AUTHOR'S NOTES: One of my reviewers predicted that Volume 8 would be the toughest to adapt to the RWBY Wings universe, and they were right. This story is very much taking on a life of its own, separate from canon RWBY, since there's no Ambrosius (yet) and a magical staff, no shapeshifting Semblances, no robot Penny, and no thinking with portals in this universe. As a result, we get some bridge chapters, like this one. I'd really hoped to get to some action tonight, with Team Metal fighting their way out of Warsaw, but I found a good stopping point, so...next week on that one.

Schnee Manor

Near Zagan, Poland

5 September 2001

12:40 AM Local

"How are you feeling?" Weiss Schnee asked Ruby Rose. She handed Ruby a cup of coffee.

Ruby tenderly fingered the bandage around her head. "Okay, I guess. It hurts." She sat on the front steps of the Manor, glad for the fresh air. The interior of the house smelled of cordite, blood and excrement; people didn't die cleanly like they did in the movies, Ruby thought. The reaction force from Zagan had arrived—too late, but they were now policing up the bodies of the Hound's strike force. "How's Blake and May?"

"May's tough as hell. Shot through both legs and the chest, but she's insisting that she's fine." Weiss shook her head in wonderment. "She's also very lucky. All three shots missed everything vital; she's got a fracture in her left leg, and that's it. Even the chest wound ricocheted off a rib and missed her lung." Weiss' own legs twitched in sympathy; both were aching after the exertions of the night, telling her that she wasn't quite fully healed from the wounds she'd received in Japan. "Blake's okay. Just a surface strike through the skin. Mom has a dislocated shoulder from firing that damn elephant gun." She put down her coffee and, to Ruby's surprise, started crying. Ruby reached towards her, but Weiss waved her off. "It's okay. Just...adrenaline wearing off. And realizing that we have no business being alive right now."

Ruby laughed, which was a mistake, because that caused her head to hurt. "Weiss, after all we've been through, we should be dead like ten times over!" She rubbed her temples. "Ow. I keep getting head trauma, you got your legs busted in a bad ejection, Blake's been shot, Yang lost an arm...and that's just Ruby Flight!" She nudged Weiss. "See? You should've just stayed at your dad's other mansion and been a liasion! You'd be all nice and safe and snacking on Black Forest cake every night! You'd be all fat and happy and probably married to May's brother!"

"Ugh. You definitely have a concussion." Weiss started snickering, though, and Ruby put a hand around her friend's shoulders. They stared at the eastern horizon. "That's a weird looking cloud," Ruby remarked.

"Looks like we might get a thunderstorm," Weiss observed. "I see some lightning."

"Weiss? Ruby?" Both women turned as Whitley Schnee stuck his head through what remained of the front doors to the mansion. "You've got to see this."

They got to their feet and went inside the mansion. Neither wanted to look at the bloodstains on the floor, where a patient Klein watched as the CIA people took pictures and gathered shell casings; the bodies had already been moved, at least. Whitley ushered them into one of the mansion's sitting rooms—one untouched by the carnage. Blake was there, a bandage around her arm; so was Willow Schnee, her arm in a sling, and even Nora Valkyrie, in a bathrobe.

The television was on, tuned to the BBC for the benefit of the non-German speaking people in the room. "Initial reports are still somewhat confused," the anchor was saying. "However, Supreme Allied Commander Europe General James Ironwood has just confirmed the reports of a detonation of a nuclear device in southcentral Poland, near the large coal mine at Belchanow. The general issued the statement only a few minutes ago, and insists that the detonation was not done by NATO forces or anyone affilated with them. According to General Ironwood, the explosion was caused by some sort of nuclear land mine. He refused to add anything further at this time, stating he will make a full statement in the morning. To repeat this breaking news story: a nuclear bomb has exploded in southcentral Poland, near the coal mine at Belchanow. Casualties are unknown at this time."

The anchor then turned to an expert in nuclear science, who began speaking about the yield of the explosion, fallout and the historical nature of the explosion, as it was the first use of nuclear weapons since the Third World War. Ruby's cellphone began to go off, and she got it out of her pocket. Somehow, it had stayed there throughout the night's battle. She left the room and went into the hallway. "Hello?" She didn't recognize the number.

"Ruby? It's Penny!" The clone girl's voice was hushed, as if she was whispering.

"Penny? Are you okay?"

"I'm okay. I'm at Ironwood's headquarters. Where are you?"

"Weiss' place in Zagan. Man, have I got to tell you what happened tonight—you're not gonna believe this—" She stopped, remembering the silver eyes that gazed back into her own, as the Hound died literally on top of her.

Uncharacteristically, Penny cut her off anyway. "Ruby, please listen! Things are really bad right now! Salem set off a nuclear weapon at Belchanow—"

"That was Salem?" Ruby exclaimed.

"Ruby, shut up!" Ruby stared at the phone in shock, because this was the most impolite she'd ever heard Penny. "Sorry...but there's a lot I have to tell you, and I don't have time!" She took a deep breath. "Ruby, that nuclear detonation is sending tons of radioactive material into the air, and it's all spreading to the northwest. You're inside the fallout pattern. You're already getting radiation, right now! It might not to be too bad right now, and you're far enough away that you might not get sick, but there's thousands of other people who will!" Ruby heard tears in Penny's voice. "Please, Ruby, we've got to evacuate those people—and I don't know what to do!"

"What's Ironwood doing?" Ruby asked.

"He's concentrating on getting the 1st Armored Division out of the fallout pattern. I mean, that makes sense—they're closest to the detonation; I don't know how many of them got hurt or killed—but he says they have to take care of the troops before the civilians. I think I understand, but I still can't just let those people be abandoned! And it gets worse! Ironwood wants me to use the Winter Maiden on Warsaw, where Salem's headquarters is!" Now she was openly weeping over the phone. "Please, Ruby! It's just too much! I don't know what to do!"

"Penny, whoa, slow down a bit." Ruby tried to get her thoughts in order; this was not helping her headache. "You're one person. You can't do everything. Look, we'll figure out something for the civvies, okay? I'll talk to Robyn. Anyway, the nuke's all over the news. They had some guy in there who said this wasn't too bad—it was only like 200 kilotons or something-"

"They're wrong!" Penny shrilled. She dropped her voice again. "I mean...they're wrong, Ruby. Ironwood had one of the NEST team people in here, and they said the detonation was over two megatons!"

Ruby swallowed involuntarily. "Okay, that's...that's bad."

"And it gets worse! Ruby, Arashikaze and Winter—they sent in a Delta Force team to rescue Oscar, and JI—" Penny abruptly remembered that she was on an unsecured cell phone. "Er, the naked blue lady! They're still there, Ruby! And if they're not out by dawn, Ironwood wants me to use the Mai...I mean, the thing. You know, the thing! To get Salem!"

Ruby leaned against the wall. "That doesn't sound too bad, really. I mean, that's what the, um, thing exists to do, right?"

Penny made sounds of either frustration or rupture. "Ruby! Your sister is with Delta! I don't know why, but she is! She's on the ground with Delta! Do you understand?" Ruby's mouth dropped open, and she couldn't answer at first. "Ruby, answer me, goddammit!" Penny paused. "I'm sorry for my language, Ruby."

"Penny...give me a minute."

"I don't have one, Ruby. And neither do you. Please, tell me what I should do?" Penny's voice was plaintive. In the background, Ruby heard a voice calling for Penny; it sounded like Ironwood's. "Ruby, what do I do?"

Ruby almost answered I don't know, but then realized that was the last thing Penny needed to hear. "Penny, I'm gonna talk to the others. I'll call you back. Stay there. I'll call you back."

"Okay..." Penny's voice was heartbreaking. "I have to go."

"No problem. It's gonna be okay, Penny. We'll figure it out." Penny clicked off, and Ruby sagged against the wall. "Yeah, right."

The Palace of Culture and Science

Ruins of Warsaw, Poland

12:40 AM Local

Salem still held onto the console. The command post vault had shaken alarmingly with the nuclear detonation, enough to knock her off her feet. She stared down at Hazel. His eyes stared into nothing, his hands limp in his lap, a faint smile still on his lips. Salem fought down an urge to kick the corpse. "You got your revenge, didn't you?" she whispered. "But it wasn't supposed to be against me, you bastard." She knelt next to the body, reached up, and closed the eyes. "Well...you're with your precious Gretchen now."

"Mistress Salem!" The headset was crackling. "Are you still there?" It was from the alternate command post east of the city—the ones who had remotely detonated the nuclear bomb at Belchanow.

Salem picked up the headset. "I'm here. Why did you execute Vesuvius, Comrade Major?"

"You ordered us to," the major replied. "Your personnel there at the Palace said to detonate if we received the go code, and that we could get it at any time."

Salem massaged the bridge of her nose. "And who told you that?"

"Lieutenant Usmanov," the major replied.

The duty lieutenant, Salem thought. He was one of the bodies scattered through the command post, killed by the Americans. "Do you know who told him?"

"Comrade Rainart, ma'am." Salem took a deep breath and calmed herself. "Mistress, I take full responsibility if I acted hastily. I gave the orders—"

"No," Salem said. "It's not your fault." It's mine, she groused, gritting her teeth, for trusting Hazel. Damn you. "Enough. There's no point in worrying about it now. When you can, send in a GRIMM to check for damage in the Belchanow area." There was still a chance that the premature detonation might have wiped out the leading elements of the 1st Armored, and having a nuclear weapon go off in the middle of Poland was certainly going to give Ironwood something to think about. Salem's mouth quirked into an ironic smile. And all that fallout is going to fall right all over his southern flank. Hazel, you may have still accomplished something for me after all. "Any contact from our forces around Warsaw? My guards are all dead here. And anything from the Hound's raiding force?"

"Nothing from either, Mistress, but we have a reinforced patrol returning from the northern perimeter. They held at the Zydowski Cemetery pending further orders."

Salem thought for a moment. The Zydowski Cemetery was open ground, not covered in rubble or wreckage. That's their extraction point, she mused. It's the only open ground that's close to here. They likely dropped in from a transport, came overland to here, and they'll exfiltrate by helicopter. Ironwood will want JINN back as soon as possible. "Comrade Major."

"Yes, Mistress?"

"Tell the patrol to get into a blocking position between the cemetery and here. Dispatch the reaction force immediately, and reinforce them with GRIMM, both ground and air. I will take command when they arrive. What is their ETA?"

"We can have them there in thirty minutes, Mistress."

"Make it fifteen. That's an order. We have to cut off the Americans before they reach the cemetery."

"Yes, Mistress. What do we do when we have cut them off?"

"Quite simple, Major," Salem replied calmly. "You surround them, you kill them, and you bring me their fucking heads."

Yang got the manhole cover off through main force, and let the heavy cover fall, despite the loud noise it made. "Dammit," she puffed. "Whew. Longest damn ladder I've ever climbed. And in the middle of a freaking earthquake, too. As if we didn't have enough problems." She crawled out, got to her feet, and helped Emerald out of the ladderwell. Emerald's feet had barely touched the street before Yang suddenly punched her in the stomach with her metal fist. Surprised, the former thief dropped to the ground, wheezing and trying not to throw up. As Oscar scrambled out of the ladderwell with JINN, Yang reached down and pulled Emerald's pistol out of her pocket. "Sorry," Yang said, "but I'd prefer that I'm the only one with the gun around here." She stepped back and pointed it at Emerald's head.

"Whoa, whoa!" Oscar said, in a half-whisper; Yang didn't seem to realize they were still in the ruins of Warsaw, probably surrounded by Salem's troops. "Yang, don't shoot her. She can help us!"

"You're not serious," Yang told him. "You want us to work with her? I mean, yeah, she helped us downstairs, but I don't trust her as far as I could throw her—or her buddies." She nodded at Emerald, who was slowly getting to her feet. "Yeah, bitch. I haven't forgotten what you, Cinder and Mercury pulled at Beacon."

"I'm just saying it makes the most sense," Oscar insisted. "We're all enemies of Salem, including her."

Emerald put her hands up. "Look. I'm actually with Blondie here. You don't like me, I don't like you. So how about we just part ways and you never have to see me again?"

"Out in this?" Oscar asked., gesturing at the ruins around them.

"I've survived a lot worse."

"I could just shoot you instead," Yang said. "After what you did, it's what you deserve."

"Yang, please," Oscar said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We can't let all of our actions come out of fear. If she can help us, I think we should consider it."

Yang nodded towards her metal hand. "She's part of the reason I have that. I'm not going to just forgive and forget. She lied to us at Beacon, tricked us, got Ruth and Jaune and a lot of people killed. Not to mention damn near ruining my career. She's dangerous." Her fingers tightened on the trigger.

"For what it's worth," Emerald told Yang, "I didn't have anything to do with Ruth Lionheart. She was my friend. Mercury killed her, not me. It was stupid and I would've never done that." Or would you have? Emerald's conscience demanded. If Cinder had told you to strangle Ruth, would you have done it? Would you have even hesitated?

"Yang, you don't have to forgive her," Oscar said. "You have a damn good reason to feel that way. Just maybe...give her a second chance. We've already gotten quite a bit of help today from someone we never would've trusted."

Yang stared at Emerald for a long moment, then lowered the pistol. "Fine. Whatever. All right, Emerald, you can piss off, or come with us, or howl at the fucking moon. But if you step out of line, I'll blow your stupid head off." She motioned Emerald to take the lead with the pistol. "Keep your hands where I can see them." Emerald nodded, hating Yang, and walked forward, hands at her side. She had two knives within easy reach, but knew if even she managed to keep from getting shot, it would do no good. She had no friends left. If Salem caught her, the only regret she would have would be that she could kill Emerald only once.

They had taken no more than a dozen steps when a voice called out, evenly but insistently, "Halt." They stopped, and all three looked around frantically. The shadows were still too dark to see anything. "Who are you?"

The accent was American, so Yang—making sure she kept the pistol pointed at the ground—said "It's me, Yang." There was no reply. "Suds," Yang added.

"Advance and be recognized." They did so, and suddenly four men and women rose from the blasted cinderblocks, as if they simply materialized. "All right." One of the bigger shadows moved forward, and Yang finally recognized Chaser. He nodded to her. "Glad to see you, even if you were making enough noise to wake the dead. Huma reported in a few minutes ago, said you might be coming in." He gave another nod to Oscar. "You must be Ensign Pine. Can you move?"

"Yeah, I can walk."

"And you've got the objective. This is Emerald Sustrai?"

"Yes," Oscar said, before Yang could. "She helped us escape."

"Are you defecting, Miss Sustrai?" Chaser asked her.

"I think so," Emerald replied. There was nowhere else to go.

"I see. Hands in front of you, full extension. Yang, step back. Lucky, if Sustrai tries to run or go for something, kill her. She's your responsibility."

"Yes, sir." A woman came forward, roughly grabbed Emerald's hands, and zip-tied them together at the wrists. She was then quickly but thoroughly searched; Emerald sighed as her knives were taken from her.

Chaser led them to the corner of what had been an apartment building, then bent over and spoke into his headset. "Princess, Chaser. Package in hand. Suds and Pine are in the clubhouse, plus one prisoner, Sustrai. Send success code, over."

"Chaser, Princess. Bravo Zulu. Huma, Soap, Shogun are exfil. Proceed rally point Temple."

"Roger that." Chaser looked towards Yang, and suddenly grinned. It changed his entire face. "Well, not out of the woods yet, but hard part's over. Assuming we don't have any more earthquakes." He rose slightly, twirled his hand around, and pointed north. "Let's blow this burg."

They moved out, down the dark street; Yang was surprised again how quickly and silently the Delta team moved through the rubble, in quick rushes from cover to cover. She had lost her helmet somewhere along the line, and her blond hair stood out like a torch. Even Emerald, with her hands tied, moved quietly, leaving Yang and Oscar to be the ones to watch each step for loose stones or broken glass, anything that would make noise.

"Chaser, Wraith. Hold one." Chaser's hand went up, and immediately everyone stopped in place. "Contact north. Enemy patrol, strength about thirty plus." There was a pause. "One truck, two Sabyrs. Moving into blocking position on Leszno Street."

"Wraith, Princess. Are you blown?"

"Princess, Wraith. Negative."

"Wraith, stand by. All other teams, rally at Temple."

Chaser scanned the northern horizon. "We're still a good two blocks off," he said quietly to Yang and the others. "Plenty of rubble between us and them. Keep it quiet—the GRIMM can detect us if we make enough noise." He made another hand motion and led them off to the east.

After five minutes, they made it to a tan-colored ruin, which stood out slightly against the twisted remains of the other buildings in the area. It was mostly destroyed, the windows long gone, but the front wall still partially stood, stained black by soot. Yang almost tripped, looked down, and saw a large pile of masonry, topped by a Star of David. "Is that..."

"It's a synagogue," Chaser explained, pulling out a canteen of water. He handed it to Oscar, who took a long drink, then to Yang. "Or used to be. The Nozyk Synagogue." He motioned them down behind a fallen pillar. "We're actually pretty close to the old Warsaw Ghetto here."

"Great." Yang already felt spooked enough by the ruins.

They waited a few more minutes, and the rest of Team Metal arrived, all as quiet as the others. Huma went up to Yang and, to the pilot's surprise, actually hugged her. "Glad to see you're all right. Sorry we couldn't get to you, but that door was just too thick."

"Thanks," Yang said.

"Ma'am?" Oscar got to his feet. "The big guy...Hazel. Did he..."

"He's dead, as far as we can tell. Unfortunately, Salem's alive—or she was when we had to pull out." Oscar nodded, and said a quick, silent prayer for the man who had first tortured him, then saved his life.

Otome settled for a quick slap on the shoulder for Yang, then handed her the JTAC radio pack. "Back to work, Suds. Talked to the AWACS while you were down playing Witch Encounter Group. We've got Ace Flight waiting to the west if we need them."

Yang got the pack on. "Think we're going to?"

"Don't know yet. We might be able to flank the blocking position. Take five and get ready to move." Otome crabwalked over to Chaser. "All present and accounted for?"

"Yeah, but who's she?" He pointed to a young woman dressed in a mismatch of a dirty halter top, torn uniform pants, and combat boots. She was short, looked half-starved, her black hair filthy and straggled, and she ate MRE crackers like she was afraid someone would take them from her.

"Local. Polish teenager. She came into the perimeter right after Huma, Shogun and Soap left the Palace. She said she could help us." Otome shrugged. "I thought about telling her to get lost, but I have a weak spot for starving teenagers. Besides, she knows the ground better than we do." She waved over the girl. Chaser noticed that the way the waif moved, she clearly knew how to keep silent and stay under cover. "What's your name?" Otome already knew, but wanted to see if the girl would change her story.

"Benedykta," the girl answered, which was the same name she had given Otome. She held out a hand to Chaser, who didn't take it. "I from here. Sorry...English not good. Mom teach me—I have uncle in Chicago."

"What were you doing out here?" Chaser asked.

"Hear noise from Palace. Bad fuckers, their camp over there." She pointed east, towards the river. "Lots of fucking Russians." She spit on the ground. "Fucking Russians. They kill brother—my brother. Tall, pale woman giving orders. Fucking Russians."

"Where are you from?"

"Praga. Are you here kill—to kill fucking Russians?" Benedykta asked, correcting herself. Her accent was very thick.

"Not unless we have to. Can you get us to the cemetery?" Chaser pointed northwest.

The girl smiled. "Be better if you kill fucking Russians, but can do, Joe." She looked hopeful, her brown eyes big. "Take me to America?"

"We'll see." Otome dismissed her as her radio crackled. "Princess, go."

"Princess, Wraith. New enemy force moving across the river. Strength hundred-plus, several Sabyrs, one Centinel."

"Shit," Otome said. "Okay, we're moving." She grabbed Chaser's shoulder. "Flank those blockers; once you're in position, I'll attack through it. Go." She went back to Yang, who was leaning against one of the corners of the former synagogue. "Better get the flyboys on the horn. Looks like we're fighting our way out." Yang didn't respond. "Hey, did you hear me?"

"Yeah," Yang replied, then pointed to the southeast, over the piles of rubble. "Is it me, or does that look like a mushroom cloud? Super weird."

Schnee Manor

12:45 AM Local

They spread a huge map of Europe out over the dining room table, which looked a bit worse for wear now. Klein had already cleaned off the splinters, taken away the bent candleabra, and served coffee and cakes. Once more, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Nora, Willow and Whitley were gathered around the table; May had tried to get up from her bed upstairs, only to be forcibly held down by the CIA team's medics.

Weiss' hand swept from Belchanow to Berlin. "So if the news is right, and I'm remembering my history right, the fallout pattern's going to be about like this. More concentrated closer to the detonation point." She looked up at Ruby. "Penny's right...we should be all right here. Despite the damage, this is a rather stout house, with plenty of food available. The heaviest fallout should dissipate within a few days. There will be a danger of it for weeks, and we'll have to wash off everything outside, but even then...though I think your flowers may die, Mother."

"Yes," Willow agreed, "they probably will. The problem is, the topsoil will have absorbed radiation as well. As you say, not as much here, but throughout the fallout plume, the farmland will be ruined. They will have to take off the first foot or so of topsoil and dispose of that, then replant." She stared down at the map. "For all intents and purposes, the breadbasket of Poland has just been ruined for a year, possibly more."

"The refugees..." Nora began, and her voice trailed off.

"Yes," Willow repeated. "Most will survive the radiation, but then they will starve."

"You seem to know a lot about it," Blake said.

Willow smiled wanly. "My dear, I lived through it, as a child. I was three when the bombs dropped in 1962. We were exceedingly lucky to live in an area that was unaffected by the bombs, the fallout, or the GRIMM—but even we knew what it was like to go hungry. Even with my father doing the work he did for Germany." Blake suddenly remembered that she was speaking with the daughter of Nicholas Schnee. She ran her fingers over the map. "This won't be as bad, since it's only an isolated region, but thousands will die."

"We've got to get them out," Ruby said. "But how? The roads will be clogged up fast, and if they're out in the open, they're just going to get more of a radiation dose."

"And the longer we wait, the more people are going to die," Nora added. She sat down in a chair. "But what can we do? We're just...us. I mean, it's not like we can load them up in our planes and fly them to Germany or whatever."

"Ironwood could, but he's going to be devoting resources to evacuating the divisions in the fallout pattern," Blake said. "I don't know if I agree with that, but even if he did agree to give the refugees priority, he just doesn't have the airlift. He would have to bring in every transport NATO has, plus defend them with fighters. And he's still having to bring in troops, supplies and such from the United States." She shook her head. "It's just not possible."

There was silence around the table, then to everyone's surprise—including his—Whitley spoke. "It could be." They turned to look at him, but he was staring at the map. "Yes, it could be."

"What are you talking about?" Weiss asked.

He didn't reply to her, but to Willow. "Mother, how much of a controlling interest does Schnee GmbH have in Lufthansa?"

Willow looked a little taken aback. "Er, well...we own the airline, for all intent and purposes. We also own controlling stakes in Swissair, Austrian Airlines, Alitalia, and British Airways. Your father was trying to get controlling interests in Virgin Atlantic, but Branson refused to sell to him. Why?"

Whitley's face suddenly split in a grin. "That's it. That's how we do this!"

"Er, Whitley, you're going to need to explain—" Weiss began.

"It's perfect!" Whitley's fingers stabbed down at Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, and Hamburg, then noticed everyone was staring at him as if he had lost his mind. "Listen," he said, which everyone was clearly doing, "the embargo. When the EU imposed the embargo, they suspended commercial flights to and from Europe from the US. That meant all those airlines had to ground a good portion of their fleet, and put them in temporary storage all over Europe. We can reactivate them—get the word out to the crews. They fly them into airports around here, and we fly the refugees out to Prague or Munich or wherever. We'll let the EU figure that out, but we get the refugees out, and we get them out fast!" He slammed a fist onto the table in sheer happiness, then he sobered a bit, because everyone was still staring at him. "I mean...it can be done, right?"

Willow began to nod, slowly. "Yes...it could be done, Whitley. It's been done before."

"The Berlin Airlift?" Ruby put in.

"I was thinking more along the lines of Operation Solomon, when the Israelis evacuated Jews from Ethiopia, or—"

"—or Operation Pony Express, when Faunus were evacuated from the Middle East!" Blake interrupted enthusiastically. "My parents organized that—it was the first time the White Fang did something as an organization! We chartered all those..." Blake now saw that everyone was looking at her. "I mean, yeah, we can definitely do this."

"I hate to be the fly in the ointment," Weiss said, "but that's going to take time—a few days, at least. I'll grant that it's better than leaving them to their own devices," she added, raising a hand to forestall objections. "We're also going to be asking these crews to fly into a fallout pattern."

"They'll be safe in the aircraft!" Ruby insisted, swept up in Whitley's plan. "And we can have the refugees change clothes before they get in the airliners. And wash off the airliners when they land!"

"C'mon, Weiss, don't be a party pooper!" Nora grinned. "Unless you've got a better idea."

"I don't. But you're forgetting one very big problem. How do we let the refugees know where to go to be evacuated? Most won't have access to television, and it's going to take just as much time to arrange for radio broadcast time—that's something Schnee GmbH doesn't own. We need to find a way to let them know where to go and when. And I'm not sure how to do that."

"You should." They all turned at the new voice. Standing in the doorway to the dining room was Rissa Arashikaze. "It's called the Commando Solo."

AUTHOR'S ADDITIONAL NOTES: The synagogue Team Metal rallies at actually exists-luckily, it's in very good condition in the real world. It was spared the razing of Warsaw, especially the Warsaw Ghetto, during World War II because the Germans used it as a stable. Chaser is right that the Delta team is close to the old Warsaw Ghetto, where thousands of Jewish prisoners chose to make a stand in 1943, rather than be deported to Auschwitz. They were eventually overrun by the Germans, but they took a lot of the SS with them.

I kind of feel I need to apologize for Benedykta's profanity, but there has always been very, very bad blood between Poland and Russia...which is a lot more obvious these days than it was when I started this fic.

Operation Solomon is a real event; it took place in 1991. 14,300 Ethiopian Jews were evacuated to Israel in 36 hours, and one El Al 747 carried over a thousand people in one flight. So Whitley's idea isn't all that far-fetched...