Thirteen killed in defending the base. Dozens more injured.

The sheer damage caused by the alien assault on the XCOM base was staggering. Almost all of the static defenses in place had been destroyed. There had been fires blazing in the mechbay and parts of the armoury, which had only been barely brought under control after XCOM operatives had been called in to assist the severely depleted engineering crew. Most of the security bulkheads in place in the lower parts of the base had damaged hydraulics, necessitating the use of heavy equipment to break them down.

Equipment which they did not have on the base. Not until tomorrow, at least. The United States and Mexico had both scrambled military forces to assist XCOM after they had picked up the distress signal from the XCOM base. Several hundred regular army soldiers had died to clear the rest of the invading aliens after the transport ships had been shot down by XCOM interceptors. The military had declared a lockdown in effect in the area, which meant that nothing could get in or out until they had salvaged every last piece of equipment in the area and brought in some of their own excavators to clear the entry tunnel to the base.

Several hundred dead, and thousands injured. Ruby sat on a ruined couch in the barracks as she thought about just how quickly everything had descended into chaos. She would be lying if she said she didn't feel a little bit of despair cross her mind during the battle. After all, several high-ranking, highly skilled operatives had just died to save the rest of the base from being overrun.

"What am I?" she whispered to herself, picking out a dogtag from the pouch that Papa Bear had given her. "Who am I?"

Taking another dogtag from the pouch still gave her no answers to those questions. She knew that these were from every single dead soldier that had ever served XCOM. Papa Bear said that these were supposed to remind him of his mission. No, their mission. He had said that they all had the same mission. But what mission was that?

She thought about the rest of the other XCOM operatives that she had met. Maria was a fun-loving, bubbly personality. Much like Yang, though a little on the perverted side. She genuinely cared for others in her care that were injured. It boggled her mind; somebody that was that kind and mischievous, joining a paramilitary group. Did she join to treat their wounds? Was that the mission that they all had? To take care of each other...?

Then her thoughts roamed to Eleanor. She was, to put it lightly, bloodthirsty. At least against those that were opposed to herself. She tended to remain alone after missions, and even during the day it was rare to run into her outside of the firing range. And on the battlefield, she would kill the aliens without compunction, wearing a sadistic smile that grew wider with every alien she killed. If any of her squadmates fell, she would continue shooting with little regard for their safety. Was that the mission that they all had? To kill the alien menace, at all costs?

Then came the MEC troopers, who seemed to all behave more or less in the same mechanical way. Cold. Impersonal. Unfeeling. They performed their duties to the letter; killing if they were ordered to kill, running if they were ordered to run, and standing their ground if they were ordered to do so. In a way, she was reminded of machines more than man, every time she saw one of them. Was that the mission that they all had? To obey orders from the higher ups, no matter the consequences?

And then the last of all was the most confusing. Her own team. Team RWBY – and if they woke up soon, Team JNPR. They were not of this planet. The aliens were not attacking Remnant, they were attacking Earth. And Earth was not their homeworld. It was simple enough for herself; she was a huntress, and her mission was to assist everyone in need, be it from Grimm or anything else. She didn't know how the others of her team felt about their mission as huntsmen and huntresses, though she really hoped that they truly felt the same way as she did.

Her head hurt from too much thinking. Too many things had happened that day, and none of it good. She barely registered the approach of Eleanor, who had half her face swathed in bloodstained bandages.

"Mon amie, if you are not involved in any tasks, zen perhaps you should 'elp clean up the mess left behind by ze aliens," Eleanor spoke, putting a hand on her shoulder. Reluctantly, Ruby put all the tags back into the pouch and stood up.

"Sorry," she apologised, "I...was thinking about some things,"

"As are we all. Our losses were severe," Eleanor replied dryly, "However, zere will be time to grieve in the future. For now, the survival of zose still alive must take priority. Your squadmates are already assisting with the cleanup. As zeir leader, it falls to you to set an example, and not remain idle,"

Ruby nodded, understanding where she was coming from. Until allied forces could clear the collapsed tunnel, they were stuck inside the base. Stuck with hundreds of decaying alien bodies and bits of decomposing viscera. Her stomach turned at the thought. "Where do I start?" she choked out, trying to push the unpleasant images out of her mind.

"Ze rest of your squad have been assigned the cleanup of Dr. Vahlen's laboratory and Dr. Shen's workshops. I am informed that zere 'as been a spill of some Elerium; watch where you step,"

Weiss grunted with exertion as she dragged a leaking container of Elerium emulsion from Dr. Vahlen's laboratory. Though her ribs were still sore, Dr. Vahlen had merely given her a shot of local anaesthetics, a few painkiller pills and a probably more-than-recommended dose of steroids. She was still able to walk about and move with minimal risk of additional damage; something that many of the other personnel could not boast.

And given how the laboratory also doubled as an infirmary in emergencies, she had no option but to assist. The pained groans of a couple of engineers who had been hit by shrapnel caused her to grimace. Every minute that they could not get the laboratory cleared was another minute that a person could not be treated, and every minute was critical.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" she cried out, as a squaddie that she had never met before stumbled into her while carrying a crate of medical supplies.

Foolishly, the squaddie did not think about sealing the crate before carrying it. Out spilled several needles – and a single glass bottle of peroxide disinfectant, which fell and smashed against the Elerium container that she was carrying.

One moment, she was stumbling on her feet, and the next, she found herself hurtling through the air as a shockwave ripped through the room. She slammed against the opposite wall in the laboratory with a loud crack; a searing pain shot through her spine and ribs as she felt something – or maybe more than a few things – break.

The Elerium emulsion was burning, releasing clouds of acrid yellow smoke into the room. Weiss could faintly register Dr. Vahlen's voice, ordering everyone that could still move to evacuate those that were injured until the ventilation could deal with the gas cloud. The cloud was spreading quickly, filling her nostrils with a sharp scent reminiscent of coppery blood. A scent that was growing sharper and sharper with every passing moment.

"I need to get out of here," she thought to herself. If Dr. Vahlen was ordering everyone to evacuate, it was likely that the gas cloud was toxic. Gathering her willpower, Weiss conjured a glyph to help herself up.

Only to be very nearly launched into the ceiling as the glyph appeared underneath her, much larger and brighter than it normally was. She looked at her hands in dumbfounded shock. That was not supposed to happen. Her glyphs were not normally that powerful.

And then she realised that her wounds were rapidly healing. The stabbing pain that was in her spine and ribs were quickly fading to a dull throb, uncomfortable but no longer agonising; a quick feel with a hand showed that the numerous stitches in her back were rapidly vanishing, melting away into her skin without a trace. Not even a scar. Weiss frowned as she thought about how exactly this could have happened. Aura didn't work properly on Earth; they had already found that out quite early on. But the sort of regeneration that she was experiencing now seemed only possible with Aura – and one that was ridiculously powerful, at that. Unless, of course, a greatly advanced form of adaptive bone marrow had been discovered, and Dr. Vahlen somehow implanted her with it without asking for her permission.

Even that didn't explain why her Semblance was exponentially more powerful. This was something strange that she needed to discuss with Dr. Vahlen. Sooner rather than later.

A strange thought came to the front of her mind as a purple haze shrouded her rational thoughts. But why sooner, she asked herself. If they needed this mess cleaned up now, she could help. After all, her glyphs could push or absorb things if she wished them to. Clenching her fist, she conjured another glyph in the middle of the room, which spanned almost the entire width of the laboratory.

Why only glyphs? Surely, I could do better than that!

Her hand glowed a brilliant purple as she willed the glyph to start pulling the cloud of gas into itself, using a whirlpool of eldritch energies.

"Reality bends to my will. As it does for every Schnee," the heiress muttered darkly, twisting the giant snowflake and energy storm around the now-compact ball of gas, forcing it back into its original container. Another application of glyph force, and the rupture was roughly sealed by warping the torn seams of the container back together, as though it were as simple as stitching together fabric with needle and thread.

Weiss was by now vaguely aware of something wet and warm dripping down from her nostrils. But why would she care about minor details like that? She had found great power. Her Aura was back. Her body was fixing itself, at a rate that would make everyone else jealous. She would become the greatest huntress of all time! A twisted grin crept onto her face as she observed the sheer density of her Aura. It was likely thick enough to absorb even a Goliath's blows without taking too much damage!

And yet, it was rapidly receding, even as she marvelled at her own power. "Corporal Schnee. Weiss! Stand down!" she faintly heard someone say from behind her. Several clicks of what was unmistakably firearms being racked could also be heard, causing her to spin around to see who – or what – thought that she was a threat. They would pay for their impudence with their blood.

There were at least a dozen XCOM operatives, wielding an assortment of weapons from assault rifles to what looked like a rocket launcher. Every single one of them had their weapons trained on her. Well, all except Ruby, who looked almost...fearful...even as she clutched Crescent Rose in as relaxed a manner as she possibly could.

A bit of dismay crossed Weiss' mind when she saw Ruby look at her in that way.

Why would she do this? Why? I haven't done anything...wrong...? Have I...?

"Weiss," Ruby spoke softly, taking a step forward, "What happened...? Why's your nose bleeding? Are you hurt? Please don't be hurt!"

I'm not hurt. I almost hurt her. I almost hurt them all. Dust, I was ready to rip into them.

"Ruby, I'm fine. I think," Weiss said, wondering what exactly had come over her. She recalled being pushed by a careless squaddie, causing her to drop an already-damaged canister of Elerium; he dropped something, causing the canister to detonate and release clouds of choking gas; and then the next moment, she felt an overwhelming sense of pure power rush through her veins. She was certain that her Aura had returned before, though a quick prod at her hand showed her that was no longer the case. A wave of nausea shot through her, and she fell to her knees, heaving out what little she had eaten that morning.

"Corporal Schnee. What in God's name was that?" Dr. Vahlen called out from behind the operatives. The usually unflappable woman was visibly distressed, as though she was terrified. Other operatives around her seemed to share her sentiments, gripping their weapons even more tightly as Ruby approached Weiss apprehensively.

"Looks like something the Sectoids did. You know, the purple lightshow and all?" one of the other corporals said shakily, his hands trembling around his assault rifle, "You sure we should be letting her close to us? I mean, we just got screwed over by some of our boys under the control of the x-ray scum. What's to say that she's not under their control?"

"Corporal Ramirez, you will stand down!" barked Dr. Vahlen. The gruff man seemed shaken enough to acquiesce to the scientist's demand. After all, not a single XCOM operative wanted cadaver cleanup duty after she was done with an autopsy. "Thank you! Sergeant Rose, if you could collect your partner and bring her to the spare laboratory on the second floor, I would much appreciate it,"

Ruby nodded, stooping down to check on Weiss. "Come on, Weissy! We'll make sure you get better," she whispered reassuringly into the heiress' ear, patting her gingerly on her back. Weiss slowly raised her head, wheezing as she fought back the urge to retch again; but her expression quickly shifted to confusion when she saw Ruby take a few steps back, her expression that of utmost horror.

"Is something wrong with how I look?" queried Weiss, perplexed. Ruby shook her head, putting her hand into her pockets and pulling out a scroll. She took a quick photo of Weiss, and then shakily held it out so that her white-haired partner could see the image.

To say that Weiss was shocked would have been the greatest understatement of the year. "My eyes..." she gasped hoarsely.

She was staring at a picture of herself.

With luminous violet eyes.

A/N:

Shortish chapter this time around. I'm still gathering plot points before launching into the second half of this story, so bear with me for a while. Which might be quite a long while, as this story is secondary priority at the moment, but it is being worked on.