"There they are! Nora, you got the Chem grenades locked in?"

Nora grinned, "Absolutely."

With a bang and a whistle, an array of grenades flew out of Magnhild and streaked towards the wing of Nevermores. Rather than hit the Grimm directly, Nora's grenades exploded before contact, which forced the birds to fly through the cloud of corrosive acid. Jaune knew that the plan worked when the Grimm started to fly erratically in response to the pain of chemicals slowly eating away at their skin. He revved up his Plasma Dragon and belched out a stream of flak-patterned plasma at his targets.

Big Sky pulled into a steep climb, which briefly ruined Jaune's aim, but the hail of black feathers narrowly missing the hull made Jaune realize the pilot made a good decision.

Jaune turned to his partner, who had Miló raised to her shoulder, "Pyrrha, can you get a clean shot at their eyes?"

"It's difficult with all the turbulence." Pyrrha admitted, "But I think if I try enough times, a few shots will likely hit."

Jaune fired another volley of plasma at the ship's pursuers to keep them off-balance before giving Pyrrha a thumbs up, "Sounds good. You using plasma or Dust?"

"I find that Vahlen's Elerium Dust is effective against soft targets, but relatively harmless if there's a good amount of armor, natural or otherwise. We've already proven that Earth Nevermores have thick hides, so I think plasma will be the safer option." Pyrrha said as she sighted her first victim down her rifle's scope, waited for a brief lull in the Skyranger's rumbling, and fired a three-round burst at the Grimm. All three balls of plasma splashed directly across the Nevermore's face, though the creature continued flying towards the ship despite screeching in pain.

A note of disapproval escaped Pyrrha's throat as she observed the results of her shot, "At least Nora's chem seems to be helping somewhat."

"Yeah, but we should have her save the rest of her supply for the big guy." Jaune pointed out, "Air grenades might be helpful, though."

"One step ahead of you!" Nora shouted, firing her grenade launcher once more. Three green canisters exploded from Magnhild's muzzle and detonated amidst the Nevermore in a swirling cloud of pressurized energy. The sudden shift in the local aerodynamics proved to be enough to force the Nevermore to a lower altitude, allowing Penny to line up a shot on the ship's pursuers.

"Target locked!" An unfamiliar sound greeted Jaune's ears as he heard Penny's main weapon fire. Rather than the familiar sight of plasma striking the Grimm, Jaune saw tracer rounds puncture the toughened hide of the team's targets. Shortly thereafter, the Nevermore's skin rippled as multiple internal explosions rocked the lead Nevermore. Large bird unleashed one last shriek before it began a death spiral as it dropped out of the sky.

"Penny, what…?"

"After analyzing Strike Five's first encounter with the Grimm, Dr. Vahlen decided to revisit XCOM's Gauss ballistics technology." Penny explained, "I was instructed to perform field tests with the doctor's new Elerium-infused ammunition. I must say that it was quite successful!"

"Well I'm not complaining," Nora commented.

Jaune nodded in agreement, "Right. Keep at it, Nine. We'll do our best to soften up the targets for you."

"Well I'd prefer it if you could kill them sooner rather than later, kids." The pilot said dryly, "But I'll take whatever I can get. We've got two more squawkers trying to flank us, though. Bringing them into view… now."

Indeed, Jaune heard Penny's gauss weapon chatter before Papa Bear finished his bank and a pair of Nevermore swung into his team's firing lane. Without a word, the three of them opened up on the targets. Nora's explosives and Jaune's flak kept the Grimm off-balance while Pyrrha redoubled her efforts to score hits against the eyes. Each time the Nevermore flared their wings, the pilot pulled into a steep climb to evade the flurry of feathers. Despite the heavy g-forces, Jaune's team quickly learned to use this time to reload their weapons before Papa Bear could bring the targets back into view.

"What's the status on the big guy?" Jaune asked after one of the tailing Nevermore finally fell out of the sky.

"Taking its sweet time flying towards the train, but it's definitely got its eye on that rolling tin can." The pilot commented, "I guess it's looking for hor'deurves before the main course."

"Nine, got any more tricks up your sleeve to quickly take out our last tail?"

"Negative, Five." Penny answered apologetically, "But I will continue my assault until it is dead."

Jaune wracked his brain for a faster solution. The Nevermore cut short his time to think, however, when it suddenly flared up again in preparation for another attack. The pilot swore and quickly dropped into a nose dive to avoid the quillstorm. The three occupants inside the cargo hold hit the ceiling with a painful thud as Papa Bear continued to arc downward. Or rather, Jaune crashed into the ceiling while his teammates landed gracefully. As Penny's cannon chattered in the background, Jaune struggled against the heavy g-forces to look out the back hatch to watch the steam of quills slowly catch up with the Skyranger.

When the first feather lodged itself within the gangplank, Jaune started to panic, "Give us a target, pops!"

"I'm doing my best to avoid getting Swiss Cheese'd." The pilot countered angrily, "Didn't have time to pull up, so now this fucker's got me right where it wants me."

By the time Jaune pulled himself up to his feet, the pilot finished his half-loop and rolled out of it, causing the hunter to once again fall unceremoniously into the corrugated metal of the hold. The Nevermore flew into view, and Pyrrha wasted no time in launching Miló at the Grimm's face. It pierced the flier's faceplate, but just barely. Without a word, Nora unclipped herself from the security line and charged out of the Skyranger. She vaulted off the gangplank, Magnhild raised high over her head, before slamming it down on the end of Pyrrha's spear and driving it straight through the Nevermore's skull. She yanked the red and gold blade out of the now-dead Grimm before using her hammer's explosive payload to launch herself back into the Skyranger.

Jaune stared blankly at the grinning Nora, failing to put together a coherent sentence, "Uhh… well, I… ah… that's… huh…"

"Don't worry, Jaune." Nora said with a cheerful pat, "Someday, it'll be your turn."

"Look alive, kids." Papa Bear called over the PA, "The huge one's about to reach the train. I hope you've managed to take care of our tail, 'cause we gotta boogie."

Glyph after glyph exploded beneath the Grimm chasing the train, yet the horde showed no signs of thinning. Bad luck reared its ugly head when an Ursa Major took the lead, since the armored Grimm could smash through any ice barriers Weiss threw up without even slowing down. Inside the train, Yang enjoyed better luck than her teammates. Only the most agile of the Grimm running from the stadium managed to catch the train, so she had little difficulty in beating the lesser Beowolves into submission as she worked her way towards the rear. Even so, more Grimm continued to steadily leap aboard through the caboose to escape the rooftop huntresses, and Yang soon found herself dealing with fresh meat faster than she could eliminate it.

The one upside Ruby could think of was that the train finally cleared the city. Not only did they have a clear view of their targets now, but the huntresses could go all-out without worrying about collateral damage. The point was rather moot, however: With more and more Grimm piling up inside the rear car with Yang, some of the Beowolves tried crawling along the outside walls as a way of bypassing the huntress. As a result, Ruby and Weiss had to prioritize clearing off the clingers over eliminating ranged targets.

The train crossed a bridge, forcing a large majority of the Grimm to follow across on the tracks. Weiss took a brief moment to throw down several burning glyphs at the choke point, which proved rather effective at eliminating some of the chaff. Still, plenty of tougher monsters remained in pursuit, and Weiss groaned in frustration.

"This isn't working very well." She complained, "Any idea when Bradford's air support is coming?"

"As soon as it can." Ruby answered tersely, her own frustration with the Grimm beginning to spill over into her conversation with Weiss, "We just need to hold out until they can bomb the horde."

That objective seemed a lot easier before three Alphas leapt up onto the roof, growling menacingly at the two partners.

"Well that's just great." Weiss snapped, readying Myrtenaster to face off against the new threats. Ruby, however, had a different idea.

"Four, the caboose is a lost cause. Fall back to the next car."

"On it!"

Ruby turned to Weiss, "Think you can buy me three seconds?"

"Please. I can buy you four." Her partner bragged.

The huntresses leapt into action at the same time as the Alphas. Ruby heard a loud blast from below, indicating Yang's final blow to keep the boarding party busy while she dropped back to the next car. Weiss summoned an icy fist that knocked the front Alpha into its brethren while Ruby jumped down and cut free the connector holding the caboose to the rest of the train. The detached car began to immediately lose speed, and most of the Grimm were too busy trying to force their way aboard to realize that it was now a decoy.

Ruby vaulted herself back to the roof with Crescent Rose in time to see the Alphas leaping off of the caboose with fangs bared and claws outstretched in her direction. A glyph appeared beneath her feet, and Ruby wasted no time in kicking off and landing safely next to her partner.

"Guess it was too much to hope for that those things would stay with the caboose, huh?" Weiss asked, eyeing slowly approaching Grimm.

"Apparently." Ruby agreed. The duo readied their weapons and prepared to fight.

Blake and Ren quietly picked their way through the dark backrooms of the stadium. Flickering lights offered little in the way of illumination, but Blake's enhanced eyes pierced the darkness just fine without them.

"Lot's of destruction." Ren observed, "Plasma burns indicate an alien presence here as well."

Blake's eyes noticed several deep red stains on the concrete, "Blood, too. Do you think the aliens caused this, or the Grimm?"

Ren knelt down next to the nearest splatter and stared at it, "Hard to say, especially without any bodies. Could be that the aliens started the killing, which in turn summoned the Grimm to finish the job."

Either way, it still didn't explain the complete lack of bodies that Ren pointed out. Spilled peanuts and trampled hotdogs,, tatters of clothing, shattered glass… all signs pointed to murders, and yet neither one found a single corpse among the fallout. Blake initially attributed this to alien abductions, but then Ren pointed out a lack of the usual green cocooning material. Not only that, but HQ identified the UFO as a Terror ship and not an Abductor.

"I just checked in with the local police," Bradford informed the scouts, "Saint Louis was in the middle of hosting a baseball game at Busch Stadium when the aliens attacked. I'm sure they tried their best to evacuate the building, but something tells me that isn't the reason you're not finding any bodies."

"This feels like one of those ghost stories I used to read." Blake muttered, "Soon, the tortured souls of those murdered here will come to attack us, thinking we're the bad guys."

Ren shrugged, "Good thing I never had time to read those kinds of stories while growing up. Guess I'll have to thank Nora for that when I see her. Let's head towards the field, see if there's anything that might help. Maybe it'll get you to stop thinking about ghosts while we're at it."

Blake rolled her eyes, but followed Ren towards the center of the stadium. Along the way, they continued to find signs of struggle as they passed cracked helmets, overturned food stands, and broken bottles. The aerodynamics of the hallway as they approached the field created a windy corridor that ruffled Blake's hair and whistled loudly. As soon as they stepped onto the field, the winds died down, and the pair of infiltrators found themselves face-to-face with…

Silence. While the corridors and individual rooms of the stadium weren't any louder, the sheer magnitude of open space on the field somehow made the silence all the more crushing. She could hear the sounds of gunfire far off in the distance, but that only seemed to magnify the sense of isolation she felt as she stepped out onto the field with Ren. Some burning grass here and a rolling beer can there reached Blake's ears, but the utter lack of human activity weighed down on her far more than she expected.

"Hey." Ren's voice called out, and Blake looked over to see a concerned expression on his face, "You okay?"

She nodded wordlessly, and the two continued their walk towards the pitcher's mound. They reached it with no trouble, and they looked around the stadium from their new vantage point. Unfortunately, neither Blake nor Ren picked up on anything beyond the carnage they already encountered.

"This ballpark looks pretty trashed." Blake observed. Indeed, while neither of them had the opportunity to enjoy an actual baseball game, they knew that swathes of broken seats and a sparking scoreboard with flickering numbers meant that today wasn't a typical day at Busch Stadium.

"You'd think that we'd find something, anything, out here would give us some information to relay back to Central." Ren sighed.

"Well, I'd say what we've seen so far is significant enough to warrant a report." Blake pointed out, "Human abductions that leave no trace are certainly something Vahlen will want to investigate."

Ren nodded, "Yeah. I just wish we had something more concrete to bring back. A device, strange markings, something. All we've got right n-" He cut himself off when he saw Blake tense up and her ears twitch, "… hear something?"

The sight of Blake unsheathing Gambol Shroud and dropping into a fighting stance told Ren everything he needed to know. He followed her lead, StormFlower appearing in his hands as he tuned out all the ambient noise and channeled his Aura in an effort to pick up on whatever spooked his friend. His heart dropped into his stomach as soon as he heard the sound of chitin clacking on chitin.

"Please tell me that's not what I think it is…"

Blake stared dead ahead at the dark hallway behind the dugout, and only a slight nod confirmed Ren's worst suspicions. If a couple of Ursa Major gave Pyrrha a hard time, how on earth could the two of them possibly take down that?

Ruby almost got knocked off the train by one of the Alphas when she heard Blake report in, "Tell me you're joking."

"She's not!" Ren replied, his shortness of breath all-but-confirming Blake's report of a Death Stalker in the stadium.

"Do you need us to help, Ren?" Nora called out over the comm.

"No." Blake answered, "Your priority is to keep the civilians alive. We need the Skyranger to keep the Nevermore distracted so it doesn't take out the train."

A flash of searing flame from Weiss brought Ruby's attention to the fight at hand, and she swept her scythe low in an attempt to cripple the hind legs of the singed Alpha. To her surprise, she managed to catch her foe completely off-guard and successfully amputated its legs entirely. The monster fell to the floor, howling in pain before Ruby crashed Crescent Rose through its chest.

"That's one." Weiss muttered before parrying a swipe from another Beowolf and countering with a stab at its flank.

Ruby returned to her conversation with Blake and Ren, "Well, you can either occupy it long enough for the Firestorms to arrive and take care of it, or try to bring it down yourselves. Either way, the cavalry should be arriving in about three minutes."

Once more Weiss interrupted Ruby by swearing and pointing to the sky, "We've got company."

The Giant Nevermore loomed dangerously overhead, and Ruby did the one thing she could think of to make sure the massive Grimm didn't attack the civilian car: she opened fire on the flier to draw its attention. Weiss deduced her partner's plan, and joined in with her own bolt attacks against the beast. Moments later, their target flared its wings and angled up to expose its underside to the huntresses.

"Run!" Ruby shouted. She and Weiss dashed along the train's roof as oversized quills pierced the thin aluminum around them. With a final leap, the two cleared the gap to the next car as the Nevermore soared overhead in preparation for another pass.

Ruby heard Yang laughing from below, "Just watched three little wolves get skewered from that. Collateral damage is a fickle mistress, ain't it? Still, this car's in bad shape from the attack, and I can already feel it slowing the train down. Want me to disconnect it, boss?"

"Do it." Ruby answered, keeping her attention split between the Nevermore and the Alphas. The flier banked hard for another strafing run, and Ruby used the recoil of her shot at one of the Beowolves to put enough distance between her and the Grimm so she could focus on the Nevermore. Just as the bird flared its wings, the Skyranger flew by, its occupants pelting the Nevermore with plasma, chemicals, and dust. The bird roared in anger and took off after Papa Bear's ship. With her air team keeping the major threat distracted, Ruby returned her attention to the two Alphas.

The first one leapt at the huntress, who ducked low and used Crescent Rose to fling the monster far behind her. Weiss summoned a platform glyph, and Ruby bounced off of it to launch herself forward at the recovering Grimm. With a mighty swing, one of the Beowolf's arms flew off and became lost to the wind. Still, the Alpha managed to stand back up and swipe at Ruby with its remaining arm. She deflected it with her scythe before sliding between the Grimm's legs and tripping it once more. With a brief window of opportunity before her, Ruby rapidly scanned her foe for the optimal striking point. Her eyes picked out a spiderweb crack in the bone armor covering its chest and a small chink in its faceplate above the monster's left eye.

In a split second, Ruby planted the muzzle of her rifle on the chest fracture and fired. The force of the blow simultaneously shattered the bony chestplate and sent Ruby skyward. She twisted around to re-orient herself before firing Crescent Rose several times in succession at the now-gaping wound.

"Weiss!" Her partner nodded and dashed over to the exposed chest cavity and stabbed it with an Elerium-coated Myrtenaster. The explosive Dust reacted immediately with the Grimm's flesh and turned the beast into bloody chunks.

Ruby froze when she heard Jaune shout over the comms, "Incoming!"

In her zeal to decommission the second Alpha, Ruby forgot to keep tabs on the Giant Nevermore, especially since she assumed the Skyranger had its attention. Razor-sharp feathers erupted all around her, and Ruby used the Recoil of her gun to carry her back to the hard surface of the train's roof. Weiss erected a makeshift ice barrier to offer meager protection from the storm of quills, but it lasted all of three seconds under the heavy pressure from the Nevermore. The two partners used the distraction to make a dash for the next car, feeling the train shudder as Weiss's barrier crumbled behind them. Moments later, the heavy assault subsided as the Grimm finished its second pass.

Ruby's relief quickly turned to horror when she heard a screeching of metal followed Yang over the comm, "Oh, fuck!"

Looking back, Ruby saw the rear car grinding to a halt on the tracks. Or what was left of it, anyway. The Nevermore's attack did a serious number on the car, destroying several wheels and shredding it to the point where the additional friction was enough to completely tear it away from the rest of the train. Ruby watched Yang burst through the roof of the receding vehicle as the Grimm began to swarm around it.

"Pyrrha! Arc Thrower!"

"Jaune! Are you crazy?"

"Not as crazy as Yang will be dead if we don't do something! Nora's fastening my line to the rappelling cable, and she promises to keep it secure-"

"All set, boss!"

"So once again, Pyrrha… Arc Thrower!"

"We're having a very serious conversation about your spur-of-the-moment plans when we get back to base!" Pyrrha complained as black Auric energy pooled around her hands and Jaune's breastplate. As the Skyranger flew over the halted rail car in pursuit of the Giant Nevermore, Pyrrha put all of her soul's force into flinging her partner out the back of the ship and towards the stranded Yang. Seconds later, Jaune collided with his target, grabbing onto Yang tightly as his momentum threw the pair off the roof of the car and away from the Grimm snapping at their heels. If the impact didn't knock the wind out of him, the jerking action as his security line became taut definitely did. Still, he clung to Yang as if his life depended on it, and the duo found themselves airborne as the Skyranger swung upward to give Penny a clear shot at her prey.

"I'm not complaining about the rescue," Jaune heard Yang begin, "But are you sure Pyrrha is happy to see you holding onto another woman like this?"

"Not funny, Yang!" Jaune choked out as his breath began to slowly return, "Just don't let go, alright?"

He heard Yang sigh dramatically before she shot a few of her own explosive shells at the Grimm, "Spoil sport."

Little by little, Jaune felt Nora slowly reeling the two in as the Skyranger danced across the sky with the Nevermore that served as both predator and prey. Jaune managed to clip Yang's body armor to his line, allowing him to worry less about dropping his friend. That didn't change how compromising their position looked, however, and Jaune felt his ears grow hot when he realized how close his face was to Yang's chest.

From behind, Jaune heard the Giant Nevermore shriek angrily, reminding the hunter that he currently faced far bigger problems. With his blood turning to ice, Jaune stole a look at the Grimm, only to immediately regret his decision. A gaping maw leading into the depths of the bird's throat greeted him as the Nevermore decided the pair of dangling hunters made an easier meal than either the train or the Skyranger.

"Pyrrha!" Jaune wailed into his mic.

"Working on it!" His partner shouted back. For a second time, Jaune felt a tug at his breastplate and the Nevermore's jaws closed around where he and Yang used to be moments before. Due to the added weight and lack of time to properly channel her semblance, however, Pyrrha failed to do more than bounce Jaune a few yards upward. Gravity pulled him back down, and Jaune landed on the Nevermore's back. When he had a moment to assess his surroundings, another idea formed in Jaune's mind.

"Nora, cut the line!" He instructed before turning to his passenger, "Hang on, Yang!" Jaune plunged Crocea Mors into the Grimm's back as a means of avoiding a very long fall.

"JAUNE, ARE YOU CRAZY?!"

The radio crackled once more, "Strike Eight, this is Eightball. We're on approach to your coordinates, and have eyes on your Grimm problem."

Jaune felt his security line go loose, and immediately got to work wrapping it around the hilt of his sword.

"Eightball, this is Actual." Ruby responded, "Do not engage the Giant Nevermore. Repeat, DO NOT engage the flier. We have operatives onboard working to bring it down. Focus on the contacts chasing the train by foot."

"You have operatives on-? Actually, I'm not sure if I really want to know. We'll lock in on the ground targets. Eightball out."

By this time, Yang managed to get a solid foothold on the Grimm's back with Jaune's help. Behind them, they heard the Firestorms whiz by and commence their assault on the Grimm's ground forces. The two of them glanced at each other before nodding in silent agreement. With the Nevermore leveled out, Jaune pulled his sword from its back and vaulted forward to replant it closer to the bird's head. It shrieked again, and the two hunters winced at the sound.

"Kinda hurts when you're literally on top of the dumb bird, doesn't it…" Yang said.

Jaune nodded, "Agreed. The sooner we can bring this thing down, the better."

The Nevermore, however, had other ideas. It rolled 180 degrees in an attempt to unmount its passengers. The two hunters managed to get a firm grip on the tufts of hair covering the Grimm's back, but they didn't have time to develop a good foothold before the bird executed its stunt.

"Remind me again why you wanted the security line cut." Yang asked, teeth gritted in concentration.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time." Jaune offered weakly.

Ren dove towards the dirt on the field to avoid getting crushed between the Death Stalker's pincers snapping mere inches above his head.

"Safe…" he muttered sarcastically as his hand tapped the home plate before he rolled into a standing position to continue evading the massive Grimm. Dust rounds bounced harmlessly off of its tough shell as Blake tried to shoot it.

"Any ideas from the last time you took one of these down?" She asked as Gambol Shroud's magazine ran dry.

"Well, Pyrrha and Nora did most of the heavy lifting to bring it down…" Ren answered as he ran up the field's side wall to dodge a thrust from the creature's tail.

Blake rolled her eyes, "Of course they did."

"Hey, I resent that! But seriously, step one is probably taking out the stinger."

"Would you like to handle that, or should I pick up the slack in Nora's absence?" Blake said, a smirk growing on her face.

Ren dropped into a powerslide and raked his weapons along the fleshy underside of the Death Stalker as he skidded from front to back. While it failed to do any considerable amount of damage, the Grimm writhed in pain, and Ren used the distraction to leap up onto the creature's tail and begin hacking away at the joint connecting the stinger to the rest of the body.

Blake dashed in, searching for a way to keep the Death Stalker distracted while her teammate worked on the stinger joint. She raked her sword across one of its legs, and the Grimm immediately turned to face her before smashing its tail down to crush the blurry mess that was supposed to be Blake's shadow clone. Ren yelped as he held on tight to the swinging tail. Once Blake backed off and started to lead the Death Stalker on a merry chase around the outfield, Ren resumed working on the stinger.

"Maybe warn me next time before you antagonize the deadly scorpion." Ren grumbled.

When Blake leapt over the wall separating the field from the stands, the Grimm simply plowed through it to continue chasing her. She jumped from chair to chair, moving just fast enough to stay out of the Death Stalker's reach, but remaining close enough to serve as an enticing target.

"Almost done." Ren called out, though he spoke too soon. One of his cuts must have struck a particularly sensitive nerve in the monster's tail, and the appendage abruptly jolted back. The reaction caught Ren off-guard, and the hunter arced through the air before making a three-point landing back on the field. Blake noticed the Death Stalker's response caused the stinger to loll precariously, and stopped running away from her foe. The Grimm slammed its tail down once more in an effort to kill Blake, who backstepped slightly to evade the attack before countering with a forceful slash that completely disconnected the Death Stalker's stinger from its tail.

"Alright, that's taken care of," Blake noted while the monster clicked in pain, "What's next?"

Ren brushed himself off and thought about his answer, "Probably the eyes. After that, it probably won't pose much of a threat. Do you have any grenades that might help?"

"Just a flashbang." Blake answered, "Though that'll probably buy us some time to get some damage in." She leapt out from the stand and rolled onto the field to join Ren, pulling the grenade off her hip in preparation for their gambit. She waited for the wounded Grimm to stumble back onto the field after them before priming the Flashbang and gently rolling it towards her target. She timed it perfectly, as the Grimm ran right into the explosive's radius when it detonated before reeling back from the disorientation.

The two hunters wasted no time in rushing forward, with Ren leaping onto the Grimm's head and using StormFlower to gouge a pair of eyes while Blake fired plasma rounds at point-blank range into another. The Death Stalker lashed out with its claws in a feeble attempt to throw off its attackers before charging at the nearest wall in an effort to crush Ren. At the last second, he jumped off and watched the Grimm plow right through the wall. The impact triggered an idea in Ren's head, and he raced forward. He bounded up the Death Stalker's body, using the Grimm's face as a springboard to reach the seats above. With a target once again acquired, the creature gave chase.

Rather than run rings around the stadium like before, Ren continued to run straight up. He reached the point where the next level of seating hung directly overhead and jumped up to the higher ground. The Death Stalker, desperate for a kill, reached up and tried scaling the gap to continue its pursuit of Ren. As soon as its head cleared the barrier, the hunter delivered an Auric palm-strike to the Grimm's exposed underside, and the Death Stalker's precarious position allowed Ren's attack to send his foe tumbling back down the stadium seating. Ren jumped down and buried StormFlower in the fleshy underbelly of the Death Stalker. Like an athlete atop the world's deadliest surfboard, Ren rode the Grimm the entire way back down to the field. As it crashed into the green turf of the outfield, he got to work tearing up as much flesh as he could.

Blake, seeing this as their chance to finish the fight once and for all, ran in to assist Ren. She threw her pistol at the Death Stalker and used the anchored blade to yank herself forward towards her prey. Once she joined her teammate, the duo wasted no time in cutting deeper and deeper into the exposed, fleshy matter. Finally, a heavy thrust from Blake resulted in yellowish pus erupting from the depths of the Death Stalker's abdomen, and the thrashing Grimm fell still.

Blake wrinkled her nose at the foul-smelling fountain her weapon created, "That's… absolutely disgusting."

Ren looked at his friend, then at himself. The two of them were absolutely covered in black tar and gore, and Ren couldn't help but find some comedy in their current situation. He gave the Death Stalker's head a light kick before commenting, "Almost makes you want to bring it back to base and see if the doctor can find a way to mount its shell atop the Skyranger as a sort of trophy or something."

"Not really," Blake disagreed, "But then again, I'm barely staying conscious from the smell right now. Ask me again in about an hour."

Ren chuckled, "Fair enough. If it'll make you feel better, I can run your clothes through the wash once we get back to HQ so you don't have to spend even more time with this stuff. My way of saying 'thanks for having my back,' or something to that effect."

"… I might just take you up on that." Blake answered Ren's smile with a small one of her own, "Thanks."

When the Nevermore returned to an upright position, both Yang and Jaune let out a sigh of relief. Jaune made a mental note to buy Ruby a drink for figuring out that a shot from Crescent Rose to the Grimm's eye did the trick in convincing the damn bird to flip back over.

"Any ideas?" Yang asked, "I love Ember Celica, but blunt force trauma never seemed to work on these guys before."

"Well, maybe it'll work better if I can get you a clear shot at its insides." Firmly gripping a tuft of black feathers to steady himself, Jaune stood up on the Nevermore's back and tossed Yang the free end of his safety line. While Yang worked to fasten herself to Jaune once more, he looked at the sword in his hand.

"I'm not sure how you did what you did earlier," Jaune said quietly, "But I could sure use a little more of that magic right about now."

"Line's set." Yang shouted, "Whatever you're planning, now is a good time to do it."

The Grimm banked hard in an effort to throw off its riders, but Jaune held firm. His heart pounded against his ribcage as he lifted Crocea Mors high over his head. Jaune loosed a furious roar and swung the sword down in a flash of light.

Yang's ears rang once again with the screaming sound of the wounded Nevermore and painfully bright spots clouded her eyes. The huntress clung tightly to the Nevermore's back as blinked several times to clear her vision. When she could see again, Jaune stood before her with sword in hand and black blood plastered all over his body. While the blood alone concerned Yang, she noticed that his sword looked a lot bigger than she remembered it. Her attention quickly shifted to the Grimm when she realized that the source of Jaune's bloodied visage stemmed from a gaping wound her friend sliced open at the base of the Nevermore's neck.

She cracked a grin, "Think you can do that a few more times?"

Jaune nodded and hefted his sword for another strike. Yang noticed that, while his sword definitely looked bigger now, he wielded it as if it weighed the same as it used to. Like a farmer harvesting his wheat, every swing of Jaune's sword ripped out more of the Nevermore's flesh. The bird slowly began to lose altitude as Jaune brought it closer and closer to death. Desperate to remove its attacker, the Nevermore snapped its head back and smashed its skull directly into Jaune's chest. As her friend flew back over her head, Yang grabbed Jaune by his ankle and slammed him back down onto the Grimm's back.

"I'm alright." Jaune choked out, "Finish it off."

Without needing encouragement, Yang quickly bounded up to where Jaune previously stood. She ripped away a slab of loose muscle with one hand and saw the white skull underneath. With her free fist, Yang began to unleash a flurry of blows into the Grimm's head wound. The sound of loud cracks reached her ears as the Nevermore's interior shell gave way to her relentless assault. With a few more punches, the skull broke away completely and exposed several important-looking organs to the raging huntress.

The Grimm screeched once more before falling into a dive, its final effort to kill the hunters. Jaune looked up to see the ground rapidly approaching and let out a not-quite-human sound before saying, "Yang? Can we possibly wrap this up in the next ten seconds?"

"Working on it." Yang growled. Her left gauntlet ran dry of Dust rounds, and the huntress switched to using her other hand to punch the Nevermore's brain into a bloody pulp. Each thrust drilled deeper into the head wound as more of the Grimm's innards became pulverized. With a click, Yang realized that her second cuff also had no ammunition left. She reached back, grabbed Jaune's safety line, and gave it a yank. With a yelp, he slid forward until he lay right next to her. Yang readjusted her grip on the now-loose line and looped it forward. She grinned as the rope dropped perfectly into the Nevermore's open mouth and pulled back hard on the line.

The flier, too weak to resist the huntress's pull, had no choice but to allow its head to be pulled back. Just as Yang hoped, the body followed suit. While the duo didn't have enough time to completely pull out of the dive, Yang's idea drastically raised their chances of survival as the ground rose up to meet them. With a thunderous crash, the Nevermore collided with the earth, and the two hunters were knocked clear of the body.

"I have eyes on the Nevermore." Jaune heard Penny chirp over the comms, "Four and Five are okay!"

Behind them, they could feel the heat as Eightball and his wingman strafed the Grimm horde for a second time. Balls of superheavy plasma exploded along the tracks, and Jaune's jaw vibrated from the chatter of Phoenix Coilguns shredding anything that survived. The train screeched to a halt, the Skyranger landed in a field nearby, and silence fell across the countryside.

"Sensors show all contacts down, Actual." Eightball reported.

Jaune heard Blake's voice on the comm, "Death Stalker at Busch has also been dealt with."

"Understood. Do you want us to stick around for any surprises?"

"That would be appreciated, Eightball." Ruby answered, "We should be able to get these civilians back to the city shortly, so you won't have to wait long."

"No problem, kid. That was a seriously ballsy gambit you pulled off. We're happy to be of service."

"If you have a moment, Colonel. I have a favor to ask."

"I've always got time for the Doorninator." The Firestorm pilot answered with a chuckle, "What can I do for you, sir?"

"Well, there's this little courthouse that sits just in front of the Gateway Arch. A pretty little thing, but I've never been too fond of what it represents."

Jaune and Yang shared a confused look, not sure where Van Doorn was going with this.

Neither was Eightball, it seemed, "… Sir?"

"Does the name Dred Scott mean anything to you, Colonel?"

"It… does, sir. But I don't think its destruction is justified. Rule thirty-"

"Colonel, this is Three." Blake cut in, "Eight and I scouted downtown for signs of Grimm activity at the Busch Stadium. While en route, we discovered evidence that strongly suggests the courthouse is a spawning point for the enemy. I fully support the Field Commander's suggestion to level it."

"I… understood, Tech Sergeant. Plotting an approach vector for the courthouse."

"Hey."

Blake looked up to see Ren walking over with a pair of cups filled to the brim with amber liquid. He sat down next to Blake on the roof of the stadium and passed her one of the cups. Their vantage point didn't offer the best view for the impending fireworks, but Blake wasn't feeling picky at the moment.

"Figured that we may as well take advantage of the concessions here, since nobody else is."

Blake smiled, "Thanks."

"It's only a beer Blake." Ren said with a laugh, "Think nothing of it."

"No, not that. I mean, thanks for not saying anything on the comms about the courthouse."

Ren nodded in understanding, "I could tell that this means a great deal to you, though I must admit I'm not entirely sure why."

"Dred Scott v. Sandford represented a rather ugly part of American history." Blake explained, "A part that deals with slavery, oppression, and the idea that one race of people considered themselves to be superior to another." She gave Ren a pointed look, "Sound familiar?"

"Ah." Ren took a sip of his beer and gestured at the courthouse, "And I'm guessing that some sort of landmark decision was made there? How'd you know about all this?"

Blake shrugged, "I read up on Earth's history when my team first arrived. Curiosity got the better of me, and I wanted to see how much or how little it shared with Remnant's past. Turns out the answer was 'more than I would have liked.'"

"I should have known." Ren said with a laugh.

"I didn't make the connection that this courthouse was the one where the decision was passed until Van Doorn mentioned it." She added

Ren smirked, "It sounds to me like part of the Field Commander's motivation for blasting this building was for your sake. Just another reason why he's the most respected soldier at XCOM, I guess." He pointed up to the sky, "Hey look, here we go."

The Firestorm came in low and fast from across the river. It passed underneath St. Louis's famous arch before unloading its plasma cannons into the courthouse. The structure went up in flames, and the two hunters tapped glasses as they watched the building collapse into ruin.

Ren took another swig from his cup, "Score one for the good guys."

"Score one for the good guys." Blake agreed.

A/N: For those unfamiliar, Dred Scott v. Sandford was a court decision that ruled African Americans could not be American citizens, and therefore had no legal rights. It was brought to my attention that the courthouse where this took place was in St. Louis, and the idea of slipping it into the chapter became pretty attractive.