AUTHOR'S NOTES: We deal with the fallout from Ironwood's orders this time around...and there's a lot that has to be unpacked. It's kind of a slow burn to what would be the climax of RWBY Season 7, though this story will go through Season 8.

Incidentally, the incident that happens during Ruby's speech is based on a real occurrence. After General George S. Patton slapped the two soldiers in Sicily, and was ordered to apologize to Seventh Army for doing so, Patton was addressing one division when what happens to Ruby happened to him. His reaction wasn't all that different from Ruby's...

Poznan-Krezsiny Airbase

Poznan, Republic of Poland

29 August 2001

Ren, Nora and Oscar sat in the ready room, with stunned expressions on their faces. "We're…leaving?" Nora finally said. "Just like that?"

Ruby sat on the dais. "Yep," she said tiredly.

Ren got to his feet. "I don't believe this." To Ruby's surprise, he turned to stare at her. "How could you do this?"

"Ren!" Nora protested. "It's not Ruby's fault!"

"Yes, it is," Ruby said before Ren could reply. "Thing is, technically…Ironwood's right. We disobeyed orders with JINN. Three times. I mean, yeah, we had reasons, but that's how Salem was able to track us, probably. And then Blake and Yang told Robyn about the Commando Solo. Again, it wasn't that big of a secret—I bet Robyn already knew, and she ended up helping Ironwood with the damn thing anyway—but we disobeyed orders."

"I disobeyed orders," Oscar put in. His head was hanging between his shoulders, miserable. "This is my fault. I was the one who switched on JINN." He glanced at the laptop on the seat next to him, and ran a hand over its smooth surface.

"But you told us it switched itself on!" Nora insisted.

"I didn't switch it back off, did I?" Oscar shook his head. "Ruby, you shouldn't take the fall for my screwup."

"Doesn't matter," Ruby sighed. "I'm in command. It's my fault, no matter what." She brushed her fingers over the captain's bars sewn into her fatigues. "Dad always said that. So did Ozpin. When you're in command, you're the head honcho. You're responsible."

Ren was still on his feet. "Why didn't you tell him when we got here, Ruby? Or tell Ironwood about Yang and Blake?"

Nora jumped to her feet and gripped her lover's shoulder. "Ren, stop!"

"No!" Ren moved away from her. "Nora, we have a job to do here, and it's going to get worse if Ironwood's pulling out of Poland! You've been insistent—rightfully so—about defending the refugees. We know what it's like to be one of them. And thanks to Ruby, we can't do our damn jobs! We're being withdrawn!" Ren kicked one of the chairs in an uncharacteristic show of anger. Nora's eyes widened. He caught himself, and leaned on one of the chairs, mumbling something in Chinese.

Ruby got up. "If it makes you feel better to take it out on me, Ren…have at it. By the way, you're in command of Norn Flight now."

Ren looked at her. "What?"

"Pyrrha turned in her wings. She's back in her room, but I don't know what her intentions are."

Ren took a deep breath. "All right."

"We should go talk to her," Nora told him. "You know what Pyrrha's like when she gets depressed…or pissed off." Ren nodded, pushed off the seat, and left the ready room. Nora apologized to Ruby with her eyes, and followed him.

It left Ruby and Oscar alone. "So what now?" he asked.

"Ironwood's aide told us they'll be sending over Penny to get JINN. We know it'll be safe with her, anyway." Ruby ran her fingers over the stitching on one of the chairs. "I guess I'd better tell the troops. They're not coming with us. They're staying here to help the Poles with their F-16s…I guess they'll be pulled out when Ironwood evacuates. Then we gas up, fly to Lakenheath, and wait for our orders." She shrugged. "I dunno, Oscar. Maybe Ironwood's hedging his bets. By sending us to Lakenheath, we're still close enough to help if things really get bad. He can still recall us." She leaned against the chair Ren had kicked. "I haven't even told you the worst part yet." Mainly because I don't know if I can, Ruby added to herself.

"God, it gets worse?" Oscar exclaimed.

"Yeah. Salem called." Ruby chuckled ruefully. "She literally called Ironwood. She wanted to negotiate for JINN or something. I think she just wanted to mess with his head. But I gave her some lip." She smiled. "It was a good speech, Oscar. Ozpin would've been proud. I told her we were going to stop her. Even called her Natasha. Oh, that really pissed her off." Her smile faded. "Then she told me Mom had told her the same thing, right before Salem killed her." Suddenly, Ruby's eyebrows beetled together. "No, wait…Salem never actually said she killed Mom. Huh. Didn't really think about that."

Oscar went over to her and put an arm around Ruby. "Then maybe she's still alive somewhere."

"A POW? With Salem for like 18 years?" Ruby shuddered. "It might be better if Mom is dead." She felt the tears, and fought them back. Summer would not want Ruby to cry. Not right now. Crying would be for a later time. Right now, she had to do what Summer would do: plan, fly, fight, and win.

Oscar reached out, gently took Ruby's chin and turned her face towards him, then kissed her. Her arms came up and embraced him, and they stayed that way for a few seconds. They parted, and Ruby was smiling again. "Mmm. Thanks. I think I needed that, Oscar."

"We both did. We'll repeat as necessary."

Ruby did. "Maybe I can use you as inspiration."

"How so?"

She hugged him, then withdrew. "Because I've got to give a speech, Oscar, and I'm not good at that." She nodded, her eyes dry. "But I have to."

Oscar stood and came to attention. "Your orders, Captain Rose?"

"Assemble the squadron. Everyone. No excuses for absence." The words made her feel stronger than she felt.

"Yes, ma'am." Oscar grinned at her, grabbed JINN, and walked out the door, Ruby following. She nearly collided with a short woman dressed in German military fatigues. Ruby saw the nametape. "Hauptmann Wolff?" Uh oh, Ruby thought; Wolff was a military policewoman, and they had not gotten off to a good start when Ruby Flight had arrived in Germany. She was not smiling, and was still wearing her sunglasses, even though it was still dark outside and they were inside. What a weirdo, Ruby mused.

"Pardon me, Captain," Wolff said politely, her accent thick.

"Uh, sure. Sorry." Ruby hesitated. "Um…you're not here to arrest me, are you?" Oscar had stopped, though he stepped back to the wall to let others move past; the base was starting to wake up for the day, and the corridor was starting to fill with the Polish F-16 pilots, heading for their own ready room.

"Why, no," Wolff replied. "I am merely here to observe the transfer of that." She nodded towards JINN.

"Oh, okay. Well, um, I have to talk to the squadron, but after that, okay?"

"Certainly, Captain Rose. That will be more than adequate." Wolff came to attention with a smack of boot leather. Ruby hesitated again, gave a sort of nod and curtsey, and left with Oscar. Behind her, Neo Politan surreptitiously replaced the thin blade up her sleeve, and smiled.

SACEUR Tactical Headquarters

Near Poznan, Republic of Poland

29 August 2001

Ironwood was jerked abruptly out of sleep by a commotion at his tent's entrance. He nearly fell out of his chair, and realized he had fallen asleep. Quickly, he wiped his face and straightened his uniform as one of his guards stumbled backwards into the tent, holding a bloody nose. Ironwood stood as Qrow Branwen strode into his tent. "What the fuck, Jimmy?"

Ironwood had anticipated this. "Good evening, Colonel Branwen." He saw the clock. "I mean, good morning—"

"Go fuck yourself," Qrow snarled. Two more guards entered the tent, followed by Winter Schnee. She grabbed his shoulders, but he flung her off. "Goddammit, leave me alone!"

"Colonel Branwen," one of the guards began, "you're under arrest—"

Ironwood cleared his throat. "Leave us. Colonel Schnee, you stay." The guards hesitated, then left slowly as the general came out from behind the desk. "Qrow, you have the floor."

"That's good, Jimmy, because I'm going to put you on it. And I don't care if you send me to Leavenworth. That's what you're good at! Sending off your best pilots."

Ironwood was calm; he always was after he had made a decision, and the brief nap had helped. "Qrow, do you know what your nieces did?"

Qrow nodded. "I sure as hell do. I was there, Jimmy. Oscar accidentally switched on JINN. Can you blame the kid for wanting to know his own past? That he was Oz's consolation prize after Salem dumped him?" That wasn't really fair to Ozpin, Ironwood reflected, but Qrow was angry. "Answer me, General, sir." The last was spit at him.

Ironwood did so. "What Oscar did was not the point, Qrow. I don't blame him for that; Ozpin intended him to use JINN for that purpose. And I don't blame Ruby for using JINN in Algeria. For that matter, I don't really blame Yang or Blake for talking to Robyn. She would've figured out what the Commando Solo was here for eventually—hell, I ended up having her use it along with me."

The confession took Qrow aback; he hadn't been expecting that. "Then what the fuck is the problem, Jimmy?"

"They lied about it, Qrow." Ironwood put his hands behind his back. "They lied. Ruby stood there at Spandau and lied to my face about JINN—it was Oscar who finally told me, almost two weeks later. Blake and Yang lied to me, right here in this tent." He shook his head. "Qrow, I didn't like doing what I did. We're going to need the 77th, badly. Salem's going to hit us with everything she's got in less than 24 hours—assuming the EU doesn't jerk the rug out from under us by signing some peace agreement with her."

"That will never happen," Winter snapped.

"Never underestimate the stupidity of politicians," Ironwood countered. "Especially those who do not know the enemy." He turned back to Qrow. "Qrow, you know about how I value loyalty and trust. Any general worth his salt does. Ruby, Blake and Yang betrayed that trust. In their minds, they probably thought it was the right thing to do because they don't know who they can trust anymore—they trusted Oz, and he lied to them about Salem, or never told the truth. They trusted Lionheart, and he tried to have them killed. And God knows having her ex-boyfriend hunting her has given Belladonna some trust issues."

"Ever think that maybe they were right, Jimmy? Not to trust you?" Qrow stepped forward, and Winter put a hand on her pistol—not to shoot Qrow, but to brain him if it became necessary. "You haven't exactly been forthright yourself."

"No," Ironwood admitted. "I haven't. But that is a general's perogative, Qrow. As you well know, the military is not run at the behest of lieutenants and captains. It is built on discipline, and yes, trust. Without that we don't have a military. We have anarchy. We're no better than one of those banana republics in South America. That has to be the way it works, Qrow. I have solid legal grounds to have Ruby, Yang and Blake arrested for lying to a superior officer, leaking classified information, disobeying a direct order from their superiors, conspiracy, and conduct to the prejudice of good order and discipline. But I'm not going to do that. Not now."

"Then why not wait until after we've beaten Salem, at least?" Qrow wanted to know. "Shit, you can clap us all in irons after that, if we're still breathing." He held his hands out for handcuffs. "And you got me on all those charges too, Jimmy. I knew about JINN."

"True. Which is why it pains me to do this." Ironwood took a breath. "Lieutenant Colonel Branwen, you are ordered out of the Poland Operations Area. You will return to Poznan-Krezsiny forthwith—"

"Don't you pull this shit with me, Jimmy—"

Ironwood went on. "—take command of the 77th Tactical Fighter Squadron, and lead them to Lakenheath. You will receive new orders then, probably ordering you back to the United States, pending a board of inquiry. Unless you resign your commission, in which case, Captain Rose will take command of the 77th." He paused. "Major Pyrrha Nikos resigned."

"Jesus." Qrow stepped back, but his hands were balled into fists. "You really fucked us good, Jimmy."

"I'm not finished. I have new orders—unless, of course, you resign." Ironwood waited, but Qrow stood fast. "Very well. You will escort a C-130 carrying Tyrian Callows on your way to Lakenheath. He will be turned over to the CIA when you reach there. Since Rissa Arashikaze is on her way, she may have additional instructions. Or she may place you under arrest herself. That's out of my jurisdiction at that point. Do you understand these orders, Colonel?"

Qrow looked more like he was going to punch Ironwood in the face, but he snapped to attention and saluted, despite being inside, with parade ground precision. "Yes, sir!" The last was said with utter contempt.

"Good. Dismissed. Winter, I need you to stay."

Qrow saluted again, spun on one heel, and stalked out of the tent. He paused at the threshold. "You're going to regret this, Jimmy."

Ironwood nodded. "I already am, Qrow. But I didn't fuck you. Your nieces did." Qrow's lip curled and he left.

Winter hesitated, visibly torn on whether to follow Qrow or obey orders and stay with Ironwood. She finally chose the latter, her face becoming a mask. "Your orders, General?"

Ironwood went back and sat down, leaning forward, massaging his temples. "Go with him, Winter. Make sure he doesn't get himself arrested by punching someone else. Go to Krezsiny and meet with Penny—she's to take possession of JINN. Bring it back here; don't let anyone but you or Penny touch the damn thing. And for God's sake, don't activate it." Winter came to attention, but Ironwood held up a hand. "And talk to Clover. I want Ace Flight to escort the 77th to the North Sea. If I know Qrow, or for that matter Ruby Rose, they're already thinking about some way to circumvent their orders—they might 'accidentally' stop at Bornholm or something. I want to make sure that they do what they're told, for once. And make damn sure that Ace Flight knows that they had better not attack the 77th, unless it's in self defense. That's the last damn thing we need."

Winter gave a short, sharp nod. "Yes, sir. It will be done as you say."

"Thank you, Winter." He hesitated now. "I know this is hard. I know about you and Qrow."

"I do my duty, sir." Winter turned and left as well.

Poznan-Krezsiny Airbase

Poznan, Republic of Poland

29 August 2001

The sun was coming up, turning the skies a gorgeous pink and orange as the sky transitioned from black to blue, in a soft purple. There was no raised dais or podium for Ruby; instead, she had everyone assemble in front of Crescent Rose. Oscar's kissing was a morale booster, she admitted, but having the F-16 behind her was reassuring as well.

They were all there. Weiss, looking calm, stood at parade rest. Blake looked forlorn, her ears drooping, blaming herself for what had happened. Yang looked angry, her fists jammed on her hips. Pyrrha was there, her face as emotionless as a robot. Ren and Nora: Ren with an expression Ruby couldn't read, Nora with a sad smile for Ruby, trying to hold back her emotions. Oscar gave her a smile as well, a happier one, and threw her a thumbs-up. Behind them were all the maintenance men and women, crew chiefs, mechanics, assistant techs, even a few security policemen and women. Ruby's own crew chief, Arnold Vogelmord, stood at the head of his enlisted people. To one side, part of the crowd and yet not part of it, was Penny Polendina, who looked bewildered. She tried a hesitant smile and wave at Ruby, who gave her a nod back.

Ruby took a deep breath, and began. "Men and wom—" She stopped herself; it sounded too formal. "Everyone," she finished. "I've got all kinds of bad news. There's no easy way to say this, so I'm…I'm just going to say it. We've been ordered out of Poland. Not you enlisted folks. Just us, the pilots."

Immediately there was a lot of talking and murmuring. Vogelmord raised his voice. "What the hell for, Captain?"

Ruby was not going to sugarcoat it. "It's my fault." She saw Yang open her mouth, and silenced her sister with a look. "I…I did some things. We did, some of us, but I'm in command and I didn't stop it, so it's my fault. We disobeyed orders on our way here, in Kazakhstan and in Algeria. And again, with Robyn Hill a few days ago. It doesn't matter what we did, but we…I…screwed up. We're not being court-martialed—at least not yet—but we're in trouble. Ironwood ordered us out. We're flying back to Lakenheath, this afternoon. After that, I don't know yet—we'll probably end up back in the States."

"What happens to us, ma'am?" This from Airman Vulkan.

"You folks are staying here. You'll help the Poles with the F-16s, at least for awhile, and then they'll probably fly you out to wherever." She didn't want to say anything about Ironwood's plan to retreat; some of the Polish pilots and ground crew, readying the morning combat air patrol, had drifted over to listen. Ruby stared at her boots for a moment, then gave a sort of shrug before facing them again. "Look, troops, this is on me. You've got no one to blame—"

"No!" She didn't know who yelled it, but then someone else took up the exclamation. "No! No! No!"

Ruby tried to break into the yells. "It's my fault—"

"No! No, Captain, no no!" It was becoming a chant. "No, Captain, no, no!" Ruby waved her hands, trying to get them to quiet down, but the chant just got louder. "No, Captain, no, no!" Now there were fists being raised.

Oh, shit, Ruby thought, even as her eyes began to get misty. This is mutiny. If Ironwood finds out, he'll have them all arrested! "Please—" she pleaded, but the chant only got louder still. Nora took it up, then Oscar. Yang grinned at Ruby, and started yelling as well. Then Blake, her ears standing up. Then Weiss, and finally even Ren. Only Pyrrha was silent, still as stoic as her Greek ancestors. Ruby tried to speak, but couldn't get past the lump in her throat. She felt the tears roll down her cheeks.

Finally, Vogelmord tried to get the chant to stop, and Pyrrha finally spoke. "Silence about the tarmac!" she snapped, her voice whipsawing around the area. The chant stopped. She looked to Ruby, who wiped her cheeks. Vogelmord stepped forward. "Ma'am," he said, "I speak for everyone here, I think. We'll follow you to the gates of hell." A cheer erupted.

"That's…that's mutiny," Ruby choked out.

Vogelmord spread his hands. "Hey, Captain, someone's got to maintain your aircraft, right? What if the General changes his mind when we get to Lakenheath?"

"I imagine we could convince the general," Weiss said. "The sergeant has a point, after all."

"Okay, okay." Ruby put up her hands again. "I'll talk to him. But really, guys, it's not…" She looked at their faces. There was no convincing them. "Well, shit." They cheered again. "Fine, you mutineers," Ruby laughed. It felt good. "Fall out and pack your stuff. I'll see if I can scare up a C-130 or something. Fuel the birds, and load them up. Full combat load, just in case Salem wants to play." Another cheer, and they began to disperse, slapping backs and laughing; Jung Freud broke another regulation by leaning forward and hugging a very surprised Weiss. Vogelmord stuck out a hand, and Ruby shook it. "Hell, Captain, maybe we should just go mercenary."

"That's insurbordinate as hell," Ruby giggled. He came to attention and saluted, and Ruby returned it with equal solemnity.

"What just happened?" Blake said, still a little stunned, after Vogelmord left.

"My sis just became a commander," Yang answered. She was a little misty-eyed, and slapped Ruby's shoulder. "Damn, Rubes. Patton would be proud of that one."

"I didn't even do anything!"

"You told the truth," Pyrrha said, stepping forward. "There seems to be a lack of that these days."

"Pyrrha." Ruby looked at her friend. "What's your intentions? I mean, in theory, you resigned, so…I mean…I guess you can't even fly your Raptor."

"I don't think Ironwood would mind if I flew it as far as Lakenheath. Anyway, he's welcome to stop me. As for my intentions…" Pyrrha smiled. It was a brittle one, but it was a smile. "Where you go, Ruby Rose, I will follow."

Ruby hugged her. "Thanks, Pyr. That means a lot to me. You'll always have a place in whatever flight I have...in whatever air force we end up in, anyway."

Pyrrha stepped back as Penny made her way to Ruby. She grabbed her friend's hands and shook them with enough force to make Ruby's teeth rattle; Penny forgot about her enhanced strength sometimes. "What a speech!" Penny gushed. "I want to go with you too!"

Ruby shook her head quickly. "No way, Penny. I'm sorry, but Ironwood's going to be pissed enough as it is. You're going to be needed here, remember?"

Penny looked at her feet, scooting them along the tarmac, suddenly the little girl that she often appeared to be. "I know," she murmured. Then she looked back up at Ruby. "It'll be okay, Ruby. It will. We'll work it all out."

"You bet." Ruby almost believed it herself.

Penny sighed. "Well…the general ordered me to bring JINN back to him, so I guess I'd better."

"Yeah." Ruby nodded to Oscar. "To be honest, I'm almost glad we're getting rid of ol' JINNY."

"If I knew we were going to get in that much trouble," Yang said, "I would've asked her a whole bunch more questions. Like Area 51 shit, that sort of thing." That brought another laugh, just as needed. Oscar motioned to Penny, who hugged Ruby—more carefully, this time—smiled winningly at the others, and let the ensign lead the way.

Yang snapped to attention. "Your orders, Cap'n Ruby? Arrr!" She grabbed Blake. "We be pirates now, arrr!"

Blake's ears flattened back, but she raised her hands like claws and bared her teeth. "Arrr!" she echoed. Ruby snorted in laughter. They looked at Weiss, who slowly shook her head. "C'mon, Weissy!" Yang told her. "You've got the scar and everything!"

Weiss let out a long and elaborate sigh. "Arr," she finally said.

Oscar had put JINN in his room before heading out to Ruby's speech. He unlocked the door and let Penny in. "Wasn't there supposed to be that Hauptmann Wolff girl here too?"

"Who? Oh, the policewoman from Tegel." Penny shrugged. "I don't know. The general told me to get it from you and wait for Colonel Schnee to pick me up."

Oscar picked up JINN, shaking his head; there was always the ten percent who didn't get the word, he remembered one of his instructors saying. He handed the laptop to Penny. "Here you go. Don't switch her on. It on," he corrected himself; Oscar had a tendency to anthropomorphize the hologram.

"Of course. I would not do that." Penny looked downcast. "I'm sorry this is happening, Oscar."

"Me too, Penny. But it'll all work out."

She grinned, which seemed to light up the room. "Of course! My dad always says it's always darkest before the dawn!" She turned and stopped. In the doorway was Hauptmann Wolff. "Oh, there you are, Hauptmann. I've got the, um, device, so we can leave whenever—"

Wolff suddenly drew her sidearm and shot Penny in the head. The clone's head rocked backwards and blood sprayed across Oscar's face. He was taken utterly by surprise, and froze, even as Penny dropped to the floor, JINN falling from a nerveless hand. He turned back to Wolff, who adjusted her aim and fired again. This time, the bullet hit Oscar in the stomach. He doubled over, more in shock than in pain, then slipped and fell, ending up sitting. He looked down and saw red spreading from the hole, across his abdomen, running down inside his flight suit to pool in his groin. "Wh…what…I don't…" He began to shake uncontrollably, his hands going to the bullet wound to try and staunch the blood, cold spreading from it.

Wolff holstered the pistol, checked the corridor quickly—the pistol's report would have carried—stepped swiftly into the room, reached down, and grabbed JINN, one boot in the pool of blood around Penny's head. Then she stepped back to look down at Oscar.

Wolff reached up and pulled down her sunglasses. To Oscar's surprise, the eyes that met his didn't match: one was pink, one was brown. The policewoman smiled. "Tell Ruby that Neo sends her regards. A lover for a lover." She pushed Oscar to the floor with her foot, leaving a bloody footprint on his chest. Then she turned, threw Oscar one last triumphant grin, and ran off.