AUTHOR'S NOTES: A somewhat short one tonight, and again, something of a filler episode. I was going to write the actual execution of Weiss' plan, but unfortunately ran out of time. I unfortunately got some bad news today-nothing life threatening, but something that may impact my writing for the next month or so. I'll try to stay on schedule, but might just have to write shorter chapters. (That may not be a bad thing, as I'm rapidly running out of canon RWBY material!)

Originally, I wrote part of a scene between Arashikaze and Jacques Schnee, as we haven't heard from him in awhile, and this universe's Robyn Hill isn't in prison to give Jacques hell. I tossed the scene and made it part of Qrow and Arashikaze's conversation; it really wasn't contributing to the story, so I guess Jacques will have to remain offscreen for a little longer.

Spandau Castle

Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany

1 September 2001

POZNAN (AP)—General James Ironwood, who briefed reporters personally this morning from his command post near Poznan, announced this morning that all evacuations of Polish citizens into eastern Germany and across the Warta River have temporarily been suspended. His announcement brought cries of outrage from Polish officials and humanitarian organizations. "This is only a temporary measure only," Ironwood assured reporters and officials. "We must keep the roads open to move supplies forward to our fighting men and women on the front lines, and for our forces to form a coherent defensive line against the GRIMM. As soon as the front has stabilized, we will resume the evacuations as necessary."

As expected, the biggest opposition to Ironwood's announcement came from Robyn Hill, the mercenary commander of the Happy Huntresses. Hill, who has become an unofficial spokeswoman for the Polish people, stated that Ironwood is forgetting his responsibility to the people of Poland. In an announcement from her headquarters at Swidwin, Hill stated, "Citizens of Poland, General Ironwood has abandoned you, but we have not. We can hold the line if we all come together. It's time to show your teeth." "Show your teeth" has become something of a rallying cry for Hill and her supporters, and increasingly for Poland itself. Hill then stated that Polish citizens should obey Ironwood's request to keep the roads open and not enter Germany, but should get south and west of the Warta River "by any means necessary," even if it means disobeying the orders of military police.

NATO forces continue to be under heavy attack, reported Lieutenant Lisa Lavender, the public relations officer for Supreme Allied Commander Europe. According to official reports, GRIMM forces continue to move forward, though slowly. This morning, SACEUR confirmed the loss of the Polish cities of Slupsk and Chojnice, but claim that the situation has stabilized, thanks to the arrival of the German 10th Panzer Division. The German government this morning denied reports that General Steiner, the outspoken commander of the 10th Panzer, moved into Poland without orders. The commander of the US 1st Armored Division, General Miguel Calavera, did not respond to requests for an interview, but anonymous sources place him as still being east of the Warta River. "We're going to try and stay where we are as long as we can to give the refugees a chance to get across," said one soldier who asked not to be identified.

The European Union Council tabled a proposal for an immediate ceasefire and a peace envoy to the mysterious Salem, who revealed herself last month as the woman who controls the GRIMM. "We have heard nothing from this Salem over the past few days. Therefore, we cannot assume that her intentions are anything more than conquest," said Councilman Joachim Sleet. At the moment, after the arrest of businessman Jacques Schnee on charges of election tampering and corruption, the Council does not have a quorum. The German Bundestag continues to debate sending additional troops to Poland, with several parties expressing the desire to open a dialogue with Salem "for extended peace."

Spokespersons for Schnee GmbH have refused to return calls from AP regarding the status of the company. Currently, Willow Schnee is reported to be involved in running day-to-day operations.

"She'd probably do a better job drunk than he did sober," Qrow remarked, and tossed the paper onto the bed. He lay back onto it, hands behind his head. As prisons went, he thought, this one wasn't too bad—he'd been in enough of them. He had an upholstered bed, a screened toilet, the food was decent, and it was actually nice and cool inside. He'd stayed in worse hotels.

"Prisoner Number Six!" the guard shouted through the barred window on the door. "On your—"

"That won't be necessary." The bolts were drawn back, and Qrow was surprised to see Rissa Arashikaze standing there, in the familiar black business suit. She walked in, and the door closed behind her. "Hello, Qrow."

Qrow gave her that lopsided smile that never failed to work on the ladies. He did get a slight smile in return, so that was something, at least. "Well. Didn't expect for you to show up, Rissa. You my lawyer?"

"That probably would be a bad idea…my degree is in history." She sat on his bed, scooting him over. "Winter Schnee sends her condolences, by the way—I spoke with her this morning."

"Yeah? You talk with Jimmy Ironwood?"

"I did, as a matter of fact." She shook her head. "I'm not here to spring you. Not until you go and convince your nieces to fly away home."

Qrow snorted. "You go along with that?"

Arashikaze sighed. "Qrow, Ironwood did give you a lawful order. You did choose to disobey it. Similarly, your nieces and their friends also disobeyed lawful orders. The only reason Ironwood hasn't arrested them is that he doesn't feel like fighting his way through the Happy Huntresses—at least, not yet." She tapped the newspaper. "I see you read Robyn's statement."

"Yeah. Good for her."

"Perhaps, but not good for us. Those bridges are already choked with refugees. Salem's starting to run into heavy opposition in the north, which means she'll try in the south next. Miguel Calavera's a good man, but if he has to choose between his division or the refugees, he'll choose his division. Robyn just made a bad situation worse."

"So what are you even doing here?" Qrow snapped. "It's nice to see you, but if you're not here to help me, what's the damn point?"

"I thought you might like to see a friendly face, for one," Arashikaze shot back. "And to tell you that I am working to get this whole matter dropped. Ironwood is legally right, but there is a time when you have to suspend legality in favor of military sense. He needs all the trained fighter pilots he can get." Arashikaze looked around the cell. "And you should be in the air, not in here with Watts and Jacques Schnee."

"Thought I heard them," Qrow said. "Watts being snarky and Jacques being bitchy."

"I don't think Dr. Watts will feel quite so snarky in the future. As for Jacques…" Arashikaze shrugged. "I just got done talking to him. I asked if he would turn evidence on Watts in exchange for a pardon. He refused."

"You're kidding."

She shook her head. "I'm afraid not. He's confident his lawyers will get him off. He kept bragging about his 'dream team' of lawyers. Even I didn't have the heart to tell him that he's getting state-appointed lawyers; Willow and Whitley Schnee didn't even bother calling the lawyers he has on retainer. I think they want Jacques to rot here."

"Can you blame them?"

"Not really." Another shrug. "We'll see how some more sessions with his appointed lawyers go. He'll talk to me once he realizes that the world would love to see him go to the German equivalent of Jornada Prison." Qrow noticed she didn't use the infamous prison's full name: Jornada del Muerto. She chuckled. "It's amazing, really. I think the main reason he won't cooperate is that he really does think he won the election, that Watts didn't fix it for him. Oh, he's guilty—but he's convinced himself that he isn't."

"Tragic," Qrow deadpanned. "So when you going to convince Ironwood to let me out and quit being a dick?"

Arashikaze was silent for a moment. "You know how he is, Qrow. Ironwood's single-minded. It helps him win battles and command wings and armies…and it makes him blind. He thinks in black and white. You, Ruby, and the others broke the rules, therefore you should be punished. If you do what he wants, thereby acknowledging your guilt, he forgives you. It doesn't matter if he needs nine elite pilots right now—you did him wrong, and he's going to get you back." She looked at the floor, for a moment not the DDI of the CIA, but a person who was deeply worried. "He's a good man, Qrow. Just stubborn."

"Pigheaded, you want my opinion." Qrow stared at the ceiling. "He wants me to confess my sins, so he can forgive me? What is he, Catholic?"

"Watch it, asshole. I'm Catholic." Qrow was surprised at that; he figured Arashikaze would burst into flames if she entered a church. She got to her feet. "I'll keep working on him, Qrow. Ironwood is like what Churchill used to say about the United States: he always does the right thing, after trying everything else first." She smiled at him, sadly. "Can I get you anything?"

"I smelled KFC yesterday." Qrow's stomach rumbled audibly. "Could use some of that."

"You got it." She went to the door and knocked on it for the guard. "Keep the faith, Qrow."

Swidwin Airbase, Poland

1 September 2001

"She agreed to your proposal," Maria Calavera told Ruby. They sat in the hangar where Crescent Rose was getting a flap repaired. Ruby was in her flight suit; she'd already been out on a dawn close air support mission in the north, and the F-16 had been hit by GRIMM ground fire. It was nothing serious, but it would keep her out of the afternoon strike—not that she planned to go on that operation, as she had something else in mind.

"So she'll provide the equipment for Dr. Polendina to do the triangulation?" Ruby's smile lit up the hangar. "Wow, Maria! That's great!"

Maria held up a hand. "There is a catch."

Ruby sobered. "There always is."

"You have to provide the aircraft."

Ruby blew a bit of hair out of her eyes. "Yeah, well, we figured that. Luckily Weiss has got an angle. Matter of fact, we're going out tonight to go borrow an airplane." Ruby dropped her voice: Vogelmord and his crew were discreet and protective of their pilot, but there were limits.

Maria laughed. "Grand theft airplane! I go away for a week or two to Monaco and your bunch turns into hardened criminals." She nudged Ruby. "Attagirl. I knew we were alike in more than just our eye color."

"It's not really stealing," Ruby tried to defend herself. "We're just borrowing, like I said. It's Schnee property, so, er…theoretically…it still belongs to Weiss."

"Uh-huh. Sounds like what I told myself when I borrowed the F-16 prototype." Maria got to her feet, with audible cracking noises. "Ow. Well, I'd offer you a little company, but these old bones aren't up to B&E, so I'll just stay here and keep Pietro company." She looked past Ruby and saw Penny walking into the hangar. Much to Penny's chagrin, she'd actually used the B-1 for its intended purpose that morning, obliterating two Goliath by raining bombs on them. "What's the matter, Penny? You look like you just found a turd in your lunch burrito."

Penny looked a bit nauseated at that. She handed Ruby a phone—it was flipped open. "It's for you," she said, her voice shaking.

Ruby, perplexed, took the phone. "Hello?"

"Good afternoon, Ruby. You'll notice I don't use your rank, since you seem to have discarded that." It was Ironwood.

"Sir," Ruby said, the response too ingrained not to.

"I'm going make my request that you do what you were ordered, although I know you won't obey."

"Sir, with respect," Ruby answered, "you know I can't do that. Not while we have things to do here." She paused; maybe Ironwood would listen to reason—or at least, her reasons. "Sir, please. You need us here. Poland, NATO needs us here. There's still a chance we can win—"

"You're still worried about Poland?" Ironwood sounded indignant. "Poland is doomed, Ruby. Unless I get our forces on defensible ground, Salem will destroy us, and then she'll sweep into Central Europe. I don't like it, but that's the military situation. We need to think about the future."

"I am, sir," Ruby argued. "Robyn's plan can work. And I think we can kill Salem—"

"Spare me, Ruby. I'm not in the mood for cockeyed plans come up with by a naïve little girl."

Ruby bit back her retort, which would have consisted of several four-letter words. "Then, General, if you knew I would refuse, why did you call Penny?"

"Because I wanted to tell you that Penny is still under my command, directly. You know what she commands. She may not be able to use it right now because she doesn't have release authority, but if you think I'm just going to let her throw in with you out of friendship, I'm afraid I will have to do something drastic." Ruby heard the threat in Ironwood's voice, and for once, understood his position. With Penny holding the Winter Maiden controller, she was one of the most powerful people on the planet, even if she couldn't unilaterally use it without Ironwood's permission or that of the EU's president. If Ruby managed to convince Penny to switch sides, Ironwood would storm Swidwin with a tank regiment to get her back. The funny thing is, Ruby thought grumpily, we're on the same damn side.

"Sir, I'm afraid that's up to Penny," Ruby answered, "but I'm not going to do anything to her. She's able to make her own decisions. And I know she's really important. I wouldn't encourage her to turn on you, sir. For that matter, General, we're not turning on you. We're here because we want to help!"

Ironwood was quiet for a moment. "You disobeyed orders, Ruby. You broke my faith in you. As I told you a few days ago, the military runs on trust and faith—and you broke that faith." He sighed. "I didn't call to go over old ground—you won't listen anyway. But as long as you don't try to influence Penny, and as long as you keep supporting the troops and don't do anything truly stupid, I won't interfere with you. I won't help you…but I won't stop you. After all this is over, and if we're still alive, then there will be a reckoning…probably for all of us. Understood?"

Ruby smiled a little; that was the best she was going to get right now. "Yes, sir, I do."

There was another pause. "Your uncle is in custody, but he's being treated well. Goodbye, Ruby. If you change your mind and want to rejoin the United States Air Force, you know how to find me." The line clicked off.

Ruby stared at the phone for a long moment before handing it back to Penny. "Are you in trouble because of me?" Penny asked in a small voice.

"No," Ruby replied, "I'm in trouble because of me." She put a hand on Penny's shoulder to comfort her friend, but in reality, Ruby needed some comforting herself. Her career was over; if there was ever any doubt, Ironwood had removed it. He wouldn't stop Ruby and her people, but if they lived, there would be consequences. She felt the tears: all the training, all the money spent on her, all the time put in by her father, Major Oum, and Captain Ozpin to train her—it was a waste. The wings stitched on her flight suit seemed to mock her now. You broke the faith, she heard Ironwood say, and it hurt worse than being shot down.

"You okay?" Penny wanted to know.

Ruby put on a brave face. "Yep." She began to walk out of the hangar.

"What are you going to do?" Maria shouted after her.

"Something truly stupid," Ruby answered.

"So that is the plan." Weiss stood in front of the Huntresses' main briefing room, which sounded more impressive than it was. In front of her, in the theater seats, was Blake, Ren, Yang, and May Marigold. Yang was there for moral support: she wouldn't be going on the mission.

May stared at Weiss as if she was measuring the former heiress for a straitjacket. "Let me get this straight," she said. "The plan is for me to take our Huey, fly it over to some rich arse's airfield outside Berlin, then fly back while you lot steal a Gulfstream—oh, excuse me, borrow it, since it's Schnee property and you're still a Schnee. Then you'll fly it back here, where Dr. Polendina will modify it into some kind of super GRIMM detecting airplane, which will find this Salem character, and then we will proceed to blow her to tiny little bits?" May put up her hands. "Excuse me, you will proceed to blow Salem to tiny little bits, since I'm not stupid enough to go on a suicide mission?"

Weiss nodded. "That's the size of it."

May blinked, then grinned and slapped Blake on the back. "I love this plan! I'm excited to be a part of it! When do we leave?"

Weiss checked her watch. "Around 4. That puts us into Schonefeld at dinner time. The guards will be lax. I don't intend to fight our way in if we can avoid it."

Ren turned to Blake. "Can you fly a Gulfstream?"

Weiss answered instead. "I can. I've flown ours many times."

Blake spread her hands with a smile. "Guess I'm copilot. Which means I'll do all the work while Weiss sleeps."

A single raised Schnee eyebrow. "It's a ten minute flight, Blake."

"Then you don't need me." Ren stood up as Ruby walked in. "Ruby, I don't think I'm needed for this operation—not with you going as well. I'd like to join Pyon Flight on the afternoon strike."

Ren's strident tone took Ruby by surprise. "Um, sure, Ren. I guess that's okay."

"Thank you." He left the room without another word.

"Who shit in Ren's cornflakes?" Yang asked.

"I think he and Nora had another fight," Blake said. "He's been on edge all day. I imagine he's going to find her."

"He'd better hurry; I think Robyn scheduled the afternoon strike to head out in about five—" May was interrupted by Fiona slamming the door open, her eyes huge. "Guys!" she shouted. "You gotta see this! It's on finals!"

"What?" Yang got to her feet.

"It's some kind of stealthy fighter! I've never seen it before!" May opened her mouth, but Fiona silenced her. "It's not a F-117, May! C'mon!"

"Whoa, new airplane?" Ruby was out the door so fast she seemed to red shift out rather than run, though May was hot on her tail. With a shared shrug with Blake, Yang followed.

"Nerds," May sighed, and shuffled after them.

When Ruby got out to the flightline, she didn't see anything unusual. There was the roar of jet engines, but that was normal for Swidwin, especially given the tempo of war operations. She saw an A-10 and a Hunter climbing away. There goes Nora and Joanna, Ruby thought. Guess Ren was too late. Dammit. Hope him and Nora are okay…

Then her silver eyes widened to ridiculous proportions as she saw another aircraft turn into the downwind leg. It was clearly a fighter, but one of the biggest she'd ever seen, with twin tails, a dogtoothed delta wing, canards, and a long neck of a fuselage. Then she realized she had seen it—over Nishinoshima a few months before.

"Holy fucking shit," Yang breathed in shock. "That's…that's the fucking Night Raven!"

"It can't be!" Weiss half-screamed. "Raven's…she's here?"

"Unless there's two of those things," Blake said, pointing at the Night Raven, "that has to be her." Yang looked like she was about to pass out, and Blake put an arm around her. "Yang, it makes sense—"

"Maybe she heard Uncle Qrow was in jail!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Or maybe she's here to help," Blake finished, with a glare at Ruby. Yang had gone pale at the thought of her biological mother now on final approach. "Yang, it's possible."

Yang shook herself. It couldn't be Raven, but yet, it was her aircraft. "She'd never do anything to help anyone but her tribe." Yang watched it flare and land, the heavy landing gear compressing downwards as it made contact, and the speedbrakes opening from the spine. "She wouldn't do anything to help Uncle Qrow, either. They hate each other."

Ruby looked at her sister with pained eyes. Raven had caused both of them plenty of trouble in Japan, but Yang's wounds were far deeper. To Ruby, Summer Rose was her mother in every way. To Yang, there would always be the knowledge that the beautiful, ruthless, selfish, and ultimately cowardly Raven Branwen was the one who had given birth to her. They had parted enemies at Tsushima, and Yang had finally put her into a metaphorical box. Now Raven had broken out of that box, and was taxiing onto the tarmac. The engines powered down. They were so intent on watching the Night Raven that Ruby barely noticed the Antonov An-12 fly over onto the downwind leg. Once they could hear each other again, Ruby said, "Yang…people change. Maybe Raven did."

"Not fucking likely." All of them heard the bitterness in Yang's voice, wounds reopened and raw.

The canopy came open, though one of the Huntresses' crew chiefs stood below the high, chiseled nose, unsure of where to put the ladder. Yang, despite herself, cupped her hands to her mouth. "Right below the canopy bow!" she shouted. "Straight down!" The crew chief traced down the black metal, then found a panel. He threw Yang a thumbs-up, opened the panel, and pressed a button. A ladder extended itself from the side of the aircraft.

Fiona and May joined them; neither had heard their conversation over the noise of the Night Raven's approach—and Fiona had been too in awe in any case. "How did you know that?" the sheep Faunus asked.

"She knows the pilot," Weiss said tightly. Yang wasn't the only one to have none too fond memories of Raven. "Who's in the An-12?" The sight of the ancient Russian transport was enough to bring back more than just the memory of being Raven's prisoner, but how she had ended up there.

"Supply run," May told her. "We get weird stuff in all the time. Robyn gets parts from anywhere and everywhere, and most of them are unscheduled cargo runs." Weiss was reminded of Rick Tardor's cover job of independent charter cargo pilot, which didn't help her mood.

The pilot finally unstrapped, stood up as much as they could under the canopy, then climbed down, first using steps set into the side of the fuselage, then the ladder. "That's not Raven," Yang remarked. "That's a guy." She wasn't sure if she was relieved or hurt. For a moment, she had hoped Ruby was right.

They all started walking towards the Night Raven. The pilot reached up and unstrapped his helmet, exposing a shock of red hair. Blake stopped cold. "Oh my God," she gasped, and took an involuntary step back. "Oh my God."

Yang stopped as well; it was Blake who looked ready to pass out this time. The pilot handed his helmet to the crew chief, then reached into a pocket and put on a pair of sunglasses. He walked towards the wing. "Blake!" Yang reached out and shook her friend. "Blake, look. He's got wolf ears. No horns. Wolf ears. He's not Adam, Blake. He's not."

Blake squinted, then exhaled in utter relief. "Oh, thank God. I thought…he looked just like…" She put a hand on her chest. "Easy now, heart…"

Yang grinned. "Well, glad I'm not the only one to damn near have a coronary. C'mon, let's go see who this dude is."

They jogged over just as Ruby reached him. The pilot, who had been checking the port intake for any damage, turned around. "Hi there." His accent sounded a little strange; Ruby couldn't place it. He suddenly gave a start. "You…you have silver eyes."

"Yep," Ruby replied. "And you've got an airplane that is supposed to be in California with some bandit chick." She didn't feel like mentioning Raven's name.

"Oh, that!" The pilot laughed, and patted the wing. "Yes, I've heard of her—Raven Branwen, wasn't it? She has one of the Night Ravens. This is the other."

Weiss inspected the aircraft, and finally spotted one difference between Raven's and this one: there was a second seat behind the first, similar to the layout of the SR-71. "Then this is another prototype—a two seater?"

The pilot nodded. "As a matter of fact, yes." They couldn't see his eyes behind the sunglasses. "We've been testing it out at Area 51 for some time—quite classified, I'm afraid." He smiled like a proud father. "The CIA thought that Miss Branwen should not have all the fun. It was reverse engineered from plans taken by…Ozpin, I think the name was?"

"Captain Ozpin," Blake put in. She was still staring quizzically at the pilot. "Are you a Faunus?"

"Yes. Oh, sorry; I suppose I should introduce myself," the pilot said, putting out a hand to Ruby, who was closest. "The name is Copper, Copper Baxter."