll get your hand off of me..."

To her surprise though, rather than continuing their confrontational tone with her, they were backing off, tears of surprise and relief visible in their eyes.

"He's... alive?" Pyrrha whispered in disbelief.

Ruby couldn't reply, too floored by the twin revelations that the girl in front of her was Yang Xiao-Long of Bravil (which was somehow different from her sister, Yang Xiao-Long), and that her first friend was alive.

She hadn't killed him.

At that moment, a thousand questions flashed through their minds.

Who was she?

Why did she share the same name as Yang?

What was her/their relationship with their/her Jaune?

How had she saved him?

How had she even found him?

How had it only been nine months?

What was this about a dragon attack?

And why had she said "for now"?

Before either of the three could open their mouths, demand proof, evidence, or answers, however, someone else spoke first.

"Get away from them!" Yang Xiao-Long (not of Bravil) shouted, bursting through the open doorway, Ember Celica firing.

The other Yang's eyes opened in surprise, as she heard her own voice, coming from her own face, as she charged at herself.

What in Oblivion was this?

Her body still moved on instinct, though, and she jumped out of the way, as the spot she'd been standing on suddenly exploded.

Who in Oblivion was this?

Her fists raised themselves up once more, but then she caught sight of the ravenette and the red-head.

The looks on their faces.

She didn't know what their relationship was with her Jaune, but they seemed to have known him, seemed to be affected by his first death.

Unlike Salem, Jaune probably wouldn't approve if she harmed them.

And she had more important things to do, anyway.

She turned to the window and Shouted: "FUS RO DAH!"

The window, and the wall around it, simply caved outwards, as if smashed by a train.

"Wait!" Ruby shouted.

"Stop!" Pyrrha's voice joined hers, as she reached out, preparing to use her Semblance on Bravil-Yang.

Yang simply ignored all of them as she leapt out of the window, Shouting: "FEIM!"

As the other Yang retreated, Yang, their Yang, jogged up to them, looking around the room.

What on Remnant had happened here?

Was that Salem lying down there?

How had they killed her?

More importantly...

"Hey, Ruby, P-Money... who was that?" Yang asked, as she reached the pair where they stood still, staring at what had just happened.

Her words shook them out of their daze.

"Stop her!" Ruby shouted, even as Pyrrha began running towards the hole in the wall. "She knows something about Jaune!"

-PRESIDENTIAL METRO, ADAMS AIR FORCE BASE-

Jaune and Ruby sat quietly in the small train, watching the lights of the tunnel flash by them as they continued on their way to their destination.

"So..." Jaune finally began, fidgeting in his new suit of power armor. He really didn't like to wear it... but given how insane the mission was, he'd take a bit of temporary discomfort over death. "Any idea how much longer?"

"According to the Pip-Boy and the station's AI... about five more minutes." Ruby spoke up, grateful for the distraction. In the silence, all she'd been able to do was stew in her worries, and her nerves were starting to take their toll. "By the way, I like what you did with your power armor."

"What, this?" Jaune asked, looking over to his shoulder. Where one shoulder had the insignia of the Lyons' Pride, the other had the simple Arc emblem; two golden crescents facing down. "It's just the symbol of my family. It's nothing as fancy or eye-catching as yours."

Ruby fidgeted and blushed at his praise. It was true that she'd taken the time between Old Olney and their current mission to modify her armor to better fit her more diminutive and slender frame, but maybe she had gone a bit overboard with it. "Really? You don't think it's a bit much?"

"Nope. It suits you." Jaune said honestly, looking at the rose attached to an iron stem, in front of a red ruby. "I'm just, uh... more of a fan of the classics, I guess."

Ruby hummed at his words, wondering what was the hell was classical about a sheath that turned into a shield, and a sword made of dragonbone that could emit bursts of frost, flame, lightning, or any combination of the three at will. Then again, he had described everyone else in Beacon as having swords (or spears or nun-chucks or gauntlets) that could all turn into guns. Hell, his team mate apparently had a hammer that turned into a grenade launcher!

Ruby felt like she could safely say she'd have given her arm (her left one, not her right) to study such a masterpiece for a few hours.

If only Jaune knew how to actually make "mecha-shift weapons" (as he'd called them)...

"Hey, Ruby..." Jaune began, bringing her out of her thoughts. "Do you ever wonder what in Oum's name happened to your life?"

"I'm sorry?" Ruby was confused. Had she somehow offended him.

"No, no, I mean..." Jaune awkwardly rubbed the back of his helmet, cursing his social awkwardness once more. "Well... look at us. I ran away from home with the family sword to become a hero, and now I've died twice, fought multiple dragons, and am in a suit of power armor, on a train, trying to sneak into a fortified base to end a war!"

Ruby couldn't help but giggle, as she understood the absurdity of his words, before her face fell.

He had a point.

She'd just been a laundry cannon operator, and now she was Ironwood's daughter, the "Lady of the Lake" (just because her dad had built a purifier, she presumed), travelling with a boy from another world to fight a war she'd known nothing about.

What the hell had happened?

"Do... do you ever wish things could just go back to how they were?" Jaune asked. "Do you ever wish you could just go back to simpler times?"

Ruby paused, thinking about it.

She was safe in the Vault, and if her father hadn't left, she'd still have him.

But what did she have to look forward to in the Vault?

More playing with a laundry cannon? Hooking up with Wally Mack? Butch? Ugh, she'd rather shove a needle in her eye.

She'd fired an M42 "Fat Man" Launcher, for god's sake!

Saved lives, changed the Wasteland for the better...

And met Jaune.

"Nope." Ruby just said simply.

"Nope?" Jaune couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at her short and simple answer, delivered without any hesitation.

"Nope." Ruby repeated herself, before explaining. "Maybe my life would be easier if I'd stayed, but look at how much we've done so far!"

Jaune hummed and nodded. Truly a Ruby answer.

"What about you?" Ruby asked nervously. After all, unlike her, the Invincible Boy had actually died on his adventures.

"Same here, actually." Jaune sighed, smiling. He didn't regret a thing either. Then something came to mind. "But what if you could go back?"

"Go back?" Ruby echoed.

"Yeah... don't you feel like checking up on your old home, at least one more time?"

Ruby took a second to think it over. She hadn't had the best farewell, and the Vault had been in chaos when she'd fled...

But it had been her home, once upon a time.

"Maybe I will." Ruby finally said. "After the war, of course."

"Of course." Jaune echoed, leaning back.

Silence filled the air.

Ruby's mind was racing, as she looked at Jaune. A part of her wanted to ask what he had meant, with all those questions. Another part of her was worried, scared that she'd said something wrong.

The biggest part of her, though, wanted to ask about him. How did he, the hero, feel?

What would he do in her shoes?

She wanted to ask if he also wanted to return home, but her chest tightened, as she remembered the look on his face, the fondness in his tone, as he'd described his former life.

As the silence dragged on, and she racked her brains, she remembered something he'd once said.

"What about you, Jaune?" Ruby asked nervously. "Will... will you finish Moira's book after all this?"

Jaune blinked at the sudden question, but shrugged. "Well, I did promise her I'd do it, and-"

"And an Arc never goes back on his word." Ruby giggled, rolling her eyes. "And after that?"

"Eh, I'll probably just wander around, explore the place, help those in need, you know?"

"Like a Knight Errant?" Ruby asked.

"Um... I'm not too familiar with the term, but that sounds pretty cool." Jaune admitted sheepishly, before he noticed something.

The train was slowing down.

"Ruby, activate the radio beacon." Jaune instructed, as he got up quietly, drawing his sword.

He didn't think the Enclave were stupid.

They uaed their Bullheads to get in and out of the base, but they had to know about the Presidential Metro tunnels.

He was sure there would be sentries at the very least.

As the train drew to a stop, and Ruby thumbed the radio beacon Paladin Tristan had given her, Jaune took a breath, and followed the advice Yang had given him, less than half a year ago, a lifetime ago.

it was time.

-BROTHERHOOD OF STEEL STAGING AREA, OUTSIDE ADAMS AIR FORCE BASE-

Paladin Tristan looked at his watch, and turned back to the radio transmitter.

Jaune and Ruby had sent a message a few hours ago, saying that they'd just arrived at the entrance to the Presidential Metro, in the ruins of the former White House.

Based on Pre-War documents, they knew the speed of the Presidential Metro.

They'd had to give or take an hour though, accounting for damages to the metro system.

But still, it was almost time.

He took a moment to look over his map, the disposition of his forces and the Enclave's.

Had he missed anything?

What was the enemy commander thinking?

Would things go according to plan?

He couldn't help the doubts that crossed his mind.

But he could keep the doubts from appearing on his face.

His men needed confidence. They couldn't see him appear weak.

Not now.

Not so close to the battle.

Even so, as he stared at the transmitter, he couldn't help but wonder if the coming battle would be worth it.

Worth the lives it would cost today.

Below him, in their trenches, the Knights and Initiates looked out apprehensively.

To them, there was little doubt of their eventual victory.

So what if the Enclave had brought out a superweapon that had destroyed Liberty Prime?

They were following the wisdom of the Lyons.

And they would be assisted by Ironwood's daughter, as well as the Yellow Death, the Pendragon, the Bane of the Enclave.

Truthfully, most of them hadn't witnessed Jaune Arc in battle before, but that didn't stop the tales.

The rumors.

The legends.

Of how he'd charged into an army of Super Mutants with just a sword and a shield, before duelling a behemoth in a one-on-one fight.

Of how he'd fought his way through Project Purity to get to Knight Ironwood, and then fought his way back out to get her to safety.

Of how he'd rushed out of the Citadel upon hearing about the Vault 87 Ambush, and punished the Enclave by single-handedly destroying their base of operations, Site R, while freeing Sentinel Sarah Lyons from captivity.

And, most recently, of how Sarah had passionately exclaimed his true name and title loudly one night, while in a private room in Rockland, after learning that he'd woken up.

Just for the last feat alone, Jaune Arc would have earned the undying respect, loyalty, and envy of most of the men in the Brotherhood.

But myths and legends weren't all that were bolstering morale.

There was something else.

Before all of this, the Brotherhood had not been doing well.

Endless numbers of tough and strong Super Mutants had made each victory meaningless, pushed them back.

Half their chapter had deserted, declaring themselves Outcasts and the true Brotherhood of Steel, refusing to believe the Lyons' lies.

And when the Enclave had shown up, for the first time, they'd been outmatched technologically as well.

They'd been pushed back on all fronts, and they'd believed their days were numbered.

Then, Site R had fallen.

Then, Liberty Prime had marched.

Then, they'd activated Project Purity.

Then, they'd purged Vault 87.

Suddenly, the Enclave were no longer invincible.

Suddenly, the Capital Wasteland didn't seem so bleak.

The Battle of Project Purity had shown them that they could win.

The Battle of Adams Air Force Base would have them show the Wasteland that they would win.

Even without Liberty Prime.

Even without the traitorous Outcasts.

Even without the Western Elders.

They were still the Brotherhood of Steel.

They'd broken the Vipers.

They'd defeated the Master.

They'd driven back the Enclave back in California.

They'd purged the Pitt.

They'd held on against the Super Mutants, when no one else could or would.

And now, with their coming victory, they would secure their own future, their own path, for themselves and for the Capital Wasteland.

Paladin Tristan noticed the light on the radio transmitter change from green to red.

It was time.

"Steel guide you." Tristan whispered, thinking of Arc and Ironwood, before looking back at his men. "And steel be with us."

He gave the order.

-SATELLITE TOWER, ENCLAVE MOBILE BASE CRAWLER, ADAMS AIR FORCE BASE-

As Jaune sheathed his bloody sword and moved to guard the room's entrance, Ruby quickly moved to the room's main terminal, and began punching in lines of code.

"Paladin Tristan, are you there?" Ruby spoke into her radio transmitter.

"Knight Ironwood?" Tristan sounded relieved. "How's your mission going?"

"We've infiltrated their main control area without being detected." Ruby reported, eyes quickly scanning the terminal's screen. It was technically true; they'd killed the few people they'd encountered before they could raise the alarm. "I'm staring at a Satellite Uplink Terminal. It says that it has an established uplink to "Satellite Bradley-Hercules"..."

"Ruby?" Jaune turned, noticing Ruby's sudden silence, as she stared at the screen. "What's wrong?"

"... Bradley-Hercules." Ruby whispered, running through the diagnostics check once more. "It's an orbital nuclear missile launch platform."

"... is it still operational?" Tristan asked urgently.

"It is. It still has four warhead salvos armed and ready to fire." Ruby confirmed, pulling up it's targeting parameters. "And it's got two preset targets locked in."

"What are they?" Tristan felt like he wouldn't get the answer.

"... Adams AFB Platform and the Citadel." Ruby finally replied.

"Why would the Enclave have this base targeted?" Jaune asked, approaching Ruby and the terminal.

"Asset denial, most likely." Tristan answered matter-of-factly. "Capturing this base intact would eliminate any technological advantage the Enclave have over us."

"Should I destroy the terminal, then?" Jaune pulled out his sword.

"Even if you do, there's no guarantee that there isn't a backup uplink terminal that could send the launch command." Tristan rejected his plan.

"Then what should we do?" Ruby was getting desperate for answers. There was a loaded gun pointed at the Brotherhood's head, and they were wasting time just standing there arguing! "Should we try to capture the base?"

For a moment, Tristan was tempted to say yes.

To order them to do one final impossible task.

He quickly came back to his senses, though.

Even if the pair could somehow kill everyone on the crawler and capture it before somebody fired the satellite at the Citadel, there was no way his forces could force a breakthrough past the Enclave's defenses.

After all, they'd never meant to do that, even if they were kicking some serious Enclave butt at the moment.

The Enclave would just recapture the crawler and fire Bradley-Hercules if he got greedy now.

No, the crawler and Bradley-Hercules were not worth the lives of any more of his men, and especially not Arc's and Ironwood's.

He'd happily bear the responsibility of seizing merely a decisive victory over the Enclave, instead of a miracle.

"Fire the satellite at the crawler." Tristan finally ordered. "The Enclave threat ends today."

"Wait, what about us?" Jaune yelped.

"We'll send a Vertibird to try and pick you up." Tristan promised. "Now hurry!"

Jaune nodded and turned to Ruby, who gulped.

Her fingers trembled, as she called up the Adams AFB Platform Preset Target.

The Enclave had killed her father and tried to twist his life's work.

She'd killed more than her fair share of Enclave, including Colonel Autumn.

Her finger hit the "Enter" key.

The terminal asked for confirmation on the target.

Her finger paused, hovering over the "Enter" key once more.

Not every Enclave soldier was Colonel Autumn.

Not every Enclave personnel on the base was a soldier.

How many innocents was she consigning to death with that keystroke?

How many deserved a death like this?

For the first time, she couldn't do it.

She couldn't follow her dad's advice, to detach herself from her emotions.

She couldn't follow Jaune's advice, to focus on survival, on what was in front of her.

Jaune saw her hand trembling, and mentally cursed himself.

He should have known sweet Ruby was too kind and innocent.

How could he let his friend bear this burden?

Jaune gripped her shoulder, and gently but firmly pulled her out of the way.

He saw the key her fingers had been frozen over.

He punched it.

The terminal sent a burst of radio waves past the atmosphere.

Alarms began blaring throughout the base.

"Ruby!" Jaune shouted, tugging her arm to get her attention. "We'd better get moving now! Tristan! Where do we go?!"

"Keep the radio transmitter on you and head to the roof!" Tristan barked, as Jaune and Ruby began sprinting, as fast as their power-armored legs could take them.

They ran out of the room.

They ran up the stairs.

They turned a corner.

Time passed with every second they took.

They didn't know how much longer until impact.

Finally, they rounded a corner and burst through a door.

Sunlight greeted them.

As well as explosions.

Missiles and mini nukes were being fired all around the base constantly.

Bolts of lightning and thunder lashed out at Vertibirds as they attempted to escape the Brotherhood's cordon, each thunderclap accompanied by the whine of a directed energy blast followed by the sound of an exploding Vertibird.

Below them, men in black power armor scrambled around chaotically, like ants that had their nest kicked.

The sound of rotors growing closer drew their attention away from the carnage, and they turned to see a Vertibird flying nearby, releasing it's bombs on a nearby building.

Ruby instinctively raised her Tesla cannon over her shoulder, but paused as she saw a symbol on the Vertibird's door.

The same symbol on her left pauldron.

The symbol of the Lyons' Pride.

The Veritbird landed on the roof and it's doors opened, revealing Sarah Lyons grinning at them, waving them forward urgently even as she fired her laser rifle one-handedly at any surviving nearby turrets.

Jaune slapped Ruby on the back, urging her forward, and she began sprinting forward once more, servos whining in protest as she pushed them to their absolute limits.

Jaune was about to follow her, when he spotted movement nearby.

Six soldiers in a sinister-looking black armor, different from the usual power armor that he'd seen on most Enclave soldiers, had just turned the corner, and were running towards them.

Most pressingly of all, they were carrying some very big guns.

Jaune quickly plunged his sword into the ground, and a wall of ice blocked the door.

Through the ice, however, he saw one of them lift a heavy weapon, that seemed to be cannisters attached to a giant barrel protected by a shield.

He saw the soldier flick a switch, and a small flame spark to life in front of the nozzle.

Then the heavy weapon began spitting out flames that reduced the wall of ice to a puddle in a flash of heat and light.

Behind that soldier, he saw another raise a rocket launcher.

And he heard many more footfalls below him.

He quickly did the math.

Their escape vehicle was, at the moment, a sitting duck for the rocket launchers.

And with that weird flamethrower thing, they could melt through any ice wall he put up within a second.

As Sarah gripped Ruby's hand and pulled her in, the pair turned around, ready to help Jaune in as well.

Instead, they found Jaune standing where he had been, right in front of the doorway to the crawler.

He turned to look at them.

"Jaune?" Ruby whispered, almost getting off the Vertibird if not for Sarah still gripping her arm.

"Go!" Jaune roared, gripping his sword in his power-armored hands as he channeled his Aura into it.

He plunged it into the ground once more, throwing up two ice walls.

The first rose up to block the doorway as a rocket was fired at the Vertibird, destroying it in an explosion that knocked Jaune off of his feet.

The second, a much larger one, rose up between Jaune and their Vertibird.

"GO!" Jaune roared once more, as he pulled himself to his feet, looking at them desperately through the ice.

He didn't wait to hear them call out his name.

Instead, he spun around, flicking his sheath into a shield, and charged at the approaching soldiers.

"FOR EDEN!" Enclave Squad Sigma cried back, refusing to backdown.

Squad Sigma had been the cream of the crop, the best the Enclave had to offer.

Each were veterans of dozens of operations and missions throughout the Wastes that once had been America.

Only they, and they alone, had earned the right to wear the best armor the Enclave could produce.

Hellfire armor.

And yet...

They'd failed at Raven Rock.

They'd failed at Project Purity.

And now, they'd failed to protect Adams Air Force Base, their last stronghold in the region.

All because of the Crocea Mors.

Before each of them had charged in, each of them had sworn an oath, having watched recordings of the Yellow Death in action, having made every preparation they could for him.

That they may have failed to protect the Enclave, but they would damn well avenge it.

Three of them ran at Jaune, trying to tackle him to the ground to limit his movement.

Jaune managed to intercept one with his shield, and stab another, but the third got ahold of him.

Plasma bolts and fire bathed his power armor as he was held in place, the Hellfire armor far more capable of withstanding the high temperatures than his T-45d model.

His pauldron flew off, melted and twisted, as he hunched his shoulders and lowered his body, fighting to break the grip.

For all his Aura-fueled strength, he'd never had a proper grasp of unarmed combat.

A small part of Jaune found himself wishing he'd taken up Yang's offers of sparring and physical training.

But still, even as the servos whined, his power armor-enhanced strength, fueled by Aura, was enough to break the hold.

He quickly spun around, gripped the weird power armored soldier by the head, and drove his elbow into it, before throwing it at the three soldiers who'd been laying into him.

A dozen more showed up, these wearing the power armor he was used to... with one key difference.

They seemed to have Tesla coils on their backs.

Arcs of electricity ran down their bodies as they, too, charged towards him, yelling: "FOR AUTUMN!"

Jaune did not want to be touched by that.

He quickly drew his sword out of the body he'd plunged it in, and roared as he leapt forward.

Pride One, the Vertibird assigned to the Lyons' Pride, saw none of this.

As the ice wall had risen up between them and Jaune, Glade had only given him a respectful nod, lost for words.

Then, he'd noticed the other members of the Lyons' Pride struggling to restrain Sarah and Ruby, and had quickly begun taking off.

He understood what Jaune Arc was doing.

He would not let his sacrifice be in vain.

Ruby could only watch in horror from a viewport as Jaune's figure was held in place by an Enclave soldier, before it grew too faint to make out.

As they passed over the Enclave's broken lines, four streaks of fire became visible in the clouds.

They knew the missiles were travelling at insane speeds, but at that distance it seemed slow and quiet in it's descent.

As they reached the Brotherhood's staging area, Sarah, Ruby, and the rest of the Lyons' Pride rushed out of the Vertibird, to watch with the rest with their own eyes.

Jaune swung his unpowered sword for what felt like the hundredth, no, thousandth time, his Aura shimmering around him weakly, his power armor barely holding itself together despite all the sparks and holes, as the last Enclave soldier around him fell.

Meanwhile, bolts of green plasma and rockets and jets of fire continuously flew upwards from below the roof of the crawler, as more and more Enclave charged in.

They knew there was no escape, not with the Brotherhood keeping them in place.

All they had left was vengeance.

The door to the roof was choked with corpses, though, temporarily blocking their advance.

In fact, upon the roof lay a mountain of corpses.

Jaune sighed, and looked up, catching his breath.

He barely even had the Aura to activate his sword anymore.

His eyes widened, as he saw four red streaks split into thirty six smaller streaks, all heading towards him.

His mind racing, he did the only thing he could think of, praying to Oum, to Yang's weird Divines, to anyone who would listen, for it to work.

The Brotherhood watched with awe as the salvos that had torn Liberty Prime apart struck the mobile crawler.

Thirty six near-simultaneous nuclear reactions all concentrated on the same target, and combined into one massive explosion.

They were forced to avert their eyes and shield their faces, even in their power armor, as a massive wave of heat and light washed over them.

As it grew in intensity, they lowered their bodies, kneeling before the force in an effort to stop themselves from being blown away.

And then, just like that, it was over.

A giant mushroom cloud reached up to the heavens, through which the twisted remains of the crawler were just barely visible.

There was a silence, as they simply stared at what had once been the Enclave.

Then they began to cheer, to clap, to laugh, to celebrate the fact that it was finally over.

Only the Lyons' Pride, Ruby Ironwood, and Paladin Tristan continued to watch the growing mushroom cloud, their faces unreadable behind their helmets.


Author's Note: I feel like you guys should learn to fear the Remnant sections by now. Every time they drop, it means something happens somewhere else.

In the Broken Steel expansion, the Lone Wanderer is supposed to sneak into Adams Air Force Base and find a Resupply Crate, which contains their new orders and a working Tesla Cannon. However, that raises a lot of questions, namely "how did they get a Resupply Crate that deep into enemy lines without being noticed or intercepted?"

Initially, I considered the possibility of a pre-existing infiltrator or spy, but if so why couldn't the infiltrator or spy just sabotage the base and call down the orbital strike themselves?

Next, I considered the possibility that they used a captured Vertibird to sneak it in, but then... well... why couldn't a captured Vertibird just send Jaune and Ruby right into the base?

And that's why I changed things up. Now, they wait until the Brotherhood is in position, before beginning their infiltration (because it takes time to move troops and supplies, especially given how hostile most of the Capital Wasteland is). Gives them time to go over Pre-War schematics of Adams Air Force Base, gives the Brotherhood time to actually produce a few Tesla Cannon, and more importantly lets them drop off a Tesla Cannon for them during the battle (during the battle, with the skies full of Vertibirds, who will notice one more? And if it "accidentally" drops a crate in the heat of the moment, well...)

As for why they don't just drop Jaune and Ruby along with said supplies, well... they know how risky the Vertibird plan is. They don't know what kind of defenses Adams Air Force Base has. Even the Resupply Crate isn't guaranteed; they can reinforce the crate so that it can survive a crash and explosion, sure, but if it's noticed and shot down too early, well, sucks to be Ruby and Jaune then. They also know how futile the frontal assault is going to be; if Jaune and Ruby are on a Vertibird that gets shot down and crashes, they would then have no way of getting into and neutralizing Adams Air Force Base.

And sure, maybe Jaune and Ruby could have tried wearing the Enclave's power armor to get in (like the Chosen One in Fallout 2)... but the Enclave don't use the Presidential Metro route, there's no way they know the codewords to just waltz in, and most of all... there is no way Jaune is going in without his sword and sheath-shield, just like there is no way the Enclave wouldn't recognize the Yellow Death's weapons.

Don't get me wrong, I love the Broken Steel DLC for giving us end-game content and fleshing out the Capital Wasteland and the Enclave a bit more (and I especially enjoyed the Who Dares Win quest and all of its beautiful set pieces), but goddamn if I didn't need to re-write whole portions of the story to actually make sense

And who honestly didn't expect the Enclave to actually start adapting to the Yellow Death? It's not like the Enclave have recordings of Jaune in action or anything...

In the lore, Enclave Squad Sigma are supposed to be the equivalent of the Lyons' Pride, and to quote the Official Game Guide, "(p)osted to previously unknown and highly secretive locations outside of the Capital Wasteland, only the most veteran of Enclave forces trained in multiple forms of combat earn the right to call themselves Sigma... each man in has seen numerous combat sorties and lived to tell about them." Tesla armor to absorb and redirect electricity (since they assume his sword is made of metal), heavy incinerators to deal with the ice walls, and Hellfire armor to withstand the heat of their own weaponry and Excalibur (shit, even I'm calling Jaune's sword that now...)

Sure, in-game, they're just normal mooks with better gear, but here, I've got to make them a threat somehow.

Also, why does everyone think that Fate is going to be the next world? I just said I was looking it up! I could easily just do a historical AU set after the Fall of Camelot...

And lastly, if anyone is wondering whether I'm just doing another fake out with Jaune... just read Two Worlds; One Arc to see what happened there, and remember just how faithful I've been to that story so far...