HCS Airwalker

Infirmary

12:04 hours

Jaune peaks through the entrance of the infirmary, where Blake and Yang are the only two present, sitting in their beds. Blake is sitting up, reading a book. Yang is on her side, staring into the abyss.

"Hey," Jaune says gloomily.

"Hey," Blake says, looking up.

"Ozpin wants to meet with all the Hunters in a few minutes."

"You mean all the Hunters that are left," Yang mumbles. Jaune casts a worrying glance at her.

"It's fine, we'll be there," Blake says, setting the book down.

"You need any help? I can get a doctor if-"

"No, I'm good," Blake says. She slowly twists her legs and torso off of the bed, grimacing all the way. It feels like her ribs are made of stone and every motion chisels a bit off of each one. "Gotta move eventually."

"Right, well, see you there, I guess," Jaune says, and starts to leave.

"Hey, Jaune," Blake says. Jaune stops and looks at her. "...Sorry about Pyrrha."

"...Thanks," Jaune replies, gulping hard.

"You holding up ok?"

"Yeah, don't really have much of a choice."

"...Yeah, guess not. But, you know...don't do anything too crazy."

"I know. I gotta catch up with Ren and Nora." And with that, Jaune exits the room.

Blake slowly plants her feet on the floor and lets go of the bed, clenching her teeth. She grips her chest as she slowly walks to Yang's bed.

"Yang," she says. Yang doesn't move. "Come on, you heard him. Ozpin's got a plan." Still no movement. "Yang, we have orders. Move."

"I'm staying," Yang whispers.

"Yang, my chest feels like it's been shredded to pieces, and I can barely hold up my own arms, but I swear to God I will find a way to carry you to Ozpin's feet if that's what it takes to get you out of that bed."

"Just leave me. Leave me where I can't hurt anyone else." Yang rolls over to face Blake. Her eyes look bloodshot, underlined by dark circles. "Don't you see? I couldn't protect Lara, couldn't protect Ruby. Everyone… Everyone I love dies. No matter how many faunus I kill, no matter the lengths I go to fight, they still die. And there was nothing I could do to change it."

"Ruby's not dead, Yang. We know she was taken alive. We can still save her."

"She was taken alive in the same fucking building we were standing in. And I let her go, all because I couldn't keep my shit together for five seconds." Blake frowns, lets go of her chest, struts over to the bed, and yanks Yang up by her arm.

"You piece of shit," she growls. Yang looks with wide eyes. "Those five fucking seconds were spent trying to save me. And I'm still alive. So thanks."

"Blake-"

"And what do you think Lara would think of you if she saw you right now? Shriveled up in a bed, cowering like a little girl. What would Ruby think? Fuck, what do you think I see right now? You're the most fearless fucking soldier I've ever met. You're not supposed to give up just because you lost a hand, you're supposed to fight twice as hard with the one you've got left."

"I'm not as strong as you think," Yang says, yanking her arm free.

"No, you're not as strong as you think. You don't think I ever got scared in New Tango growing up? That I didn't like watching my friends die, to go days without food, to have guns in my face? But I knew that fear didn't make me weak. I knew I would make it, because that's just who I am. And who you are."

Yang's eyes begin to water, and she looks down.

"Fine," Blake says, throwing her hands up. "You wanna lay there and do nothing for the rest of your life, then go ahead. But I still got a life to fight for, and I'm gonna go and rescue my friend, because she sure as hell does too."

Blake stomps out of the room. Yang slowly lies back down. She lets the tears flow down her face and soak the sheet.

HCS Airwalker

Living Quarters 09

12:08 hours

"Where's Yang?" Ozpin asks as Blake enters the small room occupied by JNPR Squad, plus Velvet, Ozpin, Glynda, Qrow, and Winter.

"She wasn't up for it," Blake replies. "I'll catch her up later." Ozpin frowns.

"Does it matter?" Ren says. "Aren't we being disbanded anyway?"

"As soon as Weiss arrives we'll discuss that."

"Speaking of which…" Winter says, glaring at the doorway as Weiss enters, who freezes in place as she makes eye contact with the older Schnee.

"Winter!?" Weiss exclaims.

"You should've gotten here earlier," Winter replies.

"What are you doing here!?"

"Helping," Ozpin answers curtly. "You two can sort it out later, but for now we have a task at hand: Ruby." Weiss nods and stands next to Blake. Ozpin steps to the center of the room. "As we're all aware, by now," he says. "We, along with the rest of the Coalition, suffered a massive attack last night, and we suffered many casualties, including several Hunters. First and foremost, no Hunter squad will be disbanded. The disbandment rule was a mistake; we need everyone now more than ever. JNPR Squad, you lost a powerful fighter but your squad leader is alive. I'm sure you'll continue to be an effective team."

"Yes, Sir," Jaune says, nodding. Ozpin nods back.

"RWBY Squad," Ozpin continues. "You're squad leader is MIA, but I know you'll fight harder than ever to get her back. And Velvet." Ozpin locks eyes with the faunus and walks right up to her. He bends down to her eye level, inches away.

"...Sir?" Velvet whispers.

"I need you to tell me that you are ok," he mutters back.

"Y-yes, Sir, I'm ok-"

"Don't bullshit me." The room is dead quiet, everyone waiting to see how the shaking Hunter will react. "I've had too much bullshit thrown at me the last few hours to deal with more from my own soldier. Are. You. Ok?"

Velvet closes her eyes and takes a deep breathe. When she opens them again, there's a fire inside, and she leans an inch towards the general.

"Sir. I'm going to fight. For Fox. For Ruby." Ozpin nods and steps back.

"Good," he says. "Now let's get down to business. As far as we can tell, Cinder Fall still has Ruby alive, but we don't have a clue where. She's been building up a system of safe houses throughout the border and Federation. Ruby could be at any one of them at any given time, and Cinder can keep moving her as we search, and possibly end up killing her, so we have to make sure the first place we hit is the right one."

"Do we have a way to find the right location?" Weiss asks.

"Yeah, Cinder," Qrow says.

"We know where she is?"

"No, but we'll bring her to us."

"I know how Cinder works," Ozpin says. "She uses everything to her advantage, and I do mean everything. There's an old Federation outpost in Charlie Greenhorn that we know Cinder has used as a hideout. We're going to go there. All of us, plus the support of other Hunter squads."

"That sounds like a disaster waiting to happen," Ren says. "What if Cinder takes us by surprise? She'll have effectively wiped out the rest of the Hunters."

"Exactly, she'll never pass up that kind of opportunity. She's expecting us to know this, but she'll face us anyway. We don't have many tricks to throw at her, going on her territory with no knowledge of her numbers or firepower, but if we can capture her or one of her accomplices, find the location of Ruby, and reach her before Cinder… It's a long shot, and a lot of things have to go right if we want to succeed, but it can work. Cinder also hasn't faced this many Hunters at once in direct combat before, and Charlie Greenhorn is remote enough that we can avoid large groups of her followers; it's as even of a battle as we can ask for. Questions?"

"Who's going exactly?" Blake asks.

"All Hunters present, plus me, Qrow, Winter, Port, Oobleck, and the two surviving Hunters of SSSN Squad, Sun and Neptune. We're planning on having gunship and artillery support as well."

"You're going into combat?" Nora asks.

"I've seen Cinder operate since the VIA. I can predict her movements as they happen, and keep us ahead of her in the field."

"He's also still got a few years left in him," Qrow says. "Hell, if I can do it, he can too."

"What about Cinder's assets?" Weiss asks. "You said we don't know what she has in Charlie Greenhorn, but what can we expect?"

"The Federation outpost is abandoned," Glynda says. "Cinder only uses it to store weapons, and the Fang presence in Charlie Greenhorn is minimal. But we assume that she'll bring her strongest allies with her to face us, which could mean up to a dozen fighters in AURA, including the Alpha. Spectres and White Fang are also a possibility."

"Will there be any armor?" Nora asks.

"I went to Charlie-G awhile back," Qrow says. "There's nothing in that swamp, barely any locals, except for a few villages along the river. Any armor that Cinder wants to bring to combat will have to be imported from Hunter Breach or Viktor Speeder, and we don't plan on staying long enough for that. At most, we'll deal with technicals, maybe APCs."

"Any other questions?" Ozpin asks, pauses, then says, "Then regroup with Port and Oobleck in the cargo bay. They will go over the specifics of the operation and divide everyone into fireteams. We'll leave by bullheads for Charlie Greenhorn in one week. Dismissed."

The soldiers start to file out of the room. Qrow leans towards Ozpin.

"You think they can do it?" he asks. "They look determined, but they're weak."

"They're stronger than you think," Ozpin says.

"A week isn't a long time, they'll still be licking their wounds from last night by then."

"Ruby doesn't have a lot of time. A week is as long as I can guarantee Cinder to keep her alive. Trust me, my Hunters will be ready."

"Alright, we'll see. Hey, what about that Hunter that didn't show up?"

Infirmary

12:29 hours

Qrow enters the infirmary, empty except for Yang. She's on her side, staring at her picture.

"You Yang?" Qrow asks. Yang rolls over, gets a glimpse of Qrow, then rolls back over. "Ozpin usually let you Hunters get away with this shit? Orders aren't suggestions, you know."

"I'm not feeling well."

"Bullshit, and you know it."

"I lost my fucking arm."

"I noticed. Good thing your legs work fine." Yang sits up and gets a good look at Qrow.

"Who are you?"

"I'm someone that's been through a few more layers of shit than you have, and someone that doesn't take kindly to weak fucks like you."

"Don't call me weak."

"It's what you are."

"...I know."

Qrow chuckles.

"Man, you really are gone," he says, then takes out his flask. "Wanna sip?" Yang slowly nods, and Qrow brings her the container. Yang flinches as he extends her arm.

"You sure I'm the weak one?"

"Excuse me, Hunter?"

"I can smell your breath from here. You're telling me you're not always a drunk on duty?"

"I didn't say being weak was a bad thing, you just gotta figure out how to deal with it. Me and my friends back in the day used this."

"Right, well," Yang says, then takes a swig. "Guess you could be onto something."

"Nah, I was a stupid kid back then." Qrow takes back the flask. "This shit is too expensive and dangerous for kids your age."

"So why are you still doing it?" Qrow stares at the flask and shrugs.

"Guess I don't wanna grow up yet." He notices the picture resting on Yang's lap, and lowers the bottle. "Who's that?" he asks, pointing.

"My mother, I guess," Yang replies.

"You guess?"

"Well, I'm not sure. She could be connected to my mother. I've been looking for her for years, but still no great leads."

"Commander of the Second Assault Marine Division." Yang looks up at the old soldier, wide eyed.

"You know her!?" Qrow slowly smiles.

"If you wanna know, you have to help find Ruby." And with that, he walks out of the infirmary, chugging from the flask as he goes. Yang looks down at the picture, then at the doorway, gulps, and slowly gets out of bed.

One week later

Charlie Greenhorn

13:41 hours

Ozpin, clad in black and green assault AURA, slowly raises his rifle through the thick jungle leaves, peering through his scope at the small fenced in compound, built in a clearing in the swampy terrain.

"This the right place?" Qrow asks beside him, his Windrunner M96 sniper rifle also raised. "We should've been shot at by now."

"Cinder is drawing us in," Ozpin answers, then gets on his radio. "All units, sitrep."

"Southeast is clear," Winter replies, clad in the same type of AURA as her sister, holding a G36A2. Next to her is Weiss and a Hunter wearing dark red demolition AURA, with blue hair and yellow goggles holding a VHS-2 rifle. He occasionally eyes the younger Schnee sister, who is too busy trying to keep her cool in front of her older sister.

"Northeast, clear," Port answers. By his side is Blake and a Hunter wearing dark white stealth AURA, simple blue civilian jeans, and obviously not wearing anything underneath his chest armor, his muscular torso and arms peeking out from cracks in the powered suit. He has spiky blonde hair, constantly casts a scent of dominance, irritating Blake, and holds a VSS Vintorez, with two Winchester Model 1887 shotguns slung across his back.

"West side of the compound is clear," Oobleck replies, holding two FMG-9s, plus an M9 flamethrower strapped to the back of his AURA. Yang and Velvet stand on either side of him.

All of the soldiers have their eyes and ears aimed on the small, rusting and molding compound below.

"Maybe she didn't take the bait," Qrow says.

"Oh, she took it alright," Ozpin replies. "And she laid her own."

"In there?"

"Yes."

"We're gonna have to take it, aren't we?"

"Yes."

Qrow sighs and takes out his flask. "Alright, let me know when I should put this away." Ozpin shakes his head and gets back on his radio.

"Winter, take your team and advance on the shed from your current position. Port, reposition to cover their right flank. Oobleck, maintain your position. I want Yang's MG covering everyone else."

"Copy that," Yang says, and tightens her grip on her Stoner with her one good hand. She wears a prosthetic hook, currently used to stabilize the gun, while waiting for the paperwork on her new robotic hand to be completed.

"No offense," Velvet says. "But are you sure you can still carry that thing in combat?"

"No offense," Yang replies. "But are you sure you won't freeze up when the bullets start flying?" There's a brief pause as they watch the three Hunters navigate through the thick branches towards the clearing.

"For the record, I did just fine during the Fang meeting, when I was in a room surrounded by the enemy." Yang closes her eyes and sighs.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I'm not really me right now."

"Yeah, I get it. The war has already taken a bit out of everyone."

"It's just that I'm still not sure if I belong here anymore."

"Yang, you're a badass. You'll be fine."

"There's a lot you don't see about me."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm scared that I lied to Ozpin about being ready."

"Don't worry, Velvet," Yang says, looking up at the Faunus, smiling. "If I can do it, you can do it."

"Thanks, Yang," Velvet smiles back. Yang turns back to her weapon, her smile faded.

"We're in position," Port reports on the radio. Blake and the other Hunter, Sun, ready their weapons.

"So they actually took your squad leader alive, huh?" Sun asks Blake. Blake grunts in response. "Dude that's fucking awesome. I mean, it's not, but shit, what I wouldn't give to be able to go all rambo for Scarlet and Sage instead of them getting IED'd in front of me. They were my two squadmates."

"I figured that," Blake murmurs.

"Yeah, if the bio reports worked as well for your squad as it did for mine, you must be fired up as fuck to be doing this." Sun's gaze shifts from his scope down toward Blake for a moment. "And you seem like the kind of girl to have some heat in you."

Blake lowers her weapon, still staring forward, and flashes a hideous warning scent, the kind animals give off before an attack, overcasting Sun's dominance scent.

"That might work on Mistral whores, but not on a border bitch." Sun chuckles.

"Yeah, I knew you were my type," he says. Without waiting a beat, Blake flashes a rage scent and puts her hand on her knife. "Woah, alright, sorry, shit. Yeah, you're border raised alright."

"Can it, Hunters," Port growls. "Winter's team is about to engage whatever's in there.

Winter, Weiss, and the third Hunter, Neptune, have cut their way through the rusted fence and have taken up positions in front of the shed. It appears to be an entrance to an underground bunker, made out of crumbling concrete and a heavy steel door.

"Weiss, breach," Winter commands. "Neptune, cover." Neptune and Weiss advanced, the latter taking out a small pack of C4, just large enough to blow through the steel lock.

"Got you, girl," Neptune says as he crouches down, smiling at Weiss and aiming at the door. Weiss ignores him and continues towards the door, only for it to open itself. Weiss quickly drops the C4 and raises her rifle.

"Steady, Hunters," Ozpin orders, scanning the horizon. "This is it."

"Aim for the head," Yang says as the door slowly swings open. "They could have AURA…" Her voice trails off as a small figure takes a step out of the shed.

Ruby.

Weiss 's eyes widen, and her rifle droops.

"Ruby!?" she exclaims. Ruby is wearing her personal boots and urban camouflage combat pants, what she was wearing during the attack on Beacon, plus a worn out black tank top drenched in sweat. Most of her wounds are still in the process of healing, some look fresh. Most of her hair is matted down by sweat, with an occasional clot sticking up in whichever direction. The red tint is almost completely faded. Her silver eyes look darker than ever, and don't make contact with Weiss, or anybody; they simply stare. She holds an M249 SAW with an ACOG scope and 200-round pouch. An M72 LAW is strapped across her back.

"Oz," Qrow says, dropping his flask and aiming his rifle at the compound. "Please tell me you know what Cinder's plan is." Ozpin doesn't respond, only quickly shifts his eyes between each of his squad's positions.

"What the hell!" Blake says.

"What? What's up?" Sun asks nervously. "Wait, that's not her, is it?"

"Ruby!" Yang shouts, standing up. "Weiss, what's going on!?"

"Ruby?" Weiss asks her squad leader. Ruby doesn't respond, doesn't look at her. She doesn't move a muscle. "Ruby, what the hell did they do to you?"

"What are our orders, Sir?" Port asks. Even his voice has traces of alarm in it.

"Hold position," Ozpin orders quickly. He knows he's playing Cinder's game now. "All units hold your positions."

"This isn't good," Winter murmurs. Her crosshair is placed firmly on Ruby's head. "We should leave right now."

"Fuck no!" Yang shouts. "Weiss, grab her!"

"No, hold!" Ozpin shouts back, but it's too late. Weiss has already taken a step forward, hand extended to Ruby. Like a switch was flipped, Ruby's gaze locks with Weiss's, her eyes and face now filled with hate. She starts exhaling rapid breathes like a dragon through clenched teeth. She aims her weapon at the hip at her teammate. Weiss freezes.

"Contact!" Velvet shouts, and turns around. Blake catches the scent a split second later.

Spectres. Lots of them.

The gunfire erupts throughout the entire jungle, surrounding the Hunters, some of the muzzle flashes within ten feet of them. Oobleck, Yang, and Velvet are thrown to the ground, both at their will to avoid the bullets, and by the bullets pounding at their AURA that they couldn't dodge, and return fire on their backs. Port's group are the closest to the attackers, and while Port sweeps the tall grass and trees with suppressive fire, Blake takes out her knife and Gambol Shroud, and Sun his shotguns, and they dive into the jungle, fighting their kind the way they know best.

"What the fuck now, Oz?" Qrow asks, firing a CZ-75 Automatic into the leaves behind them. Oz doesn't even hear him, he's only watching Ruby…

...Ruby open fire on Weiss, who quickly whips her body around to protect her face. Just as Winter begins to squeeze the trigger, Ruby switches targets in a heartbeat, riddling Winter's legs with bullets and bringing her to the ground.

"OZ!" Qrow shouts. Weiss and Winter scramble to their opening in the fence as Neptune takes fire from the Hunter. Oobleck has discarded his firearms and has laid down a stream of literal fire, setting half the jungle on fire. The radio frequency is filled with no organized chatter, just expletives and screams of the bewildered troops.

"OZ! NOW OR NEVER!"

Ruby suddenly looks up, straight at Ozpin's position, somehow finding his eye contact. She takes aim and fires a perfect stream of bullets, all of them landing in Ozpin's chest. It's not enough to knock him back, but enough to bring him back to reality. He raises his rifle and fires one bullet. It strikes the ammo pouch, ripping it off along with half of Ruby's remaining ammo, the last few dozen rounds dangling freely by the belt. Ruby doesn't flinch at all, her angry grimace simply switching from Ozpin to Weiss. Ozpin quickly throws a smoke grenade at his Hunters, separating them from Ruby's aim.

"Retreat!" he orders. "All units retreat to the rendezvous point! Oobleck, torch the rest of this place! We'll use the fire as cover!"

"On it!" Oobleck replies, adjusts a knob on the flamethrower, and shoots a flame far longer and wider than before over Port, Yang, and Velvet, giving them a window to get up and run. Blake and Sun break from their Faunus trance and regroup with Oobleck, covering him as he pours his fire, now over Winter and her team as they retreat.

Ozpin watches Ruby use the last of her LMG ammunition, drop the SAW, and equip her LAW. She aims into the smoke, where Weiss is covering Winter and Neptune from Spectre gunfire, and fires. Ozpin quickly aims and shoots the projectile down just as it exits the other side of the smoke cloud, exploding within feet of Weiss, but leaving her relatively unharmed. Ruby looks up at Ozpin, throws the LAW down, and disappears back into the shack.

"Qrow, call in the artillery," Ozpin orders. The Hunters have now mostly regrouped and are approaching the two veterans. Just as abruptly as they appeared, the Spectres seem to have disappeared into the flaming jungle. They're most likely still in range, but they've ceased most of their fire.

"What about Ruby?" Qrow asks.

"She'll be safe in that bunker, no doubt." Ozpin stands up and calmly starts walking to the rendezvous point as Qrow calls in the coordinates for the artillery. His soldiers finally catch up to him. "Get to the Bullheads now! Move!" he shouts at them. Whenever one of them looks over their shoulder, he can see that they're scared; more scared than any other point in the war.

"What do we do now, Oz?" Qrow asks as he wraps up the artillery message. Ozpin doesn't respond. "Oz, what's the plan?"

Ozpin takes a deep breath, and reloads his weapon.

"I don't know," he says. "I just don't know."

No one says a word as they leave by Bullheads and artillery pounds the compound into oblivion.