A/N: So, got a couple of things to say about time. First, FFN did something funny the day after the last chapter went up and ate all of the reviews posted later than a few hours after the chapter itself went live. Fortunately, everything seemed to have been restored when I checked again a few days ago, so I was eventually able to respond to the questions people had for me, but I just want to note that I would have done so sooner if FFN let me.

Second, wanted to give huge props to my editor, /u/metaboss84, for going through my longest chapter yet even though he only had 1/5th of the usual time I gave him between posting the raw chapter and publishing the finished product. Dude's been with me since almost the beginning of RWBY Within, and I am extremely fortunate to have him.

Third, and related to second, I got a new job a few weeks ago. This is both good news and bad news. Good news: I fucking love my new job. The people I work with are awesome, and the machines I get to work with are super-groovy. It's perfect. Bad news: My job is the quintessential Yandere, and if DrAmish-sempai thinks he can hang out with that bitch Free Time-chan, he's sorely mistaken. In other words, a lot of the free time I had to write while I was looking for a job is gone. While I learn to adapt to my new schedule, I may have to start down-shifting to a two-week cadence. I think I can still get the next one out by Friday the 14th, but I wanted to give you guys a heads up about it.

Anyway, on to the chapter itself. Enjoy!

Emerald sat on the edge of the bed, still as a statue while she waited for some sort of reaction to the report she just delivered to Cinder. However, Cinder seemed content to just stand in the center of the room, tapping her chin while she made a light 'hmm' sound. The stress continued to build up in Emerald's mind, the worry that Cinder would blame her for the news and leave the street rat out of favor with the only woman who seemed to actually give a shit about her life. Mercury lay stretched out on the bed behind Emerald, evidently undisturbed by the news. Not that this surprised Emerald. He always seemed more keen on just doing what he was told rather than try and help put together a working plan. So long as he got his jollies (and pay) out of the job, he didn't care about the details.

After an agonizing wait, Cinder finally spoke, "A mentalist, hmm? What makes you so certain of this?"

"That's the problem with mentalists, ma'am." Emerald answered, her words as rigid as she felt, "You can never be sure. But when you're familiar with them, you learn to pick up on… sensations that can give away their efforts. It's very subtle, though, and easy to miss."

"And in this particular case?"

"I felt it both times I saw Ruby. The first time when I got the intel about her team's plan for the doubles round, I thought I imagined it. But after passing by them again just now, the same sensation entered my mind."

Cinder raised an eyebrow, "Do you think we've been compromised, then?"

"Absolutely not." Emerald said, her voice more confident. It was partly an act, since she shared similar concerns, be she did not want to give Cinder a reason to abandon her, "I've learned how to empty my thoughts so that it's hard to get a read on them. It's difficult to concentrate on other things while I'm doing it, but I was just walking when I passed by her team the second time, and I only felt the sensation for a few seconds. I'm certain the brat suspects nothing."

"Interesting…" Cinder trailed off. She sat down on the bed opposite of her lackeys and pulled out her scroll. She tapped it a few times, stared at the contents of the screen, and smiled.

"I would say it's likely that you are correct." She said, much to Emerald's relief, "Or at the very least, it is wise to be wary of Beacon's Team RWBY." She tapped the screen again, "And Team JNPR, by the looks of it."

"Think their no-show for the last few weeks means something?" Merc asked, still reclined on the bed.

Cinder nodded, "If our little friend that's been oh-so-helpful in this mission's success has anything to say about it, definitely."

Emerald's ears perked up at the mention of the Queen virus. Did it get some new information for them? She always wondered where Cinder got the software from (Emerald never even knew that a program was capable of everything her boss claimed the Queen could do), but never dared to ask for the source, "What does it say?"

"I've been using it to keep tabs on the old man for a while now." Cinder explained, "And he's had some very… curious conversations lately. From the sounds of it, RWBY and JNPR were involved with some black ops project that left them stranded for the duration of their absence."

That got Mercury's attention, "Black ops? Where?"

"It doesn't say, unfortunately." Cinder answered, scrolling through the data as she talked, "But there are pieces of information that are rather strange. The timestamps on all of the response messages to Ozpin's scroll indicate an incredibly fast turnaround between a question from the old man and its answer."

"Maybe those kids are just good at typing quickly. You know… kids these days and their fancy technology" Mercury said, earning himself a glare from Emerald.

Cinder shook her head, "Not this fast. Two seconds for a full paragraph response is incredible."

Emerald decided to take a (serious) turn at coming up with an explanation, "Perhaps there was a glitch in the software? Is it possible that the Queen is causing hiccups with Ozpin's scroll?"

"Impossible." The speed of Cinder's rebuke caused Emerald to flinch, "I have it on very good authority that our worm is perfect. There must be some other explanation."

"Maybe the location of the op was causing things to be screwy? Like it had spotty connection with the tower or something."

Cinder tapped her chin and seemed to consider Mercury's suggestion. Again, Emerald glared at her partner while their boss mused, "That could be a possibility. Or perhaps Ozpin's equipment isn't quite as robust as he assumes. I confess, I'm not as familiar with the science behind the CCT as our benefactor. Regardless, I brought this matter to their attention recently, and they seem to be unconcerned with it. What it means for us, however, is that caution must be exercised around those two teams." Emerald stiffened again as Cinder looked directly at her, "You've worked incredibly hard on coming up with plans for the hothead, but perhaps it would be worthwhile to consider some alternatives as well."

"Yes ma'am, right away." Emerald answered, standing up.

"I think miss Adel would be a good choice." Cinder suggested, "After all, that minigun of hers looks like it could do some serious damage."

The lights dimmed, and Sage gripped his sword tightly. To his left, Scarlet flashed him a confident smile and threw his jacket to the floor. To his right, his usually-goofy leader wore look of determination and focus while Neptune had a similar expression (with trace amounts of concern and/or fear) etched onto his face. Across from them stood the four members of Team JNPR with their swords, shields, and hammer at the ready. Sage knew that if this was a real match, his team stood no chance of winning. Mistral's favorite Golden Girl alone could probably give SSSN a serious run for their money, but as a team? Sage remembered watched their match and standing in speechless awe at its conclusion.

Good thing this wasn't a real match, then.

From above, he heard the tiny-yet-authoritative voice of Ruby, "Ready? Begin!"

Like with their bout yesterday, JNPR formed up behind a small shield wall as they waited for SSSN's approach. The boys obliged, and charged towards the enemy formation while Pyrrha and Ren peppered them with rounds from their weapons. Sun spun his staff to deflect as many bullets as he could and Sage tried to hide behind the width of his sword, but the other two had to content themselves with soaking the damage for a few seconds until they could force their opponents into melee.

Except that opportunity didn't come. Before SSSN could finish closing the distance, Nora lashed out from behind the safety of her team leader and ground-pounded the floor. SSSN had anticipated the possibility of another 'Flight of the Valkyrie,' and hoped that their charge would put them inside Nora's leaping distance. But the hammer maiden didn't jump this time, and simply swung her mighty weapon over JNPR's shield wall and smashed the ground with nuclear force.

The kinetic energy from the huntress's blast radiated out towards the Mistrali charge and immediately threw the huntsmen off-balance. Sun managed to think quickly enough and jump over the tremor, only to be knocked out of the sky by Pyrrha's shield. Sage dug his sword into the floor to prevent himself from skidding back and grabbed onto his partner as Scarlet almost flew past him. The two of them got to their feet in time to see JNPR break formation and launch a counter-charge, with Pyrrha and Nora heading for Neptune and Sun while Jaune and Ren moving towards Sage and Scarlet.

Sage stepped in front of his partner, greatsword at the ready. Jaune crashed into Sage and left him open for a flurry of swipes from Ren. Scarlet pulled his pistol off his hip and fired a shot at the occupied team leader. Though it harmlessly bounced off of Jaune's shield, Scarlet managed to get his attention. He rolled under a swipe from the swordsman before attempting a low-sweeping slice at Ren's legs. As he suspected, the martial artist's reflexes proved too fast to be caught by the attack. What Scarlet didn't expect was a quick kick to the chest as Ren came back down from his jump. A shoulder-check from Sage sent Ren skidding while the swordsman pulled Scarlet back to his feet.

The swashbuckler saw Jaune coming in for a back attack on Sage, and he managed to throw up his sword to block the strike less than a second before it landed. Scarlet felt himself almost buckle underneath the force of Jaune's swing, but his deflection proved to be enough to let Sage remain unharmed as he refocused his attention. In the background, they heard yelps of surprise and fear from their teammates amidst the crack of Pyrrha's rifle and the boom of Nora's hammer. Scarlet and Sage tried to come to the aid of their teammates, but Jaune and Ren continually repositioned themselves to prevent it. Short of trying to make a mad dash past the two huntsmen (and thus leaving themselves open to a counterattack), it appeared that Sun and Neptune were on their own until the first obstacle could be overcome.

If it could be overcome.

Scarlet fired another distracting shot at Jaune while sparks flew from Sage's sword as he dragged it along the floor into an uppercut at Ren. The men of JNPR retaliated immediately, with Jaune using his shield to lash out at an exposed Sage while Ren darted forward to engage Scarlet once again. Sage staggered back from Jaune's blow before regaining his composure and squaring off with his opponent. The green-haired swordsman kept Scarlet's melee in the corner of his eye as he took Annette's advice and tried getting a feel for Jaune's abilities before diving in again. JNPR's leader stared right back at him over the top of his shield, showing no sign of weakness or uncertainty as he slowly advanced on Sage.

Jaune took a wide swing, which Sage easily blocked before realizing too late that the huntsman never intended to actually hit him. Jaune used his momentum to flow past Sage and kicked out the back of Scarlet's leg. Scarlet yelped in surprise before Ren delivered a kick to the side of his head that sent the huntsman tumbling head over feet.

"Scarlet!"

With a running start, Sage planted his sword into the floor and vaulted over the enemy and land next to his partner.

"I'm alright…" Scarlet said, slightly dazed from the headshot.

For a second time, Sage pulled Scarlet back on his feet and the two squared off against their targets. Sage noticed Jaune starting to breath a little heavier, which he took as a sign that they were doing something right.

Scarlet nodded, "Right, let's try another approach, shall we?"

"Can you use your fancy footwork as a distraction and to set them up for a heavy hit from me?" Sage asked. He knew that with a greatsword, he didn't have nearly the same mobility as Scarlet with his cutlass. If Sage wanted to put any real power into his swing, the move would be telegraphed from a mile away. Given Ren's impressive hand-to-hand skills and Jaune's defensive approach, Sage would have a hard time succeeding with a head-on strategy.

"Only one way to find out."

Scarlet launched himself forward at the waiting huntsmen. He knew better than to crash against Jaune's bulwark, so he aimed for Ren first. Blades flashed as he crossed his sword with StormFlower, and Scarlet brought his pistol to bear now that Ren's weapons were tied up. His foe twisted his body just enough to avoid the shot, but now Scarlet had the advantage of momentum.

Jaune moved to help Ren, but kept Sage in his field of vision. Using his shield like a battering ram, he shoved Scarlet off to allow his teammate to reengage on his own terms. To his credit, Scarlet seemed to anticipate the assist and recovered a lot faster than before. He brandished his cutlass and threw himself at Ren again while firing a shot at Jaune to keep his attention as well.

As Sage approached, he watched Scarlet and Ren fight tooth and nail. They slashed at each other with their weapons, struck with their knees, and snarled as they shrugged off blows scored against them. Scarlet sacrificed some of his defensive capability and funnelled the energy into wide exotic sweeps and footwork intended to lash out at Jaune as well as Ren. Sage noted with amusement that the usual roles of tank and skirmisher had been reversed in this case as he skirted around the fray looking for an opportunity to knock one of the battlers off-balance or to capitalize on a setup from Scarlet.

He could see the battle starting to take its toll on his partner, and he knew that Jaune and Ren could keep up this dance far longer than their opponents, but Sage still felt good. Adapting to the situation, trying out new strategies with Scarlet against an impossible foe… he felt alive.

Across the room, Sun and Neptune found themselves struggling to survive against Nora and Pyrrha. So far, Sun managed to fend off the worst of Pyrrha's attacks, though just barely. Neptune, on the other hand, was practically fleeing for his life in Nora's wake. He tried to stand his ground every so often, only to get almost immediately blasted back from another one of the huntress's strikes. Anytime he actually tried to counterattack, Pyrrha and/or her shield seemed to magically appear to lock down the effort.

"Neptune!" Sun called out, "We need to coordinate!"

Neptune rolled his eyes, "Good idea! And how do you propose we do that?!"

WHOMP. Another hammer-shaped catastrophe averted.

"I don't know! But this isn't working!"

"Well, you're both pretty agile fighters. Perhaps you could try ganging up on Nora." Pyrrha suggested as she continued to keep the pressure up against Sun.

Great. Now they were getting advice mid-combat from the enemy. That, and Neptune doubted she would stand idly by while he tag-teamed Nora with Sun. Still, it seemed like the only idea they had at the moment, so Neptune switched his weapon into a rifle and fired a salvo of shots at Pyrrha to give Sun a chance to disengage. His partner took the hint and dropped back just in time to pull Neptune out of the way of Nora's latest hammer smash.

Sun stared at Nora, "That girl scares me sometimes."

"You mean all the time." Neptune corrected, "Ideas for handling this? And for keeping Nikos from destroying us?"

"Hit and run from different angles. Not sure about Pyrrha, though. Just try not to get hit?"

Neptune didn't even bother mocking the inanity of his partner's statement, but rather split off before Nora could take the two out in a single strike. He fired another salvo at the huntress, but that only seemed to piss her off. Sun leapt to the rescue, striking Nora while she focused on Neptune. His foe pivoted in an effort to bring her defenses to bear, but the fluidity and speed of Sun's gunchucks let him easily score hits in quick succession...

"Sun!"

… For about two seconds before Pyrrha smashed into him shield-first. The two went careening across the arena, with Pyrrha recovering with all the grace and agility expected of the Mistrali champion. Neptune raced to his aid, only to be knocked off-course by another hammer shockwave.

Dammit. How could anybody possibly fight back against this?

In the darkened amphitheater seating above the battle, Arslan sat next to a curious woman as they watched the melee with interest. Arslan couldn't recall ever seeing her before, but she seemed to be very friendly with RWBY (and later JNPR) during the afternoon. The sword she carried on her back indicated that she was a huntress of some skill, and her relaxed demeanor spoke volumes of her experience: confidence like that simply couldn't be faked. When the teams agreed that SSSN could train first with JNPR, Ruby pulled Arslan aside and suggested she sit next to the newcomer and introduce herself. She did so, found out the woman was one Sergeant Durand, and the two hadn't spoken a word since the start of the match. What was even the point of this?

Well, Arslan had decided earlier today that Ruby Rose was someone she wanted to trust, so she would look pretty stupid if she gave up on that this early.

"Looks like JNPR is just toying with them at this point." Arslan commented, eyes still glued to the match, "They've got the match in the bag, why not just finish things and be done with it?"

To her surprise, Durand answered almost immediately, "Two reasons come to mind. First, caution will always win out over pride. Even in a match where you know you have the upper hand, all it takes is one mistake to flip the tables. You see this as JNPR toying with their food. I see it as JNPR securing their win with slow and steady progress. Second, this is an educational scrimmage. The point is to force the guys out of their comfort zone and adapt using tactics they're not entirely familiar with. Jaune's team isn't out there to just show how easily they can wipe the floor with SSSN."

"Wish RWBY felt that way during our match." Arslan grumbled. She was willing to bury the hatchet, but that didn't mean the memories would magically stop hurting.

"Heard about that." The Sergeant said, casting a glance at Arslan, "My commanding officer was here for the match, and said that it was pretty brutal. He actually seemed somewhat shocked about it, though I'm not sure I share the same sentiment."

Arslan scowled, "So you agree with how they behaved in the tournament?"

"I didn't say that. Let me ask you this: how did it feel to get so utterly annihilated in your first match?" Arslan's jaw dropped as Durand turned and looked her square in the eye.

"Come again?"

The woman repeated herself, slowly, "How. Did it feel. To lose so badly?"

Arslan wanted to punch Durand in her stupid face, but reminded herself why she was here in the first place. She took a deep breath, and thought about how to answer the question honestly, "Awful. Embarrassing. Each time I heard the buzzer, it felt like I was a failure to my team. By the end, I could hardly see anything in front of me as shame obscured my vision more and more."

"Embarrassment and humiliation…" Durand repeated. Was there amusement in her tone? "You feel these things instead of crippling fear and abject horror because at the end of the match, you and your friends stand up and walk off of the field. You don't get embarrassed when you see your teammate get impaled to a tree by a Nevermore: you get the overwhelming urge to throw up, curl yourself into a ball, and wish you were anywhere but here. You don't feel humiliated when you leave on an op with a team of eight well-trained soldiers and return with half that many: you feel absolutely nothing, like your soul has left you to rot alone in your failure."

Arslan's eyes slowly widened as Durand's narrowed, "This is the world beyond the safety of schools and tournaments, Altan. It is a world full of horror and death, and the only way you don't follow in the footsteps of your friends to your grave is by adapting, becoming as ruthless as the monsters that stalk you and having the will to stare death in the face and tell it 'No.' "

The silence that followed was only broken up by the sounds of the battle below. The mysterious huntress turned her attention back to the fight and left Arslan to take in what she had said and process it. From Ruby's impassioned speech in the locker room, Arslan suspected there was more to their actions than mere grandstanding and competitive pride. Durand's words painted a picture far more horrifying. While she didn't know the exact relationship between RWBY, JNPR, and whoever this Sergeant represented, it sounded like they went through hell together.

And survived, Arslan reminded herself. Whether their souls came out the other end in one piece remained to be seen, however. If this was a glimpse into her future as a huntress, Arslan wasn't sure she still wanted it.

"Why do it, then?" She asked, "If fighting the Grimm is so awful, why do you do it?"

"Who will, if I won't?" Durand answered, "If this is something that is so horrific, so unbearable, what right do I have to expect someone else to do it for me? And if nobody steps up, the human race faces total and utter annihilation."

A fair point, though Arslan wasn't sure if that answered the question to her satisfaction. As she understood the logic, everyone should feel obligated to sign up and fight the Grimm. Unless the woman was only referring to individuals with combat skills good enough to fight. That made more sense: if you can and you don't, then it's a waste, isn't it? Either way, the two fell silent once more as they watched the match begin to wind down. SSSN fought bravely, but they simply lacked JNPR's level of coordination and endurance.

Annette, slightly amused by the mental gymnastics she was passively reading from Arslan, made a mental note to commend Sage on his efforts to play off of his partner. They held off Jaune and Ren for far longer than she expected, though the men of JNPR came out victorious in the end. It almost seemed like a mirror match, as Scarlet's agility and bag of tricks complemented Sage's raw strength and power in the same way that Ren worked well with Jaune.. She spent most of her time watching the green-haired swordsman, mainly because she wanted to see how he wielded his massive sword. La Volonté wasn't quite as heavy, but she thought that observing his fighting style might serve to help Annette as she worked to develop her own.

"I'm not trying to scare you away from becoming a huntress." The Major said, once again picking up her conversation with the team leader seated to her left, "Quite the opposite, in fact. However, I don't want you to have falsely romantic ideas about what it's like to be a warrior. Team RWBY believes you to be a talented leader, but you need to have the strength and resolve to command your squad when everything feels like it's falling apart around you."

Arslan made a sound of affirmation, though her mind really only latched onto one part of Durand's statement: RWBY believed in her. After a fight like their first, how could those girls possibly harbor anything but contempt for Arslan? It didn't make sense, at least to her, but perhaps it would be wise to try and prove them right.

"Alright, Team SSSN! Front and center!" Ruby shouted, hopping down the steps towards the arena as the lights turned back on in the training room. The four huntsmen picked themselves up (or took an offered hand from JNPR) and assembled before the waiting caped leader. Ruby pulled out a notebook, flipped to the front page, and began to pace back and forth as she looked over her match commentary.

"Sun, love the enthusiasm, but you're way too aggressive. Pushing the action is good, but a constant theme you'll be hearing from me, the Sergeant, and pretty much everyone else on my team or Jaune's is to gauge the enemy before going on the offensive. Overextend yourself, and you'll find that the enemy will punish you for it."

"Wait, what about Nora?" Sun asked.

Ruby smiled at the question, "Good point! But it makes sense if you think of Nora as an extension of her team instead of an individual fighter. She can come blasting out of the gate because it's part of JNPR's tried-and-true strategy for testing the waters. They have…" Ruby glanced at Jaune for confirmation, "Six? Six different options to come to their teammate's aid if an undesirable situation comes up. They're a prime example of a team that has taken the time to learn each other's strengths and develop strategies that let everyone work in tandem with everyone else.

"Neptune!" Ruby half-shouted, turning her attention to Sun's partner, "You need to get your head in the game, friend. I know that getting jumped by Pyrrha and Nora is a terrifying prospect, but who ever said that being a huntsman would be safe?"

Pyrrha nodded, "I can tell that you have the skill to succeed, Neptune, but it's almost as if you don't believe in yourself."

Neptune's cheeks flushed red as the girls pointed out his deficiencies, "I'm not afraid, I swear. You guys just… caught me off guard, and it was all I could do to just stay on the defensive with Sun. Maybe I just froze up."

"Which is exactly what you need to not do." Annette whispered to Arslan.

"Don't lose hope." Weiss said, offering a compassionate smile to Neptune, "Pyrrha and Nora came at you hard because that's how you get better. Just ask Jaune about how long it took for him to finally best Pyrrha in a match."

"One hundred and twenty-four failures over the course of five days." Jaune supplied, "And she never once went easy on me."

"Would it have helped if I did?" Pyrrha laughed.

While Sun let out a low whistle, Ruby flipped to the next page of her notebook and turned to SSSN's green-haired swordsman, "Sage, Annette and I were particularly impressed with your performance with Scarlet. For the most part, the two of you prioritized keeping each other safe over forging ahead to strike back against your opponents. That is exactly the kind of cooperation that we want you guys to get the hang of. Scarlet? Loved the creative use of your tools and speed to give Sage the extra space he needed to get back into the fight. That being said, there is plenty of room for improvement. A few of your combinations looked clunky, and Jaune and Ren had little trouble working around them to score some solid hits. It's not something some focused practice can't help, but it's something to be aware of."

Sun scratched his head as Ruby closed her notebook and beamed at her friends, "Uh, no offense Ruby, but that was sorta… vague. Do you have any notes on specific things you saw with our technique?"

"What? O-oh. Yeah, I can… uh… let me just…" Ruby flipped through her notes, trying to see what she could say to satisfy Sun's question. She didn't want to disappoint her 'students,' given that they came to her because they respected her team's fighting prowess. She needed to prove that she deserved that respect.

Annette, however, had other ideas, "This is combat, not mathematics or language arts. There is only a small range of techniques that can be learned from books and memorization of movements. Beyond that, experience is your best, and perhaps only, teacher. You learn what sort of blocks won't work when they fail to save you from Nora's hammer, and you determine how to get past Jaune's shield by experimenting until you successfully land a solid blow to his gut. And then you do it again, only this time you know slightly more than you did after your previous match."

"So why don't you show them?" Arslan asked, "Go one-on-one with Sage or Neptune so they can learn from experience by fighting against you."

Before Annette, Ruby, Weiss, or anyone else from RWBY or JNPR could come up with an appropriate deflection to Arslan's question, somebody knocked on the door leading out into the hallway, followed by a familiar voice of innocence.

"Ruby? Is that you in there, friend?"

Annette wondered if Ruby got whiplash from snapping her head around so fast to the back of the room as the door creaked open and a head topped with orange hair and a pink bow peeked into the room. Her green eyes blinked in surprise when she saw everyone else.

"Oh! I'm sorry for intruding, I'll come back later-"

"PENNY?!"

A Ruby-sized bullet slammed into the newcomer, who found herself pulled into a crushing bear hug.

"Oh my, that is quite the warm welcome!" Penny said cheerfully, "It's good to see that you've missed me as much as I've missed you!"

Neptune glanced around at everyone else still standing on the arena floor, "Uh… what's going on?"

"Shhh shh shhhh." Weiss said, holding a finger up to his lips, "Ruby is having a moment. Let her have it."

Ruby glanced back into the room, remembering that she wasn't alone, "Right! C'mon Penny, let's go say hi to everyone else."

The two friends made their way down the stairs, Penny's hand firmly grasped in Ruby's own. Penny recognized everyone present from the dossiers her father had required her to read in preparation for the tournament. She wasn't surprised to see JNPR with RWBY, given how friendly the two teams were at the dance. SSSN too made sense, as Penny recalled hearing about Sun and Neptune's courtship attempts from Ruby. ABRN, however, confused her. Why would they be spending time with RWBY after that first match? Well, no matter. Ruby didn't seem uncomfortable by their presence, which probably meant they were friends by now. And any friend of Ruby was a friend of Penny.

"SSSN? ABRN? This is a good friend of mine, Penny."

"Friend of ours." Weiss corrected.

"Sal-u-tations, everyone!" Penny greeted, "It's nice to see people spending time together like this. I hope I wasn't interrupting anything."

Sun shook his head, "Nah, just getting some extra training from Ruby and her friends."

"Getting our heads chewed off, more like." Neptune muttered.

"I highly doubt that my friend Ruby would be that mean, mister Vasilias!" Penny huffed, "I'm certain that whatever advice she gave you was for your own good. Isn't that right, Ruby?"

The young leader couldn't help but giggle as she nodded in agreement, "Absolutely. Now I believe we have another match to run. ABRN? Would you like to have a rematch with my team?"

Truthfully, that was the last thing that Arslan wanted. She'd hoped that RWBY would fight against SSSN so that JNPR would be the ones to face off against Arslan's team. Even if Ruby was trying to extend an olive branch with this friendly training stuff, a match against Jaune's more… restrained team would have been a better way to start things off.

"Sounds good to me!" Arslan looked back to see Reese flashing a cheerful grin and a thumbs up.

Right. She was a leader. She didn't have the luxury of complaining about who to train with, now did she? Durand's words from before crossed her mind again: you need to have the strength and resolve to command your team when everything feels like it's falling apart around you. It would be melodramatic to consider this situation to be as dire as what the other huntress described, but Arslan did need to demonstrate her willpower as a team leader. Right now, that meant putting aside petty feelings and doing what was best for her team.

"Yeah, we're ready. Let's do this."

"Sensational!" Penny cheered, "I look forward seeing everyone give it their all!"

"Is it really necessary, General? Surely there is a better way to satisfy your curiosity."

James Ironwood sighed. Seated at his desk aboard the flagship Atlesian Cruiser stationed above the city of Vale, the headmaster of Atlas Academy and Chief of Security for the Vytal Festival stared evenly at his video screen and into the concerned face of his kingdom's top scientist.

"It's not a matter of my curiosity, Mr. Polendina. You and I both know how maddeningly evasive Ozpin is acting right now, and I need to figure out why."

"By using my daughter as an unwitting spy? General, I hope you understand why I do not agree with your idea."

Ironwood did. He absolutely did. But Penny presented the perfect opportunity (and perhaps his only hope) for finding out something, anything, from miss Rose about Ozpin's dealings. While Beacon's headmaster politely refused to offer any details about the Valean Recon Division or its operations in the south, Ironwood knew that Ruby's team became deeply entangled in the mission at some point. He had some other plans waiting for execution over the next day or two, but every day lost was costly in this intelligence war.

War? Ironwood sighed as he caught his choice of words. Ozpin was an ally, for fuck's sake. A vague, mysterious ally, but he had never once given his colleagues reason to truly doubt his loyalties and resolve to keeping the world spinning. The new Bradford fellow would need further observation before Ironwood could come to any sort of assessment of the man's personality, but these people weren't the bad guys. Just… slightly suspicious friends.

"I empathize with your predicament." Ironwood answered, "Perhaps it would be best to consider the situation in a different light. Your daughter has become rather close with miss Rose, and became mildly despondent when her newfound friend disappeared. We are doing her a favor by bringing RWBY's return to her attention."

"… and committing an invasion of privacy in the process."

Nothing could be said to refute that claim. Piggybacking off of Penny's visual and auditory feeds without her knowledge was a pretty terrible offense, but Ironwood knew that Mr. Polendina's surrogate daughter would be equally terrible at acting normal if he asked her to keep tabs on Ruby's circle of friends. That, or she'd outright tell Ozpin's favorite pupil and unleash a storm of headaches and embarrassment that Ironwood didn't really want to deal with.

So he would bend the rules (with no small amount of dismay at the prospect) for now so that the kingdoms could remain safe. Because any unknown, even one that Ozpin seemed to trust, needed to be identified and addressed.

"A necessary evil, unfortunately. And one whose burden I will take myself."

"You seem to forget that by taking part in the execution of your plan, I am forced to shoulder some of that guilt as well."

For what seemed like the tenth time in ten minutes, Ironwood sighed again, "And I pray that you will forgive me in time, my friend."

Across the vastness of time and space, aboard a flagship of his own, another military leader was holding a conference with his trusted colleague. Bradford stood in the Situation Room with Dr. Vahlen while the scientist's communication protocols established a link with Dr. Shen. They waited patiently as the minutes ticked by before finally hearing the voice of their friend.

"Greetings, Bradford. I trust that Doctor Vahlen is with you?"

While the time delay phenomenon still caused problems for a live video feed, Dr. Shen's voice came through crisp and clear. Perhaps his R&D team would find an elegant solution for video, but the current system worked well enough for Bradford.

"She is." The Central Officer answered, "How are things going with our new friends?"

Another few minutes passed before Dr. Shen's equipment compiled his reply and sent the data packet back through the transdimensional wormhole.

"Rather well, I would say. Ozpin has quite the… interesting staff."

Bradford and Vahlen exchanged glances before the Central Officer answered, "Interesting in a good way, I hope?"

"Oh yes. I do appreciate your prior warning about Ruby's uncle, however. He is as brusque as you described, and I am certain I would have been taken by surprise had you not informed me. He is a good man, though. It's very clear that he cares about his nieces."

Anyone who spent more than five minutes with Qrow would know how important Ruby and Yang are to him. That level of compassion resonated with Bradford, and he looked forward to his next meeting with the man. But now wasn't the time to think about such things or discuss them with his Chief Engineer. Especially from Shen's perspective, time was a limited commodity, and they had business to discuss.

"Changing subjects, what is your personal assessment of the situation, Ray?"

A longer silence followed before a response came this time.

"I came across some rather troubling news during my talk with Ozpin. There was a break in at the CCT a few days before Ruby found XCOM, and it is likely that the saboteur attempted to inject a program into Remnant's communication's network. Ozpin's resources found nothing to confirm this, but it is nonetheless a potential vulnerability we should be aware of."

Bradford thought that qualified as slightly more than 'troubling,' given his understanding that all wireless data was routed through the CCT network. With the idea that someone may have eyes on that at all times… the need for a separate channel of communication became all the more imperative. The current conversation would be 'safe,' given that it used a direct transmission across the Hyperwave Relay that did not require the CCT. However, he didn't want to have secure communications cut off if the relay ever had to go offline for any reason. Establishing a groundside system provided a failsafe for that possibility.

"I want all communication with Ozpin, RWBY, and JNPR to be directly in person or through Hyperwave comms until we get our own relay established. Shen, tell me what you need to move quickly and I'll make sure you have it."

"My researchers have been assisting your engineering staff with developing a prototype system." Vahlen added, "I can pull off a few more from less-important projects and reassign them to communications."

"That would be appreciated. Ozpin's staff is very helpful in this project, but having more manpower would certainly move things along faster. Would it be possible to have Sergeant MacAuley join me on Remnant? I understand that he just returned from an extended stay, but his skills with power management and electronic signaling makes him an ideal candidate for additional support."

If MacAuley was heading back, that meant Beagle would likely raise hell if he didn't go along with his subordinate. Perhaps Bradford could convince the Captain to provide topside support from the Temple Ship and act as the liaison between Shen/MacAuley and XCOM's R&D.

"I'll get on it, Shen. There's one more thing I'd like to discuss with you before we're finished here: the REMCOM Project."

Bradford could practically feel the sigh of disappointment coming from his Chief Engineer across transdimensional space. Shen was more than happy to provide support for Ruby and her friends in XCOM's current capacity, but he wasn't pleased with Bradford's latest initiative.

"What is there to discuss?"

Shen's voice was icy, but respectful.

"I've held meetings with several of our squad leaders, who have in turn talked with their teams and reported back to me. From the outset, I instated a rule that any operatives with family were disqualified from REMCOM unless they wished to make a personal appeal directly with me. You'd be surprised how many appeals I received, but the acceptance rate from those who qualified by default is even more impressive."

Silence.

"Ninety-five percent." Vahlen supplied, "Only five operatives declined the offer."

"Ray, the men and women of XCOM are more than willing to fight for what Ruby believes in the same way she did for us."

"With respect, you're playing with fire. The XCOM Project was founded as an extraterrestrial combat unit whose sole purpose is to defend the Earth from outside forces. You have no authority to appropriate operatives provided for that purpose and use them to wage a war on a far away planet. Our resources weren't free gifts from the Council, Bradford. If you truly wish to go forward with this initiative, you need to convince them that it is a worthwhile operation."

As much as Bradford hated the idea of dealing with those jackasses, he knew Shen was right. Even after his brief vacation on Remnant, the Council still proved to be extremely uncooperative. They tolerated Bradford and kept XCOM operational because of the remaining Grimm threat, but they constantly second-guessed him and questioned his motives for keeping the Temple Ship out of their hands. If they tried to be more forthcoming with their own motives, Bradford would be more inclined to trust them. As it stood, however, they acted like a bunch of children complaining that they no longer had the biggest stick on the playground while refusing to meet to discuss the stick.

Bradford had no desire to keep the Temple Ship for personal gain. He had no desire to become Earth's first space-faring privateer, joyriding in his UFO with XCOM's merry band of operative pirates. He simply had a strong appreciation for the power represented by the Temple Ship, and how that power could easily be misappropriated by someone with malicious goals. Until a good solution could be reached to prevent that possibility, Bradford would simply keep the ship away from the Council.

The Central Officer sighed, "Just thought I'd let you know about the support for the program, Ray. With any luck, we won't need to use it soon… or ever."

"Something tells me you don't believe that. But we have more important things to concern ourselves with. I will continue working on the communication system and report to you any worthwhile findings."

"Thank you, Shen. I think we're done here."

The commlink went offline, and Vahlen turned to leave. Bradford cleared his throat to get her attention.

"Actually, Doctor… there's something else I wanted to discuss with you."

Vahlen raised an eyebrow, "You didn't want to bring it up with Shen?"

"Not so much." Bradford sighed, "That, and it's up your alley more than his. It's about Penny."

The Chief Scientist nodded, and her expression told Bradford that she immediately deduced what he wanted to ask. Even so, he felt the need to ask her anyway, "She's dead set on recombining with the original Penny, no matter who talks to her about it. I've tried, Shen's tried, and even Ruby has discussed it with her friend. She remains firm in the belief that reintegration was part of the deal that allowed her to come here in the first place, and she refuses to let us break our promise to her father."

"True…"

"So it's pretty much a given that she's going to go back and merge with the other Penny. No point trying to change that. But what if we could make a copy to keep for ourselves?"

"Sounds like someone is going to miss having Penny around." Vahlen said in amusement, "And while I certainly don't blame you, Penny has made it very clear that such an action would be against her wishes."

"She's made it very clear that she plans to re-merge with the other Penny." Bradford corrected, "She can still do that and remain with us."

The Chief Scientist shook her head, "No, Bradford. You are mistaken. Penny has always operated under the assumption that she was to only be temporarily separated from the 'original.' From that sort of mindset, her existence isn't an independent entity so much as it is the execution of a program that is intended to run for its duration and terminate at the conclusion after returning the desired information. She has always seen herself as part of the other Penny. Imagine how it must feel to have people asking her to remain in that state? To suddenly have to develop an identity of your own? Once I realized that this was the main reason she firmly stood by her decision to return to the other Penny, I felt terrible for all the emotional stress we've probably been putting her through."

Bradford hadn't considered that. He was used to needing to adapt. The war demanded it, after all. But Penny? How old was she, really? Sure, she was a good fighter, knew enough to appreciate the danger of the war and to take combat seriously, but philosophical ideas like individuality and self-determination... those took some time to really grasp.

"And then there's the fact that Penny is the daughter of a top scientist from Atlas who works very closely with their military. While it's probably heartless to do so, I would imagine that Ozpin's associate, Ironwood, views her as property of Atlas. Ozpin has already informed us that he's getting some pressure from the General to have us turn over Penny sooner rather than later, and he's only managed to convince Ironwood otherwise by claiming that it's for her own safety that she stays here. Whether we think Ironwood has the right to demand that we give back the one and only version of Penny that we have, failure to do so would likely cause a rift between Atlas and Vale."

"A rift that we can't exactly afford to make." Bradford admitted

Vahlen nodded, "What you're asking me to do is technologically possible, but not morally or politically advisable."

"Not morally advisable, huh?" The Central Officer asked, an amused grin on his face, "This coming from the scientist instructing our operatives not to use explosives because she wanted undamaged salvage."

The doctor rolled her eyes, "That was a long time ago, Bradford, and you know it."

"Just pulling your leg, Vahlen. Thank you for... explaining things to me."

"Of course, Bradford. Penny is a part of this team as much as anyone. I really do wish we could keep her."

"I guess all we can do is make the most of the time we have left." Bradford checked his watch, "Perhaps I can make some room in my schedule for another game of Civ."