A/N: Happy holidays, everyone. Got a couple of neat things for you. First, obviously, is this chapter that's dropping like a last lil' present under the tree. Finally getting some progress on the main story, and I hope you enjoy sinking your teeth into it.

Second, I finally got around to creating a cover photo for WotM. Although "creating" it is a bit inaccurate, as I quickly discovered that the number of good images of Annette Durand is basically zero. So I asked a good friend of mine, Icario, to make the art for this story, and to keep the split theme from the first two. If you've spent any time on the Discord server, you're probably familiar with Icario's (excellent) artwork for REMCOM and beyond.

Third, it is with great pleasure that I can announce that it is Wednesday My- No wait, I'm announcing that the living arrangement thing I mentioned in my previous A/N has finally gone through. I'm still moving at a slow pace for the moment (took some time off for the holidays, on top of the hectic time commitment involved with moving), but I'm hoping to turn that around in the new year.

And with that... enjoy.

Since he no longer had access to his usual tailor on Earth, Bradford had been very careful to only wear his green dress sweater when the situation genuinely called for it. He wore the thing during his meetings with the leaders of Patch, he wore it again when he interfaced with Sienna Khan while on Kuo Kuana, and he wore it more recently when Ironwood led an inspection team aboard the Avenger when it first arrived in Atlas.

Sure, there were several people onboard who were handy with a needle to help keep it in good condition. Operative Scarlatina, bless her generous heart, had stopped by Bradford's office after Ironwood's inspection and said she noticed that there were a few minor tears in his beloved sweater. She mentioned that she grew up in a household where sewing was critical to squeezing as much mileage out of clothing as possible, and that she would be happy to help him keep his sweater in good condition if he ever wanted her to take a look at it.

It was a good thing that Bradford took her up on her offer a few days ago, he realized, because even his first step into Atlas's High Court struck him with the heavy feeling of authority and opulence hanging in the air. The ceilings were high and vaulted, the walls were ornate with inlaid gold and torch sconces, the floors were a rich mahogany with walkways covered in deep velvet rugs. Atlas's emblem hung above the large tribunal panel at the front of the room, with the panel itself raised at least five or six feet above the rest of the furniture.

Opposite the bench and next to the doors through which Bradford had entered were a great many seats that were available for invited citizenry to attend, watch, and report on the events that happened within the great hall. Several panels were mounted to the walls around the room so that any visual evidence that was presented during a trial could easily be seen by everyone in the room, regardless of whether they were on the bench, at the prosecution or defendant tables, or somewhere in the public audience.

Overall, the details and arrangement of everything gave the chamber the authoritative weight of being the highest court in the land, which Bradford figured was exactly what the architects were aiming for when they first designed the structure. It would have been pretty terrible if he arrived with rips and tears in the hem of his favorite sweater.

Bradford wasn't alone, of course. Doctor Vahlen was on his left, while Annette Durand was on his right. There were plenty of other people he could (and wanted to) bring, but Winter had advised him to trust in the wisdom that, "Less is more."

Waiting for them at one of the two tables was an Atlesian lawyer, who reached out his hand for a shake when Bradford was close enough.

"Elliot Candent," he said, taking Bradford's hand and giving it a firm squeeze. "One of your subordinates met with me yesterday to discuss the procedure we'll be following today but it's good that you're here a bit early. Do you have any questions?"

"Good to meet you. I understand from Odei that you're not actually XCOM's lawyer?" Bradford asked.

"That's correct, both sides will represent themselves. However, the court recognizes that neither you, nor the prosecution, nor even the council who will be judging you are actually lawyers. So the legal system makes a lawyer available to answer questions and ensure the trial is conducted in accordance with all applicable laws."

"Interesting," commented Annette. "Ironwood is the judge, but you're the referee. I think I like that."

"We think the system works well. This is the table for the defense. Anything you've brought may be set up here - no one but you is permitted to touch items on this table. Obviously, you're similarly forbidden to touch anything on the prosecution's side." The lawyer pointed to each area as he spoke. "The council will be at the head of the room, and I'll be at that desk in the rear. You may ask me questions at any time, but you're expected to do most of the talking yourself."

"The testimony Odei mentioned to you—do you intend to allow it?" asked Bradford.

"That'll be for you to argue and Ironwood to decide. I can tell you the most likely angle the prosecution will use will be to claim it was provided 'under duress.'"

"Don't need the testimony when we've got registries that Atlas can cross-reference," Bradford pointed out.

Candent raised an eyebrow at Bradford. "I think we both know what she'll have to say about those."

That they were stolen from an ADVENT precinct during the Downside riots. There was a reason Odei carefully worked to have those records surreptitiously posted to online message boards and blogs that could amplify the information without having its release traced back to XCOM.

Sure, it meant that they took a hit to the information's credibility, but it also meant that it couldn't get tossed on grounds that it was stolen by XCOM during the riots. And unless ADVENT had verified records that they could supply that proved the stolen ones were incorrect…

But Candent's point was something Bradford was acutely aware of. The prosecution would try its hardest to deny anything that XCOM brought forward as evidence that indicated they were justified in taking down Merlot's lab. Not only that, but Bradford wouldn't put it past Cinder to try and sabotage anything that the council allowed.

Of course, that was why Bradford greenlit Odei's backup plan.

"You ready, kid?"

Lily checked the straps on her armor to make sure they were tight and that her gear was properly secured by the tactical rigging. She didn't have any weapons, since her dad would have almost certainly thrown a fit if she asked, but Lily had plenty of other gear to make up for it.

She was honestly still surprised that he agreed to let her go in the first place. Maybe he realized that Lily would never stop asking, and that if there was any operation that was safe enough for her to go on, this one would be it. She always liked to think of her dad as the kind of father that never said, "No you can't, because I said so," and that he was willing to meet Lily halfway on things that she was clearly passionate about to let her grow into her own person.

And right now, Lily was excited to grow.

"Ready," she said, smiling at MacAuley. "You?"

Mac exchanged a glance with the Viper standing next to him and asked, "I dunno. We ready, Sser?"

Sserana gave a quiet hiss and a nod, then seemingly melted away into the shadows.

"We're ready," MacAuley confirmed.

Blake walked up next to Lily and gently bumped her shoulder.

"This is your first op," she said. "Nervous?"

"Technically my second, since I did help my civilian group make it out of Vale alive," Lily countered.

Blake laughed. "Fair enough."

They both knew that Blake was right about her nerves, though. As far as first (or second) operations went, one with Blake, Mac, and Sserana was probably the best the younger Shen could ask for. Doubly so, given that a successful operation meant that there would be zero fighting involved. They were technically not supposed to be going where they were going, what with 90% of the CCTS tower being off-limits to anyone but specific Atlas personnel.

If they got caught, there was going to be serious trouble.

Bradford had considered deploying Yatsuhashi with the team, since his semblance was perfect for keeping the team from getting caught. It had worked well during the Schnee Manor break-in, after all. But the leadership had agreed that the team needed to be as small as possible, and that Yatsu's large stature might make it more likely that the team got caught. Lily wasn't sure why that wasn't a problem with the Schnee op, but she decided not to ask.

"Right, then," Mac said, pulling Lily's attention back to the present while checking his watch. "We should probably get this show on the road. Trial is due to start in thirty minutes, so we want to give ourselves enough time to get in there and do our thing, but not so much time that we're stuck sitting around waiting to get caught once we're in."

Lily looked up towards their ultimate destination. The tower itself was massive, which probably stemmed from the fact that it was the beating heart of the system. Lily had heard that the idea of the CCTS was that "all the kingdoms were equal in the system." While it was true that the network went down if any of the four kingdom towers went offline (like when the one in Vale was destroyed), it was also obvious that the Atlesian tower did most of the heavy lifting to make the system work.

Smack dab in the center of the Kingdom on the tall, central mountain of the floating city, the massive tower stood above and apart from the rest of Atlas. Even so, people were constantly coming from and going to the tower: citizens who were going to place an inter-continental call, military personnel that were carrying out their various duties for the kingdom within the tower, engineers who kept the thing ticking...

And even though the tower was somewhat isolated from the denser parts of the city (where an XCOM insertion team could more easily hide), its sheer size meant that there were several auxiliary facilities connected to the tower to help it function, and Blake's legwork from yesterday revealed that those facilities had some vulnerable access points that XCOM could use to get inside and do their work.

"Lily, stick with Sabretooth," Mac continued. "I know you've got one of your dad's fancy camo suits, but Belladonna will help make sure you watch your step while we're in there. We'll be split into pairs, with the two of you working together while me and Sserana split off to keep your working perimeter clear."

This was stuff that Lily had heard already when Bradford had briefed the team on the op, but it didn't hurt to have Mac say it one more time. The reminder that they had a good plan was probably helpful for the butterflies in her stomach.

"Our first task is reconnecting with Nichole and setting up a secure communication line so that she can assist us without giving away her location in the system," Blake reminded Lily.

Samuelson had been helping her practice some of the advanced signal processing techniques that Lily would be using once they were inside.

"Right, then," Mac said. The fact that this was the second time in as many minutes that he led off with that phrase made Lily wonder if he was just as nervous about this as she felt. "We can spend all day here gabbing, but we won't get anywhere unless we start walking. Let's go."

The team set off. Even though it was morning, the massive structure of the tower cast a long shadow over their path to the auxiliary station, allowing Sserana to disappear completely and for MacAuley to flicker as he practiced channeling his own shadow magic that the Viper had taught him.

Lily remembered how moody her father had been when Mac had become XCOM's first Terran Reaper. She couldn't blame her dad for his reservations, but at the same time? It was MacAuley's choice. He didn't seem to be driven by his emotions over the loss of Beagle, so XCOM's Chief Engineer wasn't able to say no.

Blake had also vanished from sight, using the cloaking tech that had been built into her personal outfit at the end of the Long War. Lily powered up the active camouflage on her own suit, which gave her a degree of stealth similar to Mac's even if it wasn't quite as good as Blake's or Sserana's.

The four of them moved silently, and Lily used the IFF on her HUD to keep track of her cloaked allies while she hustled towards the target destination. She could feel the bitter morning chill even through her armor. With the tower being one of the highest points in Atlas, and with the auxiliary stations not needing the luxury of heaters to keep the citizens happy, Lily's only real defense against the cold was to keep moving and get herself inside the station quickly.

No guards were patrolling the perimeter grounds, which made the move significantly easier. Blake's work with Ilia helped her find out when the security presence would be thinnest. Up ahead, however, Lily did notice a couple of soldiers stationed by the entrance to the station. She was surprised how they looked unperturbed by standing out in the cold until she also saw the Dust-powered space heater positioned directly above them on the structure's wall.

"Sser's on it," Mac's voice whispered in Lily's ear.

A shadow passed across the wall of the station. The guards noticed the disturbance when it caused their heater to flicker for a moment, exchanged a look, and one moved away from the door to investigate.

"Damn. Sabretooth?"

A second shadow appeared. While the first one had moved smoothly across the station's wall and the ground in front of the soldiers, however, this one appeared, then vanished like smoke a second later.

The guard cast a look back at the door, then decided that investigating the shadow was more important. After all, surely there couldn't be a third one, right?

"Bingo. You're up, kiddo. I'll keep watch."

Lily unpacked one of her drones and sent it up ahead of her towards the door.

"Alright, ROV-R," she muttered under her breath. "Make momma proud."

It flew in low, blending with the shadows to avoid any detection, then Lily dropped it to the ground and activated the EM generator it was carrying. She'd spent a long time with her team down in the Skunkworks perfecting that little trick. The field needed to be strong enough to scramble AV signals from surveillance equipment, but weak enough to avoid frying the hardware altogether and giving away that someone had been messing with things they weren't supposed to.

Having Penny and Nichole's dad onboard the Avenger over the last two days really helped, given his familiarity with Atlas's specific equipment.

She approached the door, pulled out the multi-tool that she'd worked on with the help of… just about everyone—Mac, Samuelson, Pietro. Even her dad helped her develop the VI that assisted with the tool's operation.

The tool synced itself with the door's locking mechanism within seconds, and it was trivial for Lily to bypass its security and disable the lock.

"Just in time, kid. Guards are on their way back."

Lily picked up her drone and slipped inside, waited a few seconds for the three hazy forms of her allies to join her, then closed the door and used her tool to lock it so that it looked like she was never there.

"How're you feeling?" Mac asked quietly.

Lily grinned. "Feeling pretty good. We ready to move?"

The Irishman turned to Blake. "You've been here before, so this is your show. Lead the way."

It was no surprise at all when Bradford saw Cinder Fall slowly making her way down the aisle to take a seat at the prosecution's table. It was no secret that Merlot had been working closely with ADVENT. In fact, Cinder had proudly bragged about it once or twice, presumably to imply that her organization was doing what was necessary to push back against the Grimm and keep the kingdoms safe.

Given that XCOM was now claiming that Merlot's research had been nefarious, it was little wonder that ADVENT felt it had some serious skin in the game and needed to shut down the problem before it spiraled out of control and caused further damage to their reputation. And what better way to do that than to score sympathy points by putting the grievously wounded Fall Maiden out in front of the cameras?

Bradford suspected that, if it didn't reflect poorly on Cinder and ADVENT, the woman would have almost definitely arrived late while citing her numerous injuries. Anything to make XCOM waste time waiting on her.

It also didn't escape his notice that the coal-black dress she wore had a high collar to conceal the bandages around her neck, likely in an attempt to appear strong for the camera.

Without a word, or even a sideways look to acknowledge Bradford's presence, she took her seat at the prosecution's table while a clerk left to notify the members of the tribunal that both parties were now present and ready for the hearing.

The outer edges of the room were packed with journalists, media, and general citizenry of Atlas that were connected enough to be invited to such a high-profile case.

"Elsa's here," Annette said.

Bradford knew that the Major didn't need to turn around and scan the crowd to know that. Weiss was probably screaming at the top of her brain to try and get Annette's attention.

"Are we allowed to call witnesses?" Bradford asked, looking at Candent.

"Yes," Candent answered, "but the tribunal decides whether to accept or deny your request on a case-by-case basis."

That was good enough for Bradford. After all, Weiss had been in Atlas while XCOM was making a name for itself following the Vytal calamity. On what grounds would they reject his request to have Weiss stand witness? He didn't want to put that on her if he didn't have to, but at least that was an option Bradford could keep in his back pocket.

The conversations and murmurings quietly echoing throughout the hall came to a stop when the aide returned, took his seat, and was followed by the tribunal.

Four figures stepped into the room, walked across the back wall, and took their seats at the large bench overlooking the rest of the (now standing) occupants in the hall. Bradford recognized Ironwood, of course, but he was less familiar with the other three: Camilla, Sleet, and Frias, according to Odei.

She didn't have anything of particular note about any of them in her debrief. All that Bradford knew was that they were scared about Atlas's security in the wake of the Vytal Calamity, they were worried about the kingdom's economy due to the subsequent increase in Grimm attacks across the globe, and they had heavily pressured Ironwood to undertake tangible action with quantifiable results in order to address those two concerns, which is what resulted in Atlas partnering with Merlot in the first place. None of the council members looked evil, but XCOM's latest campaign in Atlas had made Bradford acutely aware that trouble could lurk below the surface.

Everyone seated themselves once more after the council settled in, though the chattering was cut off by Ironwood raising his hand.

"If everyone is present," the General said, "then we can begin immediately."

Nobody objected, so Ironwood turned to face Bradford.

"For the record, will the defendant state his name?"

Bradford rose from his chair once again and stood at ease while he addressed Ironwood.

"John Bradford. Central Officer of the military unit known as XCOM."

"A military unit of which kingdom?" Camilla asked.

"Technically unaffiliated," Bradford answered, "though it is fair to say that we have more ties to Vale than any other kingdom."

Camilla didn't seem to like that answer, but she didn't follow up with another question or comment.

Ironwood moved on to look at Cinder. "Will the prosecution state her name?"

"Cinder Fall," she said. "Fall Maiden and head of ADVENT."

Bradford was slightly surprised that Cinder didn't put more flair or dramatics into her introduction, or feign offense at not being recognized. The fact that she answered the question straight likely meant that she understood the gravity of this situation, and that Salem was forcing her to be on her best behavior to avoid making ADVENT look foolish. Or rather, more foolish than it already did in the wake of Operation Warsaw.

Ironwood nodded at Cinder's answer, then added, "For the sake of consistency, please specify which kingdom ADVENT is affiliated with."

"All of them," Cinder answered. "We have soldiers and volunteers working for our cause from all four kingdoms, and we are proud of our international efforts to make a difference for the good of Remnant."

Ah, there it is.

Even if neither Bradford nor Vahlen could make snide comments during the hearing, he could take comfort in knowing that Annette was more than happy to pick up the slack and silently share her thoughts with the both of them.

"And I am sure that Remnant appreciates your efforts, Lady Fall," Ironwood said. "Before we go further, I would like to introduce my colleagues who I will be working alongside during this trial. You are both familiar with me, personally, but as you are both not from Atlas, it is only fair that you at least know something about those who will be judging you.

"On my left is Councilwoman Camilla," the General said, gesturing to the woman seated next to him.

She looked a little older, with hair that was starting to grey and a few crease lines growing across her face. While all four members of the council were well-dressed, her attire seemed to be a cut above the rest in quality. A bejeweled hand reached up and lazily brushed the side of her neck as she kept an even gaze and stern expression fixed on Bradford.

"Of all of us here, it is fair to say that Councilwoman Camilla is most attuned with Atlas's economy and trade relations," Ironwood said. "The rest of the council values and trusts her to provide insight into how our decisions may economically impact Atlas.

"On my right is Councilman Sleet," Ironwood said, gesturing to the man sitting directly on his right. "Sleet specializes in Atlas's internal affairs. The riots down in Mantle are of a particular interest to him. Sleet sees the event as a personal failing, in the sense that he allowed the situation to reach that tipping point by not fully understanding the desperation of the residents who live in the city below."

Sleet bowed his head in acknowledgement that Ironwood's words were true. His blue-and-grey suit was sharp, but his face looked weary. Bradford wondered how many sleepless nights Sleet had recently as the man pored over all the information available to him regarding the riots. Even if XCOM hadn't helped things along, though, it sounded like things would have come to a head sooner or later. At least this way, the residents had someone on their side who helped make sure it wasn't a one-sided bloodbath.

"And next to Sleet is Councilman Frias," Ironwood continued, gesturing towards the last member of the council sitting on Sleet's other side. "Frias focuses on Atlas's infrastructure and civilian tech. The CCTS, for example, is one of his major focuses as a council member."

The man dressed similarly to Sleet, though his expression was much more alert. Analytical. It reminded Bradford a lot of Doctor Vahlen, honestly. While Sleet might be swayed by emotional evidence or testimony, it seemed likely that Frias would be able to brush the fluff aside and focus on the core of what was being said.

That could easily be a double-edged sword for Bradford during the hearing.

Ironwood didn't need to introduce himself as the council member who pulled double duty on looking after both Atlas's military and its huntsman academy. While Cinder's accusations against the huntsman profession caused a lot of chaos and mistrust among the people and politics of the four kingdoms, it was blunted significantly in Atlas due to Ironwood's decision to quickly deploy his military resources in cooperation with ADVENT. With the two working together, the Atlesian citizenry saw their huntsmen as "the good guys" rather than power hungry fighters to be wary of…

… For the most part.

Ironwood folded his hands in front of him and returned his attention to Bradford and Cinder.

"With the formalities concluded, let us begin the hearing in earnest."

The room fell quiet, as the moment everyone had been waiting for had finally arrived. The two titans of Remnant's post-Vytal politics were finally about to go head-to-head and have their fate decided by the Atlesian council. Cinder's exploits across the kingdoms were well-known by now to every man, woman, and child of Remnant. She was a hero in the eyes of many, and at least a force of good in the hearts of most. And yet, despite how much she hollered and complained about XCOM, she never seemed to be able to pin them down as the bad guys she desperately tried to build them up to be.

Had XCOM finally gone too far by blowing up that lab? Was this going to be the moment that Cinder finally nailed them to the wall?

"For the sake of the record," Ironwood began, "and for those who are not specifically aware of what is being considered by this tribunal, Councilman Sleet shall read the charges."

Sleet stood up, a datapad in hand, and cleared his throat.

"XCOM has been charged with the willful destruction of Atlesian property, as well as the murder of a scientist under Atlas's employ. XCOM has likewise been charged with infiltration and subterfuge in order to gain access to the whereabouts of the laboratory that it assaulted four days ago. Lastly, XCOM has been charged on suspicion of inciting the riots that occurred in Mantle on the same day that the Atlesian laboratory was destroyed."

The councilman sat down to a silent room, and Ironwood stared evenly at Bradford.

"You have the opportunity to begin your arguments with a defense against those charges, Central Officer. Or if you have a prepared opening statement, now is the time to present it."

Bradford stood up. Odei had warned him (likely after speaking with Candent) that the trial would probably start with the charges. It was more or less the same as any trial he'd seen on Earth, so the news didn't catch the Central Officer by surprise. He did indeed have a prepared statement to make, but rather than allow himself to follow the predictable course laid out for him, Bradford had decided it would be better to give himself the upper hand in the proceeding by catching both Cinder and the council off-guard.

"I know that Mr. Candent is here to advise all parties on local laws and proceedings, General," Bradford began. "Perhaps you can tell me if it is acceptable to begin by responding to each charge levied against my organization?"

Up on the bench, Ironwood quirked a curious eyebrow.

"That is… less-than-orthodox," Ironwood said, glancing between the other three council members. They seemed to speak only through expressions and gestures, for not a word was uttered among them. Frias took off his glasses to clean them, Sleet tapped his pen against the bench and rubbed his temple, and Camilla rubbed her neck while heaving a small sigh of frustration.

After their brief, nonverbal discussion, the General announced, "Very well. We see no reason to disallow it."

Bradford nodded. "Thank you, General. We deny that the third charge has any relevance to the matter at hand. As for the first and second charges, XCOM pleads guilty."

The entire courtroom seemed to go into a cold shock.

Lily didn't want to jinx anything, but progress into the tower was going swimmingly. The access tunnel connecting the auxiliary station to the tower itself was narrow, but having Sserana scouting up ahead gave the rest of the team ample time to find cover on the couple of occasions where the Viper saw security heading their way. And Lily's EM drone provided a white noise bubble that kept them hidden from the tower's security systems as they moved.

Blake had promised Dr. Shen that she'd keep Lily safe, and the Chief Engineer would be pleased to know that she wasn't betraying his trust. Sserana and Mac were their long-range scouts, but Blake never strayed more than a few paces away from her partner. At the same time, Sabretooth wasn't hovering over Lily like a stifling mother hen. She wasn't constantly looking back to make sure Lily was still there, and she wasn't constantly asking for confirmation that Lily was doing okay.

She was close by to make sure she could help if necessary, but she was also letting Lily learn to spread her own wings.

"Junction is up ahead," Mac said over the comms. "I think we've reached the tower. Sserana is seeing more personnel than before, but it should still be easy for us to stay out of sight. We'll head off to the laundry room to pick up the package that Sabretooth left for Shen."

That was good. Because this whole operation would be toast if they got caught. The team came to a unanimous agreement that trying to stay out of sight while also operating the terminal was a recipe for disaster, and so one of them needed to try and pass themselves off as a technician. Mac was too easily recognizable as XCOM, Sserana was a literal snake lady, and Blake was also too high-profile for the job. So it fell to Lily to do the disguise work.

Assuming that nobody else had found the stowed uniform. It had taken Coco all of an afternoon to tailor fit it to Lily's measurements.

Lily approached the intersection with Blake, but she didn't see Mac anywhere. Maybe he was getting better at the whole Reaper thing than he had previously let on.

"Start looking for a terminal," Lily whispered to Blake. "Doc P said there should be one nearby, and we can use it to contact Nichole."

The nearly-invisible shadow bumped Lily's shoulder in confirmation, then set off while Lily hung back for a moment to assess the best way for her to move unseen.

Her suit gave Lily some leniency, but she still wasn't as invisible or as silent as Blake, Sserana, or even Mac. The more she could stick to the corners and shadows, the better.

Fortunately, even though Atlas bureaucracy kept itself as maddeningly clean and tidy on the back end as it did on the side presented to the citizens, the architecture and form of the tower still provided Lily with nooks and crannies she could hide behind. If there was a tower-wide manhunt to find her, Lily might have been in trouble. But so long as nobody was expecting to see a girl hiding in the archway corner or crouching in the recessed flooring by the walls, they would never find one.

Her comm dinged, and Lily checked for her partner's location on her HUD. Sure enough, Blake wasn't moving, and her icon was flashing to indicate that she needed Lily's attention.

Nobody was walking by in the hallway. Good.

As quickly and quietly as she could, Lily crouch-sprinted down the hall towards Blake's location. She was proud of the self-restraint she showed in not humming her own secret agent theme song.

Sure enough, Blake's locator led Lily to an access terminal. She pulled out her multi-tool, synced it with the interface, and…

Hello, Lily!

Lily smiled as the words flashed across her tool.

"Hello, Nichole. We made it."

You did! I must say I was surprised to see you, but I'm also quite happy!

Lily winced. If Nichole saw her, then that must have meant that she was sloppier with her entry than she realized.

Don't worry! I helped mask you on the surveillance! There has been no communication chatter about your presence in the tower.

Well that was good, at least.

Lily looked around, made sure that nobody else was in earshot except for Blake, then quietly whispered, "Do you want to stay in the system and track our progress, or would you want to download yourself to one of my drones and fly with us?"

I think I'll be more helpful by staying in here! Do you have any of the comm drones that you used during Gatecrasher? If you keep one of those active while you move through the tower, I can use its signal as an interface and keep in contact.

That worked for Lily. She could leave ROV-R latched on her back, and he could act as the signal receptor for Nichole's communication. She pulled the Gremlin out, engaged the interface that Pietro had helped her build, and waited for Nichole to sync with his signal.

"Done!"

Lily grinned at the sound of Nichole in her ear.

"I know that it will be much more difficult for you to speak without giving away your position, so I will be content to provide you with instructions and warnings as you progress."

"Nice work, kid," MacAuley said. "And nice to hear from you again, Other Kid."

"It's good to hear you, too, MacAuley! I am having difficulty keeping track of you on the tower surveillance, so I am afraid that I won't be able to provide you with any assistance unless Lily syncs a second Gremlin and gives it to you."

"Nah, Sser and I are fine without. Lily's the one who's doing the technical heavy lifting here, so focus on her."

"Yes, sir! Speaking of which, there is a pair of guards fifty meters away moving towards your position, Lily. I suggest you relocate and continue making your way towards the higher-access floors so we can prepare to help the Central Officer!"

Lily gave a thumbs up (which she assumed that Nichole could see) and activated her camo. She saw Blake's tracker on the move, so she followed in the same direction.

Now that she had Nichole on top of Blake, Mac, and Sserana keeping her safe? This was shaping up to be a by-the-numbers operation.

The hall erupted into noise as onlookers and news teams alike started to chitter from the edges of the courtroom at Bradford's confession. The faces of the council members twisted into varying degrees of confusion and shock, with Ironwood's eyes going wide while Camilla looked angry. Cinder was on her feet, loudly demanding that the tribunal add Bradford's statements to the record.

After a few moments, Ironwood killed the sound in the room by raising his hand.

"Central Officer Bradford," he said in a quiet tone. Without any other noise in the room, however, the words carried perfectly. "Would you like to reconsider your words?"

"No," Bradford answered.

"Then it sounds like we're done here," Cinder said. "The defendant just admitted to the crime he is being accused of."

"Unapologetically," Bradford shot back, staring directly at Cinder, "because Doctor Merlot was conducting atrocities in his lab, and it is my aim today to prove that his death and the destruction of his lab is a net benefit for Atlas and Remnant as a whole."

A ripple of whispers and mutterings once again spread across the spectators like a rock dropped into a still lake.

"Ah, yes!" Cinder said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Murder the man who has singlehandedly bolstered Atlas's ability to push back against the Grimm by a factor far greater than any other technological advancement in the kingdom's history. What a wonderful service you and your terrorists have performed for Atlas's people."

"Lady Fall," Ironwood said.

Cinder bowed her head respectfully. "My apologies, General. It's difficult to stand by while unfettered lies are spewed right in front of me."

Well that's rich, coming from The Queen of Bullshit.

Ironwood was about to say something when Sleet spoke up, addressing Bradford.

"You say you intend to prove he was evil," The councilman said. "How?"

"I have video evidence of what we found inside-"

"Inadmissible," Cinder said in an almost lazy tone. "You wish to present your own footage to a court where you are trying to prove your own innocence? Why would anyone trust footage produced by the people who blew up Merlot's lab? There is plenty of motive there to make them look sympathetic."

"That's… literally what evidence is," Bradford said. He knew that Cinder would try to disrupt things, but he didn't expect her to be this obvious about it.

"It's also worth noting that we have several hours worth of video evidence across multiple recording devices," Vahlen said, standing up next to Bradford. "The idea that we could tamper with all of that evidence on such short notice and make the changes undetectable is, frankly, ridiculous."

"We will… take it into consideration," Sleet said. "Do you have anything else?"

Bradford resisted the urge to glare at Cinder. "Plenty. Research records from Merlot's lab, for one."

"Again, inadmissible," Cinder said with a sigh. "And obtained illegally. Not to mention unverifiable, what with the lab having fallen into the sea after XCOM was finished with it."

Bradford was tempted to bring up the fact that one of Cinder's first interviews with Lisa Lavender had her giving the television journalist a copy of some files she'd "procured" from Amity that "proved" XCOM had inserted a virus into the arena's system. However, if he tried to make the point that the data Cinder gave to Lisa that she'd procured herself was suspect, what would that say about him doing much the same in this situation?

Once more, Vahlen came to the rescue.

"Merlot has undoubtedly provided Atlas with reports and documents in the past. The metadata from those files can easily be used to cross-reference the evidence presented by us to ensure its veracity. After personally spending time with some of Atlas's technicians, I have little doubt that this check could be accomplished in a matter of minutes. And since XCOM has never seen any other files generated by Merlot, it would be impossible for us to fake the metadata."

Bradford glanced at Cinder. Her expression was that of stewing rage, but she wisely said nothing.

Without more interruptions from Cinder, the Central Officer continued. "Testimony from Merlot's test subjects who we found on-site."

He could have sworn he heard Cinder rolling her eyes. "Again, inadmissible. Testimony was almost certainly made under duress. You did just demonstrate that you are capable of and willing to murder someone in cold blood, after all."

"Then take them into Atlesian custody and out of XCOM's control where there is no risk of duress," Vahlen shot back, struggling to maintain her composure. "Or is your plan to try and call into question every single thing we present, regardless of its legitimacy?"

The Fall Maiden shot a burning glare at the Chief Scientist that could have melted steel. The council members shared looks with one another before Sleet asked, "Will that be all, Miss…?"

"Doctor Moira Vahlen," the Chief Scientist corrected. "And since it seems that the obvious needs to be stated for Miss Fall, when I say 'Atlesian custody' I do not, in fact, mean 'ADVENT custody.'"

Ohhh, she did NOT like that.

But was Vahlen wrong?

"Evidence of Grimm research at Merlot's facility," Bradford said, moving on.

Cinder, to her credit, pressed on with her efforts to discredit everything XCOM said. "We are fighting a war against Grimm, in case you haven't noticed. Are you not familiar with the concept of 'know your enemy'?"

The quiet sound coming from Vahlen's throat almost caused Bradford to laugh.

"Allow me to clarify," he said. "Grimm-Human Hybridization research."

"Now you're just grasping at straws."

"It does sound rather fanciful," Camilla agreed.

"Of course it sounds fanciful if you haven't seen any of the evidence we are ready and willing to put forth," Vahlen said. "And if you decide to follow along with Cinder's fantasy of 'everything XCOM says must be rejected,' then of course it will continue sounding fanciful as you proceed to stick your fingers in your ears and-"

Bradford put a hand on Vahlen's shoulder.

I don't think I've ever seen Vahlen this heated about something that wasn't in her lab. Where's this coming from?

In an instant, the story Ruby had once told Bradford about her first encounter with Weiss Schnee flashed vividly at the forefront of the Central Officer's mind.

… Ah. Yeah, that tracks.

Bradford really wanted to look back and see the look on Weiss's face, but he knew better than to risk it.

Don't worry. I made sure to extend our thanks to Elsa. She promised to buy Vahlen a drink after this.

Camilla sighed, brushing her fingers against her neck as she looked down at Bradford from the bench. When she didn't say anything, however, it was one of her colleagues that spoke up in the councilwoman's stead.

"The law requires evidence that can be independently verified by Atlas's own investigators to determine its accuracy." answered Frias. From the corner of his eye, Bradford noticed the court attorney nod at this. "But since everything you have proposed thus far requires us to take you at your word that the evidence you acquired during your independent raid of Doctor Merlot's lab…"

Ironwood turned to the councilman. "It should still be possible for our analysts to verify any recordings submitted by XCOM. We should at least see the evidence."

"And what if it turns out to be doctored, as Lady Fall fears?" Frias answered. "In the time it takes for our analysts to uncover the truth about the 'evidence,' the damage could already be done as we move on with the trial."

"I don't trust him," Camilla said, eyeing Bradford suspiciously. He noticed her rubbing her neck again.

Was that a usual quirk that she had, or…?

Setting that thought aside, Bradford tried to assess the situation. He had a pile of evidence, and Cinder, in spite of her bumbling and how easily Vahlen had played her for a fool, apparently had enough of the council in her pocket that the evidence was at risk of being completely stonewalled. He knew that even if Ironwood wanted to push back and say that he did trust Bradford (and XCOM as a whole), his hands were more or less tied by his need to appear as neutral as possible. While the other council members were showing bias against XCOM, that could be construed simply as skepticism. Going to bat for the organization's credibility, by comparison, would be a much stronger statement, and likely one that the General couldn't afford to make, especially given Atlas's current military ties with ADVENT.

Candent cleared his throat and stood up to get the attention of the council. "Esteemed councilmen, you are both correct under Atlas law. Any evidence has a right to be submitted under seal and privately reviewed to determine if it is admissible to the court within three days' time."

Useless. Waiting that long would render the evidence all but useless, given how high-profile this case was. The court (both the tribunal and that of public opinion) would almost certainly have their minds made up by the conclusion of this first day, depending on how convincing the arguments were that he and Cinder could present. Sure, the truth might eventually come out. But as Councilman Frias pointed out… the damage would already be done.

"I would also like to point out," Candent said, "that the council has the ability to waive the waiting period and allow evidence to be presented, unsealed, if it so chooses."

The Central Officer kept quiet, though, as the council members discussed among themselves before Ironwood nodded.

"Very well. Please hand whatever you wish to submit to Mr. Candent, who will enter it into evidence."

Candent rose, holding out his hand for Bradford's scroll while carefully avoiding any contact with the table. Moving towards the council with scroll in hand, he placed it into a small receptacle at the foot of the bench, which glowed slightly in acknowledgement of the connection. After a few moments, the lawyer picked up the device, nodded to the council, and returned it to Bradford.

The chatter in the hallway picked back up during the lull while Candent was submitting XCOM's evidence. Not that Bradford could blame them, given everything he had said so far.

All of that stopped the moment Ironwood raised his hand to ask everyone for silence once more.

"We will ensure that the proper personnel begin reviewing the files immediately, and with all due diligence. We will also make a determination as to whether the evidence may be presented in this hearing before the professional review is completed," he said. "Is there anything else you would like to add in your defense?"

"Move down the hall for fifty meters, then take cover to avoid the officers heading your way at the intersection! MacAuley's supply drop point is not far after that!"

Lily followed Nichole's instructions, keeping an eye on Blake's marker as she went. While she couldn't see them, Lily knew that MacAuley and Sserana were also standing by to provide support if Lily slipped up somehow and needed a distraction to avoid getting detected. They were more of a last resort, though, since their interference would likely put the tower on alert.

Instead, Mac had a task of his own that he was running while he waited for Lily to pick up the uniform he swiped: a signal project that he'd been working on with Nichole's father when Pietro wasn't spending time with his daughters. It made sense, given that the Atlas CCTS tower was sort of the 'central' one for the system. If Mac could discreetly deploy some hardware in here that allowed XCOM to communicate more safely…

Lily came to a halt and pressed herself up against the archway frame and waited for the Atlas personnel to pass. It was just another Tuesday for them, so they walked right past without casting a single glance at the slightly-deformed blob standing still in a corner of the hall.

… Or was it Thursday?

Time to move again. Lily found herself half-holding her breath as she made her way down the intersection that the officers had just come from. She knew that her breathing wasn't loud, but that didn't stop her brain from trying to do everything it could to be quieter.

Maybe Blake could give her some tips after this.

Lily was guided through a somewhat-meandering path around the tower to avoid the more densely-trafficked routes. The elevators were definitely not an option, so Lily was forced to use the various stairways that were available on the outer rim of the superstructure. It gave her a nice view of the city as she hurried past the large open windows, at least.

Lily moved up another set of stairs, took one look down the hallway, and quickly slammed herself against an archway frame.

"Is that ADVENT up ahead?" Lily hissed quietly.

"Yes," Nichole said. "I noticed they had a presence back here as soon as I started to explore the tower's systems. I don't know what sort of deal Cinder struck with Atlas, but their ties are close enough to where ADVENT appears to have unrestricted access to the CCTS."

"Probably gave some bullshit excuse about how it would help them better coordinate their international security forces," MacAuley grumbled. "Would be nice if we could screw with them on our way out."

"Nobody can know we were here," Blake said, breaking her silence for what seemed like the first time since the operation started.

"Well, maybe there is a way we can mess with them…" Lily mused.

"You have my complete and undivided attention, kid."

"There must be at least a couple of officer-level ADVENT goons running around back here that have some sensitive data on them," she guessed. "Or maybe they put it down somewhere for a minute."

"Or they keep it somewhere secure…"

"Somewhere that Nichole couldn't risk hacking into without being discovered," Lily continued, "But somewhere that might be easy to physically sneak into if you're little more than a shadow."

"... You still got that extra Gremlin, kid?"

"There's a terminal up ahead," Nichole said. "I think it might be a good idea for me to upload myself into the Gremlin so that I can directly assist operatives MacAuley and Sserana with the endeavour."

"Not going to work," Blake said. "We need your assistance with getting the files loaded and ready to send to Central."

It was true that this was the entire reason they had planned the operation, and the reason why Ilia had gone through the trouble of getting Nichole inserted into the system in the first place. And yet…

If ADVENT was here, and there was an opportunity to get some data that might help XCOM? They needed to seize the moment and capitalize on that. Nichole would make the upload and streaming of Bradford's intel a lot easier, but she wasn't the only one who learned how to navigate Atlas's systems.

"I can do it," Lily whispered.

"... Kid?"

She needed to sound more confident. She needed to be more confident if she wanted this to work.

"I can do it. Nichole can work with Mac and Sserana on tailing ADVENT. I'll grab the uniform up ahead, and once Blake and I get to the terminal we need, then I can help Bradford myself."

"Lily…"

"Sabretooth will get the Gremlin to Mac for Nichole's upload," Lily said, "then she'll rejoin me for the last part of our prep for the console plan before we're ready for Bradford."

Lily had no idea if she was really feeling as brave as she sounded, but a small (and very vocal) part of her mind was screaming that this was the right thing to do. Sure, Nichole would make the hack and upload a cakewalk, but Bradford had sent Lily for a reason, hadn't he? She could do this. She had to do this, just as XCOM needed any advantage it could get over ADVENT.

There was no guarantee that this trial would end up swinging in Bradford's favor, even with the evidence that Lily might need to beam directly into the council's eyeballs and earholes. Bradford was counting on the evidence being so irrefutably heinous that the council would overlook the fact that XCOM had destroyed an important lab to get it, but if that didn't work?

Well, Beags had told Lily to always make sure she had a Plan B.

Lily unpacked her second Gremlin just as Blake uncloaked next to her.

"You sure about this?" the feline Faunus asked quietly.

"Were you sure when you followed Yang through the portal in the field?" Lily countered, handing the flier to Blake.

Blake smiled and took the Gremlin.

"I'll be back shortly. Start making your way towards the stairs, but don't take any risks."

Lily gave her a salute, and the two infiltrators parted ways.

Ruby sat forward on the edge of her seat, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Yang and the older Shen were on opposite sides of her laying hands on her shoulders. Just breathing and focusing on the massive projected screen in front of the collection of couches felt like a chore, and it took every fiber of her being to keep from storming out of the rec room in a ball of anxious rose petals. Wrong. This all felt wrong. XCOM did the entire world a favor by taking down Merlot, and lost good people to make sure that the mad scientist stayed gone. And this bitch had the nerve to keep dragging them through the mud? She knew that Central had to play ADVENT's games. She knew that Ironwood's hands were tied. But knowing didn't make the urge to zip over to the courtroom and punch stupid Cinder in her stupid face any less powerful.

If anything, it just tempted her more.

"Hey, Cap. Butter or no butter?"

She was snapped out of her murderous musings by Nicho's voice calling across the room. "Huh?"

"We're making popcorn!" called Nora as she stood by her partner and the Lieutenant. "We tried using pancake batter at first, but uh… it didn't turn out well."

Nicho heaved a loud sigh. "You almost fried the entire room's electrical grid when you added the maple syrup."

"Well yeah, but at least it smells delicious now!"

"It's not supposed to smell like anyth- whatever." The engineer looked back to Ruby with a roll of his eyes. "Anyways, butter or no butter?"

Ruby had to give a small smile in light of the antics, grateful for at least a small diversion. "Butter, please. It's awful without it."

"Hah! I knew Dad raised you right!" laughed Yang, slapping her sister on the back.

"Ow! Yang! Robot arms!"

"...shit, right." Yang turned her attention back to the screen. Ruby turned away from the display for a moment to look at the other occupants for what felt like the first time. Just about everyone not involved with the trial was either sitting around tables or crammed into couches, watching the broadcast just as intensely as she herself had been. Most of the Huntsmen teams were there (minus Pyrrha and Jaune for obvious reasons), as were the Reapers and Terran operatives. Even the Archon was paying rapt attention as he coiled his tail into a little seat for himself, joined by a dozen other Vipers mirroring his position.

"Man…is there anything Central can't do?" mused Yang idly. "He can command an army, he can give speeches, he can dance in a ballroom, and he can serve as his own defense lawyer…makes you glad we ended up in his base, huh?"

"I'm more impressed by the doc, personally," said Reese from a nearby couch as she nuzzled into a very pink Ilia. "Down in the labs she's all like 'business business business, science science science.' But put her in front of that bitch? It's like she's a completely different person. In a good way, of course."

"They're both quite talented individuals," agreed Shen with a slow nod. "My companions are adept at wearing different masks as needed, to the point where their true selves are barely visible. It's a useful skill to have, especially in an organization like XCOM. You'd be surprised just how many of those 'masks' we have in store."

Yang looked over the shoulder of her sister with a small smirk. "'We'? Does that mean you have masks of your own?"

Shen shrugged. "Perhaps."

"...is this the part where you tell us you were secretly some kind of covert black-ops agent who took no prisoners and broke all the rules before you were the maker of cool things?"

A twinkle flickered in the elder Shen's eyes for just a moment. "I will neither confirm nor deny such claims."

"...oh, that is so unfair," groaned Yang.

"Popcorn's ready! Hey, Rossal, here comes the first pitch!"

"Nora! No! We agreed that we would not be 'skeet shooting' with the popcorn balls during the - "

"TOO LATE! I'M DOING IT ANYWAYS! GO LONG!"

As the area behind her erupted into chaos, as popcorn flew like shrapnel across the rec room, Ruby laughed for the first time in what felt like ages. No matter what happened next in the trial, this was the XCOM she knew and loved.

And they would find a way forward, just like always.

I know Central's got this, she thought to herself. But just in case he doesn't? It's all you, Lily.

The younger Shen let out a steady breath, made sure that her Atlas uniform fit as best as she could manage, and stepped into the hallway.

Confidence. Just gotta have confidence.

Blake had taken care of her equipment. Now, Lily had whatever she could carry in her uniform without drawing attention to herself. A comms officer wearing tactical webbing and being followed around by a little Dust-powered gyro would certainly raise more than a few eyebrows.

So all she had was her scroll, her commpiece, her multitool, and a heart that was thumping way too loudly in her chest.

She'd been worried at first that her Taiwanese visage would make her stand out like a sore thumb among the Atlesian CCTS workforce. However, Ilia's sweep of the tower and Odei's info from her prior recon operations indicated that the employees in the tower were a lot more multicultural than Lily had previously suspected. So her only real problem now was trying to convince anyone looking at her that she was not, in fact, a teenager parading around in a uniform that wasn't hers.

Just need to be confident, and nobody will question you.

It was something that had been told to her first by Odei, then by Ilia, and most recently by Blake. The uniform was one of several that had been procured by Odei's resistance network weeks ago. The possibility that XCOM would need to break into the CCTS at some point was something the covert operative had considered during her time embedded in Atlas, and so she had tried to work up all the possible contingency plans that could be viable if (and now… when) Bradford made the ask.

She had a uniform, a cover name, and a badge that Dr. Polendina made for her. All she needed to do now was make her way to "her" console in the tower, use her credentials to access the network and carefully access the courthouse systems so she could upload Bradford's evidence.

Simple.

… Right?

"Excuse me."

Lily snapped around to look at whoever was addressing her. Because of course the universe was punishing her for jinxing things.

"Yes?" she asked, desperately trying to keep the adrenaline from making her hands, legs, and voice shake. "Can I help you?"

Lily found herself staring up at a man who was regarding her curiously. His expression didn't seem accusatory, but rather confused. While she wasn't able to get a good enough look at his badge to see his name, he was carrying a coffee mug that looked like it said "#1 Dad."

Or did it say "#1 Dud"?

"You look a little young to be working up here," the man said, scratching his chin with his free hand. "Are you one of the interns? They report to floor three, so you might be lost."

Lily shook her head. "Nope. Not an intern. And I'm pretty sure I'm not lost."

How was she supposed to shake this guy?

"Pretty sure?" the guy took a sip from his mug, and Lily was able to confirm that it definitely said #1 Dud. "First day, then?"

"Something like that," Lily answered.

Then, inspiration struck.

"My father spent his entire life working for Atlas and doing his part to keep the kingdom safe," she added. "It was my dream to follow him in his footsteps as a technician at the CCTS, and so… here I am. I might have taken the long way up on my way. You know. Just so I could take it all in."

The man smiled.

"I have a little girl," he said. He looked down at his cup and sighed. "She bought me this mug for my birthday last year. Was proud of herself for saving up her own allowance for it, and all it took was one extra-long bathroom break where I had it out of sight to get it ruined..."

"Don't worry about them," Lily said, trying to summon her warmest smile. "I think we both know that she's the only one that matters. The fact that she bought that for you tells you how much she looks up to you. How much you mean to her. I've been proud of my father my entire life. He has always been my role model. It wouldn't surprise me if you're hers."

The man's eyes glistened, and Lily prayed that her plan would work.

"T-thanks…" he said quietly. "I… needed that."

"We're all in this together, right?" Lily said. "Gotta make sure the kingdom keeps ticking, and all that. I don't know why your coworkers are rude to you, but I'm glad you're here, Mr…?"

"Bill. You can call me Bill."

Lily nodded. "Alright then, Bill. I'm glad I bumped into you. Hopefully we'll see each other around."

She turned around and started to walk away, then winced when she heard him call after her.

"Hey! Where do you work?"

Crap.

"The, uh… comm center for the Atlas administration district," she answered. That's what Odei said to recite if somebody asked, right?

Bill's eyebrows shot up. "Wow. Your dad must've been pretty high up if your first job's in there."

"Yeah…"

Please don't ask his name.

"You'll want to take the hallway all the way down, then hang a right once you get past the breakroom," Bill said. "The elevator is off to the left, but… well, you said you wanted to take it all in, right? I can see my apartment complex from the view on the right. Always stop for a moment to enjoy it in the morning."

Lily smiled. "I knew I liked you. Thanks, Bill!"

"Take care," he said, offering Lily a wave before turning around and heading off to his own part of the tower.

"Well played, Lily."

She didn't even try to suppress the smile at Blake's words. They were starting to run short on time, so hopefully there weren't any other delays like that one, but at the same time?

It was nice to help give a dad a little boost.

"Is there anything else you would like to add in your defense?"

"There is," Bradford answered. "Over the last few days while we were preparing for this trial, we saw numerous recordings posted to the extranet that included multiple ADVENT documents from their Mantle precincts, with apprehension logs chief among them."

Cinder let out a derisive laugh. "You mean the ones that you stole during the riots that XCOM started? This 'evidence' is even more objectionable than anything else you've put forward so far, Bradford."

The Fall Maiden had barely stopped speaking before Candent rose. "Objection. Whether XCOM is responsible for the acquisition and release of the documents is not one of the charges before the court. The prosecution's statement must be disregarded."

Cinder rolled her eyes.

"How awfully convenient, then, that the riots and the destruction of Merlot's lab happened on the same day." She turned to Bradford and added, "I'm sure you were simply overjoyed at how lucky it was that you'd get the perfect cover for your little terrorist raid."

"That will be enough of that," Ironwood said sharply.

The room was quiet at the General's words. Not even Cinder tried to snark back. No matter how much power she wielded across the world, she knew that Ironwood had the last word in this courtroom.

"If you demand that we do not allow XCOM to present unsealed evidence due to conflict of interest and bias," he said slowly, "then we likewise cannot allow ADVENT to make unsubstantiated claims on the same grounds. Either provide evidence for your claims, Lady Fall, or refrain from making them until you have such evidence."

Cinder stared hard at Ironwood, but said nothing.

I'm getting something from the bitch, Annette warned. A hint of glee.

That didn't bode well, but there wasn't anything Bradford could do about that at the moment. And if she wasn't actually saying anything, then perhaps Annette's hunch might amount to nothing.

After a few moments, Ironwood interpreted her silence to mean that she had no further objections and so he gestured for Bradford to continue.

"If ADVENT contests the information that is now publicly available on the extranet," Bradford said, resuming where he left off before Cinder's outburst, "then they are free to provide their own records that track the status of Mantle residents that they apprehended. I can assure you, however, that there are many names that are notably absent on the manifests we've seen. I can likewise assure you that there is a substantial number of eyewitnesses that were present when each person missing from said manifests were hauled off by ADVENT for reasons that range from flimsy to absurd."

"How dare you mock ADVENT like that," Cinder growled.

Bradford shrugged.

"I believe the riots - which caused massive economic damage and civil unrest in Mantle, let us remember - started because ADVENT soldiers attacked two men whose only crime was to tell the soldiers to get lost using colorful language."

Sleet nodded in agreement. "Having spent the last few days poring over any and all footage I could find to better understand the nature of the riots and how they began… The instigating incident does appear to be an unprovoked attack by an ADVENT patrol. The two men involved carried the equipment of huntsmen, but they did nothing before being accosted by the patrolling officer."

Cinder once again fell silent.

You'd think she would learn by now when the grandstanding will blow up in her face.

Bradford continued. "In any case, these people were taken by ADVENT, and it would be child's play to find witnesses who can confirm that in each case. And yet they do not show up in ADVENT's records.

"XCOM managed to find them, though," the Central Officer added. "Would you like to know where?"

The murmurs started up again around the hall, and Ironwood didn't stop them this time. He was too busy whispering to Sleet instead.

The chatter died down once more when Ironwood appeared to finish his private conversation on the bench.

"It's amazing, you know," Cinder said, still maintaining her mask of lazy confidence, "that you are so willing to use these people to fabricate your disgusting lies. Have you no shame?"

"We will ask ADVENT to supply us with their records so we can conduct our own investigation, Lady Fall," Ironwood said, eager to cut off another one of her dramatic yet ultimately pointless tirades against XCOM.

"In the meantime, is there anything else you wish to add, Central Officer Bradford?" Frias asked, eyeing Bradford with curiosity. "We still have not discussed how you gained access to the laboratory's location in the first place, for example."

"It is, in fact, one of the things you pled guilty to at the beginning of this hearing," Camilla noted, leering at Bradford.

"We are, among other things, a reconnaissance unit," Bradford answered. "Fact finding is what we do. Surely the esteemed state of Atlas understands the wisdom of 'forewarned is forearmed,' no? We heard rumors and rumblings that Doctor Merlot was not as clean as he wanted Atlas to believe, and so we made it our objective to determine whether or not that was the case. I don't regret that decision."

"Shouldn't you have informed Atlas in that case?" Frias pressed. "If you were so sure that Merlot was crooked, then would it not have been easy to bring that case to the kingdom's attention for a joint intervention?"

"Atlas was leaning heavily on Merlot's work to make great leaps in her military's efficiency, and you expect me to try and make a convincing case to cut down the golden goose?" Bradford shook his head. "Not only was there a risk of the Doctor catching wind of our efforts and going to ground, but there was also an immediate sense of urgency once we realized what he was up to. Lives were in danger, and we needed to act in order to save them."

"If either you or Cinder have evidence that we broke any laws while determining the whereabouts of Merlot's lab, however…" Bradford looked over at his adversary, who rolled her eyes.

"We have your direct admission that you did," Camilla pressed.

Bradford grinned. This was one detail where he had asked Odei to extensively research Atlesian law before he stepped foot in the courtroom.

"You have my direct admission to the charge of engaging in subterfuge and infiltration," Bradford confirmed. "That, in and of itself, is not an admission to explicitly illegal activity."

I have confirmation that the insertion team is ready, Central.

Then it was time.

This was it.

Lily didn't even give herself the chance to take a deep breath before stepping into the console room, because she didn't want to also give her brain the chance to psych itself out after they'd already come this far.

She marched into the room that Blake had identified for her, and not a single person inside stopped her. Nobody even gave her a sideways glance.

It seemed that entering the room as just another tower tech spending just another day punching in on the clock was good enough for everyone else. After all, there was no way that somebody who wasn't supposed to be here could possibly get this far undetected, right?

There were no updates in her ear from Blake regarding Mac's side mission. Heck, there weren't any updates from Blake at all. In this moment, Lily needed to focus on getting into the system, finding Bradford's courtroom, and prepping herself for transmission in case the situation called for it.

She found "her" terminal up ahead. Again, nobody said anything when she sat down and used Polendina's fabricated credentials to log in. The software that flickered to life looked exactly as she expected, thanks to the Doctor's training. He'd had her practice logging in and pathfinding her way to the exact windows that she needed to do her thing.

However, he'd also given her the chance to poke around and explore in the virtual box he set up for her so that Lily wasn't just a monkey pulling the levers she was told to.

After pulling up the correct screens and interfacing her scroll to start the pre-download of the data, Lily minimized her work and used the (brief) spare time she had to search the tower's systems for a video feed into the courtroom where Bradford was arguing with the council. Thanks to the opportunity Polendina had given her previously, Lily's efforts only took a few minutes before they bore fruit.

With her earpiece synced to listen in on the courtroom's chatter, Lily once again focused on her work.

… She was doing this.

Holy shit, she was doing this.

Not Blake. Not Mac. Not Nichole.

Lily Shen.

She kept an eye on the download from her scroll, checked on the courtroom every once in a while, and busied herself with searching the tower's other systems so that she looked like she was hard at work to anyone that might glance her way. Lily was careful not to poke her digital head into any no-no zones that might trigger a warning and raise questions why someone in the comms division was accessing data they weren't supposed to. But she could monitor the flow of communications data and users while she waited.

"Watching the court case, huh?"

Lily almost jumped out of her skin at the voice behind her. How had she missed someone coming up to see what she was doing?!

"Relax," the voice said with a slight laugh, "you're not the only one. It's been a slow morning, and this is one of the most interesting things going on in Atlas at the moment."

"Right…" Lily said.

She didn't have anything suspicious-looking on her terminal. The upload from her scroll had finished a minute ago, thank goodness, so she didn't need to try and discreetly hide anything from the new pair of prying eyes.

"Do you think that-"

The man cut himself off, and Lily risked stealing a glance over her shoulder to see why. She panicked again when she saw him frowning and narrowing his eyes at one of the display screens at her terminal.

"Is… everything alright?" she asked, trying not to sound guilty.

The tech rubbed his chin and leaned in closer.

"Not sure…" he said. "There's an odd signal tapped into this line that I don't recognize."

Crap.

His scroll dinged, and the tech sighed in annoyance when he looked down to see who was trying to contact him.

"I can't ignore this," he said apologetically, waving his device. "Could you look into the signal thing? It might just be some noise, but… well, I guess I don't know what you've been assigned today, but I imagine you could probably do with some actual work if you're in the same boat as the rest of us."

The tech walked away, and Lily ignored the urge to breathe out a sigh of relief. She checked in on the trial, sent a quick message to Annette's scroll, and then curiosity pushed her to try and figure out what the guy was looking at.

It only took her a moment to realize that the signal disturbance hadn't come from her.

Now Lily was the one leering in annoyance at her screen.

The disturbance was faint, but Samuelson and Mac had done their due diligence in training her to recognize unnatural patterns. Whoever was tapped in didn't have a big footprint. It was likely they were probably just doing the same thing as Lily (and the rest of the techs, apparently) and just listening in on the trial.

But unless Doctor Polendina was wrong, nobody should be tapped into the courtroom's system outside of this room. And even if this outsider was keeping a low profile now, they might have been more active earlier and were doing now what Nichole had done for the last few days. In fact…

Wait, no. Lily probably shouldn't be taking a closer look at the council's desk interface in the courtroom. If the mystery hacker did indeed bug it, they would notice if one of the techs in the CCTS started to issue queries to test if there was any malware installed in the system. If the passive hacker decided to take a more active role to counter Lily's intrusion, well… her basic skills were definitely not up to the task of dealing with someone who could slip into Atlas's most secure mainframe undetected.

Either way, Lily was suddenly relieved that the other techs were also watching the trial. It allowed her to hide among the crowd, which meant that this mystery intruder probably wouldn't think much of another tech keeping an eye on the courtroom.

Hopefully it was just another observer, but if not…?

Maybe Bradford's decision to have a Plan B was the right one after all.

"I would like to bring up the video evidence of our raid one more time, if we are done discussing how XCOM found Merlot," Bradford said. "It is, in my opinion, some of the most damning evidence we have of the Doctor's guilt. While I understand that Atlesian law requires the council to come to a conclusion regarding its legitimacy within three days, I believe the council needs to see now, rather than at the end of that period of time."

Camilla sighed loudly. "We have already discussed this. The evidence will be analyzed, and we will decide in three days whether it can be submitted into the record, as is required by Atlesian law."

There was that neck brushing again.

"And the council may decide to override the waiting period, as allowed by Atlesian law," Bradford shot back.

"And why would we do that?" Camilla asked, eyes narrowed.

"Because a lot can happen in three days," Bradford said. "And a lot can not happen in that same time frame, if the council chooses to remain ignorant of the facts until the last possible moment."

"Are you accusing us of burying our heads in the sand?" the councilwoman hissed.

A gentle psionic force anchored the Central Officer's emotions, allowing him to easily stare down Camilla without batting an eye. "I am accusing the council of nothing. I am saying, however, that this data is the centerpiece of our defense, and refusal to even consider viewing it while we are all seated in this room leaves me wondering why the council even bothered to hold this hearing in the first place or, at the very least, why it did not request the evidence three days in advance for verification prior to the trial."

Sleet and Frias cast sidelong glances at Camilla.

"... Or did the council not expect us to have any evidence that we would use to defend our actions against Merlot?" Bradford asked.

"The assumption was that you would deny XCOM's involvement in the lab's destruction," Ironwood admitted.

"Well then consider this," Bradford said. "We are already well aware that our organization's reputation is on shaky ground. Not through any unsavory actions of our own, mind you, but through the persistent and baseless efforts of Cinder Fall herself, who spares no opportunity to try and discredit our work."

"I do not appreciate being framed in such-"

"Is he wrong?" Vahlen half-shouted. "Or do I need to put together a video for you detailing every instance where you have questioned XCOM's legitimacy with annotations noting that there is no basis for the claims you make?"

Bradford was impressed by Ironwood's efforts to hide the smirk desperately trying to force its way onto his face.

"As I was saying," Bradford continued, eyeing Cinder to make sure she wasn't about to interject again, "we understand that our organization's actions are already under a great deal of scrutiny. Merlot's lab is already destroyed. That cannot be changed, nor would I want it to be. What remains to be seen, however, is whether or not XCOM's name is cleared of wrong-doing in the wake of our actions."

"That much is obvious," Ironwood said.

"With so much attention being focused on this trial, and with the best and the brightest Atlas has to offer being tasked with dissecting everything we say and present, do you really think we would have any chance of successfully deceiving the most technologically advanced kingdom on Remnant by trying to doctor technical data? And do you really think we aren't aware of that fact? So why, then, would we boldly come in here, plead guilty to the act of destroying the lab and eliminating Merlot, and then try to present to you tampered data? Why would we not try to deny our involvement, as you had assumed we would?"

"What is your point?" Sleet asked.

"Cinder's claim that we would provide altered evidence makes sense… if you look at the situation from a purely superficial point of view, as she would like you to."

"Excuse me-"

"Let him finish," Ironwood said, silencing Cinder.

"But if you consider all of the factors surrounding our situation and our actions, you would understand that trying to provide you with false data is perhaps the worst path XCOM could have taken to navigate this trial. So is it more likely that the evidence is falsified? Or is it more likely that it is accurate, and therefore worth evaluating right here and now at this trial?"

The council members looked at one another. Camilla still appeared unconvinced, but both Sleet and Frias seemed to be taking Bradford's argument into consideration. The four members sitting on the bench made some keystrokes on their respective scrolls while the room waited in silence.

It honestly wouldn't surprise Bradford if Frias and Sleet sided with Camilla. With how much work Cinder had put into schmoozing with Atlas, and with how much trust Atlas had placed in ADVENT, it would be perfectly expected if XCOM hit a run of bad luck here and the council decided to go the "safe" route of just continuing to trust their security partner.

And if that was the case, Ironwood would have no choice but to go along with them.

"Thank you for waiting," Ironwood said, bringing the room's attention back to the front. "After a brief vote, the council has agreed to allow XCOM's submitted evidence to be unsealed now for immediate viewing."

Cinder knew better than to argue after the council had come to a decision.

Camilla is fuming, by the way. Our dear Cindy, however, doesn't seem to be upset by this news.

That didn't bode well.

Ironwood made a few more keystrokes on his scroll, and the council's desk activated its digital interface once more so that XCOM's tapes could be viewed by the room's occupants.

Just got a warning from the insertion team. There might be funny business with the data.

Annette's warning came just in time, because the screens in the courtroom flickered to life seconds later only to display video and audio that was clearly a corrupted, garbled mess.

Cinder laughed.

"This is the evidence that you were oh-so-adamant that the council needed to see?" she sneered. "How fortunate for the rest of us that you worked so hard to convince them with your sob story, because I don't know what I would have done if I'd gone on with my life without seeing this quality work."

Ironwood chose to ignore Cinder's predictable gloating and instead turned his attention to Bradford.

"Did you check the data before coming here, Bradford?"

"Of course," the Central Officer answered, keeping the annoyance out of his voice. "I've reviewed the video evidence multiple times, especially the copy that was transferred to the scroll that I gave to Candent for submission to the council."

There was very much an implied, "The data was perfect before it was downloaded to your desk" in Bradford's statement that he was sure Ironwood caught.

"It looks like we will need to contact our technicians at the CCTS to determine what the source of the damage is," Frias said, pulling out his own scroll to start making the appropriate calls. "Unfortunately, we cannot afford to wait for them, as there is no guarantee that the fix will be quick."

Bradford glanced at Annette.

The Major nodded.

"That won't be necessary, councilor," Bradford said, speaking to Frias.

"Oh?" Cinder said. "Giving up on having your phony data verified?"

Vahlen made a strained noise from her seat next to Bradford.

"On the contrary, Cinder, I am simply informing the council we will not need to have the data that was submitted directly to the council's table recovered and repaired before the courtroom is able to see the video evidence I wish to present."

Ironwood's poker face was as excellent as ever.

"How do you intend to present your data if it is currently corrupted?"

Bradford flashed a smile. "By having friends in high places."

Literally, in this case.

He saw Annette send the signal to Lily to begin streaming, and the video feeds flickered to life once more. Instead of the corrupted mess that had appeared before, the sharp image of XCOM's raid on Merlot's lab filled the courtroom. Whispers spread like wildfire through the audience. The council members glanced at each other with surprise, with Camilla looking absolutely livid.

"What is the meaning of this, Bradford!" Cinder said angrily. "There is protocol for-"

"I grow weary of these games, XCOM."

All eyes turned to the screens, which were playing bodycam footage from one of XCOM's operatives. A squad was visible, as well as the small group of scared-looking men and women who were dressed in ragged clothes that the strike team was escorting. The civilians stayed in the middle of the group while the armed operatives formed a perimeter around them.

Bradford couldn't help but smile at the professionalism on display from his soldiers. Gentle touches, assuring smiles, and words of encouragement were constantly being directed at the civilians to help keep them from panicking. Anytime one of Merlot's robots or Grimm revealed itself and tried to attack, the operatives would form up to keep the rescuees safe from harm.

"You've inflicted a small fortune in property damage upon my lab and my robots, slaughtered without remorse the hard-working men and women of my security force, and are now engaged in theft and kidnapping of subjects that rightfully belong to myself and Atlas's military."

Odei had offered to cut that part out, but Bradford had been adamant that the footage be rolled in its entirety. He could not risk any chance that Cinder might somehow prove his evidence was doctored after all.

Even so, Merlot's words rang hollow when one of the civilians looked almost straight at the body cam, wild terror in her eyes.

"Easy," the voice of the operative soothed. Bradford instantly recognized it as Apollo's. A hand came into view and gently squeezed the woman's shoulder. "We've got you now, and we're getting you out of here. That's a promise."

"Please…" she whispered. "I can't go back."

"You're safe," Apollo assured. "We're getting you out of here."

Merlot continued his monologue. "I had hoped that you would get bored of bumbling your way through my lab like an Ursa in a porcelain shop. But it appears that, even after I left you some of my experiments as a means of encouraging you to leave more quickly, you have no intention of doing so. Which leaves me with no choice but to deploy a project that I was hoping to spend a few more years perfecting. So thank you, XCOM, for hindering the advance of science with your brutish antics. At least you will die knowing that, while this will undoubtedly be excruciating for you, my Grimm pets will be just fine."

The courtroom's audio was filled with the sound of hissing as Apollo looked down to see what appeared to be steam flowing out of vents near the floor and rising up into the hallway around his group.

It didn't take long for the choking to begin.

"Yeah, this dude isn't playing games anymore," one of the other operatives in the squad said. "Our Atlesian VIPs won't stop hacking up a lung."

Indeed, the civilians had their hands over their faces, desperately trying to keep the gas from seeping through. XCOM operatives were likewise choking while trying to keep their charges from falling to their knees where the gas was thicker.

"He's insane," the civilian woman wheezed. "I've seen people leave their cells and never come back, but this…"

"Keep moving," Apollo answered, trying to gently push her forward. "The hangar is large enough where the gas will be thinner. We have engineers out there with respirators. We just need to get to the hangar."

The group continued on while the courtroom watched in horror at their struggle against Merlot's toxin. Monstrous Grimm appeared, guns rattled, and the squad moved forward. When some of the civilians were too weak to carry on, they weren't left behind. Instead, operatives stowed their weapons and carried the infirm over their shoulders.

The camera continued to roll until the squad finally reached the hangar, where Apollo had been true to his word about XCOM's engineers. The respirators looked like hastily cobbled pieces of junk that had been slapped together in a manner of minutes, because that's exactly what they were.

Each and every operative carrying a respirator made a beeline for the civilians while ignoring their fellow soldiers.

Silence hung in the courtroom when the camera stopped rolling after Apollo ushered the civilians into waiting Bullheads, with the woman he'd been helping giving him one last, grateful smile before the airship took off to carry the civilians to safety.

"I am happy to tell you," Bradford said, "that we did not lose a single civilian to Merlot's gas. Several arrived at the Avenger in critical condition, but our medical staff performed small miracles that day.

"I have much, much more footage that was submitted by Mr. Candent," Bradford continued. "Most of it, I am perfectly happy to let the CCTS techs recover at their own pace. We would be more than happy to re-submit a clean copy of the evidence, if Atlas decides that would be the easiest solution. However, there is one more video in particular that I believe the council needs to see without delay."

He looked directly at Camilla, who seemed presently incapable of summoning her usual scowl. "Perhaps this will help you understand why we were confident that Merlot could not escape with his life, and why we made the unilateral decision to bury him with his lab."

The screens woke up once more, but there were no operatives in sight. Just a hallway of Grimm that were getting gunned down one at a time while the familiar voice of Captain Beagle screamed out the lines of a song to draw Merlot's attention.

"COME OUT YE BLACK AND TANS. COME OUT AND FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN."

Bradford didn't try to stop the tears from flowing freely at the sound of Beagle's last stand. Nobody was watching him, anyway.

Beagle continued down the hallway, and more of the Grimm attacks managed to slip past his defenses and slow the Captain down.

"I don't know what you're trying to accomplish, little rat, but I'm also concerned why you aren't dead. An error that I intend to correct."

Beagle fought valiantly. His gun ran dry, so he deployed the bayonet and started to stab at the monsters that came to take him down. His breath grew ragged, and his pained grunts carried through the courtroom.

"Don't worry, rat. I want you alive. I feel like my research will be more… edifying… if I am able to open your chest and root around while your heart still beats."

A couple of gasps could be heard in the back of the room at Merlot's words.

It wasn't long before Beagle finally fell to a Beowolf's swipe. But the camera kept rolling while the Grimm stood guard over the Captain's body. A couple of masked and armored guards came into view, clearly unperturbed by the Grimm standing next to them while they grabbed Beagle and dragged him down the hallway.

"This guy has no idea what's waiting for him, does he?" one asked.

"Nope. And the Doc is particularly angry, so he's gonna make sure it hurts." the other answered.

"Poor bastard."

"You feel bad for him?"

"Nah. It'll be fun watching him scream."

The banter continued while the guards dragged Beagle up to a reinforced door, opened it with a series of security codes and acknowledgements, and pulled him inside. The courtroom got their first view of Merlot when the guards propped Beagle up, and the man looked every bit the mad monster that he was. Wild hair, a scowling face, and his array of cybernetics all came together to make the man look evil.

The guards wasted no time in cruelly waking Beagle up, and Bradford had to once again keep his emotions in check as XCOM's snarkiest Captain put on a show one last time.

"What is happening now is that you are going to die in here, Rat. For the sake of scientific progress."

"Color me honored."

"Ah, yes. Stoic humor. I hear your kind is famous for it."

Merlot walked away towards a cart of medical tools that clinked as the doctor chose his tools of torture. He bantered with Beagle some more, mocking him for trying to assault Merlot directly instead of using his immunity to the toxin to sabotage the scientist's work.

Beagle responded in his usual manner.

Merlot walked back to the Captain, wicked cutter in hand, and looked down at Beagle with evil intent while the guards pulled their prisoner into a position that forced him to look up at their master.

"What I want to know, before you're in too much pain to formulate a simple thought, is why. Why do barbarians like you think you can change the world? Why do you choose to struggle against the darkness itself? You cannot win against the march of inevitability. This is an inconsequential blip in my efforts to achieve greatness. You have accomplished nothing here today. So what was even the point?"

Head down and eyes closed, Bradford silently mouthed Beagle's response while the man himself spat it out to Merlot's face.

"Because fuck you, that's why."

The feed cut, and the room was once again silent.

Once Bradford was confident that his voice was steady, he looked back up at the council and said, "I have no further evidence to present at this time."