"Internal oxygen level is green." Nikos reported. She retracted her helmet's face plate and took a breath.
"I'd feel a whole lot better if I knew what happened to those Bugs." Belladona said.
"Wouldn't we all?"
"Where did they all go anyway?" Adam asked.
"You'll see." Zack answered.
Back in the engine room, Chow has almost finished restoring the ship's engines.
At the holding cell, Hero gestured at Chase.
Chase deployed a snake camera to look inside the cell.
"Who's there?" It is Whitley Schnee, the only survivor of whatever happened aboard the John A. Warden.
"Damn it." Adam said. "I was hoping that he was eaten by bugs."
Winter glared at him. "That's my brother you're talking about!"
"Exactly!"
Weiss held back her sister. "Let it go Winter. You can kill each other later."
"Major Adel." She answered.
"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be on trial."
Retracting her face plate, she retorted, "Yeah, well... Looks like that plan was about as successful as your little experiment here. What happened on this ship, Schnee?"
"I hacked her, so she hacked me." He rambled.
"She? What do you mean "she"?" Hero asked.
"Worthy opponent. She hacked everything. Me, the ship, everything! Well, of course she did. She knew what I was thinking. Thoughts become words; words become deeds. Thoughts become words; words become deeds..." He rambled on madly.
"I think he's nuttier than Tyrian now." Hazel said.
"I'm not too sure." Watts contemplated the Schnee's words.
"Well whatever he means, it won't help him here." Cinder said.
Ignoring his ramblings, Hero told him, "We're gonna get you outta here. You and I can settle our score later. Open the door, Schnee."
"And let you kill me? No!" He yelled. "Besides, it's safer in here. Safest place on the ship. My safe place, yes. Safe place. My safehouse." He continued crazily.
Hero had just about ran out of patience with him. "Open the door, Schnee."
"You think it's funny? Turning tables? Tables turned? I arrested you, now I'm the one in the cage. You think that's funny? Do you? Do you?" He yelled angrily.
"Irrationally angry, unintelligible mumblings, mood swings... Where have I heard these symptoms before..." Ozpin wondered.
Salem as well. Those symptoms were familiar for some reason.
"I'll leave your ass here, don't think I won't. You figure it out while we clear the rest of the ship. Have this door open by the time we get back." She informed him.
"There's nothing to clear! The crew's dead. Everyone's dead. Darkness... Darkness is your friend. Whatever you do, don't turn on the lights." He creepily told them.
Chow had mostly finished restoring the ship's engines by now.
"Let there be light! Yes!"
The ship's engines restart and the lights turned on as power was restored.
"Well that warning came too late." Emerald said.
"Think there's more to his mad rambling?" Mercury asked her.
"Oh, there definitely is." Roman said.
Realizing that there was more to Schnee's mad ramblings then she knew, she hurriedly tried to warn Chow to stop but it was too late. "Adel to Chow, do not restart the engines! Do you copy?"
The two left the holding cell.
"Don't be afraid of the dark." Whitley continued even though no one else was there.
"Good job, Chow. Bridge is green." Nikos said as the bridge came online.
Somewhere on the ship, a Bug's eye moved.
A door opened and let in the Bugs it was holding back.
"Well shit." Qrow said.
"So that's why the ship's engines were turned off." Ghira said.
"They couldn't have brought that many bugs onboard with them, could they?" Kali asked.
Hero and Chase used their jump jets to jump over a crate, but Chase didn't jump high enough. He landed among a swarm of Bugs and they tore into him.
"Chase!" Hero yelled as he skids to a stop.
He retracted his face plate and primed his grenades. "Grenade!"
He killed the swarm that were on him, buying Hero some time.
"Yikes," Sun said. Seeing himself turn to stone was one thing, seeing himself die taking out giant man killing bugs with him was another.
"At least it was a warrior's death." Neptune tried to comfort Sun.
Not wasting his sacrifice, Hero ran for it and warned the troopers. "Bugs! We've got Bugs! Multiple contacts!"
"Holy shit!" Holy Man said as his face plate came up. He and the rest of the troopers in the engine room fired at the attacking swarm of Bugs.
"How the fuck is there so many of the damned bugs on that ship!" Ironwood yelled. That was terrible planning by whoever planned that mission.
"I'll explain later." Zack said. "Let's just say it didn't start out with hundreds of bugs in the ship.
"That better be a good explanation." Pyrrha grumbled. That was her others ship they were talking about.
A trooper was killed and thrown at another trooper by a Bug.
"It's that abyss you were talking about." Kharon said to Holy Man as they fired at the oncoming Bugs.
"Engine room under attack!" Bugspray said into the comms.
Belladone wasted no time. "Take positions! They're coming."
Her team stood guard outside the bridge as she remained with the captain.
Back in the engine room, the remaining troopers were still holding their ground against the increasing Bugs.
Chow got out and immediately fired at a Bug that was too close for comfort.
"Too close." Ren said.
"I'll say." Nora nearly had a heart attack at that.
"Get back to the airlock!" Bugspray ordered. "Move and fire!"
The troopers made a fighting retreat toward the exit.
A Bug managed to get the drop on Kharon and stabbed him with its leg.
"No!" Holy Man immediately killed the Bug as Kharon got up.
"Neptune!" His friends yelled.
Looking at his injury, Kharon realized that he wouldn't make it and decided to sacrifice himself to buy his team some time.
"I'll draw 'em off! You go!" He yelled.
He limped away, drawing the attention of the Bugs to him.
"No! We're not leaving him!" Holy Man yelled as Kharon was surrounded and overwhelmed.
"Go! I'll see you on the other side." Kharon died as his body was stabbed multiple times by the Bugs.
There was silence as Neptune died. The veterans there grimaced, remembering similar scenes where overwhelmed defenders sacrificed their lives to buy their comrades time.
One of the troopers grabbed his attention and they quickly left the engine room as the doors closed.
Holy Man gave Kharon his last rites as the door closed just as the Bugs got to it.
"Holy Man!" Bugspray yelled. "Hold formation and fire!"
He did so quickly, joining his comrades in killing the oncoming Bugs.
"Die, Bugs!" Ratzass cried. "You think I give a rat's ass if I die?"
"This way!" Bugspray ordered as they ran toward where the air lock was.
They had to stop as that way was soon crawling with Bugs as well.
Surrounded, the troopers fought on valiantly.
"Their surrounded." Jaune said. The situation was not good.
"They're not going to make it." Blake said.
Grenades fell at the feet of the Bugs blocking their way, detonating and killing most of them.
Bugspray looked as Hero entered, killing the Bugs that survived her grenades.
"Get to the airlock." She ordered.
"You don't get to die until I let you die!" Coco yelled to her fellow students.
"Yes ma'am!" They saluted her.
The troopers made their escape as Hero and Bugspray covered their retreat.
"Bridge, we're heading to the airlock. And they are right on our ass." She informed Belladona.
"Roger that!" Belladona replied.
The troopers ran through a different section of the engine room.
"Goddamn it!" Hero cursed.
More Bugs approached and they lost another trooper who strayed too far from the rest of the team.
Hero looked to her left and saw the Queen Bug in the central storage area. Turning to shoot at her, a sound from above caught his attention.
"What is that bug?" Watts was intrigued by it. It was different from the bugs they had seen so far.
"It's a queen bug." Zack answered. "And the reason that the entire ship was overrun by bugs."
"What do you mean?" Ozpin asked.
"Think about it. These bugs are like regular bugs in hierarchy and biology."
"So, what you're saying is that the queen laid some eggs and gave birth to that swarm of bugs there." Roman said.
"More or less."
"How!" Weiss asked. "Bugs don't grow up that fast!"
"Apparently space bugs do." Ruby said.
"Bug...Ump!" Two troopers were pinned downed by the Bugs who dove from the ceiling.
Hero used his jump jets to jump over the two Bugs, shooting them. The other troopers finished them off as they ran pass them.
Chow, one of the two who was pinned down and the only survivor was attacked by a nearby Bug. He dodged its first attack by somersaulting away and kicked away another strike by its leg.
Retracting his helmet, he kicked the Bug away but was killed by the rest of the still charging Bugs.
"Ren!" Nora yelled.
"Is anyone going to make it at this point?" Ilia asked.
"Meh..." Zack didn't exactly inspire confidence with that answer. He wasn't going to spoil that he could count the survivors on both hands and still have fingers left.
"Chow!" Ratzass, seeing him get killed. "Run!" He yelled.
"Alesia, we are under massive Bug attack. Request immediate evac. Repeat, request immediate evac." Nikos informed Captain Jonah as she made her way out of the bridge.
"Roger that. Alesia is preparing for your retrieval." Captain Jonah replied.
The Alesia docked with the John A. Warden so that the troopers could escape.
Nikos joined up with the troopers, her pistol out.
"Let's go." Belladona said as they made their way to the airlock.
"This is Alesia. Ready for your arrival. Over." Captain Jonah informed them.
The troopers fought their way to the airlock, Team One arriving first.
Gunfodder was knocked down by a Bug and it bit his prosthetic arm off.
"Damn it! Not again!" Fox moaned. Why was his arm such a tempting target for bugs?
Yang wondered why hers had phantom pains at the thought of losing an arm.
He aimed his gun at the Bug, but it wouldn't fire.
"It's jammed!" He yelled. Another trooper killed it and dragged him towards the airlock.
The doors towards the airlock close, giving the troopers a brief respite.
Shock Jock checked on Gunfodder.
"I don't suppose you have a good replacement part to fix this." Gunfodder joked.
Retracting her helmet, Shock Jock told him, "You're gonna make it."
"That's right. You can't let me die. I'm the only one of your patients that's lived."
Gunfodder died from his wounds as Shock Jock lowered her head in grief.
"I'm sorry I couldn't save you Fox." Velvet said in remorse.
"It's not your fault Velvet." Fox comforted. "Why did I die anyway? I didn't see any obvious injuries aside from the missing arm."
"Internal bleeding probably." Summer said. "Those are hard to spot."
Zack nodded in confirmation.
The doors to the hatch opened. Captain Nikos, Hero, Shock Jock and Ice Blonde were the first through.
"Open the airlock." Hero told the Alesia. The doors opened.
"Shock Jock, you go first." She ordered.
"Yes, sir."
Suddenly, the guns on the John A. Warden turn to aim at the Alesia.
"The Hell!"
"What the hell? Evasive action!" Captain Jonah ordered but it was too late.
The John A. Warden's lasers fired at the Alesia, destroying it.
"Shock Jock!" Ice Blonde yelled as the airlock closed.
"And another one bites the dust!" Tyrian said.
Coco grimaced. Stranded on a hostile ship with limited number of men and ammunition with no way to escape. Not good. Not good at all.
Jaune gripped her shoulder. "We'll make it out."
"Yeah. But something tells me that not all of us will get out alive."
"What the hell just happened?" Belladona asked as the three returned.
"The Alesia is gone." Hero informed her.
"Did we just fire on them?" Ice Blonde asked.
Captain Nikos tried to contact the Alesia. "Alesia! Captain Jonah! Answer me!" She lowered her head as she realized that the Alesia really was gone.
"How the hell did the ship fire without anyone at the controls? And why on their own ship?" Saphron asked.
"Hell, if I know. But something tells me we're about to find out." Qrow said.
Turning towards the remaining troopers, she told them. "Listen up, everybody. We head to the bridge. Now!"
The troopers followed as she headed for the bridge.
"Since when is she giving the orders?" Ratzass asked Hero.
"Since we boarded her ship." Hero answer.
"That should have been obvious." Pyrrha said.
"Yes captain. Aye, aye captain." Roman sarcastically said.
"Just asking." Hearing something, he turned around.
"Bugs!" Ratzass yelled as he and Hero fired at the approaching Bugs before rushing to regroup with the others.
A couple of Bugs were outside Schnee's holding cell.
"I hacked her, so she hacked me... I hacked her, so she hacked me..." He continued to repeat, unmindful of the Bugs outside.
"The Schnee is still alive? How unfortunate." Adam said.
"What do you think he means? How do you hack someone?" Summer asked.
"Isn't he psychic? That's probably what he meant." Ilia said.
Captain Nikos and the troopers made it to the bridge.
"Are you all right, Captain?" Belladona asked as Nikos panted on her knees.
"You know, if I wanted to run this much, I would have joined the Mobile Infantry." Belladona helped her up as she got into her captain's chair.
"Someone's out of shape." Blake said.
"Don't worry Pyrrha. Coach Nora will get you back in fighting form in no time!"
The other members of her team twitched, remembering what Nora considered a 'light' workout.
She tried contact General Arc. "Captain Nikos to the L-6 base. High Command, this is the John A. Warden. Jaune, please respond."
"Communication is always jaggy near wormholes. I recommend we position ourselves away from the nebula." Belladona suggested.
"How did the cannons fire? And why target our own ship?" Nikos asked as there was no one in the bridge and the computers were programmed to avoid friendly fire incidents.
"Schnee tried to warn us." Hero realized.
"Whitley is alive?" Nikos is shocked.
"Locked himself in a Bug cage." Hero told her.
"And you're just now telling me this?" Nikos asked angrily.
"Gee, sorry. I was a bit busy getting away from bugs." Coco said.
"Sorry." Pyrrha apologized.
"Look, Captain," Hero began, "if you're ready for a full debriefing, I'm all for it."
"Hero..." Bugspray said, realized that she was about to tell the others what happened at Fort Casey.
"Schnee found a queen on Fort Casey." Hero said, "He ordered us to capture it alive."
"He what?!" Ironwood said. That was like ordering an Alpha Grimm to be captured. Suicidal and not worth the cost in lives.
"Whitley..." Winter sighed, wondering what he was thinking.
"What the..." Nikos was bewildered by that order.
"Tell her the rest, Major." Bugspray encouraged.
"Yes, Major. Tell me the rest of it." Nikos ordered.
"I knew trying to take the queen would result in heavy casualties. I wasn't gonna sacrifice my men for a bug hunt." She finished.
"So that's why he had you arrested." Nikos realized. "But he got the queen after all. Wait a minute. How the hell can a Bug control the starship?"
"I'll like to know that as well." Ozpin frowned. If the Grimm could do that, then they would be in trouble. Technology was one of the few things that humanity had going for them in their fight against the Grimm. If they could subvert it, then not even the natural defences the kingdoms had will be enough.
Salem wondered what it would take to make her Grimm capable of taking control of a ship. That would turn the tide easily in her favour.
"You're gonna have to ask Schnee that." Hero replied.
"What the..." Someone said as the ship shook. The thrusters had come to life and propelled the ship forward.
"We're moving." Nikos said as she checked her monitor.
"Where?" Belladona asked.
"No idea. But if the queen is in control..." Nikos continued.
"We need to stop her from getting there." Hero said.
"How?" Ice Blonde asked.
"Back to the engine room. Shut 'em down." Hero suggested.
"Negative. Not enough soldiers or ammo." Belladona shot down.
"But what other choice do they have?" Tai asked.
"It does seem hopeless doesn't it?" Raven said.
"They'll figure something out." Glynda said.
"How can you be so sure?" Ghira asked.
"Because I trained them." She replied.
Holy Man knelt and prayed.
"What the hell are you doing?" Ratzass asked him.
"Praying." He answered.
"Well, keep it up. We're gonna need all the help we can get." Nikos told him as she kept her eyes on her screen.
The Bug Queen was shown in the central storage area, controlling the ship.
"Now we're back in business." Bugspray said as he and another trooper walked into the bridge with two cases each.
"Captain, you need to take a look at this." Belladona told Nikos.
Nikos looked out of the bridge's window, seeing the ship headed for a wormhole.
They were mesmerized by the wormhole.
"What is that?" Amber asked.
"That's a wormhole, a structure linking disparate points in spacetime." Zack answered.
"What?" Yang asked.
Zack sighed. "It's a portal in space, got it?"
"Oh."
"She's heading straight for the Marshal Helm wormhole." Nikos said.
"It'll take her straight to Remnant." Hero realized.
The other troopers stilled as they realized what that meant.
The audience realized as well.
"We'll be overrun in weeks." Ironwood said, already thinking up contingency plans and war gaming their chances in his head.
"It's worst." Zack said. "That queen can lay hundreds of eggs a day. It takes mere hours for a Warrior Bug to mature. You will all be dead in days."
"Shit." Hazel said. That was not good. Not good at all.
Nikos wasted no time in trying to contact anyone in Remnant despite knowing that it was futile.
"This is Captain Nikos to the L-6 base. Captain Nikos calling L-6 base."
Trig put down her rifle as she began taking off her armour.
This is Captain Nikos to Jaune Arc. L-6 base, come in! This is Captain Ni..."
She stopped as the sound of Trig's chest piece hitting the floor caught their attention. Captain Nikos and the other troopers turned to see what was going on.
Trig was now only in her muscle suit, carrying her rifle.
"What the hell are you doing?" Belladona asked her trooper.
"Yes, Ruby. What are you doing?" Jaune asked.
Raven snorted. "Isn't it obvious? She's going to kill the queen."
"Without armour?" Tai asked worried.
"She won't fit in the vent otherwise." Ilia said.
"Risky plan." Ozpin said.
Trig used the butt of her sniper to open the grate covering the air vents. She pushed her sniper into the vent then explained.
"If she is in the engine room, then I'm gonna hunt her down."
"I'll back you up." Bugspray volunteered.
"No." She denied. "You stay. Besides, you'll never be able to fit through here. I'll be back." She reassured.
Trig pulled herself up into the vent as the other troopers watched.
"You're not gonna stop her?" Bugspray asked her team.
"She's a big girl. She knows what she's doing." Ice Blonde told him.
"Yeah!" Ruby said. She was a big girl now and could make her own decisions.
Yang and Summer hugged her. "Oh, my baby sister/ girl is all grown up!"
"Ack! Air!"
Trig began crawling her way to the engine room.
"Do we?" Ratzass asked.
"I bypassed the circuit board." Nikos said. "If we can gain control without being detected... Strap yourselves in." She told the troopers as they were about to enter the wormhole.
The troopers went to find a seat.
"I'm not gonna sit in that blood seat." Ratzass complained.
"Seriously? It's not like you can even feel it through your armour." Mercury said.
"It's the principle of the thing." Sun said.
"Besides, bloodstains are hard to get out of armour." Winter said.
"I thought that was just for clothes?" Saphron asked.
"Oh, it is a bitch to get off weapons as well." Tai remembered having to clean his own gauntlets of blood after he punched a guy a bit too hard.
"Do it." Hero ordered as Captain Nikos prepared to try regaining control of her ship.
The ship shook as they entered the wormhole. Ratzass, seeing no other choice, sat in the last seat there.
Nikos screen flashed red as she failed to regain control.
"She's onto us."
"Damn it!" The troopers complained when they heard the screeching of Bugs.
"So close!" Emerald said.
"And I thought I had bad luck." Qrow said.
The Bugs had made it to the bridge's entrance.
"Fire!" Hero yelled as she and the other troopers got up to defend the bridge.
The John A. Warden entered the wormhole and time inside the ship stopped for the duration they were in transit.
Troopers were like statues, frozen in the faces they had when they fired at the Bugs. Trig was frozen mid-crawl as she made her way through the vents. Bullets hanged in the air, the disturbance in the air they made clearly visible as they broke the sound barrier.
"Woah."
"Is that what it's like in a wormhole?" Watts asked out of scientific curiosity.
"More or less."
Bugs chewed up the corpses of dead troopers.
The ship exited the wormhole as time flowed normally once more.
The troopers gave out their battle cries as they battled the Bugs.
On the L-6 base, one of the officers called out. "General, a Federation starship has just emerged from the Marshal Helm wormhole. It's... It's the John A. Warden."
"Oh no!" Velvet said.
"Their already at Remnant's solar system." Ironwood gripped his hand rest tightly.
"On screen." General Jaune Arc, commanding officer of the L-6 base ordered.
"They're receiving our signal, sir." The same officer said.
"Any response?" Arc asked as the ship appeared on his screen.
"No, sir, they're not responding."
"Something's wrong." Arc realized. "Why would they head back towards Remnant?"
"Sir, if they keep their current trajectory, the John A. Warden... Sir, it's heading straight for us." The officer warned.
Arc tried to contact the ship.
"John A. Warden, this is General Arc. Come in. John A. Warden, this is the L-6 base. If you do not change course immediately, we will be forced to engage. Repeat, the L-6 base will take defensive action if you do not change course. John A. Warden, respond."
"Talk to me, Nikos." Arc said to himself as the ship got closer.
"They can't warn them." Cinder realized.
"Well we're done for." Blake said.
"Meh, who wants to live forever anyway?" Weiss said, as if she wasn't bothered by her friends impending death.
In the John A. Warden, the last of the attacking Bugs were killed.
"The L-6 base." Nikos said as the ship headed for Remnant. "We've got to warn Jauney."
"Morse code." Ratzass asked as Nikos tried anything she could think of.
"We can't use the beacon. She has control of the ship." Nikos told him.
"Yeah?" Ratzass said. Taking aim at an unoccupied portion of the bridge, "She doesn't have control of this." He fired his weapon.
"What is the boy doing?" Hazel asked.
"Who knows." Cinder shrugged.
"Well Cardin's damaging my ship!" Pyrrha said.
Three ships were dispatched to intercept the John A. Warden.
"General, there's fire on the bridge of the John A. Warden." An officer reported.
"Get me a closer look at that ship." Arc ordered.
The image on his screen zoomed in on the ship's bridge.
"It's Morse code." Arc realized. "They're trying to send us a message. 'Repeat, bugs in control.'"
"Oh," Jaune said.
"That's actually pretty smart," Weiss said.
"He's still shooting up my ship." Pyrrha grumbled.
Arc was silent for a while as he contemplated the message.
"How the hell can bugs control a star ship?" He wondered before realizing that it was likely connected to Whitley's secret mission. "Goddamn you, Whitley."
"Deployment status?" He asked.
"Sheridan, Ishizuka, and the Franklin are heading to intercept."
The three ships head for the John A. Warden as the L-6 base aimed its weapons at the rogue ship.
The Bug Queen screeched as it fired her commandeered ships forward turrets at the oncoming ships.
The incoming ships fired back but were no match for the more powerful John A. Warden.
"The Sheridan has taken catastrophic damage." An officer reported.
The Sheridan is destroyed soon as it took a full volley of the John A. Warden's forward lasers.
The ships went through the Sheridan's debris field and continued exchanging shots with the last two ships.
"They're getting slaughtered out there." Summer said.
"Apparently bugs can fly a ship." Qrow said, drinking his beer.
"Who knew?" Raven said.
Tai shrugged. If a dog can learn to use a can opener and lock doors, then bugs can fly a ship.
"The Franklin is critical but operational."
"Franklin, disengage." Arc ordered as the L-6 base weapons came online. "Get clear of the John A. Warden!"
The Franklin and the John A. Warden scraped pass each other, causing the troopers in the rogue ship to hold on for dear life.
The only thing between the ship and Remnant now is the L-6 base.
"The John A. Warden is approaching on a crash course. Ready to intercept, sir. Main cannon armed and ready." An officer calmly reported.
"Pyrrha... Whitley..." Arc hesitated, knowing that his friends were onboard that ship.
"He's hesitating." Salem said.
"Understandable. His friends are onboard that ship." Ozpin said.
"Not going to help us though." Ironwood stated. He understood Jaune's hesitation, but this was all of Remnant at stake here.
"Commander!"
Arc stood up and steeled himself. "Open... fire!"
The John A. Warden evaded the volley from the L-6 base.
"Fire!" Arc ordered.
"Sir, we can't fire now. They're too close." An officer told him.
"Damn it." Jaune cursed at his own hesitance. Now everyone onboard that satellite was going to pay for it.
Arc and the men stationed on the L-6 base braced for a collision but the ship just barely missed them, taking off a bit of the antenna.
"They missed us." The officer said, relieved.
Arc doesn't share her relief as he wondered. "Yeah. But why?"
"Commander, I have the Warden's trajectory. It's heading straight for Remnant." The officer reported.
"They never meant to ram us. We were just in their way." He realized.
"They're on a path for Remnant." Sun said.
"Great, just great! As if the Grimm weren't enough! Now we have to deal with oversized bugs!" Neptune complained.
The John A. Warden headed for Remnant.
"This is General Arc to Remnant Defence Command." He reported. "The John A. Warden is under bug control and entering Remnant's atmosphere."
An elderly Sky Marshal James Ironwood appeared on screen.
"It's what? The John A. Warden?" Ironwood asked. "Arc, I don't care if John A. Warden is on that ship himself! If that ship is infested, you take it down."
"Just give me a chance to do both, sir." Arc pleaded. "Rescue our men and gain control."
"Arc..." Ironwood said, not liking the risk they would be taking.
"Commander, I promise. A bug invasion will not happen on my watch, sir."
"It better not." Ironwood said as he signed off, non-verbally giving him permission.
"Spaceborne Command," Arc ordered. "prepare a drop!"
"I don't like the risk their taking," Ironwood said.
"Then why did you give him the go ahead?" Qrow asked.
"I'm not sure," Ironwood replied.
"I think you do James," Ozpin said. Ironwood was many things, but he would do what he thought could bring back as many of his men home as he could.
The John A. Warden was on a crash course for Remnant as it entered the atmosphere.
"What now?" Belladona asked as she and the rest of the troopers looked to Hero for orders.
"Belladona, you stay here and protect the Captain." Hero ordered as she and the captain nodded.
"The rest of you... lock and load. It's time we exterminate that bitch."
The troopers raised their weapons. "Hoorah!"
"Yeah! Time to kill that bitch!" Nora yelled.
"Hoorah!" The students yelled.
The troopers made their way to the engine room, leaving Belladona to guard Nikos.
The ship was getting closer to the ground.
"She's trying to crash the ship." Nikos realized as they were on a crash course for Mistral.
"Do what you have to do!" Belladona yelled as she fired at incoming Bugs.
"I don't know what to do." Nikos said to herself before remembering Trig.
"Trig, where are you now?" She called into her comm. "Trig, location? Trig, come in. Trig, respond! Where are you, Trig?"
"Oh yeah! I forgot about her in all of this," Jaune said.
Ruby gasped. "Jaune, how could you forget about me! I'm so memorable!"
"Don't we know it." Roman grumbled. Stupid Red always ruining his plans.
"Central storage area." Trig finally answered.
"Have you found the queen?" Nikos asked.
Trig was lying down on her stomach, scope trained on the Queen Bug.
"Oh, yeah." She answered. "This bitch is disgusting."
"Yuck!" The queen really was disgusting.
"Take her out." Nikos ordered.
"With that gun? Unlikely," Adam said.
Ruby glared at him. Her sniper could get the job done. Just watch.
"You have to admit that it is unlikely you'll kill the queen with just a sniper Ruby," Weiss said.
Ruby put her hands over her heart. How could her bestie betray her!
"Done." Trig lined up her shot.
"We're running out of time." Nikos told her. "Do you read me?"
"Loud and clear, Captain."