Destroyed UFF convoy

Counter Wind

20:39 hours

Weiss, Blake, and Yang get out of the ditch on the side of the road, actually an old mortar crater, and scan the wreckage with their muzzles. The grey humvees and Urals are little more than smoldering metal and melting rubber, riddled with bullet holes and blood from their fallen occupants. Behind them, the headlights of an M1128 Stryker creep through the cornfield as Sun and Neptune move from their firing position, the large cannon trained on the only surviving Federation vehicle, a modified Marauder APC, the kind used in the Federation for prisoner transport.

"Watch the road for Feds, Sun," Blake says into her radio. "We don't need that gun anymore."

"Roger," Sun replies. Sun rotates the gun towards the direction the convoy was headed, smiling as he observes the large holes punched straight through the armored vehicles. Neptune drives up along the side of the road, pushing the skeleton of a humvee out of the way.

Meanwhile, RWBY Squad take up positions at the backdoor of the Marauder. Blake stands in front of it, syringe in hand, with Yang behind her, her shotgun now loaded with rubber bullets. Weiss has her hand on the door handle.

"Remember, if she shoots just turn around," Weiss says.

"I know, open it," Blake says, brow furrowed. Weiss silently counts down with her fingers, then swings the door open, her other hand on her rifle just in case. Blake and Yang quickly tense up, then relax.

Empty.

"Motherfucker!" Yang shouts, and starts pacing between the wreckage. Her eyes have been red since Charlie Greenhorn.

"You get her?" Neptune asks.

"It's empty," Weiss replies. Blake jumps into the back of the APC, sniffing.

"She was here," she says. "Maybe eight, ten hours ago. She must've switched transports at some point to throw us off. Her scent is starting to get harder to track."

"The fuck else is new?" Yang mumbles. "This is the fifth decoy we found in a month. How are we on top of them but still can't fucking catch her?"

"You know, I probably shouldn't be saying this," Sun says. Him and Neptune are driving back to RWBY to extract them. "But I overheard Ozpin talking to Goodwitch about it. He says he thinks Cinder is toying with us, keeping Ruby just out of our reach. Crazy bitch, if you ask me."

The APC rolls up to Weiss and Blake next to the Marauder, and the back door is swung open by Sun.

"Hey, Yang, let's go," Weiss shouts. Yang doesn't answer. She's peering inside a damaged humvee, the only one in the convoy that didn't go up in flames, but still obviously disabled, as evidenced by the shattered glass and splattered blood. "We have to get back to the airship and figure out what our next move is.

Yang's right forearm has been replaced with a military grade robotic counterpart, a near perfect replacement for her old human arm. Ironwood had it installed; it was the only way she'd be allowed to stay in the field. Yang uses it to rip the broken back door off of the humvee, tossing it aside. A Faunus falls out the side, crashing to the ground on his back with a moan. His right arm is a mess of torn flesh and protruding bone, and most of his grey uniform has been burned into a flaky jet black material.

"Uh, Yang?" Weiss says. Yang unloads a rubber slug and replaces it with a real one. The Faunus stares wide eyed at Yang, and attempts to drag himself away from her with his good arm. Yang steps on his ankle, pinning him down and making him squeal in pain. He raises his arms in front of him and pleads for his life.

"Wait, please, I surr-"

BANG!

Ember punches a hole straight through his neck. Yang notices bits of asphalt fly through the wound before it's covered by blood.

"YANG!" Weiss shouts, stomping towards her. Blake follows, then Sun and Neptune catch up to her as well. "What the fuck are you doing!?"

"Finishing the job," Yang says, eyeing the body as she reloads the round.

"We take prisoners! He could've helped us find Ruby!"

"Since when were you on the animals' side!?" Yang shouts, turning her red gaze from the Faunus to the Hunter. "Shouldn't you want these assholes dead more than me?"

"I'm a soldier of the Vale Armed Forces, first and foremost!" Weiss shouts, the dead body the only thing separating her and Yang. Blake and SSSN Squad hang back a few steps; Sun and Neptune look away tentatively, but Blake stares straight at Yang. "I don't let my personal feelings get in the way of my job! And my job is to take prisoners, human and Faunus. You can get thrown in prison for this!"

Yang doesn't speak or move for a minute. Her grimace bores a hole straight through Weiss, but Weiss stands her ground. Only the crackling fire of war is heard in the night.

"I bet you're thrilled now," Yang mutters. Weiss's brow furrows. "You wanted to be squad leader since the beginning. Now you finally got it." Everyone's eyes grow wide.

"I'm gonna wait in the truck," Neptune says, and turns heel for the Stryker.

"Yeah I'll join you," Sun says. "We're gonna need that armor."

Weiss's face grows bright red. "You stupid little-"

"Walk away, Weiss," Blake says, approaching them. Weiss grits her teeth, huffing. "This isn't helping anything. Just walk." Weiss pauses for a few more seconds, then quickly walks away, her bossy Schnee stride in full effect.

Blake turns her attention to Yang, who's back to looking at the dead Faunus below her. "You're not the only one that lost a friend, you know," she says. Yang looks at Blake.

"I didn't lose her," Yang hisses, then walks passed her, bumping her shoulder as she walks to the Stryker. Blake takes one last look at the Fed before following her.

HCS Airwalker

Deck 4

23:22 hours

"There you are," Qrow says. He walks up to Ozpin, who is leaning against the railing of one of the top decks of the airship. It's low cruising altitude of 2,500 allows a fantastic view of the Counter Wind plains beneath a full moon. They're over militia controlled farmland now, so razor wire fences illuminated by lights and guard towers outline the different acres of plants. No pillars of smoke from battles tonight; there has been a lull in the fighting since the Autumn Offensive as the Coalition takes its time licking its wounds, letting the militias operate independently.

"Were you looking for me?" Ozpin asks. He's looking to the west, to Viktor Speeder, to Fort Beacon.

"Yeah, figured you'd want this," Qrow replies, holding out his flask. Ozpin looks down at it.

"Have you ever seen me drink before?"

"Come on, you telling me you don't spike your coffee every once in awhile?" Qrow says with a smirk. Ozpin sighs and accepts the flask, taking a long swig. He quickly hands it back before he's tempted for more. "Glynda thinks Ruby could still be in Counter Wind. Even Cinder can't move anyone that fast. We can watch the borders, mainly with Viktor, and see if there's a rise in Fang activity-"

"She'll get through," Ozpin interrupts. "She can slip by undetected through a tunnel we don't know about, our lines are stretched so thin she can shoot her way through if she wanted, we don't have any spare aircraft to follow her even if we did find her, and if she goes into Federation territory we'll have no chance of finding her until she comes back out. Cinder is in control right now."

"Sounds to me like you're giving up."

"No. I'm being realistic. This is the worst case scenario, Qrow. We have no more reinforcements, no more liberated territory, no more local support, no more morale. All we have are a handful of exhausted Hunters that probably want me dead as much as Cinder.

"Why the hell would you say that? Your Hunters practically think you're superhuman. Nothing but respect for you."

"I haven't done much good, have I? Every major engagement the Hunters have taken part in has been a failure. CFVY, Oak Whiskey, Vale, Ruby. We were supposed to turn the tide of the war. We've only been digging ourselves into a deeper and deeper hole. I'd hate myself too."

Qrow stares at Ozpin for a moment, and then laughs, first a simple snicker, then slowly grows to the point where he grips his chest. Ozpin takes his eyes off the horizon and watches him, perplexed.

"You gotta learn how to smile every once in awhile, Oz," Qrow says when he composes himself. "You actually believe that your Hunters have done no good?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"You think four soldiers taking out an entire outpost is a failure? You think four soldiers holding the line against hordes of infantry and tanks, literally hordes of tanks and armor, is defeat? I've watched your Hunters shrug off hails of gunfire that would decimate whole units. They've killed dozens of Spectres, the Federation's absolute best soldiers, with as much difficulty as regular grunts. They've done the work of whole armies without taking any casualties. Cinder and her goons? You're right, they're the worst case scenario. But they're literally the only obstacle the Hunters are challenged by, and we're right on their heels. You built something far ahead of its time, Oz, something far more powerful than Cinder could ever hope to achieve. You say you haven't turned the tide of the war, but you're wrong. I heard about the Hunters long before they pulled me in. The grunts, even from Atlas, are in awe of them. They think they're invincible as long as the Hunters are in the field with them. The invasion of Vale, the Autumn Offensive, the destruction of the fleet, the White Fang; as bad as they are, nothing the Feds can throw at them will make them scared as long as the Hunters are still fighting. The Hunters are the turn of the tide, since the very beginning. When we win this war, they're gonna build a twenty foot statue of you right in the center of the memorial. Probably holding your fucking cup of coffee."

Ozpin smirks at the last remark.

"Good to have you back, brother," he says.

"Good to be back," Qrow replies. He takes another swig. "I mean, I'd rather not be here, but whatever, I got nothing better to do."

"General!" Jaune shouts, running onto the deck. The two men turn around. "We found Ruby!"

"In Counter Wind?" Ozpin asks.

"Atlas!"

"Atlas? That's impossible."

"You're the one that's never underestimated Cinder," Qrow says.

"Come on!" Jaune says, waving towards the door. Without hesitation, Ozpin starts walking, Qrow close behind, tucking the flask away.

Briefing Room

23:30 hours

"What's going on?" Ozpin says the second he enters the room. Ironwood, Glynda, Port, Oobleck, and all the Hunters are in the room. A hologram shows a picture of Ruby, dressed in black AURA, carrying Crescent Rose. She's flanked by Cinder and Neo, and followed by Emerald, Mercury, and several Spectres.

"This was about an hour ago," Glynda says. "At Solitas International Airport."

"She's in Atlas now?" Ozpin says. Glynda nods. "How is that possible if she was in Counter Wind only hours ago?"

"They must have faked her scent," Blake says. "They knew that I'd be tracking her, so they spread her scent wherever they were leading us. They could've been doing for longer than tonight."

"So this is Cinder's endgame," Qrow says.

"It must be," Ozpin says. "What's happening at Solitas now?"

"Nothing good," Glynda says, and presses a button. The hologram changes to an overhead image of one of the terminals of the airport. Smoke rises out of destroyed windows, and the building is surrounded by flashing police lights and hundreds of policemen and soldiers. Many planes and helicopters have been destroyed by rocket fire. Search lights comb the building and surroundings, turning the night to day in the vicinity of the warzone.

"How did they get inside Atlas?" Ozpin asks.

"Same way they got in Vale," Ironwood says. "Two unmarked cargo planes quickly landed, avoiding all contact with the control tower. Airport security tried to intercept them when they taxied towards the terminal, but obviously they didn't stand a chance. Cinder quickly took control of a terminal and released some sort of noxious gas, killing dozens of civilians and pushing the remaining security forces out. They're currently engaged in a siege with Atlas forces."

"The Captain of the Airwalker already has authorization for a suborbital boost," Glynda says. "We'll be in Atlas in an hour. We just need your go ahead."

"Go," Ozpin says. Glynda nods, picks up a phone, and relays the order to the command deck. Ozpin turns to the Hunters. "No matter what's in Atlas, the hunt for Ruby ends there."

"It's a trap, isn't it?" Weiss says. "Cinder's expecting us."

"No doubt. But this time she's in our territory, and we'll have the advantage." He turns to Ironwood. "How many Coalition units can you organize to converge on Atlas?"

"Already working on it," Ironwood says. "We'll have a small army surrounding the city to prevent her escape by the time we get there."

"Sir," Glynda says. "We have ten minutes to strap in for the boost."

As if on queue, an alarm sounds and red lights start flashing.

"Everyone move!" Ozpin orders, and everyone starts to file out of the room.

"Sir," Yang says. "What are we going to do about Ruby?"

"Same as always," Ozpin says. "We're bringing her back."

"Will Cinder let us?" Ozpin scowls, and pulls her to the side, bending down to look her straight in the eye.

"We will make her," he says. "This isn't her war anymore. It ends at Solitas." Yang nods.

"Yes, Sir," Yang says, then continues walking.

20,000 feet above Solitas International Airport

24:41 hours

Three bullheads fly out of the main hangar of the airship and slowly dive towards the ground under the cover of the night sky. Ozpin leans out of the side of the lead dropship, getting a closer view of the airport. The smoke from the original terminal has died down, but has spread to adjacent sections of the building. The surrounding streets filled bumper to bumper with law enforcement and military vehicles, and have leaked onto the tarmac, where a command center comprised of several large tents have been set up on a runway. Military helicopters buzz the airspace directly above the terminal, and jets can be seen across the city.

"This ain't right, Oz," Qrow says next to him. "Cinder wouldn't stack the odds against her like this unless she has a plan."

"Of course," Ozpin replies. "But until we know what that plan is, we'll use our numbers and location to our advantage."

"How is she supposed to get out of this?" Weiss asks, sitting across from him along with Blake and Yang. "Atlas has the most advanced air defense systems on Remnant, even if she got in, she won't be getting out."

"What if she's not planning on getting out?" Yang says. "Could be a suicide mission. Bring Ruby down with her."

"Cinder always has a plan to get out," Ozpin says. The ground is about a thousand feet below them now. He leans over to the pilots. "Can you bring it into the terminal, through the windows?" The pilots look between each other, and the copilot shrugs.

"Not a problem, Sir," the pilot replies, and pitches down, moving the trajectory of the craft from the roof to the ground, then quickly rotates the craft upright as it approaches the windows. The copilot readies the controls on the minigun attached below them. The two other bullheads flank them on either side.

"Masks on," Ozpin says into his radio, and everyone puts on their gas masks, double checking their filters.

The terminal looks like a horror movie. Against all odds, the lights are still on, but it only gives a better view of the scene. Shattered glass, destroyed seats, and scattered baggage are all classic symptoms of an attack; easy to stomach. But the bodies are another story. The way they're positioned hints at chaos before they fell. They're on top of each other, lined up on seats, many are piled up at the windows where they probably desperately sought safety from the gas. Many are still clutching their throats, mouths and eyes wide open. And there are nearly no wounds among them all; no bullet wounds, no cuts, no blood except for a few that were probably crushed by fellow civilians during the carnage. They just lie there, perfectly intact. A massive flight status screen haunts the scene with a full column of red "CANCELED" statuses.

"Can you land?" Ozpin asks, breaking the silence.

"Uh, yeah," the pilot mumbles, and carefully moves inside the terminal, and finds a place where its wheels won't crush any bodies. The two other bullheads do the same, and the Hunters disembark.

"Fall in!" Ozpin shouts, and everyone moves to him as the bullheads power down. The only sound inside comes from the sirens and commotion outside; the airport itself is as dead as its inhabitants.

"No welcome party," Nora observes with disappointment.

"Oobleck," Ozpin says. "What were the estimates casualties for Cinder's group so far?"

"Zero," Oobleck replies. "They took out airport security without a scratch, and haven't engaged directly with anyone since. Only sporadic gunfire from multiple locations whenever a strike team approached, both from the ground and air."

"They don't have the numbers to hold off an effective force," Ironwood says. "The only reason we haven't overwhelmed them is because of Ruby."

"They know we're here for her," Jaune says. "Why not face us now?"

"Uh, Sir?" Velvet says with a worried look.

"I smell it too," Blake says, sniffing.

"Ruby?" Yang asks.

"Radiation." Everyone's eyes grow wide behind their masks.

"Should we be leaving right now?" Sun asks. "We don't have chem suits."

"It's not in the air," Velvet says. "But it's somewhere in the airport."

"Nuke," Ozpin says. "That's why she's here. She wants to bomb Atlas."

"This is General Ironwood," Ironwood says into his radio without a moment's hesitation. "There is a nuclear threat in Solitas. I repeat, there is a nuclear warhead in the airport. Relay message to all military and Atlesian officials, begin evacuation of the city. Make use of bomb shelters…"

"Ironwood, get back to the Airwalker, you're more needed there than here," Ozpin says. Ironwood nods and continues issuing commands as he walks back to his bullhead, which quickly takes off.

"Blake, Sun, Velvet," Ozpin says. "We don't have geiger counters. You'll have to lead the way. Sun, Neptune and RWBY Squad goes down the first terminal, Velvet and JNPR Squad. Glynda, Qrow, Port, Oobleck, we'll look for Ruby."

"Shouldn't you have a Faunus help you?" Blake asks.

"The nuke is more important."

"But Ruby-"

"Twenty million people live in Atlas, not to mention all the soldiers called here for the attack, not to mention us. If it detonates, we all die, including Ruby." Blake slowly nods.

"Sir!" Ren shouts, pointing out the window. A white streak is racing towards Ironwood's bullhead, gaining too fast for evasion.

"James!" Ozpin shouts into his radio. No response, and the Hunters can only watch for several painful seconds before the white streak collides with the craft, breaking off an engine and sending the pieces in a tumble to the ground.

Seconds later, three parachutes open.

"We're good, Oz," Ironwood says. The Hunter breathe a sigh of relief. "Looks like it came from the airport's SAM site, near the control tower. Cinder must have taken control of them."

"Which means we know where she is now," Port says.

"I'll get another ride when I reach the ground. Out," Ironwood says.

"We'll need to disable those missiles before we even think about exfil," Ozpin says.

"Should the pilots come with us?" Glynda suggests.

"We can hold our own," one of the pilots says. "We can use the miniguns and fly hugging the ground if we need to."

"Wait, no," Ozpin says.

"Sir?" Glynda asks, but Ozpin only holds up a hand. He takes a step back, looking at the bullheads, then the white streak in the sky slowly fading, then down the terminal.

"I know what Cinder's plan is," he says. "New plan."

Solitas International Airport

SAM Control/Security Bunker

01:21 hours

"Get on that door!" the Spectre watching the security cameras shouts to his comrades. The other five Spectres grab their rifles and take up positions facing the entrance to the room, a solid metal door bolted to the concrete wall. Typically they wouldn't worry about somebody getting in before their job was done, but when they saw Qrow casually walking down the hallway clad in AURA, they knew they had to hurry.

"Where the fuck is Cinder!?" one of them shouts.

"Give her ten more minutes!" the one at the cameras shouts. He switches the screen to the final camera, looking directly at the door as Qrow moves closer.

"Where don't have ten minutes!"

"He's at the door, get ready!" The Spectre grabs his own AK and takes cover behind the desk. The soldiers tense up, aim down their sites, and wait for the inevitable.

For a minute.

Then three.

"...Where is he?" one of the Spectres asks. The Spectre at the cameras slowly gets up and peeks at the screen. Qrow is standing in the middle of the hallway, looking down at his watch.

"He's...not breaching," he says.

"The fuck?"

"Wait…" Qrow looks up from his watch and stares straight at the camera. He holds up three fingers, then counts down. "What the-"

BOOM!

The side wall of the bunker caves in, opening a floor to ceiling hole in a gust of concrete dust and debris. Out of the concrete fog comes Port, FAL on full auto and sweeping the room. Three of the Faunus are killed instantly. One more is dropped by Qrow as he kicks open the door, popping a bolt straight off the hinge as it swings open. The final two barely have time to turn to their ambushers before Ozpin and Glynda walk through the hole, peppering them with bullets. Port finally empties his magazine as the final two Faunus fall to the floor, proudly admiring his handiwork as he takes out a fresh magazine.

"Goddammit, Port," Glynda mutters. "I told you we needed to make sure the control panels stayed intact.

"You can't put a limit on fun, Glynda!" Port exclaims. "Besides, you see any broken controls in here?" Glynda stares angrily at Port, then turns her attention to her radio.

"Blake, sitrep," she says. She can hear gunfire on the other end. Meanwhile, Qrow and Ozpin search the control room for the controls to the SAM turrets.

"We're still advancing through the terminal," Blake replies over the gunfire. "They're putting up a lot of resistance, but they're constantly falling back. Probably saving their numbers."

"Any hostiles with AURA? Cinder?"

"Negative. Jaune's team is the same."

"What about the nuke?" There's a brief silence.

"Negative, General. I'm having trouble pinpointing its exact location over all the other scents. Sun says he can't find it either. It's definitely in one of the terminals, though."

"Roger that. Stick with the plan, keep pushing until they have nowhere to run. And find that nuke. We can't know for sure where they plan on detonating it."

"Roger. Out."

"They're here, Oz," Port says. Ozpin quickly walks over to Port and looks over the controls. He pauses, then double checks all the instruments and screens.

"They're already down," Ozpin says.

"What? Did we take them out?"

"No, they disabled them. Before we got here."

"General!" Oobleck shouts on the radio. His voice is heavily distorted.

"They're at the bullheads?" Ozpin replies.

"Yes, Sir! All of them! Cinder, Ruby, even the Spectres are wearing AURA! Two of the pilots are dead, my AURA is down to 46 percent capacity. We can't hold!"

"Roger, Oobleck. Do you have visual on the nuke?"

"Ruby is carrying a large knapsack, that has to be it."

"Solid copy, Oobleck, fall back now. Repeat, fall back!"

"RPG!" Then static.

"That's not part of the plan," Port says.

"Let's go," Ozpin orders, then switches radio frequencies as they exit the control room. "Jaune, regroup with RWBY Squad and get to the tarmac. Oobleck should already be on his way. The bullheads should be there within minutes."

"Yes, Sir," Jaune replies. "Also, Velvet is reporting that it smells like the nuke is behind us now."

"Oobleck reported the nuke at the bullheads. Cinder's moving according to plan."

Solitas International Airport

Original Hunter landing site

Ruby drags the two bodies from their seats in the cockpit of one of the bullheads and drops them to the floor, adding to the airport body count. Neo and Emerald take their seats, while Ruby stands behind them, eyes on the floor, nuclear suitcase slung over her shoulder. Additional bruises and injuries can be seen between the cracks of armor, her eyes are bright red with dark sacs underneath. She's sweating profusely, but shows no other signs of exhaustion. Cinder, Mercury and several Spectres join her, and the rest of the group commandeer the second craft, whose pilots escaped.

"Team Four, missiles are down, confirm?" Cinder says into her radio as the craft powers up. No response. "Team Four, do you copy?" Still no response. Cinder slams down the radio against the wall. "Fucking morons."

She signals the pilots of the second bullhead the go ahead. It slowly exits the window and flies up.

"Guess they did. Fucking good, we've wasted enough time already. Take us out." Emerald nods, and the bullhead backs out of the airport and takes to the skies, climbing quickly. "Mercury, time."

"Ruby," Mercury says sternly. Ruby turns her back to Mercury, and he zips open the knapsack and observes its contents. The timer on the long silver canister that fills the entire knapsack is counting down. "Twenty minutes."

"That gives us plenty of time to get out of here," Cinder says.

"Damn shame we couldn't get a real nuke, like an ICBM. Flatten the whole town."

"It will, aboard a nuclear powered airship."

Suddenly, there's a loud popping sound, like a gunshot, and the ship starts to shake.

"The hell was that!?" Cinder says. "Why the hell are they firing at us? This is their ship!"

"It's not the airship, Cinder," Emerald says, eyes darting between control panels. There's another pop, and the bullhead sharply jerks to the side. The soldiers have trouble keeping their balance. "We're losing speed!"

"Why the fuck are we slowing down?" Cinder shouts angrily. She can hear the engines start to wind down. Looking out a window, she can see the other captured bullhead is having similar problems, smoke pouring out of one of the engines.

"We're losing power from somewhere! Fast!"

"Neo, fix this!" Cinder orders. There's another jerk, and one of the engines completely loses power, then turns back on after a split second, spinning the ship sideways, and throws Mercury to the floor. Neo uses her knife to rip open one of the panels below the controls, and starts quickly inspecting each group of wires with her fingers.

"Hurry up, we're gonna stall!" Mercury says. There's another pop.

"No shit, I can't hold it!" Emerald shouts back. Outside, there's an explosion in the second bullhead's wing, making it spiral and sends it towards the ground.

"Neo! Fix it or I'll strangle you to death before we reach the ground!" Cinder barks. Smiling Neo finds two separate cables, their plugs sabotaged so they won't reconnect. Neo rips off the plugs and slams the two cables together, creating sparks. Life is restored to the engines, and the ship returns to full power, and resumes its climb.

"Ok," Emerald says in between huge breaths. "Ok, we're stable."

"What the hell was that?" Cinder asks. Emerald leans over to see Neo's handiwork. She's taping the two cables together.

"That looks like the power regulator," she says. "No way that was an accident."

"Did they fucking sabotage this thing?" Mercury says angrily. "That's impossible, we attacked too fast for them to do anything." Cinder's brow furrows.

"Ozpin," she growls.

"Who?"

There's another explosion outside that shakes the cabin again, but this one's not from their engines.

"Incoming fire!" Emerald shouts. Cinder leaves her seat and stands between the two pilots. The Airwalker is only a few hundred more feet away, but every anti-air gun onboard is pointed in their direction. Streaks of hundreds of tracer rounds snake their way to the little bullhead.

"Go underneath them! Fast!" Cinder orders. Emerald guns the engines, maneuvering the ship passed the heavier armaments and circling the ship by the underbelly.

"Get to the first deck!" Cinder shouts, and slides the side door open. Everyone aims their weapons as the Bullhead climbs up the side of the ship. "We stick to the plan! Get it as close to the nuclear reactor as possible, disable their engines, then we get the hell out of here."

"You sure they can't disarm it?" Mercury asks.

"They put a scratch on it, it'll detonate," Cinder says.

The ship reaches the lowest deck of the airship, where a handful of VAF deckhands attempt to scurry away, but are quickly cut down by Cinder and her crew.

"Move out!" Cinder shouts, waving her men forward. The Spectres jump onto the deck, taking up defensive positions. She turns to Mercury. "Secure the area and make your way to the reactor," she orders him. "We'll do evasive maneuvers until you reach it, then we'll come in again. It should take you ten minutes, tops. We can't afford-"

"Neo?" Emerald says. Cinder turns around. Neo is standing in the cabin, pistol in hand. Her smile seems wider than normal.

"Neo, get back to the controls," Cinder says.

Instead, Neo sidesteps to behind Ruby and puts the gun to her head. Ruby doesn't seem to notice.

"...Neo," Cinder says slowly. Mercury has his F2000 trained on her. "What are you doing?"

Neo takes the knapsack from Ruby's shoulder and holds it out the other side of the cabin, a straight drop to the ground of Atlas.

"Emerald, don't. Move. The ship," Mercury says, lowering his rifle.

"If this is about Roman, Neo," Cinder says, fuming underneath her AURA. "This won't avenge him. Whatever's in your head right now, it won't work. Give. Me. The-"

"Contact!" a Spectres on the deck shouts, just as Blake tackles him to the ground and unloads Gambol Shroud into his face. Yang, Weiss, and the rest of the Hunters jump down from the above deck, overwhelming the Spectres in seconds. One of the last standing Spectres loads his M203 launcher, but is shot in the head before he can aim it. Nonetheless, his finger squeezes its trigger, shooting the deck near the hovering bullhead. The impact causes it to rock, and Neo's hand slips away from the strap.

The nuke starts its descent.

"FUCK!" Cinder shouts. Without hesitation, Neo aims and shoots Mercury in the ear, making him scream and drop his gun. Neo drops the pistol, takes out her stun baton, shoves Ruby forward, and stabs Cinder in the rib cage, locking up her torso.

"Cinder!" Emerald shouts. "What the fuck-"

"GO!" Cinder shouts back through gritted teeth. "GO NOW!"

The Bullhead surges forward, and Neo gives Ruby another big shove and launches themselves onto the deck. The bullhead peels away and flies faster and faster forward.

"They dropped the nuke!" Weiss shouts into her radio. Yang and Blake rush to Ruby and Neo. "Boost now! Repeat, boost now!"

"Ruby!" Blake shouts. Ruby looks up, recognizes Blake, then attempts to draw her pistol. Blake pounces on her, knocking the pistol out of her hand. Blake takes out the syringe and goes for Ruby's neck, but she blocks it with her own hand. The alarm and red lights on the ship activate again.

Neo jumps up from where she landed a few meters away and runs for Blake and Ruby. Yang runs in between them and takes a swing at Neo, who ducks and dodges it. She dives, grabs Ruby's hand and rips it off of Blake's, who stabs the needle into Ruby's neck. Ruby cries out, then goes static as Blake presses down on the plunger, her face slowly fading to unconsciousness.

"You FUCKER!" Yang shouts, and grabs Neo by the neck, who holds her palms out and offers no resistance. Yang grabs her shotgun by the stock and strikes Neo in the face with the barrel, swinging like a baseball bat. Neo looks up at Yang, nose broken, face oozing blood.

And still smiling. Yang's face fills with fury.

"Stop fucking smiling!" Yang shrieks.

The Airwalker's engines ignite in pillars of fire, and accelerates speed at the rate of Machs. Everyone onboard not strapped in is thrown to the floor with partial loss of consciousness, but high guardrails prevent anyone from going overboard.

Meanwhile, the much slower bullhead, even with the head start, is soon much closer to ground zero than the airship.

"Faster!" Mercury shouts, taping a wad of bandages to his ear.

"This is all it's got!" Emerald shouts back. Cinder rips open a compartment and takes out a parachute, putting it on. She grabs two more.

"Just hold onto something!" she shouts, tossing a parachute to Mercury, then moving to the cockpit.

"How long until it reaches the ground?" Emerald asks. He looks over her shoulder, to the part of the city where the bomb will fall.

"No, don't look!" Cinder shouts, and rips Emerald back by the arm.

And in the process, witnessing the blinding flash herself, the night turning into day in an instant.

The red hot mushroom cloud quickly rises to above the skyscrapers, which instantly topple as tons of steel melt by the second. A shockwave rapidly expands, causing destruction like an earthquake with winds of a hurricane. The Airwalker is able to outrun the worst of it, but when the shockwave reaches Cinder's bullhead, the machine instantly gives way, the engines exploding and the wreck spiraling down into the storm.

"Out!" Mercury shouts over the deafening wind and fire. All he bothers to try shouting is out. "Out!"

Emerald gets out of her seat and takes hold of Cinder, who is gripping her eyes, crying out in pain. Mercury climbs his way toward them, fighting the mounting G's of the spiraling ship. He takes hold of Cinder to allow Emerald to put on her parachute.

"Go!" he shouts, then wraps her arms around Cinder and jumps out of the ship. Emerald quickly follows.

Mercury pulls Cinder's chute, then he and Emerald do the same for theirs. They are forced to watch their accomplishment as it wreaks havoc across the city all the way to the ground.

While they didn't outrun the shock wave, they are out of reach of the mushroom cloud's destruction, which has tripled in height in only minutes. It spreads on the ground like a storm, bending and breaking the mightiest structures on the face of Remnant, burning hotter than the sun, melting anything and everything into oblivion. Atlas, the greatest city on Remnant, is reduced to ashes.

The kill count climbs.