A/N: So, uh... lots of interesting lore things happened over these last two weeks. The World of Remnant series for each kingdom was amazing, and I'm looking forward to writing XCOM's travels throughout Remnant with more confidence now that I won't be bullshitting the social and political atmosphere of the other kingdoms. Jury's still out on Salem's Evil League of Evil, though. With the framework that I already have set up, I'm not sure how I would include them yet. There's a good chance that I'll come up with something before it becomes relevant, though, so we'll see what happens.

Quick note that relates to my project of taking in feedback from readers and retroactively making adjustments to previous chapters: several people were either confused or unimpressed with how Emerald could somehow tell Ruby was reading her. It's partly my fault for not explicitly explaining it in the story, but I've also been convinced that the justification I had (which revolved around the idea that she had a mentor during her time as a street rat that helped her with her semblance and learn about mental tomfoolery), was rather weak. So when I have time, I'll be going back and making a modification to that. The new plan is that the nature of Emerald's semblance causes it to 'react' to other abilities that affect the mind. It's simple, doesn't add unnecessary clutter to Emerald's backstory, and solves the issue nicely.

As for this chapter, y'all get a healthy serving of combat as well as my favorite meta joke thus far. I have no doubt that you will all be able to find it immediately.

"Food poisoning, huh?" The jazz player asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Blake shrugged, "Happens sometimes."

"To two people? At the same time?"

"Well, they were making plans for this match over dinner last night, so… kiiiiinda more likely than you'd think." Ruby added.

Flynt sighed, "Damn… I was looking forward to taking down a Schnee."

The musician and the rollerblader exchanged looks, causing Ruby and Blake to do the same. It sounded like their opponents were expecting to fight against Weiss and Yang, so was Emerald really involved in something more nefarious than scouting the competition? But Annette couldn't read anything off of her yesterday, which seemed almost impossible given her psionic aptitude. Or maybe Flynt Coal really just had some beef with Weiss's family and got excited when he saw 'Schnee' on the Doubles bracket. In hindsight, Ruby's plan to secretly switch out players for the second round didn't really seem to accomplish anything.

In any case, the last-minute change likely threw off their opponents' mental game, which could serve as an exploitable advantage for Ruby and Blake. Even better, Ruby had to restrain giggles of happiness when "burned-out city" popped up as one of the randomly-selected environment for the match. She highly doubted that anyone at the tournament had more experience with urban combat than RWBY or JNPR.

Time for a game of hide-and-seek?

Blake looked over at Ruby, smirked, and nodded.

"Three… Two… One… BEGIN!"

Ruby felt very happy with their chosen plan the moment the match started, as a swift retreat meant getting as far away as possible from the god-awful trumpeting coming from Flynt. While the other one, Neon, moved pretty quickly on her skates, she couldn't hold a candle to Ruby's semblance. Blake took advantage of the grappling capability of Gambol Shroud to tether herself to a shattered tower and hook herself around to safety.

"That's the second time that Team RWBY has elected to run for cover instead of facing their opponents head-on!" Oobleck noted.

"Well, I know they definitely didn't pick up that habit from me." Port said, "C'mon, ladies! Give them a taste of Valean mettle!"

"It appears your leader was serious during our conversation of battle tactics." Winter mused. She watched the start of the match with Weiss, Yang, and their friends in the stadium seating of the Colosseum. While the Atlesian Specialist would ordinarily prefer to enjoy the entertainment at a more… comfortable venue, Weiss's look of excitement when she made the suggestion didn't escape Winter's notice. In the back of her mind, she couldn't help but think about the comment from that Valean Captain about her relationship with her sister. She would never vocally admit it, but Winter always had trouble interacting with Weiss. She attributed it to the strict upbringing imposed by their father and the burden of success he expected out of his heirs, but that didn't change the facts of the situation.

So here she sat with the noisy crowds, her sister, that godawful Qrow's niece and her dog, as well as the… diverse personalities of JNPR.

"She may be an awkward doofus in social setting," Weiss said, "But she is completely focused when the fighting starts."

"It's rather inspiring, quite honestly. She carries herself with an air of pride and dignity on the battlefield." Pyrrha agreed.

Winter hummed. While she still strongly disagreed with Ruby's chosen tactics, it was clear that the young team leader did something right to win the hearts and minds of her compatriots.

"I suppose we'll have to see how the battle turns out to decide whether pride and dignity are enough." She answered.

Yang laughed and kicked her feet up onto the seat below her, "As if there was ever a question about my sister's victory in this matchup. No offense to Atlas, but FNKI has a snowball's chance in Vacuo of winning this one."

"None taken." Winter gritted.

Ruby raced over to some toppled cinder blocks and unfolded Crescent Rose. She watched as Blake rounded the corner of her tower before dropping a shadow clone and activating her Ghost module. The clone wasn't strictly necessary, but it helped keep up the illusion that invisibility was the next 'evolution' of her semblance, which (ideally) stopped anyone from the crowd thinking too deeply about how it worked. Not far behind, Neon zipped into the city square, desperately looking around to reacquire her target. A shot rang out and the skater nearly tripped from Ruby's direct hit to her center of mass.

The moment Neon locked eyes with Ruby, Blake reappeared behind her and performed a swift double strike with her blade and sheath.

"Gah!" Neon spun around to focus on her more immediate concern, and Ruby let loose a parting shot before packing up and speeding off again to find another vantage point. She missed the luxury of Weiss's glyphs, but months of running around burned out towns and shattered cities still helped her easily navigate the landscape.

Without the advantage of her momentum, Neon struggled to keep up with the agile blows Blake rained down from all sides. Her nunchaku provided a whirling defense to deflect the worst of her opponent's attacks, but Neon's Aura was definitely dropping faster than Blake's. Before the beating got too bad, however, Flynt finally caught up to support his teammate. The sonic blast he fired from his trumpet not only knocked Blake away, but also put some wind back in Neon's metaphorical sails. Blake, however, had no intention of fighting both opponents at once, and so she hooked Gambol Shroud into another piece of concrete and started to beat a hasty retreat.

"Not so fast!" Flynt called out, readying his weapon to pin down Blake and stop her escape. Before he could so much as fire a single note, however, a barrage of Dust rounds from above forced him to duck for cover. Neon growled in annoyance at the slippery sniper.

"Deal with Shadow Girl, Flynt. I'll bring Miss Zippy down a peg."

With an adrenaline-fueled burst of speed, she left to catch up with her prey. Flynt could handle the ninja. Probably.

Blake watched unseen from above after Ruby's distraction provided her with the opportunity to once again vanish into thin air. She waited until the enemy separated once more before preparing for her retaliatory strike. A few more seconds passed to make sure that Neon had well and truly split up with Flynt before she silently crept up on the musician. Aware that his foe had likely pulled another vanishing trick, the huntsman carefully backed himself into a corner between a shattered wall and a massive slab of concrete. Blake noticed that his eyes remained alert and the hairs stood up on the back of his neck. Easy pickings. She leapt from her perch, sword raised over her head…

And he rolled out of the way.

Blake only had a moment to wonder what happened before Flynt's cacophonous attack blasted her back. Where moments ago she silently mocked Flynt for letting himself get backed into a corner, Blake found herself pressed against the very same wall due to the huntsman's sonic assault.

"An astonishing turn of events!" Port bellowed, "How did mister Coal manage to predict when his foe would strike?"

"Not so hot anymore, are you?" The musician called out between blasts, "Don't seem to put up much of a fight without your friend around."

Blake grunted, trying to shield her face from the attack with her arms. Over the near-deafening noise of her opponent, she could barely make out the sound of Ruby's rifle going off. Either she was still happily running rings around Neon and keeping one step ahead of her, or the Atlesian huntress finally managed to close the gap and tie her up in melee combat. Ruby wouldn't be able to come to Blake's rescue if that was the case, and Blake was certainly in no position to bail out Ruby.

But she couldn't let Flynt know that.

"That's where you're wrong." She answered, stealing a glance at her opponent during particularly long lull in the trumpet attacks. To her shock, she saw four targets instead of just one. Her eyes widened, and she tried to make a break for safety, but the musician proved to be too fast. With the powerful airwaves coming from four angles at once, Blake started to feel the pressure taking a toll on her Aura.

"If they'd chosen a direct approach, this split wouldn't have happened." Winter observed, "Coal is proving himself to be very effective at keeping a target in lockdown, but he leaves himself completely exposed in the process. Even with his… associate trying to defend him, there's no way she could stop Rose from striking and disrupting the attack."

Nora snorted, "You would think that, but Blake is really just luring the dude into a false sense of security. She's got eeeeeverything under control, you just watch."

"I am watching. And so far, I'm unimpressed."

"Eh, no plan survives first contact with the enemy." Yang defended, "You can't always have lady luck on your side, and so you just have to learn to roll with the punches and figure out how to work with what you've got. Blake's a smart kid. She'll be fine."

Even so, nobody could deny the fact that the scoreboard showed Blake's Aura steadily dropping.

"I'm wrong, am I?" Flynt asked with a laugh, "Because it looks like managed to pin you down pretty easily without your stupid sniper buddy."

Despite the problematic situation, Blake couldn't help but roll her eyes. Sure, her opponent had her locked down like a captive in Vahlen's containment unit, but even Flynt had to realize he was gloating far too soon. Hopefully not, though. As the sound waves continued to crash against her, Blake chose not to speak. Instead, she put all of her energy into outlasting Flynt's assault while trying to find a crack in his offense.

With the compressive force pushing on her from four different angles, however, that proved to be difficult. The outermost wave angles made lateral movement impossible, and Blake found herself incapable of overcoming the aerodynamic equilibrium of her prison by jumping vertically. As time wore on and her energy continued to flag, the likelihood of escaping under her own force dwindled.

That's when she heard it. Or rather, the lack of 'it': Crescent Rose. With her keen hearing, Blake managed to keep track of the second battle going on elsewhere in the arena thanks to the sounds of Ruby's gun and Neon's shouts of frustration. While the (ineffective) taunting persisted, Blake realized that she hadn't heard a shot from Crescent Rose in at least ten seconds. Given how much Ruby relied on her weapon's shot recoil to enhance her maneuverability and melee prowess, Blake highly doubted she was still engaged with Neon.

A sound almost as beautiful as a MEC charging up its Particle Beam, one that told her the cavalry had finally arrived. Above the awful noise of Flynt Coal's trumpeting, Blake heard Ruby chambering Crescent Rose.

"I honestly expected more out of you after your performance in the first round." Flynt taunted, "But it's all over now."

A single, high-caliber report rang out, and Blake grinned, "Yes, it is."

The sound registered for Flynt a moment too late. His quartet turned around just in time to see a red streak speeding down at them from above before Ruby crashed into the one-man musical act with a recoil-powered swipe of her scythe. The four Flynts slammed into the wall with a sickening crunch before reforming into a single, dazed huntsman.

"Oh, that's got to hurt!" Port cheerfully commentated, "Could it be that mister Coal is down for the count?"

Rather than move in for the kill, Ruby focused on her teammate and pulled Blake to her feet, "You alright?"

"Yeah. He caught me off guard when he managed to dodge my knockout blow." Blake admitted.

"Well, you know what they say: the shot you miss will always be the one you're ninety-five percent certain will hit. I think MacAuley used to call it 'Bradford's Law' or something. C'mon, let's wrap things up. Skater Girl should be here any secon-"

"FLYNT!" The two huntresses winced at the shrill tone of Neon's shriek. The rollerblader came to a stop at the top of some ruined steps leading into the tower, glanced at her partner shakily getting back to his feet, then over at Ruby and Blake with narrowed eyes.

"Oh, you're gonna pay for that." She growled before racing down the incline and towards her opponents at high speed. The two teammates shared a glance and a shrug before dropping into their combat stances and getting ready for a quick fight.

The scuffle, however, did not end quickly. Despite her (extremely) informal demeanor, Neon actually proved to be a competent huntress. She managed to keep both Ruby and Blake occupied long enough for Flynt to steady himself and pitch in as well.

"Gonna turn tail and run again?" Neon sneered, and Ruby wasn't sure if the jab was meant to be light-hearted or the huntress was genuinely upset at the number done on Flynt.

"… Sort of?" Ruby answered as she recoil-fired into a tactical retreat to improve her vantage point. She contemplated completely falling back with Blake to try and get the fight back on their terms, but a quick glance at the scoreboard showed that it would only take a few solid hits before Flynt's Aura would drop to the red zone. So long as she and Blake could outmaneuver their opponents in the urban environment, they should be fine.

Blake, for her part, had no intention of falling for Flynt's trap a second type. After she caught her breath during the brief respite, she never stopped moving as she ran circles around Flynt. She would occasionally peel off to quickly double-team Neon with Ruby whenever the opportunity arose, but Blake's main focus remained on her newfound nemesis. The musician managed to use the threat of his sonic cage to keep Blake at bay for now, but he looked increasingly off-balance as Blake flashed in and out of striking range at a dizzying rate. She considered taunting him with some variation of the words he had thrown at her, but decided against tempting fate.

While Blake put on an admirable performance flickering in and out of view around the wobbly Flynt, the battle between Ruby and Neon was the real show-stealer. The two of them almost seemed to flow across the ruined city, leaving a helix of rose petals and rainbows in their wake as they clashed time and again.

"You're pretty good on those skates." Ruby commented as Neon slid out of the way of another scythe swipe.

Neon's answer was full of faux cheer, "Better than you are with that big, bulky weapon, apparently!"

Ruby almost tripped, "Excuse me?"

"Yeah!" The other girl said, clearly encouraged by Ruby's reaction to her comment, "I'm surprised you can even swing that ugly hunk of metal around!"

Winter looked at her sister with some consternation when she noticed Weiss visibly shiver, "Is everything alright?"

Weiss nodded, though her eyes still betrayed her true feelings, "I just got a really bad feeling all of a sudden out of nowhere." She looked at Winter, "Have you ever had something like that?"

No more games. No more sportsmanship. If this kid had the nerve to mock Crescent Rose, then it was time to pull off the training wheels.

Blake, I'm gonna need your help with this one. Rainbow girl just insulted my baby. Do me a favor and wrap things up with Flynt.

Ruby hit the brakes hard and lined up her rifle while Neon continued to skate ahead. It only took a moment for the Atlesian huntress to notice Ruby's change in tactics, but that was all the time Ruby needed to lock in on her target. Crescent Rose bucked as she fired, and the bullet struck its target square in the chest and sent Neon reeling.

Ruby didn't wait for her target to stop rolling before giving chase. To Neon's credit, she had the wherewithal to realize that every second wasted was a second closer to imminent doom. She managed to pivot herself onto her feet and use the momentum of her fall to resume skating with some of the leftover speed. She looked back to check on her predator's progress, and Ruby gained immense satisfaction from seeing panic flash through her eyes for a brief moment. Pavement and concrete alike flew into the air as Ruby swung her scythe around to clear the path between herself and Neon.

"SAY IT AGAIN!" She yelled.

Neon jumped as Crescent Rose came crashing down again, "I'm sorry!"

"You're goddamn right." Ruby muttered as she put on another burst of speed. The duo rounded the corner of another shattered building just in time to see Flynt fall backwards from an uppercut delivered by Gambol Shroud to his chest.

"Flynt, no!" Neon's cry didn't sound as angry as it did the first time. Now, it seemed more like she realized she poked the metaphorical sleeping bear a little too hard, and now her only ally had left her to fight for herself.

"And that's the first casualty of match!" Oobleck announced, "How well can miss Katt hold up against the combined assault of two of Vale's finest freshmen?"

Neon succeeded in pulling herself together for a time and put up an admirable defense. With a matchup between three huntresses that all relied heavily on mobility, the unfolding melee reminded Ruby of Vahlen's simulation videos showing atomic particles orbiting and smashing into each other at high velocities. Hit for hit, Ruby and Blake easily stayed ahead of their foe, but Neon's fluid defenses (and the occasional counterattack) helped her stay in the running for a lot longer than Ruby expected. Eventually, though, Neon's Aura dipped below the cutoff value after Blake caught her with a surprise low sweep that threw the rollerblader off her feet and into the path of Crescent Rose. The buzzer rang, the audience cheered, and Neon groaned.

"Team RWBY is victorious!"

"Dammit…"

"Hey." She looked up to see Ruby and Blake standing over her, the former extending her hand out in a friendly gesture, "That was a really good match."

Neon looked at the hand in confusion. Were they gloating about their victory? But the smile on that Rose kid's face looked so genuine, Neon had a hard time believing there was anything sinister in her intentions. And with the stadium full of cheering people, that smile felt so damn infectious.

"Yeah," Neon answered, her face cracking into a grin as she took the offered hand, "I guess it was. Sorry about… uh… the whole scythe thing."

Ruby shrugged, "All's fair in love and war, or something like that. I figured that it's just a tactic you use to trip up your opponents, and you didn't really mean it. Besides, I think it's safe to say that it ended up backfiring on you, so I can't really complain."

"Yeah…" Flynt groaned as he started the process of picking himself up off the floor for the second time in five minutes, "Neon has a habit of running her mouth off like that. Gets her into trouble more often than not."

"I don't doubt it. Hopefully she's got the sense to know when it's best to keep that sort of talk under wraps, though." Blake said as the four of them made their way off of the arena floor.

"I'm right here you know!"

After the match, Ruby and Blake met up with the rest of their team, JNPR, and Winter outside of the stadium and took a shuttle back down to Beacon's docks to kill some of their free time. Talos and Gizmo, next set of XCOM operatives on vacation/scouting detail, were already waiting for them at the fairgrounds. An additional component of their tour of duty on Remnant was a shakedown run of the new limbs Vahlen and Shen had developed for MEC operatives. After the resounding success of the limbs given to Blake and Yang, Vahlen assigned a small, post-war task force within R&D to improve on the design and roll it out for the rest of the MEC corp.

Ruby only knew about it when Pyrrha came back from her little training session with Annette and told her. Ever since Shen voiced his suspicions two days ago about the CCT being compromised, Bradford had become rather strict on communication protocols between Earth and Remnant. And then Ozpin must have revealed some pretty heavy information during his meeting with Central and Weiss's sister, because Bradford was even more cagey when he and Winter left the building. While Weiss kept Winter busy with a conversation of their own, Bradford told Ruby that he was ordering a complete ranged communication lockdown until further notice. When he didn't laugh at Ruby's "what about close range?" joke, she knew something serious must have transpired. She also knew better than to ask, because Bradford would have certainly volunteered the information if he felt it was appropriate. While she didn't always like it, Ruby had come to realize that the chain of command existed for a reason.

Perhaps the most curious part of the present company, however, was the fact that Neon (and therefore by extension, Flynt) decided that RWBY was cool and effectively attached herself to their little party. Specifically, Blake.

"That's amazing that you came out just before the tournament! I mean, Flynt's a really cool guy so I never had any problems with being myself, but I'm sure that's not the case for everyone."

Blake looked up and wiggled her ears, "Yeah, I… used to have some pretty bad trust issues. Still do, probably, but I was never very good at being myself around other people. Didn't even tell my team about who I am until it came out by accident one night."

"Doesn't help that you literally have the heiress of the SDC as your teammate." Flynt commented, his eyes still glued to Weiss and Winter sitting at the other end of the cabin, "I bet that made things a tad awkward."

"It did," Blake admitted, "But I've since come to realize that the fault doesn't lie with Weiss, not really. Growing up in that environment, what other kind of opinion could you reasonably expect for her to develop? I've had the chance to meet the real Weiss, just like she's had the chance to meet the real me. I think our cohesion on the battlefield speaks for itself."

Flynt leaned back in his seat. Though he seemed satisfied with Blake's answer, he still kept up his watch of the Schnee sisters, "Fair enough. Though you'll have to excuse me if I don't let things go so easily. I haven't had the chance to meet the 'real Weiss' yet."

"Hopefully you will in time." Blake answered.

Ruby glanced over at Weiss, who remained locked in conversation with her sister.

Everything alright? I know that you're not a fan of a guy like Flynt joining us for the ride down, but hopefully he's not putting a damper on your conversation with Winter.

Weiss caught Ruby's eye, gave her partner a subtle shake of the head 'no,' and turned back to Winter, "So how is the military life? I know I've never really asked you about it in the past, but the last couple of weeks have given me a new perspective."

"Ah yes, I suppose your time with Bradford's little militia would give you some respect for the military, wouldn't it?" Winter asked.

'You don't know the half of it,' Weiss thought, but she knew better than to be so callous with her sister, "It did impress upon me the importance of structured discipline, yes. Father's training was a good start, of course, but fighting with the Valeans was rather humbling, to be honest."

"Considering joining me as an Atlesian specialist?" Winter asked with a raised eyebrow.

Weiss immediately shook her head, "No, nothing like that. I just wanted to know if you're… you know… happy with it."

A strange question, in Winter's opinion, "I'm gratified, if that's what you mean. My work is meaningful and beneficial to my country, I am recognized for my talents by my superiors, and I get to travel the world. While I don't always get the luxury of associating with agreeable people, it is a small price to pay for performing my civic duty and making Atlas a better place.

"But what about you?" She asked, turning the conversation back onto Weiss, "Though your performance in your team's first match was far from perfect, it's obvious that you've made great strides in becoming a better huntress. I still think you would have excelled had you decided to train in Atlas, but there's no denying that your team is competent."

Upon hearing Winter's last comment, Yang scooted over a few seats from Blake's side and injected herself into the conversation, "Competent? More like 'totally kicking ass and taking names.' Right, Weiss?"

Weiss pinched her nose with an almost inaudible groan. Yang had to be doing this on purpose. She had to know that Winter already mildly disliked her on account of Yang's relation to Qrow, and her brash attitude wasn't doing anything to improve that opinion, "I wouldn't put it like that, Yang, but I am quite proud of how well we've been performing in the tournament, yes."

Yang pointed at Winter with a pair of finger guns and grinned, "Just you watch, we're gonna be the biggest, baddest team of huntsmen Remnant has ever known!"

"Like uncle, like niece," Winter muttered, just loud enough for Weiss to hear, "That sounds like quite a lofty goal you have, Xiao Long. Why don't you go tell it to your friends from JNPR?"

"Oh, they already know, because they're gonna be the second biggest, baddest team of huntsmen Remnant has ever known." Yang said, winking at Weiss. That answered the question of whether she was intentionally antagonizing Winter or not, "But I get it. You kids have fun with your little two-person clique. Feel free to join the party whenever you like!"

I'd like to remind you that I cannot be held accountable for the actions of my sister.

Weiss sighed before returning her attention to Winter, "To answer your question, I am very happy with my team. Sure, it took some time to adjust-"

"I imagine Belladonna was quite a shock for you."

"… A bit." Weiss said, her eyes narrowing ever-so-slightly at the implication of her sister's words. While Winter wasn't wrong, Weiss didn't exactly enjoy remembering the way she used to think (and act) when she first started her career at Beacon, "But it might be a shock for you to know that there's more to Blake than the ears on her head."

Winter decided to shelve that conversation, as she realized it wasn't going in any favorable direction, "How about your training? It looks like you've managed to learn the hardest component of our family's Semblance, which is quite a feat all on its own."

"Thank you." Weiss said, happy to receive Winter's compliment, "The first time wasn't easy, as I'm sure you can imagine. But my team was in some dire straits, so the summoning worked because it had to."

"Necessity is the mother of invention." Winter noted.

Weiss nodded in agreement, "Indeed. And after I managed to do it once, it became a little easier to do it again. I think the confidence I gained from knowing I'd already done it once was the key. After that, well…" The younger Schnee held out her hand, a glyph winked into existence, and a ghostly sparrow fluttered out of her palm.

"A bird?" Winter asked, eyebrow raised, "You… are aware that our Semblance only lets us manifest enemies we've bested in battle."

Weiss cast a sidelong glance at Ruby, who suppressed a bout of giggles, "It's a long story." She closed her palm, and the bird shattered and returned to the aether. The PA system rang quietly and informed the passengers that they would be arriving at the docks shortly.

"Gizmo!"

Nora ran forward and pulled the MEC pilot into a bear hug. Gizmo chuckled and returned the gesture, "Hey, kiddo. It's good to see you, too."

"Where's Jaune? Figured he'd be back by now after his… y'know…" Nora looked back at Winter, Neon, and Flynt stepping off of the shuttle before whispering, "Super-Secret-Annette-Training-Mission-of-Secrecy."

"Some trouble in the Balkans." Talos quietly answered from Gizmo's left, "Both Jaune and the boss-man thought it would be a good opportunity for the Major to get in some field experience with her new equipment."

The rest of the group arrived from the shuttle, and brief introductions took place. Neon and Flynt weren't familiar with the Valean Recon Division, so they simply smiled and exchanged names. Winter, however, looked over the two operatives with a slightly more critical eye.

"Surprised to see soldiers without armaments."

"Not our jurisdiction, ma'am." Gizmo said, "We've been briefed on the situation for the Vytal Festival, and that Atlas is overseeing the security operations. For all intents and purposes, we're civilians right now."

'Plus, there's the fact that recon operatives aren't supposed to stand out.' Ruby thought. Her assessment of Winter so far was… fair. Ruby knew that Weiss admired her, so she really didn't want to have a sour impression of the Atlesian 'Specialist' (whatever that meant). She wasn't a fan of Winter's habit of criticizing anything and everything, though, even if that could be attributed to her upbringing. Given how Weiss managed to lighten up after a few months at Beacon (and, subsequently, after half a year in a war zone), Ruby wondered if Winter's choice to remain in the militaristic environment of Atlas only served to reinforce the perfectionist attitude she'd developed during her childhood. Maybe that's why she didn't like Uncle Qrow.

In any case, Winter seemed to accept Gizmo's justification, "Even so, I'm sure it's difficult to turn off your training and observe your surroundings the way a civilian would. In the interest of maintaining good relations between your Recon unit and the Atlesian military, I hope you will be forthcoming with any information you discover while you enjoy the festival."

Talos nodded, "Absolutely. We've only got one planet, after all. The four kingdoms need to work together if we don't wish to become a bloody footnote in the history of Remnant."

"Well, if you don't mind, I would prefer to enjoy the fair in the company of my sister." Winter said, switching topics, "It's been… too long since I've had the chance to spend time with her, and I don't know when the opportunity will present itself again."

Ruby waved her off, "Of course, of course! Don't feel like you're obligated to hang around with us."

Winter gave Ruby a curious, almost amused look, "I didn't, but thank you anyway."

After Weiss left with Winter, the remaining huntsmen and operatives chatted on the docks for a few minutes before heading out to the fairgrounds themselves. As before with SSSN, various sub-conversations began to form between certain groups. Neon still remained attached at the hip to Blake, but Flynt had taken an interest in Pyrrha when he discovered that she managed to maintain a humble disposition despite the fame piled upon her. Nora stuck with Ren, naturally, and dragged him off to play some carnival games together. Ruby stayed with Yang, Talos, and Gizmo, and parted ways with Blake and Pyrrha's group to get something to drink. The moment they were alone, Ruby turned the subject to business.

"How are things with Central?"

"Good." Gizmo started, "Progress with Mac's project is coming along. It's little too slow for Bradford's tastes, but comm systems have always been a time-consuming process. Now that he's asking for one to be put up without pre-existing infrastructure to support it? Well, let's just say that Vahlen is making the most out of the Hyperwave's time dilation."

"I'm sure that the Doc's got all sorts of projects keeping her busy." Yang laughed, "How about Shen? Or is he focused on the comms project?"

Gizmo nodded, "He's championing another side project alongside the big one. Won't say what it is, but he spends a lot of time with the computer servers when he's not helping Mac. My guess is that it's something digital."

"Hmmm…" Ruby's thoughts were briefly interrupted by Talos sitting down with some drinks for the four of them.

"Everyone's in pretty high, spirits." Talos added, popping the tab on his can and sampling the Remnant soda, "The Grimm situation is a pain, but we're getting the hang of dealing with them. Local law enforcement is also starting to develop tactics to deal with outbreaks."

"Only problem that remains is the Council, honestly." Gizmo said, taking her drink from Talos.

Ruby gave Gizmo a questioning look, "Still? I feel like Bradford would have his issues with them resolved by now."

Talos sighed, "Yeah, it's kind of a weird situation. I think Bradford recognizes that he was being an ass about the whole thing early on, but the Council reacted in an equally shitty fashion. Now that they've shown themselves to be entitled and petty, it raises questions with Bradford about trusting them."

"I mean, I can sort of see where they're coming from, what with being worried about a flying doom ship being out of their control." Yang said, glancing around to make sure their corner of the fairgrounds was still empty.

"Like I said, it's a weird situation." Gizmo said, "I totally see the concerns they may have, but I also got lucky and had the chance to be a fly on the wall in one of their 'discussions.' They throw entitled demands around like Engineers throw grenades."

Talos took a swig of his soda, "Scuttlebutt around the Temple Ship says that Bradford's going to try and reach a resolution with them soon, though. I think he recognizes that letting his relationship with the Council deteriorate can only be bad for business."

"He's had to swallow his pride in the past." Ruby said, watching with amusement as Talos chugged the rest of his drink, "Hopefully the end result will be worth the effort."

When the four of them finished their drinks, Ruby and Yang offered to give the MEC pilots a tour of the school. While the fairgrounds were certainly lively and full of colorful people, the huntresses had spent the last two days hanging around in the populated clearing with their friends and various guests from XCOM.

Besides, Gizmo and Talos were supposedly part of the Valean Recon Division, so why not take advantage of that?

A/N: Still trying to get the hang of Winter, which is why there was quite a bit of her in this chapter. Unlike some of the other characters I've written so far, I'm finding myself having a little difficulty getting into the flow of her personality.