A/N: Right, so this one's pretty long. However, it's mostly action, so I'm hoping it's a fun read. This is my first foray into writing combat, so I would be especiallyappreciative to hear feedback regarding your opinions on that in particular.

Ruby was impressed at how little turbulence she felt inside the Skyranger. Compared to the Bullheads back on Remnant, this thing was a luxury vehicle. And if Bradford was to be believed when he told her how fast it could go, the young huntress was surprised they didn't have more on hand. Her guess that it was cost-prohibitive to produce more than necessary, and so "Big Sky" was their one and only. Still, a transport that could fly at Mach 8 was amazing, and Ruby was enjoying every minute of her ride aboard this fancy piece of hardware. Even more impressive, there was so much space in the passenger deck that a full strike team could comfortably fit with room to spare. Heck, even a full team of MEC soldiers could fit comfortably in the jump seats without difficulty.

The young huntress had briefly been intrigued by the idea of piloting one of the "Mechanized Exoskeleton Cybersuits" when Major Vance had them watch one in action. An impressive exo-suit that let its pilot simultaneously wield incredible firepower and carry a great deal of utility into combat. Hardpoints on the suit could be outfitted with grenade launchers, restorative mist dispensers, EMP devices, or other equally useful utilities. An additional hardpoint allowed the pilot to wield either a flamethrower or rocket-assisted fist in his off-hand for more specialized scenarios. Finally, the armor plating on the suit allowed the MEC soldier to sustain an impressive amount of damage before falling in combat, a valuable asset that could save the life of a fellow soldier caught out in the open. Her desire to become a pilot didn't last long, however, when she discovered that MEC soldiers had to have their arms and legs removed in order to properly interface with the hardware. That was enough to convince Ruby that she was perfectly happy with her Carapace Armor and Pulse Rifle, thankyouverymuch. On the other hand, Yang told Ruby that she would totally be down to get "MEC-ified", but only if Blake also agreed. Ruby thanked her lucky stars that Blake wasn't the least bit interested in trading her limbs in for the opportunity to pilot a robot.

Looking around the deck, Ruby took stock for the fourteenth time of the squad going with her. The other members of Team RWBY were obviously present. Sitting next to her was Weiss, and across from them sat Blake and Yang. While they all carried the basic firearm and armor given to Rookies (or "PFCs", as they were officially known), each was given the freedom of choosing utility items that struck their fancy. Ruby, set on convincing Bradford that she was Sniper material, opted to take a S.C.O.P.E. and a Targeting Module. The plan was to make shots connect as often as possible and as hard as possible, and that meant improving her accuracy and ability to hit critical points. As a recommendation from Vance, she grabbed a medkit for her third utility. "You can't go wrong with a medkit, no matter what sort of soldier you are," was what he told her.

Weiss had opted for a much more defensive setup. Her first two choices were Alloy Plating and an Impact Vest, which served to further improve her armor's resistance to damage from enemy fire. She had told Ruby that if something happened to anyone on the mission, she was going to make damned sure that she would be able to safely bail them out. Vance had told them that was his job, but what if he was caught off-guard? Therefore, Weiss had taken it upon herself to become "babysitter number two" and opted to equip herself appropriately. As a final choice, she decided to pick up an Arc Thrower. Ruby wasn't sure if this was for the item's utility for capturing aliens, or simply because she wanted to tease Yang about the group's first experience with the stun gun. If it was the latter, Ruby would have to later compliment Weiss on her improving sense of humor.

Blake was intrigued by the Smoke Grenades XCOM had in the armory. Dr. Vahlen had somehow designed them to obscure the vision of combatants looking into the smoke, but not those looking out from it. The ability to drop a defensive screen gives operatives the ability to advance to tactically-advantageous-yet-defensively-questionable positions without getting pegged with enemy fire. Continuing with the theme of creating advantage, Blake had taken a Flashbang as her second utility. As with the Smoke Grenade, chucking a Flashbang made it difficult for enemies to land shots. By disorienting the aliens and impairing their aim, Blake would allow her allies to safely move up and easily neutralize the threat. Like Ruby, she had chosen to heed Vance's suggestion and take a medkit as her final selection.

Where Blake was all about using grenades to give her team a decisive edge, Yang had opted to grab grenades that excelled at forcefully exploding. After learning that the glorious rocket launcher was restricted to Rocketeer personnel only, Ruby's sister decided that grenades were an acceptable alternative. She grabbed two Plasma Grenades that had been reverse engineered from stolen alien technology. Her final choice was a High Explosive grenade. As powerful as a plasma blast was, there was something so right about conventional, fiery explosives. Plus, the improved blast radius, while not helpful in killing the aliens faster compared to the Plasma Grenades, allowed the HE variant to tear down more cover being used by the invaders.

All in all, Ruby thought the four of them made for a very balanced team. It was good to have Vance and Biggs in case things started going wrong, but Ruby was confident the four newbies would be able to handle the mission with no problem.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard the Rocketeer chuckling. "Look at you kids, all decked out in your new armor and flashy laser rifles." He turned to catch the eye of Major Vance. "It's like we're going on a field trip with a squad of the Emperor's 'finest' Imperial Guards."

Without missing a beat, Weiss spoke up. "That's a violation of rule 13c, which clearly states that 'Rookies in a flak vest and armed with laser rifles are not to be referred to as Imperial Guardsmen.' While it's true we're wearing Carapace Armor instead of flak vests, the point still stands." Ruby stared at Weiss, her partner sounding almost bored as she scolded Biggs. "I'm not quite as familiar with the punishments as I am with the rules themselves, but I want to say that for this one… a week's worth of double-shifts helping the kitchen staff. That about right, Major?"

Vance, who looked extremely impressed, nodded. "That's about right." He looked back at a shocked Biggs. "You know, considering how quickly she was able to call up that information, I'm kinda obligated to report you to Bradford rather than letting it slide."

The corporal nodded dumbly. "Yeah… I'm not even mad about it. I didn't even know people actually read the damn list of rules. Holy shit." He stared incredulously at Weiss before asking, "Do you even know what an Imperial Guardsman is?"

Weiss didn't even bother to look up from what she was doing before answer, "Not in the slightest."

Ruby noticed the satisfied smirk that briefly crossed Weiss's features before the pilot spoke over the Skyranger's comm system. "Alright, Strike Eight. We're about a minute out from the drop zone. Get ready to roll."

The view after stepping off the Skyranger was the first real shock Ruby experienced since tumbling through the portal four days ago. Up until now, all Ruby had seen was the inside of a military base and, for the last few hours, the inside of the Skyranger's cargo hold. Now, she was seeing firsthand the destruction caused by Earth's unwanted guests. Sure, she had seen destruction when Torchwick blasted a hole into Vale for the Grimm to pour through, but that didn't hold a candle to this. Burned-out buildings, streets pock-marked with craters and flaming vehicles, rubble everywhere. Smoke from all the fires filled the air and, while not low enough to pose a health risk to Strike Eight, provided a very gloomy and oppressive backdrop for Ruby's first operation.

And then there were the bodies.

She recalled Bradford saying that the mission was to break up an in-progress alien abduction, but she didn't think much of it. Now, though, she had to suppress the urge to vomit (just a little) at the sight before her eyes. Scattered along the street were… devices that Ruby could only assume were alien in design. Fanned out around them, as if caught in some kind of blast radius, were the human abductees. At least, Ruby assumed they were human. It was impossible to really tell when the victims were all plastered with some sort of green material. It looked like some sort of giant, mutant spider came along and wrapped them all in little green cocoons to save for later when she got hungry. All of the "webbed" civilians were caught in poses that showed their last moments of terror before becoming frozen for who-knows-how-long. Some were on their back, arms in front of their face as they cowered in fear. Others were on their stomachs, their arms stretched out in front of them as they tried to claw themselves away from their captors.

She stood rooted to the spot for a second, and would have stayed that way for longer, had she not felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw Major Vance staring grimly out at the depressing view of London burning. "This is my twenty-third time stepping off of the Skyranger. You never get used to it, not really." He said with a sigh. "However, we've got a job to do, and that job is the only way we are going to fix this. So chin up, Eight-Actual. Your team is counting on you."

Ruby gave him an appreciative smile before nodding and striding forward to join the rest of the waiting team. "Alright Strike Eight, let's do this fast and quiet." She looked over the five operatives that stood before her. "Blake-"

"Eight-Three." Vance corrected.

"Eight-Three, you're with me on point. We'll leapfrog forward and cover each other as we proceed." She turned to Yang. "Eight-Four, you're with Eight-Six. Both of you will provide explosive support to soften up groups if they make the mistake of clustering together, with Eight-Four going first. We should save the HEAT rockets for the Cyberdisks that Central warned us about." Yang gave her a cheerful salute while Biggs just nodded.

"Eight-Two, you're playing mid-field between the point squad and Team Explosives. If someone's got a problem, you help them solve it. Eight-Five… you just do your babysitter thing." Major Vance gave Ruby a smirk and a salute before keying his mic.

"Mission Control, this is Strike Eight. We've reached the AO and are beginning to sweep the area."

Each member of Strike Eight could hear Vance's report to Bradford through their standard-issue comms, and heard Bradford's subsequent response. "Copy that, Eight. Good hunting out there."

Ruby nodded and each operative split off to follow their individual instructions.

The first five minutes of the mission proceeded very smoothly. Being on point, Ruby and Blake were the first to make contact with enemy forces. Several Floaters were clustered around a group of cocooned victims, evidently prepping them for transport. Before they even had a chance to react to the arrival of XCOM, Ruby already dropped one with a well-placed shot from her Pulse Rifle. The remaining aliens dug in behind nearby burned-out cars and began to shoot back. The point team soon found itself under heavy suppressive fire, so Ruby directed Weiss to move around and flank the aliens, using a large truck to cover her approach. While Blake and Ruby fired the occasional blind shot to keep the attention on them, Weiss's superior position allowed her to easily kill two more of the Floaters. The final one panicked, took to the sky, and was swiftly lanced by a laser beam that came out of nowhere.

"Sorry about that, Eight-Two." Came Vance's voice on the comm. "I've developed a bit of a reflex in my trigger finger, and watching one of those buggers go airborne tends to set it off. You had things handled, though. Nice job with that flank."

Strike Eight engaged several pods of Sectoids, Thin Men, and more Floaters as the team continued its sweep of the abduction site, and each alien came with its own host of headaches. The Sectoids, while pitifully weak, more than made up for it with their liberal use of psychic attacks. Ruby learned first-hand just how disorienting "Mind Fray" was, and had to sit down for a moment to recover while her squad systematically neutralized the remaining buggers.

The first time RWBY encountered a pack of Thin Men was all it took to teach them why the alien infiltrators were so widely despised at XCOM. Their high mobility allowed them to easily flank Ruby's squad just like she had directed Weiss to flank the Floaters. However, due to the Thin Men's ability to scale buildings in a single jump, they were even better at it. Weiss suffered a bad plasma burn from a particularly crafty foe that was waiting for her behind a wall as she ran past, gun poised and ready to fire. Her defensive equipment was effective in minimizing the damage, but Ruby saw the pain hidden under her carefully maintained visage. Ruby used her medkit to fix as much of the plasma burn as she could. Even if it wasn't perfect, it was enough to get Weiss functioning again with no problems.

Major Vance was a godsend for the team. Anytime Ruby had made a tactical error, or the team was simply caught off guard and pinned down in a precarious situation, a bolt from nowhere would strike and completely neutralize the danger. Not only did this avert the deadly consequences that usually came with getting flanked, but it strengthened Ruby's resolve to prove her merit as a Sniper. She wanted to have that kind of power, to strike down those who tried to injure or kill her friends.

Eventually, the first Cyberdisc (or "Cyberdick", as Biggs called it) arrived, crashing out of a storefront window and into the street. Its sleek, compact form drifted elegantly into the center of the street, flanked by three drones that followed it like little ducklings. Immediately, Ruby ordered everyone to find cover while the drones began to pepper Strike Eight with a volley of shots from their beam weapons. Its prey sufficiently distracted, the Cyberdisc unpacked its chassis and shifted into its "assault mode" within seconds. Ruby noted that the Cyberdisc's assault mode had cannons.

Two very large cannons.

"Hunker down!" She shouted, and the deafening roar of the disc's onslaught soon filled the air. Super-heated beams of death sizzled overhead as Ruby hugged asphalt. Eventually, the volley stopped and Ruby got back up to her feet. "Eight-Six! You're up with that rocket!"

"Yep! Rocket's on its way!"

Ruby heard a 'Fire in the hole!' and watched the explosive streak past her and slam into the mechanical construct. While the damage was very apparent, the Cyberdisc was not entirely destroyed yet.

"Cyberdick's been shredded! Hit it with everything you've got, Rooks!"

Almost in unison, all four huntresses took aim at the robot and fired off a short burst from their rifles. The one drone that survived the rocket's blast opted to take shots at the attackers while they were exposed. Ruby grunted as the drone beam struck her square in the chest, but the Carapace Armor was very effective in absorbing all the damage from the comparatively low-powered shot. After a few more volleys of concentrated fire, the Cyberdisc began to spark before dropping to the street and exploding in a ball of flame.

"Nicely done, Strike Eight. That was some fine coordination there, Actual." Ruby smiled when she heard Major Vance's compliment over the comms. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

They continued to sweep the area, taking out another Cyberdisc sortie and two more Floater pods. One of the Floaters managed to nail Biggs with a rather brutal burst of plasma. Blake offered to use her medkit to patch him up, especially since he didn't have the armored plating that Weiss did when she had suffered a bad hit. The Corporal waved her off, stating that he was fine and that she should save the medkit for later. If they finished the mission with no problems, he'd take her up on her offer before the ride back to base. As the group proceeded, they arrived in front of a large commercial garage.

Blake held a hand up, signaling for a full stop before whispering, "Hey… you guys hear that? Sounds like Sectoids scampering around in that building." She paused for a moment and closed her eyes. "Sounds like there's about seven of them."

Biggs raised an eyebrow. "Either you've got ridiculously good hearing, Three, or you're just fucking with us about that headcount. Best I can do is determine if there's an amount of aliens over in some direction, and that's on a good day."

Ruby saw her friend shift uncomfortably and decided to step in. "Eight-Three has had exceptional hearing for as long as I've known her. I'd trust that headcount with my life. So the plan is to proceed like normal: I take point with Three, Two provides backup and and stands ready to flank, Four and Six provide explosive support. What's your supply count?"

"One rocket and one HE grenade." Yang replied.

"That should be more than enough. Five, you just sit back and watch the show. I hope we're not boring you…?"

Vance chuckled over the comm. "Nah. You guys are doing fantastic, and I'm really enjoying the entertainment from way up here."

Ruby looked around, trying to spot their sniper support. "Up where?"

"Trade secret. Don't worry, I'll personally train you in my stealthy ways when you join the Sniper club."

"That's… not a sure thing, Five."

"You kidding? I told you I've been watching this whole time, Actual. Your aim is crazy good."

Ruby was glad that the only person who could see her blushing right now was Blake. "We'll worry about that when we get back. For now, let's just take this slow and try to finish on a high note."

"Roger. Be careful, though: Central mentioned a Sectoid Commander in their intel from the Hyperwave Relay, and we haven't seen the little bastard yet. He immediately becomes Priority One when he shows his ugly mug, but don't get careless and expose yourself while trying to kill him."

"Noted, Five. Alright, let's do this. Two, move up to the building's wall and wait for an opportunity to flank. Four and Six, take cover about fifteen meters away, but make sure you've got a clear view inside of the garage. If need be, we can fall back and you can take out the Sectoids as they chase us. Eight-Three, let's move."

Ruby and Blake stepped across the threshold into the garage. It was a very large auto body shop that (thankfully) had lots of cover in the form of cars, pneumatic lifts, and concrete columns. The two operatives immediately took cover behind the closest car while the rest of Strike Eight got into position.

"Picking up any more sound cues?" Ruby whispered. Blake was quiet while she listened, then shook her head.

"No," She whispered back, "I guess they heard us coming in and took up a defensive position. We should be careful."

Nodding, Ruby peeked around their cover and took a good look at their surroundings. The garage was remarkably well-intact, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. No toppled tool carts, no smashed car windows… if Blake hadn't heard the Sectoids with her faunus senses, Ruby would have skipped the auto shop entirely. Without a word, she signaled for Blake to move up to a column halfway into the garage. Rifle at the ready to kill any Sectiods attempting to shoot her exposed squadmate, she watched as Blake noiselessly picked her way across the room. Once she had taken up her position behind cover, it was Ruby's turn to move up. She picked a sturdy-looking jeep close to Blake and quickly took cover behind it. Her mic buzzed quietly in her ear as Major Vance's voice came through.

"Everything's normal out here, Eight-Actual. What's going on inside?"

"No contacts yet." She responded. "The Sectoids haven't made their move. We're slowly working our way through the building."

"Understood, Actual. Stay frosty in there."

Ruby wasn't superstitious, nor did she particularly believe in bad luck, but the next five seconds made her seriously consider carrying a rabbit paw for the rest of her life. Almost immediately after Vance's warning to be careful, Ruby saw Blake perk up. She barely had time to say "contacts" before a volley of plasma tore into the metal and concrete shielding the huntresses.

"Eight-Five, this is Three. We're under concentrated fire from what seems to be the entire squad of Sectoids. Four and Six, can you see them?"

"Yeah, but they're scattered a bit." Biggs responded. "I won't be able to get 'em all with my rocket. Think you can bait the little shits into grouping up?"

"We'll see what we can- Ruby MOVE."

Ruby launched herself away from the jeep and towards Blake's cover not a moment too soon. The jeep, which had begun to smolder from the first wave of plasma, went up in a fiery explosion. Heat, shattered glass, twisted aluminum flew out in every direction, and Ruby was suddenly grateful for Bradford's mandate that all soldiers were given Carapace Armor as a bare minimum. She let her momentum from the dive carry her into a roll, and she came up next to Blake, who was trying to get a good look at the alien positions.

"I can't tell where they came from. Maybe they set up an ambush and were waiting for us to get far enough into the garage to spring it. We'll be exposed if we try to make a direct retreat back to the garage door."

Ruby's ear crackled as she heard Weiss, a moderate level of concern in voice. "Actual, I don't have a good view from my position. Do you need me to come in and assist?"

"Not yet," Ruby answered, "Not through the front door, anyway. Sweep the building perimeter and see if you can find a side entry. It'd be better if you can flank them and we can set up a two-sided attack."

"On it." Came Weiss's crisp reply.

Ruby's thoughts returned to the problem she was currently facing. "Maybe if we retreat sideways and not backwards, we can get them to follow us. With any luck, they'll even ball up for Biggs. There's a group of cars to our right that would give us pretty good protection, and it' far enough away that they'll be forced to move closer to get any kind of accuracy. We need to move somewhere at any rate: this column's not going to last much longer."

Blake glanced over at the cars Ruby had pointed out and frowned. "It's good cover, yes, but we'd be totally exposed while trying to dash over there. Unless…" Her hand reached into the pocket carrying her Smoke Grenade and pulled it out. "I can make cover for us while we move."

She pulled the pin and lightly tossed the canister into the wide open space separating the huntresses from their new position. Within seconds, a dense cloud of pink smoke burst forth from the device and quickly created a large "wall" that was almost impossible to see through.

"Let's go!" Blake shouted, and the two of them sprinted from their column. A few bursts of plasma zipped around the pair as they ran through the cloud. One bolt managed to graze Ruby's leg and caused her to yelp in surprise and pain as she dashed towards the target. The pair cleared the smoke and vaulted over the truck in front of them and ducked into safety. Ruby made a note to make sure someone on the team was always carrying smoke for situations like this. She did a quick once-over on her Pulse Rifle before turning back to Blake.

"You get hit during the run?"

Blake shook her head. "No, but it sounded like you did. A few almost got me, but I was lucky enough to dodge them."

Ruby muttered under her breath about Blake's stupid kitty luck before she peeked out from their new position. "Alright, now to get the little guys chasing after us. On my mark, just shoot in their general direction, and hopefully they'll start making their way over here."

After Blake nodded and began checking over her own rifle, Ruby clicked her comm on. "Two, how's that flank looking?"

She heard Weiss respond with a sigh. "Found a door, but it's got a burnt-out car stacked against it. This wouldn't be a problem, except the door opens outward, so…"

"Understood. Alright, come back around to the front. After Six gives us a firework show, you'll move in and help us clean up. Four, you follow up after Two."

"Aye aye, Captain!" Came the cheery response from Ruby's sister. She was almost certain that Yang was saluting, even though she knew Ruby wouldn't be able to see it.

Ruby looked at Blake. "You ready?"

Blake's nod was all that was needed before the two stood up and swung their rifles around. Now it was XCOM's turn to throw out a barrage, as orange light brightened the dim lighting in the garage and streaked towards the Sectoid position. Once the plasma started to sail back at them, the huntresses ducked back down into cover.

"That get them moving, Six?"

"Yep, they're advancing. Not as tight as I'd like, but it shouldn't be any- ah, Christ, the Commander just did a mass Mind Merge."

"Is that a problem?" Ruby knew about the mind merge ability Sectoids had. It allowed one to "buff" another, making it harder to kill. She didn't know if the Commander's version was more powerful.

"Ehhh, maybe. A few more will probably survive the rocket, but the main issue for you will be the accuracy boost they'll get from the Commander's influence. Be careful."

"We'll be fine. Speaking of the rocket, though…"

Ruby could hear Biggs grunt as he pulled the launcher off his back. "Yep, coming right up."

What followed was a series of sounds and events that left Ruby thoroughly confused and concerned until her brain caught up with her senses. First, the far-off sound of plasma discharging. Second, the closer sound of Biggs's rocket firing. Third, the voice of her sister screaming "holy shit!" over the comm coupled with the sound of a rocket exploding. Ruby expected the exploding rocket, since that was the whole point of Biggs launching it. What she didn't expect was to hear the rocket explode behind her, followed by a chain reaction of cars exploding as each one set off the next. The whole chain probably took no longer than a few seconds, and both Blake and Ruby were thrown to their backs when the last car went off close enough to physically knock them off their feet. Ruby was launched into the car in front of her and had the wind knocked out of her lungs.

Ruby lay on the hard concrete for a moment, dazed and confused, while she heard loud and panicked shouting from various sources in her earpiece. The voices seemed far away, though, and another seemed to drown them out.

Kill.

Ruby winced and tightened her grip on her rifle. Her body felt strange, like it was struggling to fight off the strings of some puppet master.

Kill the other.

Her vision began to cloud as she looked over at Blake, who was still getting her bearings from the explosive shock. Ruby shut her eyes to will away the blurred vision and strange voice, but it didn't work. A feeling of pain was also starting to work its way up her leg.

Kill it now!

No, Ruby thought, this is wrong. That's Blake. She's my teammate.

She balled up her fist and slammed it down into her leg. The sudden and massive flare in pain immediately pulled Ruby out of her internal struggle and forced her to look down. A shard of metal from one of the exploding cars had managed to wedge itself between the ablative plating in her armor. And Ruby realized she had just punched it clean into her thigh. Her eyes watered from the pain as she fought the urge to scream. So much was going wrong right now, the only positive news was that the voice telling her to kill Blake had stopped.

While she was sitting down and trying not to think about the miserable pain she was in, Ruby could hear Major Vance practically shouting to what was probably Mission Control.

"-a sniper rifle! The Thin Man had a fucking sniper rifle! I didn't know these alien fucks even made plasma sniper rifles, but I saw it with my own fucking eye, Central!"

That explained the plasma discharge Ruby had heard.

"We'll worry about that when we have time, Eight-Five. What's the rest of the situation?" The calm, collected voice of Central Officer Bradford cut through Ruby's addled mind like a lighthouse beacon to a shipwrecked sailor lost at sea. As she listened to Vance's sitrep, she started to gingerly pick herself up with some help from Blake.

"Eight-Six managed to pull the trigger before his head got vaporized, but the impact of the plasma threw his aim. Shot went wide and hit a car in the garage instead of the Sectoids that Six was aiming for. As I'm sure you can imagine, the car detonated when the rocket did, and since Actual and Three were investigating an auto body shop… well, the whole front face of the building is a burning wreck, and there's no way to go in that way and provide backup."

"Damn…" Ruby had to hand it to Bradford: even when when a situation was rapidly spiraling out of control, he was capable of not losing his head and remaining focused. His calm, understated curse after hearing that one of his soldiers had their head vaporized led Ruby to believe this wasn't his first time dealing with a bad-to-worse situation. It hadn't really hit her back at their first meeting when he said that the costs of XCOM's achievements were "paid in blood," and it suddenly dawned on Ruby that this was probably more normal than she cared to admit.

What if the life of a Huntress was equally gruesome? She and her friends had their fair share of dangerous encounters, but they were lucky so far. What would happen if (or worse… when) one of her teammates fell like Biggs did? The thought made Ruby's skin crawl.

While Ruby's mind was wandering to less-than-cheerful places, pain once again raced through her body. She looked down in pained shock and saw that Blake had taken advantage of Ruby's distracted state to yank out the metal without opposition. Immediately after, she pulled out her medkit and sprayed the soothing mist over the bleeding wound. Meanwhile, Vance continued his conversation with Bradford.

"I'm definitely keeping a sharper eye out for more surprises out here, Central, but I can't see a way to quickly get through to the shop's interior. Eight-Two did a sweep of the perimeter before shit hit the fan, and reported no other accessible points of entry. It looks like the two Rookies cut off in there."

"Like hell they are!" Ruby winced. She had heard Weiss get mad before, and on many occasions. This anger, however, was on a different level entirely. She wasn't sure if she was mad at Ruby for getting stuck in a burning garage, mad at Vance for letting this happen to the Rookies (or possibly for his defeatist outlook on the situation), mad at the aliens for starting the chain of events, or mad at the universe for trying to kill her partner and friend, but Weiss's voice was positively livid.

"Yang, you're with me. Get that grenade ready, and get your ass over here." Ruby smiled at Blake as a means of wordlessly saying that the wound no longer hurt thanks to Blake's efforts. She had considered speaking over the comms to let the rest of Strike Eight know that they were okay, but she decided it would be a poor decision to risk interrupting Weiss's growing rage. And as awful as it sounded, it was very possible that the uncertain condition of their partners was spurring the other half of RWBY to immediate and decisive action.

"You're an explosives expert. Find a weak point in the wall, jam your grenade in there, and give me an opening. If you can't find a weak point, then we'll make one."

Ruby and Blake did a very quick inspection of their equipment (Ruby was glad Vance had introduced her team to the concept of "tap-rack-bang" as a quick method of troubleshooting their firearms) before rising up as a cohesive pair to fire back at the advancing Sectoids.

"I'm hearing pulse fire from inside. Ruby and Blake are still fighting!"

"Actual and Three, Eight-Two-"

"Not the time, Major." Even as she was taking potshots at the entrenched aliens, Ruby giggled slightly. She noticed Weiss's previous breach in protocol, and thought it was sort of endearing that the current situation was stressful enough for her prim-and-proper partner to throw XCOM's rules to the wind. "How's the charge coming?"

"You'll want to start backing up. I'm about to prime the explosive, so it's gonna get a little chunky in a few seconds."

"Two, Four, this is Actual. If your breach works, we'll do what we can to keep the Sectoid fire drawn to us while you sweep in and hammer their flank."

Blake had reached into her other pocket, and Ruby's heart soared when she saw the Flashbang come out. She had completely forgotten that Blake had taken one, and felt like she had found a fifty lien note under a couch seat when she watched Blake pull the pin in anticipation.

"We'll let you know in three… two…"

BANG.

"Breach successful!" Yang shouted. Blake stood up took aim for a fraction of a second, and chucked the device into the largest Sectoid concentration before ducking back down. A bright flash and a subdued piff marked the detonation of Blake's ace in the hole.

"Eight-Two, the Sectoids have been flashed, courtesy of Three. Move in and take them out."

"Don't need to tell me twice!" Came Weiss's thunderous reply. She hadn't even bothered to use the comm as she came storming through the smoke and rubble, rifle blazing as she charged the Sectoid backline.

Ruby and Blake took the opportunity of the combined distraction to re-locate once more. Several streams of plasma whizzed past them, but the majority of the Sectoids were either too stunned to shoot or too busy fending off the Schnee Offensive. Ruby was grateful for Blake's medkit, since running would have probably been impossible without it.

"If you have an opening, take out the Commander." Reminded Vance. "He's still mind-merged with the others. You kill him, and the feedback will also fry the rest."

"I see him." Weiss responded through gritted teeth. She had stopped for a brief moment to reload after her surprise assault had successfully swept through the three closest Sectoids. She looked up and saw Yang hefting a small propane tank.

"Hey boss, how good are you at shooting a moving target?"

Ruby peeked out from cover and caught her sister's eye, and they both shared a grin. Ruby brought her rifle up, took aim at where she expected Yang to throw the tank, and shouted, "Ready!"

Yang leaned back and heaved the container as hard as she could. Even without the support of Aura, she had an impressive throwing arm, and Ruby watched as the tank sailed through the air and plummeted towards the Sectoid Commander. At the last possible moment, Ruby breathed out and gently pulled the trigger on her rifle. The laser discharged, and cleanly connected with Ruby's target. The propane ignited, detonating the tank and launching the Commander out of cover. Weiss stood up, charged the exposed alien, and emptied her just-reloaded rifle into the alien's face. Long after the Commander had died (and thanks to the feedback, his underlings along with him), Weiss stood over his corpse discharging bolt after bolt into his skull.

It was only when her gun had run dry did she drop it and look up at her approaching partner. Ruby watched as her face instantly transformed from twisted hate into overwhelming relief as the two stood face-to-face. For the first time since Ruby had known Weiss Schnee, her friend reached out and pulled her into a bone-crushing embrace.

In a voice barely above a whisper, Ruby heard Weiss mutters four words packed with more emotion than the "Ice Queen" had ever conveyed:

"Thank Remnant you're okay."