"Weiss!" Ruby yelled.

"Right!" Weiss flipped open a hatch on the back of her shotgun and pulled out Myrtenaster. She fastened the shotgun to her armor via maglock and punched a small toggle on her hip. For a split second, trails of electricity arced all across her body and Ruby watched her partner briefly wince at the pain. After it passed, Weiss leapt into action. The electro-static surge gave the huntress roughly ten seconds to do as much damage as possible. While the Hive Queen posed a very attractive target, the swarm of regular Chryssalids posed a more immediate threat to the assault team. With a flick of her wrist, Weiss summoned a wave of ice in front of Bolts, impaling the first few aliens in the middle of their leap as they lunged at the MEC. Those right behind the forerunners slammed face-first into the frozen mass while the rest of the horde skittered around the wall and pushed forward to mob their prey. Still, the brief respite bought some time for Bolts to get a better hold on the situation.

"Hostiles detected! Firing main cannon!" the airborne SHIV aimed down at the charging aliens and unleashed a torrent of beam fire from its Superheavy Pulser. Wood splintered around the Chryssalids as the robot swept its gun across the length of the deck. Several of the aliens collapsed under the assault, but the rest simply trampled over them in an effort to reach the Guardian.

The revolver chamber on Weiss's rapier spun until the red dust locked into the active slot. She aimed the weapon at the charging horde and several fiery glyphs appeared behind her. With a single thrust, each symbol launched a ball of fire that crashed into the Arethusa's deck, cooking several unfortunate Chryssalids in the process. With not enough time to prepare another Aura attack, Weiss used her remaining energy to quickly leap back out of harm's way. She sucked in hard, panting as the strain of her actions finally caught up to her. Using the railing for support, Weiss continued to backpedal and put distance between herself and the horde while she recovered.

"I'm spent, Actual, but I think Bolts can handle the rest."

The first Chryssalid that reached the MEC ate a rocket punch to the face as Bolts activated his Kinetic Strike Module. He knew he needed to retreat, but he also knew that turning his back on the aliens would spell certain doom. The only compromise he could think of entailed punching aliens while backpedaling as fast as his Juggernaut Plating allowed. A second Chryssalid managed to latch on to the front of his frame and raised a talon in an effort to stab the cybersuit. Bolts grabbed it with his free hand and tossed it aside, allowing Weiss to blast it with her shotgun. The High Explosive power source she primed turned the corpse into a steaming mess of chunky flesh and gore. The third and fourth Chryssalids that dug into the MEC frame survived for mere seconds before precise shots from the team's Sniper duo killed both of them.

Blake grappled to the safety of Ruby's nest before turning to help cover the MEC's escape.

"We need to move, Ruby." She said, her tone calm and quiet.

"I know, but Bolts can't move very quickly with all those Chryssalids trying to tear through his suit. If I order him to disengage his Juggernaut plating, he'll be vulnerable to their attacks while his armor shifts." She fired her rifle and another of the aliens jerked back mid-leap before falling lifelessly to the deck. Not that it mattered though: for every critter she killed, more crawled up from the bowels of the ship to replace it.

"Do you have any ideas?" She asked Blake while she stopped to reload her rifle.

"Just one." Her friend muttered, "And it'll buy some time for our friend. Cover me."

Ruby watched Blake line up her grapple and zip back over to the boat. Even before she punched her surge injector, Ruby guessed her plan. As the familiar web of electricity traced a path across Blake's body, the Lieutenant keyed her mic, "Time to run, Bolts! Eight-Three will keep the 'lids occupied while you regain your mobility.

"Understood." The MEC began retracting the armored plating slowing him down while Blake leapt into combat with Gambol Shroud.

Even though the disruptor field only gave her ten seconds, it felt good to fight with her old weapons again. She led off with a slash at the nearest alien followed by a shadow dodge up and away from its retaliatory strike. While in the air, she flung the shuriken-like end of her weapon down at her foes and yanked it around with her cable to strike several in a wide arc. Her first victim split open from the assault, while the others suffered deep-but-not-fatal cuts. After landing once again on the deck, Blake could see the psychological damage of her attack: while the Chryssalids certainly looked eager to shred her to pieces, none of them wanted to take the first step.

The Scout still had some time left on her clock, so she dashed forward to cut another Chryssalid in half before shadow dodging laterally to avoid reprisal and simultaneously flow into another strike. After a second dodge, she felt her Auric surge fade away, and Blake reluctantly returned Gambol Shroud to its place on her back. Her work paid off, however, and Blake saw Bolts retreating off the deck of the ship towards the rest of the squad. A quick shot from her grapple, and Blake followed suit.

The Greater Hive Queen shrieked at her escaping prey, and her brood began skittering down from the ship's deck towards Strike Eight. Ruby watched as the side of the ship split open, spilling out more of the grotesque creatures as they left their infernal birthing chamber. She started to understand why this place needed to be firebombed. Implanting eggs into a human host could only yield one offspring, but a massive whale… Strike Eight could sit here all day shooting Chryssalids, and they'd probably run out of ammo before they ran out of targets. No, cleansing this place with fire was the only way to nullify the threat with any level of certainty, and even then Ruby wished that XCOM had some sort of orbital strike Bradford could call in just to be completely sure.

Right now, however, the onslaught of Chryssalids took priority over wondering whether or not XCOM should equip its satellites with heavy-ordnance lasers. Ruby watched Weiss and Bolts madly dash away from the overflowing fishing ship while the rest of the squad gave them covering fire. The aliens were gaining on her friends, however, and Ruby needed a way to keep them from devouring the retreating operatives.

"Four! Can you fire a rocket at the Chryssalids without hitting Bolts or Elsa?"

"Thought you'd never ask." Yang replied, who hefted her launcher into firing position. Seconds later, the warhead streaked towards the center of the mob chasing Eight-Two and Eight-Six, sending Chryssalids and wood paneling sky-high as its payload detonated. Through the smoke, Ruby could see several charred Chryssalid bodies, with several more laying still except for a few twitching limbs. Yang's rocket struck the mob with impressive accuracy, buying a few more precious seconds for her squadmates.

While Pennybot continued to hose the survivors with Pulse Laser fire from above, the Assault team beat a hasty retreat. The Greater Hive Queen screamed in fury before leaping off the Arethusa with a torrential crash. The wooden dock groaned in protest under the stress of the monster's titanic weight, and Ruby silently wished that the damn thing would just splinter and send their nemesis straight into the water. Of course, XCOM operations were never that easy, and the Sniper sighed when the broodmother lurched forward to give chase.

With Weiss and Bolts close to reaching the lifeguard tower, the other four operatives jumped off and started the squad's tactical retreat. Blake, Ruby, and Vance would zip ahead to an advantageous position to take a few potshots at the Chryssalids closest to the rest of the squad while Weiss, Yang, and Bolts continued to run. Every time Ruby thought she had an opportunity to take a shot at the Hive Queen, several of her minions rushed ahead and threatened to tear into one of the Lieutenant's soldiers. It reminded Ruby of when she and Yang used to play with water balloons when they were little: no matter how hard she tried to squeeze down on the whole balloon, and the liquid would find a small gap and squeeze through her fingers. The unfortunate situation left Ruby's team with no real means to take down the big one as they retreated to the Skyranger. For now, though, the delaying tactic brought Strike Eight that much closer to safety, and bought Ruby some time to think.

The chase took the squad up the docks and towards the center of town. Pennybot, free to attack with impunity, did its best to slow down the horde as it happily chirped adorably cheesy one-liners like, 'These people are not your friends. Eliminating hostiles!' No amount of suppressive fire from PennySHIV deterred the ravenous Chryssalids, especially the Greater Hive Queen. By the time Strike Eight reached the market's edge, the colossal Chryssalid gained significant ground on them.

"That thing will be on us long before we reach extraction." Weiss pointed out, throwing a glance back at their pursuer. Ruby did the same and grimaced.

"I don't know how we're going to take that thing down. If we had the time, maybe it'd be possible, but now?" She wracked her brain trying to find a solution. Weiss already burned her Hunter Module back on the boat, as did Blake, and ten seconds wouldn't be enough time for Yang to power up enough to kill the monster. Ruby's super speed could distract it while the rest of the squad escaped, but she would have to spend at least a minute trying to evade normally before she could zip back to the Skyranger where everyone else would be waiting. The Major was a fantastic marksman, but he could only do so much against so many enemies. Bolts could probably take it down, but likely get killed in the process. Pennybot could…

Pennybot.

"Pennybot! Engage Lancer Mode!"

"Affirmative!" The SHIV responded cheerfully. As it raced through the sky to chase after the giant Chryssalid, its Superheavy Pulser started to morph. The thick, round cannon began to elongate and slim down. When it finished, the robot sported a literal lance in place of its usual laser cannon. "Target locked!" The lance began to glow a bright red, and the SHIV dove towards its foe. The Chryssalid stopped to look back at the source of the noise only to watch the small craft slam into its back and plunge the lance deep into its body.

The Chryssalid roared with a mixture of pain and anger, staggering from the shock of its first real wound. The rest of the Chryssalids also halted, their concern for their mother superseding their desire to kill. Ruby heard a quiet mechanical whine and saw chunks of flesh and blood flying away from Pennybot's point of contact. She smiled as the SHIV's lance continued to spin up, boring through the alien's tough hide like a cobalt drill bit through steel. While the SHIV's distraction might've been a good opportunity for the rest of the squad to make a break for the Skyranger, Ruby couldn't risk the possibility of the massive Chryssalid shaking off Pennybot and catching up with them. If that thing managed to get its claws into their transport…

The Greater Hive Queen continued to howl, a hint of panic edging into its voice. The monstrosity began to flail around, trying to unseat its attacker. Pennybot valiantly remained attached to the alien's backside while continuing to drill deeper and deeper. Several other Chryssalids got the idea to leap up onto the Hive Queen's back and assault the SHIV.

"Don't let those 'lids reach Pennybot!"

Ruby's words came too late. As the operatives snapped off shots at the Chryssalids, the Hive Queen spun around, easily tanking the team's laser rounds intended for Pennybot's assailants. The sound of rending metal reached Ruby's ears, and the massive Chryssalid suddenly stopped its panicked flailing. It let out a bone-chilling scream before redoubling its speed towards the group.

"That… did not work as intended." Yang noted.

Before anyone could do anything, Bolts broke off from the group. He turned to face the charging Chryssalid, re-deployed his enhanced plating, and readied his Kinetic Strike Module.

"Six!" Ruby shouted, "What are you doing?!"

The MEC turned to look at Ruby. "Go, Lieutenant. Los maquinas will handle this one." He turned back to the Greater Hive Queen, and form-shifted his rocket fist just enough to wreath it in fire from his flamer. As the monstrosity drew closer, he pulled his arm back and fired up the micro-rockets in his fist.

"Falcon…" The fist shot forward and connected with the belly of the Chryssalid. Gouts of flame, smoke, and steaming blood shot out as the MEC's opening attack crashed into the alien's chest. The Greater Hive Queen skidded to a halt several yards away, and Ruby began to think that Bolts could pull this off. Of course, those hopes quickly vanished when the broodmother's horde rushed forward to overrun the MEC.

"Iii-III-iii'm comBAT rEAdyyyy…" Ruby looked up at the barely-aloft SHIV. One of its impulse drives continued to erratically fire, and a shower of sparks occasionally shot out from several gashes in its armor, but Pennybot somehow managed to survive the Chryssalid attack, "OverLOADing p-p-p-pulse difffffUSER aaaaaand ENgaging suicide protoc-c-c-col." The SHIV dove towards the charging mass of aliens and slammed into the wood planks just behind the first few. Several of the assailants stopped their charge to assess the new threat. A single tear slid down Ruby's face as the robot's lance burned white hot before exploding into a searing ball of flame. She knew it wasn't really Penny, but for a short while, Ruby allowed herself to enjoy this one memory of home. And now the Lieutenant had to watch 'Penny' die in front of her for the good of the squad.

Razor sharp wood splinters shot out like shrapnel from the blast's epicenter. The Juggernaut Plating on Bolts easily deflected all of the wooden projectiles, and the MEC stood his ground to see if any Chryssalids survived the blast. His unasked question received an answer in the form of the Greater Hive Queen leaping through the smoke and flames, front talons outstretched and aiming for the MEC's chest. Bolts had barely enough time to raise an arm in defense before alien bone collided with XCOM steel and sent the Guardian tumbling to the floor.

Bolts quickly recovered from the fall and rolled into a three-point landing, his Kinetic Strike Module warming up while tongues of flame licked its front surface, "It's time for you to stay down, puta." The MEC spat before launching himself once more at his massive foe. For a second time, fire enveloped the two combatants, and Ruby listened to the infernal clash of titans for a second time. A shrill cry from the Hive Queen cut itself short, and relative silence fell upon Newfoundland. Ruby strained her eyes to see if she could catch a glimpse of the victor through the obscuring smoke. A small sea breeze picked up and blew away the fiery screen, revealing a dead Chryssalid and a floored Bolts. As more of the ashen cloud blew away, Ruby saw a very large talon impaling the MEC's chest.

Ruby almost threw up, "Bolts!" She started running towards the MEC, but a firm hand stopped her.

"We don't have time, Ruby." Vance said, "He died so that we could reach extraction. Let that sacrifice mean something."

She wanted to throw off Vance's arm, argue with him, yell at him… but Ruby knew that he was right. Almost as if on cue, Ruby heard Bradford's voice in her ear, "Lieutenant Rose, that airstrike is closing in on your position. You need to get to the evac point before it's too late."

"We gotta move, Eights!" She shouted before starting to pick up her running pace again. The rest of the team followed suit, with Blake leading the squad. They ran up the docks and through the fish market. Maybe her nose was deceiving her, but Ruby thought that the dead fish smelled even worse than it did half an hour ago.

"Hey… do you guys smell that?"

"Yeah," Weiss answered, "Smells like rotting death. Definitely wasn't there the first time we came this way."

Ruby's blood became ice as she heard the tell-tale groaning of Chryssalid-spawned zombies. How many were there? Ten? Twenty? Where were they on the team's first pass through the village?

"I guess that explains the smell." Blake observed,

"Chuck an HE grenade if you've got it. Otherwise, we don't have time to deal with these guys. They can burn with the Chryssalids in the air strike."

As Strike Eight ran through the fish market, green-skinned inhabitants tumbled out of windows and over ledges in their efforts to shamble towards their prey. Multiple doors slammed open, and it seemed like every building in the market had at least one or two of the stupid shamblers lying in wait for the squad to run by. The sounds of grenades crumping reached Ruby's ears, and she looked back to see several of the one-man fish stalls toppling over in flames. With any luck, that would slow down the approaching zombies enough for the team to clear out.

Still, the stench in the air bothered Ruby. The fish in the market didn't look bad enough to match the smell, and the zombies never smelled this bad either. The only word Ruby could think of to describe it was 'necrotic,' and it nagged at the back of her mind while the team hoofed it through the town. Even as they got further and further from the center of the market and away from the slowly encroaching horde, the awful smell remained. Did the Chryssalids somehow inject the fish? If they could implant a whale, who's to say they couldn't implant one of those hanging sharks? The thought made Ruby shudder, and she turned to ask Vance for his thoughts before a rumbling in the earth interrupted her.

Everyone stopped when they felt the small shockwave to looked back at where they came from. A few seconds later, the ground shook again, and a gutteral screech sent Ruby's plummeting into her stomach. The group just cleared the market, and they had visual contact with the Skyranger. They were this close to making it to the evac point without problems beyond the surprise zombies, only to find out that the Hive Queen wasn't quite as dead as they previously thought.

"Oh no…"

Before Ruby, or anyone else, could form a plan to deal with the resurging threat, one of the hanging fish in the market erupted. A Chryssalid leapt out of the ruined shark, and flung itself at the nearest target: Blake. The Scout only had time to raise her arms in defense before the alien pounced on her, talons pinning her to the ground by piercing her forearms and calves. The shock overpowered any instinct she had react, and Blake could only watch in horror as the Chryssalid ripped one of its talons free from her ruined arm and raised it high into the air before slamming the wicked claw down through her gut.

Blake screamed.

Searing pain coursed through her body, and Blake felt as if every pain receptor in her nervous system began firing at once. The beady eyes of the Chryssalid bore into her, and Blake felt everything else go blurry as she struggled to break away from the creature's horrific gaze. All the yelling, the motion, the tremors in the ground… Blake's body decided that these didn't matter as her senses slowly began to shut down. Blake felt the warmth of a fiery explosion and barely made out golden flames replacing the Chryssalid's visage through the hazy fog of her eyesight. She barely noticed the sound of her name from a million miles away while she enjoyed the warmth of… whatever caused the fire.

Darkness slowly creeped in from the corners of Blake's vision, and she vaguely noted just how tired she felt. She struggled to remember what caused her to feel so fatigued, and panic briefly set in when she failed to remember why she was here in the first place. The terror subsided as quickly as it came while the comforting heat continued to dull her senses. Deciding that falling asleep next to a warm fire seemed as good a place as any, Blake succumbed to the pain of her wounds and slipped into unconsciousness.

Blake vaguely became aware of people carrying her and shouting. It sounded like they were stressed and in a rush, but the fatigue flooding her body made the Scout too tired to care. They probably had the situation well in hand, and they likely didn't need her help. Still, she tried to pick out some of what they were saying, especially since she heard her own name a few times.

"… hhhhhhng in there Blake. Jussssst…"

"… 'r medkit. Get… medkit…"

Her eyes slowly fluttered open, and she recognized Yang's face staring back at her.

"… Blake…?" She asked. Blake clearly saw worry and fear in her partner's eyes, but her voice sounded so soft, Blake barely noticed Yang talking. The effort to keep her eyes open proved too great for the faunus, and Blake fell back into blissful embrace oblivion.

The next time Blake became aware, she heard the sounds of people rushing all around her, and vaguely picked out the voices of Bradford and Vahlen.

"… wounds... deep and inf… not much... left…"

"… hhhhh'Aura? 'Sit helping… nything…?"

"… extremity wounds… much… can't… everything…"

What were they talking about? Wounds? She didn't feel any pain, just a lot of fatigue. She only needed to take a nap and she'd be fine, Blake was sure of it. Just a little…

Her attention returned when she heard Ruby's voice. The clarity and resolve in her tone pierced through the fog clouding Blake's ability to focus moreso than anyone else present in the room.

"… do it…"

"… yyyyyy'sure…? Once w'… no… back…"

"… no choice…" Though Blake still had trouble tracking everything she said, Ruby's voice was definitely sharper than the other two. Blake didn't remember ever hearing her sound so serious. "… save her life… do it…"

Save her life? Blake wanted to sit up and explain that she only needed some sleep and she'd feel better. She wanted to tell them, but whatever made her so tired must have really done a number on her. She'd tell them in the morning. Wait, was it night? What time was it? No matter, she'd tell them… whenever it was that she woke up. For now… sleep.

Blake's eyes flickered open, and a bright white ceiling greeted her. Silence permeated the room, except for the occasional beeping coming from her left. She turned her head to see an array of medical equipment with flashing lights and tubes running from it to… her, apparently. A combination of fluid lines and electrical leads connected to the life support and vanished under the sheets of Blake's bed.

Okay, so someone brought her to the Medbay. She remembered bits and pieces of the Newfoundland mission, and figured something happened that forced her to spend some time here. Not the first time this happened, if she was being honest with herself. She could just ask for the Major's post-action report once someone stopped by to check on her.

That light on the ceiling, though. Who came up with the brilliant idea of putting such a blindingly bright installment directly above a patient's bed in the Medbay? People don't want to wake up to the pain of a hundred burning suns searing their retinas.

She raised her arm to shield her sensitive eyes from the light, and noticed that something wrong. Very wrong.

The hand that came into view as it blocked the lamp was definitely not her own.

A/N: Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat