Wyoming: Previously, on RvBvRWBY: Incursion..

"Those soldiers… the other Agent… they are your enemies?"

"More or less," Wyoming said.

"The girls with them… the huntresses… Team RWBY…. are mine. Together… we can deal with them all… at once."

"Wyoming?!" Tex exclaimed.

"So, I figured out what's wrong, and you're not gonna like the diagnosis," Doc said.

"Which is ironic, because I think it's absolutely delightful!" O'Malley cackled, clearly enjoying himself.

"Just tell us, Doc. We can take it," Church said.

"How do I say this…? Your friend is…" he then paused, not continuing further.

"Why are you pausing? Caboose is not gonna interrupt you this time," Church said.

"No, that was just for dramatic effect," Doc chuckled. "He's pregnant."

"Oh good… wait, what?" Caboose said.

"Preggers," O'Malley snickered.

"There were two heartbeats in his body. And unless Tucker is a freak of nature with two hearts, it's the only explanation."

"How is that a logical explanation?!" Church exclaimed.

"I never said it was logical. Trust me, nothing about this is logical."

"Congratulations! It's a… thing. Eugh,"

"What was that?" Church questioned.

"Uh, that's the other thing I called about. Tucker had his gross baby," Caboose answered.

"A baby? Wait up, I wanna see!" Donut said before running to start following Church.

"Donut, get back here! Wait for the ship!" Sarge ordered. Donut stopped in the open field to turn back and face his CO.

"But Sarge, we don't know when the ship is going to get here! It's coming all the way from Earth. That could take days, or weeks, or months, or even years!" Donut exclaimed just before the massive form of metal that was a spaceship suddenly plummeted from the sky and crashed right on top of him.

"Ship's here," Simmons said.

"Shotgun." Grif called.

The Grimm they fought before placed its spindly fingers on the table, gripping the remaining two Cosmic Dust crystals. It lifted the crystals up and dropped them into its maw, swallowing them whole. After a brief white glow emanated from its body, the quills on its back shrunk down some.

"Did she take the bait?"

"Indeed. Hook, line and sinker, mate. Hook, line and sinker…" Wyoming chuckled.

RvBvRWBY: Incursion

Chapter 13: Out of Mind

He kneeled down outside the small shop's front door and began to pick the lock. He worked slowly, aiming to keep it quiet and unnoticeable, though he did also quietly hum a tune to himself as he worked. It was a simple lock, so it wasn't going to take long, not long at all. Especially for a former freelancer like himself. He could be in and out with whatever was inside without anyone noticing.

"Alright, freeze!" A vaguely familiar female voice called behind him.

"Oh…" he mumbled to himself. He had to have been getting sloppy. He was better than this. But situations like this were what the pistol was for. He began to talk to fill time as he slowly pulled the sidearm off his belt, his back still to the woman. "Sorry, officer. I, uh, lost my keys to my shop here and I was trying to figure out a way to, you know, um…" He took the safety off his pistol and stood up, ready to snap around and open fire in a second.

"You never were a very good liar, York," Tex chuckled, in an almost friendly and entertained way. York turned around, still not loosening the grip on his sidearm.

"York? I haven't been called York in a really long time. Hello, Allison," York replied coldly.

"I haven't been called Allison in a really long time," Tex recalled. She then gestured to the door behind the former freelancer in yellowish-green armor. "You down to petty theft now, York? Seems like a waste of your talents."

"Hey, whatever pays the rent," York said. "There's not much call for a former infiltration specialist these days."

"I think that's about to change. There's a place I need to get into and they don't want me to get into it."

"Y'know, they never do. What do you think, D, should we trust her?" York turned, prompting the empty space next to his head with the query before a small, green holographic man in similar armor appeared there.

"Hmm… that depends. Is he still with her?" The construct asked.

"What the- you still have yours?!" Tex quickly aimed her rifle at the construct, immediately put on full alert by it's presence.

"Alarm, threat level raised. Seventy-one percent chance of violent outcome!"

"Okay, take it easy…" York said.

"Chance of defeating Agent Omega Texas in combat is extremely unlikely," The construct reported.

"What's going on here?!" Tex questioned.

"Thank you, D," York said to silence his construct. "Look, put the weapon down, Tex. Delta's not a threat to anyone, never was. Y'know, if anyone should be nervous about onboard passengers around here, it should be me."

Tex reluctantly lowered her rifle. "Well don't be nervous. Omega's gone."

"Chance of defeating Agent Texas: still very unlikely," Delta continued.

"Okay, I get it. Thank you, retire now," York ordered.

"Executing." Delta's holographic form then faded away from sight.

"Let's go inside," York suggested before walking away from the shop, leading Tex back across the commercial district of the town they found themselves in to a run-down apartment complex, up to a third-floor rental that looked even shabbier than the building itself, with a rusted fan attached to a high curved ceiling. The place was tidy enough, but this was also due to lack of much. A large mattress with a raggedy blanket sat on the floor, and in the corner was a small but ancient-looking TV set.

"Nice place. You furnish it yourself?" Tex remarked.

"Actually, I had an interior decorator help me… She's dead now." York said dryly, with little energy. He seemed tired, in more ways than one. Clearly, ever since leaving the program, life wasn't kind to him. "Look, Tex, are you absolutely sure he's not anywhere in that head of yours?"

"Omega's gone. That's why I'm here," Tex answered.

"Oh… let me guess: he's gone, but that's not good enough. You wanna kill him, too."

"He spent a lot of time in my head, York. You know what it's like; whatever they think, we think. Whatever we know, they know."

"Yeah, I'm familiar," York chuckled dryly. "Remember all Reggie's dumb knock-knock jokes?"

"York, this is serious. Omega wants to do a lot of bad things. I already know where he is, I just need your help to get in."

"Why?" York asked.

"He's not alone. Wyoming," Tex answered.

"Ah, speak of the devil. Okay, let's say I do this. What's in it for me?"

"Payback. How's the vision in your eye?"

"Still blurry. Hurts when I read," York answered evenly.

"Well then, how 'bout a little revenge?" Tex suggested.

"Y'know, technically you're the reason I have one bad eye."

"No, technically I'm the reason you still have one good eye."

York sighed and glanced to his side again. "What do you think, D?"

Delta's small form appeared in the air next to York once again. "Agent Texas poses a serious risk to any mission. The spontaneous ejection of A.I. can be catastrophic to the psyche of an agent."

"She seems okay to me," York defended.

"May I remind you what happened when program Gamma removed itself from Agent Wyoming?"

"That won't be necessary, D. Look, what's your recommendation? We in or we out?" York asked his A.I. partner.

"Tactical Matrix is incalculable. Outcome is uncertain. Chance of success is unknown. But… a little payback would be nice," Delta concluded.

"We're in," York said promptly.

Church strode towards Blue Base with an angered pe in his step, going uninterrupted until Ruby cut him off in a burst of rose petals. "Church, slow down!" She cried.

"Ruby, you cannot stop me from going into my own base," Church said.

"What the heck do you think you're doing?! Rolling up with a tank, shooting at everybody?!"

"Look, I have had a very strenuous week, if that wasn't obvious. That's not including the fuckin' wolf man that keeps showing up. Sorry, sister, if it's a bit too much to handle!" Church then pushed past her and entered the base.

"Rrrg, why do you have to be such a jerk?!" Ruby groaned before following him inside. They came down to the first corner turning into the base where Doc was waiting. From further inside, the violent slamming and throwing of objects could be heard, causing quite the ruckus.

"Hey Doc, what the hell's going on in there?" Church asked.

"Church, everything's fine. The patient's just resting," Doc answered.

"That doesn't sound like Tucker's resting to me," Ruby remarked.

"That's not Tucker, that's our new arrival. He's gotten a lot of energy since his first feeding." Doc clarified. Ruby's face lit up.

"The baby's here?" She asked.

"Tucker fed the baby? Gross," Church gagged.

"Actually, Caboose was kind enough to donate some know what they say, 'it takes a village'," Doc said.

"How'd you get him to agree to that?"

"It's amazing what Caboose will do if you promise him a cookie and a glass of orange juice."

"But doesn't Caboose hate needles?" Ruby said.

"No needles. Turns out, if you just expose some bare skin, the little guy just digs right in! It's like a miracle to see nature at work!" Doc marveled. Behind him, Caboose stumbled absent mindedly into the hallway, clearly spaced out.

"I feel dizzy!" he said.

"Caboose, are you alright?" Ruby asked concerningly.

"Tucker's kid drank half a gallon in one go. Ain't that cool?" Doc said. "I think he's gonna be a linebacker. Or a vampire. Or a vampire linebacker! That'd be crazy."

Ruby went to Caboose's side. "Hey, you okay, bud?"

"There was a hurt-ey feeling, and then everything got all blurry…" Caboose replied.

"Where the hell did Weiss go? The little bastard get her too?" Church asked.

"No, his teeth couldn't make it past her aura. She's just outside vomiting. She filled the bucket, so I just sent her out to hurl on your old grave," Doc replied.

"Thanks," Church deadpanned.

"Anyway, blood is pretty important, so Caboose is bound to have some side effects like dizziness, or nausea, or sensitivity to light-"

"I think I'm going to stop standing up now…" Caboose said before falling forward flat onto the floor.

"Caboose!" Ruby cried.

"- Or passing out," Doc finished.

"Church…" Caboose groaned. "If I die, I want you to have my orange juice. And Ruby can have my cookie!"

"I'd find that nice if you weren't on the verge of death right now…" Ruby said.

"How can Tucker sleep with all that racket?" Church questioned.

"Sleeping? He's not sleeping… he's in a coma," Doc said.

"Alright, that's it. Get out of the way, Doc, I'll take care of this," Church said.

Doc shook his head. "I don't think so. A newborn is really susceptible to infection and disease. And cuddling! I only wanna expose it to as few people as possible, which right now are myself, Caboose and Weiss."

Church chuckled a bit. "Doc, don't worry, I'm not gonna give it a cold. I'm just gonna go in there, step on its neck and shoot it in the head. Because that's how I roll."

Ruby was appalled by Church's awful plan. "What is wrong with you?!" She shrieked. "You can't kill a baby!"

"It's not a baby, it's an abomination to nature."

"Sorry, you're not getting in," Doc denied him.

"Doc, seriously, you can't keep me from going inside my own base," Church said.

"Church, don't make me pull rank on you," Doc threatened.

"Rank? What the fuck- I outrank- you don't outrank me, I'm captain!"

"No, you're a private with a dead captain," Doc corrected. "The last time I checked, that makes you a private. With a dead captain."

"My body… is trying to die…" Caboose groaned. Ruby frowned and worked to get him into a sitting position against the wall so he could rest comfortably.

"Ok fine, then we're both privates, you don't outrank me," Church continued, completely ignoring Caboose.

"No, I'm a Medical Super-Private, first class!" Doc proclaimed.

"That's not a real rank."

"Yes it is," Doc insisted.

"Since when?" Church questioned.

"Uh, since I sent them a letter every day for four years requesting that promotion."

"They promote you for that?! You haven't even used your weapon!" Church exclaimed. ]

"Leadership isn't about firing bullets and stabbing people, Church," Doc said. Ruby was about to cut in and take Doc's side maybe even remind Church what a real leader was supposed to be, when Doc continued and ruined all of that. "Leadership is about being able to tell others to fire bullets and stab people." Her forming words of agreement died in her mouth.

From his now propped up spot against the wall, Caboose asked, "If I've been bitten, does that mean I'm going to turn into one of them…?" This made Ruby smile a little and she gently patted his shoulder.

"No, Caboose. I think you're safe," She assured him. If there's one person she still held in a somewhat high regard on this team, it was Caboose. He wasn't the smartest, but that wasn't what mattered. He was pure, honest, and childish in the best ways. It made Ruby hope for the other members of Blue Team.

The entire canyon suddenly rumbled as something made an impact back outside with a resounding boom. It shook the very floor beneath their feet. "The hell was that?!" Church exclaimed.

"I didn't feel anything…" Caboose moaned.

"I'll be right back-don't feed any more of our soldiers to the alien," Church said before running back out the door.

"Okay, but I can't make any promises," Doc replied.

"Will Caboose be okay?" Ruby asked Doc.

"He'll be fine. Wanna come see the baby?"

"Yes!" Ruby squealed.

"Simmons, status report!" Sarge ordered.

"Status report? A ship just fell out of the sky and landed on Donut!" Yang exclaimed. "He could be dead!"

"Could be?" Blake raised an eyebrow.

"Poor Donut, I'll miss him like a sister," Simmons said.

As they talked, a metallic tapping could be heard. Blake's faunus ears twitched under bow. "Do you hear that? It sounds like tapping."

"You're absolutely right! That sounds like Morris code!" Sarge agreed.

"Don't you mean Morse Code?" Yang said.

"Morse, heh. That sounds ridiculous. This means Donut is alive and trying to contact us! Now, get to tappin'!"

"Maybe we can lift the ship off of him somehow," Simmons suggested.

"Great idea, Simmons! I've read reports that people can get enormous strength in stressful situations. There was one woman who lifted a car off her baby."

"Yang's got insane strength, why not have her lift it?" Grif suggested.

"This thing's a little too big for me to lift over my head or anything like that," Yang said. "I'm strong, but that's still a lot."

"Well what if we tried getting into the ship and lowering the landing gear? That might raise the ship-" Simmons began to suggest, until Sarge cut him off.

"Or, we could build an army of clones that could lift the ship-" Sarge started.

"I think the jack in the Warthog might be able to lift it-"

"Could develop a machine that shrinks the ship, or that makes Donut gigantic! Or both."

"Or we could try digging underneath the hull."

This back and forth continued as Yang, Blake and Grif watched. "Y'know, I could tell before, but this is another prime example of why you guys never get anything done," Blake said.

"Tell me about," Grif replied.

"I got it! A levitation ray!" Sarge exclaimed. "I think I have a spare in the base! I'll be right back." The Red Commander then ran for the Warthog and leapt into the driver's seat, hitting the ignition as soon as he landed in the seat.

"But sir-!" Simmons started, calling over the now roaring engine of the jeep.

"Simmons, there's not time to chat about your crackpot theories! This is a crisis situation. Tiem to save us all, with science." Sarge then hit the gas and drove off back towards Red base at the other end of the canyon.

"Sarge just drove away with our jack, didn't he?" Grif sighed.

"And our shovels," Simmons nodded. "Sometimes I'm amazed our entire platoon hasn't starved to death."

"The fuck are you guys doing out here, breaking the canyon?" Church questioned as he approached the ship.

"Fuck off, Blue. A ship just crashed on one of our guys," Grif snapped back.

"What, this ship?" Church asked, gesturing to the metal hulk cratered into the earth next to him.

"No, another ship. Then that ship left, and this one crashed in the exact same place," Blake deadpanned.

"Where'd it come from?" Church asked.

"It's a spaceship, it came from space," Grif answered.

Church turned his head and slowly inspected the ship top to bottom. It was mostly undamaged, and could also be carrying valuable cargo. "Dibs."

"What?" Simmons asked.

"Dobs. I just called dibs. This is my ship now. Dibs," Church said.

"No it isn't, jackass, we found it first!"

"By found, do you mean 'turned Donut into a pancake right in front of us'?" Yang raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but you didn't call dibs. I did. Dibs. See?" Church said.

"You can't call dibs on a spaceship! That's ridiculous!" Grif exclaimed.

"Yeah, yes I can," Church chuckled. "Dibs. See? I just did it again. Now get the fuck away from my ship, tomato can."

"Don't call me tomato can…" Simmons said through gritted teeth.

"Try and take it then," Grif said.

"Uh, okay. Sheila?" Church glanced over his shoulder, gesturing to the Blue's tank aiming its turret right at the Reds.

"Fuck! You forgot about that too, didn't you?" Grif said.

"Yeah, kinda," Simmons sighed.

It was then that Church also heard the metallic tapping coming from the ship. "The hell is that tapping noise? It sounds like morris code."

"Morse," Simmons and Blake simultaneously corrected.

"Well what does it say?" Church asked.

"It says 'tap, tap, tap'. We don't know," Grif said.

"We were going to translate it when you showed up with your bad attitude and tank," Blake furrowed her brow.

"No, when I showed up, you were standing around doing nothing," Church said. "Just like the last fifty times I interrupted you guys. Anyways, I'll take my ship."

"It isn't your ship. They called, it came, it's theirs," Blake said.

"I dunno, I don't see any markings on it," Church said.

"You can't have the ship!" Simmons proclaimed.

"I'm not asking for it, it's already mine. Right Sheila?"

"Actually, i kind of like it. I think it is mine," The tank responded with a slight attitude.

"Hey, are you okay?" Church asked his vehicle. The two got into a conversation while the others stood there and watched.

"I think there's something wrong with their tank," Yang noted.

"Yeah, I noticed," Grif deadpanned.

"I've got an idea," Simmons began to suggest.

"Woah, okay, hold on a second. Before you get too deep into this, let me remind you that we don't exactly have a good track record when it comes to our plans and that tank," Grif said cautiously.

"The tank is clearly malfunctioning in some fashion. We could try to take it out if we find a way," Blake said.

"Well only one part of it has to function for me to get turned into a cloud of orange mist."

The conversation between Sheila and Church was coming to a head. "Okay, just be cool," Church said.

"I am cool. You be cool," Sheila replied.

And during this entire hectic mess of an interaction, up came Sarge returning on foot to the crash site. "Bad news, fellas, I couldn't find that levitation ray, but I did find the remote control to- hey! What's goin' on out here?! Waddaya think you're doing you lousy blue!"

"I'm just trying to figure out what the deal is with this spaceship," Church answered.

"Dibs!" Sarge called.

"Too late," Everyone else said at the same time.

"Dagnabbit! Why do I leave you to guard anything? Everybody knows about the international dibs protocol, and the no take backs accord!"

"See guys, this is our ship. And by ours, I mean mine, and my…" Church turned to see Sheila driving away from the crash site, giggling under her digital breath as she left her leader behind to deal with the consequences of his own actions. "... eighty ton… friend…" he turned back around to see the other five staring at him scrutinizingly. "Um…" The three Reds immediately took aim at Church with their weapons.

"We're going in circles here…" Blake sighed while rubbing her eyes in an irritated fashion.

"I'm gonna be right back…" Church then ran off right back for his home base.

"Hey Blue! You know that ship you called dibs on? Well I got next! Hah! Now the ship is mine again!" Sarge called after his fleeing enemy. "Now let's see if we can get this thing movin'."

"So, Simmons, you said if we get in we can use the landing gear to push it up?" Blake asked.

"Theoretically," Simmons said.

"Alright. I may not be strong enough to lift it, but I can definitely pry that door open!" Yang said before stretching out her muscles. She then approached the back of the ship, cracked her knuckles, then leapt up and grabbed onto the top of the ramp. She dugs her fingers into the metal, bending and deforming it into her fists, then with a surge of strength ripped the entire back ramp off with ease. She pulled the metal off of the ship before tossing it aside. "Definitely easier than trying to pick up the whole thing."

"Wow, you're really strong! Thanks for that," A voice said. A person came from inside the ship into the newly made opening. Grif rushed to the front of the group as soon as he recognized them.

"What are you doing here?!" He exclaimed.

Church approached the base and headed inside to find Caboose back to being sprawled out on the floor, having fallen over from where Ruby had attempted to prop him up. "Caboose, where's Doc?" he asked.

"He and the girls took the baby for a walk…it's growing up so fast…" Caboose weakly answered. "Seems just like yesterday he was born…"

"Well actually that's because he was born today. Like an hour ago."

"We need to cherish these times… I wish I knew how to scrapbook…"

"Where's Tucker?" Church asked.

"Still in a coma…" Caboose answered.

"Great!" Church groaned. "Tucker's out, Sheila's on the fritz, and now Doc and the girls are babysitting! Caboose, if we survive the next five minutes, I'll be fucking amazed." Church then ran for the back door to the base to find the other three.

"I'm fine by the way!" Caboose called. "Don't worry about me… I'm so cold…"

Tex and York crouched behind a large boulder, watching a mid-sized base with a large tower on a shoreline overlooking the ocean, the stone that composed the building caked in dirt and worn down by time. A place where O'Malley, or Omega, was supposed to be. But so far, they hadn't seen the rogue AI or his current host at all.

"Okay, I'm officially worried," Tex said while staring at the base through the scope of a sniper rifle. "There hasn't been any movement in days. It looks like they've bunkered down, or left."

"Yep," York agreed. "What do you think, D?"

Delta appeared between the two of them. "If Omega is inside the building, we must enter to locate him. If he has already left, that building contains the only clues to his current location. In either scenario, we must-"

"Let's go," York said, cutting off his A.I companion before he and Tex moved up towards the building. They moved up closer until they were just a few dozen meters away from an entrance into the facility's grounds.

"Okay then, stick to the plan," Tex said. "We split, maintain visual, no radios, movement on fours. Sync?"

"Synced," York echoed.

"Go."

York entered the grounds first. Tex waited four seconds before following, keeping distance between them as they made their move. "York, I am concerned," Delta said. "I have been monitoring Agent Texas, her vital statistics are well above normal." York stopped next to a boulder near the courtyard entrance and aimed his rifle straight, letting Tex pass him up and take the lead.

"I'm sure she's just tense, D, okay?" York assured. After a few seconds, he followed Tex's path further in. "I am too, and I'm not fighting something that lived in my head for a few years."

"Agreed. But the anomaly is worth noting. Once we encounter the target, her emotions may make her actions erratic," Delta said.

"What can I tell ya? Just one of the things that makes us human, D."

"Excellent point, York. I was not looking at it from a flawed perspective. I will try to do so in the future."

"Well it sure would make these conversations easier," York said. "Thanks for coming down to my level, D."

"I am here to assist."

York and Tex's alternating pattern continued until they made their inside, meeting up in a small empty room near the center of the main building. Upon entering, they put themselves back-to-back and scanned the entire room with their weapons up, both seeing nothing else around besides themselves.

"No vis," Tex reported.

"No vis," York echoed. They lowered their weapons and Tex turned to gesture to a holographic display hovering against one of the walls.

"There it is. Bust the lock and this teleporter will take us up top," Tex said.

York approached the display and inspected. "Woah woah. You said an encrypted lock. This is a holographic lock."

"Is there a difference?"

"Yeah… hence the two names."

"So can you open it or not?" Tex questioned.

"Of course I can!" York said defensively. "It's just much harder. I just brought it up 'cause I wanted you to realize how kick-ass I am." York then crouched in front of the lock and began to interact with the display, beginning to hack his way through the lock.

"I'm convinced, get to work," Tex said impatiently.

Delta reappeared next to York's shoulder. "York, why are we doing this?" he asked. "Killing Omega will not repair the damage he did to your optic nerve."

"I'm not doing it to fix my eye, D. I'm doing it because my eye is broken," York said.

"I apologize, but that does not make sense to me."

"Omega and Allison were always the best. No one could compete with them. Not me, not Wyoming, not Carolina or Maine, not anybody. Trying to beat them when I should've given up is how I got hurt in the first place."

"Oh. So it is pride," Delta deduced. "I was registering an emotion, but I incorrectly categorized it as 'stupidity'."

"Yeah, they're closely related." York finished hacking the lock and suddenly a green teleporter whirred to life.

Tex ran over to it instantly. "Okay, I'll take the lead. Give me fifteen seconds then follow, sync?"

"Sync," York nodded. Tex ran through, and York mentally prepared himself for whatever he might run into up there. "I need you to stay tight, D, watch my bad side."

"Of course. Watching left," Delta confirmed. "Executing in three… two… one… execute. Good luck."

"Thanks," York said before sprinting through the teleporter. He came out on the walkway above, seeing a stopped Tex looking out in front of them both. He paused to take in the same sight: dead Red and Blue soldiers sprawled on the ground. "What the hell…?"

"I saw the same thing back at the snow base. All the sim troopers, dead. There, they were mauled and torn apart. But these are clean kills. But it can't be the same things. These guys have bullet wounds and gashes."

"What kinda things are we talking about here, Tex?" York asked. They then both heard animalistic growling and snapped around to see two Beowolves approaching from behind.

"Those kind!" The two freelancers opened fire on the Grimm creatures. They withstood the bullets long enough to lunge for Tex and York and split them up. Tex's Beowolf slashed down at her. She slid out of the way then bashed the butt of a rifle into its eye, stunning it long enough to empty a whole mag into its skull. The monster howled and swiped at her horizontally. She barely escaped it's sharp claws before firing her last few bullets through its neck, killing it.

York was more evasive. He repeatedly avoided his Beowolf's attacks, but he didn't have time to do much else. Especially with his bad eye, he was lucky to be doing this much. "High right, bearing diagonally," Delta warned. York dodged the monster's next attack, which came bearing down just where Delta said. "Swiping both arms low." York leapt up as the Beowolf slashed both arms downwards, then he kicked both of his legs outwards, bashing the soles of his armor's boots into the Grimm's face, stunning it long enough for him to land, aim his rifle, and shoot it right in the neck. The monster yelped before toppling over and disintegrating. York returned to his feet only to see a third Beowolf charging down the main path for both him and Tex. Both soldiers took aim, but Tex fired no bullets.

"Dammit, jam! Cover, cover, cover!" Tex exclaimed. She dove for cover while York shot the Beowolf's legs out from under itself, causing it to stumble and now slide on the ground towards them. He then tried to run to his right for cover-

"Alarm!" Delta warned, but all too late. A three-round burst found its home in York's left side. He let out a pained cry as his dive for cover turned into his body slamming into the side of the walkway. Tex poked out from cover to see Wyoming at the other end of the walkway towards the tower with a Battle Rifle in hand, the barrel still smoking from hsi shot on York. Tex growled before pulling her sidearm out and killing the injured Beowolf with two shots to the head, then threw a grenade at Wyoming before its body even had begun dissolving. Wyoming dove for his own cover just before the grenade exploded into flame and shrapnel.

Tex took the chance to sprint across the open walkway and crouch behind cover next to the bleeding York. "York, are you okay?!"

"It's that damn left side…" York groaned.

"D, info," Tex ordered. The holographic form of Delta appeared above York.

"York has sustained two wounds to his upper-left chest. Recommend evac stat," he reported.

"Just… need a minute…" York said through strained teeth.

"Administering field stint and analgesic," Delta said. York fell into unconsciousness as Delta ran painkillers through his suit.

"Wait… Tex… don't-don't let him…" York tried to spit out before passing out.

"York is now unconscious. Alarm: target Alpha has reloaded." Delta could see Wyoming peeking out of cover, loading a fresh mag into his rifle.

"How bad is it, D?" Tex asked.

"York will not survive," Delta answered matter-of-factly.

"Okay, D, hop into me. I'll host you until we get outta this," Tex ordered.

"Thank you, Allison, but I would prefer to stay, with York. he will need me to maintain his pain medication." Delta said.

"An A.I can't fall into enemy hands, D. If you're in there when he dies, you know what the armor's protocol will do to you."

"I would prefer to stay with York," Delta said.

Tex mentally sighed. She knew there was no way to convince the A.I to leave his dying host. "That's very kind of you, D…"

"It's just part of what makes us human, Tex."

Wyoming peaked around the corner of his cover to see Tex slowly approaching. He smirked and stepped out before opening fire on her. She didn't seem to move. She had to have been suicidal. Then he realized the bullets weren't hitting here, but just passing through her. "What's this…?" he wondered aloud. She seemed to stop, before the gun of the real Tex was put to his head.

"Don't move," She warned. "Thanks for the light show, D." The first Tex became green and transparent, and Delta's voice began to speak from it.

"I'm here to assist," he said. "However, I am afraid I will not be able to assist you further. York's armor is beginning to shut down." Delta's voice became distorted and scratchy. He himself was beginning to go offline with the armor.

"I understand," Tex said.

"Good luck to both of you," Delta said.

"Both of us? You must be failing if you wish your enemy luck," Wyoming said.

"Good and evil are human constructs, Reginald. I was merely attempting to be courteous." Delta's voice became so distorted it was unrecognizable, and then the hologram flickered from life completely.

"Well, one more freelancer gone. I'm afraid the reunion committee will be none too happy to hear about that," Wyoming remarked.

"Can it. Tell me where Omega is and don't play dumb with me," Tex commanded.

"Hardly. I do believe our dear Omega is currently killing all your friends in that miserable canyon."

"What? Why?"

"I might have mentioned you were there," Wyoming said. "He's quite keen on making your acquaintance again."

"But you saw me at the snow fortress!"

"Tex, may I remind you, I still have a contract on some of those people at Blood Gulch. I figured why not kill twelve birds with one stone, eh?"

"Well, you just signed your death warrant. Wait a second… twelve?"

"Heheh. Noticed that, did you? You weren't the only ones I saw at the snow fortress, Tex. The children of team RWBY have also made the hit list," Wyoming informed.

"But how do you know who they are? And why would there be a bounty on them and the sim troopers?" Tex questioned.

"Oh, I have a separate contract on them. And let's just say that one is a bit more…"

"Personal." Tex was sent flying back with the swipe of a black furred hand. She slammed into one of the storage crates in the walkway, and Wyoming quickly grabbed her rifle and tossed it over the side of the walkway. She grabbed her sidearm again only for the talking Grimm's claws to swipe it away, then grab her whole body and lift her up. She struggled to get out of the monster's grip, to no avail. It chuckled at her before slamming her into the floor and pinning her there.

"What the hell is going on?!" She exclaimed.

"Tex, I'd like you to meet my new associate. He has quite the eye on those girls you've become so chummy with. So why not deal with them all at once? An alliance was only logical," Wyoming said.

"You actually partnered up with this thing?!" Tex continued to struggle, but the Grimm's strength simply outmatched hers.

"We shared a common interest. Besides, who doesn't like a good team-up?"

The Grimm sniffed the air, then snarled at Tex. "You… have… the Dust…"

"She does, now does she? Let's relieve her of it, then," Wyoming said. He crouched down and searched Tex's pockets, relieving her of any grenades or ammo left, then found four small crystals of Cosmic Dust. "Crown jewels if there ever were any. You must've relieved this from Miss Belladonna before your split in the to bring them back to Command for analysis, no doubt."

"How did…?" Tex began to wonder.

"I… have been… watching. The huntresses… will not… escape me… again," The Grimm growled. It then turned to Wyoming and put out its free hand. Wyoming dropped the handful of Cosmic Dust crystals into its dark palm. The Grimm then opened its maw and dropped them down its blood red gullet. It swallowed, then it let out an ear-piercing howl. Its veins began to glow white light, as if the energy of the Dust itself was painfully spreading through its entire body. As the energy spread, the Grimm bared its sharp teeth, and its form slightly shrunk down, its thick hide shallowing down by a small amount. Then the bone armor around its face cracked open, and two new red eyes blinked open where there were none before. Soon, the light subsided, and the Grimm took a few breaths before recovering.

"You alright, mate?" Wyoming asked.

"I'm fine…" The Grimm's voice was also slightly less bassy and bellowed, as if it was just an inch closer to being like a human's voice. "Just need… more of… that Dust."

"Then our business is done here," Wyoming smirked, then looked down at the pinned Tex. "You see, my dear, Omega has already moved on to someone else, and you'll have no way of telling who. But you'll find out soon enough." Wyoming began to chuckle.

"Until we meet again… Allison…" The Grimm snarled, before then hauling her up and throwing her through the air with ease. She flew through the air, out of th ebase's courtyard, and into the crashing waves of the ocean before them, becoming lost to the currents.

"Well then, we best be off, chap. We have a meeting to attend." Wyoming then started for the teleporter, only to notice that the Grimm was not following him. Instead, it was staring at the corpse of York. "Something wrong?"

"No." The Grimm sprouted its wings and shot off into the air. Wyoming looked after it as it flew, then went through the teleporter.