A/N: So, uh... wow. Been a long time. I'm still not done with BoB, believe it or not, but I got kind of impatient with my original plan of 'waiting until it's all finished before posting again,' so fuck it, let's get this train rolling again. To everyone that waited patiently for the next chapter (after such a shitty cliffhanger, no less), you have my most heartfelt thank you. Your enjoyment of my story really does help keep me driven to continue, and I appreciate that a lot of you would periodically check in with me to see how I was doing. It means a lot, believe me.

As some of you have found out when you asked me, I got hit with a lot of (good) things all at once right around the time that my little hiatus started: moved into a new condo, got a dog, and work ramped up in a big way. On top of having my writing time slashed due to these factors, I quickly realized that the BoB had grown into a complex monster that wasn't as straight-forward as I had originally thought. Balancing 3, sometimes 4 sub-arcs in a single chapter and making sure they all get satisfactory resolutions? Not so easy.

The good news (at least I think it's good news) is that this chapter and the next two are double in size compared to what I usually put out, so at least there's some meaty content for you to sink your teeth into after waiting for so long. And honestly? Despite the complexity and how long it took to get this done, I'm pretty happy with what I've made. I had a lot of fun writing these chapters, and I think they do a good job of twisting XCOM into one of RWBY's craziest set-pieces to date. After BoB is completed, updates will likely remain slower than what I used to produce, but hopefully the storyline will have simplified a bit, and we won't have these ridiculous gaps between chapters like you've had to deal with for the last half of a year. At the very least, I've got content that will last for the next month and a half, so that should give me enough time to wrap up BoB and move on to the next stage of Remnant Unknown.

Without further ado... enjoy.

At Bradford's words, the arena erupted into a flurry of activity.

"You forgot this, bud."

Jaune looked up to see MacAuley press a familiar backpack into his chest, and cracked a grin. "You know, I was actually feeling pretty naked without it. Coco's minigun is fun and all, but there's something special about your first LMG, you know?"

"New contacts inbound." Ruby remarked.

"Nnnnno-no worries, friend!" Penny chirped, "We'll ANiiIIHILate them toGETHER."

"Okay, she's really starting to creep me out now." Bradford muttered. "Shen, get that jamming signal out as soon as you can."

"So long as you find my daughter with equal diligence." The elderly engineer quipped as his Albatross pilot suited him up for his flight.

"You know I will, Doctor. Keep him safe, Eightball." The pilot gave Bradford a wordless salute before returning to her charge.

"We could use some help out here." Yang called out on the comms, "We're trying our best with Ten and the kiddos to keep the civilians safe, but there's a lot of Grimm coming out of the woodwork."

Bradford sighed. "Any good news?"

Ten-Five answered. "Yes, sir. CFVY just cleared out with the last of their civilians a minute ago, as did the professors on the south end, and are working to establish a safe perimeter at the city dropzone. We're consolidating our efforts on the docks held by ABRN and SSSN."

Bradford turned to the jump-jet operatives running gear checks in the arena. "Icarus, get to the docks and support the evacuation. The sooner we get those civilians out of here, the sooner we can get off this damn rock."

Crescent Rose accentuated the urgency of his order as Ruby opened up on another wave of Griffons flying in to attack the group. Several of Annette's operatives aimed skyward to join in with a fusillade while the rest moved towards the northern and eastern exits to support Strike Ten, Blake, Yang, and the freshman huntsmen teams.

"Engineers, on me."

MacAuley took stock as the other four Icarus Engineers that reported to his side. Altinsoy, Mtambe, Samuelson, and Senchin, all of whom were close friends with the Irishman from their days of keeping the anthill running before they enlisted for field duty. MacAuley couldn't think of anyone he trusted more with a spanner or a torch while the world went to hell around them.

MacAuley keyed his mic. "Vahlen, it's Mac. I'm headed to you with a group of guys and gals that are ready to un-fuck whatever it is your new worm buddy is doing."

"Any help is welcome, Sergeant, but be advised: I've been allowed access to Amity's video feeds -to watch and despair at everything going wrong, I presume- and I can confirm that there are still mechs running loose in the stadium's hallways. The maintenance and security hallways have armed patrols, and it seems as though the infection hasn't altered their behavior to seek out and attack targets."

"Yeah, the targets come to them." Beagle supplied with a hint of sarcasm, "We've seen three Atlas techs get gunned down on the feeds so far. Guess they missed the memo about the murderbots."

"Albatross teams are ready to go, Central." Eightball reported, "We can begin delivery of the fairground and tower teams on your order."

"Order given." Bradford answered, "Deliver your packages, then assist with civilian rescue operations as you see fit. Insertion teams: you all have incredibly important objectives. See to it that you accomplish them with expedience."

"Understood, sir." Weiss said, rapier brandished and ready.

"You got it boss!" Nora saluted.

"We'll keep Dr. Shen safe." Pyrrha affirmed.

The away teams left with their Icarus escort while the engineering team did one final equipment check before their push to rendezvous with Vahlen. Bradford turned his attention back to the center of the arena in time to see Ruby duck under a swipe from Penny with a squeak.

"Be careful, Penny! We're on the same side, remember?"

"Are we?" Penny asked with a glance at Ruby, "Because it look looks like you're getting in my way."

That caused Ruby to stop aiming at the nearest Griffon and gawk in surprise. "Penny? What are you talking abo-?"

"Slacking on the job?" Penny asked, slicing a Griffon out of the sky, "Incompetence. Distinct evidence of collusion with XCOM," Slice, "An entity with an unknown agenda that has repeatedly acted against General Ironwood's authority as head of security?" Slice, slice, stab, "Insubordination."

Ruby hefted her scythe and adopted a cautious stance as she watched Penny continue to kill Griffons with ruthless precision while offering uncharacteristically direct threats. And how did she learn that information about XCOM?

"Working with other Valean teams to create a mass-panic event with the goal of crippling Atlas's reputation and military strength?" Penny cleaved two more birds out of the air before refocusing her array of swords against Ruby "Insurrection."

Crescent Rose fired with a bang and propelled Ruby out of harm's way. She had no idea where Penny was getting her information from, but they either didn't understand the situation with XCOM, or they didn't care. Was this why all of the Knights had suddenly turned against XCOM and the huntsmen? Was there someone in control of their communications that had the ability to mark Ruby and her friends as Public Enemy Number One? The young huntress zipped around the arena, dodging Penny and Griffons alike as she tried to figure out what was happening and how to stop it.

A volley of Gauss weaponsfire erupted from the edge of the arena, and Penny stumbled forward when several of the high-velocity rounds slammed into her back.

"As if I needed more evidence of your deceit." Penny said with a laugh. She turned her back on Ruby and spun her tethered swords around to deflect the rest of the onslaught with her wall of flashing blades. Once XCOM's loaded ammo seemed to run dry, Ruby watched in shock as Penny formed her swords into the familiar shape of an energy cannon.

"Uhhhh, Cap?"

MacAuley's nervous voice snapped Ruby out of her slack-jawed stupor, and she bolted forward towards the haywire mech. The two collided a split second before the beam discharged. Neon green lanced in an arc across the stadium amid radioed yelps and expletives from the surprised XCOM team A section of the stadium collapsed in the wake of the wide gash Penny tore open with ease, sending concrete, rebar, plastic, and even bodies tumbling down towards the arena. The beam passed through the lighting rig overhead before Penny's energy expired, causing the stadium lights to come crashing down and cast the combatants in shadow.

"Even without Sectopods, we're still dealing with goddamn Doom Cannons." The Irishman complained.

"Engineering team, clear out of here." Bradford ordered, "We need you to help Vahlen keep this rock in the air. If you're toast, then so is everyone else."

"… Yes sir."

Ruby backstepped and ducked under another set of swipes from Penny, and she watched MacAuley's team safely leave from the corner of her eye. The only ones remaining were Penny, Bradford, and herself. Penny was still working to take down any Grimm that came close, which meant that she wasn't bringing her full force down upon Ruby just yet. Even so, Ruby had no plan for dealing with her rogue friend. What if it turned out that there was no option beyond… deactivation? Even if she was different from the Penny that Ruby had grown closer to and fought side-by-side with over the last few months, she still had the optimistic voice and naive outlook on life that Ruby and her friends knew all too well. If it came down to it, could she pull the trigger and put her friend down?

"Alright, Captain, we need to find a way out of this mess."

Right. She didn't have to do this alone. If anyone could find a solution on the fly, it would be Bradford.

"Let's get our lifeline back on the horn, shall we?" Bradford asked. "Penny? You there, kiddo?"

"Absolutely, Central! How may I be of service?" Penny's voice crackled over the comms.

"I'm right here, Bradford." The other Penny called out, and Ruby shuddered at the malicious undertone in her words. That was something she'd never heard from Penny before. "I was going to deal with your non-compliant officer here first, but I'll be happy to change my priorities if you would prefer a more immediate termination."

Bradford froze. Aliens in a base assault, he could handle. A robot ninja with an absurdly large quantity of swords and a Doom Cannon? Not so much.

"Penny, I could use the help of a Norse God right about now, if you catch my drift."

"Keep moving team."

With his rifle at the ready, MacAuley moved through the maintenance halls with a purpose. More cramped and winding than the main thoroughfares used by guests, the service tunnels and maintenance routes didn't leave much room to maneuver. On the other hand, the pathways were full of supply boxes (as well as a not-insignificant amount of debris, courtesy of Evil Penny) that provided enough cover to dig in for firefights. Climbing down service ladders through tight manholes in full Icarus gear was not fun, however.

His small group had only encountered a couple of of Knights so far, which suited the Irishman just fine. The fewer surprise encounters he had to deal with, the faster he could reach Vahlen and stabilize this flying rock.

"Master Sergeant, I'm seeing additional mechanized activity on my video feeds, though I am unable to determine where they are in relation to you. The worm -or its operator- has figured out that you are on your way to assist, and is systematically blocking and unblocking video feeds as you move through the facility."

As if on cue, another pair of mechs rounded the corner with guns blazing. One of MacAuley's operatives dropped to the floor with a pained grunt while the rest returned fire. Bullets ripped through the boxes MacAuley ducked behind with the injured Mtambe, showering him with packing debris and wood chips as he examined his squadmate for wounds. Vahlen's voice continued to speak in MacAuley's ear.

"If I had to guess, I would say that our adversary is taunting me with this behavior, as I assume it would be very trivial for the virus to shut off my video feeds completely. Instead, it has elected to make me effectively blind within sixty meters of your position while allowing me to continue watching the infected mechs kill innocents elsewhere inside the station."

"Could I get that in American, ma'am?" Samuelson asked as he riddled one of the mechs with bullet holes, "I don't speak European."

Vahlen sighed loudly over the comms, "That's about two hundred feet, Corporal."

"Much obliged, Doctor."

"It's like your team stirred up a hornet's nest." Jane Kelly commented, which briefly surprised MacAuley. He forgot that she and Tygan reached Vahlen's hidey hole before the mechs went rogue. "I'm not even sure where they're all coming from."

"Behind us, sir!" MacAuley looked up from tending to Mtambe's (thankfully non-critical) wound to see another pair of mechs step into the hallway.

"We need to push forward." The Irishman said over the gunfire, "These boxes won't last forever."

The ground shuddered, enough to almost knock MacAuley off his feet, and he let out a groan. Why did things keep getting worse before they even showed a hint of getting better?

"Doc…"

Tygan answered for Vahlen, "I've been monitoring this station's propulsion systems, and it appears that they are suffering a… critical problem."

"I don't like the sound of that, Newer Doc." MacAuley gritted tersely as he helped his injured squadmate move faster.

"If I am understanding these readouts correctly, the system suffered an electrical overload that damaged some of the main circuit buses."

Well that was something MacAuley could work with. "And where might these buses be?"

"On the station's exterior. Where the primary crystal interfaces with the constructed hardware."

"You're shitting me."

"You know the drill, Mac." Beagle said. "Yes sir first, ask questions later."

"Yes, sir." MacAuley sighed. He turned to his squad. "Sam, take Mtambe and push on to Vahlen. I want you both locked and loaded for any more toasters that try to slow you down. Altinsoy, Senchin? On me."

The trio altered backtracked towards a small warehouse room where MacAuley remembered seeing another service door that hopefully lead to the outer halls and the outside beyond.

"You both brought your modified arc throwers, right?" MacAuley asked.

"Does the Pope shit in the woods?" Senchin countered.

"You need to work on your idioms, Sen." Altinsoy muttered, "Contacts."

MacAuley knew they had to be close, as Beowolves started to reinforce the incoming mechs.

"Senchin…"

"On it." The Russian hefted his shotgun and took aim at the first charger. The firearm discharged with a deep bang and tore a hole through the monster's chest. MacAuley and Altinsoy took on the mechs while Senchin continued to tangle with the wolves. MacAuley heard the distant sound of gunfire from behind, indicating that more of the robots had found their friends.

"Friendlies secured." Jane reported, "Had to deal with a couple bots first, but I figured you'd want to know, Sarge."

"I owe you a beer after this, Kelly." MacAuley answered as he kicked open a service hatch and felt a rush of wind from the high-altitude evening air.

"Shit, make it four and you might just have yourself a deal."

The Irishman gave the thumbs-up to indicate that the side hatch did indeed lead to their desired destination. The trio jumped through the open doorway into a brief free fall and found themselves in the aerial mayhem surrounding the Colosseum once again. Sticking close to the face of Amity seemed to avoid the attention of the flying Grimm, which allowed MacAuley and his crew to survey the situation with relative safety.

Atlesian steel and demonic flesh clashed all around them in the churning skies. Unarmed transport ships frantically worked to deliver trapped civilians from Amity to the city below while Griffons and Nevermores harassed them from all sides. MacAuley noted that several of his comrades from Icarus squad offered short-ranged support for the airships close to the Colosseum, but the transports had to brave the stygian swarm for safety below once they left the XCOM-controlled airspace. Several Atlesian dogfighter craft still remained and offered what protection they could, but they had to contend with the rogue cruiser that seemed intent on turning them to ash.

MacAuley still couldn't quite get a read on the damn cruiser. After its initial blitz took out the other two capital ships, it unquestionably possessed the greatest firepower in this giant clusterfuck of a combat zone. Knocking Amity out of the sky would be a trivial matter, so why hang back and seemingly pick at the scraps? Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if it possessed the equipment necessary for aerial bombardment, so again… why leave the city alone? Sure, it deployed a lot of toasters when they had turned rogue, but the ship didn't seem to be living up to its full capabilities. Then again, why was he looking a gift horse in the mouth?

"Targets at nine o'clock." Senchin reported, snapping MacAuley out of his musings.

"Evade." MacAuley ordered, "We've got work to do."

The trio banked into a dive to move past the roving Griffons while Altinsoy hailed Vahlen on comms. "So Doc, how do you know where to find this bus, anyway?"

"I met a technician before… miss Adel's incident." Vahlen explained, "He's been helping us in our efforts to get this virus under control."

"It hasn't been working." Kelly added.

"Thank you for that observation, Lieutenant." Vahlen quipped.

MacAuley cleared his throat. "Well, we're getting close to the main crystal. Can I just say that I'm glad you had a chance to add the hooks to these suits before shit went south?"

"You may."

"Grapple out." Altinsoy announced, and her outstretched arm bucked from the force of the discharge mechanism. The hook grabbed onto the station's hull a split second later and reeled the engineer in towards Amity's exterior. MacAuley and Senchin followed suit and joined her at the crystal. The engineers didn't even need direction or commentary from the science team to detect the damage: burned metal and sparking wires told the story well enough on their own.

"Looks like a case of sabotage, Doc. We're on it." MacAuley reported. He nodded at his teammates and pulled out his Arc Thrower. The business end of the device flipped over with the push of a toggle to reveal a small welding torch. Another shudder of the station reminded the engineers that time was of the essence as they carefully moved about the structure to begin their repairs.

"Contacts right. Grimm."

"Alright, kid, you're up. Smash and scatter."

Sage nodded, gripping his sword tightly as he bent low and took aim at the oncoming Grimm. Once glance at his partner confirmed that Scarlet was likewise ready, and Sage leapt forward with an adrenal yell. The floor shuddered slightly beneath the huntsman's landing before he delivered a broad stroke that sent the Beowolves and Boarbatusks reeling. He heard the familiar sound of a grappling hook locking itself into place before Scarlet grabbed him and the duo swung, over the edge of the Colosseum itself and around the backside of the Grimm offensive. They landed just as the wolves were picking themselves up from Sage's initial strike, just in time for the burly fighter to plow into them again.

With the monsters disoriented for a second time, the partners quickly dove into an adjoining hallway as the XCOM soldiers lit up the main thoroughfare with bullets. Before they even had a chance to revel in the success of their gambit, the loaned comm piece from XCOM crackled in Sage's ear and he heard Annette's clipped, professional warning.

"Fliers inbound. Icarus can't handle them all."

"Then ABRN will help." The Mistrali leader (Arslan, wasn't it?) answered.

"Don't think you're leaving SSSN out of this," Sun countered, "Pull back and assist, team."

Sage and Scarlet raced back to the docking area (the last one, thankfully) to see their teammates already there with ABRN. Neptune and Nadir added their firepower to that of the soldiers shooting up at the oncoming birds while Reese raced skyward on her board to join Icarus. Arslan followed close behind, swinging herself up and into the fray with the help of a rail mounted on an incoming transport. Sun and Bolin swung their staves around in a whirling defense as Griffons dropped in with claws outstretched, eager to get at least one swipe in before succumbing to death. The two huntsmen flowed like water, moving from Grimm to Grimm and keeping each other covered as they kept the dock clear of threats.

"Mechs coming in from the south hall." One of the operatives reported, "I know those fliers are deadly, but we could use a little help over here."

Arslan watched Sage and Scarlet race off to help with the mechs as she sailed through the air. Dogfights broke out around her as the Icarus fliers traded shots with the Nevermores while the Griffons flew in close for opportunistic melee strikes against the occupied soldiers. That was where Arslan came in.

She flicked her dart at a nearby Griffon and altered course when the attached rope grew taut. Arslan pulled herself towards the monster, delivered a punch to its throat, and arced over a grateful soldier as she carried onward towards her next victim.

"I can't believe we're really doing this!" Reese called out as she flew up beside her leader.

"Doing what?" Arslan asked, hooking another Griffon.

Reese dipped just out of claw's reach of an oncoming Griffon and used her razor-sharp board to cut the creature lengthwise as it passed. "You know. Being heroes!"

To be honest, Arslan felt more like a shipwreck survivor struggling to find a piece of wood large enough to keep herself afloat amidst all the chaos, but she figured that Reese didn't need to know that. Captain Durand's words from a few days ago burned like a fire in her mind. 'You need to have the strength and resolve to command your squad when everything feels like it's falling apart around you.' It sure felt that way now, and it was all Arslan could do to keep a stoic look on her face as she tried her best to make her team useful in the face of darkness.

"Yeah." She answered to Reese's comment as she hooked herself onto another Griffon and altered course, "We can feel like heroes when this is all over. For now, we focus."

"Nevermores!"

A flurry of quills sliced through the air around Arslan and her partner, and one left Reese spinning when it nicked her board.

"Reese!" Arslan cried, though she didn't have long to worry about her friend. Another quill made the one-in-a-million shot and severed her rope from the dart embedded in her anchoring Griffon. Arslan gasped as physics took its course and flung her away from the solid ground of the docks.

"H-help!" She squeaked into her mic as she tumbled head-over-foot. Was this how her story ended? A long fall followed by an unceremonious splatter?

"Ooph!"

Another object collided into her back and grabbed her firmly around the waist and her shoulders.

"Easy there, kiddo." A muffled voice said from over her shoulder, "You're in good hands now."

Arslan glanced up to see one of the heavy-duty support fliers looking back at her. The huntress breathed a sigh of relief. "You have my thanks, soldier."

"Pilot." The woman corrected. "Welcome aboard Air Firebrand."

Down on the docks, Sun and Bolin moved among the embedded quills and worked to assess and fix the damage. Icarus provided enough warning for the huntsmen and operatives to herd most of the civilians off of the exposed docks, but several people were still struck by the razor-sharp arrows. Casualties ranged from lightly-wounded, to unconscious, to dead. Sun's stomach churned at the sight of the fallen, each one a stark reminder that tragedies meant not everyone got to live happily ever after. Neptune and Nadir agreed to keep the pressure on with the other gunners while their partners helped the medics with triage and get the people organized again.

They picked through the field of feathers in search of civilians to help. Those that were merely shaken from the attack could be helped back to their feet with some words of encouragement, while others who were pinned down with a quill through their arm or leg required the huntsmen to flag down one of the professional medics for proper treatment. The dead… as much as Sun hated to admit it, they couldn't afford to spend time on the dead.

"How do those guys remain so calm?" Nadir asked as they let one of the XCOM operatives take over their latest patient, "I mean, we're doing alright ourselves, but they're acting like this is business as usual."

Sun shrugged. "Maybe it is. You guys got your assess handed to you by RWBY after their three week stint with these dudes. I can't imagine what they have to deal with day in and day out. Easy, big guy." He said to a burly faunus groaning in pain, "We've got you. The Nevermores are gone, so we need you to get back with everyone else waiting for the next ship."

"It's on its way." Bolin observed, pointing at the Atlesian craft making a beeline for the docks.

"Whussat?" The faunus said blearily, pointing at something behind them. Sun turned around to see a large object drop out of the sky and disappear into the Arena. Half a second later, the ground shuddered.

"The hell was that?" Sun didn't recognize that voice.

"That was Penny dropping in to say hello." That one belonged to the Bradford guy.

"Sal-u-tations!" And that one was unmistakably Penny.

Another shudder, accompanied by a painful creaking, caused the two huntsmen and the faunus to trip sideways. Was Sun imagining things, or did the station feel like it was starting to tilt slightly.

"Okay, that one wasn't us." Bradford said.

"Kinda was, boss." Another voice said, "We're in the middle of some sensitive shit down here, and Penny just knocked a lot of it loose."

"Oh! I apologize, Master Sergeant! I did my best to minimize my impact shock, but the Odin is rather massive."

"Yeah, I'm not trying to throw shade or anything, kiddo. But this station just become a lot less stable."

"Because of course." Sun muttered.

"Damn." Bolin muttered, "If they're rocking heavy equipment like that, then you're probably right about this being business as usual."

Sun nodded in agreement. He watched the ship finish docking and saw a couple of XCOM's operatives start the process of getting the next batch of terrified and wounded civilians off of Amity. "C'mon, let's go help them load everyone up."

"You think this will help you, Bradford?" Penny asked, hatred burning in her voice, "Bringing in my other half as some sick, poetic way to put me down?"

Bradford continued to move silently among the stadium wreckage. Several walkways (trenches, more like) opened up like scars across the arena floor as Amity continued to slowly fall apart. The Central Officer figured he could stay out of the enraged Penny's line of sight by keeping his head down low, allowing Ruby (and now XCOM's Penny) to to keep the rogue bot occupied while she continued to vainly seek out and murder Bradford.

"Well it certainly looks like you could use a reboot!"

Bless that optimistic AI's heart and her growing fondness for witty one-liners. Her arrival into the stadium caught the rogue Penny off-guard long enough for the radio exchange and for Ruby and Bradford to regain their bearings against the hostile threat. The Captain did her best to keep Brardford out of harm's way, but Penny's Doc Ock-esque sword attachments, Bradford's distinct survival disadvantage, and Ruby's hesitancy to actually hurt her friend gave the robotic girl an advantage in the 2-vs-1 fight. The Odin changed that with its three players.

XCOM's Penny obviously provided the greatest advantage towards leveling the playing field, but she arrived with two copilots: Forklift and Gidjit. Even though Penny was fully capable of wielding the Odin on her own, she and Dr. Shen came to the same conclusion that more processing units could never be a bad thing. In this case, the additional CPU came from both a biological and a mechanical source. William 'Forklift' Ryder was a recent addition to XCOM's MEC trooper cadre, trained specifically on the Odin to become Penny's co-pilot (and eventually take over when Penny re-merged with her Remnant counterpart). Bradford frequently authorized the dispatch of the Odin to hot spots around the globe partly in an effort to bring Forklift up to speed. While he often joked that he was 'just along for the ride' on these ops, Penny reported that he was more useful than he let on. Constant control of all the Odin's motor functions put a legitimate strain on Penny's computing cycles, and the ability to pass that off to another operator allowed her to focus on other critical systems of the MEC.

And then, of course, there was Gidjit. In addition deploying as additional fire support for the Odin, Gidjit quickly adapted to a role as Penny's 'chief munitions officer.' Thanks to Gidjit's attention and assistance, reload times for the Odin were dramatically reduced, and Shen's engineering team developed a hot-swapping system specifically with Gidjit in mind that allowed him to smoothly change the explosive payload intended for the Odin's shoulder-mounted MLRS. Finally, research into the alien Drones allowed Shen's team to provide Gidjit with the ability to make field repairs to the Odin (as well as other MECs deployed to an active AO).

Despite the Odin's massive frame, Penny and her copilots seemed to be doing a solid job of keeping their MEC safe. Granted, its enhanced cladding allowed the Odin to shrug off some of the faster (and therefore weaker) blows from the rogue Penny's bladestorm, but a proper combination of jetboot evasions and well-timed counterattacks left the infected huntress from scoring any deadly blows.

"ARMOR HOLDING." Gidjit reported after another flurry of strikes. A bang erupted from the other end of the arena, and Penny staggered from Ruby's shot. A smaller report echoed from behind the Odin while the rogue bot had her head turned, and caused the young girl to yelp in pain.

"I thought you wanted to live, Bradford." Penny said through gritted teeth, her swords whirling defensively to block any more cheap shots from Ruby, "Was I mistaken?"

Cannonfire from the Odin forced Penny to quickly evade and cast a glare at the large mech.

"Eyes on us, kiddo." Forklift called out, half-taunting, "Gidjit?"

"FIRING SOLUTION ACQUIRED. ENGAGING." A pintle-mounted Phoenix Cannon flipped into position on the shoulder opposite to the Odin's MLRS hardware.

"Thank God for XCOM's wunderteam." Bradford muttered.

The Odin began strafing around the perimeter of the arena as Gidjit laid down a withering barrage with his heavy-duty scatter cannon. Since the Odin had joined the fight, he'd started collecting and analyzing data in conjunction with his AI partner regarding their target's battlefield movement. While the analysis was far from complete, it did give Gidjit a small edge in predicting the rogue Penny's movements as she sought to counter the new threat. At the very least, the Phoenix Cannon effectively nullified Penny's ability to power up her own superweapon, as the charging process would leave her exposed for far too long.

Even with the heavy shotgun and the Odin's two main cannons raining fire upon her, Penny still managed to maneuver in close to start shredding the Odin. The MEC's massive jetboots fired to reposition the heavy frame, but Penny tethered herself with a sword jammed into the Odin's leg.

"ASSISTANCE REQUESTED."

Ruby zipped and sliced the tether before diving into melee with Penny herself. With the heat shifted to Captain Rose, Forklift backed off to reload and re-assess the situation.

The pilot switched to the crew's internal channel to poll his cybernetic squadmates, "Ideas?"

"Conventional arms are only useful for distracting my progenitor and forcing her to reposition." Penny observed, "We will need to get creative to stop her."

A green light pinged Forklift's HUD, indicating that all weapons had finished reloading. Warning lights still announced the damage caused by the rogue Penny's assault. "I got the same sense. How about explosives? We should have some experimental rounds ready to load into the MLRS."

"AFFIRMATIVE."

"Let's get some flashbangs loaded up first, but I want to keep some Dust explosive hot if the 'bangs don't give us the edge we need." Forklift switched to Bradford's comm, "Boss, I need you to hunker down. It's going to get interesting topside in a few seconds."

"Understood. Be quick, Forklift. We can't afford to drag this out much longer."

"Captain Rose!" Penny hailed over Ruby's comm, "Please pull back in three… two… one!"

The MLRS snapped forward to its firing position as Ruby retreated, and the Odin unleashed a salvo of micro rockets that exploded in a blinding ball of magnesium and chaff.

"My counterpart will adapt quickly to the distraction." Penny warned, "Now is your chance, Ruby!"

Indeed, while the tethered blades had stopped whirling like Remnant's deadliest Cuisinart, Penny was already returning to a readied stance. A little red ball of rose petals and steel, however, crashed into the distracted robot and sent the two tumbling.

"DUST SALVO READY IN FIVE." Gidjit announced. "ROSE MUST EVACUATE ON MARK. MARK."

Ruby zipped out of the way as the MLRS launched another, staggered rocket volley. The first wave discharged a small cloud of electrical energy while the second blossomed into an ice structure that trapped the weakened Penny and most of her blades. In an instant, Ruby returned to the side of her friend once more.

"Penny! Penny, can you hear me?"

Penny twitched, and her mechanical pupils widened and re-focused. Ruby's heart sank as she saw the hatred remain in her friend's once-innocent eyes.

"T-t-raitor." Penny croaked, her body struggling against both the static discharge and the solid ice. Ruby could hear the faint sound of cracking, however, as Penny worked to break free. "You have brought-ought-ought this ruin upon us all. You must pay for your c-c-continued betrayal to humanity."

"Penny listen." Ruby pleaded, "I don't know what sort of things your programming is telling you, but you've got it all wrong. We're trying to help, just like you!"

The ice cracked a little more, and Penny continued to glare daggers at Ruby.

"It appears that Penny is unable to fight off the virus." The Good Penny said, "Perhaps a reboot is necessary."

"Give us the quick version, Penny." Bradford said.

"While our platform is designed to resist and protect against mild electrical current, our father devised a failsafe that would force a shutdown if there is a sufficiently large power surge."

"This would have been useful to know earlier." Forklift commented.

"It's never been tested." Penny explained, "Partly because we've never needed to test it. Our Aura came online shortly thereafter, which provided sufficient protection and rendering the failsafe obsolete. The platform's Aura is clearly depleted at this time, however, and so a discharge is a viable solution."

Crack, crunch. "It… it won't cause permanent damage, right?" Ruby asked.

"It shouldn't. But then again, our father never anticipated something the size of the Odin delivering an EMP."

"And Amity?" Forklift asked.

"ELECTROMAGNETIC SWEEP OF LOCAL AREA COMPLETED. NO CRITICAL FUNCTIONS DETECTED."

Crash. One of Penny's swords broke free from its prison in a shower of icy shards and sliced Ruby's flank. The huntress yelped in surprise at the attack and clutched her side. Aura protected her from any serious damage, but the attack (and betrayal) still stung. The ground shook a second later with the Odin crashing down next to the encased Penny. Before Ruby could say anything, she heard the telltale whine of the EMP charging up before a wave of electrical energy surged through the stadium. Ruby watched as the pulse washed over her friend. Penny gasped and shuddered from the currents running rampant through her system before her eyes grew dark and the young girl fell back limply against the ice.

Silence followed for a few seconds, with only the distant sounds of battle drifting into the arena. Bradford carefully stepped out from cover, the Odin searched the skies for any additional threats, and Ruby's eyes remained fixed on Penny's limp body.

"I'm sorry." Ruby choked, her voice a whisper, "There was no time to find another way."

Bradford came to a stop next to the despondent huntress and put a hand on her shoulder. "You know this isn't the end." He said quietly, "There's room in the Odin to take the body with us, and I'm certain that the Doctors will do everything they can to restore Penny after this is all over."

"I know." Ruby said. She heaved a sigh, stood up, and unpacked Crescent Rose. "Doesn't make it hurt any less, though."

Bradford had nothing to say about that, so he watched in silence as Ruby angrily hacked away at the ice to extract Penny's frame.

"You're doing good work, Master Sergeant. We've regained enough power flow to keep the station airborne." Vahlen announced. "I recommend you continue making your repairs, however, in the event that our unwelcome friend attempts to overload another array."

"Yeah, we're working on it." MacAuley muttered. He aimed his grappling hook at another section of the station's crystal-mechanical interface and pulled himself towards the next smoking electrical bus. "Sen, how are we doing on the re-wire?"

"It's taking some time to re-route all the wires." The Russian called back, "The bus was complete toast when I opened it up, so it's difficult to determine what needs to be routed where. Progress is at around seventy percent. Our new friend Tygan has been rather helpful."

"Thank you, Corporal."

"For a biochemist."

"… Thank you, Corporal."

Good. MacAuley assigned Senchin to the power box with the most damage on account of his steady hands, and it appeared to be the correct choice. Time to check in on the one he sent to do a flyover examination of the crystal. "Altinsoy? How's the magitech looking?"

"Badly damaged." The other Engineer reported, "Lots of crack propagations all over the main formation. I don't know if it's from stress caused by the atypical loads caused by… everything that's happened, or if these pigeons are slamming face-first into it."

"Or if there's more sabotage." MacAuley muttered. "Doc? Anything we can do to try and fix the damage?"

"I did run some successful material science tests last month that used Elerium as a conductive thermoset." Vahlen said, "Given Weiss's data regarding the reactions between Elerium and Dust, I would venture that the larger fractures could be temporarily patched up. Unfortunately…"

"… we didn't bring any Elerium thermoset." MacAuley guessed.

"That, and I only have an experimental supply. I doubt I have enough in the labs to repair the damage reported by the Gunnery Sergeant."

CRUNCH. CRACK. CRASH.

"Mac." Bradford said, the frustration almost tangible in his voice, "What the hell was that?"

MacAuley blinked once, then twice. This couldn't really be happening, right? "For the record," he started, "Altinsoy forgot to knock on wood when she joked about the Nevermores crashing into the anti-grav crystal, so this is technically her fault."

"Seriously?!"

MacAuley stared at the three birds, crack lines growing like spiderwebs around their embedded beaks, and the groans of the Dust formation only grew louder.

"I hope you're done with the evac, boss, because you really need to haul ass off this thing. ASAP."

With a deafening snap, a solid third of the crystal formation shuddered and fell away, taking the Nevermores with it. Amity began to immediately list to one side.

"You don't need to tell me twice." Bradford groaned, "I need all XCOM personnel to evacuate Amity, effective immediately."

The sudden shift in the landscape had taken the Central Officer by surprise and sent him skidding to one end of the colosseum. Penny's heavy frame allowed her to stay anchored in spite of the heavy tilt, and Ruby hooked Crescent Rose into the ground to keep herself steady the moment the floor started to rotate. She'd only finished stowing the incapacitated Penny a few seconds before the loud crack echoed through the night sky. Once the Captain regained her balance, she bounded towards Bradford and helped him up.

"Let's get to the docks and see if there are any last-minute departures that could use some help."

Bradford nodded, then glanced back at the Odin. "Would you mind taking the high road and providing the docks with some defensive firepower? Ruby and I will move through the tunnels to assist the science team's evac."

"It would be my pleasure, Bradford!"

The ground shuddered again, and the sound of rending metal echoed through the arena.

"… Yeah, this station really isn't happy with its change from an undergrad statics engineering problem to a doctoral-level dynamics one."

Bradford opted to ignore MacAuley's sarcasm and instead focused on Ruby. "Lead the way, Captain."

The two of them started their journey to the docks, and quickly realized how much damage Penny had done during her insanity. The main thoroughfares that led from the arena to the outer rim were completely trashed. In the one closest to Bradford's position, fires burned, exposed wires sparked and sizzled, and twisted metal glowed red with heat, making for a potentially hazardous path to the outside. Jetboots ignited from their rear, marking the Odin's ascent to the top of the stands. Almost immediately, the damaged framework above Bradford's head began to creak and twist. Before he could react, a crimson bullet slammed into him and threw him forward into the tunnel to escape the serrated guillotine that would have killed him had he remained in place.

"You alright?" Ruby asked.

"I am incredibly sorry, Bradford! I had no idea the extent of the structural damage caused by my counterpart to this stadium!"

"I'm fine." Bradford answered, picking himself up, "How is everyone else? Vahlen? Did your team manage to make it out?"

"There's been some… eh… discussion about that on the engineering comm, Central."

"Doctor…"

MacAuley's answered for Vahlen. "I'm not leaving. Neither is my team."

Ruby and Bradford exchanged glances before the former got to work cutting down a maintenance access door and the latter keyed his comm. "I'm sorry. I must have stuttered when I ordered all hands to evacuate."

"Respectfully sir, you can't see shit from inside the arena." MacAuley answered. Bradford was about to deliver a harsh reprimand when the Irishman added, "This thing is on a crash-course for Vale."

That… changed some things.

"And the Master Sergeant needs me to remain as well." Vahlen explained, "To help regulate power to key sections of what remains of the propulsion crystal and correct its course."

"Not an option, Doctor. Find me a better one." Bradford answered tersely. Weaponsfire chattered down the hallway, forcing the Central Officer behind cover as a trio of Knights rounded a corner and marched towards them. Ruby crouched slightly, Crescent Rose brandished, and disappeared in a flurry of rose petals. Over the (for once, welcome) sound of rending metal, the debate continued.

"If I may, Central." Tygan said, "I believe I am functionally experienced with these systems to the point where I can remain in the Chief Scientist's stead."

Bradford peeked out and fired off a couple of shots at a new Knight marching towards Ruby. "You realize that Bailey will have my head if I let you die, Tygan."

"If it's between my life and Vahlen's, I'm sure he will understand."

"Don't sell yourself short, doctor. You have incredible potential." Vahlen argued.

"And the scientific community will suffer a far greater blow if you are lost instead." Tygan countered.

The station groaned in protest as it continued to slowly fail.

"Tick tock, guys." Beagle said.

Shit. Bradford hated these kinds of decisions.

"Vahlen, get to the docks. Take everyone with you except for Tygan."

"With all due respect, sir," Lieutenant Kelly said, "I take my orders from the Councilman, and I believe my instructions were, 'keep Tygan safe.' "

"You know, you could have chimed in earlier when he was offering to stay." Bradford sighed.

"I'm not arguing that he shouldn't. I'm arguing that I need to stay with him."

"And you'd be fucking daft to think I'm leaving my adjutant behind." Beagle quipped.

"Because of course." Bradford muttered. He rejoined Ruby after she finished dispatching all of the Knights, and they continued down the access hallway. They heard heavy thumps from overhead.

"Jesus, why didn't we have Penny dealing with the fliers sooner?"

"I wish I could have helped, Corporal, but I was dealing with the enemy within the arena!"

The duo rounded a corner and saw the Chief Scientist up ahead with her operative escort.

"Doctor!" Bradford called out.

Vahlen turned around, and relief washed over her face. "I am glad to see that you're okay, Bradford."

"He's got me!" Ruby piped up, "Of course he's fine!"

The station rocked. Hard.

"That was me." MacAuley said, his voice sheepish, "Had to… ah… eject a section of the crystal to make a course correction. Sorry about that."

"Do try to warn us next time, Master Sergeant." Vahlen said. She smiled a thank you at Ruby, who caught her before she fell from the shudder.

Now regrouped with the Chief Scientist's group, Ruby forged ahead once more towards the docks. The hallways continued to burn, the Odin continued to fire overhead, and the station continued to groan and creak. After all of MacAuley's 'modifications' to the station's propulsion, the floor beneath them stood at a ten degree tilt, though the unstable nature of the station caused that to fluctuate unpredictably.

"The changes still aren't gonna cut it." MacAuley reported, "We're severing as many non-essential sections of the propulsion grid as we can, but the primary thrust isn't pushing us away from the city fast enough."

"Hold on, I'm getting something." Beagle said. Up ahead, Bradford saw the starry night sky. The group made it to the outer ring when Beagle spoke over comms again, "Doc, your friend down in the main power plant? He said he can overload the generators for one final Hail Mary."

"Station's probably gonna fall apart in the process." MacAuley warned, "But I don't see any other options. How long will it take to fire up the burn?"

Silence, presumably as Beagle relayed the question to the technician. Bradford saw the docks up ahead. Operatives and huntsmen alike were working together to shoot down any fliers that came close, and the platform looked like a complete mess, but a final shuttle remained hovering alongside Amity, ready to take the last set of passengers off of the dying Colosseum.

"He has it keyed up to fire as soon as I give the word." Beagle confirmed, "Though the sooner he can push the button, the better chance we have of pulling this thing off."

Bradford made a motion for his group to hustle. "We're almost at the docks, Beags. And it looks like everyone else has already been evacuated. Give us another thirty seconds."

"Incoming wing of Nevermores!"

"Not for long! Major Durand, please instruct your fliers to disengage!"

As he continued to run, Bradford watched the Icarus operatives fall back before a salvo of rockets bloomed like fireworks in the middle of the Nevermore flock, followed by a withering barrage of weaponsfire that could only come from a deployed Cyberdisc.

One of Vahlen's escorts let out a low whistle. "Y'know… I'm starting to warm up to the idea of having a combat-ready Gidjit on our side."

Bradford, however, had bigger issues on his mind. "Penny, I know you're probably thinking that you could go down with the ship and possibly help our friends survive-"

"Of course I can!"

"… But we need your firepower to turn the tide of the ground fight." The group reached the docks by this point, with Sun waving them over to the transport with an outstretched hand. "I have intel that suggests things aren't going as well as we'd like, even with the other MECs deployed, and the Odin is our ace in the hole that can blow that deadlock wide open."

"But… I don't understand. The Captain…"

"Go on ahead, kiddo." Beagle answered, an uncharacteristic tone of encouragement in his voice, "If you think a meteoric fall on a high-tech asteroid is enough to kill me… well, I'm mildly offended that you have so little faith in me."

MacAuley grunted in agreement. "Yeah, what's that thing Claymore liked to say? We do what we must, because we must."

"… I understand." Penny said, though her tone spoke volumes about the truth. "I'll deploy groundside and meet you at the landing zone."

"Atta girl."

Bradford was the last to step aboard the shuttle, and the pilot pushed off seconds later with Annette's Icarus escort. "We're all clear, Beags. Light 'er up."

The skeleton crew didn't need to be told twice. A pregnant pause filled the air, and Bradford wondered if the plan failed. When the propulsion crystal became blindingly bright and caused the hairs on Bradford's arms to stand on end, however, a small sigh of relief escaped the Central Officer's lips.

"Amity away." MacAuley announced, "Oh yeah, this is going to work real nice. I can already see us veering off from the city."

"Hey Brad, would you mind doing me a favor?" Beagle asked.

Bradford's ear perked at the Captain's question.

"Always happy to help, Beags." He answered, indicating that he had picked up on Beagle's opening code phrase.

"Would you mind telling Papa Doorn that it's been an honor serving under him?"

Papa Doorn? Surely Beagle could have picked a more elegant choice of words. No matter, Bradford got the point of the message all the same.

"Will do, Captain."

Bradford watched chips from the overloaded crystal break off alongside loose metal plates and structural beams. MacAuley was right, though: the Hail Mary worked.

"Odin taking off." Penny reported, with none of her usual cheerful demeanor, "But I'm coming back with a recovery team the moment Central gives the go-ahead, alright?"

"Yeah. We'll be waiting for you, Penny." Beagle answered.

For the next minute, Amity continued to grow smaller as it pushed itself further away from Vale and Bradford's retreating shuttle. A spontaneous silence fell over the comms, borne out of respect for the few who stayed behind to safely scuttle the derelict Colosseum. Shortly before impact, the propulsion crystal flared with a rumbling boom, and Amity broke into three distinct pieces before shattering the earth with it's mighty crash.

A/N: One final thing, if I may. Another writer on this site was inspired back in April to create an expanded version of The List that includes the antics and tomfoolery that transpired during XCOM: RWBY Within. The tone of the one-shot is absolutely perfect, and I highly recommend heading over to LoamLapse's profile to give it a look if you haven't had the pleasure of reading it already.