From within the cargo hold of the Skyranger, Colonel Zhang's voice boomed with authority as he addressed his squad.

"Final weapons check and sound off." He checked the fresh power supply locked into his Plasma Dragon before nodding, "Two-Actual, ready."

Anette's French accent followed the Colonel, "Two-Two, ready."

"Two-Three, ready." Ruby answered after the Captain.

The first MEC, a Valkyrie known as 'D.O.A.', confirmed next, "Two-Four, ready."

The squad's bioelectric-skinned Medic, 'Sentinel,' "Two-Five, ready."

"Two-Six, ready." Ruby noted the cold undertone in Blake's voice.

The squad's second psionic, an Engineer nicknamed 'Duke,' "Two-Seven, ready."

"Two-Eight, ready." 'Desperado,' Pyrrha's Infantry mentor rounded out the team's sound off. Ruby smiled at the pair of cat ears sticking out from beneath the soldier's beret. It seems he'd received a few more upgrades since the last time they fought alongside each other.

Zhang stood up and looked over his seven squadmates, a critical look in his eye. The Colonel seemed to find whatever he was looking for, because he gave the group a silent nod of approval. For the first time since meeting him, Ruby noticed the weathered experience etched into his face. Maybe because she'd only ever been with him on missions where he was a guest in Strike Eight's squad, he fell into a 'follow orders and shoot what Ruby targets' rhythm. Now, though, he had command of the squad, and Ruby could definitely feel the air of authority about the Colonel. The scrutiny she saw in his eyes spoke volumes of his combat experience and ability to determine how to overcome his foes with the tactical usage of his team. While she felt a twinge of jealousy knowing that her own commanding skills left a lot to be desired, Ruby found Zhang's imposing presence to be a source of comfort more than anything else. They would all get through this, Chilong would see to that.

"The UFO dropped into a small Canadian town. Civilians were smart enough to clear out the moment it struck, so worrying about friendlies will be a non-issue. If it moves, kill it. Two and Six will be on point while everyone else follows behind. I want our trigger-happy weapon specialists outputting maximum firepower against whatever target the point team lights up. Hardened robotic targets are a top priority while they remain operational. Three will lead off with a disabling shot to give HEAT specialists the opportunity to bring the contact's weapon platforms offline before it has a chance to return fire."

He glanced at the Engineer, "Should our opposition have psionic capabilities, I want Inspiration up to keep our soldiers from panicking. A mind merge on the Pathfinder wouldn't hurt, either." He looked at Anette and smirked, "I don't think I need to tell you what to do."

"Damn right you don't." Anette flashed a grin back at him.

"Long story short," Zhang continued, "Don't fight stupid. If you fight stupid, I'll have to pull your weight for you, and that will annoy me. You were all handpicked for this operation by your respective squad leaders. Do not disappoint them."

The pilot called over the internal PA system, "We're approaching the crash site. You all done with your pep talk, Colonel?"

"Just finished." Zhang answered, "I appreciate your patience."

"Anytime, buddy. Alright, we're touching down now. Doors open in three… two…"

The metallic gangplank dropped, and Strike Two stepped off into the cold Canadian night. Without a word, all eight soldiers took up defensive positions behind walls and rubble to avoid getting caught out in the open by a wandering patrol. With weapons steadied and ready for a surprise incursion, Zhang gave his first order, "Six, a drop a scanner over the wall in front of us."

Blake hunched over, aimed her proximity mine launcher, and sent one of the lightweight discs sailing through the air. It bounced off the top of the wall and landed without a sound on the far side. Once armed, the secondary function activated and provided Blake with a clear picture of what lay in store for the team.

"Contacts," Blake confirmed, "Elites and Berserkers standing guard at the UFO's entryway."

Zhang nodded, "Of course there are. Point Team, there's a convenience store on the far side of the engagement field. Skirt around the edge and work through it with Two-Five. Three, take to the sky and provide long-range support while the rest of us move forward and prepare a two-pronged attack with the Point Team.

Sentinel grinned, "Maybe it's one of those famous Tim Horton's. I could get you a coffee and donuts if you'd like, sir."

Zhang rolled his eyes while the Medic hitched a ride on the back of Blake's frame. Ruby watched her friend dash off with Anette to flank the aliens. Ruby ignited the thrusters on her Seraph armor and rose into the chilly air where she tracked the progress of the other four operatives through her scope.

"Six here. More contacts inside the store. Mixed squad of Thin Men and a Heavy Floater."

Ruby snapped her rifle around to see if she could get a line of sight to Blake's targets.

"Actual, this is Three. I can see the store from here, but there are no skylights for me to get a lock on the Point Team's targets."

"Then Six will come down through the roof and make a skylight. The noise should draw the attention of the UFO's guards, and the Front Team can hammer them while they dig in against Point. Two, get that Heavy locked down."

Ruby watched Blake's MEC rocket to the roof of the mart before she brought her Kinetic Strike Module crashing down into the concrete. The Pathfinder disappeared amid the rain of rubble and smoke, and Ruby heard the sound of crashing glass as Anette dashed in to engage from the ground floor. Almost as quickly as Blake entered the mart through the roof, the Heavy Floater came sailing out the hole. Ruby watched as the alien tried to put as much distance between itself and the starting skirmish.

Easy target for Ruby, who sighted the flier through her scope. A shot made even easier once the Heavy Floater stopped moving long enough to look back and make sure nobody followed it during the escape. A high-powered plasma round pierced the Heavy through the back of its helmet, and the alien roared in pain before turning to face Ruby. With a small yelp, Ruby cut power to her thrusters to dodge the three-round burst of plasma the alien sent her way. A supersonic streak from below cleanly punched through the Heavy Floater's armor and sent the hostile's lifeless carcass plummeting to the earth.

"Target eliminated." The Valkyrie called over the comm line.

Ruby reignited her thrusters and once again took stock of the field. Through the Blake's makeshift skylight, Ruby could see that the skirmish with the Thin Men could be better described as a massacre. The sealed air systems of Blake's MEC and Anette's Titan Armor rendered the poison spit of their foes useless. At close range, Blake's sword and Anette's Reflex Cannon proved more than a match for the infiltration-focused Thin Men.

"Oh, merde!"

Ruby couldn't see the cause of Anette's expletive, but she definitely heard it a few seconds later. The sound of three grenades going off, coupled with the sight of the mart's wall blasting wide open told Ruby that something fishy happened with Point Team's targets.

"We're alright." Blake assured the team, "Be advised: it appears that Thin Men are now rigged with plasma charges to detonate upon death. Recommend elimination at range from now on."

"Oh Bradford's gonna have a field day with this news." Desperado commented. Ruby could practically hear his eyes rolling as he mimicked the Central Officer's voice. "I told you, I bloody told you…"

"I don't think Central is British, Eight." Anette retorted.

"We have bigger issues." Zhang cut in, bringing the squad's focus back on the combat at hand. The Muton guards took up firing positions to counter the Point Team. Two-Five tossed some smoke down to the ground floor just in time to cover for Blake and Anette against the first fusillade from the Elites.

"Alright Actual," Anette called out over comms, "We have their attention. Would you be so kind as to bail us out?"

"We're setting up firing lanes now, Two. Hold fast."

Ruby watched Zhang's team move beyond the wall and into the UFO's line of sight. The MEC took up a front position while the three biologicals took cover a few paces behind. All four operatives raised their weapons and fired an opening volley at the Elites. Plasma crashed into their exposed backs, and a good third of the defenders dropped instantly from the flanking strike. The remainder fell back to better cover and hunkered down. From Ruby's position, she watched additional armor plating extend along their arms and chest.

"Actual, this is Three. Looks like the x-rays have managed to reverse engineer our Juggernaut technology and equipped the Elites with it. If it's anything like what we've got, they'll be tough nuts to crack."

"Understood, Three. Let's see if their new toys stand up to HEAT ammunition."

"Say, Actual…" the Medic started, concern in his voice, "Didn't Six say something about Berserkers?"

Silence followed over the radio, and Ruby's skin started to crawl once she reached the same realization as Two-Five. She watched Two-Eight tense up before he shouted, "We've got incoming!"

Zhang had just enough time to raise his Titan Shield before the first Berserker dropped out of stealth and sent him sprawling with a powerful swing. Ruby steadied her rifle, spent a fraction of a second to aim, and fired a plasma bolt that slammed into the alien's chest. Two-Eight raised his Plasma Rifle and fired into thin air. The plasma raced forward and hit a second concealed Berserker, revealing it to the rest of the team. The Valkyrie staggered backwards, and a third Berserker, latched onto the MEC's front plating, phased into view.

"Well, this is just dandy." Ruby muttered to herself, lining up a shot with the alien busy tearing off hardware from Two-Four's frame. "Point Team, can you deal with the Elites while we work on this 'Zerker problem?"

"Already on it." Anette answered. Ruby heard the sound of a crash and allowed herself a quick glance over to the Elite fight. She saw Anette and Blake charging the Elite holdout while their Medic remain on the roof to keep the aliens locked down with suppressive fire. Additionally, she noticed one of the Elites crushed against the UFO wall, pinned underneath a large vending machine. All Ruby could manage was, "Uh… Six?"

"It's called improvising."

"You do know that rule 25b-"

"I don't want to hear it, Three."

Ruby rolled her eyes. At least that problem seemed to be in good hands.

It only took a few seconds for Zhang to recover from the Berserker's opening strike, but he lost his grip on the LMG during the attack. The Colonel's muscled foe stood between him and his Plasma Dragon, and the alien seemed to know it. The Berserker cut off every attempt Zhang made to carefully circle around and reach his Plasma Dragon. Pound for pound, the Muton had a very muscular advantage over Zhang, a fact that the Gunner became increasingly aware of as the alien began charging at him.

While Ruby wanted to help the Colonel, D.O.A.'s problem required more immediate attention. The airborne sniper scored a clean shot against the MEC's Berserker buddy, but sheer force of determination allowed it to remain firmly locked onto Two-Four's front. The alien held on inside the minimum striking range of the Valkyrie's Kinetic Strike Module, so the only thing Two-Four could do was try backpedaling to make room for a punch. The Berserker remained firmly locked with the MEC, but a volley of plasma to the alien's back finally brought it down. Ruby looked to see the squad's Infantryman slam a new powercell into his rifle.

The telltale sound of Blake deploying her blade once again pulled Ruby's attention to the Point Team's fight with the Elites. The two closest to Anette had body shields deployed while the three in the back tried to keep her at bay with plasma fire. Blake charged with her Assault teammate, but broke off once the plasma started to fly. In one swift movement, she used her drift thrusters to slide left while leaving a faint afterimage behind.

The Elites fired plasma at the afterimage, which dissipated immediately upon contact, but the fake served its purpose. Twice more, Blake shadowstepped around the cover and ended up flanking the aliens from behind. Anette shot at the blockers with Breaching Ammo loaded into her Reflex Cannon. The penetrating rounds easily chewed through the first Elite's shield, leaving it with little more than scrap metal for protection. The momentum of her charge coupled with the defensive strength of her power armor allowed Anette to effectively shoulder check the alien. Anette's maneuver didn't have quite the same oomph as that of a MEC, but it stumbled the Elite nonetheless.

While Anette's frontal crash kept the aliens distracted, Blake moved in for the kill from the rear. Even with their improved armor, the lethal combination combination of Blake's razor-sharp sword and several thousand pounds of MEC-propelled force proved too much for their comparatively vulnerable neck armor. Blake managed to decapitate two of them before they even noticed her. While the second blocker busied itself with counter-crashing Anette, the remaining gunner turned to face Blake. She easily shadow-dodged the first few plasma rounds, but the Elite kept firing while it laterally swept the gun's muzzle towards Blake's new location. Several of the shots splashed across the MEC's frame, leaving multiple burn scars and one ugly-looking hole.

"Damage suggests the Elites now carry HEAT-class ammunition. Be advised."

Because the situation wasn't already bad enough without that little surprise. Still, it seemed like both teams had the upper hand in their respective skirmishes. Zhang struggled against his Berserker opponent without his weapon, but the squad's Infantryman found himself in a position to assist the Colonel against the muscled Muton. With any luck, they'd wrap up soon and the team could proceed-

Two loud crashes interrupted Ruby's train of thought, and she turned to see smoke billowing out of two new craters on the battlefield. Once the obscuring clouds began to clear, Ruby saw the beady eyes of two Sectopods gazing through the haze.

"Oh come on!" She yelled in frustration, "How is that even remotely fair?"

"Not sure what you're talking about." Two-Eight responded, pausing to pump a few balls of plasma into the Berserker chasing Zhang, "This is a pretty standard Tuesday for Strike Five."

Ruby fired a shot that cleanly punched through the Berserker's skull, "Strike Five… that's Captain Beagle's squad, isn't it?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Remind me to never accept an offer from your CO to join you guys on an op."

"Lieutenant," Zhang cut in, "The Sectopods, if you please…"

The first walker already retracted its defensive plating to reveal the superheavy Plasma Cannon beneath. Ruby toggled her rifle to the EMP power source, took aim, and fired. The statically charged round streaked across the field and buried itself within the vulnerable cannon. Tendrils of discharging electricity arced across the Sectopod's body, confirming Ruby's hit.

"First contact is disabled, Actual. I give it ten seconds before the cannon cycles up again."

Ruby looked down to see Zhang with his LMG shifted into a hammer and watched him break the back of the last Berserker. He looked back at Ruby and gave her a thumbs up, "Understood. MECs, lock down the second contact."

"Moving. Caution: target is about to fire."

Blake was right. The EMP cell in Ruby's Plasma Sniper Rifle only had enough juice for one shot at a Sectopod before its recharging circuits needed time to prepare for another attempt. With two targets to deal with, Ruby only had the capability to disable one.

"Take cover behind me."

The squad's Valkyrie dropped to one knee, his Juggernaut plating already locked into place as he deployed the armor's mobile cover barrier. Purple tendrils rose from the squad's Engineer and quickly reinforced the MEC, providing a powerful psionic boost to shield his ally from the worst of the Sectopod's attack. A small grenade rolled to the base of the MEC's shield and exploded into a cloud of purple smoke, courtesy of the squad's Medic. The three soldiers with Two-Four immediately slid into the protective cover offered by their ally. The Sectopod fired, saturating as much of the obscuring fog as possible with its deadly ordnance. While the dense smoke forced much of the robot's firepower to miss, several shots struck the armored MEC. Sparks flew and burning plasma burrowed into its hardware, but the Valkyrie pilot didn't succumb to the damage.

Before the Sectopod had a chance to re-deploy its defensive armor, Blake leapt up from behind and slammed her sword straight through the exposed internals. Her robotic foe staggered around to face the surprise attacker, only to be met with a blast from Anette's Reflex Cannon. Blake's strike let Anette avoid the Sectopod's heaviest armor, allowing the deadly breaching ammo to wreak havoc on her robotic foe.

"Two and Six have the second contact locked down. All units, fire on Eight-Three's target!" Zhang barked.

The Colonel readied his Plasma Dragon alongside Two-Four, armor still smoking from the Sectopod's barrage, and the pair unleashed a hailstorm of HEAT-boosted fire upon the Sectopod. Along with Two-Seven's anti-tank explosives and Two-Eight's supporting fire, Zhang's team successfully crippled its target. The bright eyes of the Sectopod flickered before dying, and the robot collapsed to the floor with a small explosion.

Blake yanked her blade out of the second Sectopod and stowed it on her back in its rifle form. Her foe sparked and swayed from the damage it took, but it remained standing despite the punishment. A small port underneath it's main body opened, and a pintle-mounted Plasma Rifle deployed from within the Sectopod's frame. Before anyone had time to react, the Plasma Rifle sprayed a wave of gunfire at Zhang's team and forced them back into cover. Several bolts struck Two-Eight square in the chest and knocked him off his feet.

"Operative down!" Zhang shouted, "Five, haul ass to my position. Six, we need that armament taken out ASAP."

"Engaging target."

Ruby watched her friend warm up her Kinetic Strike hardware before a wave of sparks across her frame indicated the activation of her Aura Module. She threw a quick jab at the Sectopod to get its attention. Before it even turned to face her, the robot swung it's highly-mobile weapon around and started to hose Blake with plasma fire. At least, that was the Sectopod's plan, but Blake's highly mobile suit dashed out of the way half a second before the gun fired and left nothing but a shadow behind for the construct to shoot at. Without the luxury of time to launch a full-strength rocket punch at her foe, Blake settled for rapid strikes from her flaming module between jumps. After mere seconds of her assault, the Sectopod's body became coated in burning jellied Elerium.

Blake jumped back, waited for the mounted gun to bear down on her, and dashed forward before dropping into an extended slide. As she passed under the Sectopod's chassis, she reached up and grabbed hold of the cords running down from the robot's guts and into the Plasma Rifle. The momentum of her slide allowed Blake to pull the cords free and effectively cut off the weapon from its power supply. The Sectopod staggered forward as another HEAT round from Two-Four's Particle Cannon punched through its frame from behind, and Blake took the opportunity to properly wind up her Strike Module. Her fist smashed through the Sectopod's flame-weakened armor and embedded itself deep within the target's 'head.' Blake planted one foot on the Sectopod's face and rip her fist free of the twisted wreckage.

Silence fell upon the battlefield while Strike Two breathed a collective sigh. While the two MECs tag-teamed the second Sectopod, the squad's Medic successfully brought Two-Eight back to consciousness. With no further contacts showing themselves, the operatives seized the opportunity to regroup and run a weapons and ammo check.

"Everybody up and functioning?" Zhang asked.

"Two-Seven has finished repair operations." The Valkyrie confirmed, "I am running at 80 percent of optimal capacity."

"A little dazed, but I'll be good to go when we move out." Two-Eight added.

Ruby landed next to Zhang, "My reserves of jetpack fuel are pretty much dry, but I don't think we'll be needing that for the UFO breach."

Zhang nodded, "Understood. Six?"

"Aura module is recharged and ready for use."

"Excellent. Then it's time for us to proceed with the mission."

Strike Two readied weapons and cautiously approached the UFO's exterior. Scarring from the recent battle, along with burn marks caused by the dogfight with the Firestorms, greatly disfigured the ship's hull. However, the usual life support shields remained intact, and nothing looked collapsed inside the ship as far as Ruby could see.

The two MECs took point with Anette while Ruby lagged in the rear with Zhang. Ruby used the team's slow approach as an opportunity to talk with the Colonel.

"That opening could've gone better." She quietly noted.

"It also could have gone a lot worse," Zhang countered, not even turning to look at her, "We're adapting to counter the invasion's strengths. It's no surprise that they're attempting to do the same."

"Invisible Berserkers, though…" Ruby shuddered, "It was bad enough when they got spliced with the Thin Men's jumpy legs so they could reach our guys shooting down on them from rooftops."

Zhang chuckled, "That was a nasty surprise, wasn't it?" The team stopped for a moment for Blake to launch a Scanner-Mine into the UFO's interior. Zhang turned to Ruby with a serious look on his face, "How are you feeling?"

Ruby tried to give a nonchalant shrug, "I'm killing aliens, so I'm feeling pretty good. You?"

"That's not what I asked, Lieutenant. How are you feeling?"

"Stressed." Ruby admitted, "Back on Remnant, the idea of training as a huntress sounded so glamorous. During our initiation, we found ourselves in a few dangerous situations and managed to overcome the odds without issue. It was fun. This…?" She gestured vaguely, though she knew Zhang understood her meaning, "This is not fun. Soldiers inches away from death, sometimes needing their limbs chopped off to save them… soldiers actually dying… watching people you know to be strong-willed start to crack under the stress…" She looked at Zhang, and the Colonel saw bottled-up weariness start to flow through her expression, "How have you guys managed to keep it together for this long?"

"Because we must." Zhang answered, "If we don't, we lose. It's easier said than done, of course, but it helps that Earth is our home and we are vested in its defense. It also helps to have people to talk to."

"Contacts on the bridge." Blake reported, "Four Elites and one Ethereal."

Zhang hummed, "Not so bad. We should try drawing them out into a kill zone. The Elites will likely fall for it at any rate, leaving us with just the psyker to deal with."

"I wonder if I can make his brain explode with a mind duel." Anette said, malice dripping off every word, "It'd be poetic justice, no?"

"Easy there, Xavier."

Two-Five laughed at Blake's comment, "You really have taken a shining to our comics, haven't you? Still, I think Six is right, Captain. We're probably better off fighting these things with bullets."

"Everyone, I want this outer room turned into a death trap. Get into positions to make that happen. When we are ready, Two will draw the Elites out for us, as she is equipped to resist both plasma fire and mental assault. Remember that the Mutons have improved body armor, so I want the marksmen to aim for headshots. HEAT personnel have the luxury of targeting center of mass. Four, I think now is a good time for a field test of Sergeant Schnee's 'special' ammunition. Let's move."

While the operatives broke for optimal firing positions, Zhang turned back to Ruby, "Before the plasma starts flying," he started in a low voice, "I want you to know that I have immense respect for what you have accomplished, especially considering how young you are. If you need to talk to somebody about the pressures of command or XCOM in general, I will be somewhat offended if you choose not to talk to me."

Ruby's eyes widened slightly before she nodded her affirmation, "Of course. Thank you, Colonel."

The two of them readied their weapons, and Zhang gave the signal for Anette to do her bait performance. The bridge design included a pair of holo doors facing each other by the back wall. On the Colonel's signal, Anette charged into the room through one door and ran straight through the other three seconds later. The echoes of stomping feet and fists beating on chest armor indicated that the Elites had become properly enraged at the operative's presence. The Medic, positioned on the wall separating the bridge from the kill zone, used his Bioelectric Skin to silently count down for Strike Two the seconds until the Elites burst through the door.

Blake's mine/scanner detonated as the first Elite crossed the threshold, blowing the door wide open and giving the Valkyrie a clear shot at the dazed alien. Two-Four's Particle Cannon immediately penetrated the alien's body armor, and a gout of flame exploded from the entry rupture while the alien fell to its knees in pain. Ruby's opening shot fractured the second Muton's helmet, allowing Two-Eight's three round burst to break through and vaporize its head. A pair of alien grenades preceded the last two Elites, forcing the XCOM operatives to take cover and allowing the aliens to run out guns blazing.

Blake swept in from behind, using her sword to slice off one Muton's arm at the elbow. The alien screamed in fury at the attack and turned to face Blake in time for a Kinetic Punch to the face. The force of Blake's tempered fist launched the Elite backward, slamming it into its partner and sending the pair tumbling to the floor. Zhang's squad easily dispatched the dazed and exposed pair in short order.

The New One arrives once more, eager for a chance at revenge on behalf of its fallen broodmate.

Ruby froze.

"Zhang…"

The Colonel looked down at her, "Lieutenant?"

"It's talking to me again."

We anticipated this possibility, and while the New One's kin demonstrated a fragile will, we welcome the opportunity to further assess this warrior's… competency.

Ruby's eyes narrowed in anger. Zhang noticed and put a hand on Ruby's shoulder, "Lieutenant…"

"I'm gonna kill it." Ruby said, voice barely above a whisper, "I swear to whatever god is listening, I'm gonna absolutely murder it."

The unique properties exhibited by the New One show great promise for its chances at ascension. The question remains, however: does it have enough control over its power?

Ruby roared, tearing away from Zhang's hand and ripping Crescent Rose off of its armor-mounted mag lock. She slammed her fist down on her Aura Module, extended her scythe into its fully extended form, and raced onto the bridge in the blink of an eye. She felt the power of her Aura surging within her, and the rage-filled prospect of slicing the Ethereal into tiny ribbons only served to egg Ruby on further.

But then she saw everything. At, Ruby couldn't think of any better way to describe it. She experienced a rush of… something flooding her brain, and she became aware of everything around her. The Ethereal's presence, the humming UFO power sources, the blinking navigational computers, the flickering lights on the bridge, the pounding of footsteps as Strike Eight vainly tried to catch up to her... even the radio waves as the UFO transmitted a distress signal to whoever was listening. She noticed everything, and the massive influx of information prevented Ruby from processing any of it.

The sensation left as quickly as it came but the split second of information overload provided enough of a distraction to cause Ruby to trip over a step and come to a skidding halt behind the Ethereal. She plowed full-force into the metal wall, and when she shook off the daze from the impact and looked up, she saw the Ethereal gazing impassively down at her.

Disappointing. Still, perhaps we can… assist.

It extended a single thin arm from beneath it's robes and aimed it at Ruby's face. Ruby watched the hand glow purple as it drew in psychic energy before it reached down and grabbed her face. Ruby cried out as the Ethereal lifted her off the ground and forced psychic energy through its outstretched hand and into her head. The incredible pain completely consumed Ruby's attention.

A flurry of plasma struck the Ethereal, forcing it to drop Ruby and slamming the alien against the nearby wall. With the Ethereal distracted, Ruby picked up Crescent Rose and buried its tip deep within the monster's chest. The Ethereal emitted a pained scream before bursting with a final surge of psychic energy and disintegrating into little more than dust.

"Lieutenant!" Zhang called out as he swiftly approached the front of the bridge, "Are you alright?"

Ruby carefully stood up, gingerly testing her face with her fingers to check for any damage, "I… think so. Something happened before I could attack, though. Like, I became super-aware of everything and everyone here. It only lasted for a second, but I don't know what caused it. And then whatever the Ethereal did to me, it doesn't hurt anymore."

Zhang turned to Anette, "Captain?"

Anette nodded, "There is definitely psychic energy, but it feels different." She furrowed her eyebrows, trying to come up with a more accurate descriptor, "Twisted."

The Colonel sighed, "We can worry about that later. For now, let's finish sweeping the craft before returning to base." He cast a glance at Ruby, "You and I need to have a conversation about the chain of command."

Ruby nodded, eyes looking anywhere but at Zhang.

"Ruby!" Nora cheered as her friend stepped off the Skyranger. The six members of Strike Eight assembled at the hangar to greet Ruby and Blake after their mission, all curious to hear how the battle played out. Jaune observed a team of base personnel walking onto the transport even as the operatives of Strike Two walked out. RWBY and JNPR saw Ruby walking with Zhang at the front of the group, the pair deep in conversation with each other. While Nora happily called out to their friend, Jaune noticed a troubled look on Ruby's face.

Upon hearing Nora's exclamation, Ruby looked up, smiled, and waved. Zhang patted her head and walked off, leaving the young huntress to walk over and greet her team. Blake nodded at the group as she stepped off the Skyranger, but continued walking towards the Armory so that she could switch to her 'civilian' prosthetics. Ruby approached the group, a forced smile on her face, "Hey guys, what's up?"

"How was the operation?" Pyrrha asked carefully. Jaune felt relieved that he wasn't the only one who noticed Ruby's unhappy demeanor.

Ruby shrugged, "We killed aliens, grabbed some sort of artifact, and came back. Pretty standard mission, I guess."

"Oh come on," Weiss remarked, "You were totally raring to kick some alien butt when you flew out. You could give us a better description than that."

Nora waved her off, "Don't listen to the mean ol' Ice Queen, Ruby. If you don't want to talk about it, why don't we play some games in the lounge?"

"Eh, not tonight, Nora. I should check on Yang, actually. See how she's doing and all that."

"Ruby." The young Lieutenant in question looked up at her partner. Weiss, displeased with Ruby's behavior, stood with her hands on her hips and a frown on her face as she stared intently at the younger huntress, "What happened on the mission?"

Ruby let out a nervous laugh, "What are you talking about? The mission went fine. Like I said, we killed some aliens, found this-"

Weiss's eyes narrowed dangerously, "Ruby."

Jaune's heart sank as he watched his friend drop her happy act and become completely crestfallen. Her shoulders slumped and she stared at the floor, leaving the group in uncomfortable silence before Ruby answered Weiss, "I… don't really know. There was another one of those stupid Ethereals, and he got into my head again. When I activated my Aura and used my Semblance to kill him, I…" She hesitated before barely whispering, "I think something is wrong with my Aura."

Silence once again reigned over the group until Ruby expanded on her gloomy statement, "It worked fine for a second, but then information just flooded my mind. I heard everything in the room, and felt like I could see everything too. I don't know why, and I don't know how, but it was scary." She rubbed her arm nervously and cast a sidelong glance at Zhang, who was busy talking to Bradford by the doors leading out of the hangar, "The Ethereal probably would've killed me if the team showed up a second later."

For the first time, Ren spoke up, "Why don't you come with me to see Dr. Vahlen? She's already working on Yang's condition, I don't think she'd mind having a look at you as well."

Ruby nodded, her posture still broken and defeated. Weiss made to follow them, but Pyrrha grabbed her by the wrist and shook her head, which the heiress returned with a glare.

"I don't think she needs us to accompany her." Pyrrha explained in a low voice, "Maybe after she's had a talk with Vahlen, but she probably doesn't want to talk to any of her friends right now."

Jaune could tell that Weiss wanted to yell at Pyrrha and tell her how wrong she was, but she just sighed instead, "Yeah, okay." She tapped Nora on the shoulder, "Hey, you still up for games in the lounge? I could use something to keep my mind off of all this for now."

Nora gave Weiss a comforting smile, "Sure thing! There's a couple of really cool board games I've seen the guys play around here, so I'm sure we can find something you'll like. We can even have Pyrrha join us!"

Jaune knew that his partner didn't have much interest in playing board games, but also wanted to be supportive for Weiss. After a moment to ponder the offer, Pyrrha nodded, "I wouldn't mind a little entertainment myself." She turned to Jaune with a questioning look, "What about you?"

The young Arc held his hand up in polite decline, "No thanks. I've got some errands that I need to run. You guys have fun without me."

Nora shrugged before turning and leaving the hangar with Pyrrha and Weiss in tow. Jaune watched them go before heading out himself. As the girls headed for the lounge, he followed the path Ruby and Ren took to the other end of the base.

Dr. Vahlen heaved a sigh before closing the door behind her. Now that Ruby was finally asleep, she could head to the lab and run some analysis on the data she collected with Ren's help. The implications of Ruby's problem weighed heavily on her mind. Based on what happened first to Yang and now to Ruby, it appeared that the Remnant hunters had an innate weakness to psionics. For whatever reason, something in their physiology reacted poorly to psychic input, and Vahlen didn't know what that could be. No, that was false. She suspected a link existed between the symptoms and their Aura, but Vahlen hadn't the faintest idea how she would go about solving this problem.

She rubbed her temples before turning to leave the medbay, worry slowly creeping into her chest. As much as she hated to admit it, a great deal seemed to ride on the success of RWBY and JNPR. While she had confidence in the abilities of the rest of XCOM, the hit to morale would be considerable if word got out that the huntresses had a weakness as crippling as vulnerability to mental attacks. Honestly, it shocked Vahlen that this revelation didn't come sooner, considering how trigger-happy Sectoids were with their psychic abilities. For whatever reason, the adverse effects seemed to only be manifesting now.

The doctor jumped in surprise when she noticed the figure of Specialist Arc leaning against the doorway.

"Oh! You gave me a bit of a shock. How may I help you, Lance Corporal Arc?"

"Ruby's problem has something to do with her Aura, doesn't it?"

Vahlen hesitated, unsure of where Jaune planned to go with this, "It's… possible. Ren helped me run some tests, and his initial impressions indicate that your assumption is likely correct."

"And you don't really know that much about Aura yet, right?"

The pieces started falling into place for Vahlen, though she hoped her gut was wrong, "… Correct. We know that it's a force of will similar to psionics, but we haven't managed to gather any meaningful data beyond that. The methods required for further research would be… extremely immoral. Borderline torture, if we're being honest about it."

Jaune nodded, as if he expected this answer. Vahlen wouldn't be surprised if he did: surely Ruby told her friends about why Aura wasn't working, and that conversation probably touched on Vahlen's first (and last) real effort to learn more. The hunter looked Vahlen square in the eye, and the doctor really didn't like the small gleam of determination in his expression.

"You were on your way to your lab, right? Why don't I go with you. I think we're going to be spending a lot of quality time together."

"For how long?" She asked, knowing full well what the answer would be.

"For as long as it takes."