A/N: I apologize for putting this up so late. I've been on vacation with my family over the past week, and we've had a pretty busy schedule each day. For those of you who have left questions for me via review or PM, I'm sorry for my lack of a response. I return home tomorrow, and I'll try to catch up on everything as best I can. It's still Friday in my current timezone however, so I'm going to say that I'm technically not late on posting this chapter. A quick reminder to those of you who've asked me about this story's posting cadence: the plan is to post every week-and-a-half, with the current schedule alternating between Fridays and Tuesdays.

"Blake!"

The huntress turned around to see two familiar faces running towards her along the sidewalk in Vale. With Ruby and Yang visiting their father, Blake and Weiss agreed to play host to the XCOM soldiers given leave to visit Remnant and carry out orders on Bradford's behalf. At the moment, this included a pair of operatives who had accompanied Colonel Zhang until his last stand during the alien's final base assault. Presently, however, Blake watched Sun ran up the street and flashed her a bright smile.

"Hey there." He said, "Haven't seen you around for a few weeks, so I figured you guys were doing another one of those secret mission dealy-o's like the one we helped out with a month ago. Heard you guys were back in town yesterday, so I tried giving you a ring."

Blake's heart skipped a beat. With everything else going on between XCOM, Ozpin, and her team's last-minute prep for the tournament, she totally forgot about reconnecting with some of the friends she made nine months ago. She pulled out her scroll and saw the 'missed call' notification.

"Y-yeah, sorry about that." She stammered, "It's been... hectic for us. I think we passed out pretty early last night, so I probably missed your call."

Neptune caught up with Sun and raised his hands in a placating gesture, "It's totally fine. We're just glad you guys are alright." He grinned at Weiss, "But it's definitely nice to see you again."

"Ahaha… yeah." Weiss said, silently wincing when Neptune's crestfallen face told her how cold that sounded. She didn't mean to be rude. His enthusiasm just sounded odd considering they were only lightly acquainted before RWBY disappeared for nine months. But of course, he didn't realize nine months had passed, and he didn't deserve to be met with a rude response. She added, "Sorry, that was uncalled for. It's, uh… nice to see you guys, too."

Sun and Neptune traded a brief look. Since when did the Ice Queen ever apologize for anything? However, rather than start their first meeting in weeks off on the wrong foot, Sun opted to steer the conversation onto a safer course. He nodded at the two men walking with Blake and Weiss, "Friends of yours?"

Blake nodded, "Yeah, we met them on the… secret mission we just got back from." She gestured to them in order, "Lance Corporals Menezes and Vargova."

"Lance Corporals?" Neptune asked as he and Sun shook hands with the operatives, "Sounds like you guys were involved with something serious."

Vargova laughed, "Believe me you don't know the half of it."

"Oh yeah?" Neptune asked, "Got any good stories? Awesome Grimm fights?"

"Welllllll…" Menezes started, "I didn't see it myself, but I heard that Belladonna soloed a Death Stalker. She could probably tell you about it."

Neptune turned to Blake, eager for the huntress to get into the details of the battle. Sun, however, noticed that Blake looked like her thoughts were miles away from Vale, and he had a suspicion that quizzing her on the mission could be a really bad idea, "We can talk about that later. I'm sure the rest of her team has stories they can tell us, too when we all get the chance to hang out together." Rather than let the awkwardness hang in the air, he tried to (once again) change the subject, "I like the new duds, though. Those silk wraps look good on you."

Blake's hand reflexively moved to her arm when she realized Sun was looking at her limbs, "Yeah. They helped keep the sun off my arms during our mission."

Again, Sun noticed apprehension coming from his friend, so he thought that a little of his usual dorky levity could help Blake feel more at ease, "Well, they won't be able to keep this Sun off your arms." He said with a wink. His confidence faltered when he saw the look of terror on Blake's face, "But… uhm… well, not right now of course. You've, uh… y'know… got other things to do, it looks like."

Blake nodded, turned around, and walked off without a word, the two Lance Corporals following close behind. Weiss sighed and smiled apologetically at the two confused huntsmen.

"It's not your fault, Sun," she explained, "The mission wasn't exactly… sunshine and rainbows, so we're still trying to readjust now that we're back." She glanced over her shoulder at Blake's retreating back, "Some of us are having more difficulty than others. Honestly, it's great to see you again." She turned to Neptune, "Both of you."

Neptune returned the smile, "Thanks. We should all get lunch sometime. Catch up and hear stories about your mission."

"The stories you're comfortable with telling." Sun quickly added.

Weiss smiled sadly, "Not too many of those, unfortunately. But lunch sounds lovely."

As they watched Weiss leave to rejoin her friends, Neptune asked his partner, "Is it just me, or did something seem off?"

"Not just you," Sun answered, "Everything I said made things more awkward, and I have no idea why."

"Must've been one hell of a mission."

"No kidding." Sun said, still watching Blake's retreating back, "Maybe I'm just imagining it, but they even look older than they did two weeks ago. What happened?"

Neptune left the rhetorical question unanswered, but he couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that Weiss's 'sunshine and rainbows' comment was the understatement of the century.

Jaune paced back and forth across the practice room floor while his teammates stood at attention before him, "Alright team, we've got the first round of the tournament tomorrow, so I thought it would be a good time to practice our teamwork."

"Teamwork?" Nora asked, mildly incredulous, "Jaune, we've spent the last six months practicing teamwork killing ayys and taking lmaos!"

"And that's exactly why we need to practice, Nora." Ren answered for his leader, "After six months of wiring our brains for lethal combat, we need to retrain ourselves for a friendly tournament. Also, you need to stop hanging out with Captain Beagle."

"Ren's exactly right." Jaune said, "As Glynda reminded us so many times leading up to this tournament, it's purpose is to promote cooperation and goodwill between the kingdoms. While we're expected to fight to the best of our abilities, it's probably not a good idea to fight with the ruthless brutality that was necessary to survive with XCOM."

Pyrrha nodded, "That makes sense. I take it you have a plan in mind?"

"Uhh… sort of? To be honest, I didn't get much further than 'fight each other while trying to think of it as a friendly match.' Hopefully even a little bit of time spent sparring will help with our fighting habits."

Nora hefted her hammer, "Do I still get to use my Kinetic Strike Module?"

"Probably not." Ren sighed.

"Well, we might as well get started." Pyrrha said, "Do we want to stick with our partners, then?"

Jaune shook his head, "I was thinking that I should fight Nora while you and Ren square off. Given Nora's penchant for smashing and my ability to tank, I figured it'd be a good pairing to start with. And then you and Ren can go all out with your high-speed fighting styles."

"You realize you just signed your own death warrant, right?" Nora asked, eyebrow raised.

"And you realize that we're supposed to be dialing back on the whole 'murder everything' mindset, right?" Jaune countered.

"Ugh, FINE." Nora groaned as she dropped into a battle stance, "C'mon, boss. Let's dance."

Jaune readied his shield and fixed Nora with a determined look, which the hammer maiden took that as her cue to start. She leapt at Jaune with an energetic yell, Magnhild raised above her head. Jaune's vision shook as Nora crashed into his defense and sent him skidding back several feet. He watched Pyrrha and Ren lock into melee with each other before he focused on his own opponent and dashed back towards Nora. Given the immense strength his opponent carried with each swing, Jaune made sure to prioritize defense over offense. Against any other target, he would risk suffering a hit or two if it meant sneaking in one of his own. With Nora? Horrible idea.

Despite the weight of her weapon, Nora managed to dance around many of Jaune's strikes while using Magnhild's shaft to parry the rest. Several times, Jaune had to remind his friend to ease up on the force of her blows or to stop aiming for his head. While Nora made a noise of complaint whenever Jaune scolded her, he found himself correcting her less and less as their sparring match wore on.

What concerned Jaune, however, was the number of times he had to reign in his own killer instincts. More than once, he suffered a blow from Nora after he froze in his tracks half a second before he would have jammed Crocea Mors into her gut. Sure, her Aura would have kept her safe, but that was besides the point. Jaune realized how easily his opponent morphed from Nora into a Berserker or a Chryssalid the moment he started to slip into the rhythm of combat.

Off to their left, Jaune heard a lot of grunting and clashing of steel as Pyrrha and Ren sparred. Even though Ren struggled to slip past his opponent's near-perfect defense, it didn't stop him from falling upon her with the fury of a lightning storm. To his credit, he parried most of Pyrrha's counter attacks and the sword strikes that did connect had no effect on his rapid-fire pace. Jaune watched Ren flow with Pyrrha's strikes to mitigate the damage before shifting the momentum into an attack of his own. Even when the occasional kick or shield bash crashed squarely into his gut, Ren offered little more than a pained grunt in response before launching himself back into the action. Compared to the intermittent power strikes Jaune and Nora were throwing at each other, the battle between their partners seemed to have no beginning or end.

Jaune also noticed that the two of them struggled to regulate their own lethal tendencies. More than once, he heard his partner's familiar "Sorry!" after a particularly brutal blow sent Ren tumbling across the arena floor. The low, uncharacteristic growl from Ren surprised even Nora to the point where Jaune managed to connect a pommel smash with her shoulder due to the distraction.

"How you doing, Nora?" Jaune asked, his chest starting to burn from exertion.

His opponent offered a toothy, though weary, grin, "Never been better, El-Tee."

"Think you can carry on like this for another round or three?"

"Does an Ursa shit in the woods?"

"Seriously Nora." Ren shouted over his fight with Pyrrha, "I'm banning you from hanging out with Beagle."

The scrimmage carried on, and an assortment of cuts, scrapes, and bruises started to accumulate as their Aura struggled to keep up with the slew of fresh wounds. Jaune felt his own soul force on the verge of giving out completely when he heard a voice from the back of the room.

"Dust, and I thought my team trained hard."

The four huntsmen looked towards the doorway to see a set of semi-familiar faces. Then again, almost everyone at Beacon recognized the fashionable attire of one Coco Adel. She stood in front of her team, sunglasses pulled down just far enough so she could get a clear look at the battered freshmen standing before her. Jaune noticed that Velvet looked equally impressed while Yatsuhashi's face remained neutral. As for Fox… well, Jaune never Coco's team well enough to feel comfortable asking if Fox could actually see things with those eyes of his, or if he had another method of sensing the world around him.

"I mean, I always assumed that Nikos trained her ass off," Coco continued, stepping down past spectator seats in the training room to meet JNPR on the arena floor, "But it looks like the four of you dragged yourself through a combination of mud, barbed wire, and explosives."

"That last one's probably my fault." Nora admitted.

A small (though admittedly confused) blush creeped onto Jaune's cheeks. It was the first time anyone outside of RWBY or JNPR had paid him what he assumed was a compliment. The fact that it was given by one of the most popular huntresses at Beacon made it feel that much more meaningful. He rubbed the back of his neck and gave a nervous laugh, "Uh… thanks?"

"You look amazing!" Velvet exclaimed, "Well, I mean you look horrible, but it just shows how hard you've been working, which is really impressive."

Yatsuhashi nodded in agreement, "The execution of your technique really conveys the strength of your conviction. Even though we only entered during the final minute of your match, I saw confidence behind each swing and thrust, as if you have drilled these forms for many years." He smiled at Ren, "Hello, Ren. I greet you like the sun greets the morning."

"And I welcome you like a butterfly welcomes the wind."

Coco's stare bounced between Yatsuhashi and Ren, "I feel like I'm missing something here."

"I am a regular at the meditation sessions Yatsuhashi leads every Saturday." Ren explained.

"Sometimes the only other participant during those sessions." Yatsuhashi added, "He is a very skilled practitioner of the art."

Ren gave the gentle giant a bow, "I apologize for my absence these last few weeks. Rest assured that my perfect attendance will resume starting this week." Jaune heard him mutter to himself, "I need the mental relief now more than ever."

"Well I'm glad Yats has somebody else he can nerd out with instead of the rest of his team." Coco sighed,

"I find the meditation sessions to be helpful." Fox added.

Coco ignored him, "But I'm still really curious about you guys. With skills like that, I would've thought you'd be making waves like those gals from RWBY. Are you playing up the quiet underdog angle? Pretty ballsy move when you've got a four-time Mistrali champion in your midst."

"Well, to be honest, I wasn't much to look at when I first came to Beacon." Jaune admitted, "Pyrrha's been training me for almost as long as we've been partners, and that's really helped me improve as a huntsman."

Something must have clicked for the sophomore huntress, because Coco leaned in to have a closer look at Jaune, "Waaaaaaiiiiit a minute. I remember you. You're that hunky dude that showed up to the dance in a dress, right?"

"I… uh… Yeah." Jaune said, the last word barely above a whisper.

Coco laughed, "Not much to look at, my ass." She glanced at Pyrrha, "Must be nice to share a room with this guy, am I right?"

"I won't lie," Pyrrha giggled, "Being his partner definitely comes with some perks."

"You better keep that one." Coco said to Jaune, jamming a thumb in Pyrrha's direction.

"You act as if he has a choice in the matter." Nora said cheerfully.

"Not like I would want to make a different choice, anyway." Jaune countered, "When nobody else believed in me, Pyrrha did. She spent all of her free time training me, offering encouragement and advice, and giving me the confidence I needed to succeed. You only meet someone like that once in a lifetime."

Coco looked at Pyrrha, "You better keep that one."

Yatsuhashi coughed, "We didn't come here to embarrass our fellow huntsmen, Coco."

"Yeah, but a little bit of pre-training chit chat never hurt anyone." The huntress defended, "And aren't you the one who's always big on making new friends?"

"Yes, but not when they are trying to prepare for an international tournament."

"It's fine." Jaune said, "We're just blowing off some steam more than anything, really." He ignored Coco's (very) unladylike noise of disbelief, "I'm more concerned that we're cutting into your training time. Do you need us to clear out so you can do your thing? I know there's more than enough room for two teams, but…" He tapped his head and grinned, "I also know more than most how head games can mess with performance."

CFVY's leader raised an eyebrow, "Well that doesn't sound ominous at all." She glanced at Yatsuhashi, "you getting ominous vibes, too?"

The swordsman nodded, "Perhaps there is a reason you are fighting as though your lives depend on it?"

The members of JNPR shared a heavy glance before Pyrrha offered a guarded answer, "It's… not something that's worth getting into, but you're somewhat correct: we're not your average freshman team."

"For reasons other than having an accomplished Mistrali huntress on the roster, I assume." Coco guessed, "But I won't pry. From one woman to another, I can respect our need for secrets. Still, though… I'll be watching your opening match with interest."

"Unless we're the ones they're fighting." Fox pointed out.

Jaune shrugged, "I wouldn't mind that. Gotta be honest, I've always been interest in getting a closer look at your minigun, Coco. Even if it is while I'm staring down its barrel"

A half-truth, given that Jaune only really gained an interest after spending months of heavy weapons training with XCOM. Either way, Coco flashed a grin and casually waved her handbag, "Oh, you mean this thing?" She gave it a shake, and Jaune watched it deploy into the impressive automatic weapon he briefly glimpsed during the Breach so long ago.

"She's my pride and joy." Coco beamed as Jaune walked around the massive weapon, "Well… second to Velvet, of course."

Jaune ignored the embarrassed protest from Coco's teammate and gently rotated the business end of the weapon in his hand, feeling the smooth motion as each of the six barrels clicked into place. Even though he never shared Ruby's level of enthusiasm for weaponry, he felt like he could spend a solid hour examining Coco's gun.

"Man, Beagle is going to freak out when he sees this in the tournament," He muttered, "I know this is going to sound weird, but… is it alright if I hold it?"

Nora let out a small gasp, "Asking to hold another woman's purse? In front of Pyrrha?!"

Coco gave him a hard stare. Jaune started to regret asking before Coco finally answered, "I don't think I've ever let someone else touch my baby unless it was connecting with their face in the middle of a fight. Buuuuuut, I think I can make an exception here." She glanced at Pyrrha, "Provided the missus is okay with it?"

Pyrrha nodded with an amused smile, "She is."

"Well, since you kids are growing on me, I'll allow it." She offered the grab bar to Jaune, "Just know that I'll have Yatsuhashi murder you if you drop her."

Jaune carefully took the grip from Coco and instinctively dropped into his usual braced stance. The balance of the gun felt wonderful, and he effortlessly swept the barrels across the room while imagining a squad of Mutons falling to the sheer volume of firepower he could put out with the firearm in his hands. He desperately wanted to pull the trigger and get a feel for the gun's recoil, but he knew better than to push his luck.

"Looks like this isn't your first time handling heavy-duty equipment." Coco noted, eyebrow cocked, "Don't tell me you're hiding something inside that sword of yours."

Jaune handed the minigun back to Coco with a laugh, "I wish. Sadly, not."

"Coulda fooled me." The huntress commented, packing her weapon back into its designer purse, "Well, we should probably get on with what we came here for. Thanks for the chat, and good luck with the tournament tomorrow."

Nora pounded one hand into the other, a grin on her face, "We're ready for a good ol' fashioned leg brea-" She cleared her throat after receiving a hard nudge from Ren, "We look forward to a jolly good rumpy-pumpy in tomorrow's festivities. Pip pip cheerio, and all that."

Jaune sighed as he watched Ren mouth the word 'banned' at his partner, "Don't mind her. We'll see you around, I'm sure"

The moment Bradford stepped through the Hyperwave Relay's portal, he felt the crushing weight of all his problems back on Earth magically evaporate. While he knew that he'd feel better after a visit to Remnant, the Central Officer didn't realize just how much stress he'd apparently burdened himself with over the last few months. The room he stepped into was spacious, commanded an impressive view of the surrounding geography and bright afternoon sky with floor-to-ceiling windows, and played up an interesting time motif with clockwork gears ticking and rotating just about anywhere Bradford looked. A single table stood at the far end of the room (framed, predictably, by a window resembling a clock face) with an elderly gentleman standing patiently in front of it. Grey hair capped a weary face, and curious eyes looked back at Bradford from behind a pair of spectacles. The confident posture and impressive attire told Bradford everything he needed to know.

"Ozpin?"

The man smiled, "And you must be Central Officer Bradford. A pleasure to meet you."

Bradford closed the gap between the two of them and offered Beacon's headmaster a hand for a more formal greeting, "The pleasure is all mine, believe me. I'm a bit embarrassed that it's taken me this long to finally get around to making the trip here and meeting you in person. Ruby's been bugging me for about a week now to come visit. And after all she and her friends have done for XCOM…"

"You feel slightly ashamed for not fulfilling her request sooner." Ozpin guessed, "I wouldn't worry about it too much. I've heard quite a bit about the difficulties you are facing with your Council of Nations, so it's perfectly understandable that you've been busy. What's important is that you are here now, is it not?"

"That's true. Speaking of 'here,' I'm guessing this is your office at Beacon?" Bradford asked, allowing himself another look around the room.

Ozpin nodded, "Indeed it is. We're standing on top of the most recognizable landmark of my school. Not only that, but this tower also serves as Vale's connection to the Cross Continental Transmit System."

"I think Ruby told me about that once… it's Remnant's technology for global interconnectivity, right?"

"Atlas's technology," Ozpin clarified, "But yes. It is how the four nations are able to remain in instantaneous contact with one another."

"And your office sits on top of Vale's tower." Bradford mused, "Something tells me that Ruby downplayed just how important you are in Remnant's politics."

The headmaster shrugged, "Or perhaps she isn't aware of it. To her, I am the wise, old headmaster of her school. While I may dispute the first half of that title, I have always believed it is best for my students to have a simplified image of who I am." When Bradford raised an eyebrow, Ozpin added, "However, considering the… unique circumstances surrounding RWBY and JNPR, perhaps it would be better for them to have a clear view of the bigger picture."

"Can't say I'd disagree with that. Ruby keeps talking about problems with the White Fang and other strange criminal activity. If there's something big going on in the shadows, I'd say that two teams of hunters that just spent the better part of a year fighting a global war are an asset worth bringing up to speed on the real situation."

"Mmmm. While it is undeniable that RWBY and JNPR have gained a tremendous amount of combat experience, I ask you this: just because we can rely on them to help with Remnant's immediate problems, does that mean we should?"

Ozpin stepped around his desk and gazed upon Beacon through the clock window. Bradford fell in line next to him and let out a low, impressed whistle, "That's quite a school you've got there."

"And while its students are capable of wielding impressive weaponry and incredible power against the forces of darkness that plague this world, they are still students. Children. As strong as they are, I try my best to remind myself that many of them have yet to see the true evils of this world."

"Not all, though." Bradford pointed out, "While Ruby was definitely an idealistic teenager upon her first arrival at XCOM, I'm sure there are a lot of students that are more like Blake who have learned from a young age that the world is not a nice place."

"And is it up to us to decide how each student reaches maturity and comes to terms with the horrors and violence of war?" Ozpin asked, "But we can postpone this conversation for another time. I believe you've come to watch Ruby and her friends participate in the first round of the combat tournament. I can introduce you to my staff and several ambassadors from the other nations along the way."

The Central Officer nodded, "Sounds like a good idea to me. RWBY and JNPR have shared quite a few… impressive tales regarding the disciplinary actions of Miss Goodwitch. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious about how much of their stories were fact and how much were fiction."

"If I had to wager a guess, I'd say their stories are entirely fact." Ozpin answered, an amused twinkle in his eye, "You'll see for yourself soon enough."

After a short walk to the sky docks, followed by a quick airship ride, Bradford had the opportunity to truly appreciate the marvel of engineering known as the Amity Colosseum. He'd seen it from Ozpin's office, but it looked fairly small from a distance. Now, as Ozpin accompanied him off of the airship and onto the floating stadium itself, Bradford's first thought was to compare it to the Temple Ship. The arena itself looked large enough to host an extremely spacious combat field while still managing to comfortably seat thousands of spectators. The support structure below the arena also impressed the Central Officer, with airships parked at berths all around the circular building, spacious hallways forming a ring around the central rooms, and a dozen archways leading into what Bradford could only imagine were the logistical sections of the Colosseum. He noticed the massive dust structure during the airship's approach, and Ozpin explained that it was the source of the stadium's ability to remain airborne.

"What if it gets damaged?" Bradford asked as the pair slowly stepped off of the docking platform and along the outer hallway, "The Gravity Dust?"

Ozpin raised an eyebrow, "Interesting question. Technically, if the Amity Colosseum was somehow cut off from its source of Dust, the building would fall out of the sky. However," He added, seeing Bradford open his mouth in protest, "The four nations of Remnant have used this stadium for years, and it has survived the scrutiny and testing of the world's greatest engineers, scientists, and tacticians. If there was a way to sabotage Amity Colosseum without being detected by the festival's security detail, we haven't discovered it yet."

"The operative word there is 'yet.' Sooner or later, it's bound to happen." Bradford said.

"Just as XCOM's subterranean base of operations was bound to be discovered and attacked by alien assailants?"

Bradford laughed, "Yeah, but with fewer aliens. Though I'm still undecided if aliens are better or worse than Grimm."

"Are you feeling hungry at all?" Ozpin asked, changing subjects, "There are a multitude of concession stands located throughout the stadium. Given that you are an esteemed guest of mine, it would be my pleasure to get you anything that catches your eye."

Bradford shook his head, "I'm fine, thank you." He continued to look around at all the people walking by. It was easy to spot the hunters from the civilians, given their elaborate weaponry, their confident gait, and their (more often than not) unique choice of attire. He also noticed the security detail Ozpin mentioned: soldiers walking around in twos and threes, fully kitted out with armor and assault rifles. The military commander in Bradford wanted to ask Ozpin about the weapon and armor specifications carried by the soldiers, but decided he should try to enjoy himself rather than worry about every little thing. Besides, Ozpin had already mentioned that the soldiers were Atlesian and not Valean, "Big party you've got going on here."

"The Vytal Festival is perhaps the single most important international event on Remnant." Ozpin explained, "It's a celebration of the peace between our kingdoms, and the prosperity that has come with it. Eighty years have passed since the peace treaty was signed on the island of Vytal. It is my goal to ensure that such a peace continues to prosper for as long as possible."

"A noble goal. Is that the legendary Miss Goodwitch walking towards us?" Bradford asked.

Ozpin looked up and chuckled, "Indeed it is. How could you tell?"

"She's staring directly at you, and she doesn't look happy."

"Ah yes. That would do it." Ozpin agreed.

Glynda Goodwitch stormed up to the pair and came to a halt with her face mere inches away from Ozpin's.

"What is he doing here?" She hissed, "It's bad enough that James is suspicious of him, and now you're showing him around Amity? It's like you want his little secret to be blown wide open!"

"I'm not sure what secret you're talking about, Glynda." Ozpin answered mildly, "Captain Bradford here is a respected commander of the Valean Recon Division that has returned from a rather critical operation to the south as of yesterday. Just in time for the Vytal Festival."

"Twelfth Division." Bradford added, offering a hand to Glynda, "I run a small operation of roughly twenty commandos, and I'm pleased to report that-"

"I know what your cover is." Glynda said with an eyeroll, "But what's going to happen when someone who knows we don't have a Recon Division starts asking questions?"

"James seemed to take it at face value." Ozpin commented.

"That's because James is a-"

"… pompous prick with a thorny rod stuck up his ass?"

Glynda spun around and glared at the newcomer, a disheveled man that Bradford didn't recognize. The 'Zero Fucks Given' attitude he exuded, however, gave the impression that this man was an extremely capable agent, and he knew it.

"Good afternoon, Qrow." Ozpin sighed.

Ah, the infamous uncle of Ruby and Yang. After all the praise lauded upon him by Ruby, Bradford expected someone a bit more… presentable. Then again, maybe he won over the affection of his nieces by playing up the Cool Uncle angle. Qrow offered a wordless nod at the headmaster before turning his attention to Bradford. He sized up the man from head-to-foot, walking around him in a circle to perform a complete visual inspection from all directions before letting out a low, unimpressed grunt, "He doesn't look like much, Oz."

"And yet he's proven himself to be an extremely capable tactician time and time again."

"Yeah, speaking of that…" He stood in front of Bradford once more and leered at him, "You're the guy that let my two little girls go off and pretend to be soldiers in some war, right?"

Bradford remembered Ozpin mentioned Qrow as the third person privy to the 'secret' of where RWBY and JNPR really were for the last three weeks. He didn't need to keep his cover up for now, "The word 'pretend' implies that they never actually accomplished anything." Bradford countered.

"But you did let them go into dangerous combat environments," Qrow pressed, "Let them risk getting themselves killed, repeatedly, over a matter of months? For a war they had no stake in? Even though they're kids?"

Glynda pinched the bridge of her nose, "Qrow, is this really the time?"

The Central Officer shifted uncomfortably, "When you put it like that, it sounds a lot worse than it seemed at the time. I was initially against it, mind you, but they were armed and trained fighters trapped on a secure military base. It was either try to enlist them, or keep them in lockdown in the brig. After spending a few months getting to know your nieces and their team, I am certain option two would have lasted for all of one week. Xiao Long insisted that and her team had the skills and experience necessary to survive in live combat."

"And you had reason to believe they were trained fighters because…?."

"Those weapons carried through the relay by Ruby and her team looked both functional and deadly." Bradford answered, "And close observations of their abilities during a week of on-base training confirmed my suspicions. While I still had reservations about hiring teenagers to join the squad, it wasn't the first time we let someone join below the age of twenty-one. Our top psionic operative is only a few years older than Yang, and she literally saved Earth from getting swallowed up in a black hole."

Qrow held Bradford's gaze for several tense seconds before cracking into a grin, "Good answer. I was just giving you crap, anyway."

"I'm… sorry?" Bradford asked in confusion.

"Can't imagine a more efficient way for them to grow the hell up and learn that the world isn't just fairy tales and daydreams. And yeah, while I would've found a way to bridge the gap between worlds and murder you in your sleep if they died, they're a couple of bona fide badasses now."

Bradford cast a glance at Ozpin that clearly asked 'Is he always like this?' while Ruby's uncle grabbed the Central Officer by the shoulder, "C'mon. The little kiddos are about to have their first match. I know a pretty good bar on board this hunk of steel where we can watch and knock back a few shots together. Y'know… get to know each other." He glanced over at Glynda, "She's not invited."

Glynda rolled her eyes as Qrow returned his attention to Bradford, "C'mon. Whaddyasay?"

"Actually, that sounds like it would be a good idea." Ozpin interjected, checking his scroll, "It appears I still have some… private matters that need attending to, so I need to bid our guest a temporary farewell at this juncture."

Bradford nodded, "Alright. I could probably use a stiff drink, anyway."

"Very good. I leave you in Qrow's capable hands." The headmaster turned to Qrow and gave him a stern look, "Play nice, Qrow. This man is an ambassador for an ally that could prove to be far more potent than any kingdom on Remnant."

Qrow rolled his eyes and turned to walk off with Bradford, "Yeah, yeah, I got you. Go and have fun meeting with Jimmy."

As Bradford walked with his new host, he couldn't help but ask, "You were kidding about murdering me in my sleep, right?"

"Nope."

A/N: Right, so I'd like to talk a little bit about narrative tone. Given that this is my second major writing project, I'm shooting for something that's a bit more ambitious than RWBY Within. Part of that is trying to use tone in a way that's more than "rah rah, gotta kill dem ayys." However, I'm noticing that my skill in proper use of tone isn't that great. Which is good! It means I'm learning something and working towards becoming a better writer. While it means that I'm not always 100% happy with my chapters when I post them, one reader pointed out that this is somewhere that fanfiction truly shines: I can take feedback, go back to what I've written, and try to make it better. This is something I didn't do with RWBY Within, but I definitely would like to take advantage of it for this story. One example we already have is Ironwood's aggression in his meeting with Ozpin last chapter. I meant to have it edited before posting this one tonight, but I haven't had the opportunity to get around to it quite yet.

So why am I saying all of this? Well, I would really appreciate feedback on the tone. I appreciate feedback in general, but I really want to nail down tone for this story. In case I haven't done a good job conveying the tone for this opening act, I'm aiming for a superficial feeling of "It's good to be back" for RWBY and JNPR, with a second layer that hints at the ugly scars of the XCOM war just beneath the surface. Annette directly noticed this during her shopping adventure with Weiss, and I postponed the first tournament fight to include a few scenes in this chapter to further convey that feeling. If you have any opinions to contribute on the matter, I would love to hear them.

That's enough rambling for now, though. Thank you all so much for taking the time to read my stories, and thank you for the wonderful reviews that you leave week after week.