Hey there guys, it's me Raging Archon. Been meaning to write this Fic for a while now, but hadn't had the time to do so. For those wondering about time settings, this fic will be Post Volume 2 of RWBY and One Year after the events of Legacy of the Voids epilogue. The cover art for this Fic is also temporary, so I'll update it whenever I can. Well, nothing much to say now apart from I hope you enjoy the fic. Now, on with the show!
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Chapter 1- Whispers Among The Stars
"Well, we did it."
The members of Team RWBY glanced slightly in Yang's direction as she spoke, the four of them plus Zwei overlooking the City of Vale from Beacon's Landing Platform, separated only by the large body of water before them.
"We did it." Blake repeated, smiling slightly as she turned her gaze towards the metropolis, which buzzed with activity.
The four Huntresses had just aided in the defence of Vale when the Grimm had broken through the wall guarding the City, thanks to a certain Roman Torchwick and members of the terrorist organisation known as the White Fang. At first it seemed like an impossible task, defending the streets of Vale from what was without a doubt a Grimm Horde, but the swift arrival of more Huntsman and Huntresses plus reinforcements in the form of Atlas' new Knight units quickly turned the tide.
"If we don't get extra credit for that, I'm gonna be seriously disappointed." Weiss huffed, crossing her arms as she gently brushed a stray strand of hair out of her eyes.
"Weiss, a two-headed snake literally crushed a bakery." Yang deadpanned, narrowing her eyes as she leaned forward to meet the Heiress' eyes. "I wouldn't count on it."
"Plus, I mean, we didn't solve everything." Ruby concurred, kicking the air slightly as Weiss turned her attention to her. "A lot of people were hurt, and we still don't know why they did this, or who that mystery girl was."
"Well, not every story has a neat and tidy ending." Weiss defended, uncrossing her arms as she opted to lean back on them instead. "Trust me on that."
Ruby narrowed her eyes at Weiss as she said those words. Not that there was anything wrong with the statement, it was absolutely true, but she said it with such conviction. Almost too much conviction.
"We might not have all the answers, but we do have a lot of dangerous people behind bars." Blake suddenly spoke up, interrupting Ruby's train of thought. "And I think that's something we should be proud of."
"Yeah! And if anyone tries something like this again, we'll be there to stop them." Ruby stated, punching the air with a clenched fist. Still, she should probably ask Weiss later what she meant about the whole 'Neat and tidy' speech.
"Yay, teamwork, camaraderie, good guys, go team, all right, good job..." Yang murmured as she slowly leaned on her back before turning to face the rest of her friends. "So, what now?"
"I suggest training for the tournament..." Weiss hummed, bringing her hand to her chin before lowering it again. "But I guess we have that covered at this point."
It was silent for some time after Weiss spoke, the only noise being the thrum of the Atlesian Warship hovering nearby, the chirping of birds around them and the sound of water splashing against the ground.
"So then..." Blake murmured, falling silent again as she failed to follow through with the statement.
"Uhh… Time for bed?" Ruby suggested, shrugging her shoulders slightly.
"Please."
"Absolutely."
"Yes."
The four girls quickly rose from their seating, followed by the black and white Corgi that was Zwei.
"I'm going to sleep forever." Yang yawned, stretching slightly as she proceeded to head over to the Campus, followed closely by Blake and Zwei.
"Hey, Weiss." Ruby said, quickly grabbing the attention of the Heiress, who turned quickly to face the Red Hooded Huntress. "What was all that about earlier?"
"Hmm?" Weiss hummed, tilting her head slightly in response.
"All that 'neat and tidy' stuff." Ruby elaborated, dipping her head slightly. "You said it like you knew it from somewhere before."
"Oh." Weiss replied, seemingly caught unawares by the statement. "It's nothing Ruby, just been a long day, that's all."
"If you say so..." Ruby mumbled back, eyeing the Heiress suspiciously. "You sure you're all right?"
"Yes, I'm fine." Weiss reassured, placing her hand on her chest as she laughed slightly. "Just...not the first time something like this has happened."
"What are you talking about?" Ruby asked, tilting her head slightly again.
"Mountain Glenn." Weiss quickly replied, almost too quickly. "You know, the Grimm invading the Town and pretty much making it uninhabitable."
"Oh..." Ruby murmured, before shrugging slightly. "Okay, if you're certain."
"Yes, I'm fine Ruby." Weiss once again reassured, nodding slowly before gesturing to the Campus. "You go on ahead, I'll catch you in a bit."
"All right. See you later." Ruby cheerily replied, quickly dashing forward in order to catch up with her other friends.
As soon as she was out of sight, Weiss let the small smile she had worn on her face drop as she let out a soft sigh. She should have been more careful with her tongue and she knew it, thank goodness she was quick to react to that blunder. If her sister Winter was here she would have reprimanded her for sure, and she would have received a worse scolding from her Father. The truth was, she had known of something like this before, about a year ago.
Reports from her sister on the front lines spoke of Grimm moving in large packs across the borders of the Four Kingdoms, acting highly aggressive. All of them were young packs, maybe a few years old at most, but they moved with the coordination of far older Grimm, almost as if they were being guided by some unseen hand. Then worse reports came.
Winter told how monstrous creatures unlike anything seen on Remnant before started leading the Grimm into large battles. They wielded strange primal energies unlike anything seen before on Remnant, but worst of all some began to take control of Atlas' own troops, turning brother against brother. Winter had told her that she was forced to kill her entire squad after one of those things turned them into mindless slaves during a mission.
These things threatened to boil over into the Four Kingdoms, who were all unaware of this secret war playing out on their world. Then, it stopped. The Grimm slipped back into old habits again, and the strange creatures were no longer found, either all dead or having lost interest in the Kingdoms borders.
As expected, there were many unanswered questions. How did they organise the Grimm so rapidly? Where did they come from? Where did they go? What were they? The questions only served to further worry Weiss. This attack today, though completely different, was awfully similar to those stories. She wondered deep down if perhaps those things had a part to play in all of this, but she quickly brushed those thoughts aside.
She and the rest of her Family had signed multiple pieces of paperwork by order of the Atlas Military to remain silent. If she spoke a word of it to anyone, they would know, and they would come crashing down on her like a meteor to the earth. She could be prosecuted, expelled, she could lose her inheritance or worse...killed.
Weiss took a deep breath as she pushed all those thoughts out of her head, shaking her head rapidly as she smiled once again. She would think no more of this matter, it was merely a coincidence and nothing more. She straightened her jacket and proceeded to join her friends on the Campus grounds, yet as she walked, something in the sky caught her eye.
A flash of blue light, disappearing almost as quickly as it had appeared. Weiss stared up at the sky once more, to see if the strange light show would continue, but alas it did not. As she continued to stare up at the sky, Weiss let a small genuine smile spread across her face. Who knows, maybe there are some questions that cannot be answered.
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Deep Space…
Not far from where the planet Remnant orbited the Sun, the vast void of the Great Dark began to buzz with energy. For so long, only stars and wayward comets wandered this section of the void, yet soon that would be the case no longer. It started with blue electricity arcing silently in the patch of nothingness. Then it began to build up, almost as if something was attempting to tear through the very fabric of reality. Then, nothing happened as the electricity began to die down into nothingness.
Then without warning, in a brilliant flash of light, six large ships appeared. Three of the ships were identical to one another, their metal hulls a dull cobalt grey colour. A long cylindrical body housed the main components of the ships, including facilities for the crew, engine, and Bridge amongst others. Six wing like prongs hovered around the ship, three of them larger than the others, all of them spinning slowly in a clockwise pattern. And hovering just off the very nose of the vessels were large blue gems, spinning in the opposite direction to the six wings.
Two of the other ships were twice as large, and were a bright golden colour in stark contrast to the other three ships. They looked almost boat like, with multiple ports and openings for fighters to zip in and out of. The ships themselves lacked any weapons, for millions of small drone like fighters among other ships were stationed on board, ready to defend them should they come under attack.
The final ship however, was the largest of them all. Three times the length of the other two golden ships and almost circular in design, its metal hull was the same colour, with a large citadel like structure situated at the top, embedded with blue gems with a large translucent dome like shield covering it.
As the six ships traversed the large void, multiple fighters emerged from the hangars of the two medium sized ships, some of them designed like birds of prey while others were long and sleek looking. The ships quickly dispersed into smaller groups as they began with their mission: scout the area for any hospitable planets.
The Protoss had arrived.
Aboard the Bridge of the Protoss Mothership, an elderly Protoss stood in the centre of the control room, gazing out into the vast vestiges of space. He wore the flowing robes and golden armour that indicated his status as Executor, the many other Protoss on-board saluting him whenever he passed. A number of both Khalai and Nerazim Warriors stood at multiple control panels of the vessel, all of them displaying important information of the vessels functions.
"Executor, we've sent out Phoenix and Scout Fighters across all quadrants of this sector. If they find anything of value, we will know of it." a Zealot reported, glancing towards the Executor as he finished.
"Notify me immediately should they come across anything." the Executor ordered, the Zealot nodding in confirmation before turning back to face his console.
The Executor stepped forward slowly as he continued to scan the blackness of the void before them. It was strange to think that only a year ago, there was a chance this darkness would be all that was left in the Universe. Even the glimmering of these foreign stars would be a faint memory of what once was. The Executor thought back to the End War, where the Dark God Amon corrupted the sacred Khala and with it, every Protoss bound to it.
It was ironic that the Nerazim, those they had once shunned for severing themselves from the Khala, had saved many of their people during the early days of the End War, including Hierarch Artanis, their leader. He had gathered what remained of his people, united the survivors into the Daelaam, and not only freed the Protoss from Amon, but also retook their homeworld of Aiur. Despite his young age, Artanis had proven to be a spectacular leader, personally taking part in the joint Protoss, Terran and Zerg invasion of Ulnar, finally slaying Amon once and for all. And it was on his orders they were here now.
Some time after the first Cities were rebuilt on Aiur, Artanis had sent out multiple vessels from the Golden Armada out into the cosmos. Their mission was to scour the Korprulu Sector and re-establish dominion on their former colonies that were lost to Amon's Hybrid. Executor Velran and his small group of ships had gone one step further.
They had ventured outside the Korprulu Sector, further then any Protoss had gone before with one mission in mind: establish the first Protoss Colony outside the fringes of their Empire. Unfortunately, such a task was easier said then done. They were in uncharted space, all was foreign to them. They inserted random coordinates into their Warp Drive and prayed they didn't hit anything upon Warping in. They had also found very no planets that were hospitable, and so far the same seemed to be the case for this quadrant.
Their search had been going on for so long that they were starting to run low on fuel, having only enough to make a single Warp jump back to Aiur. This was to be their last search, which would also determine the future for the crew. If they found a habitable planet, they would proceed to set up an outpost on the world and focus all efforts on contacting Aiur. If not, they would simply use the rest of their power to warp back to Aiur and report their failure in their mission.
The sliding doors separating the Bridge from the rest of the vessel suddenly opened, causing Executor Velran to swiftly turn towards it, alongside a few of the Warriors stationed on the Bridge. In sauntered a slim looking female Protoss of the Nerazim, her skin a deep lavender colouration. She was garbed in a combination of dull Gold Plate Armour, Purple cloth and Zerg Bones, indicating her status as both a Phase Smith and a member of the Zera'tai Clan of Dark Templar. As she drew closer, the Executor turned back to face the vast cosmos before them, his hands clasped behind his back.
"Executor Velran, I've come to inform you that repairs to the Mothership's Khaydarin Crystal network have been completed." the Phase Smith reported, her own hands crossed behind her back as she looked expectantly at the Executor.
"Excellent work Vermina," Executor Velran responded, glancing slightly towards the Phase Smith, now identified as Vermina. "anything else to report?"
"Nothing as of yet Executor, but should the need arise I have finished Armour and Weapon Upgrades to all Cybernetic Units on board." Phase Smith Vermina replied, though she quickly narrowed her ethereal like green eyes when the Executor let out a long sigh. "Is there a problem Executor?"
"I believe that maybe it was a mistake to have ventured so far off our borders." Executor Velran replied, shaking his head slowly. "Perhaps there was a reason the Enclave of old never did stray far from the Korprulu Sector."
"The fact that they were old fools with their heads in the wrong end of their body not reason enough?" Phase Smith Vermina questioned, raising her eyes slightly.
"Watch your tone Vermina, you may be our best Phase Smith, but that is still my history – OUR history – that you're insulting." Executor Velran warned, sending a glare towards the Nerazim.
"YOUR history. You were right the first time." Phase Smith Vermina retorted, chuckling slightly to herself when Velran growled slightly.
"Whatever the reason, they clearly believed the Protoss were not meant to live out of the Sector." Executor Velran stated, slowly walking forward.
"And is that what you believe?" Phase Smith Vermina questioned, tilting her head slightly.
"No," Executor Velran solemnly replied, bowing his head low as he closed his eyes. "But that does not mean I am right."
"What would you have us do?" Phase Smith Vermina asked, gesturing to herself as she spoke.
"Recall all vessels we sent out." Executor Velran replied, looking towards the rest of the crew who obeyed immediately. "Once they return, we will Warp back to Aiur and I will report my failure to Hierarch Artanis personally, and-"
"Executor!" one of the Zealot's on the Bridge interrupted, the urgency in her voice too great to ignore. "One of our Phoenix Fighters has just reported in! They've found a Planet!"
"What?!" Executor Velran murmured, looking towards the Zealot in question. "Show me!"
"Yes Executor, transmitting visuals now." the Zealot responded, quickly typing away at the console before her.
Seconds later, a section of the Bridge shimmered to life as one of their Psi-link Spires connected to the HUD of a Phoenix Pilot's visor, the details of the cockpit showing clearly on video feed. But that wasn't what caught their attention, it was the large green and blue planet before it that caught their attention.
"It seems you were right after all Executor..." Phase Smith Vermina murmured, turning to face the Executor with wide eyes.
"Have you locked the coordinates of this Fighter?" Executor Velran questioned, turning to the Zealot who first brought news of the planets discovery to light.
"Yes Executor, how do you wish to proceed?"
"Prepare for a Warp Jump to their location." Executor Velran ordered, the many members of the Bridge now rushing around to perform the order. "Link with the other vessels of the Fleet and prepare to jump on my mark."
"What about our scouts still out their Executor?" a Nerazim Centurion asked, concern clear in his gravelly voice.
"Relay new orders to all our Fighters, telling them to meet up at our new coordinates." Executor Velran ordered, turning to face the Centurion quickly.
"At once Executor." the Centurion responded, bowing his head as he complied with the new set of orders.
"Khaydarin Crystals of the Carriers and Void Rays are linked." a female Zealot responded, running multiple diagnostics on her console.
"Coordinates are locked, ready to Warp when ready." a male Zealot quickly added, turning to face the Executor.
"Prepare for Warp Jump." Executor Velran ordered, the crew of the Bridge rushing around as the vessel once again hummed to life, blue electricity arcing over the hull of the ship. "It is time we made our home amongst these foreign stars."
And with that, the small expedition fleet Warped out of the void they had occupied, making it once again an empty void…
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Hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of what I hope will be a successful Fic. If you liked it, feel free to leave a review and constructive criticism is welcomed. Any questions? Either PM me or leave in your review and I'll answer them at a later date. I'll update this story on Sundays from now on, today being a small exception.
Raging Archon out.