(A/N) Alright, FFN has un-fucked itself, hope it stays un-fucked for a hot minute. The chapter went up on-time for AO3 and SB (and I plan for it to do so as well here in the future, dependent on another FFN Spaz Attack). Other than that, though, there's not all that much to say up here, so thanks to Wes for, again, beta-ing and I hope you enjoy the chapter!


Chapter Seven

Veritas


/-\ Weiss Schnee /-\


Today started like any other Wednesday.

I woke up, got ready for a day of studying after a long night of studying, and went to the library. I didn't have any morning classes, so I was content to spend that portion of the day reading ahead. Even though I could very much afford to treat myself every single day, I still chose to pack a lunch. I'd done the math in the first week of school and found that I could either save time by sitting there and eating, or I could spend the same amount of time and not have to travel to get food, allowing me some extra time for a break on particularly difficult days.

Lately, I'd opted for the latter approach, though instead of doing anything relaxing, I'd find myself chasing rumors of alien activity. A few classmates had shown me particularly trustworthy sources, and I'd been nigh addicted to them ever since. It seemed like an attack happened somewhere at least every two or three days. The latest was in Germany, where the same mysterious military unit once again stepped in to stop the aliens from abducting people. This time, there was limited video of the event, and what I saw horrified me. Abominations of metal and skin strapped to jetpacks, Grey-like aliens, even people – albeit abnormally slender ones – were all at their disposal. What's more is that the video showed the unit taking… losses. A flying alien had managed to get behind a pair of soldiers and shot them before they could react.

I was in the middle of my designated break-time, my finished lunch sitting to the side, when I heard an obscene ruckus coming from outside. It sounded like explosions – loud ones. I paused my scrolling through the alien watcher website, looking up towards the ceiling a dozen feet above. More loud explosions boomed; those around me started whispering in hushed and worried tones.

There were only about a dozen others in this particular area of the library, but it seemed none of us knew what was going on. As more explosions boomed – shaking the chandeliers – I went over to the nearby window to see if I could maybe figure out what was making all this noise. So, of course, I was afforded an excellent view when a military jet came crashing to the ground in flames. It impacted the side of Hawes Hall, scattering bricks everywhere as it embedded itself into the foundation.

I looked up, but it was extremely hard to see anything. All I could see were more jets fighting something that shot green globs of something at them, instantly destroying any plane they hit. Another thunderous explosion rattled the window, eliciting more yelps of panic from within the library. Only a moment later, I saw a flying saucer skate into view with jets screaming after it – firing missiles and all sorts of things at it. The craft was downed with another similarly loud explosion.

Any elation I might have felt was immediately crushed when the loud roar of metal scraping against something assaulted my ears. I whipped around just in time to catch a wall of purple metal crush parts of the library near the entrance. The collapse kicked up a decent amount of dust, but it was still possible to see through to what was clearly the alien ship. It was only blind luck that nobody had been under it when it crashed. I blinked, realizing just where I was in the building. Nobody on this floor, I amended.

As the dust began to settle, however, any hope that the crew were incapacitated simply evaporated. A large hole became visible in the wall – one which had clear movement behind it. I gasped, muscles going completely rigid. Something big stomped around inside and I somehow heard inaudible whispers – less speech and more simple impressions. A door opening was the single most prominent. The big thing continued stomping around inside the ship as the outside began to… change. Small pieces slid back, almost reminiscent of various-

My eyes widened. Muscles unlocked as I grabbed a chair and threw it into the window. The glass shattered right as what I'd initially assumed to be a wall of the ship began to open, revealing a large interior bay.

And a lot of armed, angry aliens.

I dove out the window right as the screams started. A flash of heat raked across my back – as if that part of me and that part only had suddenly been teleported into the Sahara desert – but quickly faded. I didn't look back, I just ran. More green globs flew past me and everything got so hot. My muscles burned as my legs pumped against the ground, but only in the normal way. I heard an angry and metallic roar from behind me as I rounded the brick building's corner, but I didn't dare stop.

My heart threatened to beat itself out of my ribcage as I forced myself to sprint on, zooming past the debris of a fighter jet on the way to the nearest safety I could think of. By the time I'd ducked into the alley between Gallatin Hall and Connel House, my lungs screamed for a break. I only just managed to get around the corner again before collapsing onto the ground. I dragged myself behind a bush as I drew haggard breaths, desperately trying to quiet myself down.

It was only after a minute that I realized just how close I probably was to dying. I looked upwards into the sky and saw a giant plume of black smoke rising from behind me. A pair of military helicopters zoomed overhead, one of them catching a bolt of green right to the cockpit. It spiraled downwards towards the Earth, its explosion hidden behind the buildings around me, though it was still very much audible.

Taking a shuddering breath, I stood up from my hiding place, knowing I couldn't stay here. The wreckage of another jet was strewn about the courtyard, though the landed seat of its pilot was in the exact center, still occupied by his motionless form. I darted over, going through half-remembered first aid courses from years ago. Even from a distance, I could tell he was badly burned, but I still took his pulse. Or, rather, tried. I found none.

My hands withdrew and began shaking as I realized I'd just touched a very, very fresh corpse. The man's helmet was all charred and disfigured – I only now realized just how awkward an angle his head sat at compared to the rest of his body. More of those same, eerie whispers gnawed at the edge of my hearing, bringing me out of my stupor. Just before I got up to keep running, however, I looked down and spied a handgun sitting at the pilot's waist. Gunshots echoed in the distance, punctuated by even more screams. Making a snap decision, I muttered an apology and… ransacked the corpse. Though I only took his weapon, I still felt as if I was the scum of the Earth for doing so.

I didn't waste a moment examining the weapon, instead running inside the big dorm building on the other side of the courtyard. Others were scrambling about inside, trying to figure out what was going on. I simply told them to run and promptly took my own advice, exiting the long building on the far side into a forested green space. I was only half-way across to the next building when something zoomed by far above. Sparing a glance, I saw it was a robotic tentacled monstrosity, flying without any visible means of propulsion.

Most of the squid-like robots continued flying, but a pair broke off from the formation and descended upon the people already scrambling throughout the courtyard. The first was an African student – he brandished a hefty textbook and swung at the robot, but it did nothing to deter the alien. Soon, he was on the ground, struggling to breathe as tentacles asphyxiated him. The second… was me.

The squid robot zoomed towards me, tentacles outstretched. I raised the pistol and fired repeatedly, the banging assaulting my ears just as the bullets assaulted its metal chassis. The robot was not deterred and the tentacles threw the pistol aside. I gaped, frozen in place as its appendages got closer and close-

More loud bangs made my ears ring, sparks flying on the robot's metal skin. It jerked to the side, zooming off. I turned towards the horrendous noise just in time to see a red-haired woman in a suit dive to the side. She stood up from a roll, raising her assault rifle in a single motion, and put another volley of rounds into the alien machine. Finally, it fell to the ground, exploding.

She sighed, dropping a box from her rifle before exchanging it and looking to me. It was only a brief glance before she turned her attention to the other robot, which was now finished with its victim and flying towards us. She shot it many, many times until it, too, lay on the ground a smoldering wreck. She looked towards me again and spoke, her striped bandana bobbing up and down, but the only noise coming out sounded like garbled radio speech. She cleared her throat after speaking a few sentences. "Apologies," she said, her voice now sounding much more natural. "Are you alright?"

I gave a shaky nod. "I- I don't- Let's just get out of here, please."

She nodded. "Just what I was about to suggest," she said, exchanging the box under her rifle again. "Follow me. I'll lead you to the safest place you could possibly imagine."

A chill ran down my spine at her words. There was something… wrong, here, but I didn't know what. As more gunfire sounded in the background, I realized I didn't exactly have much of a choice.


/-\ Blake Belladonna /-\


I threw Gambol Shroud, wrapping it around a street lamp and pulling myself forward. Cars zoomed by below me, a decent number even using the wrong lanes to simply get out of the area faster. As I reached the apex of my arc, I saw three flying metal monstrosities descending upon the caravan of cars frantically fleeing. All of them were little more than a fleshy torso encased in metal, a pair of prosthetic steel arms and another of jet engines strapped on. My eyes narrowed and I swung my weapon around, hooking one in the collarbone and launching myself towards it.

The monster let out a surprised moan, unable to properly react before I lopped its head off with the other half of my weapon. As it fell to the road below, I leaped towards one of its compatriots. It dodged to the side, but a quick leap off a Shadow Clone meant I still hit my target. My newest prey scrambled to get me off of it, flying erratically and throwing itself towards a brick building, but compared to the Giant Nevermore I'd faced at Beacon's initiation? The attempt was rather pitiful. My blade sliced through both its neck and its breathing hose quite easily.

I dismounted the falling alien, leaping onto a roof and bringing Gambol Shroud's pistol form to bear against the last alien. However, when I looked up, I only saw its twin jets blazing away, headed straight for the rest of the city. I grunted, readying to throw my weapon once more in a bid to catch up to it. However, right before I threw, several shots rang out from the street below. Looking closer, I saw a very familiar girl in a red hood with an assault rifle, peppering the alien from below.

"Godsdamnit, Ruby," I muttered as the flying monstrosity fell to the Earth. She ran up to it and shot it a few more times for good measure. Afterwards, she continued running towards me. Even though she was a few blocks away, she'd closed the distance by the time I'd fallen to the ground. I gave her a disappointed look. "I thought I told you to stay back," I said. "This is too dangerous for you."

She didn't respond for a minute, clearly catching her breath. "Don't care," she eventually said. "They killed my Dad. I wanna make sure nobody else dies here too."

Ruby started to run again, but I caught her by the scruff of her shirt, wrenching her backwards. "Do you really wanna join your Dad so soon?" I asked. "I've met a hundred people just like you – people who think they're more capable in combat than they really are. You need to go back with-"

"No!" she shouted. "I can do this – I have to do this! They're attacking and I can help stop it. Now shut up and let's do this!"

"You're going to get someone killed, Ruby – probably yourself," I said. "Please, just go back the way you-"

She grunted, turned around, and sped off down the street towards the sound of gunfire.

I sighed, shaking my head. She's brave, at least, I thought. But stupid. I charged after her, catching up just as she rounded a corner and took aim at a trio of hulking, green-armored aliens. Her weapon spat fire, putting a good half-dozen rounds downrange before she ducked back into cover. As she retreated, I jumped forward, charging out as hot green globs of alien plasma streaked past me. While they were faster than the bullets I was used to, I was still able to dodge effectively.

The brutish monsters howled in frustration as their shots missed their marks, bracing themselves for melee as I drew closer and closer. As I approached, however, I noticed a small group of civilians on the other side of the courtyard – two were already dead, with burned clothes and skin, while three others were scrambling to get inside one of the brick buildings. My eyes narrowed – I had to keep the aliens' attention on me. The first monster swung its big, meaty fists around in what seemed almost like slow motion. With contemptuous ease, I side-stepped the blow, flicking my wrist upwards. Before the monster's newly severed arm even hit the ground, the other end of my weapon was embedded into its grey matter.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of them taking aim at me while the other closed the distance. I spun, pivoting around the charging alien and using it as a meat shield to absorb the scorching plasma rounds that would soon be headed my way. But the heat never came as I sank my blades into the back of the hulking monstrosity. Instead, all that came was the staccato of gunfire and the pained roar of the other monster. I withdrew my blades and darted over to the other as it raised its rifle to shoot Ruby, who was still out of cover.

I threw my weapon, wrapping it around the alien's and pulling just as it fired. The plasma pulses raked across the brick building, but spared their intended target. The green-armored beast roared as Ruby poured more rifle rounds into it, but the monster was unfazed – pulling my ribbon taught and yanking me off my feet towards it. I spun mid-air, evading its attempted shoulder-check and buried Gambol Shroud's sheath into the brute's neck.

Taking a deep breath, I extracted my weapon, a stream of yellow-orange blood pouring into a pool on the ground. More gunfire echoed off in the distance, just as screams did. For just a moment, the brick buildings around me were replaced by Beacon's ornate stone – there were Grimm everywhere, students fighting for their lives, and he was about to-

I blinked, the stone buildings snapping back to brick. Taking a deep breath, I looked towards Ruby, who was already running off towards the sound of more gunfire. Just as I set off, however, a gunmetal grey airship with two ducted fans in its wings soared overhead. It hovered just a few blocks over, a hatch at the tail lowering and several soldiers rappelling off of ropes down to the ground – hidden behind several more brick buildings.

The Unknown Soldiers were a potential problem, but one to address later. For now, I had to catch up to the speedy and apparently suicidal redhead. She was already ahead, shooting into the sky at a squid-like drone overhead when I caught up to her. Most of the rounds hit, but the alien robot wasn't slowed by the assault. With pockmarked plating, it descended upon Ruby. She tried to dodge its grasping tentacles, but was too slow.

I got to her just as they were wrapping around her neck. My sword cleaved through the robot, severing tentacles as well as its head in a single stroke. As it fell to the ground beside her, Ruby took a breath – not seeming too winded due to my timely intervention. "...thanks…" she said, giving me a glance.

She moved to run off once more, but I caught her by the shoulder. "I'm serious, Ruby, you aren't cut out for this. Not yet. Go back to everyone else. Please."

Ruby looked at me for a moment, opened her mouth, but then shut it once more. Her gaze trailed to the squid drone wreck at our feet, lingering there as she idly scratched her red-marked neck. "I can't," she said. "Maybe I'm not as good at this as I thought, but what if one of those things gets the drop on you?" More gunshots rang out, as did the sound of alien plasma, not too far away. "There's no one else but us. We need to help these people." She thrust a finger towards the group of civilians across the courtyard – the same ones who we'd distracted the green-armored aliens from killing. They were only just dragging the two dead students through the glass doors. The last one through – a boy a little older than myself dressed in a business suit – locked eyes with us and mouthed a quiet thank you before disappearing into the building.

I pursed my lips, my constrained ears picking up the sound of even more screaming close-by. There wasn't time for this. I had to act, and if she wasn't going to do the sensible thing… well, the safest place in a war zone was within the sight of a huntress, right? "Fine," I let out. "But no running off. You do what I say, when I say. If I tell you to keep your head down, your next meal's gonna be the dirt. Got it?"

She nodded, giving a mock two-fingered salute. "Aye aye, cap'n."

Of course, she immediately spun around and took a half-step forward. I reached for her arm, but she stopped before I even caught her. "What did I just tell you?" She at least had the decency to look sheepish, but there wasn't time to scold her. "Just stay behind me," I said, speeding off in front of her. No matter what planet she's on, Ruby's still gonna Ruby, I thought.

My feet pounded against the grass and cement. I kept my head on a swivel – even tossing away my beanie to gain more situational awareness. The sounds of war sharpened – what was only a vague direction of gunfire before now told that there were two groups of shooters; one with concentrated and automatic rifle fire, and the other – in vaguely the same direction but much closer – held only a single rifleman. I got to the building's red brick wall and peered around the corner, mindful of the civilian accompanying me. What I saw through the short alleyway wasn't very promising.

It lead to yet another green courtyard, though now it was much more orange and red due to the fires raging in one half of it. The other half contained a battleground – a red-haired woman wearing a suit and holding a rifle had taken cover behind the wreckage of an airship, occasionally peeking out and firing at the encroaching half-dozen aliens. Beside her sat a platinum blonde girl, shaking like a leaf in the wind and holding a pistol. The aliens, meanwhile, were a mixture of the same bug-eyed grey-skins I'd slaughtered at the smaller saucer's crash site, alongside a pair of those big green monsters. I was about to leap into action when I noticed another group of Greys skitter into the building just beyond the fire. It didn't take a genius to realize they were going to maneuver around the two women's' cover and strike where they were most vulnerable.

Behind me, Ruby thrust herself against the wall, panting a little for breath. I looked around, trying to find a way to solve this issue. I was no tactical genius, but after only a few moments, the vague outline of a plan came to me. The aliens up front didn't seem to be moving all that much – an extra gun (one with a vantage point) could probably throw them for a loop. That just left the whole 'extra gun' problem. I glanced upwards, and to my relief, found a window a few feet above our heads. I looked back. "Ruby, I want you upstairs. Try to take what shots you can. Make your presence known, but don't take risks – blind fire if you have to."

She blinked. "Uhh, okay, but how do I get up-" I didn't even let her finish, whipping out Gambol Shroud's pistol form and shooting out the window above us. I shielded Ruby, letting the shards of glass cut into my aura rather than her skin. "Jesus Christ, what the-" The second the glass stopped falling, I grabbed her and threw her up a story. She yelped, but I did hear her thump onto the carpet upstairs.

"Remember what I said!" I shouted up to her before I darted across the alley and through another window on the ground floor of the adjacent building. As I ran through the ornately decorated halls, I simply hoped Ruby wouldn't be too confused and she'd just start laying down fire. Also that she'd be covered enough to still be alive when I got back to her. Aura or no, I'm not sure I'd survive the Great War Yang that would follow, to say nothing of how I'd feel if I did.

Gunshots rang out as I rounded the hallway's corner – whether they were from Ruby or the suit-and-scarf woman was ultimately irrelevant. What was very relevant was the clump of aliens scurrying alongside the walls far down the corridor. They simply stared at me for a heartbeat, completely surprised by my presence. Their paralysis allowed me to dome one of the five with Gambol Shroud. The others darted for the rooms lining the hallway, scrambling for cover as their comrade thumped to the ground missing the top third of its head.

From inside one of the dorm rooms, I heard a scream of terror before it was silenced by the sound of alien plasma. From another, a pair of aliens stuck their guns out and began blind firing at me. I simply hugged the interior wall, letting their unaimed shots slide right past as I advanced. After only a few seconds, I ran into the occupied dorm and immediately jumped back with a shadow clone. Predictably, the two Greys shot the hell out of my mirror image. That didn't change the fact that I was soon properly exiting the dorm, having earned two more kills. The last two aliens exited their cover just as I entered the red-carpeted hallway once more. I caught the first with a round to the chest. The second spun and managed to graze my shoulder with a single shot before I reached it and slashed a thin line from its right hip to left shoulder.

I didn't stick around to see the gore I'd caused, though I caught a lifeless Human arm in a pool of blood out of the corner of my eye inside the other dorm. Guilt welled up inside me – that person probably would've survived if I didn't force the aliens to take cover inside there. I shook my head – now was not the time to feel such emotions, now was the time to act. I could atone for the additional blood on my hands later. More gunshots rang out as I charged down the hallway, advancing parallel to the flames outside. I burst through the open doorway on the other side and was greeted by the sight of a battle. The six aliens were right where I left them, save for one of the Greys, which was now missing half its face as it laid lifeless on the grass. One of the big aliens sported a dent in its armor as well, but looked no worse for wear – simply angry.

On the far side of the battlefield, I caught the tail-end of a pair of scrawny men dressed in suits and sunglasses darting into the same building Ruby was in, a particularly glowey Grey alien going after them. Once again, I charged in, simply having to hope those people could handle the lone Grey… or at least survive long enough for me to help them. I reached the first green-armored monster without it noticing me, too focused on waiting for an opening to fire. I leaped up and stuck Gambol Shroud into the nape of its neck, wedging it through a narrow seam in its armored collar. I kicked free once the beast went limp – either paralyzed or dead.

The volume of riflefire intensified, a brief glance to the other side of the battlefield revealing that Jaune, Qrow, and Yang had all arrived and were laying down fire. I didn't even break my stride, sliding under some mis-aimed fire and slicing another Grey in half as I passed the tree it was hiding behind. The others finally noticed my intrusion into their ranks and turned to address me, getting off several shots. Only one grazed me as I leaped into the trees. Their fire followed me, but was unaimed – even if it did set the tree on fire.

As the smoke and flames started accumulating around me, I stayed only a moment to plan my next move. When one of their guns swiveled away to deal with the others once more, I struck – leaping down onto the Grey. The plan was to kill it right then and there, but I was forced to dodge with another shadow clone as both alien plasma and several bullets assaulted my position.

I groaned, getting real sick of the friendly-fire. I'd have to have a word with whoever was doing that after all these aliens were dead. For now, I decapitated another Grey while it was still in shock from the shadow clone dissipating. The green-armored monstrosity charged out from its cover behind a white-and-gold boulder, howling a guttural war cry. I sidestepped its grapple, Gambol Shroud grazing its upper leg while I re-oriented. The beast spun with an agility that utterly defied its humongous mass, this time aiming high for a punch to the head.

I went low, but had to use a shadow clone when I realized it was a feint at the last moment. The visage of my false self's leg getting crushed in the brute's gigantic claws was as disturbing as it always was – even after all this time, I never got used to seeing myself get mutilated or killed in so many gruesome ways. Before the alien had time to realize there was nothing in its grip but shadow and smoke, I flashed my blades forward – one going for the arm and the other for the neck. It dodged the fatal strike at the last moment, though its arm now hung on by only a strip of flesh.

My ears swiveled, hearing movement behind me. I jerked to the side, evading the green plasma shots from the two remaining Greys, now back on their feet. Jumping back, I decapitated both with a single move. Right as I rocketed forward, my aura stung with the impact of conventional bullets. I engaged with the green-armored monster once more, even more angry that the friendly-fire had happened again. Though the trio of rounds had taken a bite out of my reserves, there was still more than enough to swing around my opponent's attempted stock bash with its gun, severing its leg in the process. Before it even hit the ground, my scabbard slashed its throat open.

I let out a breath, ducking behind that painted rock for a brief breather as I assessed the situation. For just a moment, everything was still and quiet. No gunshots, no shouts of terror, no alien noises, nothing. Then a group of soldiers in various colors of armor swung around the far corner of the brick building. In the very limited time I'd had to research what soldiers looked like in this world, I'd never seen anything like it. They almost looked like Atlesian soldiers, but with full helmets and even larger shoulder pads.

Their guns swiveled towards me, the three of them freezing in their tracks. And now is when I realized I was standing over the chopped-up corpses of a squad of aliens – I guess I couldn't blame them. "Friendly?" I asked, trying to keep my posture non–threatening.

A gunshot rang out, but there was no muzzle flash from those in front of me. My head swiveled on instinct, back towards the airship where the others were hunkering down. I saw Jaune sprawled over on its hull, red staining his otherwise clean mop of blond hair. Yang stood right beside him, simply looking on dumbly for a moment. "Jaune!" she shrieked, dropping her gun and cupping her mouth in complete panic.

Immediately, I traced where the shot came from and my eyes widened. There was Ruby, in the windowsill of the second story, changing the magazine of her weapon. Her eyes were half-lidded – almost lifeless – and a thin purple line connected her to…

I darted forward, immediately setting my sights on that glowing Grey only barely visible through the first floor window – the alien that was staring intently at Ruby. I'd heard whispers that some Grimm could control you like a child does with a puppet, but aliens too? "Take cover!" I shouted towards the others, lining up a suppressing shot while my legs pumped. Even though one of the two rounds connected, the alien didn't die – it seemed this one was more durable. The two suited men from earlier re-appeared, brandishing alien plasma weapons.

Any hope that they weren't with the alien died as soon as they opened fire on me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ruby had finished reloading and was taking aim at me. Oh, you fucker, I thought, now realizing what all that friendly-fire was about. I changed course, seeing that the others hadn't quite gotten the message and were – instead – still covering behind the downed airship. With a burst of auric speed, I dodged all but one bullet, and even that was deflected with Gambol Shroud. I ran up the brickwork, knocking the mind-controlled Ruby on her ass with a massively underpowered kick before snatching the gun away from her.

After just a few moments of tinkering, I'd dropped the magazine and popped the round in the chamber – then the damn thing got thrown out the window. By then, Ruby had started to stand once more, clenching her fists. I didn't even let her puppeteer get into a fighting stance, simply grappling her and wrenching her arm into a bar. That bought me enough time to tie her arms together. After that, it was simple enough to hoist her up and leap out the window, making sure to use a landing strategy that was compatible with civilians before dumping her at the feet of the others, all still crouched behind the single-engine airship. "She's mind controlled," I said. "Keep an eye on her; I'll deal with the alien that did this."

I barely spared another glance at the others, but it was impossible to miss just how terrible Yang looked. Something about the platinum blonde was also familiar, but I didn't have time to dwell on it. More gunshots rang out as I charged back into the fray, accompanied by an alien screech almost reminiscent of a jet engine. I leaped over the hedge and smashed through a window. I found myself on the other side of the small alien force – the two traitorous Humans and single alien interposed between myself and the strange soldiers at the far end of the corridor. One of the traitors was crouched behind a couch a dozen meters away – he looked up and raised his glowing rifle, ready to pepper me with plasma.

Before he could get the chance, several rifle rounds ventilated his skull, expelling a cloud of inky gas as it collapsed. I paused, caught completely off guard. I'd seen enough dead Humans in my time to know for a fact they didn't do that. Not Humans, then, I amended. Instead of dwelling on the disturbing implications of that fact, I darted into one of the dorms, evading plasma fire from the remaining two aliens. More gunshots rang out, but I was more focused on the fact that this dorm had a connecting door to the one the aliens were inside. I smashed it open and was immediately upon the glowing Grey, slashing it to pieces with Gambol Shroud. The purple line jutting out from its oversized head dissipated almost instantly.

The Not-Human raised its rifle with a snarl, but I simply kicked it out into the open. Another salvo of gunfire preluded that alien's death screech and release of more inky stuff into the air. I backed up, not wanting to inhale whatever that was. It was probably a good idea, as I saw the potted plant just inside the door start to visibly wilt as even a small amount of the ink reached it. I decided I really didn't want to stick around this stuff anymore than necessary, so I ran back out the way I came, juming through the window and over to the downed airship where the others sat.

Ruby was shaking, simply staring at Jaune's… corpse. Yang, however, was snarling, tears dripping down her face as Qrow restrained her. "What is wrong with you?!" she shouted. "How could you even do something like this?!" she sucked in a breath, fighting to get free from her uncle's grasp. "He was your friend! You're the one who- who ran off like some suicidal maniac, and all we d- did was just go after you! And you killed him for it!"

The girl only sat, still restrained by my ribbon. She uttered no defense for her actions; no excuses. Simply silence.

"Just tell me why, damnit! What could possibly-"

"She was mind controlled," I interrupted. "She literally wasn't in control of her actions. It wasn't her, Yang… they were using her like a puppet."

"Do you honestly expect me to believe that horseshit?! Mind control, seriously?!" she shouted. Even with how loud she was being, I could still hear armored bootfalls approaching – the soldiers from earlier. "That's not possible! They can't just- no, there's something wrong with her! Did you not see how fucking insane she was acting?! She even bit Qrow!"

A quick glance revealed a small chunk of flesh missing from his left arm. "Doesn't that make you even more suspicious? Ruby isn't a violent person. When has she ever lashed out like that – against family and friends, no less?"

Her squirming began to settle down, though she still tried to escape his grasp. "...no, no there… there has to be some other… she- she killed him."

"I'm afraid she's right," a new voice said. I looked over and saw one of the blue-armored soldiers approach, weapon at a low ready and finger on the trigger. "That was a Sectoid Commander. They're extremely rare, but they… they can control you, if you're not trained enough to fight it off."

Yang went slack in her uncle's grip. "Oh… oh my God…"

Qrow gently let her down, now that it was clear that she wouldn't be committing sororicide anytime soon. He inspected the wound on his arm, shrugged and tore off a small chunk of fabric from the bottom of his shirt before pressing it to his arm, holding it high all the while. "What outfit are you guys from? Haven't seen any uniform like that before."

"That's classified, sir," he said. "Though Command wants to have a word with you four – especially you," he nodded to me. "We'll get you all out of here… and a bodybag for your friend."

I was about to simply accept the help, but then I noticed something. "Four?" I muttered, looking around. There were, of course, four living people in our group. But wasn't there two more…? I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. My head whipped towards… the hedge lining part of the brick building? I stood up, walking over. The soldiers asked me what I was doing, but I simply ignored them. As I got closer, my Faunus ears picked up breathing from inside the hedge.

"Really?" I muttered. "Come out, they were fighting the aliens too. They're not gonna hurt you."

What I thought would happen were a couple civilians slowly coming out of the brush, a little embarrassed by their overreaction. What actually happened was the suited woman popping up, holding a syringe to the platinum blonde's neck and this thing turning into a Vacuoan standoff. Oh, and the platinum blonde was Weiss, because why not? No wonder I didn't recognize her at first, as she lacked her distinctive scar and her hair was a different color, but it's hard to mistake someone's identity when you're staring them right in the face.

Behind me, the soldiers all raised their weapons. "Let her go!" the soldier from earlier shouted.

"Central, we have confirmed EXALT presence!" I heard another shout.

The red-haired woman slowly panned her head around, looking at the forces arrayed against her – even I held Gambol Shroud up in its pistol form. I wasn't on the level of marksmanship that Ruby was, but I was pretty close and if I could take her out without harming Weiss… I'd take the shot. I only had a single bullet left and no spare magazines, but if I could make it count, then it would be worth it.

The woman spoke, but all that came out of her covered mouth sounded like radio static. Her head twitched and she began speaking normally. "You will allow me to leave, or the girl dies."

My gun wavered just slightly as I recognized the voice. Red hair, bottle green eyes, her figure… "Pyrrha?"

Her gaze snapped to me, feral eyes boring straight into mine. "You are a mystery, Faunus."

"And you're being insufferable, Human," I fired back. Just on the edge of my hearing, I heard soft footsteps, just on the other side of the wall. I had no idea if it was her backup or if one of the soldiers had managed to sneak around. I couldn't chance it to look – my only play was to stall. "Why are you doing this? The Pyrrha I know would never take an innocent hostage!"

"There are greater things than my desires," she said. "The world is in danger – not just from the aliens, but also from those at your back. They refuse to allow us to do what is necessary to protect Earth. If you side with them, you will be responsible for the deaths of untold billions, once the aliens conquer us. If you want proof, simply look to the Sectoid Commander! They let it through! They let it control that weak-willed sop! They don't protect anyone!"

"...what the hell are you talking about?" I muttered. The footsteps got ever closer.

"You said we were going somewhere safe!" Weiss shouted, shaking like a leaf. "U- Unhand me!"

Pyrrha's grip didn't loosen even slightly. "We are going to a safe place," she said. "This is simply necessary to get there." She moved to say something else, but a red-shirted woman with wild black hair leaned out the window, leveling a gun at her. Pyrrha didn't even have a chance to react, still in the process of turning her head to face the threat when the trigger was pulled.

Only there was no gunshot. Instead, electricity arced from the gun, striking both Pyrrha and Weiss. Both convulsed, the latter dropping to the ground. However, Pyrrha still retained enough control to raise her syringe. I dropped Gambol Shroud and leaped into action, grabbing her wrist only an inch before the needle would've stuck her neck. She was surprisingly strong for someone without aura, but I still overpowered her, wrenching the syringe from her hands and tossing it away.

Her muscles shook as she simply stared at me with wide eyes. Eventually, they drooped and her muscles went slack. Checking her pulse revealed she was still alive, just out like a light. Weiss too, for that matter. I dragged both of them out from behind the hedge.

When I did, I saw the tear-stricken Yang suddenly much more angry again, staring down the new arrival like she wanted to kill her. "You."

The woman – who looked remarkably like her, now that I thought about it – simply kept an impassive face. "Hello, Yang."


(A/N) And now we have Birb Mom, enter stage left (I hope that's right for villains, I wasn't a theater kid and Google has failed me). Also, as some of the folks on SpaceBattles have predicted, there is now one less blond in the story; real occupational hazard, having your name start with J in my stories, isn't it? And the return of EXALT Pyrrha! Just… markedly less mind controlled. I'm just going to flat-out say that this time around, Oz and Salem DO NOT have Earth equivalents. I don't really know what the payoff of that in the original version was going to be, so I just cut it for time and/or more space for other characters. As for the chapter name… I'm kinda eh on it, but couldn't think of anything better than just copying the word on Harvard's shield. No, it's not meant to be translated, that's the entire meaning.

And we actually got an FFN guest review for once, so I'll respond here since I can't respond any other way.

Guest001 Said: "As a side note to Blake's reason not to unlock !Terran Jaune and Yang's auras... The Aliens, XCOM, and a proper history lesson are gonna force her to do a complete 180 on that line of thinking if she wants a shot at returning to Remnant. Ofcourse if the 2015 invasion ends like it did in XCOM canon... Our heros on Earth are in for a truly Long War."

The catgirl is nothing if not stubborn, but she'll face the music… eventually. Baby steps at first, but yes. As for how the War ends… well, I can say it went better than Canon did (because holy fuck they lost within a month iirc), but I won't say anything beyond that.

Anyways, that's all I had. Here's the Discord join code in case anybody wants it 3jf9w8u