ALIENS: DUST AND BULLETS Chapter 2: Spouse Delivery & CPM, an Aliens/Predator + RWBY Crossover fanfic

Sorry for the wait folks, please enjoy this new chapter. More info on the bottom.

It wasn't a very long trip back, although by the time they had landed. They quickly got their plus one on a stretcher and moved her into the medical bay.

"Alright, easy does it." Joseph chimed in. "She has enough injuries as it is." He joked, his words drawing silence from the rest of the group. They didn't want their only possible source of information on this world dying on them before they could get their questions answered.

It didn't take long for Raquel to properly diagnose the civvie. After a few blood tests and consulting her medical knowledge. From what she could tell, the… local was on her last legs before they found her. From puncture wounds in her chest and limbs, some really nasty poison that was wrecking her nervous system, and of course she had lost a lot of blood and plasma.

While she was tending to their new "guest", the rest of the crew gathered on the bridge for debrief as well as wondering about the civvie herself.

"This doesn't make any goddamn sense." Jeffords said while passing back and forth across the room.

Joseph turned to his commanding officer. "I thought you said we weren't anywhere near the frontier?"

"We aren't." The Sergeant Major replied. "Despite them being a type one civilization, there isn't any sign of them getting above their world's atmosphere."

"Okay, but what about the floating city? The fact that they look like us? Or hell, what about the wildlife? That did NOT look in any way, shape, or form natural." The tech-com questioned, trying to get an answer about the planet's absurdity.

"Haven't got a damn clue. All we can do is wait for Myrntoth to finish patching up the civvie, then discuss her findings." Conner answered honestly.

Speaking of the devil, she came into the room covered in blood. Zimmerman was always the most squeamish out of the group. Probably because he was a rookie filling in an old friend's spot late in that war…

Some of the crew decided to visit the medical ward, including the commanding officer. As they observed the second half of the operation, a few took note of the patient's physical features. First was the obvious looking human bit. Next was how young she looked. Hell, she even looked younger than the newbie. Aside from that was her hair color. Being mostly black with red tips. And yes, it's natural. The shampooing confirmed it. Apart from that was the more peculiar feature, her silver eyes… At first, they thought she was blind but no. They work just fine. Their ocular testing equipment showed as much. So that begs the question… How the hell did she evolve to get these features?

Well they won't have to wait much longer to get an answer, Raquel managed to finish the operation early. She stepped into the observation room, removing the blood soaked gloves and tossing them away.

"So?" The second in command spoke up. "What's the verdict?" Hicks finished.

"She'll live." The Field Medic spoke. "Although, it doesn't look like she'll be moving about for quite some time…"

"How long until we can begin questioning?" Conner asked her.

"Hard to say… Probably a week or two at best." This caused him to groan in irritation.

"So we have a sleeping beauty on our hands, great." John said with a small sigh.

"If you're upset already then you don't want to hear how long we have to wait in the worst case scenario." Raquel replied.

"Shit. Well aside from that… What did you determine from her belongings?" The Sergeant asked, his wrinkled brow furrowing slightly.

"Well she has an odd sense of fashion I can tell you that much. But she did have a few pictures with her, her and what I'd assume to be her family." The Medic answered as she looked for something in her bag.

"Proper DNA tests are gonna take a while, a day or two I'd say, for all we know she might be an Alien that just looks remarkably human. But until we know for sure we'll just keep her strapped down." She continued.

John nodded and glanced at the still body of their unexpected guest, noting the few scars on her body.

"That would be for the best. Keep a weapon on you at all times. Can never be too careful." John said as he looked back at the medic.

"Yes sir. And I'd recommend seeing Zach to get more information on her weapon." Raquel said as she set the bag down.

John nodded slowly while furrowing his brow slightly. He then turned and left the medic to her duties. The team's gun nut might have some more answers for him.

Once he had then all he could properly file the after action report. John sighed and felt a decade older. 'God I hate paperwork.' He thought to himself bitterly. It was something that he despised to no end, even more so tha- His thought process was interrupted by the familiar sound of armored plating being pierced. This time via a high caliber machine gun… He soon arrived at the ships firing range, only to find Specialist Hazzard holding onto a strange looking M2 on a tripod and a makeshift target having gnarly looking holes through it along with an opened case of ammunition next to it. Machine gun itself looks very… fancy. With its red, white, and black color scheme suspiciously resembling the currently sleeping civvie. Most of its frame was primarily a blackened steel base, along with some gnerling in certain places along with a jagged bayonet at the end of the barrel. Crude yet elegant.

"Hazzard!" The older marine yelled across the room, causing the small arms repairman to fumble with the weapon and dropped it onto the ground. Giving it a few extra scratches then it already had. With Zach standing stiff and saluting the Sergeant.

"Sir!" The Small Arms repairman hastily said.

"At ease, soldier. So, you mind explaining to me why you decided to unbox one of our machine guns out of storage as well as giving it a new paint job?" John asked dryly.

"Well I uh… Just watch. " John raised an eyebrow as he watched Zach walk back over to the weapon. Zach then pressed a button on the weapon and it then began folding as well as encasing itself in armored plating. Shifting into the same damn black and red suitcase they found next to her body. Surprising the almost elderly soldier.

"The Fuck?!" John exclaimed in shock as he looked at the now transformed weapon.

"Crazy right?" Zach asked as he pressed the button again and the weapon shifted back into a .50 cal.

At first, he didn't respond. Instead his eyes continued to be transfixed on the Browning look alike. "... How the hell did a goddamn M2 get all the way out here, let alone in our guest custody?" He suddenly asked.

"Uh, I don't think this is a factory made product." Zach said as he fiddled with the weapon's bolt some more.

"How so?..." The Sergeant major questions.

"Well, after giving it a thorough clean and replacing broken parts… I can't seem to find any kind of patent, serial number, or logo for a weapons manufacturer. Plus, look at the way the handle is designed." He then spun the weapon to its side. Revealing the ornate pistol grip.

"On any other weapon this would be an aftermarket attachment, something that would cost quite a bit to get made and or built into a mass produced firearm. But this? Too ornate, just as old as the weapon itself, if not more so." The weapons expert continued.

"...The fucking country bumkin in our medical bay built a goddamn Ma Deuce in her garage or somethin?"

"Kinda, most of the parts have been machined. But this is definitely a custom weapon. Not meant for the field. And that's not even getting into its looser tolerances before I replaced most of the parts…" He trailed off. This made the commanding officer look at the weapon quizzically.

"Hmm… I'll give her some credit, is it definitely a proper Browning. But the question remains, why the hell would she even think of making this?" The Sergeant said.

"Could be a hunting weapon." Zach replied honestly, causing John to look at him in minor confusion.

"Shot in the dark. But after what we saw of the local wildlife planetside… could have been built to accommodate this. And I don't even want to get into the oversized paperweight we found in her pocket." He gestured towards the seemingly useless object that was laid down on the tray. It was small, barely the size of his pinky finger. Looking gray and metallic while feeling fairly light. There were a few ports on its side, far from any of the standard ports on most equipment they use.

"...I'd rather you not mess with anything we can't fix. They're still someone's property and I seriously doubt you want to tell her that you broke what she could consider an important religious icon or somethin…" The older man sighed before grabbing himself a cigarette and lighting it with his old zippo. After taking in a quick drag he pulled its filtered end out of his mouth and held it in the air as a few of its ashes were flicked off it.

{"Uh, sir? Are you there?"} They could both hear the nearby intercom broadcasting Ingram's voice. The older man grumbled a bit to himself before walking towards the wall mounted device. Then pressing the speaker button.

"Yeah I'm here, what's the problem?" He asked.

{"Well… Our guest is awake and she's not too happy about being restrained on a medical bed."}

"...I thought she was supposed to be out for another few weeks?" John said in a quiet shock.

{"Well, if ya ask me. I'm starting to think Raquel is starting to lose her touch."} The Tech-Com replied.

"Dammit, I'm on my way." He then turned to the confused Specialist. "You're coming with me… and bring some tasers." He continued.

"You got it." Zach said as he pulled out two taser's and handed one to John. Who in turn, quickly loaded it with a cartridge before grabbing a few spares.

When her eyes first opened, she was no longer inside an abandoned home in a Grimm infested frontier town. Instead, she was in a very… upscaled hospital. At least from what she can tell. It was very spacious, with multiple beds lining the wall parallel with hers.

Along with various pieces of medical equipment. However, despite how much more advanced it is compared to most other major medical facilities… She's alone. All the other beds are empty, with some of the pieces of equipment being hastily stored on the spare beds. Making her wonder where exactly she is. Most of the equipment looks advanced.

More so than most other hospitals, even Atlas facilities aren't this fancy. But that wasn't the biggest red flag. No, it was the fact she was restrained onto the bed. Which means that she might have been taken by the same people that tried to kill her…

This means she has a limited window of time to get out and try to contact her boss. Thankfully, the bindings were fairly weak. With them being mostly canvas with velcro.

But she would soon test her escape plan via a baptism by fire as the door opened to reveal a couple guys in an olive green uniform. They were unarmed but had something in their holsters. They slowly walked towards her bed, their hands held away from their weapons in a non threatening manner.

"Uh miss? I need you to calm down. Ok? Can you do that for me?" One of them spoke, he looked fairly young. Looking a bit exhausted, with his blond hair being fairly short and unkempt. His clothing was covered with a few stains of mechanical substances, making the previously olive green uniform look a bit darker and lighter in some places.

"I'm going to undo your bindings, and I want you to remain calm. You're still hurt and my commanding officer would chew my ass out for letting you reopen your wounds." He told her as calmly as he could.

As he moved closer, she waited for an opening. A slim chance to catch them by surprise and escape without getting hurt. Once he got close enough, she waited for her to get distracted then…

CRACK

She tossed the man into the metal wall, causing him to cry out in pain. But she didn't pay too much attention, she had to get out. With her newly regained strength, she broke free from her remaining bindings and ran.

"I understand that. But wouldn't it be easier to... ease her into her new life? Just keep it slow so she isn't stressed out or get a panic attack? I mean, she almost died for Christ's sake. We can't just-"

CRACK

A pain fueled scream followed the sickening crack heard through the hallway. The small group of marines quickly ran over to find the medical bay completely trashed. Those who were still inside were strewn about the room, with the local tech-com was probably in the worst shape. What with most of the poor bastards limbs being limp from the impact into the distinctly dented wall. It was very clear that their "guest" had been agitated enough to warrant a successful escape attempt that resulted in the injury of military personnel.

The high ranking officer turned towards the young ensign who previously recommended a non direct approach.

"What was that about easing her into the truth?"

"Nothing sir…"

"No please, I want to hear your opinion again about not wanting to distress the civvie further."

He said nothing.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Now quit mopping and help us find our 'esteemed' guest." He ordered to which he complied and ran out of the room. Leaving the small arms repairman and the almost elderly sergeant to their own devices… Only for the high ranking officer to try to walk out of the room with Zach stopping him.

"Where are you going?"

"Take a wild guess."

"...You're planning on finding the civvie yourself aren't you?"

"Yep."

"...Did you not notice what she did to Joseph?"

"I did… and I'm not deterred." He replied before attempting another pursuit. Once again, the specialist stopped him.

"I don't think you can handle her."

"Bitch please, I'm enough of a freak to take on some super powered civvie. Now quit stalling." He shook off the other man's grip before walking out of the room.

As she ran through the vast hallways and corridors, the confusing layout of this building became everso more difficult to navigate. What with the strange writing on the signs that would normally help in this situation, lack of windows, and with most of it being more advanced than some of the few atliesian facilities she's been to. Causing her to wonder further about her current location.

However it wouldn't take long before she found a nearby window… Only to find that she was NOT even close to home, not by a long shot. Instead, as she stared into the deep black that greeted her. Her face morphed into shock and near horror…

"Quite the sight, isn't it?" She heard a voice behind her say. Her neck almost snapped as she turned around swiftly… Only to find another man in an olive green uniform. This one in particular was far older than the others if the slightly grayed edges of his short messy black hair and short stubble is anything to go by.

She tensed up and was waiting for him to attack… Only for him to walk past her and look out the window into the dark abyss. His dull blue eyes sparing an occasional glance towards her, then back at the window ahead.

"Yeah… Sorry if we spooked ya. I would have preferred to brief you on your situation earlier but… Well, you know how that went." He sighed. Then suddenly, the "young" woman collapsed onto the metal floor. Surprising the older man for a second before recomposing himself.

"...You were running on pure adrenaline, weren't you?" She nodded, confirming his hypothesis. "Want me to take you back to medical?" She nodded once more. And without saying a word, he grabbed her by the arms and began to drag her across the ground. With her drifting into a deep sleep…

"Wakey wakey…" A voice spoke from nearby, causing her eyes to open.

When she did, she found herself once again in a hospital bed. Only this time, she wasn't restrained. Standing over her were a strange group of people. Some she's seen before. Others look fairly different. One of them looked like half his face had melted off! But her train of thought was interrupted when one of them started speaking.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, I'm gonna ask you a series of questions that you have to answer with complete honesty. Are you ok with that?"

The woman opened her mouth hesitantly, her silver eyes glancing around nervously. Taking in each person, how they all looked like some kind of strange military group.

She breathed in deeply to calm her nerves. "Y-Yes… but first uh, can I have some water?" She asked hesitantly.

Almost immediately the man with blond hair offered her a bottle of water and a small smile.

"Thank you." She said softly as she took the bottle and opened it, she then began to drink the water within. Downing the entire bottle in a few moments. Once she was done the eldest man of the group leaned forward.

"Now, I have some questions that need answers. First being, just what exactly are you?"

"Uhh… What do you mean?" She asked, both out of confusion and curiosity. "Are… Are you guys aliens?" She asked a bit in fear.

The rest of the foreigners looked at her strangely before the older man replied. "No… we're human. Well, what qualifies a human back home. Because last time I checked, people who were in critical condition don't suddenly get up, throw their supposed captors around, and run faster than the local cheetahs." He answered.

This answer caused her to wonder, both about their hypothetical lives and where they come from and what has made them so… confused about her apparent reawakening. She remembered when her old teammates had spared one another and ended up relatively unscathed. So why would it confuse these foreigners that she was able to awaken so quickly?...

"Uhhhhhh…"

"You know what? I'll just put genetic abnormalities and we'll get back to it later. If that's okay with you."

"So… Did you find her yet?" Tai asked with hope in his voice.

"Nope. Could only find a few blood stains spelling out her name but that's about it." Qrow replied, giving his friend the bad news.

Tai took in a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves as he shakily sat down on a chair. Qrow looked downward before reaching into his coat and pulling out his flask and held it out to Tai.

Tai looked at the flask in hesitation before grabbing it and downing the contents inside. The cooled liquid made his chest uncomfortably warm. Once it left his mouth, he began to breathe in a bit due to the strange sensation.

"Ahem Th-Thanks." Tai said as he handed Qrow back the flask, his voice stuttering a bit.

"Heh. See you're still a bit of an lightweight." He chuckled a bit. "Although there was something off about what was left of the village."

He exhaled. "How so?" His throat was still sore from the strong liquor.

"While the villagers were probably torn apart from the Grimm. However it looks like a third party had stepped in and taken something… or someone."

Tai's eyes widened when Qrow told him the information. His mind racing through dozens of possibilities.

"You think that… These people took Summer with them."

"Maybe, although it definitely didn't look like one of her pawns."

"... Explain."

"It was too organized, bullet holes everywhere. Hell, I couldn't even recognize the calibers. At least from the shells and casings I could find. Although… I did find one thing that stood out." He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a small white box. It was a cigarette pack. But Tai didn't recognize the brand. With a symbol of a red circle with some blue at the circle's edges.

"Lucky Strikes?" He wondered out loud.

"Yeah, at first. I thought it was a local brand from one of the four kingdoms. But when I went looking… I found nothing."

"Huh?"

"I mean I found nothing. No company called British American Tobacco. No ads. Hell, not even recognized by any of the corner shops I visited."

"Maybe it's a start up company then?" Tai suggested, Qrow immediately shook his head.

"Wouldn't make sense. Like I said. Nothing. I would've known if it was." Qrow replied. Tai frowned and rubbed his chin in worry.

"What do you think we should do?" The worried husband asked the drunken huntsman. Qrow furrowed his eyebrows in thought.

"I'm going to go talk with Oz, see if he can help us. You are going to stay here and look after Ruby and Yang." Qrow told his friend and former teammate.

"... What should I tell them?" He asked his brother in law.

"Just say that she'll be gone for a little while. Hopefully we'll be able to get her back. I can only imagine what kind of unspeakable torture their putting her through…" His mind once again dwelling within a dark place.

"CHUG CHUG CHUG CHUG CHUG CHUG CHUG!" They all shouted in unison as their youngest pilot is struggling to drink the expired gallon of rehydrated milk. All the while their "guest" watched in her wheelchair, out of morbid curiosity.

It has been over a week since she's been on this spacecraft and so far… It's been a strange experience. Although she wasn't sure what to expect from space faring humans from another world. But it's definitely not like she's seen in the movies. They almost reminded her of… a huntsman in training team back when she went to Beacon.

They all seemed to be around her age and older, but they all acted like hormonal teenagers. It was… endearing and a little bit funny too.

She couldn't help but smile when Caleb finished the entire jug, looking seconds from throwing up. The entire crew watched as the pilot turned green and began to heave. But he gulped down and regained control.

"Finished." He raised the empty jug as the entire crew went wild, hooting and hollering as patting the pilot on the back for finishing the entire jug and not immediately throwing up.

"Congrats… Now you gotta do the obstacle course in the firing range." His superior officer told him.

"Huh?" He sounded a bit worried.

"What? Did you think it would be the only thing you're doing, fly boy?" He asked the slightly shivering ensign. "Now get off your ass and get ready for the next part of the initiation… Don't make me pull out my stun gun." The rest of the group was chuckling a bit at this.

"Ugh… you guys suck…" Caleb then ran off towards the firing range.

"Hmm… and you say you don't have any leads on Summer's whereabouts?" Ozpin asked.

"Nope, aside from the fact she was taken by some new group we haven't seen before… I've got nothing." Qrow trailed off.

"Perhaps, they are a bit closer to home than we expect."

"I don't know Oz. Seems like we're missing some crucial detail we missed during our investigations…"

The headmaster hummed while cupping his chin in thought.

"What about their armaments? Anything left behind?" Ozpin asked the scout. Qrow rubbing the back of his head in thought before something hit him.

"No, only spare casings. But now that you mention it, what they used didn't seem to be dust. It didn't have that distinct dust smell left behind and there was no dust residue on the casings. It was something else." Qrow said after thinking for a moment.

Ozpin hummed again deep in thought. "They may be using gunpowder then." The headmaster concluded, causing Qrow to raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"Gunpowder? Why would they use that? Isn't it less effective than dust or something?" Qrow asked.

"Only against the Grimm. Dust burns through them and kills them faster. As if it's toxic to them. But Dust rounds aren't extremely harmful to humans. Huntsman can barely feel them and a regular human, if shot, will be injured but they could survive rather easily." Ozpin took a sip from his cup of coffee.

"Gunpowder bullets are less effective against Grimm. But conversely, they're devastating against humans. Gunpowder bullets are able to pierce through aura rather easily. It'll take a hundred rounds from a Dust based rifle to break the average aura. A gunpowder based rifle can do the same in five rounds. Whoever these people are, they were going there to kill someone." Ozpin said deathly serious, his normally jovial tone gone.

Qrow felt a cold sweat trail down the side of his head as his eyes widened slightly.

"Are you saying that these people killed Summer?"

"It may be a possibility. But they could have also saved her from her attackers." Ozpin replied.

"Bullshit. There were no bodies around. Nothing." Qrow retorted bitterly.

"They may have disposed of them to stave off investigation. There are still too many variables. We can only hope that whoever these people are, they meant the best of intentions. But if they did kill her. The Atlesians will see to their fate." Ozpin said calmly.

"So that's the plan? Let Jimmy and his goons take care of it?" Qrow scoffed and crossed his arms.

"If they turn out to be dangerous, then yes. If not, I'll speak with them personally." Ozpin reassured his friend. Qrow wanted to protest but sighed instead.

"Alright. Alright. I'll trust you on this." Qrow relented, hoping that his boss was right about this...

[The Man Who Sold the World (2010 Remaster)]

She found herself listening to the oddly catchy tune as she laid there, waiting for her "Doctor" to finish with her various tests.

Raquel grabbed a strip of rubber and tied it tightly above Summer's elbow, sterilizing the pit of the elbow with an alcohol pad. She then grabbed a butterfly needle and waited for a moment before injecting the needle into the woman's vein. Placing a vial within the needle as blood poured into it.

Once the vial was filled the medic quickly took it out and placed a sterile cotton swab over where the needle punctured the skin, taking off the rubber strip and pulled out the needle in one practiced motion.

She then wrapped gauze over the swap to hold it in place.

"Now try to get some rest, I've gotta deal with my next patient. IE, my morbidly irregular commanding officer." She told the huntress, who nodded in reply.

Raquel looked at her for a moment before walking off, leaving the room and shutting the door behind her. Leaving Summer alone to ponder her thoughts. Her mind turned to her family and friends.

'Do they think I'm dead? Maybe I am dead and this is some tame fever dream.' Summer smacked herself and shook her head.

'Don't think like that. You're alive, you'll get back to your family. You'll kiss your husband and hug your kids again.' Summer thought to herself before sighing.

Then, she heard a strange conversation occurring outside of her room. She could barely understand it but as they got closer, it became more and more clear.

"Thank god for this place huh. No new bunkmates coming in and out. God I had so many horrible bunkmates in so many other bases." She heard what sounded like Zach speaking.

"Never had a whole lot of bad roommates in the military. Most of mine were outside of it. Like when I was in college." She heard Mike reply.

"You went to college? When was this?"

"Back when you were in Louisiana and I didn't want to join the military right out of high school."

"You should have stuck to the decision."

"I really should have. But anyways. I was living in this condo with three other guys, sharing a living space... and one of them was my bunkmate. But he got married and he left so the other two guys were like, Well… we need a fourth person to take his place and pay rent. Otherwise we have to pay more and I said OK, that's fine. Go find somebody. They found somebody. His name was Jeremy."

"Is this why you named the pikmin Jeremy?"

"Maybe subconsciously…" Zach chuckled at this. "Jeremy was technically going to college like we were…"

"Uh huh."

"Maybe not getting the best of grades, as he spent most of his time at home… not doing homework, but playing Gaccha League"

"Somehow I knew you were gonna say Gaccha League. How did I know that?"

"Like legitimately playing Gaccha League… with Cheeto stains on his underpants."

"Uh Huh."

"I ended up leaving after a few weeks, and they were like, You gotta pay rent! Fine, I'll pay rent. I'm gonna live with my mom… You can have my rent money. I don't want to be here. He smells. Bad… and he's always here. He wasn't a bad guy, but he just didn't take care of himself."

"Oh man… I had a roommate while I was in Fort Polk… We all called him Baloney Bob because he always smelled like old baloney. Baloney Bob was not the smartest man… not by a long shot."

"And here I thought Marines only took the best."

"Normally, The Colonial Marine Corps only takes the best… but this was the heady days of post-Acheron when anybody could get into the Marines with a smile and a wave and all you had to do was just to tell the recruiter that… YES, ME WANT GO MARINES. ME DRIVE APC and they would immediately sign you up."

"Ah yes 'We need recruits for this military engagement we're tangled up in! How long is it gonna take? Three days, five months. I doubt seven years." They both shared a laugh for a moment.

"Alright so. Baloney Bob was a vehicle mechanic who knew next to jack shit about repairing vehicles. Because as we both know the Marines only take in the best of the best. But we got moved into 'new' barracks. They were new to me but they had been there since time immemorial."

"Fort's built hundreds of years ago. Yes, perfect for modern day use."

While she wanted to hear the rest of the story Summer found herself drifting asleep, her eyelids growing heavy as she leaned into her bed. The music became quieter and quieter as her eyes slowly closed. She yawed tiredly before closing her and falling into a peaceful sleep.

[End]

Yang was wide awake, sitting in her bed and looking out of the window in the middle of the room. Glancing at Ruby every once in a while. Her younger sister slept without a fuss. She wanted to sleep, but she couldn't. Something insider making it almost impossible.

She smiled softly for a moment before looking back at the window. Wondering when her mom was going to come back home. She missed her.

She hugged her knees close to her chest and looked down at the bed. After a moment she decided that she was going to get a glass of milk or water.

She quietly stood up from her bed and sneakily made her way to the door so as to not wake up her younger sister.

As she made it out she walked over to the kitchen, but she saw something in the corner of her eye. She looked over and saw the wire to pull down the attic stairs. It called to her.

She glanced from side to side and walked over to it. She tried to reach for it but she wasn't tall enough to reach for it. She looked around for a moment before seeing a stool nearby, she grabbed in and placed it under the string. She then climbed the stool and stood on top of it.

Using all of her strength she pulled the wire down and the attic door opened up, the folding stairs almost hitting her but she ducked under it and then jumped off the stool as the stairs hit the wooden floor.

She hesitated for a moment before climbing the steps up into the attic. The stairs seemed impossibly long to her as she went up them. Her heart pounding, the noise reverberating in her head.

And before she knew it, she was inside the attic.

Taking a moment to steady herself she looked around the dark room, the moonlight being her only source of illumination. As she looked about, her eyes landed on one trunk in particular.

The Moon Light seemingly shining down on it , as if showing her the way.

She slowly walked towards the chest, standing almost in front of it. She quickly noticed that it was covered in dust and had been untouched for a long while.

She hesitated for a moment before opening the trunk, the insides were even dustier and there was almost nothing in it.

There was just some old clothes and… a picture.

Yang picked the old photo up and looked at it. She saw her mommy and daddy, along with her uncle… and some other lady she's never seen before. She looked alot like Uncle Qrow. Her daddy was holding the lady close and mommy was next to Uncle Qrow.

'Is she my Auntie?' She thought to herself before flipping the photo around. Another smaller photo on the back.

As soon as she saw it her eyes widened and she felt her heart drop.

It was a picture of her as a baby. Her father and… the raven haired women holding her. All three of them together. Like a family…

"Yann?... Wha r you doin up here?" She heard a voice behind her, turning around sharply. She spotted her "sister" looking at her curiously. With her still lacking the ability for traditional speech.

Yang looked at the photo then back at her sister.

"Ruby, get your coat, we're going to find mommy." She told the toddler.

Ruby looked at Yang in confusion for a moment before nodding and wobbly walking down the steps. Yang followed close by.

"Well, in my professional opinion. You are now cleared from the medical ward. Here's your meds and a list of what you should and should not do for a little while." Raquel told the now fully healed Summer while handing her said aforementioned objects.

"Thanks Doc. For everything." Summer said with a grateful smile. Raquel smiled back before chuckling slightly.

"It was no problem. It's my job after all." She said jokingly. "Now get yourself over to the Armory to get your belongings back. I hear the guy's managed to fix them up."

Summer was… conflicted by this news. On the one hand, this meant that her things should be in working order. But on the other hand… She remembers the time Qrow tried to use her weapon as a battering ram after one too many drinks, causing her to be almost as overprotective of her stuff as she is with her family. Almost…

As she walked through the endless hallways and corridors, she found herself in a peculiar thought process. Here she was, the first Remnant native to be in space. As well as discovering that other humans exist, traveling across the stars. Far from the tyranny of the Grimm.

It almost sounded like a paradise… But, she just had this nagging feeling in the back of her mind warning her that it's not all that it's cracked up to be. She knows that their military, with all their presumed fancy gadgets and advanced tech. Although it makes her wonder… What are they doing out here?... But her thoughts would go unanswered as she arrived at the metal door with the sign "ARMORY" above it. Once she was close enough to the door, she pressed the nearby button on a control panel. Allowing the metal hatch to open. Revealing… Weapons… Lots and lots of weapons…

She let out a quiet giggle from sheer giddiness. Normally, she would restrain herself from such actions since she grew out of that "faze" by the time she graduated from the academy… But that doesn't mean her inner gun nut won't stand by while she views brand new forms of firepower. And while, granted. They looked mass produced rather than hand made by each individual member of the ship's crew. They were still weapons made and used by humans from another planet, that still warrants a closer look.

As she observed the weapon racks, she noticed how much the assumed rifles differ from the Atliesian ones. While the Remnant based military rifles were… Less than stellar. Designed more so to be used by their androids rather than human hands. These ones, however.

It looked as if actual thought had been put into their designs; being for more ergonomic than any remnant based rifle she had seen and when she picked one up it wasn't nearly as heavy as she thought it would have been. Lighter than rifles she had seen before. As she looked it over her giddiness grew more and more as she realized she was holding perhaps one of the most advanced weapons in the entire galaxy.

"Enjoying your new toy?" The sudden voice made her jump as she spun around and stood straight, Sergeant Major John Conner standing at the doorway. His lightly grayed black hair is not hard to notice. Seeing the non-commissioned officer she tried to fumble out a salute and failed miserably.

"Yes Sir! Wait I… damnit." She muttered miserably

"Relax, kid. You ain't in trouble. Hell, you are not even one of my subordinates anyways." He brushed off her concerns in a casual manner. "Although, I hope you got better trigger discipline for your machine gun than that rifle. Cus I'd rather not have you shoot up the interior of a pressurized confined space we sleep in." He warned, causing her to look down and realize she's holding down the rifle's trigger.

"Oh… OH!" She immediately took her finger off the trigger and looked at the marine sheepishly, holding the gun by the handguard and buttstock. "S-Sorry."

"Ah relax, at least it's unloaded." He attempted to comfort her. "Most guys who show up to basic don't know the difference between a firing pin and a door handle." His joke seemed to get her to chuckle a bit.

"Heh, I guess…" She trailed off. "So… what's your world like? The place you guys all come from."

"Well… most of the crew, including me. Are from a little dirt ball called Earth. Home of humanity… Although a few of us come from the first colonies, Luna and Mars." He answered honestly.

"...How many worlds did your people settle on?" She suddenly asked, her curiosity peaked further than before.

"Oh uh, give or take several… hundred."

"Wow… where I come from probably seems so… backwards compared to your home."

"Well, I wouldn't go that far… barely did any sightseeing back home to begin with."

"Oh… Well, I hope you're able to get back to your family's."

"Yeah, I hope they manage to as well…" He trailed off. With her soon possessing what the old Marine just said.

"Wait, what do you mean by 'they'?"

"Oh well, I just hope that after we figure out how far away we are from known space so that my guys are able to get back to their folks. Since they could use the time off." He reiterated.

"...What about you?"

"Don't got any."

"...What?"

"Do I need to repeat myself? I don't have any relatives."

"Even parents?"

"Dumpster kid."

"...What about a partner back home?"

"Broke up years ago. I Haven't gotten together with another girl since."

"...No kids?"

"My reproductive system is completely shot. Couldn't make children even if I wanted to. Anyways, shall I give you your shit back?"

"Okay…" She replied a bit saddened.

"Great! Now don't worry, nothings broken." He gestured to her to follow as he led her towards the indoor firing range. There, she would spot none other than her personal weapon in its combat configuration. But there were minor differences that stuck out to someone like her.

Since she made the weapon. For example, the charging handle was different. Instead of her regular fold out grip sticking out of the side, there was a cammed charging handle. Using mechanical means to improve user operation of the weapon. With the polymer outer shell of the receiver now completely removed, its shattered remains poking out of a nearby bin.

Next, the previously cut down water-cooled barrel that broke during her fight with… that man. It had been bent to its side, spewing out hot water and preventing it from firing as well as making her use of its bayonet more difficult. Now replaced with a longer, thicker heavy barrel that was air-cooled with said bayonet reattached to the weapon. Now looking removable instead of being bolted onto the mussel.

Next, was the tripod. Something she always struggled to make for her baby was now attached and easily removable thanks to these space people. Last but not least, the box ammunition can was replaced with a larger more rounded container. Its label reads 200 rounds. Over all, she was almost enthralled with how much her weapon had been cared for and improved upon.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" He suddenly spoke, causing her to turn her head towards him. "You know, I was very surprised at your preferred choice of weapon. Especially when I recognized it."

"Huh?"

"From what Hazzard told me, your weapon used to resemble an early pattern of the Browning M2 machine gun. At least, before the repairs and modifications. Transforming it into a modernized version of the couple hundred year old legend that's still in use with my faction." He explained, raising further questions in her mind.

"...What are the Colonial Marine Corps anyways? I heard some of you guys uttering the name." She suddenly asked.

"Hmm… How do I put this?" He began thinking of ways to describe his line of work to the strange Civvie. "I'll explain it in a bit, but right now… I gotta have a chat with my men. You can follow if you like." He then turned around and began walking towards a nearby sliding door. She then gathered her things and began to follow him. Transforming her weapon back into its suitcase configuration.

Above the doorway itself is a sign with "HANGERBAY" written on it. Opening the door, she could barely make out what lies beyond it to him being in the way. But that would change very soon as the two of them step out, with her eyes widening at the sight.

"Alright, easy does it." He waved the guy in the yellow exoskeleton forward towards him. Said man operated contraption slowly walking forward, step by step. Carrying a large missile.

The guy then noticed something about it. "Hey wait!" He stopped it from moving towards the strangely shaped green airship. "That's the wrong missile you dumbass! High Explosive and Heat Seekers only, we're saving the Napalm for later!"

The man wearing the exoskeleton scoffed. "Alright alright." He said before placing the missile back down, "Don't get your panties in a twist." The man added as he picked up another missile.

John shook his head slightly, Summer looking at the vast amount of missiles in slight awe. The veritable stockpile of explosives that could arm a small army.

"This is… What you have here is." Summer paused to try and find the right words. "It's incredible!" She turned to the grizzled man beside her. "Just who are you guys?"

"We're marines." John said with a simple shrug, Summer looking at him with a deadpan expression. John rolled his eyes, a small smile on his face. "Alright I'll tell ya." He said before becoming more composed and serious.

"The United States Colonial Marine Corps is the interplanetary military branch of the United Americas. Our job was to patrol across the Frontier, checking on the outer colonies and such." The older man began. "Me and the boy's have spent a large portion of our lives in the military. Fought in a few wars, met plenty of interesting folks who called the edges of known space home, and so on." He finished.

"Woah." Summer said, looking contemplative. "What… What was it like? To travel through space and land on different planets?"

"It's a cold and unforgiving place." He started. "Where grown men are driven mad by what lurks within the infinite void… At least, if you believe any of the crackpot ghost stories those cargo haler's talk about. In reality, it's a hard place that'll test even the best person. But it's not an impossible place to live in really. Just gotta have the will to carve out a place of your own."

"Oh." Summer said, somehow both disappointed and relieved at the same time. "At least you guys don't have to deal with Grimm up there."

"The what?"

Summer blinked before realizing that before today the man in front of her has never even heard of a Grimm before.

"Oh! Right, you don't know what those are." She paused as she tried to best explain what the Grimm were.

"The Grimm are… their beasts of darkness with bone white armor. They're pretty much evil incarnate and will hunt down humanity relentlessly."

John thought to himself for a second. 'They don't sound nice… Wait a minute.'

"They're black and white right?" John asked.

"Yeah. Their black and white… With red eyes." Summer said, nodding slightly as she explained.

"We met a few of them where we found ya. Hopefully this time we probably won't have as much trouble dealing with them as we did before."

"You never know with the Grimm. Most of them are young and inexperienced, but as they grow older they grow… smarter. More tactical. They are a force to be reckoned with."

"Then we'll teach them a thing or two about picking a fight with the Corps. Speaking of which… MARINE'S! GET YOUR ASSES OVER HERE, NOW!" He yelled. Causing the troops to scramble over to them. In a vertical formation.

"Alright you sons of bitches. Here's the deal, we're heading down planetside to do two things. One: were dropping off the civvie off wherever the hell she calls home. Next: we're setting up base camp on the surface. Since well… I know how you guy's feel about being stuck in a giant metal tin can floating in deep space." They nodded in agreement.

"But of course, after our first encounter with the local wildlife. It's painfully clear that we probably have to break out more… useful munitions." This caused the rest of the marines to look… uncomfortably giddy would be the best way for her to describe it.

"You mean?..." Frederick hesitantly asked, a grin forming on the heavy weapons specialist's face.

"That's right, I'm upgrading our allotted gear to Class 3. That means well… We ain't pullin any punches this time." He gestured towards the door leading back to the Armory. "Now grab your shit and make sure to dress for the occasion." He ordered them. To which they all began walking towards the armory, save for the two guys who went back to preparing the olive drab spacecraft. The Sargent followed the rest of his men. Leaving her to watch and wait.

Tai had mixed feelings about what he was thinking of doing next. Giving his two daughters the bad news now could be potentially disastrous, but at the same time. It was probably for the best that he did it now rather than later. Any further delay could result in far deeper trauma and distrust towards the remaining eldest family members.

So, he grabbed some of the last cookies Summer had made and stuck them on a plate along with two glasses of milk on a tray and began to carry it to Ruby and Yang's room. The liquid sloshing a bit with every step he took. Once he was outside their door, using his left hand to knock on the door.

"Yang. Ruby. I… I need to talk with you both. And don't worry, neither of you are in trouble. I just… we just need to talk." Tai said, trying to keep his composure. Worry then began to grow in his as there was no response. He knocked again.

"Yang! Ruby! Open the door please." He said as he knocked for the third time. Again, no response. Gulping Tai grasped the door handle and turned it. Opening the door and entering the room. He then paused, his eyes glancing all over the room frantically. They weren't here.

"Oh no." He whispered to himself before dropping the tray on a nearby table and running out of the room. The man rushed through the house before bursting through his front door. Frantically looking all over before his eyes zoomed in on the forest.

"Damn it." He cursed before fishing his scroll out of his pocket and beginning to run towards the tree line. Dialing his former brother in law.

[Aliens (1986) - Landing Preparation Sequence Part 1]

Summer took in a deep breath as she tried to calm her nerves. Her hands shook relentlessly as she looked at the dropship. To try and calm her nerves she looked at the various marines. Trying to get their appearances into her mind now that she had a good time to finally do so… And maybe to look at their cool equipment.

The first one she saw was Sergeant Conner. The almost middle aged man put on a similar green armor that other marines wore. But both his helmet and chest piece had some personalization, with a lighter and small flask strapped to the helm along with some large rifle rounds. And she even saw some writing on both the helmet and chest, squinting her eyes she realized it read out "America's Favorite attack dog." while his chest read "If you want an asshole to stay dead, you need 95 rounds of Fuck You!" along with a detailed drawing of his rifle below it. But what caught her eye was the fact that the man had a blowtorch strapped right next to his pistol. Why he needed a blowtorch she didn't know. And quite frankly, she didn't really want to know.

Next to the Sergeant Major was his second in command. Hicks if she remembered correctly. The marines armor was rather plain compared to the others but she supposed that made it unique in its own way, with only a red heart painted on the left breast of the chest piece with a lock on it. His left shoulder pad, however. Had a bullet hole along with two words around it reading "Born Again". He carried the same rifle and shotgun as his commander. Although the latter had a wood pump and pistol grip compared to his commander's polymer based ones.

Next was the woman that had provided her with medical attention. It was only obvious to assume she was the medic. Raquel was her name. Her armor had a red cross on it and so did her helmet, and the medic had multiple bandoleers strapped to her armor. All filled to the brim with what looked like emergency and medical supplies. She supposed that made sense. With the only piece of personalization being a cat face drawn on the back of her helmet with the words "ME-OW" next to the face. The medic carried a rifle that looked similar to the other two but it looked smaller and had a different under-barrel attachment compared to the other bulky variants.

She turned her gaze to the man looking over the various weapons with an appraising eye. His armor was also rather plain compared to the others besides the witty jokes written on the helmet and chest piece which read "Property of the U.S Government." And "I'm a 50-foot roll of flight line." respectively. The man himself inspected a rifle similar to the other ones and a heavily customized semi-automatic shotgun. Summer would have been lying if she said she didn't want to take the scatter gun out for a test drive. His name was Zack if she remembered correctly.

The next one was someone that caused Summer to double take at the picture duct taped to his chest piece. It was a picture depicting perhaps the most hideous gun she has ever had the displeasure of seeing. It was more hole than gun. It was like that one drawing of a car made by a kindergartener, it was like that but as a gun. Shaking her head she focused on something else, like the words "Let's sing some cadence!" Written on the helmet and the fact he had a pipe wrench in his pistol holster instead of a… ya know… pistol.

But as she was inspecting the man. Who she remembered as being named Mike. Mike turned and looked at her directly in her eyes. Summer freezing in fear as the marine smiled sadistically. She then watched on in horror as he pulled out the very same gun that was pictured on his chest from seemingly thin air.

"Ya like my Jackhammer? It was made by the U.P.P." Mike asked before he began to laugh loudly, as if he had heard the funniest joke in the entire frontier. Summer quickly looked away so as to save her eyes from further looking at the hideous gun.

After that, there was the second youngest member. Joseph if she remembered correctly. The techie's armor had a rather crude drawing of a pin up girl on the shoulder plate. Summer scoffed on seeing it before noticing the pouch on his side which, by the looks of it, contained nothing but cigarette packs. The techie had a rather unique rifle, it looked like a bullpup rifle that was more compact and streamlined than the other rifles carried by the other marines.

Summer then looked at the marine who was fishing a gun out of a container that made her heart flutter. Simply put. The gun was beautiful. The man wielding it was a brick house, with his armor being different from the others in that it was sleeveless and looked more like a harness. Bandoliers attached to the harness were stuffed with ammo. A large battery on his back which connected to the machine gun. The marine then put on a headset with an eyepiece that covered his right eye with some kind of miniature screen. He also had a double barrel semi-auto shotgun strapped to his back and a meat hook dangling from his belt. Fred was his name. Or was it Charlie? Or Charles? Why do people have two first names?

Shaking her head, Summer looked at the next two people. The pilots of the dropship. Randy and Caleb respectively. The latter being the youngest while the former was the second eldest. While they didn't wear any armor, they did both have fairly thick vests that contained what she assumed to be varios items while they both wore almost bulbous helmets with a built in headset for communication like everyone else's helmets.

"Alright assholes, you know the drill. We gotta deliver the misses here to… Where do you live actually?" The eldest marine began, only to realize he forgot to ask her an important question.

Summer jumped slightly as all attention shifted to her. "Oh. Well uh. I live in patch. It's an island next to the Vale mainland… It's the biggest continent… The town's also called patch." She told the middle-aged marine.

The marine nodded and pulled out a tac pad. Looking at it for a moment before showing her a top down map of the island.

[Aliens (1986) - Landing Preparation Sequence Part 2]

"Is this it?" He asked, to which Summer nodded. "Okay good." He put the primitive device away and turned back towards his men. "After that, we gotta find a suitable place to set up a home away from home. An FOB. Once we've done that we'll attempt communication with the brass. Sit and wait until then." John explained in a matter of fact manner, as if this has happened before.

"Any questions?" He asked as he looked over the marines.

"No Sargent!" They all replied in unison. John nodded at the response.

"Good… NOW ARE YA LEAN?!"

"Yes Sargent!"

"ARE YA MEAN?"

"Yes Sargent!"

"THEN GET ON THE DROPSHIP BEFORE I DRAG YOUR ASSES INSIDE MYSELF!"

"Yes Sargent!" The marine then formed into two uniform lines as they marched into the dropship and strapped themselves into the ship's chairs. Summer looking at their strict professionalism. And thinking about how odd it was that these were the same people who were goofing off and joking around less than ten minutes ago. Before strapping herself in as well.

"Hey." She was knocked out of her thoughts when John spoke. "Let's get you back planetside. Don't want to keep your family waiting, right?"

Summer smiled faintly. At the thought of seeing them again. "Yeah, I can't wait to see them again. It's been way too long." She said, her voice filled with some wonder.

John nodded. "Then what are we waiting for?" Before she could answer, she felt the craft suddenly jolt before slowly drifting down. Her ears barely picked up on sounds outside of the vehicle's exterior. The vehicle's ramp slowly raised before it sealed shut, preventing her from seeing the ship's exterior.

{"Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts and secure all belongings. If you feel queasy, there's a vomit bag behind your seat. If you look towards the back of the dropship you'll find a deployable step ladder behind the ramp. That is NOT an emergency exit. But if we are crashing, please grab your belongings and put on the parachutes located under your seats along with lifeperservers. Thank you, that was all. Please enjoy your flight on UA Starline's."} She heard Randy's voice coming from a nearby intercom. Speaking like an airship captain.

{"Standby, 10 seconds."} Randy spoke once more, causing confusion to radiate throughout her head. {"Standby initiate to realice sequencer, on my mark…5."}

"Uh… hey, you wouldn't happen to know what's going on… right?" She asked John.

"The UD-4L Cheyenne Class dropship is designed for rapid deployment from orbit to planet side and back again in a relatively short time frame." John replied in a monotone and calm voice. "Or in other words, you're in a large metallic communal coffin that's about to be dropped from orbit… at Mach 23." He added calmly, as if talking about the weather and not being flung at a planet fast enough to turn them into a smear in an instant.

"Wait... what!?" She screamed out.

{"2…1…Mark."} As soon as the words left the intercom the ship buckled before it felt like she was falling. The ship shot towards the planet as Summer held onto the railings, keeping her to the chair for dear life. Ignoring the sounds of cheering and hollering from the marines.

Her head felt heavy and she almost drifted into unconsciousness as the blood in her body rushed up to her brain. The pressure on her body made it hard to move. Then the ship rattled again as it punched through the atmosphere with ease, the ship heating up as it entered.

But as soon as it entered the atmosphere the pressure began to fade almost immediately, Summer gasped as the blood began to leave her head and enter back into her body. An almost euphoric high hitting the huntress.

"Hey." Her head sharply turned towards the older man next to her, being a few seats away from hers. "Relax, the last thing we need is for you to undo your harness and become another stain in the ceiling." While his words weren't exactly comforting, it did at least calm her down a bit. Mostly from fear and a bit of understanding.

{"Breaching atmo in 3…"}

"2… 1… " Jeffords finished as the craft shook from the change in air pressure. Reentry friction slows down the dropship considerably. The cockpit gave him a full view of the ship's exterior and the landmass ahead of him as the craft gently penetrated the atmosphere.

As the old combat transport settled down, he began the ship's slow descent. Its atmospheric thrusters quickly activate as the air intake opens up. Allowing for smoother flight, while also allowing the Cheyenne to cruise at a comfortable Mach 1. But as he descended below the clouds, he began picking up something on the vessel's radio.

{"Attention unknown airship, you are violating Atliesian Airspace. And under the Great War treaty. Subsection 2A. Please wait for transports to escort your vessel back to Atlas for interrogation and vehicle impounding."} A stern voice on the ship's radio spoke. Raising questions among the vessel's pilots.

"Uh... Sorry, could you repeat that? We're getting some interference." The older ensign turned his head and nodded towards their copilot, who in turn reluctantly pulled out some paper to crinkle into the mic.

{''Repeat, you are violating Atliesian Airspace. And under the Great War treaty. Subsection 2A. Please wait for transports to escort your vessel back to Atlas for interrogation a-."} But was cut off.

"What? Can't hear you over that stick up your ass. We'll call you back later." He then pressed play on the tape deck installed below the comms equipment. Its audio, being transmitted towards the caller.

[Blood 2 Elevator Music Extended]

The Atlesean comm officer blinked in confusion at the sudden interjection of the elevator music, completely baffled that some random airship just… put him on hold. His extremely tall officers hat barely holding onto his head.

"Hello? Unidentified Aircraft? Respond." He repeated again, receiving no response as the elevator music kept playing as he slowly realized what just happened.

"Son of a bitch. Who the fuck responds to a call of identification with Gods damned elevator music?" He asked himself aloud, unintentionally catching the attention of one of his co-workers.

"Elevator music? What do you-" The other comms officer paused and looked at his screen before a giant smile began to crack on their face.

"Oh… Oh no… Hahaha! They put you on hold! Ahahahah!"

"Shut up Steve!" The officer growled back, getting angrier by the minute.

"Hey man. I'm not the one that got put on fuckin hold! Hahaha! Oh that's priceless."

"Doesn't change the fact that this vessel has violated Atlas Airspace! Someone call the Colonel and get some VTOLs in the air!"

"Don't want to rain on your parade but they're gone now." Steve mentioned with a shit eating grin on his face. Pointing at the radar as the airship left Solitas and conversely, Atlases range.

"... Damnit."

Jeffords chuckled to himself smugly as the elevator music continued to play. As if he had just told the universe's greatest joke. Randy shook his head before focusing on flying the dropship.

Summer for her part felt the sudden re-entry shift the blood back to the rest of her body, sighing as she slumped into her seat. She also felt extremely nauseous, she never had a problem with air sickness before. But re-entry was just a bit too much for her.

Shaking her head she held it in. Keeping herself from vomiting all over the drop ship floor took every single ounce of her will power.

She suddenly felt someone tap her shoulder and saw John holding a canteen filled with water towards her. She snatched the canteen and began to suck down the water, slowly feeling less nauseous. Once finished, she whipped off her mouth via her sleeve and sealed the container.

"Ugh. Thanks." Summer said as she handed back the canteen, John cracking a small smile.

"Don't worry about it. Everyone's first drop is always the roughest one. You get used to it." John replied with a shrug as he placed his canteen back into one of his pouches.

"Yeah, I don't think I could get used to being flung at a planet at violently high speeds." Summer said sardonically. John laughed slightly.

"Well, it could be worse." He joked. His voice remained calm.

"Uh… What do you mean?" She asked John, who kept quiet until...

"You could be on the outside of the dropship." John answered with a Grimm look on his face before he turned away. "Sides, I'm pretty sure a kid like you can deal with it." He said while Summer rolled her eyes and crossed her arms petulantly as the marines continued to banter back and forth, occasionally tossing jokes around that flew over her head.

Eventually the finally reached patch, the island coming to view as the dropship quickly closed in on it.

{"Hello everybody, This is your Captain speaking, looks like we're nearing the island paradise. ETA 10 minutes. Keep yourselves strapped in, we're almost there."}

Summer paused as she took in the pilot's words before a wide smile grew on her face. She was almost home.

"I got here as soon as I could, what happened?" Qrow asked groggily, his breath stinking of whiskey as he shambled in. Tai pacing around back and forth.

"It's the kids, you drunk bastard! They're gone!" He yelled at his friend, his voice filled with anger and a bit of concern.

As if someone had smacked him in the face, Qrow immediately sobered up as he grabbed Tai by the shoulders. Steadying the man.

"Do you have any idea where they could be going? Any at all?" Qrow asked as calmly as he could while internally panicking. Tai took a deep breath as his heart raced in his chest.

"Before I realized they left, I was checking the attic and… I think Yang found Raven's picture."

Qrow's eyes widened as he let go of Tai and spirited out of the house, turning into a crow as soon as he left and flew high in the sky. He had a good idea of where they could be going, and having a bird's eye view would help immensely.

But as soon as he reached the tree line he had to bank downward as something flew just over him, squawking as he turned around and saw an airship floating above the house. Though, it was much faster than any transport than even Jimmy could muster. Its form being crude, bulky, and far too rough to be a native design. Looking like a large, flying olive drab brick. Its engines roared loud as it slowly hovered to the ground. It's more… distinguishing features becomes more evident as he gets closer.

On both sides of the ship there was a decal of a young woman, dressed in a strange olive drab uniform with complimentary armor (only without the presumed helmet) that had green, brown, and a darker brown in various shapes covering it. Armed with a bulky looking rifle and with blue and green hair, with the words 'Our Fair Maiden' painted above the lady. Along with the numbers '01' painted on the side, behind the craft's "engines".

As Qrow perched himself atop the house the ship slowly landed, Tai and Neighbors from the town walking out of their homes as they looked at the descending ship with rapt fascination.

Qrow transformed back as he dropped down next to Tai, holding his weapon cautiously as the ship touched down on the ground. Its flood lights beaming towards them.

Slowly the ship opened up as a ramp extended forward, a door opening as the ship's interior was now open to view. Its light combined with the other ships' flood lights blinding the two for a moment.

"Delivery for a mister… Xiao Long? Is that how it's pronounced?" Someone spoke before stepping off the craft, looking to be an older male with slightly grayed black hair. Hidden under a helmet along with wearing the same kind of armor and uniform he saw on the decal. The very same rifle strapped to his back along with some other weapon hidden inside of a leather case. His armor, adorned with graffiti and a mix of detailed drawings and doodles.

"I uh… That's me!" Tai yelled out as Qrow narrowed his eyes at his friend.

"What are you-"

"TAI! QROW!" He was then cut off by a very familiar sounding voice as a medium sized object barreled into both of them, squeezing them into such a powerful hug that Qrow was sure one of his ribs popped back into place as pink rose petals surrounded the three of them.

"I don't think genetic abnormalities cover that shit…" Joseph whispered to Charles as he picked up one of the rose petals. As It slowly dissolves into nothing.

"Summer?" Qrow said as the woman set them both down, Tai standing still in shock as his wife stood before both of them.

"Summer!" Tai then wrapped her up in a hug, one that she returned. Happy at both being reunited. Tai then broke the hug as he remembered. Summer looked at Tai in confusion as he suddenly grew jittery.

"Oh gods the kids. Summer, the kids, they're gone!" He yelled as Summer's eyes widened as she began to tremble.

John frowned as he marched forward. "Do you know where they might be heading? Or where whoever took them might be heading?" The grizzled marine asked.

Qrow nodding. "I think I have an idea. Follow me!" Qrow ordered as he pointed towards the forest nearby. John could vaguely see small wheel tracks in the dirt from some kind of wagon leading into the forest.

"Great." He turned back towards the strange vessel. "MARINES! GET OFF YOUR ASSES AND GRAB OUR SHIT, WE'RE GOING ON A SAFARI!" This caused several more people to get off of the large transport. Their gear, somewhat varying.

"Oh Thank you!" Summer shouted, tears in her eyes as it looked like she was about to collapse.

"Relax, it's not like we are on the clock. Sides… We've got plenty of lead to spare." He chuckled darkly. He then turned back towards his men. "Alright people! Start forming fireteams, we'll be able to cover more ground and find the kids quicker." He then turned back towards the family. "How many of you know how to use a gun?"

"I know my way around a gun pretty well." Qrow said as Summer nodded in affirmation.

"Uh… I'm better at punching stuff." Tai admitted with a shrug.

"Kay then. Birdman, you're with Hicks and Joseph. Flower Girl, stick with Zach and Mike. They'll be ready to pull your ass out of the fire if need be. Raquel, Charles. You're with me. And Tai you stay here in case they come back."

Once he was done issuing orders John grabbed his rifle and armed it, the red ammunition counter reading '95'. "Alright Marines. Move out!"

Yang dragged the wagon behind her as she marched forward, Ruby sleeping in the wagon while snuggling into her blanket. Blissfully unaware of her sister's actions.

Trudging forward she stepped through the forest, hardly able to see anything at all even with the flashlight she brought along. The darkness swallowed the entire forest.

But she carried onward, if she could find her old mommy. Maybe she could bring her back, and they could all be together again; like a family. It was the only way she knew that could bring everything back to the way it was.

While stuck in her musing her foot caught on something that almost made her trip as she dropped her flashlight by accident.

The beam of light shooting through the forest. Illuminating it for a split second before dying, dozens of red eyes grafted onto bone white armor being seen for a moment before the light died.

Yang's eyes widened as she grabbed Ruby and ran, forgetting about the wagon as the grimm pounced on where the wagon was. The Beowolves snarled and bayed for blood as they rushed towards the two girls. The monsters sprinted as their bloodlust soared while Yang ran as fast as she could.

The beasts of darkness grew closer in mere moments, their howls rattling her body as they were almost on top of her. With the two of them scampering as far away as they could, though the forest was dense enough to provide limited space to do so.

Eventually Yang stopped dead in her tracks as she reached a wall of trees and bushes filled with thorns. Glowing red eyes glaring at them from the tree line as the grimm chasing her surrounded the two of them. Ruby crying as the grimm encircled the two girls.

Yang felt tears welling up in her eyes as the beasts circled around them, almost playing with them as she held her sister close to her.

"I'm sorry Ruby." She said softly as she closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable. Only for her eyes to shoot open as the sound of thunder rattled her. One of the grimm's heads was blasted off as its brains splattered the ground before it slumped over and began to turn into ash.

Yang looked at the pile of ash in astonishment before turning her head towards three people wearing olive drab body armor and helmets, holding weapons. Yang immediately thought of Atlas Soldiers when she saw the people, but they also looked different as well.

The grimm pack turned to face the new foes as they growled at the Marines. And without hesitation, the Marines responded in kind, standing their ground at the face of so called terror.

"So… who's next?" John asked calmly before he blew the head off of one grimm that tried to flank the trio, his rifle's barrel smoking. "Guess it was you." He replied in a sing-song voice before unloading on these creatures.

Charles gunned down half a dozen beowolves as Raquel picked off any that got too close to the gunner. John took out the grimm in the tree line as they tried to rush towards the three.

Yang watched in Awe as the three soldiers fought off the giant pack of grimm with their superior firepower. Ruby's young mind looking at the guns the three carried, trying in vain to reach out and pick one up.

Raquel blew one of the grimm's legs off before shooting it through the head, John shooting two more grimm in the chest. Both of them worked to keep flanking grimm off of Charles as he gunned down the main horde.

His smart gun cut though the grimm like they were wet paper as more and more beowolves poured out from the forest. Dozens of grimm running at them, trying to overwhelm them but to no avail. And soon, there were no more grimm.

The fight ended almost as soon as it had started, with all of the young grimm having been torn apart by the soldier's firearms. Piles of ash surrounded the trio of Marines as they stood victoriously over the defeated grimm.

John lowered his rifle and spotted the two kids, he hesitated before walking over to them. His rifle by his side as he held his right hand towards them.

"Hey, I know you two are scared right now. But it's alright now. You don't have to be afraid anymore." John said in a calm voice, a friendly smile on his face. Yang looked at him hesitantly before reaching out and grabbing his hand.

John smiled and gently picked the two girls up, carrying them both with his right arm as he walked back to his group. Pressing two fingers onto the left side of his helmet's built in headset.

"We've got 'em, meet you guys at the rendezvous. Over and out." John ordered before pulling his hand down.

"Aww." Raquel cooed as she saw the kids. "You guys are adorable!"

"Careful, they just went through a near death experience. They ain't stray puppies for Christ sakes…" The older man swore as the kids kept close to his chest.

"Well at least they're alright." Charles said with a shrug. Raquel nodded in agreement.

"Yeah…" She said before trailing off, a haunted look in her eyes that came and went in a flash.

"Let's just get back to the cabin." John said with a hint of finality, the other two marines nodding in agreement as the three marched back to the house. John carrying Yang and Ruby, both kids having fallen asleep whilst he carried them, having suffered from an adrenaline crash.

It didn't take long for the rest of the group to converge back at a clearing near the house. The children had woken up when they arrived. Yang rubbed her eyes tiredly as they entered the clearing. But all traces of sleepiness disappeared as soon as she saw Summer and Tai.

"Mommy! Daddy!" She shouted as she jumped out of John's arms and rushed towards her parents, the young girl jumping into their embrace as they hugged the little girl. Summer and Yang were crying uncontrollably as Tai just held them both closely. John walked over and handed Ruby over to the family, the toddler cooing as she got wrapped up in the family group hug too.

While they were cuddling each other, the sergeant major stepped away to give them some space while the rest of the men stood around them. Hicks, deciding to be useful. By checking his tracker, just in ca-. But his thoughts were cut off by its display. Spinning himself around a bit, he found something that made his face pale a bit. But not by much.

"Sarge, we've got a problem." The older man's second in command suddenly spoke. Causing him to turn and walk towards him.

"How bad?" John asked. Instead of replying, he held up his tracker and turned off its mute function. The radar displayed multiple contacts, surrounding the group that were approaching quickly. It's beeping loud enough for everyone to hear and turn towards the two. "Christ…" He swore once more. "ALRIGHT LADY'S, GET YOURSELVES READY! WE'VE GOT COMPANY!"

The rest of the marines perked up and began surrounding the civvies, their backs turned towards them. With the two only armed family members getting themselves ready and joining in the circle.

The motion tracker continued to beep as more and dots showed up on its radar, dozens of howls reverberating across the forest.

"How many contacts we lookin at?"

"Say about fifty or so."

"Hmm… I think I like those odds." He then turned his head towards Summer. "Let's see if these bastards like your new brand of uranium coated ammunition."

Summer smirked as she cocked her machine gun, a round being chambered as the grimm came pouring out of the forest. All baying for blood as they rushed the marines.

"Alright then… Let's Dance!" He began before unloading upon the hoard.

The marines opened fire on the small horde of grimm, their caseless light armor piercing rounds tearing the first wave apart in a matter of seconds. Summer firing alongside them, noticing almost instantly how much the new ammo improved her weapon.

With one burst quite literally tearing apart one of them. Smiling, she opened fire, taking no small glee in the damage the new ammo caused.

The rest of the marines maintained a professional disposition as they gunned down the grimm. Keeping the pack at bay with short controlled bursts, with the grimm only gaining minimal ground for all of their losses.

Qrow hanged back, picking off any stranglers that strayed from the main pack. Only filled with minor jealousy at Summer's new ammo, wish he had some of that. Would have made killing the grimm easier.

As bullets continued to be expended, the mixture of muzzle flashes and shoulder lamps illuminated the darkened forest around them. The strong smell of gunpowder radiating inside their little circle as they thinned out the horde of grimm.

Eventually, all of the grimm were felled as the last one was killed. Its head burst open as the high velocity rounds tore through it with ease. Falling to the ground as it turned into ash.

After a moment of silence all of the marines stood still, aiming their weapons at the forest just in case another horde of grimm suddenly popped out.

Hicks checked his motion tracker, looking for any new blips on the radar system. And after a moment he lowered it with a sigh of relief.

"Alright, it's all clear." Hicks said. John nodded as he signaled the marines to lower their weapons. The battle had been won in their favor.

"Oh, would you look at the time. Guess we should depart." The Sergeant Major shrugged, signaling his men to follow him back to the dropship.

As the group of somewhat colorful characters gathered outside of the family's home, with the marines getting themselves strapped in and prepared for take off while John spoke to the parents.

"I'm serious, we don't have any more time to doddle. Sides, it's fairly late and the kids would probably want to get to bed soon." He told them before turning around and began walking towards the dropship. But right as he was about to step onto the ramp, he reached towards the right side of his helmet to grab something. But found nothing but air. "Damnit." He swore.

"Something wrong?" Summer asked

"Yeah, I recently misplaced my smokes. It's been annoying me for a while now." He answered.

Instead of speaking, Tai turned towards Qrow.

Qrow shrugged and reached into his back pocket before pulling out a pack of cigarettes. John immediately recognized them as his brand.

"You dropped those." Qrow said as he tossed them back to John, the marine catching them before smiling slightly. Who in turn, pulled one out and placed it in his mouth. Strapping the container to his helmet while he grabbed his zippo and fipped it open to light it. Taking a quick drag before putting away his lighter

"Much obliged." He said and nodded towards them as he puffed on the death stick, Summer scrunching up her nose at the smoke before turning around and entering the craft. With its ramp closing shortly thereafter.

As the craft suddenly began to rise, its engines picked up various loose objects that then swerved around the family. Its landing gear receded until it suddenly flew off at high speeds. Flying into the night sky before disappearing over the horizon.

At first, the family remained silent. Processing the events that had occurred these past few months. But then suddenly, the youngest member spoke.

"Mommy, what's a Bastard?" Ruby asked with a quizzical look in her silver eyes.

"I supposed everything seemed to all work out in the end…" Ozpin said thoughtfully. He hadn't expected Qrow to come back so soon, much less with this kind of information. It was nice to have some good news for a change.

"I guess…"

"Something on your mind Qrow?"

"Yeah, those guy's. Summer hasn't told me where they're from yet but they certainly stick out like a sore thumb. They're like no other group I've seen in the four kingdoms. Much less from the frontier…" He trailed off.

"Indeed, quite a conundrum we have here. But this might prove to be an unexpected advantage. Afterall, we only need to wait." Ozpin said while taking a sip from his coffee mug.

"What do you mean by that? I've looked all over, haven't seen any traces of where they call home or any other sightings of them. It's like they don't even exist here."

"We may not know where they are now. But they'll pop up again eventually, they'll have to. One can't simply hide away forever." Ozpin replied coolly.

Qrow didn't look convinced but he sighed and rubbed his brow in thought. "Alright, and if these guys do show up again. What are we going to do to get them on our side?"

"All in due time Qrow. And even if they don't cooperate, I'm more than sure they'll make good 'allies' in the war." Ozpin took another sip from his mug.

"You've had a rather stressful few weeks. Take some time off my Friend. It will do you some good." Ozpin said in a friendly tone of voice. But Qrow knew what seemed like a suggestion was really just an order to lay low.

"Alright." Qrow said with a sigh. "I'll check back on Sum and Tai. Haven't had much of a chance to actually talk with them and the lil tykes."

Ozpin nodded at Qrows words, the huntsman leaving the wizard's clockwork office. And leaving the immortal man alone to ponder all the information he had been given.

'An unexpected surprise, but a welcome one.' He knew James would disapprove of using Mercs, but a group with as much firepower as this would be very useful.

Very useful indeed…

[4/11/2022]
Sweet Salty Christ, I never thought I would get this done. But, somehow. We managed to clutch that shit. Anyways, thank you to djpj7652 once again for co writing the story, ManwithaPlan113 for being the broest of bros to help make edits, and to my arms and tactics advisor by the name of MildlyLargeIron (Note: Not on here). Once again, I apologize for the wait. Considering the absurd amount of shit that went on between both chapters. Thankfully, this took less time than the shitshow that was Chapter 1 (which took over a year while this took 214 days.) So… Yay? Here's some words from a few buddies of mine.

Djpj7652: Hey it's me Dan the Meme Man. And all I've got to say is. Eat Ass, Smoke Grass, and Sled fast. Hope you enjoyed the chapter lmao. Also I came up with Gacha League, a Future game for Future gamers.

MildlyLargeIron: Please note some weapons are NOT Cannon and are creations based on the design concepts and themes of both RWBY and ALIENS. If you would like to reuse my weapon concepts feel free to do so. Contact me on discord Mildlylargeiron#0238 if you have questions or want to adapt other universes ammunition, materials, and armors. Also as a side note, I take no responsibility for what this window licker of a friend, Marine says or writes about the rwby Cannon.

Thank you both for your words of wisdom… Anyways, that was ALIENS: DUST AND BULLETS Chapter 2, Spouse Delivery & Child Protective Marines. Hope you enjoyed it, hopefully I'll be able to update more regularly. So, I'll leave ya with a small set of words. Spoken by an absolute legend.

"Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast…"