AUTHOR'S NOTES: Yep, back with another chapter. I'm not giving up on this story...though I sure would like to see some reviews. I hope no one else has given up on it either. (Yeah, I'm sounding a bit desperate, but reviews are my life, folks!)

Big chapter here.

SACEUR Forward Headquarters

Near Zielona Gora, Poland

5 September 2001

12:02 AM Local

"Penny Polendina, reporting for duty, sir."

James Ironwood looked up from his map. Penny thought he looked worse than the last time she had seen him. His beard was more gray, he needed a shave, and his face was haggard. Deep purple bags under his eyes betrayed that he still wasn't getting enough sleep. His combat fatigues looked rumpled and worn. All the same, he smiled at her. "Hello, Penny. It's good to see you. You made good time getting here from Zagan."

Penny shifted her feet, unable to meet his eyes. "Um...I wasn't in Zagan, General. I was in Berlin, with my father." At his darkening expression, Penny swallowed involuntarily. "I know Miss Arashikaze told you I was there, sir. She told Dr. Watts the same thing. I'm not sure why. She...um...she didn't tell me."

"That little bitch," Ironwood snarled. "She lied to me again. Everyone's lying to me." He slammed a fist on the map table. "Goddammit, everyone!" Penny took a step back, and Ironwood managed to get control of himself. "I'm sorry, Penny...you didn't deserve that."

"Yes, sir." Penny's voice was very quiet.

Ironwood took a deep breath. "How's your father?"

Penny fought down the tears. "He's...in critical condition, General. He suffered a severe heart attack saving Miss Calavera. If he makes it through the night, then...maybe it'll be okay." She shifted her feet again. The doctors had not been optimistic about Pietro Polendina's survival. "I'd like to be with him, sir."

Ironwood came out from behind the desk. Penny tensed, but the general only put his hands on her shoulders. "And if the situation wasn't what it is, Penny, I'd send you right back there, and to hell with what anyone—especially Arashikaze—thinks. But I need you here tonight. It's a matter of vital importance."

"It always is," Penny sighed. She tried to smile. "I'm fully recovered, sir. I'm combat ready."

"Glad to hear it." Ironwood stepped away, putting his hands behind his back. "Penny, I don't know if Winter told you, but a rescue operation has been launched for Oscar Pine and JINN. Delta Force should be hitting Salem's headquarters about now."

"Yes, sir. She informed me." Penny wasn't about to add that Yang Xiao Long was with that assault team.

"Good. Now I have to ask you to do something that I very much wished I didn't." Ironwood paused for a long moment, and Penny went pale. "The strike team has until 5 AM to exfiltrate from Warsaw and give the success code. At 5 AM, I will order you to use the Winter Maiden on Warsaw. We'll kill Salem, strike the head from the snake. Even if the team hasn't sent the success code, even if they're still there, you will use it."

Penny lifted her arm, and the Maiden bracelet. "Do we know she's even in Warsaw, sir?" I can't do that, she thought frantically, though she managed to keep her face mostly expressionless. Not with Yang there. What would I tell Ruby?

"No. But I..." Ironwood's voice trailed off, and he walked back to the map. "I have a gut feeling she is, Penny. Your data, the one your father nearly died to get, seems to confirm that. And that's where I would be, if I was her. Assuming we don't get lucky and Delta doesn't get her somehow, then I'm tired of fooling around. Too many lives are at stake. If we miss her, we miss her...but I don't think we will." He looked up at her. "Do you understand, Penny?"

"Sir, with respect...I will use the Maiden if the team is clear of the city." She faced him, unblinking, the most defiant Penny had ever been. "And not one second before."

"Penny," Ironwood warned, "you realize that every moment Salem still breathes, more innocent people die. You care about Ruby Rose, right?" She nodded. "Well, there's a lot of Ruby Roses out there, Penny. And you're killing them every moment you wait."

"I do realize that, sir. I'm not a doll. I'm not a robot. And I understand that by not using the Winter Maiden, I am killing human beings like myself." She stood firm. "But I have faith, sir. I have faith that Delta Force will get out of there on time. And then I will do as you have ordered. But not one second before," she repeated.

Ironwood was silent. "I see Ruby's boneheaded idealism has rubbed off on you." He gave her a slow nod. "All right, Penny. Not one second before." He was about to say more, but a US Army lieutenant stuck his head through the tent door. He looked at Penny, but Ironwood nodded again. "Go ahead, Lieutenant."

"Sir, General Calavera reports his leading elements have reached Wielun. They paused to refuel and rearm, well ahead of schedule. He requests permission to continue driving northeast to Lodz."

Ironwood laughed softly. "Surprised he even bothered to ask." His finger tapped on Wielun. "Still, that's good news. Permission granted, Lieutenant. Tell him I'll call him presently."

The lieutenant smiled. "Yes, sir!" He turned and left.

"Good news?" Penny asked.

"Yes. The 1st Armored Division is on the offensive. If they can take Lodz by daybreak, that puts us not too far from Warsaw, and right on Salem's flank." Penny's hopes soared, but then were just as quickly dashed. "All the more reason to use the Maiden. We might could end the war tonight." He motioned towards the entrance. "Penny, go get some sleep—or something to eat, if you like. I'll make sure we have a phone rigged up so you can stay in contact with the hospital." He smiled. "You can show Winter in now."

"Sir," Penny said, "Colonel Schnee isn't with me. I flew down here by myself—well, I mean, she assigned two military policemen to me, but otherwise, I was by myself." Before Ironwood could demand to know where Winter was, Penny quickly added, "She's in Berlin, sir. She flew up from Wroclaw."

"Was Pyrrha Nikos and Lie Ren with her?" Penny noticed that Ironwood didn't use their ranks.

"I don't know, sir." Penny hiccupped.

Ironwood didn't notice. "I guess that's all right," he mused. "It might even be better. Okay, Penny, dismissed. Like I said, get some sleep."

"You too, General." Penny came to attention, then turned and left. Ironwood returned to his map, and traced the distance from Wielun to Warsaw. It was a little over a hundred miles. He noticed that his finger went across the mine at Belchanow.

The Palace of Culture and Science

Ruins of Warsaw, Poland

12:07 PM Local

Salem stepped through the door as Emerald shrank back. "I asked a question, Emerald—oh." She looked past the former thief and saw JINN's hologram hovering there. "Well, well. Nicely done, Hazel. I see that Oscar finally broke." She noticed the person in question standing in front of Hazel. "And his fingers are intact?"

Hazel nodded. "Yes, Mistress Salem. It seems he's more attached to his fingers than he is to his friends." He put a hand on Oscar's shoulder. "And I figured that honey was better than vinegar. I promised to help him escape if he told me JINN's password."

"You son of a bitch!" Oscar tried to turn around, but Hazel held him fast. "You said you'd help us escape!"

"I lied," Hazel growled.

"'Us'?" Salem glanced at Emerald, then motioned to her own personal guards behind her. "Arrest her." Emerald's hand went to the pistol holstered at her side, but as Salem's guards raised theirs, knew she had no chance. She raised her hands, and felt an icy ball of fear form in her stomach as those pitiless red eyes turned on her. "So, Emerald...what made you decide to turn traitor?" She was roughly held in place by one guard as another took her sidearm.

"I—I didn't—I'm not—"

Salem reached forward and grabbed her by the chin. "What were you going to tell Cinder, Emerald?" The fingers moved upwards, and Salem's thumb rested just below Emerald's left eye, the black fingernail hovering just in front of it. "You can still tell me what I want to know without your eyes."

"That you're going to destroy the world!" Oscar shouted. "She knows, Salem! JINN told her!"

Salem looked over her shoulder, slowly smiled, and shook her head before taking her fingers away. "Emerald, Emerald, Emerald...tell me, is JINN some magical creature compelled to tell the truth? Or does it simply repeat what Ozpin programmed it to say? How I would I destroy the world? Please, tell me that."

Emerald opened her mouth, then closed it, then looked to Oscar helplessly. She had believed him, believed JINN, but Salem had become something of a friend. The latter nodded. "You're conflicted, aren't you, Emerald? On one hand, you have a computer programmed by a madman and his progeny telling you that I'm going to destroy the world. On the other, you have me, who has always been honest with you. Really, girl, who do you believe?"

"But Tyrian..." Emerald found her voice. "Tyrian told me..."

"Oh, he did?" Salem chuckled. "You take that lunatic at his word? He thinks I'm a literal goddess of destruction, his queen. Tyrian Callows is a serial killer, Emerald. A useful one to be sure, but nothing more than that." She waved at her guards. "Release her. I think Emerald knows who her true friends are now." The guards did, but neither returned her pistol. Emerald, frozen by indecision, stood in the corner.

"As for you..." Salem walked over to Oscar and touched his cheek. "I don't know whether to take you home or kill you. Let me think about that for a moment." She then faced JINN. "So you are the famous JINN." Salem's smile faded. "I think I recognize those measurements. Ozpin, you pervert."

"Hello, Salem." A ripple of shock went through the room. It was JINN that spoke, but it wasn't her normal, somewhat breathy voice. It was Ozpin's. "I thought one day that you might get your hands on JINN, and somehow activate it. I am curious what you intend to do with it, now that you have it."

"You." Salem's lips peeled back from her teeth in utter hatred. "You know what I intend, you bastard—"

"The world's information, at your fingertips. The secrets of the planet. Every government, every politician, every military," Ozpin's voice continued. "No doubt you will do a lot of damage with it. You may even achieve your goal of dividing humanity against itself. And while they are fighting each other, you will launch your GRIMM where needed, until the entire world is a burned out cinder. A fourth world war, Salem. Humanity destroyed, as you said you wanted, because we didn't deserve to live any longer."

She stared at the hologram. "Shut up."

JINN's features, which had been mostly her usual faint, half-amused smile, softened, until they looked pained, as if the hologram was about to start crying. "Natasha, please. You don't have to do this. All of this—all of this hate, this suffering, this pain. None of it will bring our daughter back. None of it will undo what we did. All those millions will still be dead. There are so many sons and daughters in the world, Natasha—"

"Shut up!" Salem screamed, in Russian. She gripped the table, as if afraid she would fall without the support.

"—don't they deserve what our daughter never had? What we never had, except for those wonderful years in Moscow?" JINN slowly shook her head. "I know too much has passed between us, Natasha, to ever expect your love again. It may even be that, if you're hearing this message, that I am dead—in which case, you have your revenge. As you said in Norway, all those years ago, perhaps we will meet in hell. If so, I will burn merrily, because I will be with you." The hologram paused. "I love you, Natasha Kukharchuk. I always will. But if you ever loved me, loved our daughter, loved anyone...please let others love as well. Stop the war, and live out your remaining years in peace. A peace we could never have together." JINN stopped, and her expression returned to normal.

The room was silent. Salem slowly sank to her knees, still gripping the table. To the stunned surprise of everyone—Hazel, Emerald, Oscar, the guards—she began to cry, bitterly, everyone else forgotten. "It's too late," she whispered. "It's too late. Oh God, Ozpin...it's too late." Then she let go of the table and buried her face in her hands, her entire body wracked with heaving sobs.

"Time's up," Soap said.

"I've got it—I've almost got it." Trix had worked off the cover on the alarm system, and was trying to rewire it so the door would open and the alarm wouldn't sound.

"Your five minutes were up three minutes ago," Shogun snapped. "We're blowing the lock, Trix."

"But I've almost—"

Then the entire conversation became academic, because there was the click of a manual lock, the electronic lock flashed to green in Trix's face, and the doors opened to admit two very surprised guards. They brought up their assault rifles, but hesitated, confronted with fourteen men and women dressed in black uniforms, as they were, even if they looked different.

The Delta team didn't hesitate. Soap's MP5 came up and spit fire, suppressed but still loud enough to make everyone jump. Both guards died instantly. "Huma, Shogun—go. Charlie Mike. I'll hold the door." The two squads rushed in; Trix pulled her tools from the lock with a muffled obscenity, and followed them. Soap looked at Yang, and she dashed in behind the teams.

They ran into a huge columned vestibule, what had been an entrance hall; the ceiling had partially collapsed here, but there was an open door to the right, and a third guard, in the middle of lighting a cigarette. This guard was a bit more observant than his dead comrades, because he dived through the doorway and slammed the door shut before Huma could kill him.

Shogun ran forward, unlimbering the shotgun he carried on his back. "Door isn't armored." He aimed at the hinges. "Stand by to breach." Huma nodded and crouched. Shogun pulled the trigger once, shifted targets, and fired again, this report sounding like artillery in the vestibule. Human threw herself against the door, shoulder first; it collapsed inward and she rolled to one side, coming up to one knee. The guard was already rushing down a hallway. Yang raised her MP5 and aimed, but one of the Delta men beat her to it, and the guard was shot down. "Move!" Shogun ordered, and they moved into the hallway.

Salem's command post was still deathly quiet, the guards and technicians silent, the latter staring into the vault in stunned curiosity from their stations as their mistress cried uncontrollably. Then one of them suddenly leaned forward. He looked to his superior, a lieutenant, and seeing no response, jumped to his feet. "Comrade Lieutenant!" He said it loud enough for Salem to hear. "There's reports of gunfire from the entrance."

"Quiet, idiot!" the lieutenant hissed, but Salem had heard. Her crying abruptly stopped, and she stood. "What was that?" she said loudly.

The lieutenant gave the tech a look that promised imminent death, but the man bravely stood his ground. "Mistress Salem. The stairwell guard station reports gunfire from the entrance."

Another tech—who had noticed Team Metal through the cameras in the entrance, but had been too terrified to say anything—found his courage. "Confirmed. There are soldiers moving through the entrance. They don't look like ours."

Salem whirled with such suddenness that even Hazel stepped back, and stalked into the command post. "Let me see." She leaned over the tech's shoulder. "Damn," she breathed. "Those are enemy soldiers. Americans." She turned to the lieutenant. "Call out the reaction force. Alert all personnel." The lieutenant saluted, and began issuing the orders crisply. Salem squeezed the shoulder of the technician and nodded at the other. "Well done. Arm yourselves." She wiped her face, composed herself, straightened her cloak, and returned to the vault. Her eyes fell on Oscar. "Well, you little shit. It seems that you're important to someone. Ironwood's sent in special forces, probably Delta."

"Delta Force?" Hazel was just as surprised as Oscar. "How do you know?"

"Because if they were British SAS, we'd already be dead, and if they were Israeli Sayeret Matkal, they wouldn't know they'd been here." She took Emerald's sidearm and handed it to Hazel. "If they reach here, kill him." She then looked at Emerald. "Are you staying or running?"

"I'm...I'll stay," Emerald said. She still didn't know what to do.

At the end of the first corridor, there was a concrete staircase that went down three flights. Alarm klaxons began to go off as Team Metal took the steps two at a time, reaching the bottom just as two of Salem's people tried to close the heavy, bombproof door at the end of it. Huma killed both of them before they could finish closing it.

The tunnel below branched off into living quarters, generator rooms, and a kitchen. Shogun counted off people to take those areas, and they began systematically clearing each room—kicking in the door, tossing in a flashbang, waiting for the detonation, and finishing anyone left alive inside. They were making plenty of noise now, but that no longer mattered. Yang just hoped that someone wasn't busy murdering Oscar.

By the time they reached another stairwell, Huma, Trix, Yang and two others formed the assault force. Entering the stairwell, the area became strangely, eerily quiet, only broken by the muffled sounds of the flashbangs. Another door opened into another hallway, this one dimly lit; Yang could tell by the air pressure that they were deeply underground. There were no guards that they could see or hear. There were steel doors to either side of the corridor, staggered. "Could be prison cells," Huma said softly. "No flashbangs. We'll clear them the hard way." She inclined her head towards Yang. "You're with me, Air Force."

"Yang," she replied.

"Suds," Trix insisted.

"Whatever." Huma went forward, shotgun in hand; Yang followed, careful not to let the barrel of the MP5 point at the Delta woman. They went to the first door on the right, while Trix and another operator went for the left; the remaining one watched the hallway.

Huma reached forward and tried the door; it was open. She eased it open and whispered loudly, "Privet?" There was no answer, so she went in high, while Yang came in behind her, low. There were double-tiered bunks in the room, reaching to the ceiling, with a table in between; a cup of coffee was on the table. Huma reached out and touched it. "Still warm." The room was lit only by the lights from the hallway, and the blankets looked rumpled—as if someone had left in a hurry.

Or, Yang supposed, was still there.

She hesitantly reached out with her MP5 and used the barrel to raise the blanket on the bottom bunk to her right. There was no one there, but fighter pilot eyes noticed movement out of the corner of one of them. Fighter pilot instincts saved Yang as she dived forward onto the bunk, the pistol shot seemingly exploding in her ear. She rolled onto her back, stuck the MP5 against the bottom of the bunk above her, and pulled the trigger. Feathers and foam fell on her as she heard a scream of pain. A pistol clattered to the floor next to her, and blood began to stain the underside of the bunk.

"Whoof," Yang breathed. "You okay, Huma?"

The Delta operator had thrown herself backward; the hasty pistol shot had missed her only by inches as well. "Yeah, fine." She stepped forward and threw back the covers on the top bunk, revealing the now dead woman. Huma snorted. "Here I am, the big bad Delta operator, and you're the one who reacted faster. You got her, Air Force." Yang got out of the bunk and looked at the person she'd killed. In the semidarkness, the woman's features were twisted in shock and pain, and blood bubbled from her lips. "Look familiar?"

The woman was a brunette, but it wasn't Cinder Fall. "No," Yang answered.

"Let's go." She led her out of the room. "First time you ever killed someone?" she said softly.

"No," Yang repeated.

Huma saw the look in Yang's lilac eyes. "I suppose not. For some reason, I thought all you fighter pukes did was kill GRIMM." She saw Trix coming out of the room. The Faunus nodded, and they continued to clear the rooms, quickly and efficiently. There was no other resistance, and they reached the end of the hallway. There, it made a curve to the left; there was a door on the other end. Huma crossed over and opened it slightly. Another stairwell led even deeper in the facility. "Trix, hold here. Suds here and I will move down here with Blaze and Blinder—"

"Wait." Trix held up a metal cylinder. There was a red light flashing on it. "This just came on." She pointed it to the left. "That JINN thing is down this corridor."

There was a door at the far end; even from this distance, they could tell it was a heavy one. "Trix," Huma said. "Any cameras?"

She pulled a sensor around from her belt. "No. There's one behind us. If anyone's watching, they probably know we're here."

"Blaze. Kill that camera." The Delta man gave a quick nod and dashed down the corridor, quickly finding the camera and pulling the plug. Huma was counting to herself, then handed the shotgun to Blinder, exchanging it for a M4; Yang realized for the first time that this operator was a Faunus female by her yellow eyes, which reminded her of Blake.

Huma reached up and pulled a grenade from her webbing. "Trix, remember that time in Peru?"

The rabbit Faunus grinned. "Oh yeah." She pulled her grenade and readied it.

"Blinder, Blaze, you two start making some noise." The two Deltas nodded, and Huma pulled Yang into the leftmost corridor. The other two started firing wildly down the hall, Blaze adding a flashbang to the din. Huma suddenly rose to her full height and started screaming in Russian, then ran down the hall. Trix did the same, then Yang did as well, screaming what little Russian she knew—which included the words hello, please, and I love you; she had no idea why that last phrase popped into her mind. It was lost in the noise anyway.

Huma reached the end of the hall and began banging on the door frantically. There was a window set into it, so Yang pulled off her helmet and started hammering on it, screaming incoherently. She couldn't quite see inside, but there was movement, some yelling from inside, and then the door opened. Someone shouted an order from inside and the door just as quickly began to shut.

Yang grabbed the doorjamb and jerked back, opening it again, just a little. It was enough for Huma and Trix, who stopped yelling and tossed their grenades through the opening. Yang held on for dear life as the grenades detonated, throwing the door partially open. Huma did the rest, flinging it back.

Inside was smoke, the popping of abused electronics, flickering red light, and people staggering around, some wounded, others stunned. Neither Huma nor Trix paused: they swept the guns left to right, firing accurately. Techs screamed and fell as they were cut down. Yang raised her MP5 to add her fire, but then the smoke parted and she saw another room beyond this one, as another thick, armored door started to close.

Framed in the doorway for a split-second was Salem herself.

Yang saw red. Reacting quickly—that is, without thinking—she suddenly darted across the command post, knocking down a wounded tech, her vision narrowed to that open doorway. Seeing it begin to shut, she threw herself through the opening; her boots missed being closed in the door by less than an inch.

Once more, Yang's instincts saved her. She caught movement to her right as she slid to a halt, and fired. The two guards both died as her bullets whipsawed through them, narrowly missing Emerald, who had the presence of mind to roll under the map table. Yang then shifted to her left, saw Oscar and Hazel, but then saw Salem only three feet away. She raised the MP5, aimed the barrel between her enemy's red eyes, and pulled the trigger.

The bolt slammed home with a click. Yang abruptly realized she had forgotten to reload.

Salem's hand closed on a pistol, but Yang, the younger woman, was faster. She jumped to her feet and swung the butt of the MP5, intending to smash it across Salem's jaw, but she misjudged the other woman's height. The MP5 instead hit Salem squarely in the bosom. It was still enough to knock her back against the map table. Yang, snarling like a maddened dog, brought the submachinegun over her head to smash it into Salem's face.

Salem might have been almost three times Yang's age, but she was still the better fighter. She brought up her booted feet and drove them into Yang's stomach. The pilot was thrown backwards into the armored door, knocking both the MP5 out of her hand and the air from her lungs. She sat dazed as Salem got to her feet, rubbing her chest. "Who the hell are you?" she growled.

"That is Captain Yang Xiao Long, United States Air Force," JINN supplied helpfully.

"Yang?" Oscar exclaimed. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Salem picked up the pistol. "It seems she came to rescue you." There was a thump from the other side of the door. "With some friends. A shame they can't get through that blast door." It had automatically locked behind Yang. She could see the faces of the black-haired Delta woman and the Faunus next to her through a thick-glassed window, and threw them an ironic wave. "Killing my command staff did you no good, Captain. I have a backup command post on the other side of the river. The moment you began to attack us, they automatically assumed control over the GRIMM." She pointed the pistol at Yang's head. "I commend you on your courage, Xiao Long, but you have the fairy tale ending all wrong—it's the knight who rescues the damsel in the distress, not the other way around."

Yang sucked in her breath, even as she stared back defiantly. She wasn't afraid, more angry. "Yeah, go ahead, bitch. Why not? Everything I've lost—every person I've lost—is because of you."

Salem hesitated, curious. "And who is it I've taken from you, girl?"

"Summer Rose," Yang spat. "My mom."

Salem's eyebrows rose. "Hm. Her again." She smiled thinly. "Interesting. No silver eyes. You must take after your father, which means you're not much use to me."

"Mistress Salem. What about him?" Salem stepped back out of lunging range and glanced at Oscar. Hazel held the pistol to the young man's temple.

"Oh yes. Ozpin's son." She paused. "A shame, but I can't afford to let you live. Kill him, Hazel." She sighed. "I am sorry, Oscar, but blood calls for blood. Tell Ozpin I'll see him soon enough." She turned her attention back to Yang.

Hazel pressed the barrel closer into Oscar's temple, then leaned forward. "No more Gretchens, boy." Then he took the pistol away from his head, pointed it at Salem, and pulled the trigger.

He was a little slow. The shot was aimed at Salem's head, but she noticed the movement and turned slightly. The bullet, instead of hitting her in the temple, grazed along the side of her skull, tearing one of the braids free. She slipped on her cloak and fell backwards, the pistol coming down, aimed at Oscar. As she fired twice, Hazel whipped around, shielding the younger man with his body. He grunted as he was hit.

Yang's first instinct was to launch herself at Salem, but as the pistol swung in her direction, she decided that revenge for Summer Rose would have to wait. She instead threw herself over the map table, skidding across it and landing on the other side. She came down on her rear end, and nearly landed on top of Emerald, who had retrieved one of the guards' pistols and pointed it at Yang. Then both women had to roll out of the way as Oscar was thrown bodily over the table by Hazel. "Go!" he shouted. "Go!"

"Go where?" Yang yelled back.

Emerald reached up and grabbed JINN, snapping it shut; the hologram derezzed. "There's an escape hatch back here! It leads to the surface!"

Salem let loose a flood of Russian and Kazakh obscenities and got to her feet, only to be tackled by Hazel. Emerald scrambled up, found the door, pulled open the hatchway, and stared upwards. A ladder stretched upwards into the darkness. "No idea where this goes—"

"Who cares?" Oscar shouted. "Let's get the hell out of here!" There were more gunshots behind them, bellows from Hazel, and cursing from Salem. Emerald scrambled up the ladder, and Yang pushed Oscar up behind her.

"What's going on in there?" Trix asked.

Huma tried to peer through the armored glass. "I have no idea. It looks like that big guy is beating the hell out of Salem, but Suds and Oscar—looks like him—are headed out another door. I think they've got JINN." She kicked the door. "Dammit. Let's get back—we can't do anything for them now. It would take a howitzer to get through this door."

Trix looked around, and quickly grabbed a few folders that looked like codebooks. Everything else was holed by bullets or grenade fragments, and they didn't have time to hack into the computers. "Right behind you." The two fell back from the smashed room, through the open door, and down the hall, calling for Blaze and Blinder to bug out.

Neither saw Neo Politan detach herself from the shadows where she had hidden under a dead body, and discreetly follow.

Salem squirmed out from under Hazel, blood staining her cloak—but it wasn't her blood. Some of that trickled from a split lip, more from where the bullet had creased her head, and she massaged her throat with one hand. The slide was locked back on her pistol; she had emptied it into Hazel. "You traitorious son of a bitch," she snarled. "All that talk about revenge against Ozpin, and you just end up being one of his fucking pawns." He stirred and began to crawl away, leaving a thick trail of dark blood, then slowly got to his knees, reaching for something on the communications console on the far wall. Salem found the remaining pistol and reloaded hers. "Eight rounds into you at pointblank range, and you're still alive."

"Not...for much...longer," Hazel struggled out. He sagged against the console, his hand closing around a headset, sliding down to sit, his entire shirt turned dark red and brown. It began to puddle on the floor around him. "Oscar...Oscar was right...about you."

"God, you're pathetic." She chambered a round and walked towards him. He raised the headset. "This is the command post," he spoke clearly into it.

Salem stepped forward, raising the pistol. "More words of defiance, Hazel?" She heard the alternate command post acknowledge. "They're not going to listen, you know."

He grinned up at her through bloodied teeth, then spoke a single word.

"Vesuvius."