Chapter 1: A Fallen Petal Adrift in the Snow.
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St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, December 22nd, 2012
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"Damn is it cold," muttered the weary and tired 27 year old Patrol Officer Sergei Petrov. He was nearing the end of his eight hour shift, and was looking forward to going back home to get out of this miserable winter night. He was annoyed that he was on duty so late at night. Apparently, some of the detectives found out that the Bratva sukas were running a human trafficking ring out of the docks. 2 hours later Sergei was keep an eye on the patrol cars as the other men of his unit were putting ten Bratva enforcers into body bags and the rest were already being shipped to jail.
He sighed, thinking about how he joined the police force to get back at the Bratva, or the Russian Mafia as most foreigners called the Bratva. He hated Bratva, as it was due to their activities in human trafficking and the sex-trade that got his brother killed and his sister forced to be a prostitute against her will. He clenched his fist in disgust; when he heard his sister committed suicide to rid herself of those memories, Sergei promised to take down as many that served within Bratva as he could.
Sadly, such a promise was very difficult to maintain, as Bratva was like a cancer in Russia; removing a cell in one part of town only for another to spring up across town. Intercept a shipment of drugs, weapons, and human cargo and Bratva will merely find a new shipment route. And don't even mention the number of times Sergei had to deal with telling the love ones of officers who died trying to stamp out the disease that was the Bratva.
He was about to pull out a cigarette to get his mind off the Bratva when he heard yelling. Despite it not being Russia, Sergei had learned enough English to know that the yelling was a cry for help. Shoving his pack back into his pocket, Sergei began moving towards the yelling, quickly radioing his commander.
"Captain, I hear a cry for help, I'm going to investigate," Sergei quickly reported. He heard his captain mumbling something incoherent before speaking up more clearly.
"Alright officer, but exercise caution; these sukas could try and capture you to bargin you for a couple of their comrades," his captain replied. Sergei nodded.
"Of course captain, I should make contact soon enough," Sergei answered. He ran around the corner of a dockyard building, and his eye's widened in shock.
On the ground was a girl curled up who looked no older than twelve years old. Her skin was pale, her black hair with a tint of red was cut short, and she was wearing largely black clothing with a red cape. But while the scene might've caused some concern if it was just that, it was what Sergei saw in the snow that was beneath and around the girl; blood.
Sergei saw that the girl was bleeding, and if the amount of crimson snow was any indication, it was a pretty serious wound. Sergei closed in and knelt down to the girl, trying to appraise the situation. The girl began flailing for a moment before calming down for a moment, allowing Sergei to see that the bleeding orginated from a wound across her abdomen. While it wasn't deep enough to knick any vital organs, it was large enough to cause sufficient bleeding. For once Sergei was glad it was a cold winter night; the cold would restrict blood flow, something useful when seconds counted.
"Ah, you speak English da?" Sergei began, regretting his decision to not learn English and only knowing what he gleamed from Western Cinema to guide him. The girl nodded.
"I u-u-understand y-you," the girl replied, her words stuttering out as an effect of the cold. Sergei then took his cap off, showing the pin on it.
"I is a police officer, da? I is going to get help for you to get your wound look at, okay?" Sergei informed the girl. While he spoke, he had made hand gestures to relay the meaning more effectively. The girl nodded.
"Okay," she simply answered, giving him a thumbs up. Sergei quickly reached for his radio.
"Captain, I have a wounded adolescent girl over here behind Warehouse…13," Sergei relayed to his captain. "Requesting medivac, she suffered a laceration across her abdomen." He heard his captain sigh wearily.
"Copy that Officer Petrov, a ambulance is being rerouted to your location; its not like some of these damn suka enforcers need immediate attention anyway," his captain said. Sergei decided to ignore the not so subtle meaning behind his captain's words. He turned to the girl, who was shivering in the cold. He gave her his Ushanka and made sure to tie it so the flaps covered her ears. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing in this cold.
"Everything is going to be okay," he said to the girl. "Everything is going to be okay."
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"Officer Petrov, have a seat," his captain commanded. Sergei quickly took the offered seat, before locking eyes with his captain, Captain Orlov, a former Spetsnaz Sergeant. Orlov raised a folder.
"Officer, do you know anything about the girl you found during last night's raid at the docks?" Orlov questioned quietly. "Did you take anything off of her, whether on purpose or on accident?"
Sergei quirked an eyebrow, as he was wondering why he was being interrogated on whether he stole anything off the girl. He had no reason to do that, as his main focus was on getting her medical attention.
"No sir, why do you ask?" Sergei asked. Orlov pinched the bridge of his noise in frustration before he handed Sergei the folder. Sergei opened it up and saw something that was frightening; next to no information. No name, no information as to where she came from, no travel papers, no past history, nothing. Just her picture and the medical report from the doctor that tended to her injuries.
"The girl you found has no information of any kind," Orlov began. "We have gotten in contact with various embassies from English-speaking countries to see if they have any information to tell us who she may be, but so far no such information has come to light. It is as though she was simply dropped in that back alley, a ghost incarnate."
"So what's to happen to her?" Sergei asked. Orlov shrugged wearily.
"Well, normally we would find who she is related to, however, she had no ID or anything to track down her parents, guardian, or relatives," Orlov said quietly. "If the embassies can't find anything, then the only option is to…"
"…leave her at one of the orphanges," Sergei finished for his captain, his face curling in disgust. While he had the good fortune to grow up with his family, he knew all too well the fate that lay for those given into the system.
If she was to reap her way into life, she could end up with a scholarship to a local college and get a moderately well-paying job, join the armed forces and climb through the ranks, or join the local police. If she merely got through with little to no incidents, she could end up getting a minimum-wage job unless she got promoted through merit.
However, as with all state-run orphanages, the risk of her life taking a turn for the worse was high. The appeal to belong to a family, along with the perceived and real pressure of not having a great chance at making it big in life, forced many into the criminal underworld. While boys could become the soldiers of various gangs and criminal syndicates, girl were often used like cattle, forced into prostitution or worse.
Sergei let out a breath of frustration, slumping in his chair. IT sucked that this girl, who most likely was a foreigner, was going to end up in the system. With no knowledge of the local language and of the local underworld, she could and probably would be ripped apart like a lamb to wolves, feasted upon by the wolves of the criminal underworld.
"Sir, is that the only option?" Sergei asked. "You know that she seemed to only understand English. Without learning the language, the odds of her…"
"I know," interrupted Orlov. "But sadly protocol dictates what we can do. The only thing I can do is arrange to have her dropped off at which orphanage within the district."
"And which orphanage is she going to end up in?" Sergei asked. Orlov rubbed his chin, handing Sergei another folder.
"I've decided upon a privately funded orphanage that is run by those who had to endure the hardships she will be enduring," Orlov said quietly. "It may not be much, but the rate that children resort to crime is significantly lower than that of other orphanages in the area. In addition, they have several programs to keep the children from ending up in the local gangs."
Sergei read the file quickly, nodding silently at both what he read and at his captain's words. This orphanage seemed like the best chance she would have, as the ones running it knew of the hell that being an orphan could be, and it seemed like his captain was trying to even the odds for the girl. He closed the file.
"Very well sir," Sergei replied. "Is there anything that I'm needed for?" Orlov nodded solemnly, leaving Sergei with the feeling of a heavy weight placed upon his shoulder. He knew he wasn't going to like it at all.
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"We are here," a translator said to the young girl that Sergei was handing over to those that ran the orphanage that she would be residing at until she became of age.
"Where are we?" the girl asked timidly. The translator, a fellow Police officer, sighed.
"We're at your new home," the officer answered, plastering a fake smile, one that the girl and Sergei obviously saw through. The girl frowned, clearly knowing that the officer wasn't being totally honest with her, but Sergei had a job to do. He stepped out of the car and quickly opened the back seat, gesturing the girl to get out and follow him.
He walked quietly but with a heavy heart towards the orphange's front door. The girl kept up, but he could see the hesitancy, anxiousness, and fear that she had at entering this new place. He would to, as on the car ride the girl had inquired where her father and older sister were. Sergei was going to ensure that the names that she provided for her father and sister would be sent to embassies that would most likely have the best chance of finding them.
He opened the door, allowing the young girl in, and saw that the people who ran the orphanage, a fairly young couple in their mid twenties, standing in front of them.
"Hello officer," the man said, shaking hands with Sergei. "I wish the circumstances at our meeting were under better terms, but alas…"
"As do I," Sergei agreed. "Have you read the file about the girl's situation?" The man nodded.
"Yes; we understand that she most likely is a lost foreign child that the state wants us to handle until such time as either she can be picked up by her family or becomes an adult," the man replied. Sergei sighed, before handing the man a piece of paper, which the man signed quickly. It was a form that indicated that the orphanage would be held responsible for the girl's health and wellbeing, and would be liable for any court claims in the event something occurred to the girl while under their care.
Sergei turned to the girl after stuffing the form into his coat's inner jacket.
"Well, good bye child," Sergei said in his slow English. Sergei turned around and began to walk out, but not before he heard the girl's quiet response.
"Thank you sir," the girl politely thanks him, her voice being low with depression. Sergei tightened his jaw, maintaining his rigid posture to not be disgusted with himself. As he walked out of the orphanage and the doors closed behind him, he spoke in his native tongue for the girl.
"May you find peace Ms. Rose."
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Author's Note: Well, another story, another author's note. Damn, I wish my brain could shut off, but it shan't do that for my wellbeing. Oh well, to cover some background behind the story's origins.
The story has been filtering through my mind in one form or another, with the basis that Ruby ends up on Earth and ends up fighting WW3, before returning to Remnant and delivering a can of whoop-ass onto the White Fang, the Grimm, and Cinder. However, I hadn't gotten motivated until I went to the community of EndWar Online, where I posted a thread where they could vote onto the 'origin' of Ruby Rose.
This in turn gave me enough reason to start the story, despite having now 7 other stories to write and material to write 3 more. As a result, it is time to show the end result of the EWO community votes and my work.
The EWO community had 2 things to vote on; which country Ruby would side with and what Battalion she would be apart of. After a month of voting, the results were the Russian's Spetsnaz Guard Brigade. While the battalion wasn't voted on that much, I have decided to make it an Airborne battalion, as while Mechanized and Armor battalions could easily be done, the thought of special forces units getting supported by helicopter gunships and CAS planes appealed to me.
So this chapter was to act as the prologue to what Ruby will be facing before becoming embroiled in WW3. I plan on time skipping, as while a lot does happen lore wise in EndWar between 2012 and 2020, not a lot of it will apply to Ruby, at least not immediately. So I will be planning a time skip in the next chapter, which will show Ruby adapting to Earth and Russian society.
Also, I had offered the EWO community to have a chance at their OC being Ruby's partner if they submitted a story cover art with Ruby being in her SGB uniform. Alas, no submissions were submitted, so I turn to you guys to see if you guys can come up with something.
So until the next chapter, please follow, favorite, and review.