Pyrrha was studying for an upcoming test in Oobleck's history class when she started to hear a loud noise from down the hall. If she didn't know any better, she would have guessed that it sounded like a Boarbatusk crashing down the hallway. However, she did know better, and so she closed her textbook and patiently waited for Jaune to come barreling through the door.

"Pyrrha! I'm so glad you're here! I really need to talk to you!"

His partner gave him a bemused smile before holding up her scroll. "You know, Jaune, we have these things for a reason."

The look on Jaune's face when he realized he didn't have to race to the dorms from... wherever he was almost made Pyrrha regret bringing it up. Almost. He was cute when he was flustered.

"Pyrrha. They're gone."

The smile on Pyrrha's face quickly vanished. She had no idea what Jaune was talking about, but he sounded serious. Even if her partner was a prankster, Pyrrha knew that she was the last person on Remnant that he would even think about targeting for a joke. "Jaune... who's gone?"

"RWBY. I met them in the forest a few minutes ago. We talked, a portal opened up, Yang decided to-"

"Wait, what do you mean 'a portal opened up'? A portal from where?"

"That's just it! I don't know! Yang made a dash for it, Ruby tried to stop her, Weiss and Blake ran after them when they fell through, and I was left standing in a field alone after the portal closed up before I could do anything!"

Pyrrha closed her eyes for a moment to collect herself and keep control over her emotions. She had never heard of portals like this, and that could mean RWBY was in very real danger. First, though... "Jaune, thank you for not following them through the portal. We don't know how long it will be before we find them again, and I would have been worried about you had I found out you were missing as well."

The blonde leader of team JNPR rubbed the back of his neck, unsure of how to respond. "Uh... you're welcome, I guess? My first thought was to come get you and show you the portal, but it closed almost immediately after all four had stepped through. I guess the next step should be to see Professor Ozpin?"

His partner nodded. "That would be the best plan of action, I think. If anyone knows what this portal was, he does. And if he doesn't know what it is, he'll at least know what we should do. Come on, let's go see the headmaster."

"I'm gonna kill him."

"Yang, please don't."

"I swear. I'm gonna do it."

"Yang, he was proving a point."

"I don't care if I get summarily executed afterwards by a firing squad or however they deal with insubordination. I'm gonna do it."

"For crying out loud, Yang! You were being all hoity toity saying 'Blah blah, we don't need your armor! We're soooooo awesome and better than all you plebians who-"

"GUYS." Ruby, having listened to more than enough of the Yang-Weiss War 2: Electric Boogaloo, mustered her team leader authority to put an end to it.

"Yang, what you did was pretty rude, and Vance was making a point. Weiss, Yang doesn't need to hear it from you, as she already had a forced time-out courtesy of the Major. Both of you, stop bickering and start acting like you're part of a cohesive team."

Both Yang and Weiss immediately shut up and turned to stare at Ruby, shock written all over their faces. The stunned silence lasted for all of five seconds before Blake started giggling. "Wow, Ruby. We need to get Nora all up in here, because that was some serious skill in laying down the hammer."

Whether she had meant it or not, Blake's wisecrack was enough to break Yang out of her uncharacteristic loss for words after Ruby's angry outburst. She chuckled and gave her sister a light punch to the shoulder. "Seriously. Where'd you pick up a commanding presence like that? If you're not careful, we're gonna start saluting you and saying 'sir, yes sir'."

Weiss, though she wasn't one to so easily admit defeat, couldn't hide the small grin that briefly crossed her face. "I guess this is why Ozpin put you in charge."

Pleased with herself for diffusing the situation, Ruby started to bounce excitedly on the balls of her feet. "Alright, so now that we're all calmed down, what do you want to do first? We could find beds in the barracks, stick around here and practice with the firearms these guys have…" Ruby hesitated, trying to muster up the courage to give her third suggestion as casually as possible. "oooorrrrrrr we could hang out with Dr. Shen." She smiled brightly at each of her teammates.

Yang snorted. "Pfft. Nerd. I'm heading to the rec center. I need to unwind after all of this, and I think I saw some pretty sweet looking arcade games when the Major gave us his tour."

"Oh no. No no no." Weiss interjected. She held a hand up to preemptively ward off Ruby's 'Lay off of Yang' comment before continuing. "We are all going to find beds in the barracks, and then we are going to talk about everything that's happened today." She looked pointedly at Ruby. "In a mature and rational manner."

"But… but… arcade games…" Yang looked crestfallen as Blake grabbed her by the arm to follow after Ruby and Weiss towards the barracks.

It only took them a few minutes before they arrived at their destination, and they found it surprisingly empty. The only people currently here were a few soldiers sleeping off their exhaustion from a recent field op. It was very easy to tell which beds were occupied and which were vacant, and the team quickly found four beds that sat opposite of each other across the main aisle. After all four had adjusted their beds and sat down, three pairs of eyes stared at Weiss, waiting for her to get on with whatever it was that she had in mind.

"Alright, so can we just talk about how insane all of this is?"

Ruby cocked her head to one side. "What do you mean?"

"If we take Bradford at his word, then that means we are, at bare minimum, no longer on Remnant. These people have never even heard of Remnant."

Yang nodded, smiling. "Pretty cool, isn't it? That must make us the first interstellar travelers from Remnant!"

"Not the point I was trying to make, Yang! And if we are to go beyond bare minimum, then we're to believe that these people, wherever they're from-"

"Earth."

"Right, Earth. These people from Earth are under attack by aliens intent on killing them all."

"Glad to see you were paying attention, Ice Queen."

Both Ruby and Weiss glared at Yang before the latter continued. "And we've just agreed to help them fight back."

"Well…"

"What do you mean 'Well'? Ruby, we're in a very dangerous position, and one that we have no stake in! There's absolutely no point in us sticking our necks out for these people! We don't know them, they don't know us. Why are you three so intent on helping them with their alien problem?"

"I'm helping because I fucked up."

Yang's words completely derailed Weiss's train of thought. Sure, Yang could be a bit crass, and she definitely enjoyed crude humor. But Weiss had never heard Ruby's sister swear before. Yang took the silence as her cue to continue.

"I let my desire to find my mom get the better of me, and I got us stuck in this situation. I'm sorry Weiss, but I can't just sit around and wait for other people to get around to helping us with a situation that I caused in the first place. You are under no obligation to do anything, as none of this is in any way your fault, but I would be miserable every day we were here and I wasn't doing something -anything- to get us out of this mess."

Although Weiss was still at a loss for words, she tried to at least get something out. "Yang… I…"

Ruby, noticing that her partner was floundering, decided to step in and give Weiss another angle on the situation.

"Don't forget, Weiss: we are huntresses. Helping people is what we do. These people need help, and we are able to help them. Wouldn't it feel even a little bit wrong if you just turned away from them during their time of need?"

Now that she was faced against an argument she was comfortable with, Weiss was able to formulate a proper rebuttal. "No? First off, we are huntresses-in-training. Very important distinction. Second, the job of a huntress is to help the people of Remnant in our fight against the Grimm, not these… these Earth People in their fight against aliens."

"These people are suffering, Weiss! Dying by the thousands, getting abducted and terrorized for reasons unknown. And if this operation, this XCOM, fails? Then the lives of billions will be destroyed. Could you live with yourself knowing that there was a chance that your efforts might have changed that outcome?"

"And what good would it do if we died, Ruby? What if Earth falls anyway, because we're in over our heads and trying to bite off more than we can chew? What if we never came back, and all of our friends were left wondering where we disappeared to?" Weiss paused for a moment, a thought dawning on her. "What about the conspiracy back home in Vale? What if Torchwick and his associates are stopped too late because we're not there to stop them?"

Weiss's final argument struck a chord with Ruby, whose eyes went wide as she took a moment to think about that possibility. Neither she nor Yang had anything to say about that, and Weiss crossed her arms, smiling triumphantly at her victory. It was Blake, who had been silent this whole time, that finally offered a counterpoint to Weiss's ultimate argument.

"What if they could help us?"

As usual, Blake only spoke when she had something worth saying, and this was no different. Weiss stared incredulously at her teammate. "I'm sorry… what?"

Blake stared right back at her. "Let's say none of your doom-and-gloom predictions come to pass, and we manage to help these guys save their planet. More than that, let's say that we played a very large role in the success of XCOM's operation. Couldn't we use that as leverage for their assistance against the problems we're facing back home? Sure, they're not hunters that can wield aura or semblances, but you saw the technology they have here. Beam weaponry, specialized armor… Major Vance didn't draw our attention to them, but I noticed several pilotable mechs in the armory. They weren't as big as the Atlesian Paladin, but they were big enough to wield some serious firepower."

Weiss was about to speak before Blake held up a hand to cut her off, clearly not done yet. "One other thing I noticed was the description Bradford and Vance gave us of these 'ops.' They'll send, at most, eight soldiers to secure an objective, though usually it's six." She gave Weiss a pointed stare before asking, "What other organization do you know of that operates in small numbers like that?"

"Hunters…" Ruby breathed. Blake made a mental note to never allow her team leader to join any kind of debate club, as she suspected the young girl would have her mind blown every five minutes. Still, she nodded in agreement. "Yes, Ruby. Hunters." She returned her focus to Weiss, who she could tell was mentally scrambling to come up with a counterpoint. "I'm not saying it'll be easy, because it definitely won't. But just think for a moment about the prospect of getting the aid of an organization that has experience fending off a global invasion. That would be a huge boon to our efforts against Torchwick and whoever he's working for."

Weiss looked around at her three companions. She could see the same look in each of their faces: the hope that Blake's final point would be enough to convince her that helping XCOM was a good idea. Sighing, Weiss held up her hands in resignation. "I suppose I'm not winning this one, am I?"

This was all Ruby needed to hear before she launched herself at her partner and gave her a bone-crushing hug. "Weiss! I knew you'd change your mind."

The leader of RWBY was met with a glare from her partner as Weiss extracted herself from their tangle of limbs. "I didn't change my mind. I still think this is a terrible idea." She closed her eyes and sighed. "That being said, we made a promise to each other long ago that whatever we do, we do as a team. I'm not about to go back on that promise, and I'm certainly not about to let my three best friends go off and do something incredibly dangerous while I sit back and watch. So while I don't approve of this plan whatsoever, my team does. Which means I'm going to give it my all, because you wouldn't expect anything less from a Schnee." Weiss finished her brief monologue with a huff and a cross of her arms. She was somewhat startled when she felt a small hand on her shoulder, and turned to see Ruby smile at her.

"Thank you, Weiss. This means a lot to me. To all of us. As this team's leader, I'm making you a promise that I'll do everything I can to make sure we all get through this safely."

Weiss gave her a hard stare before a smile slowly cracked on her face. "You better."

A brief silence fell on the room as the four huntresses enjoyed the moment of friendship and solidarity. The moment was interrupted, however, by the intercom.

"This is Central Officer Bradford, requesting that the new recruits please make their way to the armory ASAP. Shen's boys are ready to start outfitting you with some suitable gear."

Four days had passed since RWBY had arrived on Earth. After getting custom fitted with Carapace Armor and introduced to the operation of laser weaponry, Bradford had taken the liberty of permanently assigning Major Vance to RWBY. Curious to see if the huntresses operated together as well as they claimed, the Central Officer did not appoint Vance as the commanding officer. Instead, Ruby was given the honor (or burden, depending on how you look at it) of leading "Strike Eight", with Vance acting as a sort of veteran backup. If things got hairy out in the field, Vance would bail them out. And since Strike Eight had four rookies, it was likely that the Major would be required to lend his assistance more than once while the huntresses got the hang of things.

After the assignment of Vance to Strike Eight was settled, the Major wasted little time in running the girls through training exercises. After giving his initial tour of the facility, Vance had noticed his conversation with the members of RWBY hinted that they were primarily melee fighters, and that was a tactic that simply did not fly at XCOM. He didn't blame them, and he was sure that their preferred style of combat worked well with this 'aura' they talked about. However, Vance was keen on adjusting the huntresses to XCOM's field tactics before Bradford sent them on their first mission. He would make damn sure that none of the girls died on his watch.

So the days were spent learning about moving through cover, the various aliens XCOM had encountered thus far, the best strategies for fighting each kind, optimal usage of utility items, and similar lessons in field ops. The live fire exercises had all but confirmed for Ruby the worrying truth that their aura had stopped working right the moment they arrived on Earth. She confirmed that she no longer had the ability to use her semblance, and running from cover to cover in full kit while carrying a rifle had tired out Ruby far faster than it should have. When she asked her teammates about it, they had expressed similar concerns about their own abilities. Unless Dr. Vahlen found a way to quickly rectify this, it seemed that the huntresses would have to be extra cautious during combat. A swipe or two from an Ursa was no big deal when aura could absorb the blow. A well-placed shot from a plasma rifle would probably put Ruby in the hospital for weeks… or on the memorial wall indefinitely.

The array of aliens throwing themselves against the defenses of Earth intrigued Ruby. Similar to how the Grimm had a range of species that excelled in specific areas, so too did the aliens. The lowly, scampering Sectoids formed the cannon-fodder of the invasion, though their limited psychic powers were still something to be wary about (especially when accompanied by a Sectoid Commander). The tall, smartly-dressed Thin Men were a huge pain in the ass for XCOM with their combination of acid spit and extreme mobility. Floaters seemed to be the premier flanking units for the alien host as they used their jetpacks to easily jump behind enemy lines. The brutish, intimidating Mutons were apparently the answer to the enemy's need for ground shocktroops, as their tanky physique and dangerous plasma rifles made for a lethal combination.

There were also a few melee enemies among the alien ranks. The Seekers used stealth to slip in unnoticed and strangle operatives to death, meaning that an operative acting as a lone wolf was just asking to be killed. Chryssalids, with their wicked talons and the ability to impregnate those they killed with eggs to spawn more of their horrific kind, were living nightmares straight out of a horror film. The description of the Berserker, the most dangerous melee fighter, reminded Ruby of Yang: get up in the face of your target and punch it until it can't stand up again. A hulking frame and coiled masses of powerful muscles made their simple method all the more effective. The lack of Aura really bothered Ruby here, as she was certain her team could easily go toe-to-toe with these guys if they were back on Remnant and had access to their heightened skills and usual weapons of choice.

The alien invasion force also had several mechanical enemies brought to bear against the soldiers of XCOM. Most common is the Cyberdisc, a heavy weapons platform that can lay waste to its targets with either its main cannon or by lobbing grenades. Usually accompanying a Cyberdisc is a sortie of Drones that can either move to flank XCOM operatives or repair the Cyberdisc they're escorting. Mechtoids were the alien response to XCOM's MEC troopers, a large robot frame controlled by a Sectoid pilot. Their twin Plasma Cannons were almost always fatal to any operative caught flat-footed.

While Ruby had shown a keen interest in the sniper rifle class of XCOM's armory, Major Vance had made it abundantly clear that rookies were required to run their first mission in a basic kit. After Bradford had the chance to review each Rookie's performance and proficiencies, he would then assign them to one of XCOM's eight classes of infantry. Fortunately, Carapace Armor was deemed a requirement even for new recruits, as its effectiveness against enemy weapons fire was at least twice that of its basic Body Armor cousin. Bradford had noticed a 50% decrease in Rookie mortality rates once XCOM had enough Carapace Armor for all members of an op, and so he decided that it would be the new baseline armor, and soldiers would never be required to wear anything less. So Carapace Armor and Laser Rifles it was for Team RWBY. No sniper rifles, no shotguns, no rocket launchers… just boring old rifles.

Boring or not, though, Ruby took it upon herself to make sure her new superiors were impressed. Even when Major Vance didn't have live fire training scheduled for Strike Eight, Ruby would take her fellow huntresses to the firing range for an hour or four. None of her teammates complained about the extra work, as they were more surprised and impressed at Ruby's shift into a "take charge" leader. Sure, she was charismatic, hard working, and morally grounded before, but now she seemed to have a new sense of purpose. Bradford had trusted them enough to accept RWBY as field operatives, and it seemed that Ruby was hellbent on proving he made the right decision. In the eyes of Weiss, Blake, and Yang, having a leader that could tactically assess a situation and make an informed decision was something they'd need to make it out of this in one piece. Sure, she had called out for team maneuvers and formations during past fights, but now it looked like she was taking this whole team leader thing to an entirely new level.

Her team did have some opportunities for downtime, however. Ruby knew that training around the clock would probably be counterproductive to her goals, so she made sure there were chances for the members of RWBY to be left to their own devices. She imagined that each of her friends had a different idea of fun at XCOM, and so Ruby didn't bother to suggest they all unwind as a team.

Blake, predictably, made a beeline for the library to see what books an elite organization of commandos had available. What surprised Ruby, however, was Blake's choice to select several non-fiction volumes that documented the history of Earth. Either they had a dismal selection of fiction (trashy romance or otherwise), or Blake was planning on familiarizing herself with the world they had all agreed to help. Knowledge is power, or so Ruby was told. Additionally, the elusive faunus must have found some hidey hole to read in peace, because Ruby never saw her at the library or in the barracks during downtime. She'd have to ask Blake about it: having a spot to hide away from everyone would probably come in handy.

If Blake's choice of recreational activity was predictable, Yang's was obvious from a mile away. She spent all her free time exploring the base's rec center, and she succeeded in dragging her sister along upon occasion. Ruby had to admit, she was impressed with XCOM's extracurricular facilities. In addition to the library that Blake had already discovered, the rec center had a gym, a cafeteria, a lounge, a commissary, and an electronic gaming room. Ruby discovered that, while the other sections of the rec center had a clear purpose in mind, the lounge was more of a "everything else" room. Board games, arm-wrestling, casual chatting, naps… Ruby saw a lot of stuff go down in the lounge the one time she decided to sit and people-watch. Yang was having a blast checking everything out and making new friends with the base personnel.

True to her word, Weiss did spend some time with Dr. Vahlen. She wouldn't tell Ruby what they talked about, even when Ruby pestered her about it. All she would say was that the doctor was still expecting the other three members of RWBY to come down and undergo an interview. Weiss promised Ruby that the questions weren't creepy or intimidating. In fact, most were actually quite mundane, and Weiss wasn't really sure what Vahlen hoped to learn from their answers. Either way, Ruby noticed that her partner always seemed rather pleased with herself whenever she met up with the rest of the team after spending time with the Chief Scientist. Maybe Dr. Vahlen's reputation wasn't hopeless after all. Ruby was certain that if anyone could fix it, Weiss could.

As for Ruby herself, she spent most of her free time down in engineering. Not only was she fascinated by all of the tech being built down there, but Dr. Shen was a very agreeable man. The two of them could spend hours talking about technology, especially if Shen got Ruby started on her passion for weaponry. She helped him disassemble Crescent Rose after he had finished the superficial inspection and analysis of RWBY's armaments. He took careful notes while she explained everything about the sniper-scythe's inner workings. They were so involved in the process that Ruby realized she was half an hour late for her team's next scheduled live fire training.

Four days after they had arrived at XCOM, Bradford had requested to see Strike Eight at Mission Control. When RWBY and Major Vance arrived, the Central Officer was staring at the hologlobe. Specifally, a small, flashing red dot was pinging on some continent roughly a quarter-way around the globe from the main XCOM base.

"Ladies and gentleman, an opportunity has arisen for you to put your training to the test and see if your squad is capable of handling a real alien threat. We've received word of an abduction site in the middle of London, and we'd like to send you out to eliminate any hostiles and secure the region." He glanced down at the tablet he was holding. "We've discovered that one of the benefits of the Hyperwave Relay is the ability to detect the composition of hostile forces at a potential AO. As you can imagine, this lets us send in a squad of operatives that specialize in neutralizing the specific alien types our intel has detected. Two days ago, we had our first field op since the relay went live, and have confirmed that this new method of information is reliable. The abduction in London appears to be a low priority for our alien guests, as the most dangerous foes they have fielded are a few Cyberdisks and a Sectoid Commander."

Vance chuckled. "Talk about an easy pitch for the rookies." He glanced over at Ruby's team, smiling. "I can take down a Cyberdisk in under five seconds, and I'll be way out of range for the Commander to pull any mind shenanigans on me. So as long as you don't do something stupid like stand out in the open, I can defuse a situation if it starts getting out of hand. This'll be a really good warm-up for you guys."

While she was sure Yang was getting her dander up over the implication that they needed a practice run, Ruby was secretly relieved. As much as she was getting comfortable with her rifle at the range and during live fire drills, she was sure that a lot of that training would go out the window once the targets started moving and shooting back. A nice, easy transition into wet work suited the young leader just fine. Moreover, she was happy to hear how confident Major Vance was. It sounded like he could probably run this mission solo if need be, which made Ruby feel better about their chances of a perfect (or even close to perfect) run.

"Sounds good to us." Ruby had intentionally used 'us' to cut off any complains that her sister might voice. "Should we get prepped in the armory and head out?"

Bradford nodded. "In a moment, Miss Rose. I need to go over a few things before you leave. First, we're also sending along another soldier with you that we're in the process of training up. Corporal Biggs is a Rocketeer that will be assisting you with this operation, and you may find his HEAT rockets to be useful against the Cyberdisks you encounter. Second, I'd like to briefly explain to you the concept of operative designations in the field. At HQ, you'll hear people addressed as 'Major Vance' or 'PFC Belladonna', but it's a little different on an Op. Some of our soldiers have names that are difficult to pronounce, and when Mission Control needs to be updated on the squad's status, a tongue-twister can be enough distraction to get a soldier killed. Your squad is Strike Eight, and each soldier within Strike Eight is given a numerical designation as well. 'Eight-Two' would refer to the second soldier of the squad, 'Eight-Three' the third, and so on. The exception is the squad leader, who is given the designation of 'Actual.' Since your 'Team RWBY' already has a defined order, I feel that it would be easy to keep that intact and carry it over to Actual through Four. Major Vance will be Eight-Five, while Biggs will be Eight-Six. You are to use these designations in the field when providing live intel to my tech crew here at Mission Control."

Seeing the confused look on Ruby's face, Vance stepped forward and pointed to each member of RWBY in turn. "Eight-Actual, that's you. Eight-Two is Weiss. Eight-Three is Blake. Eight-Four is Yang. Don't worry about it too much. More than likely, I'll be the one on the radio with Bradford, so you'll get an idea of how it works if you listen to us. Just focus on coordinating your team for now, the rest will come with practice."

'Eight-Actual' nodded. His explanation helped her understand the system a little better, though she still wasn't sure why it was necessary. Either way, it sounds like Bradford had been using it long before Ruby and her team showed up, so she wasn't about to question something that was already established.

"Thank you, Major Vance." Bradford turned to face Ruby once more. "You may now take your team to the armory, and the Major will lead you to the Skyranger from there. I'll provide you with additional instructions when you are en-route to the AO. Dismissed."