Author's Opening Note: I'm terribly sorry that this chapter was delayed for so long. I was very overwhelmed due to multiple time-consuming reasons, and I had to take a break from writing. Hopefully there won't be any more such delays. This chapter was a bit rushed as a result, so please point out any mistakes if you spot them.
In the meantime, keep those votes for the one-shot fic coming in. I'll be switching back to the cinematic poll with the next update.
Review Responses
Daniel: Oh, I'm a big James Bond fan. I've seen every movie and read every book written by Ian Fleming. I'll definitely add a Bond film to a future poll.
Rev67: No, it's okay. A superhero movie would make a great poll if "The Incredibles" doesn't win the voting poll for the next cinematic adaptation.
Jlargent: I'll keep your casting recommendations in mind if I ever adapt "The Karate Kid", though It'll most likely be a one-shot on my other fic.
StoutShako42Refined: Technically, Yang first appeared in "Robocop" alongside Ruby. Though, that was a while ago.
Hawks nest427: I had a blast writing this one. Sorry for making the decision so hard, lol. I might re-use some of those choices though in future polls.
Pharamine: Oh, yeah. A HUGE shitstorm is about to hit the marines. And thank you, I was more careful with the footnotes this time, lol.
HunterPrimeAW5M3: Lol. Zwei would be great at Snoopy, though I'd likely adapt "Peanuts" in the one-shot fic. Also, "How To Train Your Dragon" is still an option in the next film poll, which I'll put back up after "Aliens" is finished.
Lucky Prospector: No offense, but I consider "Terminator" and "Predator" to be Arnold's best flicks. They're more likely for me to adapt.
Black Cross0: Well said, my friend. As I've said before, the Grimm can't hold candle to the Xenomorphs as far as terror goes.
Yawar: I took that into account, but I'm most likely to adapt "Ace Ventura" in the one-shot fic, so I could choose a different scene leaving out the kiss and the reveal.
LoamyCoffee: Thank you. And yes, Gorman is a prime example of how a lieutenant should NOT perform. I pretty much chose Yang to play Newt right from the start and I'm glad you and the other readers like my decision :)
Imperial Romance: I haven't watched "Helluva Boss" yet, but if I ever adapt it, I'll keep your casting ideas in mind.
BreadManFred: No problem. I can take your vote here or via PM.
Roy4: You're absolutely right about Summer and Yangs counterparts bonding throughout the film due to losing their loved ones. Furthermore, more than likely, I'll only adapt "Predator" in the one-shot multiverse. I feel the original film was the only good one in the series.
Jones man: The "Cinematic Multiverse" poll has only be temporarily taken down.
Memnon45: Oh, they're in for a rollercoaster of suspense and action. And thanks for the heads up about Bladewolf101 if what you say is true. I wouldn't want anyone stealing my work. Finally, I don't know about "Conan the Barbarian", but "Predator" will definitely make it to the one-shot fic.
Acedragoon: I already said I will not adapt "Alien 3", but "Colonial Marines" is a possibility if enough people want it.
Inspiration: Aliens
Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit story for entertainment purposes only. "RWBY" is the property of director and animator Monty Oum (RIP) and production company Rooster Teeth, and "Aliens" is the property of director James Cameron, production company Brandywine Pictures, and distributed by 20th Century Fox.
The APC rumbled down the narrow gravel road connecting the colony to the processing station looming in the foggy distance.
Inside, Yang was soothing her doll, Casey, while Summer, Ironwood, and Jacques all carefully observed the camera monitors, marveling how huge the atmospheric processor was.
"It's okay. Don't worry. It'll be okay," Yang whispered to Casey.
"Wow. That structure is enormous. It must be larger than any of Mantle's skyscrapers," Winter marveled the size of the atmospheric processor.
"It sounds like your counterpart is really trying to assure herself rather than her doll," Ruby noted sympathetically about Yang's counterpart.
"But why bring her along? They should send her up to the Sulaco where it's safe," Blake recommended disapprovingly.
Yang nodded. "Good call. Other me has been through enough already," she agreed as she chowed on some popcorn.
The APC crawled up one of the many ramps leading into the station's interior, the sliding garage door labeled "Ramp 31" opened automatically for the bulky vehicle to drive inside.
After a short drive down one of the stations' dark, metallic tunnels, the APC slid to a stop and its exterior lights shut off as the marines exited and moved forward in a standard formation, Vine and Harriet taking point with their smart guns.
"I want a straight 'V' deployment, second team on left flank," Ironwood instructed over the radio. "Advance on axial 664. Tracker online. Set the "V" gain to filter R.F. ambient."
"Amin, tracker online. Left and right, little buddy," Clover ordered.
Oscar looked restless. "I can't shake the feeling that this is going to end badly," he predicted.
"You're not the only one," Ozpin agreed with his host.
Indeed, everyone was on edge on the situation onscreen, mostly fear of the unknown. Even those most eager to witness the marines battle the aliens, such as Harriet and Nora, were tentative.
"Forty meters in, bearing 221, there should be a stairwell," Ironwood continued.
The marines reached a small stairway leading downwards.
"Check. Got it," Clover confirmed as he beckoned the squad forward.
"You want Sublevel 3," Ironwood continued.
The squad proceeded down the stairway in single file, their flashlights guiding their way.
"Let's go, people. Amin, you got the point," Clover barked. "Taiyang, watch our tails. Nice and easy. Check those corners."
Back inside the APC, Summer, Ironwood, Jacques, and Yang all observed the squad's progress as they descended into the bowels of massive building.
"Check those corners," Clover repeated cautiously.
"Watch your spacing," Ironwood warned.
"All right. You heard the man. Don't bunch up. Stay loose," Clover parroted.
Penny searched the screen for her counterpart. "Where am I?" she asked.
"I suppose they left you at med-lab to continue researching the facehuggers," Vine guessed.
Vines words only worsened everyone's worries that Penny's counterpart would turn out like Oscars. They, especially Ruby, prayed that it was only paranoia.
A few of the monitors began to show static as the marines progressed further.
"Uh…your transmission's showing a lot of breakup," Ironwood said.
"Probably getting some interference from the structure," Amin guessed.
"That's not good," Ironwood slowly sipped a glass of water. "My counterpart can't command them effectively without clear communication."
"And if they get cut off down there in the middle of a battle, things could end in disaster," Clover added, unable to stop worrying about the marines.
"Use those lights," Clover advised onscreen.
"Next one down, and proceed on a 216," Ironwood continued guiding the marines.
"Uh, roger. That's a 216," Clover confirmed.
Yang didn't seem confident in the marines. In fact, she looked apprehensive, as if expecting things to go horribly wrong.
"Yangs counterpart looks like she knows something the marines don't," Ozpin pointed out.
"Like what?" Oscar asked his mentor softly.
"Like there could be more aliens than they can handle. After all, she has witnessed the incident firsthand," Ozpin elaborated ominously.
"Gods forbid, if all the colonists have been killed, they should just call it quits and get off the moon ASAP," Vine remarked, prompting a few nods.
Sometime later, Harriet's camera displayed something strange on the station's infrastructure. But due to the static, it couldn't be made out clearly.
"I'm not making that out too well. What is it, Amin?" Ironwood questioned.
"You tell me, man. I only work here," Marrow answered sarcastically on Harriet's monitor.
"What is that?" Blake noticed something unusual on the walls onscreen.
Yang glanced at her partner. "What is what?"
"I can see it too. There's something on the walls," Marrow said softly.
The marines all stood in a darkened section of one of the stations sub-levels. All across the walls and ceilings, something new had been added: Dark, encrusted material, glistening with moisture. It mildly resembled the substance that made up the nests of bees or wasps, but on a far greater scale.
The alien structure stretched and intensified further into the complex up ahead while the squad stood hesitantly outside the edge of it.
"Ewww," Weiss, Ruby, and Yang all muttered in disgust.
"Well…I'm guessing that stuff wasn't there before the aliens showed up," Maria guessed in a half-joking tone.
Qrow grimaced. "Ugh. But what the hell is it?"
"I don't know...but it makes me doubt there's anyone left to rescue," Harriet stated bluntly.
Elm shot Harriet a look. "We don't know that. They have to at least take a look," she reprimanded.
The strange alien material was visible on the monitors. The APC's occupants were unnerved yet fascinated.
Ironwood glanced at Summer. "What is that?"
"I don't know," Summer replied softly, equally clueless.
"Proceed inside," Ironwood ordered with a hint of uncertainty.
"Is that really wise?" Ren questioned in a low voice.
Harriet shrugged. "Well, call me crazy, but I actually want to see how our counterparts fare against the aliens," she said eagerly.
A few people stared at Harriet as if she was indeed crazy.
"Does everything have to be a competition with you?" Elm sighed, craning her head back slightly.
Clover beckoned his squad to advance forward. And they did so single file with Harriet taking point. It was quiet. Too quiet.
All around, the alien material covered their surroundings, some of it dripping with moisture.
Everyone scanned the screen anxiously, searching for any movement besides the marines. They knew only too well how stealthy the creatures were from the first movie.
Weiss shivered. "That stuff on the walls reminds me of the derelict ship...but even more disgusting," she commented.
"And it's the perfect camouflage for the aliens. They could be anywhere. And the lack of lighting doesn't help," Winter remarked, only adding to everyone's fear.
"It feels like they're walking straight into the lion's den," Ren slowly sipped his tea.
"Watch your fire and check your targets. Remember we're looking for civvies in here," Clover reminded the squad.
The marines moved along slowly. Harriet swerved her hefty gun at every corner she passed.
"Easy," Clover said softly.
"Tighten it up, Coal. We're getting a little thin," Taiyang notified his teammate.
"Nice and easy," Clover repeated.
But, still, nothing happened. There was no other sound. No movement. Nothing aside from the low but unnerving music.
The soundtrack kept the audience in a constant state of apprehension.
"Where the hell are they?" Qrow whispered.
"It's way too quiet," Blake noted, her cat ears not picking up any unusual sounds.
"Do you think the aliens know they're coming?" Nora squeezed Ren's arm. "You know...just waiting to jump them?"
Everyone shifted uncomfortably as they remembered how the first alien used stealth to hunt down the Nostromo crew members. They all hoped Nora was wrong.
"No way," Harriet shook her head but even she was uncertain. "They can't be that smart."
Neon curiously snapped off a piece of the substance. "Looks like some sort of secreted resin," she analyzed.
"Yeah…but secreted from what?" Taiyang asked uneasily.
"I was thinking the same thing. They're like insects. They built a hive out of a natural occurring substance," Penny stated astutely.
"Insects…hive…," Maria trailed off under her breath as she contemplated Penny's words…and began to wonder just what produced alien eggs.
"Nobody touch nothing," Clover warned his squad.
"A little too late for that," Blake sighed at Neon's counterpart.
"Busy little creatures, huh?" Jacques remarked inside the APC.
As the marines pressed on, the temperature steadily rose.
"Hot as hell in here," Flynt griped as he began to sweat.
"Yeah, man, but it's a dry heat," Marrow joked, also sweating.
"Knock it off, Amin," Clover scolded from offscreen.
"It would also seem the aliens like heat and construct their nests close to such sources," Penny continued with her theories.
"You're probably right, Penny. They did decide to build their nest inside the processor of all places," Winter nodded.
Summer carefully observed the readout of the station's ground plan. There were nine triangles signifying the marines moving steadily toward the cluster of over a hundred dots given off by the colonist's PDTs. As the squad drew closer, a thought occurred to Summer.
"Lieutenant, what do those pulse rifles fire?" Summer asked Ironwood in concern.
"Ten millimeter fire dust-tip caseless," Ironwood answered. "Standard light armor-piercing round. Why?"
Ruby smiled. "Nice. Impressive firepower," she commented, still a weapons nut.
"They'll need it. I could be wrong, but I'd have to assume the alien's carapace is tough," Winter presumed.
Ren blinked. "But why does Summer want to know?"
"Well, look where your team is. They're right under the primary heat exchangers," Summer pointed out on the readout.
Ironwood paused obliviously. "So?"
"So…if they fire their weapons in there, won't they rupture the cooling system?" Summer asked, as if Ironwood should have realized it earlier.
Jacques stepped forward. "Ho, ho, ho. Yeah. She's absolutely right," he supported Summer.
"So? So what?" Ironwood asked, not understanding.
"Look. This whole station is basically a big fusion reactor. Right?" began to explain.
Finally, Ironwood realized the problem, his expression stupefied.
Maria tilted her head. "Fusion? Does he mean like on the Nostromo?" she asked Gold-Sith.
"Yes. And the cooling system runs on ice dust to keep it stabilized. Only it's even larger than the reactor on the Nostromo," Gold-Sith replied.
"Uh-oh," several people mumbled as they remembered the massive explosion from the Nostromo's self-destruct.
"So…they can't use their weapons without potentially causing a huge explosion," Vine deducted.
"Perhaps they can return to the APC and switch out for different ammunition," Penny suggested, hoping that was an option.
"So, she's talking about a thermonuclear explosion, and…so long folks," Jacques finished.
"Oh, great. Wonderful. Shit!" Ironwood grumbled.
Ruby gasped. "Language! There's a kid sitting right there," she scolded Ironwood's counterpart for using profanity in front of Yang.
Qrow chuckled. "Don't worry, kiddo. She's probably heard worse during the outset of the infestation," he reasoned.
"My counterpart could have avoided this if he bothered to read over the schematic of the atmospheric processor and discover the colonists are located under the heat exchangers," Ironwood criticized his alternate self's negligence.
Clover snapped his finger, signaling the rest of the squad to stop.
"Look. We can't have any firing in there," Ironwood said awkwardly. "I, uh…I want you to collect magazines from everybody."
Harriet cocked her brow. "Do what?"
"Oh, come on, Jimmy. You've gotta be kidding," Qrow said incredulously.
"Pennys right. It'd be better to return to the APC and re-assess the situation rather than go in half-cocked like this," Clover recommended.
The marines were flabbergasted by Ironwood's order.
"Is he fucking crazy?" Marrow questioned in a half amused tone.
"What the hell are we supposed to use, man? Harsh language?" Flynt asked jokingly.
A few people chuckled at Flynt's snarky line, despite the situation looking bad.
"I've gotta use that line sometime," Yang giggled before sipping a soda.
"But he's right, though," Oscar said. "What else can they fight the aliens with?"
"Flame units only. I want rifles slung," Ironwood continued.
"Sir, I-" Clover began to protest.
"Just do it, Sergeant," Ironwood cut him off. "And no grenades."
After a few seconds, Clover gave in. "All right, sweethearts. You heard the man. Pull 'em out. Come on. Let's have 'em," he demanded.
Jaune scoffed. "This is ridiculous. He didn't even bother explaining why they couldn't use their weapons."
"Unfortunately, some officers are like that," Ironwood lamented, having met his share of such leaders. "They expect their soldiers to follow their every command without question."
"And such officers tend to be arrogant glory hounds who don't care about their troops," Winter added with a frown.
The marines reluctantly complied and began to hand Clover their pulse rifle magazines and grenades while Harriet and Vine gave up the batteries to their smart guns.
"Come on, Bree. Clear and lock," Clover told Harriet, the latter reluctantly handing over the battery.
"Damn!" Clover cursed as he moved down the line to collect magazines. "You too. Give it up, Ivori. Come on. Let's go. Kobalt, I want it now. Give it up."
However, unbeknownst to Clover, Harriet and Vine had spare smart gun batteries, which they discreetly plugged into their guns so they could be fired.
"Right on, Bree," Vine said softly so only she could hear it.
"What is she doing?" Jaune questioned.
"Smart guns, which Harriet and Vine are wielding, run on batteries," Gold-Sith answered.
"So, they brought extra batteries? They really are smart gunners," Yang joked, trying to create some levity.
"Going against orders like that? That'll get Vine and I locked up if we get caught," Harriet
"Better that than getting killed if you ask me," Nora reasoned.
Clover finished with Flynt and Taiyang. "Let's go, marine. Give it up," he ordered. "Coal, you got the duty. Open that bag."
Flynt opened up a duffle bag hanging from his shoulder, which Clover stuffed the magazines and explosives into.
"Thanks a lot, Sarge," Flynt said sarcastically.
"Xiao Long, cover our ass. Head 'em out, people," Clover finished as he moved along.
Everyone became only more concerned for the marines.
"It feels like they're set up for a hard fall," Blake predicted.
Vine nodded. "Indeed. With their ammunition compromised, they only have a couple of flamethrowers and small arms by the looks of it."
"And they still have no clue how many aliens their up against," Ironwood finished.
Taiyang pulled out an old-school pump action shotgun from a holster on his back.
Taiyang glanced at Flynt. "I like to keep this handy... for close encounters," he said as he cocked the weapon.
"I heard that," Flynt agreed.
Ruby smiled. "At least dad is prepared," she looked on the bright side.
"Yeah. I would have preferred a pulse rifle, though," Qrow remarked.
"I'd want one of those bulkier guns Harriet and Vine are using," Yang said with a sip of soda.
"Any movement?" Ironwood asked.
Marrow checked his motion tracker. "Nothing. Zip," he reported.
The marines entered another section of the facility and paused, their expressions showing shock and mild horror as they gazed up at something.
Even the hardened Clover was taken aback. "Holy shit," he mumbled.
Protruding from a thick resin cocoon above the squad was a was a colonist. A dead colonist. His chest was crudely torn open from the inside out by a chestburster. His deathly pale faced locked in an expression of pure agony.
The audience was saddened and horrified at what they witnessed onscreen, though they weren't very surprised.
"By the Brothers…" Jaune breathed out.
"Just as I feared. They were using them as incubators…for the facehuggers," Ozpin surmised softly.
The unfortunate victims of the alien infestation were clearly displayed on the monitors.
"Yang, go sit up front," Summer said sternly. "Go on! Now!
Yang obliged and left the console to sit up front.
Elm nodded. "Good call. Poor girl has seen more than enough of that already."
"Even if other me survives this, she'll be traumatized for life," Yang added sadly.
"I expect she won't be the only one...if any of them survive this," Ren mumbled under his breath.
The now perturbed but still vigilant marines moved on very slowly, passing more dead, slime covered colonists entombed into the walls, some of them in varying states of decomposition.
They even discovered several empty alien eggs and dead facehuggers. Taiyang curiously lifted one of the dead, dried out parasites on his shotgun barrel to examine it before tossing it aside.
Blake's ears flattened. "They were too late...far too late," she lamented.
Clover wore a downcast expression. "All those colonists. Gone."
Ruby's lips quivered. "Including children," she finished, barely holding back tears.
"Steady, people. Let's finish our sweep," Clover ordered, keeping his composure. "We're still marines, and we got a job to do."
The marines turned and began to walk past a guardrail overlooking a multi-story drop, the ground below not even visible.
Clover looked over the ledge. "Keep it moving. Easy," he instructed the squad.
"I hate to say this, but I don't think there's anyone left to rescue," Harriet said reluctantly.
Elm nodded. "They should pull out and return to the APC before those things find out they're there."
"That would be the smart thing to do. They must be outnumbered at least ten to one," Vine said, doubting the marines could handle so many aliens.
Neon curiously examined one of the fresher cocoons. Sealed inside was a blonde woman, her formerly tan skin now a deathly pale. Slowly and gingerly, Neon lifted the woman's head up…
…and her violet eyes snapped opened to a high-pitched scare chord.
"Ah!" Nora yelped before grumbling at yet another jump scare.
"Whoa!" Jaune, Oscar, Ruby, and Nora all jumped in their seats.
Ruby gasped. "Oh my gods! It's Robyn Hill!" she cried, barely able to recognize the woman in her state.
"Help!" Neon cried out.
Clover spun around. "What?"
"Top, get over here. We got a live one!" Neon hollered, and the others converged on her position.
"You're gonna be all right. You're gonna be all right," Neon began to comfort Robyn.
Robyn began to tremble. "P-please...k-k-kill me…" she begged softly.
Suddenly the audience tensed up in terror, especially Nora and Ren. They knew what was coming...
"Oh Brothers...she's got one inside her," Blake breathed out.
The scene transpired on Clovers camera.
"Just stay calm. We're gonna get you outta here," Neon continued trying to assure Robyn.
"Sir, we've got a survivor here," Clover reported, having no idea what was coming.
But Summer did, her face grimacing as she remembered what happened on the Nostromo…to Ren…
"It's gonna be all right. Give me a hand. We gotta get her outta here," Neon went on.
"It's too late..." Elm whispered, understanding Robyn was a goner.
Suddenly, Robyn began to shake and groan sharply, as though she were in pain from something.
"What is it, Katt? What's going on?"
"Convulsion!" Neon as Robyn began to scream in pain.
Something started to ram its way out of her chest cavity, the ribs snapping and breaking with a horrible wet sound.
Knowing only too well what was going to happen, most of the audience averted their eyes, especially those with weaker stomachs.
"No. Not again," Nora croaked out, her eyes tearing up as she was reminded of Ren's death in "Alien".
"I can't watch another one of these!" Ruby pulled her hood over her head.
Clover quickly wrenched Neon away. "Katt, get back! Get back!" he shouted.
With a few final gasps and cries of pain, Robyn died, her body going limp. From her bloody torn open ribcage emerged the tiny, sharp-toothed head of a chestburster, hissing viciously at the marines.
Summer clutched her chest. "No!" she gasped as she shut her eyes.
Ruby, Yang, and Qrow felt heartbroken for Summer, knowing she was just trying to recover from the Nostromo incident only to be reminded of Ren's death.
The chestburster tried to wriggle free from Robyn's chest.
"Coal, flamethrower!" Clover demanded.
"Kill it!" Marrow implored.
Flynt quickly handed his weapon to Clover while Neon moved away.
"Get back! Flamethrower! Move!" Clover shouted as he aimed and fired.
A gout of flame spewed from the flamethrower, setting Robyn's corpse and the chestburster alight. The creature screeched in agony as it burned to death.
"Gods...poor Robyn," Nora sniffled, wiping her eyes.
"It would have been more merciful to simply shoot her in the head," Qrow remarked as he raised his water glass to Roby's counterpart.
"Well, I think now would be the perfect time to make themselves scarce," Jaune strongly suggested.
The action had awakened something. A dark, glistening shape began to stir in a nearby crevice, perfectly camouflaged in the darkness and among the resin. A full-grown alien, bigger than a man.
Then the camera switched to another alien moving in the shadows…then another…and another…
Worse still, the marines couldn't see them. Smoke from the burning cocoon and wall began to fill the room. Visibility dropped nearly to zero.
A cold dread filled the audience as the scene dragged on. Even those confident in the marines felt fear creep into them as they witnessed so many aliens onscreen at once.
"Shit..." Yang whispered, her eyes widening.
"They just stirred up the hornets' nest," Marrow muttered.
Marrow's motion tracker picked up the activity. "Movement!" he called out.
"What's the position?" Clover asked, hoisting up his flamethrower.
"I can't lock in!"
"Talk to me, Amin!" Clover said with an edge.
Marrow's motion tracker showed what had to be about two dozen signals. The nearest one only 25 meters away.
And they were all around the squad.
"Just one of those things was bad enough…there's so many of them..." Ruby shuddered as she gripped her cloak.
"Uh...multiple signals. They're closing!" Marrow notified his squad.
"Go to infrared, people. Look sharp!" Clover ordered.
The squad members quickly snapped down the infrared visors built into their helmets.
The APC occupants could barely see anything on the monitors, but judging from the radio chatter, they knew something was wrong.
"What's happening, Ebi? Can't see anything in here," Ironwood asked, already becoming nervous.
Summer could feel it coming. "Pull your team out, Ironwood," she warned in a low tone.
"Listen to her. She's an advisor after all," Vine reminded sharply.
"Get them out of there," Clover urged his commander's counterpart, not wanting to watch his teammates perish.
Qrow grounded his teeth. "Come on, Jimmy. Don't fuck this up," he urged.
The beeping on Marrow's tracker steadily grew higher as the marines observed their surroundings. But still they couldn't see the impending danger coming.
"I got signals. I got readings in front and behind!" Marrow reported.
Alarmed, Clover shot a quick glance over his shoulder.
"They're all around you, guys! They're right there!" Marrow shouted in near panic.
"Why isn't the infrared working?!" Weiss questioned loudly.
Penny shrugged. "Maybe they just don't give off body heat," she presumed about the aliens.
"Like Winter said, that resin is the perfect camouflage for them," Blake reminded. "And all that smoke can't be helping."
Flynt looked around warily. "Where, man? I don't see shit!" he said.
"He's right. There's nothing back here," Taiyang agreed as he checked his own tracker.
Marrow began to lose his cool. "Look, I'm telling you! There's something moving, and it ain't us!" he insisted.
Kobalt brushed past Flynt from behind, startling the latter. "Oh, shit," he muttered.
The marines fear was palpable. Little by little, the crowds' fear steadily reached it's peak as they braced themselves for the worst-case scenario.
"Get out of there, get out of there," Ruby mouthed repeatedly.
Bringing up the rear was Neon, who scanned her surroundings tensely.
"Tracker's off scale, man. They're all around us, man! Monty!" Marrow went on over the radio.
"Maybe they don't show up on infrared at all," Neon theorized, gripping her flamethrower.
Unfortunately, Neon was absolutely right. Directly behind her, a perfectly camouflaged alien emerged from a wall.
Sharp gasps and cries emanated through the theater at Neon's peril.
"Watch out, Neon!" Yang screamed.
"Behind you!" Weiss added as she leaned back in her seat.
The alien leaped out from its hiding spot and grabbed Neon. She screamed and fired her flamethrower in a panic.
Hearing the noise behind him, Flynt spun around, only to be accidentally set alight by Neon. He screamed as he was sent tumbling over the guardrail and falling several stories below to his death.
"Coal!" Taiyang shouted offscreen as witnessed his teammates death.
Neon screeched as she was carried up into the ceiling by her alien captor.
Inside the APC, the trio watched as Neon's camera spun and cut out, as did her screaming while Flynt's life signs flat lined.
Taiyang, Ivori, and Kobalt all rushed over to investigate, only to find the confiscated bag full of grenades and pulse rifle magazines Flynt had been carrying. And it was burning!
"Wait. Is that-" Penny started before she realized with shock that it was the ammunition bag.
"Dad, watch out!" Ruby cried out at the screen.
"Get out of there!" Yang added as she reached out.
"You're gonna get blown up!" Qrow concluded.
"Come on!" Taiyang bellowed as he pulled Ivori away, knowing the bag would blow any second.
And it did. The resulting explosion sent Ivori and Kobalt flying, the former hit a support beam hard. Taiyang was luckier, as he managed to dive behind cover at the last second.
The audience went into a kind of stunned stupor as they watched everything go pear shaped so swiftly, sitting with their mouths hanging open and eyes wide as dinner plates.
"Those are my troops..." Ironwood was aghast.
"This is not how I hoped this would play out," Clover said in disbelief.
Inside the APC, Kobalt and Flynt's life signs flat-lined next.
"Monty Oum, Ebi!" Ironwood exclaimed in shock. "What is going on?!"
"Ivori and Kobalt are down!" Taiyang reported as he propped a wounded Ivori against a wall. [2]
"Katt, Kobalt! Sound off!" Clover desperately called. "Coal! Coal!"
"Katt, Coal, off the board!" Taiyang added.
Summer's horrified gaze swept across the monitors as everything went to hell.
Taiyang quickly flipped Kobalt over to check on him, only to discover he was dead. His eyes had rolled up into his head, and blood dribbled from his mouth.
Then, from behind Taiyang, Ivori could be heard screaming.
Taiyang spun around. "Ivori? Ivori?!" he called out, but Ivori was gone.
Ivori's camera spun and cut out into static, his screams stopping. Just like that, four marines had been lost.
"I-I-I can't believe this is happening," Harriet stammered as she tried to calm herself.
"So many dead...so fast…" Jaune mumbled with his eyes glued to the screen.
"Team FNKI is gone. All gone," Ruby whispered with grief.
Harriet had enough. "Let's rock!" as she began to wildly fire her smart gun in every direction.
"Yeah!" Vine joined in with his own weapon.
The sudden gunfire snapped everyone out of their previous daze.
"What are we doing?! We could damage the cooling system!" Vine exclaimed.
"To hell with the heat exchangers! They're getting killed in there!" Harriet countered Vine's words.
"Yeah! Just shoot the damn things!" Nora seconded Harriet's words.
The shouting and gunfire were audible over the monitors.
"Who's firing?! Goddamn it!" Ironwood demanded as he began to sweat heavily. "I ordered to hold fire!" he repeated his earlier command.
As the situation rapidly worsened, more and more aliens began to emerge and creep towards the marines, making themselves visible.
"They're coming out of the walls!" Marrow as he spotted the creatures. "They're coming out of the goddamn walls! Let's book!"
"On your right, man!" Harriet warned Vine, still shooting.
"I couldn't have said it better myself, other-me," Marrow agreed with his counterpart.
"So, they're down to five marines and their ammo and grenades have been cooked. Now what?" Harriet questioned.
"The only sensible thing they can do: retreat," Ironwood said as cooly as he could, hoping his alternate self would fold them while he still had the chance.
Back in the APC, Ironwood tried to control the situation. "Uh, Ebi, I want you to lay down a suppressing fire with the incinerators-" he began to issue another command.
Back inside the hive, Clover was barely keeping it together. Thick smoke surrounded him, concealing him from the rest of the squad.
"Bree, Zeki, hold your fire, goddamn it!" Clover shouted, barely able to hear Ironwood on his headset over the gunfire.
"Stop shooting, other me!" Harriet shouted at the screen.
"Ebi, are you copying me?" Ironwood said over the radio. "I want you to lay down suppressing fire..."
"…with the incinerators and fall back by squads to the A.P.C. Over," Ironwood finished his order.
But Clover didn't receive the full transmission. "Say again, all after "incinerators,'" he requested.
Ironwood took a breath. "I said I want you to lay down a suppressing fire with the incinerators and fall back..." he began again.
Ironwood began to lose his temper. "Enough with the micromanaging. Just tell them to fall back!"
"They should already know retreat protocols that they can do it themselves. They don't need direct orders," Winter added, just as frustrated.
"…by squads to the A.P.C. Over…" the garbled order came again.
Right then, Clover spotted something in his peripheral vision. He looked up…and saw an alien hanging on the ceiling directly above him!
Clover yelped and tried to angle his weapon upward. But it was too late. The alien lunged toward him.
The audience recoiled at Clover's unexpected death, especially Ironwood and the Ace-Ops. Clover himself gaped at his counterpart's apparent demise.
"No…" Elm said in a soft, shaky voice.
Marrow shook his head in denial. "Please, not Clover," he murmured.
Just like that, Clover's monitor went to static, and he fell silent. The other marines took notice.
"Top!" Harriet shouted.
"No! Sarge!" Marrow cried.
"Ebi? Talk to me…" Ironwood mumbled, pleadingly.
"Sarge! Top, do you copy?!" Taiyang tried to reach Clover.
But there was no answer. Clover was gone.
Harriet tightly gripped her armrests. "Those goddamn things!" she hissed.
"There's only four of them now," Winter noted sadly.
"They've gotta get out of there!" Penny cried as she held the sides of her head.
"Ebi, talk to me! Ebi!" Ironwood shouted almost hysterically.
"He's gone!" Summer yelled.
Onscreen, Harriet and Vine continued firing their smart guns while Taiyang joined in with his shotgun. Panicked indistinct shouting accompanied the sounds of combat.
Summer had enough of Ironwood's incompetence. "Get them out of there!"
"Shut up," Ironwood retorted.
"Do it now!"
"Shut up!" Ironwood repeated loudly.
Maria blanched at the screen. "What?!"
"Is he for real?" Jaune balked.
"Don't tell my mother to shut up!" Yang snarled, her eyes glowing crimson.
Summer snatched up a headset. "Xiao Long, whoever's left, get the hell out-"
But Ironwood cut her off. "Just shut up!"
"Goddamn it!"
By now, everyone was angry and frustrated by the ineptitude of Ironwood's counterpart. Even Ironwood himself couldn't stand it any longer.
"Listen to her, you idiot!" Ironwood bellowed at his counterpart. [3]
Qrow buried his head in his hands, groaning loudly as the onscreen situation rapidly fell apart.
"For the love of the Brothers!" Clover pinched the bridge of his nose.
Taiyang ran up to Marrow. "Where's Ebi?! Where's Ebi?!" he asked frantically.
"The sarge is gone! Let's get the fuck out of here!" Marrow responded, completely freaked out.
"Damn straight," Marrow agreed.
"Let's move it! Let's go, marines!" Taiyang tried to organize the few remaining marines.
"Amin? Bree?" Ironwood said shakily.
"Amin, look out!" Taiyang waved Marrow out of the way.
"Get it!" Marrow cried.
Taiyang fired off two rounds and was rewarded with a high-pitched, otherworldly screech of a dying alien.
"X-xiao Long?" Ironwood stammered as he went pale.
But Taiyang didn't answer. "It's too much! Fall back!" he commanded the squad to retreat.
"Damn it. He's starting to panic," Ironwood realized. "That's the very last thing they need right now,"
"Somebodies gotta do something!" Oscar insisted, knowing the marines need a rescue via APC.
"I told them to fall back…they didn't fall back!" Ironwood muttered in shock.
"Fall back, goddamn it, now!" Taiyang repeated loudly.
"Come on! Let's go!" Harriet added.
"Amin, move your ass!" Vine finished.
"They're cut off!" Summer shouted, pulling Ironwood close by his collar. "Do something!"
Ironwood didn't even look at Summer. He was completely frozen up.
Summer released Ironwood. "Fuck!" she swore as she stormed off down the APC's aisle.
"What is she going to do?" Ruby asked aloud.
"I don't know, but it better be fast or we're fucked," Harriet said.
Silently, Jacques picked up a headset to try and reach the retreating marines who continued clamoring.
"Let's go, marines!"
"Come on. Keep moving, baby."
"Hold on, Yang!" Summer as she locked the girl into her seat.
Summer then hopped behind the driver's seat, and quickly got to work on the controls to activate the APC.
"She's going to drive in and rescue them," Elm said with renewed hope.
"All right, mom!" Yang cheered her mother on.
"Yeah. Now that's what I'm talking about," Nora joined in.
Ironwood snapped out of his shock. "Summer, what the hell are you doing?!"
Ignoring him, Summer hit the accelerator and the APC's tires screeched as it took off down the corridor. Suspenseful action music played as the scene dragged on.
Ironwood reached Summer. "Turn around! That's an order!" he shouted, trying to wrestle the controls away from Summer.
The APC veered to the side and scraped against a wall. Then it bounced off a column of thick pipes.
"Sir, no disrespect, but if your counterpart wrecks the APC, they're all screwed," Marrow pointed out.
Ironwood waved it off. "No disrespect taken, Marrow," he assured, feeling nothing but disdain for his counterpart.
Yang pushed up her harness bar, hopped out of her seat, and tucked herself into a nook in the APC while Ironwood and Summer continued arguing up front.
"Get off me, damn it!"
"Goddamn it, that's an order!"
Jacques ran up to Ironwood and pried him off Summer. "You had your chance, Ironwood," he stated.
"It pains me to admit it, but even Jacques is smart enough to let Summer take command," Winter said reluctantly.
Summer was inexperienced with driving the APC, making sudden, fast turns and sending it grinding against the walls, creating sparks. But, regardless, she drove on towards the marine's closest location.
"Be careful mom," Ruby cautioned on Summer's reckless driving.
"How does she even know where she's going?" Jaune asked.
"There might be another monitor up front that shows the marines locations," Ren assumed.
Meanwhile, Taiyang was helping Marrow through a narrow corridor towards the extraction point.
"Come on!" Taiyang grunted.
Behind them, Harriet and Vine covered their retreat from any pursuing aliens.
"Come on, Zeki!" Harriet shouted.
"Yeah!" Vine hollered as he and Harriet kept firing.
"It's good to have Taiyang in our squad," Marrow said gratefully, while Ruby and Yang nodded.
Qrow smiled wistfully. "Yeah. You could always count on Tai to look out for his teammates," he spoke from team STRQ's past.
Up ahead, the aliens had constructed a encrusted barrier. But Summer didn't even slow down. She plowed straight through it with a great crash, smashing it to bits.
Luckily, the marines weren't far away.
"Come on. Let's move it!" Hicks shouted as he spotted the APC up ahead.
A nearby alien popped out from its hiding spot to give chase, but Harriet and Vine blew it apart in a spray of bright, sickly yellow blood.
"Come on! Let's go! Let's go!" Harriet urged Vine so they wouldn't get separated.
"Yeah! Take that you alien bastards!" Harriet cheered her counterpart.
"At least we know their weapons are effective," Oscar noted positively.
"If only the nest wasn't built inside the processor. Things may have gone better," Ozpin mused.
Taiyang and Marrow reached the APC. "It's blocked, man. We gotta go around!" the latter informed his teammate.
Taiyang and Marrow began to circle to the other side of the APC.
"Open the door!" Summer instructed Jacques before speaking into her headset. "Xiao Long!"
"Zeki, we are leaving!" Taiyang yelled over his shoulder.
Harriet made a run for the APC while Vine kept spraying any aliens he could see with smart gun fire.
"Go, Bree. Run for it!" Vine urged his teammate right before his smart gun ran dry. "Shit!"
Harriet fired a few more bursts while Vine discarded his empty weapon and swapped it for a flamethrower. Marrow and Taiyang hopped into the vehicle first.
"Go! Go! Come on, man! Come on!" Marrow yelled in a panic.
Taiyang helped hoist Harriet into the APC while Vine supplied covering fire with his flamethrower. He failed to spot an alien emerge from its hiding spot only ten feet away, ready to pounce on him.
The Ace-Ops were all alarmed at Vine being in danger.
"Oh no," Elm whispered.
"Watch out, Vine!" Harriet reached out at the screen.
"Beside you, man!" Marrow yelled.
"Zeki, come on!" Harriet tried to warn her teammate.
Hearing her, the alien spun towards Harriet, and she immediately peppered it with smart gun fire, blowing it to pieces.
But it was mistake. The dead creature's corrosive blood splashed all over Vine's chest and face. Smoldering and screaming in agony, the half-dissolved Vine collapsed to the ground.
"Nooooo!" Harriet cried out in anguish.
Ironwood and all the Ace-Ops gasped sharply at the death of another one of their comrades.
Vine clenched his teeth as he slowly caressed his own face, his counterpart's pain almost palpable.
"Noooo!" Harriet shrieked with her hands to her cheeks. [4]
As he fell over, the arc of fire from Vine's flamethrower hit the APC's side, setting it aflame. Part of the APC's interior even began to burn.
"Fire in the hole!" Marrow shouted.
"He's gone!" Taiyang shouted at Harriet.
"No! Zeki's out there!" Harriet refused to listen.
Jacques and Ironwood both grabbed a couple of overhanging fire extinguishers to help put out the blaze inside the vehicle.
"Come on! Put it out!" Marrow
Blinded by grief, Harriet irrationally tried to dive out of the vehicle to help Vine, but Taiyang stopped her.
"Zeki's coming, man!" Harriet said hysterically.
"Don't do it Harriet," Vine said, not wanting his teammate to die as well.
"But you might still be alive!" Harriet reasoned loudly, sharing her alternate self's feelings.
"He's…gone!" Taiyang grounded out as he struggled to hold Harriet back.
"No, he's not!" Harriet argued.
Taiyang tore off Harriet's harness and smart gun before slamming her against the APC bulkhead. "Forget him! He's gone!" he roared in her face.
Finally, Harriet gave up while Taiyang went to shut the door while Summer put the APC in reverse, preparing to leave.
"I'm so sorry, Vine," Harriet apologized shakily as she hid her face, not wanting anyone to see her tear up.
Vine paused. "It's all right, Harriet. It's only an alternative version of me. Besides, it was an accident," he assured his teammate.
"First Clover...then Vine. Who's next?" Elm asked herself under her breath as she patted Harriets back for comfort.
Just before Taiyang could close the hatch, an alien suddenly wrapped its bony fingers around doors edges, holding it open.
"Get the goddamn door!" Taiyang yelled,
But the alien was too strong. Keeping the door open, it prepared a deadly headbite onto Taiyang.
"No!" Ruby and Yang screamed together, not wanting to watch their father get killed.
At the last second, Taiyang snatched up his shotgun and jammed it into the Aliens mouth. "Eat this!"
Taiyang pulled the trigger, and the back of the alien's head exploded.
"Yeah dad! Way to go!" Yang cheered. "You really know how to blow minds!"
Everybody groaned at Yang managing to squeeze in a pun even at such a dark, suspenseful scene.
Unfortunately, some of its acidic blood sprayed onto Marrow's exposed forearm, who shrieked in pain as Taiyang and Harriet shut the door.
Marrow sucked in air through his teeth and gingerly rubbed his forearm.
"That crap is getting everywhere!" Jaune remarked loudly.
"Sun was absolutely right in the first film. It's a wonderful defense mechanism," Maria recalled from the first film.
"Summer! Go, go, go!" Taiyang shouted.
Summer obliged and quickly backed up the APC to make an escape, then shifted into drive so hard it knocked a few of the occupants off their feet. Then she took off toward the nearest exit at full speed.
The rough driving shook the vehicle so hard, it knocked a few overhanging ammo cases loose, sending them falling onto Ironwood's head. Moaning, Ironwood collapsed to the floor, unconscious.
"General!" Penny and Winter both cried in concern.
"Oh jeez," Qrow cringed.
"I hope he's not seriously hurt," Penny said despite alternate-Ironwood's ineptitude.
As Summer drove on, she heard something clattering on the roof. She looked up just in time to see an alien hand smash through the windshield, grasping at her face. Narrowly ducking the hand, Summer slammed on the brakes, sending the creature tumbling off. Then she punched it, squashing the screeching alien like a bug beneath the APCs huge wheels.
"Oooooh!" a few people winced at the alien roadkill Summer just created, but at the same time, it was satisfying.
"That was mess," Oscar commented.
Finally, Summer reached the same gate the marines took into the structure. She didn't even bother stopping for the door to slide open as she rammed into it full throttle, smashing it to pieces.
The APC went bouncing over the rough terrain as Summer drove it away from the processing station. As it did, a thick, metallic grinding sound began to emanate from the vehicles rear.
"Do you hear that?" Blake perked up at the noise.
"Sounds like the APC's transmission is damaged," Penny guessed correctly.
"After all it went through inside the processor, I'm impressed that it's still running," Maria commented.
Taiyang approached Summer. "It's all right! We're clear!" he informed loudly.
"Summer, you've blown the transaxle! You're just grinding metal!" Taiyang put his hands on the throttle to slow down the vehicle. "Come on, ease down! Ease down!"
Little by little, Summer relented and slowed down.
"Ease down. Ease down," Taiyang said softly.
The damaged APC lurched to a stop somewhere between the colony and atmospheric processor.
"That was a disaster," Ozpin flatly described what just happened, and everyone agreed wholeheartedly.
Ironwood groaned softly and hung his head in shame. "And it's all my fault. My counterpart should have pulled them out as soon as they found the colonists," he chastised himself.
"Don't beat yourself up, sir," Winter comforted her commander.
"She's right. It's not the real you, sir," Clover added sadly. "It's only your counterpart."
Even Qrow was sympathetic. "No one could have been prepared for this, Jimmy."
Ironwood sighed. "Even so...that was painful to watch."
Taiyang returned to the rear of the vehicle while Summer climbed out of the driver's seat and heard coughing coming from Yang.
"You okay?" Summer asked Yang softly.
Yang gave Summer a shaky, deadpan thumbs up.
Despite what just transpired onscreen, Yang smiled at Summer showing her maternal side towards her counterpart. A few other people even chuckled at the scene.
Summer and Yang entered the rear of the vehicle to check on what was left of the ravaged squad. Harriet was examining Marrow's burnt forearm.
"I'm all right," Marrow muttered, but he wasn't fooling anyone.
"You look anything but all right Marrow," Elm commented.
"Can you blame me?" Marrow reasoned in defense of his counterpart.
Jacques attempted to administer first aid to Marrow. "Get away from me, man!" he shouted, shoving Jacques away, clearly stricken from the battle.
Jacques wisely backed off with his hands raised placidly.
"Never thought I'd see the day, Jacques," Winter said in profound surprise at her father caring for another human being.
"At least the acid didn't dissolve my arm entirely," Marrow said with relief.
Taiyang was examining Ironwood's injuries. "Lieutenant," he said softly.
Summer knelt next to Taiyang. "What happened to Ironwood?"
"I don't know. Maybe a concussion. But he's alive," Taiyang answered.
"A concussion," Ironwood muttered. "Well...it looks like I'm not in command for now."
"And since Clover is gone, who is in charge now?" Elm wondered aloud.
"I don't think we'll have to worry about that. The mission is over," Ozpin declared, knowing there was no point for the marines to remain on LV-426.
"No, he's dead!" Harriet furiously stormed over to the pair, shoving them aside and grabbed Ironwood by the collar. "Wake up, you bastard, and then I'm gonna kill you!" she snarled as she tried to hit the unconscious Ironwood, but Taiyang blocked her strike.
"Back off. Right now," Taiyang ordered Harriet sharply.
Harriet paused before obeying. "Fuck," she grumbled as she walked away.
Ironwood looked stricken to see one of his own troops threatening him, even though he understood her rage. Harriet, on the other hand, looked ashamed and embarrassed.
"Jeez Harriet," Elm stared at her teammate.
"I know she's pissed about what happened to Vine, but that's just unacceptable," Clover reprimanded.
"Besides…I'm the one who got him killed…when I shot that alien too close to him," Harriet muttered remorsefully.
"Somebody get me a first aid kit," Taiyang requested as he continued checking on Ironwood.
Behind Taiyang, Marrow noticed something on the life reading monitors and moved over to them.
"Hey. Hey, look. The sarge and Katt aren't dead, man," Marrow pointed out in surprise. "Their signs are real low, but they ain't dead."
Taiyang got up to check the vital monitors, noticing that Marrow was correct.
A few people gasped at the revelation.
"Alive? How?" Weiss asked skeptically.
Maria pondered for a second, then she paled. "So they can be used as hosts for the facehuggers," he breathed.
"Oh my Gods…" Elm covered her mouth.
"Then they have to go back and rescue them!" Harriet shouted impulsively.
Marrow turned to Harriet, dumbfounded. "Are you insane?!"
"Then we go back in there and get them," Harriet suggested bravely, if foolishly.
"Fuck that!" Marrow immediately protested.
"We don't leave our people behind!" Harriet countered.
"I ain't going back in there, man! And you can't make me!" Marrow declared.
"Other me is right, Marrow. We're teammates. We stick together no matter what," Harriet stated stubbornly.
"But did you see how many of those things there were?" Marrow shot back almost frantically.
"She's right. Going back into the hive is suicide," Vine shared Marrow's opinion.
"I wouldn't ask of my teammates to risk their lives like that…even if it means myself suffering a fate worse than death," Clover assured his teammates, accepting his counterparts' fate.
"You can't help them!" Summer interrupted Harriet and Marrow.
The other marines turned and stared at Summer with looks of shocked hopelessness on their faces.
"You can't," Summer said softly. "Right now they're being cocooned just like the others."
Everyone paused before bowing their heads out of grief and respect for Clover and Neon's counterparts, as well as the other marines who lost their lives.
Taiyang slowly looked back at the monitors.
"Oh, dear Brothers, this ain't happenin', man," Marrow sagged in near-despair.
"Goddamn it…" Taiyang muttered
"This can't be happenin', man. This isn't happenin'!" Marrow said a little louder, hoping it was all just a horrible nightmare.
"I hate to admit it, but I'd probably be that way if we were ever in a situation like that," Marrow confessed.
"Now they're all living in the same nightmare as Summer," Yang noted.
"So where do they go from here?" Ruby asked.
"Straight back to Remnant hopefully. This whole mission has gone down the toilet," Qrow declared with a sip of water.
Sometime later, the marines had settled down a little, but the mood was still solemn. Taiyang was bandaging Marrow's burnt arm, Yang was standing nearby, and Harriet was in deep thought.
"All right. We got seven canisters of CN-20. I say we roll them in there and nerve gas the whole fucking nest," Harriet suggested.
"That's worth a try, but we don't even know if it's gonna affect them," Taiyang said skeptically.
Nearby, Summer smoked a cigarette as she tried to come up with a plan of her own.
"What's CN-20?" Ruby asked Gold-Sith.
"It's a type of highly potent neurotoxic poison gas utilized by the Colonial Marines," Gold-Sith answered briefly.
Ironwood scratched his chin. "Normally, I'd say that's a viable option. But, like Taiyang said, it may not even work on the aliens," he mused.
"That's a good point. Remember when Summer shot the first one out of the airlock, it didn't seem to be affected by the vacuum of space," Penny added, unsure if the aliens needed oxygen to survive.
"Let's just bug out and call it even. Okay? What are we talking about this for?" Marrow suggested, having lost his will to fight.
"I say we take off and bombard the entire site from orbit," Summer finally said bluntly.
The marines were surprised by Summer's suggestion for an extreme course of action, but they didn't object.
"It's the only way to be sure," Summer said matter-of-factly.
Marrow nodded. "Fuckin' "A"!" he agreed wholeheartedly.
A few people also nodded in agreement with Summer's idea.
"Absolutely. She has my vote," Harriet chimed in, wanting her dead comrades to be avenged.
"That may sound like overkill, but it's the best course of action at this point. The colonists are gone, the whole facility is infested, and that egg-filled ship is still present," Ironwood weighed in.
"So, they should definitely bombard the colony and the derelict ship and hope the aliens haven't gone anywhere else," Ozpin surmised.
"Hold on. Hold on one second," Jacques interjected in alarm. "This installation has a substantial dollar value attached to it."
"They can bill me," Summer sneered.
"Okay, look. This is an emotional moment for all of us, okay? I know that. But let's not make snap judgments, please," Jacques implored, trying another way to persuade the others. "This is clearly-clearly an important species we're dealing with."
Everyone stared at Jacques counterpart with contempt and disbelief for his brazen words.
"Impor-what?!" Winter gasped in bewilderment.
Yang snapped her finger. "I knew he couldn't be trusted! He just wants to get his hands on an alien!" she accused angrily.
"They should never have let him tag along," Oscar shook his head.
"And I don't think that you or I or anybody has the right... to arbitrarily exterminate them-" Jacques went on.
"Wrong," Summer cut Jacques off, her tone full of disgust and disbelief.
"Yeah. Watch us," Harriet added, daring Jacques to intervene.
Marrow glowered at Jacques. "Hey, maybe you haven't been keeping up on current events, but we just got our asses kicked, pal!" he hissed.
"Look. I'm not blind to what's going on, but I cannot authorize that kind of action. I'm sorry," Jacques finished, hoping his corporate authority would force the group to do things his way.
Ironwood was livid. "Six of my troops are dead, and all he cares about is getting into the executive washroom?!" he snarled with his fists clenched.
"And he's pulling rank to make it happen, too," Clover leered at Jacques onscreen.
"An okay guy my ass," Qrow crossed his arms with a scowl.
"And who is he to decide anyway? Who made him the boss?" Blake questioned angrily.
"Well, I believe Corporal Xiao Long... has authority here," Summer retorted.
"Corporal Xiao Long is-" Jacques repeated in bafflement.
"This operation is under military jurisdiction, and Xiao Long is next in chain of command," Summer went on as she gave Taiyang a look. "Am I right, Corporal?"
Taiyang nodded. "Yeah…yeah, that's right," he said reluctantly as he realized there was now a new burden of responsibility on his shoulders.
"I know that look," Jaune identified Taiyang's expression. "It's the face of someone who doesn't want to be in charge."
"I can't blame him. Especially under these kinds of circumstances," Winter said in understanding.
"Aw, don't sweat it. Dad. You can do it," Ruby gave the screen a thumbs up.
"He's got my vote," Jaune chimed in.
"Okay. Look, Summer. This is a multimillion-dollar installation, okay?" Jacques tried to contradict Summer's point. "He can't make that kind of decision. He's just a grunt.
Taiyang shot a look at Jacques.
"Uh…no offense," Jacques timidly apologized.
"None taken," Taiyang responded cooly.
Yang and Ruby glared at Jacques. "Well, I'm offended," the former said.
"Just a grunt, huh?" Harriet growled. "That grunt is your only chance of getting off that rock alive."
"Ederne, do you copy?" Taiyang spoke into his headset.
"Standing by," Elm responded.
"Prep for dust off. We're gonna need immediate evac," Taiyang ordered.
"Roger. On our way."
"I say we take off, nuke the site from orbit," Taiyang declared before looking at Summer. "It's the only way to be sure."
Summer smirked at Taiyang upon hearing her words repeated.
"Let's do it," Taiyang said finally.
With that, the crowds sorrow dissipated a bit now that the survivors onscreen had decided to call it quits and leave.
Vine nodded. "Good man," he complimented Taiyangs wise decision.
"Yeah. Blow all those aliens to hell!" Nora hollered.
"Damn right," Harriet held out her fist, which Nora happily bumped.
Author's Note: Well, now RWBY has witnessed the total nightmare of a swarm of Xenomorphs working together and how even trained soldiers are hard pressed to fight them. Granted, they were pretty much set-up to fail by Burke/Jacques from the beginning, but even so, I'd personally prefer the Grimm any day.
Cast
Robyn Hill as Mary
Author's Points
[1]- While not officially named in the film, the cocooned woman in this scene was later revealed to be named Mary.
[2]- This derives from left out footage of Hicks helping a wounded Wierzbowski before checking on Crowe, only for him to be snatched by a Xenomorph.
[3]- I remember shouting this verbatim at Gorman when I first watched this film years ago.
[4]- This is, in fact, a bit of foreshadowing to how Harriet was indirectly responsible for Vine's death when the latter had to sacrifice himself to save Mantle from being destroyed.