"Smelling again? Or maybe listening?"

"More listening," said Ruby. She was sitting at the end of a small alcove, a line of electrical cabinets to her left separating her from the main passageway, with pipes and behind them bulkhead to her right. It looked like a tight fit. Oscar had no idea how someone as large as Smith could possibly get back there, but he supposed for someone slight like Ruby it felt nice and cozy.

Previously her eyes had been closed, but she opened them and raised her head from where it had been resting to look up at Oscar. He was struck, once more, by the strangeness of her eyes, their unusual silver color, the uncommon mix of gentleness and energy within. "Something on your mind?" she asked.

"I was actually going to ask you that," said Oscar. "I haven't seen you much since you returned from your mission."

"I had to debrief with my lance," Ruby explained, "then write up my report and submit a filing for the Mercenary Review Board. After that, I just needed some sleep."

"You're not sleeping now."

"Resting here is kinda like sleeping. It's restful."

"I'll take your word for it." It didn't feel right for Oscar to keep standing and looming over her, so he turned his back to one of electrical cabinets and sat down against it. It was warmer than he expected, making this a warmer place than most on the otherwise chilly dropship. He could feel why Ruby would like coming here.

"Is it bothering you?" he asked.

"Is what bothering me?"

"Your last mission. It seemed like it was a little rough."

"I've had rougher," Ruby said with a microscopic shrug.

"Really?"

Ruby didn't answer, but looked up towards the ceiling. Oscar followed her eyes. He didn't see anything there but a metal surface. What did she see?

"It's kind of funny, to me," said Oscar when the silence became unbearable. "From when I first came onboard, it's been days, weeks even, but the actual mission was only a few hours."

"And the fighting was just a few minutes," said Ruby. "That's how it goes. A long and busy career may end up with only a couple of hours of combat time. It's why we spend so much time in the simulator. You can't build enough experience through combat alone.

"It's not perfect prep, of course. The real thing is different."

"I bet," said Oscar. When she didn't go on, he felt compelled to ask, "What's different about it?"

"Things are heavier," Ruby said. "Slower. Harder. It's like… like everything is pressing on you more. When you know there's no reset or do-over, when you know it's live ammo you're using and real people you're fighting… you never actually think those thoughts, not actively, but you know it. Your brain has to work harder to think the same things."

"Like the difference," Oscar said, "between reading a procedure for maintaining a piece of gear, and actually performing that procedure with someone watching over your shoulder to keep you from screwing it up."

"Sure, except that the gear is shooting back." She paused, then added, "And it's real people who get hurt."

Was this the heart of it? Oscar thought it might be. "Are you upset about the people who got hurt?"

He could almost see her thinking her way through it. "A little," she said. "It's kind of different for snipers."

"How?"

"MechWarriors have a decent survival rate even when their machines are destroyed. If your mech loses its legs, you're probably okay. You can survive a mech getting its engine destroyed. Plenty of pilots do. You can even survive an ammo explosion, sometimes."

She leveled her head to look at him, and the face-to-face nature of it seemed immediate, urgent, loaded. "But if I shoot you in the head, you're dead. That's the point of it, really. The weakest part of any mech is the squishy bit of human up there in the head, and I hit that squishy human with a weapon designed to smash war machines.

"That's what's different. I cored out the Jenner, and that pilot had decent odds of coming out alright. I shot the Atlas in the head, and that pilot is dead, because I made absolutely sure I killed him. It's… personal. Intimate, in a weird way."

She held his eyes for a while with her own; he lost himself in them, in the unknowable depths of this woman.

She blinked and looked away, releasing him; he sucked in a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding.

"So…" he said, panting and trying to catch his breath, "that other pilot… you feel sorry for him, then?"

"Yes and no. I had to save Yang, obviously, but Yang was only there because I took the mission and led her there. That Atlas pilot was a MechWarrior. He knew what the job was about, I'm sure of it. They don't give Atlases to rookies. And if I'm gonna be feeling bad for people I killed, I should probably feel bad for the pilot of the VTOL I shot down, too. I didn't aim for the head with that, but a Gauss rifle versus an air unit is… yeah, that guy's dead. Still different than shooting someone in the head, though."

"I'll take your word for it," said Oscar. "You feel bad for killing them, then."

"It's complicated."

Oscar gave a chuckle. "Nothing about this mission has been simple, for either of us. Do you have any idea how much penance I'll have to perform now?"

"You?" said Ruby, puzzled. "You didn't do anything. I'm pretty sure we're the ones who trashed that base. That was kinda the point of hiring us, right?"

"I was complicit. You committed the ultimate sacrilege, and I helped." He scrunched up his face. "What makes it worse is I can't even tell anyone what I'm repenting for. I'll be doing penance work and people will ask why and I won't be able to tell them."

"I'm sure people will give you the benefit of the doubt," said Ruby.

"There are people like Yang in ComStar, too, Ruby."

"…really?"

"Okay, maybe not exactly like Yang, but you get the idea."

"Yeah, I do. Sorry."

"It'll be alright. I'll survive." He clasped his hands. "I just have to tell myself that it's about stopping the Grim Queen. Or at least delaying her. That's good enough, right?"

Ruby looked up again, and her eyes went out of focus; she seemed to be looking at something years and light-years away. "My first kill was kind of like this one," she said, catching Oscar by surprise.

"Oh?"

"Headshot, I mean. The first person I killed, I made darn sure he was dead." She tapped her boots together. It had to be a tic. "The Rose family swings by a planet called Patch from time to time. My dad lives there, too."

"I heard from Yang," said Oscar.

"There's a girl there I meet up with when I'm in the neighborhood. Penny. The brightest, kindest, cheeriest person ever."

Oscar considered that it was Ruby saying those words, and was somewhat amazed.

"She's had a really hard life," said Ruby. "She has a bad disease that eats away at her, so she keeps having to replace more and more of herself with prosthetics. Last time I saw her, all that was left of her original body were the gooey bits, and not all of them. There were times that she felt like she wasn't a real girl anymore. For Penny, just getting out of bed in the morning takes more bravery and willpower than most people ever use. She keeps going, though, keeps on trying, and she always has smiles to spare for everyone else. Pretty amazing, huh?"

"Yeah," said Oscar, unable to imagine a life like that.

"Patch isn't much compared to the Inner Sphere," said Ruby, "but it has the best hospitals of anywhere in two jumps. Her dad moved her there to help support her while he poured his life into researching her condition. Hard to do these days, technology being what it is, but at least hospitals were a lower priority target than mech factories. Not non-targets," Ruby said, her face darkening, "but some have come through alright.

"Patch's almost didn't, though. One day while the Huntress was visiting, some pirates made planetfall. They figured, hey, if Patch has the best medical system in two jumps, then if they stole all those medical supplies, they could resell it to everyone in two jumps, and people would have to pay their prices."

Oscar felt revulsion from the core of his being. It was so gross, what people would do to each other.

"The pirate leader actually stopped to explain it," Ruby said, scoffing a little. "He wanted people to know they'd have to beg for medicine and pay out the nose. He wasn't just rubbing it in, he was driving up the price, right there in the open, from the cockpit of his mech.

"I don't think he ever saw Crescent Rose. I made sure he never would.

"The other pirates panicked when their leader died in one shot. They didn't even know where it'd come from. I shot again and took another mech's arm off and that was enough. They called it quits. Left the planet, just like that."

"Wow," breathed Oscar. "How old were you?"

Ruby didn't answer. Possibilities spiraled out before Oscar. He hated most of them.

Ruby sighed. "It would have been rough except for one thing. Penny. I met her again afterwards, before we left Patch. She was so… grateful. If those pirates had made off with all that medicine, she would have died. There was no way her dad could have paid the pirate price for it. Me taking that shot saved her life, and a bunch of other people's lives, too. Between her life and that pirate's… I'd make that trade ten times out of ten."

She tapped her boots together one more time. "I feel sorry for that Atlas pilot," she said. "He didn't know he was protecting the Grim Queen, he wasn't trying to find the ghost army. He died without knowing why. That sucks and I hate it.

"But when I think about what would happen if the SLDF returned… well, I take the mission. And if I take the mission, I take that shot. That's what being a MechWarrior means.

"Me? I'm a MechWarrior to my soul."

A small smile came over her face. "I think Penny's on board with me. I think she'd say, 'take the mission'. That's enough."

There was quiet for a bit longer. Eventually, Oscar said, "Can you show me where Patch is on a star map?"

Ruby's eyes fixed on Oscar in a heartbeat, and her gaze turned penetrating. "What for?" she asked.

"Just for context," Oscar said, trying his best to sound sincere but also casual. "You keep mentioning it, is all. I think knowing where it is would help me understand."

Oscar got the impression that Ruby didn't quite believe him, but she smiled anyway and rose to her feet. "Sure thing. This way."

For the last time, Oscar was with the pilots in their mess. A Magellan-class JumpShip had just appeared in-system, which marked the first time the Rowdies could submit their mission report to Ozpin. Oscar had suggested that they hang around in case Ozpin wanted to discuss it directly, and Ruby trusted his instincts when it came to his boss. Sure enough, they had barely transmitted their package through the Magellan's onboard HPG when the Incoming Transmission alarm flickered on again. Half an hour later, the Rowdies were finishing their verbal report to accompany the written one.

"To sum up," said Ruby, "we smashed the HPG, the fusion reactor, and the dishes, which we think is enough damage to force ComStar to abandon the site. We also think we got out clean. We never announced who we were or what we were doing. While almost everyone at the base survived, there's not much they could have seen to tie us or you to the attack. Of course, you'll be doing your part to keep us safe from ComStar on your end, right?"

"As specified in your contract," said Ozpin. "I assure you that ComStar's investigation will be most unenlightening."

"That about wraps it up, then," said Ruby.

"Except for us getting paid," said Weiss.

"You wouldn't be mercenaries if I didn't compensate you for your services," said Ozpin. "Your fee has been remitted through the Mercenary Review Board. I'm transmitting the account number which holds your priority comms time. The promised armor, weapons, and parts are on board the JumpShip meeting you now. You can perform a ship-to-ship cargo transfer before the Magellan jumps to maintain confidentiality, and then it will return you to your point of origin."

"I hope you don't mind if we inspect all that gear prior to transfer," said Yang with deceptive cheeriness.

"I would expect nothing less, and that level of skepticism will serve you well. That said, it would be self-defeating for me to sabotage you now. I anticipate a day when I might call on your services again."

"Is that a fact?" said Blake.

"Oh, yes. This is a setback to the Grim Queen, to be sure, but as long as she still holds a position of power within ComStar, the threat of her faction remains. While most of my efforts to thwart her are subtle—budget fights, resource redirects, influence ops—there are some problems that yield only to overt solutions."

"Just what I always wanted," said Blake bitterly. "To be ComStar's attack dog."

"A lavishly compensated attack dog," Ozpin said. "Biting only ComStar's worst outliers."

Ruby gathered herself. "If you have ethical work for us in the future, we'll talk about it then."

"You continue to exceed my expectations," Ozpin said, and despite Ruby knowing it was just flattery, she couldn't help but preen a little. "Which is why I prefer you alive. Ethical mercenaries are hard enough to find, and skilled ethical mercenaries harder still. Oh, one last thing. Initiate Oscar?"

"Sir?" said Oscar, startled by his sudden involvement in the conversation.

"You will be boarding the Magellan, whereupon you will receive further instructions."

Ruby couldn't help a wry smile as Oscar looked disappointed by this order. "Yes, sir."

"Until then, MechWarriors, may the peace of Blake be with you all."

The connection terminated.

Maria must have been monitoring their comms, because the moment the call ended, her voice crackled over the intercom. "Let me guess. We're docking with another unmarked and non-transmitting JumpShip?"

"You know the routine," said Ruby.

"This had better not become 'routine' or you'll need a new pilot."

"Don't threaten me with a good time," said Ruby.

Maria cut off her own comms mid-cuss.

The quiet that followed this had a comfortable finality to it. It was the end of something—the end of this mission, the beginning of the next.

"Well," said Weiss, looking to her lancemates, "since we have a minute… simulator?"

"We've earned a break from that, I think," said Blake. "We need to line up our next job. I'll go check the listings."

"I'll put together a supply order so it can be ready for us wherever we go next," said Weiss. "We need more ammunition for sure, fuel, plenty of parts and armor to weld Yang's scrapheap back together…"

"I resemble that remark."

"And more books," said Blake. "I'm done with what I've got, so I'll make them available to the rest of you."

Weiss visibly stiffened and blushed, before saying in a strangled voice, "Well. That's your business, I suppose."

"I'll help Smith find some volunteers and prep for spacewalk," said Yang, raising her bandaged arm in its sling. "I figure she could really… use a hand."

"Oh my god," whispered Weiss, burying her face in her hands.

"You can all do that," said Ruby, "but while you do, think about who you want to send a priority message. It can be anyone, anywhere. You don't have to have an answer right away, but you should have a plan before our next planetfall, alright?"

Everyone nodded agreement.

"Alright." Ruby smiled. "Good job, ladies. We kicked this job's butt. On to the next!"

"Another day, another C-bill," said Yang as she rose. In moments, the three other Rowdies had left the mess.

To Ruby's surprise, Oscar followed, looking bashful.

In no time at all, it seemed, the Huntress was docking with the Magellan. Apparent gravity dropped to a minimum as the g-forces of the Huntress' propulsion vanished; the crew was back in magnetic boots to compensate and most repair and other work had come to a stop.

And Oscar was headed for the airlock.

"You know you have to ask the captain's permission to leave, right?"

Oscar froze in place, petrified like he'd been caught in some wrongdoing. When he looked, he saw that the Rowdies were all smiles. Not the sort of predatory smiles he might expect from practical jokers, but genuine smiles. "Request permission to leave?" he guessed blindly.

"Granted," said Ruby. "I can't believe you thought you'd leave without saying goodbye."

"I don't like goodbyes," said Oscar uncomfortably.

"Besides, you'll need our help with the airlock."

That hadn't occurred to Oscar. "Thanks," he said with embarrassment. "Still getting used to life in space."

"Well," said Ruby as she turned and started walking for the docking port, "with the way Ozpin keeps you hopping, I'd bet you'll get used to it real quick."

That was something, Oscar supposed. Ozpin liked to say that change was an opportunity for growth. Oscar wondered privately about the sincerity of those words. Ozpin gave the impression that he'd been basically the same his entire life, down to the cane he (unnecessarily?) kept with him at all times. Oscar could imagine a toddler Ozpin with white hair and cane showing up to day care for the first time and gravely handing out fortune cookie-esque pronouncements.

He had to chuckle at that.

"What's so funny?" Yang pounced.

Oscar panicked, and, in that panic, was able to avoid telling the truth at the price of being too honest. "I was just thinking that, if Ozpin does hire you all again in the future, he'll need a contact, and it might as well... it should be…"

"You want to liaise with us again," said Weiss.

The formal words were a relief. They made the idea seem less ridiculous. "Yeah, that's it," said Oscar.

For some reason, Blake, Weiss, and Yang all smiled and looked at Ruby, who for her part had turned pink and was studiously staring at the bulkhead.

"Am I missing something?" said Oscar.

"Not as much as Ruby will be in a week or two," said Yang teasingly.

"Shut up, Yang!" exploded Ruby. "You are undermining the authority of your captain! This is insubordination, I tell you!"

"Sorry, but sisterly teasing doesn't care about the chain of command. That's part of the unwritten rules. I learned it at Big Sister Academy."

They had, mercifully, arrived at the airlock; the Huntress just wasn't that big of a ship. Blake and Weiss operated the airlock controls, and in a few moments, they had everything open for Oscar. A white-robed officer from the Magellan's crew was waiting for them on the other side.

"Requesting permission to transfer personnel," Ruby called down formally.

"Permission granted."

"That's your cue," Ruby said Oscar.

A desperate urgency seized hold of Oscar. "I'll ask to see you again, but Master Ozpin might choose someone else for the job."

"He might," said Ruby, "but whoever he picked would be a downgrade."

Oscar flushed furiously. "What I'm saying is, in case we never see each other again, I'm glad I was able to meet you all."

They were all smiles, even Blake, though hers was so small that it could be mistaken for a trick of the light. Yang even gave a mock salute with her off hand.

"Go keep the comms working, tiger," said Yang.

"I will," said Oscar. "The peace of Blake be with all of you, MechWarriors."

With that, he descended through the airlock. They sealed it behind him, and he was gone.

It took several seconds for Blake to realize that the others were looking at her with open amusement. "What?" she said, unnerved.

"Those ComStar folks are really big on you giving us peace," said Ruby.

Blake's cat ears went flat against her skull. "I knew, I knew, I knew this was coming!"

"The thing is," said Yang with glee, "I've seen you in action, and you are super not a bringer of peace."

Blake's eyes shut. "You know they're not talking about me, right?"

"I don't believe you," said Weiss. "I think the actual reason you have such a beef with ComStar is that they aren't worshiping you the right way. Your real problem with them is all the apostasy. How dare they not worship you the way that you deserve!"

"Is there any point to saying my name is strictly a coincidence?"

"It didn't have to be," said Ruby. "You're an attaché—an actual super spy! You could have chosen whatever codename you wanted. You had a whole world of codenames available to you, and you still stuck with your real name. That sounds like it was on purpose."

"Unless 'Blake' is the super-secret spy name you chose for yourself," said Yang with an evil grin, "which would be way funnier!"

"I hate all of you so much."

"Speaking of agents," said Weiss, "we got a message an hour ago from a minor Kurita noble. He's put together an expedition to look for lostech in the Dry Regions to the galactic north, and he needs a short-term augmentation to his security force until he gets his base of operations built."

"I'm all for working and getting paid," said Yang.

"So we're chasing ghosts, again?" said Blake.

"And if we find more ghosts," said Ruby, pumping her fist, "we'll kick their butts, too!

"Let's go, Rose's Rowdies. It's a big galaxy, and there's a lot to do."

End.