AUTHOR'S NOTES: This another talky chapter, but we need to get Ruby Flight to their next mission...and have a few surprises.
Naval Base Mayport
Jacksonville, Florida, United States of Canada
21 April 2002
"This feels kind of weird!" Yang Xiao Long shouted over the whine of the Gulfstream's engines. "Flying somewhere and not doing the flying!"
"I hate it!" Ruby yelled back. "What if the pilot sucks?" Yang laughed at that.
The Gulfstream V taxied into place next to the three aircraft of Ruby Flight and the engine whine decreased as the pilot idled the engines. The forward passenger door opened and stairs folded out. After a moment, a young woman dressed in a business suit walked down the stairs and headed towards them. She was average height, with long brown hair worn loose over her shoulders, green eyes hidden behind glasses that were clearly too thick to be there for show. Behind her, the flight crew got out as well, and began directing a group of Navy aviation ordnancemen to load a fabric-covered oblong object into the aircraft—the wing of the GRIMM that Yang and Blake had recovered. The Gulfstream, other than its registration, noticeably had no markings; the white upper fuselage and tail and dark blue lower fuselage could belong to any organization. That was deliberate, Ruby knew: the Central Intelligence Agency didn't like to advertise.
The woman walked up to them. "Ruby Flight?" she asked.
"Plus one," Yang said, thumbing towards Oscar. All of them were dressed in uniforms—Yang and Ruby in Air Force light blue, Weiss in the darker blue-gray of the Luftwaffe, and Blake and Oscar in khakis.
"Hello to all of you. My name is Riana Arashikaze." At the mention of her last name, Riana smiled. "Yes, I'm related to the Director. She's my grandmother. A little bit of nepotism." She shook hands with all of them, but her smile faltered when she came to Oscar. "Lieutenant Pine? I'm very sorry, but my orders are only to bring Lieutenant Rose, Captain Xiao Long, Captain Belladonna, and Hauptmann Schnee."
"Can you make an exception?" Oscar asked.
"I can't. I'm very sorry," Riana repeated. "Director Arashikaze was very clear that it would only be the four of Ruby Flight."
"Dammit," Oscar growled.
"It'll be okay," Ruby told him. "I'll probably just be gone overnight."
"I know, it's just…dammit," he finally finished.
Riana seemed like she was about to apologize again, but she turned to the others instead. "If you can go ahead and board, we'll go ahead and head back. The Director is very interested in what you have found."
Yang lightly punched Oscar's shoulder. "Sorry, man." Blake touched his shoulder as she went past, and Weiss gave him a hug. Riana stepped back to give the couple some privacy. "Always seems like one of us is going somewhere," Ruby sighed.
"Life in the military," Oscar said. "At least one of us isn't being kidnapped this time."
Ruby snickered. "Well, it's the CIA. It's not off the table." She drew him into a kiss. "I love you, Ruby," Oscar said when their lips parted.
Ruby hesitated. An image of her mother, dimly remembered mainly from pictures, flashed into her mind. Then she kissed him again. "I love you too, Oscar."
"You mean it?" he asked in shock.
"Of course." Her silver eyes were shining with tears. "See you." Then, not trusting herself to say more, Ruby turned and half-ran up the stairs into the Gulfstream. Riana watched her, then turned back to Oscar. I'm sorry, she mouthed, and from the expression on her face, Oscar had the very bad feeling that she was sorry for more than what she had said.
Yang sat down in one of the seats inside the Gulfstream's spacious cabin. "Whoa."
Blake sat next to her. "A girl could get used to this." She winked at Weiss. "Well, some of us already are, I guess."
Weiss sat as well. "Jealousy is a terrible thing, Blake." Ruby took the fourth seat, collapsing into it. "Are you all right?"
"No," Ruby said. "I just told Oscar I loved him."
"And?" Yang leaned forward.
"I don't know if I meant it or not." She folded her arms across her breasts. "I wish life came with a fucking checklist." Yang got up, bent down, and hugged her sister. "Thanks, Yang."
"Anytime, sis." She straightened up, the top of her blonde hair brushing the bottom of the cabin ceiling. "Anyone else need a hug?"
Riana came up the stairs into the cabin. "I could probably use one. It's been a hell of a week." She pulled the lanyard that brought the stairs back up, then closed the door and locked it. She then ducked into the cockpit and they heard her discussing flight plans with the crew. The GRIMM wing sat in the back of the cabin, wedged between a couch and the bar; it seemed malevolent, even covered. She then walked past Yang, who surprised her with the promised hug. Riana laughed as she sat down on the couch. "Thanks, I needed that. I feel like I just kicked a puppy."
Yang sat back down and buckled in as they heard the engines start spooling up. Ruby stared wistfully out of the window and waved as they taxied past a forlorn Oscar.
The flight to White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia took an hour and a half. The flight was smooth, the weather clear. Ruby continued to stare out the window, watching the world go by 25,000 feet below. Normally, she enjoyed the view—she loved just flying along in her F-16, the world spread out below her, interesting and variable—but today her mind was whirling on what to do about Oscar. Blake and Yang talked for awhile, then dozed, leaving Weiss awake and with no one to talk to.
No one except for Riana, who proved to be far more chatty than her grandmother—though Weiss noticed that Riana was careful not to speak about anything to do with their current mission, and rarely about her work. Weiss was able to learn that Riana was an analyst at the CIA, and while nepotism may have been involved, she was a graduate of Notre Dame and spoke several languages; Weiss discovered the latter when Riana tried out her German, which was heavily accented but understandable. Weiss joked that Riana's parents must be secret agents; Riana laughed, then revealed they were actually schoolteachers. Weiss wanted to know more about Rissa Arashikaze, but knew better than to ask.
The time passed quickly enough, and the pilot announced that they would begin their descent to land—and to make sure their seat belts were fastened. They wondered why the pilot emphasized that until the Gulfstream made a hard, descending turn a F-16 would be proud of, then leveled out, then turned again. By this time, the Appalachians were on either side of the aircraft, and rising above it. The landing was not quite as smooth as the takeoff had been. "That was fun," Blake commented with considerable sarcasm.
"Still better than a carrier landing," Yang said, and Blake had to agree with that one.
After the Gulfstream was parked, they once more followed Riana out of the door. While Florida had been warm and humid, the air smelling of salt, West Virginia smelled like pine forest; it was not quite as warm or humid. Riana led Ruby Flight to a black SUV, while a group of people in coveralls carefully unloaded the wing from the Gulfstream, and put it in the back of the same SUV. To their surprise, Riana drove them, rather than a CIA driver.
They drove from the airfield—which Riana explained was relatively new—and to the town of White Sulphur Springs, a resort town that dated back to the early 19th Century, as Riana explained. "This place used to be a big place to golf," she mentioned as they drove through the mountains to the town. "After the Third World War, the surviving members of Congress relocated here—the Greenbrier Hotel had a bunker secretly built under it that could hold all of Congress, plus their staffs and family. Luckily when the nukes flew, most of Congress wasn't in town but out campaigning. President Kennedy went to Mount Weather, up in Virginia where nobody is supposed to know where it is." She winked at Yang, sitting in the seat next to her. "After it was all over, he relocated here and the government was reconstituted…as best as they could, anyway."
"What about Kennedy's family?" Yang asked.
"They died in New York," Weiss answered. She remembered the story Rick Tardor had told her the year before.
Riana nodded. "Yeah. Anyway, the US was run from Greenbrier for about ten years, but in 1972, they finished the new capitol in Charlottesville, and of course that's where it is now. A few agencies are still here, though—the CIA being the largest."
"That's not exactly a secret," Blake said.
"No, of course not," Riana replied, glancing at her in the rearview mirror. "What is secret is just how deep the bunkers and everything go beneath the Greenbrier and the town. That's very secret. So, to coin a phrase, what you four see here today or hear here today—stays here." She emphasized it. "You ladies are read into Salem and the Maidens, so nothing we're going to talk about is as secret as that, but still…keep it to yourself. My grandmother gets really paranoid about things."
"Wait, wait," Yang said, holding up her metal hand. "I thought our Top Secret clearance got revoked after the letters of reprimand."
"It's been reinstated," Riana said casually. "Here we are." She pulled off the main road into a line of trees and to a guard station. There were men and women in body armor with M4s out in front of it. Riana stopped and all five were ordered out of the SUV, then told to put their hands behind their heads. They were quickly and efficiently searched, first by metal detector wands and then by hand. The SUV was checked as well, and the GRIMM wing removed. Once cleared, the four pilots were given visitor passes that were clipped to their uniforms, then told in no uncertain terms not to wander around. They returned to the SUV and Riana drove them to the parking lot. "That's it," she said, as she parked it.
"Wow," Ruby said, the first time she had spoken since getting on the Gulfstream. "I've seen pictures…"
"It's pretty impressive," Riana agreed. "It gets a bit boring after you've worked here for a few years, but it's still pretty cool."
The Greenbrier reminded Ruby of old pictures of the White House in Washington DC, before Soviet nuclear warheads had pulverized it into dust. It had the same white paint and raised entrance, with staircases on either side, and soaring columns covering a large porch. On either side of the main hall were two large wings. Behind it was a large, glassed in building with no markings, though a large American flag flew from the roof. "It was built as a hotel," Riana explained. "Today we've converted the old hotel rooms into offices and living quarters. The Congress chambers in the bunkers are briefing rooms, and the biggest room in the whole bunker—which was built for a joint session of Congress—is kind of our 'war room.'" Riana smiled. "You won't get to see that or the Big Board, but I think you'll get a kick out of what you do see." She inclined her head towards Weiss. "Not as impressive as Herrenchiemsee, though."
They walked through a rather nice flower garden to the main entrance; Ruby noticed there were groundskeepers all around, and all of them were armed. The two doormen were armed and wearing body armor, and they checked both their passes and their military IDs. Riana led them through an impressive entryway, then took them to a bank of innocuous elevators. As they went in, they noticed that the elevator was large, easily able to fit 20 people inside with room to spare.
Riana hummed to herself as she fished a key out of her pocket, opened a panel, and turned the key twice, then pressed her thumb to a scanner. Once she was cleared, she punched a blank button below the other ones, and the elevator began to descend. Riana continued her commentary. "This takes us to the lowest levels; they were built after the war. This is where all the supa-secret stuff is." She wiggled her eyebrows.
The elevator doors opened, and she led them down a long hallway, filled with anonymous doors on either side; the carpet, Ruby noticed, was the same pattern as that in the Mayport VOQ. They finally came to the second to last door, and Riana knocked twice. "Come in," came a muffled voice, and Riana opened the door.
They expected an office of some kind, but instead the door opened to a room the size of a hangar. There were workbenches scattered along the perimeter of the room, but the middle had been cleared out. A few more people in coveralls were unwrapping the GRIMM wing, and to their surprise, there were more pieces there—not quite enough for a complete version of the stealth GRIMM, but close. That, however, was not the biggest shock. It wasn't Rissa Arashikaze was standing to one side, watching the unwrapping; they had expected her.
The biggest shock was the Blacksmith standing next to Arashikaze, towering over her by nearly two feet. She wore a white coverall, stained with grease and oil, but she looked better than she had six months previously, when Ruby and Yang had talked to her. The blue bandanna she had worn when Ruby had first met the Blacksmith was once more tied around the older woman's head. She was supervising where the pieces went—rather well, Ruby thought, considering the Blacksmith had never seen the GRIMM design before. Or did she? Ruby wondered. The Blacksmith had, after all, been half of Salem's GRIMM design bureau at one time.
"We're here," Riana announced.
The elder Arashikaze looked up. "Excellent. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen." The people in coveralls recognized a dismissal when they heard one, and filed silently past Ruby Flight, closing the door behind them. The Blacksmith now began to pace around the fragments, clearly fitting them together in her mind.
"Thank you for this," Arashikaze said, motioning to the wing. "We don't have a complete set of remains, but it's close. The wing was among our last missing pieces."
Ruby Flight moved closer, inspecting the GRIMM. "I don't get it," Yang admitted. "Usually the GRIMM blow up. They have self-destruct devices, right?'
The Blacksmith looked up at that, and noticed Ruby and Yang for the first time. "Oh! Hello there!" Her voice was still deeply tinged with a Russian accent. She walked around the fragments and shook hands with Ruby and Yang, her large hands engulfing theirs, then Blake and Weiss. "I am…" She checked behind her to Arashikaze, who gave a brief nod. "I am Polina Korolev. You know me better as the Blacksmith...which is honestly the name I respond to most. I remember meeting Miss Rose and Miss Xiao Long in Wiesbaden a few months ago, but I am not sure if I met you, Miss Schnee, or you, Miss Belladonna. My memory is not what it used to be."
"I don't think we've had the pleasure," Blake replied.
"To answer your question, Miss Xiao Long," the Blacksmith continued, "GRIMM are equipped with self-destruct devices, to keep them from falling into enemy hands. However, the Kobolds are not so equipped, likely to save weight and increase range."
"Kobolds?" Yang said. "Like the ones in D&D?"
The Blacksmith looked confused at that reference, but it was Riana who spoke up. "Kind of. In mythology, kobolds could turn invisible."
"Which these apparently can." Arashikaze toed the wing. "They have a stealthy coating and the design is similar to our F-117s, but the Kobolds are far more maneuverable. We believe they may also utilize some kind of radar jamming device similar to that used by the Night Raven and Emerald Sustrai's Mirage at Beacon last year."
"Shit," Yang breathed. "No wonder we couldn't pick them up."
"We got exceedingly lucky in both attacks." Arashikaze began walking around the Kobold as well. "In Florida, the formation was spotted by several merchant ships at sea; the Kobolds were evidently programmed not to attack civilian targets. Without that, they would have caught Florida's defenses completely by surprise. In Arizona, we were caught by surprise, but we got a tipoff just as the GRIMM crossed the Colorado River Barrier, when the GRIMM were attacked—the Army saw them as well. It wasn't enough to completely stop them, but at least we were able to save the Palo Verde Nuclear Powerplant from damage."
"But not Phoenix," Blake said.
"No, not Phoenix," Arashikaze confirmed. "Aside from the wing that you found today, these pieces were recovered from the desert west of the city."
The Blacksmith resumed her inspection of the Kobold. "What is fascinating about this GRIMM, aside from its stealth, is this." She pointed to a partially-crushed dome, that resembled a canopy. Ruby then realized that was exactly what it was. "These can have human pilots. There looks to be the remains of a cockpit inside. A simple one, to be sure, but adequate for what it is used for."
Blake's ears flattened back. "You mean…"
Arashikaze heard the concern in her voice. "No, Captain Belladonna. The GRIMM used in the attack on Phoenix and Florida were not manned."
"But future ones could be," the Blacksmith added. "However, the fuel capacity is relatively small. The GRIMM that you fought were at nearly the edge of their range—they were almost out of fuel."
"Mein Gott." Weiss had realized it first. "These are suicide drones."
Arashikaze nodded. "More or less. We haven't recovered a tail section yet, but explosive residue found in the rear fuselage indicates that the GRIMM carry a warhead, plus internal weaponry. After firing their missiles, they are likely programmed to crash into their target."
"Why a pilot, though?" Yang asked.
"To control them better. To make sure they hit their target." They turned at Ruby's voice. She knelt and touched the nose of the Kobold. "Like the Ohka in World War II."
"The what?" Blake and Yang asked together.
"The Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka," Ruby continued, not looking up. "Basically a rocket-powered missile with a pilot inside controlling it. They were carried to the target and dropped off, then dived into a ship too fast for guns to shoot it down. The pilot made sure it stayed on target until it hit, killing himself too."
"Oh, I see," Yang remembered. "The kamikazes."
"And as I recall, they didn't work very well," Weiss said. "The Ohka-carrying aircraft didn't last long against American fighters, and I think only one or two ships were sunk by them."
"The Ohka is a good comparison," the Blacksmith agreed. "These, however, are far tougher to intercept. There is no carrier aircraft, and they're invisible to radar."
"Mostly invisible," Blake corrected. "At visual range, our radars can pick them up. Too close for radar missiles, though."
There came another knock on the door. Riana looked at the door and then her grandmother in surprise, gave a shrug, and went to open it. Ruby, straightening up, idly turned to see who it was, and her heart shot into her throat. Her eyes rounded in shocked terror and she took a step back—into Arashikaze, who had positioned herself behind her. "It can't be," she whispered. "Not—" Arashikaze's hand gently blocked her mouth. Yang was noticeably startled; Blake's hands came up defensively, her ears flattened back; Weiss let out a gasp.
Neo Politan walked into the room.
It was Neo, and not Neo. The heterochromatic brown and pink eyes were unmistakable, as was her diminutive height, but her hair was completely brown and cut much shorter than it had been, in a pageboy style. "Director Arashikaze?" Neo said. "I brought down that recording you asked for." She held up an old tape player. She didn't seem to notice Ruby Flight at all, but smiled at Riana. "Oh, hi, Riana. When did you get back?"
"Just now, Trivia." Riana did a remarkable job of nonchalance, walking over to Neo—Trivia—and taking the tape player from her. Arashikaze took her hand away from Ruby's mouth.
"Oh, okay." The voice was the same, with its high-pitched timbre, but the inflection was different somehow, with none of the mocking sneer that usually characterized Neo's voice. "Afternoon, Blacksmith."
The Blacksmith had either not picked up on Ruby Flight's shock or ignored it. "Good afternoon, Trivia. Will you be joining us for poker tonight?"
Neo/Trivia smiled, and Ruby's heart seemed to miss a beat or two, remembering that cruel smile, the insane grin as Neo stripped her naked with a knife and injected the kerasine into her, the drug that would shatter Ruby's psyche and leave her a broken, nearly dead woman. Yet the smile was different as well, somehow: it seemed genuine, not insane or sardonic. "Of course! I've got to get my money back somehow." She seemed to notice Ruby Flight for the first time. "Sorry to interrupt…these must be the consultants you told me about, Director."
"They are. Thank you, Trivia." Once more, it was a clear note of dismissal. Neo/Trivia nodded in a friendly fashion to them, then left, closing the door. Riana waited a few moments, and Ruby noticed that her left hand was in a pocket of her pants. A few awkward seconds passed, and she turned around to hand the player to Arashikaze, with a questioning look on her face.
Ruby jumped away from Arashikaze like the latter had turned into a rattlesnake. "Holy shit! What the actual hell?"
"She was killed in Romania last year!" Weiss exclaimed.
Arashikaze walked towards one of the workbenches, the Blacksmith following. "Was she?"
"We heard Delta shoot her—" Yang stopped herself. "But they didn't, did they?"
"No," Arashikaze answered simply.
"How…how could you do this?" Ruby shrilled. She ran forward and grabbed Arashikaze's shirt sleeve. The older woman's head whipped around like a missile battery on a target, her black hair nearly hitting Ruby in the face. "Neo was evil as hell, and you let her live?"
"You never know when you might need a devil of your own," Arashikaze answered harshly. "Take your hand off me, Lieutenant Rose. I do not need to explain myself to you." Ruby let go. "Neo Politan is, for all intents and purposes, dead. The person you just met is Trivia Vanille. Neo's real name—but with a completely fictional memory of her life, one that we carefully programmed her with. She does not remember Roman Torchwick, let alone Ruby Rose. As far as Trivia knows, she's a cornfed Iowa girl who is a CIA field agent who recovered from a gunshot wound to the head she suffered in Tehran last year. Right now she is serving as an analyst, until I need her for field work." Arashikaze set the tape player down. "In fact, she doesn't know it, but she just passed her final test."
"To see if she knew us," Blake said, still recovering from the shock of seeing Neo.
"Yes."
"And what would've happened if she had known us?" Weiss asked. "If she had gotten total recall?"
"Then I would have shot her." Riana pulled out a small revolver, a snub-nosed, hammerless one.
"But she didn't. I apologize for using you as guinea pigs." Arashikaze stepped back from the workbench and motioned the Blacksmith forward. "I'll allow you to do the honors."
"Thank you, Director." The tall woman held up the recorder. "Now please to pay attention. This signal was picked up by a listening station in Arizona. A similar signal was picked up in Florida, and at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba." The Blacksmith hit play on the recorder. There was silence for a moment, then the faintest of beeps. Then there was another long stretch of silence. Just as Weiss was about to say something, there was another, very faint beep. The Blacksmith hit stop on the recorder and rewound the tape. "Now listen at high speed." She hit the play and fast forward button at the same time. The beeps now came in a recognizable sequence before the tape shut off.
"That's manmade," Weiss uttered.
"Unmistakably," the Blacksmith nodded.
Arashikaze bent down and picked up one of the fragments of the Kobold. "The Blacksmith looked at these fragments we recovered from Arizona and deduced they are brand new, recently built." Another nod from the Blacksmith. "The Kobolds that attacked Florida came from Cuba. There's no doubt about that. Salem undoubtedly managed to move people onto the island—not difficult; we don't patrol the entire shoreline, and scavengers go into Cuba all the time."
"I thought the place was one big radiation spot," Yang said.
"We used 'dirty' warheads back then, so a lot of it is," Arashikaze explained. "But not all of it, and the jungle cover could easily conceal a launch site." She wryly chuckled. "As Salem would know all too well." She set the piece back down and dusted off her hands on her skirt; as usual, Arashikaze wore the black and red business suit. "I have other people looking into that. Your job, Ruby Flight, will be to investigate the Arizona attack. We have no idea where those Kobolds came from. They attacked from California, but it's very doubtful that they were based there." A smile tugged at her lips at the shocked look on the pilots' faces. "What?"
"Wait, wait." Blake held up both hands. "You want us to fly out to Phoenix in the Gulfstream?"
"No," Arashikaze said with infinite patience, "I want you to fly the Gulfstream back to Mayport, pick up your fighters, and fly to Phoenix with them. I should think that was obvious."
Another few seconds of shocked silence filled the room. "You mean…" Ruby faltered.
"You mean reform Ruby Flight?" Yang finished.
"Yes," Arashikaze replied, with the same tone she might have used on slow children. "I believe that is what I said."
"But…but we got court-martialed!" Ruby exclaimed. "Our Huntress status got revoked!"
"Indeed so. You won't be Huntresses. You'll be working for me, like your uncle does on occasion. As far as the Air Force, Navy and Marines are concerned, you are on temporary duty with the Central Intelligence Agency."
"You've been sheep-dipped," Riana added with a grin, using the old term for military pilots doing black operations for the CIA.
"And…and everyone is okay with this?" Ruby still couldn't believe it.
"Why should they care?" Arashikaze told them. She put her hands on her hips. "I should think the four of you would be ecstatic to be working together again."
"What about Ace Flight?" Weiss blurted.
"Again, what about them? I'm sure Major Nikos will understand. She'll probably just as happy to hear it as I assumed you would be."
"And Oscar?" Ruby asked.
Arashikaze didn't answer that. "Captain Belladonna, my intention is to see that you get temporarily issued a F-18."
Blake glanced at Ruby, but seeing as Arashikaze seemed to be ignoring her friend's question, she did the same for now. "I'd much rather have the F-14, Miss Arashikaze. It has a longer reach. I have a good RIO, Lieutenant Terri Suul."
"Request denied," Arashikaze said harshly. "If you would rather not have a Hornet, let me know what other aircraft would be suitable."
"She has top secret clearance—" Blake began.
"She has a family," Arashikaze snapped. "And her clearance is not as high as yours. This is not open to discussion, Captain."
"Yes, ma'am!" Blake barked, angrily.
"Very well. Riana, escort these ladies back to the Gulfstream and fly them back to Mayport. Your orders will be there by the morning, and you will leave for Luke Air Force Base then. I will have someone there to meet you with further orders." Arashikaze put her hands behind her back. "Enjoy yourselves tonight. Get drunk, eat a lot of shellfish, make love if you're so inclined. Tomorrow you go to work, for me. We will find out where these damn Kobolds are coming from, and destroy it. Afterwards?" She shrugged. "We'll see what the future brings."
"One question." Yang raised her hand. "Why us? There's a lot of other people out there who are almost as good of fighter pilots as we are, and don't have a fucking letter of reprimand hanging over their heads. Hell, Weiss and Ace Flight could go."
Arashikaze shook her head. "It would take too long to pry them loose from Gale. I'm choosing you because, despite your occasional bouts of stupidity and tendency to very loosely interpret orders, I can trust you. And because I have it on good authority that a good portion of that Arizona attack got intercepted by Raven Branwen. She trusts you as well."
Yang's eyebrows rose. "Dad told me that was you who picked her up from the house. We thought maybe you killed her."
"I considered it, but as I said, sometimes you need devils of your own. I have the Spring Maiden now, and Raven can keep her little fiefdom in Southern California. I don't care. If she wants to fly on the side of the angels now, well and good." Arashikaze looked pointedly at Yang. "She loves you in a strange, weird way, so you are the best qualified to make contact with her. If anyone knows what's going on in California, it's her." She paused. "Any other questions? No? If you think of any, direct them to Riana here. If not, I will be in contact. Good night. Dismissed." The four pilots turned to leave, but then Arashikaze stopped them. "One moment, Lieutenant Rose. Please stay." Yang gave Ruby a shrug, and the three of them left with Riana. The Blacksmith excused herself as well, sensing that she should probably be elsewhere, leaving Arashikaze and Ruby alone.
Arashikaze sat down in a swivel chair. "I suppose you'd like to punch me in the face," she began.
"You scared the bejesus out of me with Neo," Ruby admitted.
"Trivia. Neo's dead. I gave her a death far worse than just a physical killing. I destroyed her personality." Arashikaze crossed her legs in front of her. "Neo deserved it. Trivia deserves a second chance. Just like you."
Ruby sniffed and sat down as well. "I think I'm on my fourth or fifth chance by now."
"If you like." Arashikaze sighed. "To answer your question about Oscar Pine, Ruby, I'm having him transferred tomorrow to another squadron—VFA-111 at Key West. They were due to be deployed with the Nimitz, but the Navy's holding them ashore until we make sure there's no more GRIMM hiding in Cuba. I thought about sending him to sea, but he'd just be worried about you, and he might get killed trying to land some dark and stormy night."
"Why not have him come with us?" Ruby asked. "He's got as much clearance as we do."
"Because you will be distracted with him there, and he will be distracted with you there. I need you focused, Ruby. This could be an important victory against Salem—one which we desperately need."
Ruby stared at her. "I would think a really important victory would be to drop a big one on Mount Yamantau. I'm sure the Blacksmith told you."
"She did. And honestly, I wasn't that surprised. Yamantau was one of the spots we figured Salem had a base." Arashikaze put up a hand. "I know about your mother's mission. It was in Ozpin's files—he had sent me a copy a few years ago, in case something happened."
Ruby's face darkened in anger. "And you didn't tell me?"
"Ozpin didn't tell you," Arashikaze countered. "And if he thought it was a good idea to keep it secret, I respected those wishes."
"Maybe he was wrong!"
"Possibly. But what is done is done, Ruby."
Ruby shot to her feet, her fists clenched. "I'm tired of secrets and half-truths, Director!"
"'Truth is so precious that she must be attended by a bodyguard of lies'," Arashikaze quoted. "But I will tell you why we haven't blown Yamantau off the map." She got up as well and began to pace around the GRIMM again. "Ruby, Salem has JINN. That means that we've had to change all of our codes. JINN knew almost everything—I warned Ozpin that it was a bad idea, but as you said, he was wrong. So that's taken months. Moreover, if it is Yamantau, none of the Maidens are in a position to simply wipe it off the map—that's why Ozpin came up with that cockeyed plan for your mother and Raven Branwen to nuke it. Moreover, this huge military buildup in Europe can only be sustained for so long. Right now, the American people are good and pissed off about Poland, but that will change. We're an easily distracted people, Ruby; we always have been. Eventually, some Congressperson will demand the troops come home, or the EU will. I think that is what Salem is waiting for. She's been rebuilding herself. Now she'll sit back and wait for us to tear each other apart."
"Again," Ruby said morosely.
"Yes, again." Arashikaze came over to Ruby and put her hands on the pilot's shoulders, a show of warmth that surprised Ruby. They were of a height; in fact, Ruby was slightly taller. "Which is why I need you to find where these Kobolds are coming from. We've been very lucky twice—Phoenix was damaged, but there's less than 500 dead. Aside from repairable damage to the Kennedy Space Center, the attack on Florida was a complete failure—thanks to you, a lot of brave fighter pilots, and that crazy son of a bitch on the USS Lawrence. Next time, Ruby, we may not be as lucky."
"And then what?" Ruby's voice was bitter. "We just keep fighting until we die?"
"No. Salem is still a human being, Ruby." Arashikaze dropped her hands. "She has thoughts, feelings, morale. She won a tactical victory in Poland, but may have suffered a strategic defeat. Thanks to the message that you and Pyrrha Nikos delivered, Ruby, the world is temporarily allied against her. Now if we destroy her stealth GRIMM, we've dealt her another defeat. It lowers her morale…and increases ours. Like Patton said, Americans love a winner. We beat Salem again, and Mount Yamantau just might be next." She stepped back from Ruby. "And then, if you've got any brains, you'll marry Oscar Pine and have his babies."
Ruby laughed a little at that. "And we'll live in utopia."
"Fuck, no." They both laughed at the profanity; Arashikaze had a irritating laugh, like a board being dragged across a metal fence. "Humans and Faunus enjoy killing each other too much for that. But we'll live in a world without GRIMM and without Salem."
Ruby nodded. "I guess that's worth dying for."
"No, Ruby. That's worth living for. I've seen too many damn martyrs." Arashikaze walked back to the workbench. "All right, get out of here. They're waiting for you by the elevator. Go back to Florida, make love to Oscar, and forget all of this bullshit for one more night. Then go kill some GRIMM. You have my support. If someone tries to screw you over, let me know and I'll chop them off at their goddamned knees."
"Like you did the Red Prince?" Ruby said.
"Yes." Arashikaze leaned against the workbench. "You think I acted wrongly?"
"Hell, no." Ruby smiled. "You should've killed him earlier." She sketched a salute to the director and left the room.
Arashikaze was alone. She stepped over to the Kobold and toed one of the pieces. "Damn you, Natasha," she whispered. "You're not taking something else from me."
AUTHOR'S NOTES, SUPPLEMENTAL: The Blacksmith and Neo...well, Trivia...return! This will not be the last we see of them in this story arc, either. And Ruby Flight is back together again, though at a price.
The Ohka was a real aircraft, and it could do what Ruby described. (Ruby's aircraft obsession shows itself again.) Luckily, it wasn't a particularly useful weapon, as Weiss comments on. The Greenbrier Hotel also exists, and what Riana describes does actually exist, though nowadays the Congressional bunkers are tourist attractions rather than in use. Mount Weather, however, remains operational as a Presidential shelter.
I noticed in an earlier chapter of ORW II, it's mentioned that Kennedy's wife Jacqueline and his children were killed when Washington DC was destroyed, but that was later retconned to have them killed in New York City instead. The GRIMM signal is stolen lock, stock and tape recorder from the Red October's silent drive being picked up by Jonesy in the movie-but it made sense on how to track these new GRIMM. Finally, VFA-111 is not a real squadron-VF-111 was, but it was disestablished when the F-14 went out of service. Today, it's VFC-13 and flies F-5s, not F-18s.
What's next? Time for Ruby Flight to head out to the Valley of the Sun...and maybe sunny, irradiated California too.