AUTHOR'S NOTES: This chapter was supposed to have more in it that simply Ruby talking to Theodore, but that's what it ended up being...so this is a very talky chapter. Then again, maybe that's sometimes the best thing. After all, it's often said that the best scene in "Heat" isn't the big gunfights, but the coffee scene between Robert de Niro and Al Pacino.

A few other things I wanted to address before getting on to the main chapter: first of all, unless you're under a rock as a RWBY fan, you probably know that it was announced that V10 has not been greenlit as of July 2023. What that means, nobody really knows outside of RT, WB and Crunchy. However, if canon RWBY doesn't continue or goes on a hiatus longer than a year, I fully intend to finish this story, even if I have to go off completely on my own tangent. Now if it's delayed a few years and I finish the story, then RWBY suddenly comes out with V10 in 2026 or something (yeesh!), then I'd just rewrite the ending or something. Either way, whatever happens to canon RWBY, ORW will be finished. That I promise, barring me being run over or something.

Second...and I know I say this a lot. If you like the story, please leave a review. When I get no reviews, it makes me feel like I screwed up, like everyone hates the story now. If you do hate the story, then you're probably not reading this anyway (unless you're a troll, and you can eff right off); if you do like the story, then let me know. If you like the story but think maybe I got something wrong that needs to be corrected, let me know that too. I really enjoy hearing from my readers.

Anyhow, on with the show...

Ramstein Air Force Base

Ramstein, Federal Republic of Germany

17 September 2001

The ramp of the C-17A Globemaster III came down slowly, much to the irritation of Ruby Rose, who was impatient to get off the transport. The fuselage of the aircraft was strictly utilitarian, with nothing to sit on but paratrooper seats on the side of the aircraft. There were no windows. The two-hour ride from Silac to Ramstein had been done in mostly silence.

They were leaving behind two new advance bases for NATO. The Jabberwockies were destroyed; the survivors would either simply stay on to help their new employers, melt back into the populace, or find other air pirate bands to join. As for Banska Bystrica and Silac, those were also now NATO property, much to the chagrin of Alyx. She had been told that it was either join or leave, and she had reluctantly joined, after agreeing to a "joint sharing" of the base where she still handled day-to-day operations. Still, it did meant regular pay. She had asked Pyrrha what had happened to Cheshire; when told, she had only shrugged and said he would turn up again somewhere. Ruby Flight suspected there was more between Alyx and Cheshire than a professional relationship, and Ruby wondered if he was the father of her son.

The ramp had not yet touched ground when two people jumped onto it: Lie Ren and Oscar Pine. The latter made a beeline for Ruby, who had a split-second of warning before he crushed her into his arms, lifting her off her feet. "Welcome home!" He was crying, openly and unabashedly.

"Hi, Oscar, I'm hom—" He cut her off by kissing her.

Ren was a bit more reserved, walking over to Yang, and hugging her with a lot more emotion than they had ever seen him show. He did the same to Blake, then to Weiss; with Marrow, he settled for a handshake. "That's from me and Nora," he said to them. "She couldn't make it; she's still recovering from skin graft surgery."

"She gonna be okay?" Yang asked.

Ren nodded. "She's expected to make a full recovery." He then went to Pyrrha. Of course, he had known she was alive, but she got a hug all the same.

Yang slapped him on the back. "Well, that's the best news I've heard since Delta Force shot Neo." She winked at him. "Ren, we've got some stories to tell you, man—they will make your hair stand on end—" Then they all saw the USAF officer standing at the bottom of the ramp, in dress uniform. Oscar let Ruby up for air, and the officer—a major—came to attention. "Captain Ruby Rose?" Beyond him, waiting in the shade, was Winter Schnee.

Ruby let go of Oscar and came to attention as well, returning the major's salute. "Yes, sir?"

"Captain, I'm Major Alex Greinke. I'm to tell you that you are ordered to report to General Theodore Gale immediately."

Ruby nodded. "Of course, sir. Let me get a shower, see if I can scare up a uniform—"

"Immediately, Captain." Greinke pointed across the tarmac, past the hangars. "He's waiting at 4th ATAF headquarters." He then thumbed at a jeep. "I'm to take you there." Greinke looked at the others. "Just you, I'm afraid. The rest of you…Colonel Schnee will see you to your quarters." He then stepped back and motioned with his hand towards the jeep.

"Yes, sir." Ruby regarded her flight—and Marrow, Ren and Oscar. None were smiling; all knew what this meant. She tried to smile, but it was a weak one. She squeezed Oscar's hand, and then stepped off the ramp, following Greinke to the jeep.

It was a warm September afternoon; western Europe was enjoying what Ruby's father would call an Indian summer. Greinke drove Ruby at a reasonable speed across the tarmac, past the hangars and onto the base itself. Ruby felt surreal. Ramstein was a beehive of activity, with three transports landing in the five minutes it took for them to leave the C-17 behind. There were troops moving across to other transports, lines for others, and lines to get into those. They drove past a row of F-16s, all loaded from GRIMM.

It was then that a curious thing happened. As they went past, ground crew and pilots doing preflight noticed who was in the open-topped jeep. They stopped what they were doing and stared. That Ruby expected. What she didn't expect was that many of them came to attention and saluted her. There was no reason to do so; enlisted and lower ranks were not compelled to salute someone driving by, unless they were a flag officer—and even then. Yet they were saluting her. Not everyone did: Ruby thought she saw a few scowls, and some simply ignored her, but the majority stopped what they were doing and saluted. She hesitantly returned and held it. There was no cheering, no chanting of her name as a movie might have had it, just a silent tribute, one given and received.

Once they were on Ramstein proper—which was just as surreal, as this was a base far behind the lines, with tree-lined avenues, kept lawns, and brick buildings—Ruby looked at Greinke. "Major, if I can ask, what was that all about?"

He didn't answer at first. "Major Nikos was the face of that message that called for help, but it's gotten around that it was your idea. And everyone knows you led the first evacuation convoy…and everyone thought you got killed defending it. Then we heard yesterday that you were still alive, that you made it out." The major's lips crinkled into a slight smile. "You're a hero, Captain."

She looked away. "Yeah. A hero that's going to be court-martialed."

They pulled up in front of the headquarters of the 4th Allied Tactical Air Force, an organization that commanded all NATO combat wings in western Europe. Greinke said nothing more as he led her inside, returning the salutes of the sentries. He led her through the headquarters, and Ruby felt very out of place. She still wore the worn, purplish, borrowed Jabberwocky flight suit, devoid of nametape or patch, stained white in areas from the salt of her sweat. She likely didn't smell very good either. Everyone else in the headquarters wore starched blue uniforms, with the occasional camouflage fatigues—but even those were pressed and ironed. They finally arrived in front of a door with two more sentries. Greinke stopped. "I'll wait outside, Captain. The general said he wanted to see you alone."

Ruby involuntarily swallowed. "Yes, sir."

"Captain." Greinke stopped her. He dropped his voice. "Keep the faith, Captain."

The office was not General Gale's; from the décor and the nameplate on the desk, it actually belonged to the commander of the 86th Fighter Wing. Gale stood behind the large wooden desk; behind him was a large window overlooking the base flightline. Ruby was impressed by the sight of Theodore Gale: he was tall, powerfully built, his short, black hair starting to show gray. He wore camouflage fatigues, with four stars stitched on the shoulders, along with a Combat Infantry Badge and Master Jump Wings over his stitched nametape. On his shoulder was a Ranger tab and the screaming eagle of the 101st Airborne Division. His hands gripped the chair; Ruby noticed that the brown skin there was marred by reddish scar tissue. She came to attention exactly three paces from the desk as the door was closed behind her. "Captain Ruby Rose, reporting for duty as ordered, sir."

Gale nodded. "Welcome back to the United States military, Captain Rose." Ruby wisely did not reply. "You've had quite the month."

"Yes, sir."

He pulled out the chair and sat down. There was no chair for Ruby. "Stand easy, Captain." She put her hands behind her back, feet slightly spread, as a cadet would. "You'll be ordered to draw up a formal report later, but for now, tell me what happened after you were shot down on 7 September 2001. The broad strokes; neither one of us has all day."

Ruby did as she was told. She described being attacked by Neo soon after bailing out, her rescue (of sorts) from Little, the drive south with Jinxy Peddler, the capture by the Red Prince, the escape engineered by Charles Cheshire, the various dogfights to and from Silac, and her own shootdown and capture. Her voice faltered as she began to remember the torture.

"Captain, as I said, no reason to go into detail." Gale's voice was surprisingly gentle.

Ruby nodded, simply mentioned that she had been tortured with kerasine, and finished her story. Gale was silent as he sat back in the chair. "How badly are you injured?"

She hurt all over, especially her sides. "I can manage, sir."

Gale raised his voice. "Guard!" One of the men outside opened the door. "Bring Captain Rose a chair, please." They waited until one was found—a cushioned one—and Ruby gratefully sank down into it. Once she was comfortable, Gale was quiet again. He stared at her for two long, uncomfortable minutes, then got up. "The CO of the 86th is a fighter pilot like yourself," he said. Gale crossed over to a shelf and opened a sideboard, pulling out a bottle of Jeremiah Weed whiskey. He retrieved two glasses. "Would you like a drink?"

"No, thank you, sir."

"I think you'd better have one." He poured both of them a glass, without ice, and handed Ruby one of them. Gale took a small drink and set his down, then opened his collar, unbuttoning the first button. "Ruby, I'm going to take off my stars for a moment. You're going to take off your bars—not that you're wearing any at the moment. We're going to talk like adults, soldier to pilot, understand?"

Ruby took a quick drink. She wasn't much of a whiskey drinker, and she fought down an urge to cough as the liquor burned its way down her throat. "Yes, sir. Soldier to pilot."

"Good." Gale perched on the side of the desk. "First of all, whatever happened after your shootdown will have no further bearing on your career. You, Captain Xiao Long, Captain Belladonna, Hauptmann Schnee, and Lieutenant Amin all did your best to get home. Getting sidetracked and kidnapped was not your fault. Defending the people of Banska Bystrica and destroying the Jabberwocky Air Pirates was exemplary—except for you swanning off on your own. However, your subsequent torture, I think, has more than paid for that lapse of judgement. Whatever happened this morning is between you and Major Nikos. If she wants to file charges of disobeying an order from a superior officer, she can…but I suspect she won't. Certainly helping to rid the world of Neo Politan is also a nice touch."

"Thank you, sir…I think."

He sighed and took a drink. "Ruby, I've spent the past half hour reading your combat record. It has been exemplary up to this point. Beacon, Japan, most of the journey to Algeria and Poland…this is a combat record men and women twice your age would be proud to call their own. Legion of Honor from France, Distinguished Flying Cross, Silver Star, nominated for the Air Force Cross…and you're not even old enough to drink that whiskey in your hand until next month." Ruby was tempted to thank him again, but she had a bad feeling this was the good news, the building up of what was going to happen next.

She was right. "So why in the hell, Ruby," Gale said, his voice rising slightly, "did you take it upon yourself to lie to James Ironwood?" He motioned at her with the glass. "Let's start with JINN."

Ruby took a quick sip. "Sir. We activated JINN despite our orders three times. Osc—Ensign Pine did so accidentally in Kazakhstan, but we didn't make him shut it off. The second time was with Colonel Legrand in Algeria, and the third time was in the middle of the battle to figure out the weak spot on the Nevermores."

Gale's eyebrows went up. "I wasn't aware of that third time, but I won't hold that against you—that was what JINN was supposed to be for. And Director Arashikaze has said that she did not wish to prosecute you the other two times, due to extenuating circumstances. Ozpin, God rest him, probably wanted his boy to find out his heritage. Why didn't you just tell Ironwood when you reached Poland?"

Ruby wanted to say that there hadn't been time, that she had wanted to but just never gotten around to it with everything that had happened, but that felt like an excuse. She was tired of those. She was so very tired. "No excuse, sir."

Gale looked a little surprised at that. "All right. Now what about Captain Xiao Long and Captain Belladonna revealing the presence of the Commando Solo to Robyn Hill—classified information? And then lying about that to Ironwood? Colonel Schnee told me about that incident. Xiao Long and Belladonna came clean about letting Miss Hill go, which Ironwood forgave since she was innocent of shooting down that C-141. He used some non-judicial punishment—putting them in hack was the Navy term he used." Gale speared Ruby with his gaze. "But they didn't tell him about revealing the Commando Solo. They lied to him."

"Sir," Ruby said, "General Ironwood ended up telling Rob—Miss Hill about the Commando Solo anyway."

"That's no excuse," Gale snapped. "That is a general's perogative, not a captain's. Did they inform you about that?"

Ruby honestly couldn't remember, but she would not betray her sister and friend. Moreover, she was in command; it was her responsibility. "Yes, sir, I believe so. I don't remember if I told them to tell Ironwood or not. Again, sir, as you say, no excuse."

"Very well. That brings us to the real reason you, young lady, are in considerably deep shit." Gale took a drink himself, finishing the glass, and set it aside. "When Ironwood gave you the order to leave Poland for Lakenheath, with the knowledge that he was going to recommend at least letters of reprimand for Ruby Flight, you decided to willfully disobey that order and remain in Poland. You then convinced the rest of your flight to follow you. That's mutiny, Ruby. Mutiny in a time of war is a capital offense." He let the words hang in the air for awhile while he loomed over her, his arms crossed across his broad chest. "Before we go any further, I want to know why. And before you start with your explanation, I want you to know that James Ironwood was a friend of mine. We served together in Grenada in '83 and in the sandbox in '91."

Ruby took another drink and set the glass aside as well. She took a deep breath. "Sir. I believed, and I still believe, that General Ironwood's order was unlawful."

She half-expected Gale to explode at her, but he didn't move. "Explain," he barked.

"Sir, General Ironwood was under a great deal of stress. He hadn't slept. He wasn't eating. We knew about this—everyone did. I'm not denying that what Captain Xiao Long and Captain Belladonna did was wrong, and I'm not going to duck my own part in it. But sir, we were some of the best fighter pilots in Poland—us and Pyrrha and Ren and Nora and Oscar. We were kind of the starting lineup. And General Ironwood was taking us out of the game at halftime and sending us back to the locker room before throwing us off the team." Ruby liked the analogy; she just hoped Gale was a football fan. "And sir, he was quitting the game."

"Explain," Gale repeated.

"Sir, he made the decision to abandon Poland right there. He had literally just gotten off the phone with Salem, and he said we were…we were running, sir. We were just going to abandon the Poles, retreat across the Vistula, and just leave the people to Salem, sir! People like Little!" Ruby half-rose out of the chair before she realized what she was doing. "Sir, Salem would've enslaved them. Turned them into workers for her GRIMM factories, probably. We couldn't just abandon them, General!"

"And yet, in the end, that's exactly what we did." Gale stepped back. "Let's play a what-if game, Ruby, just for the intellectual exercise. Let's say, for instance, that you had obeyed James' order. You fly off to Lakenheath and you spend the rest of the campaign there. I think James would have reconsidered the letters of reprimand, but that's besides the point. Tell me, Ruby…would Poland have fallen all the same?"

"Sir?" Ruby wasn't sure what Gale was getting at.

"Ruby, what happened after you mutinied and remained in Poland?"

"Well…we ran into the Hound…Nora got shot down and wounded…Oscar was captured, taken to Warsaw, and Delta and Yang—er, Captain Xiao Long—helped get him…then Neo murdered one of the Delta people and stole JINN back, and then Salem set off the nuke—well, no, actually that was before Neo got JINN—"

Gale held up a finger. "Exactly. Now Oscar might have been shot and JINN lost if you had obeyed orders—that was not your fault. But if you had left, he wouldn't have been captured. There would have been no need for Delta to perform a risky operation into Warsaw that killed several dozen operators and Captain Vine Seki. Salem might not have detonated the nuclear weapon that we are still cleaning up the fallout from, real and political, and countless hundreds of people might not have died." He held up a hand to forestall any argument from Ruby. "True, those people might have died at Salem's hands another way, but the end result is that we retreat across the Oder River into Germany, but without a nuclear detonation, without a risky rescue mission, without a riskier evacuation convoy—maybe—and James Ironwood would still be alive." He met her eyes. "And, more than likely, so would be Penny Polendina."

Ruby felt like she was back in Neo's dungeon, being tortured again. This time was arguably worse, because it was not the psychopathic assassin, or the kerasine, but her commanding officer, outlining calmly where her path had taken her. I killed her, Ruby thought in utter despair. I killed Penny.

Gale saw her go pale, and the tears in the silver eyes, and knew why. "Now of course, that is speculation. Penny died because she was mortally wounded and called in the Maiden strike on herself. You did not kill her. However—"

"—I put her into that situation," Ruby finished in a small voice.

"Penny did volunteer for that mission," Gale told her. "She shouldn't have. She should have had more sense. That is her fault."

"She was my friend, General," Ruby sniffed. Then she willed herself not to cry. She was still an officer, not a scared little girl. "She followed me because she didn't want to disappoint me."

Gale nodded. "Just like the rest of your flight. That is something you should be proud of, Ruby—that you engender that kind of loyalty and that kind of courage. That is a trait not to be wasted." He walked back towards the window. "The problem is that it was wasted." He looked over the flightline. "Ruby, come over here and take a look."

Ruby felt like she was going to faint, but obeyed. Gale waved at the massed transports. The windows shook as a flight of F-16s took off for the evening combat air patrol. "See all those massed troops? Those transports? Every airport and base in western Europe from Paris to Prague looks like this. We have eight divisions ready to defend against Salem—or, if I have my way, retake Poland and drive that pale bitch all the way back to the goddamn Urals." He nodded again. "That, Ruby Rose, is a result of that message you sent. Yes, Pyrrha Nikos delivered it; yes, you had help from Whitley Schnee, who I'm happy to say seems to take more after his mother than his father…and yes, it was Arashikaze who made the Commando Solo available. But it was your idea, your drive, and your willingness to make the attempt. That message galvanized the world, Ruby."

"I...I don't know what to say," Ruby stammered.

Gale sighed. "Maybe it wouldn't have happened without what did happen. James was forced to withdraw divisions before Salem's invasion, and had to pry any others out from NATO and the EU. Hell, that lunatic Steiner crossed the border without orders. It's a good thing his division conducted the finest fighting retreat of a German division since 1944, or he'd be in my office as well." He faced her again. "I believe in God, Ruby, and in destiny. So maybe this happened because it was the only way it could happen, or it was God's will, or whatever. But you know why we can't just slap you on the wrist and tell you go and sin no more, don't you?"

Ruby composed her face; her eyes were dry now. "Yes, sir. I disobeyed a direct order from my commanding officer, then I instigated a mutiny against that same commanding officer by refusing to leave Poland with my squadron." She faced him as well, calm now that the future was in front of her. "If you do not prosecute me, then others may try it. Sir, General Ironwood said—rightfully so—that the military runs on trust, and I broke that. I think maybe he did too, but he's dead, so that doesn't matter. I'm still alive, so I have to answer for it. I have to hang so that our elected officials know that the military still obeys orders, and so other Huntsmen or Huntresses in independent commands don't think they can get away with just disobeying orders that they don't like. So the trust is still there."

Gale watched her for a long moment. "That is a very mature answer, Ruby."

"I've done a lot of growing up in the past few days, General." She looked down. "Maybe I'm good at inspiring people, but I'm also good at screwing up. My screwups almost got me and Little killed. And maybe my big screwup got Penny and Vine and a lot of other people killed. So maybe I need to answer for that."

"Are you suicidal?" Gale asked with concern.

Ruby chuckled. "Sir, under the influence of the kerasine, Neo convinced me to kill myself. For some reason the gun didn't go off, but I passed out all the same. If it hadn't been for the Delta people finding me, I probably just would've died; my brain would've shut down or I would've starved or something. So I've already killed myself, General. I can't say as I recommend it."

Gale laughed for the first time, a deep, bass laugh. "All right." His smile faded as quick as it had come. "Ruby, what I have to say next, I truly wish I did not have to say." He motioned her away from the window. "Sit down, please." She did so. "You have two choices right now. You, Captain Xiao Long, Captain Belladonna, and Ensign Pine are to be tried by general court-martial on the following charges." He glanced down at a paper on the desk. "Article 87: Missing Movement. Article 89: Disrespect Towards Superior Commissioned Officer. Article 92: Failure to Obey Order or Regulation. Article 94: Mutiny. Article 108: Destruction of Military Property. Article 133: Conduct Unbecoming an Officer."

"What about Hauptmann Schnee, sir?"

"Hauptmann Schnee is Luftwaffe. They have declined to press charges, just as they declined to press charges against Colonel Schnee for breaking Lieutenant Colonel Branwen out of jail. The Germans are sensitive about unlawful orders, given what happened back in World War II, so they're happy to accept the Schnees' excuse there. I think their name has something to do with it as well—they're more concerned with hanging Jacques Schnee when he goes to trial in December than his daughters right alongside him. Now there's no guarantee that will stick—there's some American politicians that are pressuring the German Bundestag to send Weiss over to stand trial as well."

"And the others, sir?"

Gale paused, tapping his fingers on the paper. "Captain Lie Ren is Chinese Unified Air Force. They haven't responded to my request for charges, and I don't expect they will. Lieutenant Valkyrie is in the hospital and will be for some time; no one's going to try to prosecute a young woman who probably should get an Air Force Cross for calling in airstrikes while she was bleeding to death in the grass." Another pause. "And as far as Pyrrha Nikos goes…she gave that speech that the world saw. Then she brought the evacuation convoy to Menagerie, and went out three times a day for five days afterwards to make sure all of them got out—while looking for you, of course. She is once more the Invincible Girl, and we would look like assholes prosecuting her. Moreover, she technically resigned her commission before the mutiny, so technically she committed no crimes. I've reinstated her, of course, but charges can't be brought against her, and won't."

"What about my uncle, sir?"

Gale laughed ironically. "Oh, he's guilty of all of those orders and more. I have it on good authority that he took a swing at James. But Qrow Branwen is untouchable. Director Arashikaze has said that he was under her authority the whole time, the CIA's, and not Ironwood's. That's bullshit, of course, but no one can touch him for it, and I've got no inclination to try—and neither does any of the brass hats in Charlottesville. They know that Branwen's just as likely to get on the stand and start spouting off all the secret missions he's been involved in, just to stick it to the Man. Which would be hilarious, but not good for the country in the long run."

"So it's just me, Yang, Blake and Oscar," Ruby said miserably.

"Yes. None of the enlisted men in your command are being prosecuted, since Ironwood ordered them to remain at Poznan. If they were fixing and arming your aircraft, that was just a happy coincidence."

"Even though they cheered me for it," Ruby said softly.

"Master Sergeant Vogelmord tells me no such thing happened," Gale explained. "Of course, he's lying, but no one can prove it, and I don't want to try that on, either."

"Sir…do you want me to be found guilty? And hanged, figuratively and maybe literally?" Ruby asked.

Gale slowly shook his head. "No. I would like to put another medal on you, tell you to take a month off, and go drive that boy Oscar out of his mind somewhere warm and expensive. He's been mooning over you since you disappeared. Privately I would hit you with a letter of reprimand, and tell you if you fuck up again I'll have you shot. Before you came in here, I will say it was odds on whether or not I wanted a court-martial; after hearing your story, I'm personally against the idea. You've suffered enough. But as a General in the United States of Canada Army…it must be done."

"I understand, sir," Ruby replied, because she did.

"There is another option," Gale said.

"Sir?"

"You could resign your commission. You and the others. If there's no officers to prosecute, then there's no court-martial. Oh, the politicians will wail and gnash their teeth, and scream that you're dodging the system…but they couldn't do a thing about it."

"And what would we do then?" Ruby's voice was filled with bitterness. "Go fly for the airlines? Yeah, right—they wouldn't hire us. Go work at my daddy's flying school—"

"Go mercenary." Ruby's mouth fell open at Gale's words. He smiled a little. "Something tells me that Robyn Hill would snap you up on the first bounce. If not, there's others that would. Now I'm not saying go pirate or something, but there's some sharp and good mercenary units that would be happy to have you, and not ask you to shoot down airliners or something. For that matter, the Reformed White Fang would have you."

Ruby couldn't find her voice for a moment. "Sir, is that—are you actually saying we should do that?"

Gale shrugged. "I'm saying it's an option. You go to court-martial, there is a very good chance you will go to prison. I don't think the people back home are vindictive enough to have you shot, but it's still twenty years at Leavenworth, at least. Going mercenary…you avoid that."

Ruby got up and began to pace. It would be easy. She knew that she could convince Yang, Blake, and even Weiss, probably Oscar and Nora, and maybe even Ren. Pyrrha would probably refuse, but she was safe anyway. They could all collectively resign from their air forces, sign some paperwork, and they would be free and clear. Oh, there would be recriminations, and interviews, and all kinds of publicity as the politicians and the brass tried to find ways to get them, to have their scapegoats. Gale was right: Robyn Hill would most likely welcome them with open arms. If not, the Belladonnas certainly would. For that matter, it wouldn't necessarily even have to be a mercenary force: there were several countries that would take them, probably even give them a promotion. Ruby Flight would be beholden to none but themselves, and they could give the world the finger. Yang would probably actually give the world the finger.

But as soon as she thought about it, Ruby knew she couldn't do it. She would be admitting that Ironwood's defenders were right—the loss of Poland was Ruby Flight's fault. She would be abandoning her country, one that she had taken an oath to defend against all enemies, foreign and domestic. She would be dishonoring the memory of her mother; Summer Rose had died wearing the uniform. She would be throwing away a career that, as Gale had said, had been exemplary.

She would be running away, and Ruby was tired of running away.

Ruby stopped pacing, and turned to face the general. "Sir…I'm going to talk it over with my flight, but I think I'd like to face the court-martial."

Gale watched her for a moment. "Very well." Then he did smile, if wanly. "You'll spend a few days here, outprocessing and so on. My understanding is that you wanted to visit Wiesbaden, to talk to your friend, Bogo…Bogu…Boggy—"

"Little, sir."

"Yes, her. And this other person, the Blacksmith. That can be arranged. Then you'll have two weeks of leave back home before the trial; counsel will be provided to you, or you can find your own. You will report in every day to the duty officer at Signal—Major Oum or whoever it may be. Failure to report will result in your immediate arrest. If you try to run, we'll add desertion to the list of charges, and you will be shot. No mercenary unit will take you if you're a runner. Salem might, I suppose."

Ruby had the briefest vision of kneeling before Salem, her skin and eyes the same color as her enemy, corrupted as she was, a cruel smile on her own face. It was impossible, of course, a vision from watching too much science fiction and fantasy movies, but it still chilled her. "We won't do that, sir."

"I didn't think so. Very well, Captain. Dismissed." Ruby drew herself up to attention. Gale did the same. "Ruby?" he said as she opened the door.

"Sir?"

He smiled, genuinely. "Good luck, Captain Rose."