AUTHOR'S NOTES: Election day in "RWBY Wings." For those looking for parallels to either the 2016 or 2020 US elections-while RT might not have avoided them, I'm trying to avoid it. It's a no-win situation to get into that. This story is not meant to be political in any way, shape or form. Unforunately, because of the canon episode that this is based on, I suppose the parallels will be found no matter what. The election is much closer in this chapter than it was in canon RWBY, because it's already been stated several times that Robyn and Jacques were close in the polls.

Poznan-Krezesiny Airbase

Poznan, Republic of Poland

18 August 2001

BERLIN (AP)—After two days of rioting over the economic damage suffered by the embargo of the United States by the European Union, the governments of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Poland reported that the riots are "largely" under control. No deaths have been reported, but riots in Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, and Poznan have left at least 200 people injured, many seriously. In Poznan alone, 80 people were arrested for attacking German-owned businesses in that city. In Munich, the riots targeted the offices of the Schnee Consortium, while in Hamburg a crowd attempted to assault the Airbus production facility before being turned back by riot police with tear gas and flash grenades.

After an incident in Cottbus that left a US Army soldier and two civilians badly injured, all US armed forces bases in Germany and Poland have been placed on lockdown, including Grafenwohr, Ansbach, Wurzburg, Ramstein, Sembach, Spandau and Rhein-Main in Germany, and Poznan-Krezesiny and Wroclaw in Poland. According to a statement released by Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General James Ironwood, the latter two bases will be off restriction by this afternoon, with the other bases to follow in the next 24 hours. "We do not wish to cause the local economies of these areas to be any more adversely affected than they already are," Ironwood told reporters from his forward headquarters in Poznan. The general's remarks were welcomed in Poland and in the Rheinland and Bavaria states in Germany, where sentiment has been more pro-American than in other areas, likely due to the close relationship between those regions and American forces.

In a statement released on both local news media and the internet this morning, mercenary leader and candidate for the EU Council seat for Poland, Robyn Hill, said the following: "I do not condone rioting of any kind. It only makes the situation and the hardships we've endured worse. I believe my opponent, Jacques Schnee, made his announcement to enflame the situation, and force people to vote for him to simply make the economic pain stop. I understand the anger of so many Europeans, especially Poles, but ask that the latter, at least, show it not in the streets but at the polls today."

As of this morning, the polling for the EU Council seat show a tight race, with Schnee falling behind in the polls to 46%, while Hill has gained to 48%, leaving 6% undecided. Political winds have been favoring Hill in recent weeks, with allegations of worker abuse of Faunus by the Schnee Company resurfacing. Schnee's latest speech seems to have backfired on him, accelerating his loss in daily polls. "It was a stunt," said Albert Drukmann, a former Schnee employee living in Krakow. "Schnee doesn't care about us. Robyn does."

Schnee did not comment publicly on Hill's statement. His spokesman spoke to reporters outside Herrencheimsee this morning, saying that Hill's speech was "ridiculous" and "only takes advantage of the situation." He also pointed out Hill's association with the US armed forces in fighting GRIMM at the so-called Vistula Barrier, saying that "Robyn Hill would return Europe to a domination by the United States not seen since before the Third World War." Jacques Schnee plans to await today's voting at his manor home in western Poland, while Robyn Hill has announced her intention to host a "victory party" at Poznan's Old Market Square tonight.

"General, sir?" Ironwood looked up from the newspaper at Master Sergeant Arnold Vogelmord's voice. "They're coming in, sir."

"Thank you, Sergeant." The general folded the paper into a back pocket and saw six aircraft roar in from the east. Clover Ebi joined him, shading his eyes from the sun. "Full racks," he said. "No combat today. Even against ground attacks." He glanced at Ironwood. "Fourth day in a row, sir."

"I know. That's what worries me." They watched as the five aircraft pitched out over the base in a break, a sharp turn over the center of the runways, led by Ruby Rose's F-16, then Weiss Schnee's Typhoon, followed by Oscar Pine's F-18, Pyrrha Nikos' F-22, Lie Ren's J-10, and finally, bringing up the rear, Nora Valkyrie's A-10. It was an excellent formation and even better break; although the ground crews had heard and seen hundreds of such sights, few of them could resist a look.

Ruby landed first and taxied towards her revetment as Clover and Ironwood backed up to the rear wall to give her room. She stopped on the mark and shut the engine down, while the crew chocked the wheels. The canopy came up as Vogelmord mounted the ladder and helped Ruby unstrap. Even over the noise of the engines from the other aircraft coming to a halt, Ironwood could hear Ruby cursing loudly. She stepped down the ladder and practically hurled her helmet into its bag. She was still cursing when the sergeant pointed at Ironwood. Ruby turned red, came to attention, and saluted. "Sorry, sir!"

Ironwood was amused rather than offended, and returned the salute. "I take it you found nothing?"

"No, sir. We flew practically to the old Russian border. Not a damn thing, sir." Ruby looked grumpily in the general direction of Weiss' revetment. "I'm never gonna catch up at this rate…"

"Just be careful you don't become some GRIMM's kill," Clover advised. All three turned at the sound of even louder cursing, in the distinct nasal voice of Nora. "I take it there weren't even any Sabyrs or Centinels."

"Not even them," Ruby confirmed. "It's like they've just disappeared."

"Or Salem pulled them back," Clover said quietly.

"At the rate we're going, Salem might be just holding back until we destroy each other," Ironwood commented. He waved them out of the revetment. "No matter who wins, the election doesn't bode well for stability. Jacques will likely end the embargo in a few weeks, but he'll take credit for it, and make sure I can't move any more troops in. Robyn will end it immediately, but I have no idea what she'll do after that. She doesn't trust me any more than I trust her."

"One seat is going to make all the difference, sir?" Ruby asked.

"The Council is split down the middle," Clover informed her. "Whoever takes the Poland seat will be the tiebreaker vote."

She turned to Ironwood. "Sir, I don't suppose you could endorse Robyn?"

Ironwood shook his head. "It would be seen as American interference in internal European politics. Legally, I can't even do that with our elections, Captain."

"Can you work with her if she's elected, sir?" Ruby knew better than to ask if Ironwood could work with Jacques Schnee.

"Perhaps, but she has to work with me first."

The other pilots joined them, and exchanged salutes. "I take it you're here for our next assignment, sir?" Ren asked.

"I am." Ironwood smiled. "I want you to take the rest of today and tomorrow off. All of the squadron. I've already given Ace Flight the night off. You are no longer confined to base." He looked at Weiss. "Except for you, Hauptmann Schnee. It may not be safe for the former heir to the Schnee fortune to be off base if Robyn loses tonight."

"I understand, sir," Weiss answered.

"Good." Ironwood sighed. "Whoever wins today, we'll be waking up to a different strategic situation tomorrow. I need you rested and ready. Have fun—that's an order."

"Looks like Robyn's out to an early lead," Yang said, checking the internet from the small computer in Ruby Flight's dorm room. The pilot dorms at Poznan were recently built, and everything was practically brand new in the room. Much to Ruby's happiness, there were four bunk beds built into one wall; they were very comfortable, reminding Blake more of the larger berths aboard a carrier. They were also much more sturdy and less jury-rigged than the bunks had been at Beacon. Weiss had let out a long and pained sigh when she saw the bunks, but Ruby had caught her surreptitiously smiling. "I think she's got this in the bag."

Weiss shook her head. She was the only one of the flight still in her uniform. "The first reporting areas are the central areas of Poland, like here in Poznan. I imagine my father will get a lot more votes from the port cities like Gdynia and the western areas—the port cities are more inclined to believe that he'll force an end to the embargo like he said he would, and the western districts are more closely linked to Germany economically. Add that Robyn's still seen as an outsider, and this thing is far from in the bag."

Yang frowned at her. "Well, aren't you just Miss Sunshine and Cheer. I thought you wanted your dad to lose his ass."

"I do," Weiss replied. "I want to go down to our old summer lodge in Zagan tomorrow and laugh in his face. But I'm just being realistic, Yang." She leaned against the ladder between the bunks. "Still doesn't make any sense that he'd make that announcement when he did. It's hurt him."

"Maybe your pops just isn't that smart," Ruby put in. She was lying in her bunk.

"He is when it comes to politics," Weiss replied. "And business. He may be an asshole, but he's not stupid."

"Won't matter in a few hours. I still say Robyn's going to beat him like a red-headed stepchild." Yang shut off the computer and glanced into the bathroom. "Blakey! How's that makeup coming along?"

"I'm done, actually." Blake walked out of the bathroom. "How's it look?"

"Good to me, but I'm not the one who might get laid tonight." Yang wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. Blake rolled her eyes.

Ruby sat up. "Where are you guys going?"

Blake clucked her tongue, went into the bathroom and grabbed a comb, and went after Yang's hair, which was standing out at odd angles. "Funky Flight flew in about an hour ago, and they wanted to sample the Poznan nightlife, so they invited us out. Yang and I thought it would get our minds off everything…hold still, Yang!"

"Ow!" Yang yelled. "My hair's supposed to bend like that!"

"It's way out of regulation—"

As Blake fought a losing battle against Yang's mane. Ruby rolled out of bed. "I thought you said Funky Flight was annoying."

"Neon Katt in particular," Weiss added.

"Ouch! Dammit, Blake!" Yang fended off her friend. "Well, I kind of owe them one for keeping me from getting my ass kicked in Vegas, remember? Anyway, that's the best thing about going to dance clubs with Neon." She pointed to her ears. "I can't hear that damn voice of hers. Blakey's a cat Faunus, but she doesn't add 'nyan' to half her sentences."

"That's an act," Blake said, giving up on the hair. "I don't like it either. It's kind of degrading. Next thing you know, she'll be playing with yarn or running from dogs."

"You didn't like Zwei," Ruby pointed out.

"That's because he was a drooling monster who chewed up my first copy of Ninjas of Love," Blake countered. She wasn't about to admit to being afraid of a dog less than a third her size.

There was a knock at the door, followed by it being jerked open by Nora, who clearly had no concept of privacy. "Yo, Ruby! Come on, girlfriend!" Ren hovered in the background.

"You're still going to Robyn's victory party?" Weiss raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, just because ol' Irondaddy doesn't like Robyn doesn't mean we all have to!" Nora protested. "Yeah, maybe Ironwood's trying to help Poland, but I think Robyn's doing a better job."

"I wouldn't throw a party until I actually won the election," Weiss said. Nora snorted. "Well, have fun. Stay safe. If Robyn loses, they'll tear this town apart."

"Party pooper!" Nora told her. "Just because you're still confined to the base…"

Weiss stuck her nose in the air. "That's not it at all."

Ruby patted her shoulder as she walked past. "See you later, Weiss." Weiss smiled, ignored Nora sticking her tongue out at her, and sat down on her bunk as Ruby closed the door behind her.

"You could always come with us," Yang said.

"What part of 'don't leave the base' didn't you understand, Yang?"

"Aw! You'd be fine, Weissy. Undo your braid and you just look like anyone else." Weiss rolled her eyes. She was fairly certain that there were very few people on the planet under the age of 60 with naturally white hair. Yang smirked and turned back to Blake. "Okay, Blake. Let's see some dance moves."

"Um, Yang…I'm not much of a dancer. Not at what they do at clubs, anyway. It wasn't exactly a requirement of the White Fang, or the Marines." Nonetheless, Blake tried. The latest fad was shuffle dancing, which required a lot of footwork and rhythm. Blake had neither.

Yang hung her head. "Blake, I can't figure out if you're Cossack dancing or getting ready for a karate exhibition."

"But I'm doing it like you showed me…" Her ears folded back in consternation.

"And you suck. Here, watch me." Even Weiss had to admit that Yang could dance. She spun and twirled and moved her feet effortlessly. Someone else knocked on the door, so Weiss went over to answer it. Oscar, Pyrrha and Clover stood there. "Hello!" Pyrrha greeted her warmly. "We're going to go see Pearl Harbor at the base theater if you're—"

"Sounds great." Weiss actually had little desire to watch that movie-Ruby had watched it opening night, and come back ranting that it was the most inaccurate piece of crap she'd ever seen—but anything was better than watching Yang try to teach Blake to dance.

"Oh…well, okay…" Pyrrha waved at the other two girls as Weiss shut the door.

Old Market Square

Poznan, Republic of Poland

18 August 2001

Ruby jumped as a car drove by, honking its horn. Atop the car were signs in Polish, but even with her very limited knowledge of the language, she could tell they were advocating for Robyn Hill. Ren watched the car drive off, taking a corner far too fast. "Weiss has a point. A victory party does seem a bit premature."

"Aw, Ren," Nora replied. "Let them have some fun."

"Probably the last fun thing they'll do before Ironwood sends up the Commando Solo and everyone learns about…well, you know." Ruby didn't even want to speak Salem's name.

"We've spent a lot of time worrying about how people are going to react to Salem," Ren said; he did not share Ruby's concern. "Have any of us considered how she's going to react to everyone knowing about her? Something tells me she's not going to just wait for the rest of the world to come after her." He kicked a rock down the sidewalk. "No GRIMM anywhere for the past four days, after months of nonstop attacks." Another rock got kicked aside. "We should be patrolling closer to the old Soviet border. Right now. Make sure she's not moving things up by night—"

"Ren, we've done enough patrolling!" Nora snapped. "Take some time off, for God's sake!"

"Time is something we don't have!" Ren shouted. Nora actually ducked her head; other people turned at the sound. He put his hands up; they were shaking. "I'm sorry—"

"I wish I knew what the hell was wrong with you," Nora cut him off, and walked ahead.

The Old Market Square was in the center of Poznan, one of the oldest parts of the city, dominated by a former military headquarters and arsenal that dated back to Napoleonic times, now a museum. The old arsenal stood in the center of the square, which was hemmed in by buildings nearly as aged. The square was filled with people, many waving Polish flags, campaign banners, and pictures of Robyn Hill. A temporary stage was set up next to a fountain surmounted by a statue of Apollo; at the back of a stage was a huge television screen, which updated the vote tallies live. Ruby checked the totals: Robyn still held a commanding lead, at 58%, but Jacques had increased his tally, with 42%. 60% of districts had reported in; the polls had closed in the eastern, rural districts of Poland, but the more urbanized west was still voting. At least a dozen Polish police officers in riot gear lined the sides of the square, but their shields were set aside and their visors were up, and they were chatting amiably with some of the people there. To Ruby's surprise, she recognized one of them as Marrow Amin. Then again, there were a large amount of Faunus in the crowd; it stood to reason that they would have no desire to support Jacques Schnee. Marrow, like Ruby, Ren and Nora, were in casual clothes rather than uniform, to avoid the appearance of endorsing a candidate.

"Ruby! Ruby Ruby Ruby!" Ruby turned and was nearly tackled to the concrete. No matter what version of her, Penny Polendina still didn't know her own strength.

Ruby somehow kept her footing and returned Penny's bone-crushing hug. "Ergh...hey, Penny. What're you doing here?"

Penny let go, and Ruby took in a desperately needed breath of air. "It is so good to see you!" She looked around. Once more to Ruby's surprise, Penny was wearing her flight suit; though there was no rank on it or patches, the olive drab suit immediately identified her as American military. "As for what I am doing here, I talked to my father earlier, and got his permission to fly out here with Funky Flight. I was not in the mood to try this 'clubbing,' which sounds quite violent, so I obtained General Ironwood's permission to come here."

"You shouldn't be in your flight suit," Ruby advised. "We're not supposed to even look like we're favoring Robyn."

"Oh." Penny looked sad. "I didn't bring any other clothes, though."

Ruby thought about heading back to the base and letting Penny borrow some of hers, but it would take too long. The sun was nearly down and the lights were coming on. Oh, what the hell, she thought, it's not like anyone's going to notice around here. "Ah, forget it, Penny," Ruby told her. Penny immediately brightened and waved at Ren, who waved back, then at Nora. "Hello, Ren and Nora!" She said it so fast that it mushed their names together to Renora. "Where's everyone else?"

"Weiss is confined to the base because she's a Schnee," Nora explained. "And a party pooper. Pyrrha and Oscar went to go see a movie. Blake and Yang are off doing their own thing…again." She shrugged. "Those two have been spending every waking moment together, I swear." Ruby agreed: Blake and Yang had been spending a lot of time together lately—taking shopping trips to Berlin and sightseeing around Poznan when they weren't out on patrol. She personally didn't read anything into it; she'd been trying to spend more time with Oscar, and Pyrrha and Clover were continuing their coffee nights.

"At least they're back to being friends," Ren pointed out.

"Just friends?" Nora said with surprising venom.

Ren gave her a look of complete innocence. "What else would they be?"

"Two people who've gone through that much? I think there's more going on." Nora was not letting it go.

"Well, maybe they spend so much time together because they're best friends," Ren argued. "And they're worried about the other!"

"About what?" Nora exclaimed.

"It's just that there's a lot of things going on right now!"

"Well, how can they figure things out if they don't talk about it?"

Ruby, who had been standing roughly between the arguing lovers, got out of the line of fire and went over to Penny, who was studying the two with intense interest. She leaned over to Ruby and dropped her voice. "I believe I may be confused, Ruby. Are they talking about Blake and Yang or themselves?"

"I'm not really sure," Ruby admitted. Penny shrugged and began to leave Ren and Nora to their argument, but Ruby clung to her. "Don't leave me with them—whoa, military museum?" She had just noticed what else the arsenal held. Ren and Nora didn't seem to notice they had left.

Much to Ruby's sadness, the museum was closed for the night. Penny mentioned she was hungry, so the two grabbed some ice cream from a vendor next to the stage, and then literally ran into Marrow, who was getting some kielbasa. Luckily, no one ended up with the other's snack on them. "Oh hey," the Faunus said, his tail wagging. "What're you doing here?"

"Having fun observing this party," Penny said.

"I'm just hanging out with a friend," Ruby told him, and held out her free hand for a fist bump to Penny. Penny gasped, made a fist, lined up like she was making a bomb run, and punched Ruby's hand. Now it was Ruby's turn to gasp as shock ran up her arm, and her knuckles suddenly began to throb. Penny turned to Marrow and held out her fist for a bump, as Ruby gritted her teeth and tried not to start cursing. "I'm good," Marrow smiled nervously.

"What're…ow…what're you doing here?" Ruby stammered.

"Got bored," Marrow replied. "I don't really support Robyn—though I like her a hell of a lot more than than old bastard Schnee—but this looked like fun."

"Blake shot you down again, huh?"

Marrow soured. "Yeah. I don't get it. I'm a Faunus, she's a Faunus, I'm good looking, she's gorgeous…" He sighed. "Oh well. Besides, I figure if the cops need some help, I can pitch in, just in case—"

"Just in case what?" All three turned to see May Marigold. She was glaring at them. Ruby noticed that she was armed, a Heckler and Koch MP5 slung over one shoulder. She'd heard that the Happy Huntresses had elected themselves Robyn's unofficial bodyguard. "What are you going to do—bite them?"

"I might," Marrow shot back. "I'll have you know that I placed fifth in the All-Canada Military Martial Arts competition last year, and I have a marksmanship ribbon. So I can handle a little trouble." He struck a pose, though it was less impressive with a kielbasa in one hand.

May's glare became one of pity. "Oh, be still my heart. Well, we're here to protect Robyn, so get lost."

"It's a free country," Marrow growled. "I can do whatever I want. Isn't that what your boss is running on?"

May was about to say something short and to the point, but she was interrupted by no less than Robyn Hill herself. She was hidden in the backstage shadows, so no one else outside their little group saw her—yet. "What's going on here, Wags?" It took Marrow a minute to realize she was referring to him. She nodded at Ruby and Penny. "I see Pipsqueak and Penny Pincher are here, too." Ruby began to turn red with anger at her new nickname; Penny just looked confused again. Ruby took an ill-advised step forward, only for May to block the way—and Joanna Greenleaf to materialize from the shadows as well.

"Just came for the party," Marrow told her. "And help with security, if necessary. Just trying to help."

Robyn was silent for a minute, then shrugged. "Fine, but stay out of the way of the professionals, okay? You're a fighter pilot, not a soldier—karate or marksmanship ribbon or not." May was staring at her strangely, and Robyn smiled. "If I get elected tonight, we're going to have to learn how to get along."

"When!" May insisted.

"If." Robyn nodded towards the stage display: the vote counter now read 52% to 48%, still in Robyn's favor, with 80% reporting—but the remaining districts were favored mostly for Jacques Schnee. Any other commentary was promptly cut off by Fiona Thyme, who had been fiddling with a microphone, trying to turn it on, without realizing that it was already on. The speakers on either side of the stage squealed with feedback, causing several screams and curses in several languages. "Oops," the sheep Faunus said—sheepishly. "Well, that worked." That brought laughter; Fiona was simply too cute to stay mad at. The vote counter changed again—and Robyn increased her lead for the first time in hours, to 53%. A cheer went up, followed by the crowd chanting Robyn's name.

Joanna tossed her head at the three of them. "Scram, kids; we've got a job to do." Marrow growled and took a bite of the kielbasa, as if it was Joanna's head, and as soon as her back and Robyn's was turned, Ruby gave them the finger. Penny looked aghast at the gesture, but Ruby led them back to where Ren and Nora were.

And they were still arguing. "I should've just gone to the damn movie," Ruby said morosely.

"Oh, Pearl Harbor?" Marrow asked. "I thought that was pretty good, actually."

"What?" Ruby snapped, which even stopped Ren and Nora for a moment. "Bullshit! There's no way in hell a P-40 can climb with a Zero! And that going between buildings? What the hell, Michael Bay? You get confused and think you were making a Star Wars movie, you dumbass—"

Penny covered Ruby's mouth with her hand to cut off the rant, because Fiona was talking. The crowd quieted, but not just for that: Robyn's lead dropped back to 52%. Fiona was speaking in Polish, so Ruby looked at Marrow; he shrugged. "She's thanking everyone for going to the polls," Penny explained. "She's saying that everyone's thrilled that Robyn will be Poland's voice in Brussels, and that no one has fought harder for Poland." Ruby's eyebrows went up, and Penny removed her hand. "I speak fluent Polish, German, English, Scots Gaelic, French, Italian and Esperanto." She turned back to face Fiona, and continued to translate. "Now she's asking Robyn to say a few words."

That much was obvious, as Robyn took the stage, punching a fist into the air. The crowd went wild, cheering, waving their flags even harder, and chanting her name again. Penny translated: "I've never been much for public speaking," Robyn was saying, "so I probably should've stuck to flying. But you asked me to be your representative, and I will try. You believe in me, and I believe in you!" More cheers. "You've proven to me as individuals, we're strong—but together, we're unstoppable!" The crowd erupted, but Robyn waved them down—as the vote tally went to 51% to 49%, with 90% reporting. A tie would force a runoff election. She acknowledged the change in the vote. "No matter what happens tonight, win or lose, we will continue to fight, because it is this country that brings us together!" With one last wave, Robyn left the stage, to yet more chanting.

"This one's gonna be close," Ruby said.

Nora reached out to put her arm through Ren's, but he seemed not to notice. She got close to him. "Ren, what's going on? Why won't you just talk to me?"

Ren let out his breath. "Nora…I've never really…you know I've never been good at talking."

She nodded. "Then screw talking!" She grabbed him by both cheeks and pulled him down, crushing her lips against his. Ren was taken by surprise, but he relaxed into the kiss. They stayed that way as the crowd began yelling again: the district count leapt to 95% reporting, with Robyn still clinging to her lead.

"Aww." Penny clasped her hands together as she noticed Ren and Nora's kiss. Her expression of appreciation suddenly went to a blush, as Nora's hands crept down and squeezed Ren's butt. "Oh…er…"

Ruby saw it as well. "Gag," she groaned. Then she noticed movement on one of the surrounding buildings' roof. She squinted—it was hard to see, even with her eyesight, because of the bright lights surrounding the square, but there was something there. Reflection from the lights glinted for a second, and with horror, Ruby knew she was looking at the scope of a sniper rifle. She almost yelled, but it was doubtful that anyone would hear her over the crowd, and she stopped herself: the police might have a sniper on the roof. But if it was a cop, he'd probably have a cover on his scope—

Then the lights went out.

The crowd's yells increased in volume for a moment, both in surprise and anticipation, thinking that the totals were about to be announced, but then the shot echoed around the square. Someone screamed and Ruby saw a random person in the crowd go down in a spray of blood from their neck. A wave of hesitation went through the assembly, as people processed that what they had heard was gunfire rather than a balloon popping or a firecracker. Then another shot rang out, one of the police went down, his hands going to his face reflexively, and the crowd screamed as one in utter panic. They stampeded away from the shots—or where they thought the shots were coming from, which was hard to discern in the square. The result was utter pandemonium, as people ran in all directions, trying to find an exit, and quickly overwhelming the police.

Penny reacted first. She shoved Ruby down beneath the cover of the fountain; Ren and Nora dropped down next to them. Marrow showed the most courage, if not a lot of sense: he swam against the panicked crowd, trying to get to the stage. Near him, someone else went down, most of their head gone.

"Where's it coming from?" Nora screamed.

Ruby leveled an arm in the direction of where she had seen the glint. "There's a sniper! By the shot spacing, he's using a bolt action rifle!"

"We have to get to Robyn!" Ren yelled. Ruby had been surprised a lot this night, but Ren producing his Beretta from the pocket of his jacket was definitely one more of them.

Another shot and another scream. "Go!" Ruby shouted, counting to herself. If they were up against an experienced sniper, they had three to four seconds at best.

The Huntresses had reacted as well: they had gathered close around Robyn, shielding their commander with their own bodies. All three had their MP5s out, but could not see what to shoot at, especially when the lights suddenly snapped back on, blinding them. Marrow had reached the stage, only to be knocked down when one of the crowd barreled into him.

"There!" Fiona pointed; she had seen the brief flash of light on the scope, and another flash as the sniper fired. She had less than a second to realize that the rifle was aimed directly at her. The impact took her in the left side of her chest and spun her around; she fell, taking down May with her. Both their MP5s went flying off the stage, to land in front of Marrow.

Suddenly Robyn was exposed.

"Robyn!" Penny screamed, and threw herself at the other woman. Her muscles—enhanced to better handle G-forces—gave her a much faster and longer jump. It was just enough: Penny slammed into Robyn and knocked her to the stage as a bullet went past her, so close Robyn could feel it touch strands of her hair. It hit the stage and ricocheted upwards, nearly hitting Joanna before spending itself.

Marrow grabbed one of the MP5s as Ruby slid forward in a baseball slide and grabbed the other. She saw the scope glint again and didn't hesitate: she raised the submachinegun up and opened fire. Marrow joined in a second later. Their shots echoed around the square, making the guns sound far more powerful than they were. She didn't know if the MP5s had the range to reach the sniper, but they would certainly give him something to think about. Her gamble paid off: Ruby saw the figure behind the rifle suddenly leap up and jump away. She couldn't tell if the figure still had the weapon, and there was something strange about the person's shape. Is that...a tail?

It would have to wait. "Cease fire!" she ordered Marrow, who nodded and stopped. They climbed up onto the stage, quickly joined by Ren and Nora; the latter had found a policeman's club and was carrying it—it would do no good, but it made Nora feel better. "I'll cover you. Check on them." Ruby kept her eyes on the sniper's perch. Marrow slung the submachinegun and crossed over to Robyn, Penny and the Huntresses.

Fiona was lying on the stage, eyes closed, but Marrow could see she was still breathing; blood slowly began to stain her shirt. May shook her head, trying to clear it; she had landed hard when Fiona had accidentally tackled her. Robyn was gasping for breath and Penny, who got off of her, looked at her in alarm. "I'm…okay…" the Huntress leader struggled out. "Got…wind…knocked out…"

Fiona suddenly opened her eyes, gasped, and tried to sit up; her gasp turned into an exclamation of pain. "Stay down!" Marrow told her. "You're hit."

"Yeah, I know…" Fiona lay back down, her hands going to her left side. Joanna dropped down next to her and tore open Fiona's shirt. Beneath was a flak jacket; Marrow saw that the bullet had gone through it, between the Kevlar, but it had still managed to slow it down. He helped Joanna get the jacket off: the shot had lodged in Fiona's side. The bleeding was serious, but not fatal. "Think I might have a busted rib," she groaned.

"Okay, I'll keep pressure on it—" Marrow began.

Joanna shoved him. "Get away from her! For all I know, this was one of your people!"

"That's crazy!" Marrow yelled. "Why the hell would we do this?"

"Just get away, asshole!"

Police and ambulance sirens were approaching. Ruby, satisfied that the sniper was gone, got to her feet, looked around, and wished she hadn't. Four people had been shot, three civilians and one policeman, but she counted at least five more corpses—people trampled in the panic—and others were moaning, trying to get up. None of those shot were moving: every hit had been a kill shot. The police at the square were moving out of cover, just as shocked at the sudden attack.

Robyn finally got her breath. She waved off Penny's attempt to help. "Thanks, kid," she said. "Now you need to get out of here—all of you." She looked at Ruby. "When the cops figure out what just happened, they're not going to be too picky about who they arrest. My bunch is safe, but you're not—especially you, Penny. You're wearing that flight suit."

"But we had nothing to do with it!" Marrow protested.

"You think they're going to care, Wags? All they know is that one of their own just got zapped by a sniper, and they're going to see Penny in a military outfit! They'll figure it out eventually, but not after throwing the lot of you in jail!" She pointed towards the alleyways behind the stage. "Now get going, and—well, shit."

Ruby followed her gaze. The television screen was still working. It showed the vote tally: 51% to 49%, for Jacques Schnee.

AUTHOR'S OTHER NOTES: You didn't think I'd forgotten about the Moisin-Nagant, did you? Keep those reviews coming-I like to know what (and if) I'm doing a good job.