A/N: I sat down this morning to work on the next chapter of "Flight of the Crescent Rose" and had an idea I couldn't get off my mind, so I decided to write it out. That's what I get for playing Homeworld late at night. So here you go.

Weiss was meeting her father for breakfast when her orders came. Like every meal with her father since she'd decided to join the Fleet instead of Administration, things were likely to be... tense.

The restaurant she'd chosen was literally over the main docking bay of Mothership 3, with a transparent crystal floor through which you diners could view the various ships in dock. Weiss stopped and took in all the ships for a moment, wondering which of them she'd be on tonight. She lifted her gaze and looked around for her father. Other than the rather ostentatious floor the restaurant's decor was rather spartan, resembling the mess hall on a Fleet vessel, but she liked eating here. This was one of the few restaurants that catered to Fleet personnel that welcomed trainees as well; she'd dined here often with various classmates while she was in training.

Ah, there her father was. He'd chosen a table in a nook to one side, as close to being somewhere else as he could get while still keeping to their arrangement. "Father," she said as she sat down opposite him, her rolling locker coming to a rest next to the table.

"Weiss." His tone was clipped and firm. "I see you're all ready to go. Is there any point in one last attempt to convince you to reconsider this foolishness?"

"I'm already committed, Father. They make you sign before graduation, you know that." That was one vast difference between her and her father. He'd gone through Fleet training like she had, but had opted for Reservist status instead of active Fleet duty. Weiss had no doubt that he'd done his best to make sure he never got called up for active duty. Many Reservists did. If they'd wanted active service, they'd have accepted enlistment, wouldn't they? "I'm just awaiting my first orders now."

"I would have thought they'd give them to you in advance."

Weiss shook her head, scanning the menu to decide what she wanted today. "No. A graduate's first assignment comes without warning. We're told that's to prevent people for angling for choice assignments or trading." Again, something her father should have remembered from his own training. If he wasn't outright ignoring it.

"Well, hopefully, they find you an assignment worthy of your talents. Third in your class, that's nothing to be ashamed of."

She made a small moue of annoyance of the reminder. Third in a class of hundreds was a notable achievement, but it was the girl that had come in second that annoyed Weiss. Apparently, the girl had gotten into the Academy on some sort of accelerated placement program, then blown through the command course like it was nothing! Weiss had studiously avoided taking advantage of any of her father's influence during training, but the other girl's time at the Academy positively reeked of it. "I'm not expecting anything wonderful for my first assignment, Father," she replied, thumbing the menu for her selection. "Good assignments have to be earned."

"I could have arranged something for you. Anything you want."

She set down her menu, giving her father her best 'Are you fucking kidding me?' look. "Father, no. I don't want my career tainted by any hint of influence applied on my behalf."

Her father humphed and adjusted his collar. "Come now, Weiss, you can't seriously expect me to believe you are so naive as to think that influence is never applied within the Fleet. It sure as hell is in Administration."

"No, I'm not that stupid, Father. But I do intend to avoid it as much as possible." Weiss's hand terminal chirped, the insistent double-chirp of a priority message. She looked at it with a frown. "Your orders, Weiss? Something wrong?"

"It's my orders, but they're weird. It's just a dock number and a hull number. 'Report to docking bay 813 at 1000 hours for service aboard ship #470060.' No mention of my assignment aboard." Weiss tapped on her wristlink for a moment, then frowned again. "And the hull number isn't on the registry. Well," Weiss put on a smile and looked at her father again. "Shall we enjoy our meal? I have a few hours until I have to report."

Weiss stepped out of the transit tube at exactly 0955. Perfect. Not late, but not so early as to appear overeager. She strode down the passageway, her rolling locker following behind, eager to make a good first impression.

As she approached dock 813, she made a face of disgust. Standing outside the hatch were two women kissing. Same-sex relationships weren't illegal among the Remnant Fleet, exactly, but they were frowned on socially. The pair pulled apart at her approach, looking embarrassed. "One last kiss before one of you reports aboard?"

"That's the thing, we're both assigned to this ship. But the hatch is locked. Says it needs command authorization to open. I'm Yang, Yang Xiao Long." The blonde woman extended a hand in greeting."

Weiss shook Yang's hand, and then took the black-haired woman's hand. "I'm Weiss Schnee. And you?"

"Blake, Blake Belladonna."

"You're an esper, aren't you?"

Blake took a step back. "How did you know? Is it a problem?"

"I just... always know, when I get close enough to one. I test above average, but I'm not at esper level. And no, I don't have a problem with espers."

Blake nodded, relieved. A lot of people hated espers, those with psionic abilities. There were even periodic calls to sterilize or even euthanize known espers. "Good, that's good. I just graduated, and I want my first assignment to go okay."

"You're both on your first assignment too?" The pair nodded, and Weiss turned toward the locked hatch that stood between them and their assignment. She pressed her hand to the open panel, and it flashed red, showing the words 'Command authorization required.' "This is ridiculous. This is where we're supposed to be, why can't we go aboard?"

"You're assigned here too? That's awesome!" The three of them turned around, and Weiss's face fell. Standing behind them were Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos, Pyrrha dragging Jaune by the arm. Jaune had pursued Weiss during training, refusing to Take A Hint that she was not interested in him. Maybe Pyrrha had finally gotten through to him.

And Pyrrha... Weiss and Pyrrha had been rivals during training, with Pyrrha graduating first in their class. Weiss could feel her anger rising, then sighed. In the end, it didn't really matter now. Training was over, this was the real world.

Yang was peering through the wall-length window into the darkened docking bay that presumably held the ship they were assigned to. "Anybody else notice the lights are off in there? Can't make out much, but it doesn't look like a really big ship. Scout class, maybe?"

"Maybe, but there are five of us. That's most of the crew complement of most scout class vessels, isn't it? Wouldn't it be strange for this many new recruits to be assigned to a vessel that small?"

"Seven, actually." They were joined by a man with black hair with a pink streak and a woman with orange hair. "Lie Ren, and this is-"

"I'm Nora Valkyrie!" the woman announced, raising a fist in the air as if in victory. "I'm so glad to meet you all! Are we all assigned to the same ship? That doesn't look very big, I wonder what the deal is, all of us going aboard a ship for the first time like this, why isn't the bay lit up? And why's the hatch locked?"

"That's what we're all wondering." Blake's voice took on a wavering tone, and she looked toward the transit tube. "Our answers are coming." She shook her head and looked at everyone, her voice back to normal. "Sorry. Happens sometimes."

"It's okay, babe." Yang reached out and intertwined her hand with Blake's, giving it a squeeze."

"Precognition?" Weiss asked softly. Blake nodded, adding "A little bit. Not enough to rely on. My gift is mostly extra-sensory perception, with a bit of precog and just enough telekinesis to lift a stylus, slowly. That was the strongest precog flash I've had in a long time."

The hatch to the transit tube opened and out ran a face they all recognized. Ruby Rose, second in their training class was running down the passageway toward them. "Sorry I'm late, I got caught up in a disciplinary hearing this morning." At Weiss's frown, Ruby added, "As a witness, not the accused."

"Anybody we know, sis?" Yang asked

"Cardin Winchester," Ruby replied, and everyone groaned. Cardin Winchester had been a persistent problem for most of their graduating class, hitting on just about every female trainee and making his views against espers well known.

"Don't tell me he finally got arrested for his crap?"

"By Fleet Security no less. I'll give you the details later. So, what's everyone standing around for? Let's report in."

"We can't; the hatch is locked," Jaune replied. "We've all tried."

"Oh, that is ridiculous!" Ruby snapped, slapping her hand down on the control panel. "There is no way-"

'Command authorization accepted,' flashed on the panel, and the hatch slid open as the lights in the docking bay came up, revealing the ship they had been assigned to. It was indeed a scout-class vessel. "Farwander-class scout vessel, looks like the 'G' modification," Pyrrha remarked, stepping up to the window.

"'H' modification, I think. The probe launch assembly looks different. And a crew complement of eight, if I remember right," Ruby corrected, mentally going over the vessel's specs. "Which makes us the entire crew."

"And you presumably our captain, if you had the command authorization to open the hatch," Ren added.

"Something's not right. Why would they give command of a ship to a new graduate like you? Even a scout?" Weiss was struggling to maintain her calm, but inside, she was seething. Accelerated acceptance into Fleet training, and the command course, the top three in their graduating class all assigned to the same ship, and command of a scout as her first assignment? Someone was stacking the deck heavily in Ruby Rose's favor and it was pissing Weiss off. Plus... Weiss took a step closer to Ruby, and her suspicion was confirmed. Ruby was an esper of some sort. Was that the reason for the special favors being shown her? She decided to keep that bit of information to herself, for now at least. "So what now, oh, fearless leader?"

"We aren't getting any answers here. Let's find the command deck." The group stepped aboard, Ruby leading the way.

Inside the ship was deserted. Everything was new and unused, making Yang whistle. "Okay, now I'm creeped out. No offense, Rubes, but there's no way you should be getting command of a brand new ship like this."

"No kidding." Ruby was struggling to maintain her composure, but things were starting to creep her out too. "I could understand command of a small craft, under supervision, but scouts operate independently. And this one's brand new. I think they just started production of the H series two weeks ago. So this has to be one of the first ones finished."

On the command deck, Ruby sat down in the command couch, tapping keys and bringing the ship to life. She frowned. "According to the computer, we're the entire crew. And I am the captain."

That was it. "How in the hell did you get assigned command of a ship like this? Who did you sleep with, or bribe, or whatever? This is insane."

"Weiss-" Yang started, only to be interrupted by Ruby's raised hand. "It's okay, Yang. Weiss, everybody, I didn't ask for this. I'm as confused by what's going on as you are. What I can do, what I will do, is contact Admiral Ironwood's office for clarification and orders." Ruby looked around the group, taking a read on everyone. "In fact, Weiss, I'm leaving you in charge while I try to find out what's going on. Get everyone doing system checks and inventory. If this is my-our ship, I want to make sure it's in good working order."

"Why me?"

"Because you're questioning what's going on more than anyone besides me. And I want answers."

Admiral Ironwood had a concerned look on his face as he answered Ruby's comm call. "Miss Rose, I didn't expect to hear from you again. Shouldn't you be reporting for your first assignment?"

"Well, there's a problem with that, sir." Ruby laid out the oddities of her new 'command,' finishing up with "... and that's everything. So according to the ship's computer, I'm in command, but I have no idea what I'm supposed to do. I mean, I know how to command, but I don't know where my ship should go, or even if I'm really in command or not."

"So you're telling me the top three of our latest graduating class all got assigned to the same ship? Under your command?"

"And my sister, and my sister's esper girlfriend. It defies belief, sir."

Ironwood nodded. "I share your concerns. No offense to you, Miss Rose, or any of your 'crew,' but to be given an independent command like this as a first assignment is unusual, to say the least. Send me copies of your orders, including those of your crew. I'll have someone look into this, including sending technicians over to check your vessel for tampering. We'll decide what happens to your ship and crew once that's complete."

"Thank you, sir."

After breaking the connection, Ironwood sat thinking for a while. This was damn odd. Finally, he reached for the comm on his desk. "Ozpin, something strange has happened. I think the Oracle is meddling again. This time I think we've got a chance to get ahead of things."