READ- this stuff is vital for understanding (I apologize for the AU's length, but its important)
Disclaimer- Do I own either Mass Effect or RWBY? I wish! Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) those belong to Bioware and Rooster Teeth respectively.
This if my first Fanfic, as well as being self-betaed, so if you see any errors, please message me. Now, this is going to be a large author's note, because there is a lot to get through.
First- THIS IS AN GRAND OVERVIEW STORY. What does that mean? It means that I will be focusing on the larger picture- i.e. events, and the effects caused by those events. I will be jumping around the timeline. For instance, chapters 1 and 2 take place at the same time, but chapter 3 jumps ahead 2 months. This fic will span several hundred years, and will tell the story on how Remnant went from a dangerous, backwater world; into a vast interstellar empire. In other words, your favorite characters will make appearances, but will NOT be the focus (stupid old age, killing our OTPs). Except team RWBY. They're ageless. Why? Because I love them, and I'm the one writing this fanfic! DEAL! (I may make a story explaining it later)
Second- OCs. I'm going to be honest, I HATE OCs. Too often, they become Mary Sues. Unfortunately, due to the nature of this fic, OCs are inevitable. (Prothean Empire) Rest assured, not a single one will be even close to being OP. In fact, most will only be shown for a chapter or two, before moving on.
Third- Technology and the Prothean Empire. Comparing Remnant (one world) to the Protheans (hundreds of worlds), one would naturally think the Protheans were more advanced. Amazingly, you'd be wrong (kinda). The Protheans, while masters of mass effect, had one major weakness. They used mass effect. An element that is, in short, extremely limiting. It is supposedly rare, created limits on ship size, limites expansion (slow FTL, need mass relays for true long ranged travel), and next to no energy weapons(short-ranged GARDAIN lasers…that's it). "But SirSpangler, we saw protheans using energy weapons in Javik's intro!" You are right; however, this is set during the Metacon war, which was early in the Prothean's expansion. Far before they developed such weapons. Meanwhile, Remnant had laser guns (as seen on Atlesian airships), energy cannons (spider droid, paladins), energy shields (Amity Colosseum), and crazy advanced shape-shifting weapons. Not to mention, they can augment their semblances, weapons, and even themselves, with dust. Remnant is already an advanced space civilization, just without the outer space part. That being said, this will not be a curve-stomp. The Protheans are not idiots. They will learn and adapt just the same as the Remnantians.
(EDIT) I have received several reviews stating that dust doesn't work in space. I address this issue in chapter 2's AU, but people seem to merely read the first chapter before messaging me, so I will say it here. I KNOW DUST DOESN"T WORK IN SPACE. As I explained in the second chapter AU, I have a solution in mind. I cannot reveal that solution, as it would spoil a large chunk of the story, but rest assured, I have one. If you really want to know, send me a PM, and I'll fill you in.
Lastly- Pairings: As I said, this won't really focus on individual characters; however, I happen to be a fan of white-rose and bumblebee, so you may see a couple hints for those.
Sorry, I lied- timeframes: This will be set during the beginnings of the Metacon war, just as the Empire is starting to unite the galaxy against the AI menace. As for Remnant, it just won its war against Salem. Why? Because I've already got enough plotlines, I don't need Salem running around creating more.
Enjoy the story!
_Heavy Cruiser Fury of Ventouraus
17:49 Star-Cycle 34.16.3294 PE
In low Remnant orbit Void Admiral Vijuss Sivect, commander of Conquer Battle-Group; gazed at the pristine garden world his fleet was currently orbiting. 'Remnant' his mind supplied him, 'is simply beautiful'. He was't wrong. Virtually untouched by the smog of industry, or the craters of war; as well as being covered in glistening seas, vast, green planes, and the oh-so unique crimson woods, it was indeed beautiful. A planet he could easily imagine living on, if the circumstances were different. Sadly, the circumstances were not different, and he had his orders. The fleet would live up to its name, and Remnant would be theirs.
"Admiral, we've reached optimal positioning for strategic bombardment." announced his helmsmen.
"Good, good…" muttered Vijuss.
He took a moment longer to regard the softly spinning world, knowing he was about to change its destiny forever.
"Begin."
Chief's house, Huo Kuana, Menagerie
8:34 pm, Month of the seedling, year 84 PGW
Ghira Belladonna is almost always busy. Ruling over the majority of the world's Faunus population is not, as they say, 'a walk in the park'. His days were always filled from the moment he got up, to the moment laid back down. In fact, the only real resting period he got was during dinner. For a short 45 minutes he could sit back and relax with his lovely wife. So, he was understandably pissed when a knock came from the door in the middle of those 45 minutes. That annoyance became confusion when he saw who it was. A teenaged deer Faunus that when by the name Tanner stood in his doorway. That by itself was no cause for concern, as villagers would often come to him seeking help or advice. What was a cause for concern was that Tanner worked at their only functioning CCT support tower. Their only means of communication to the rest of the world. Tanner was panting, out of breath from the mile and a half run it took to get here.
"Chief, you…, you..." He gulped and visibly collected himself, "You need to hear this."
"What's wrong boy? We get a message?" demanded Ghira.
"No sir, the network's gone down!"
Ghira felt his blood freeze. The last time something like that had happened, Remnant had been plunged into the largest recorded war in history.
"The entire network?" He asked.
"Yes sir, I know from the pings in the…"
But Ghira was already brushing past him, "Tell me on the way!" Hoping into his grav-speeder (a gift from Blake) and Tanner following suit in the seat behind him, he gunned the throttle and immediately turned towards the support tower. Weaving through pedestrians, he yelled a question over his shoulder. "So what happened?"
"Well sir, I was monitoring the airwaves like usual when the bandwidth usage skyrocketed. When I traced the source, I discovered that they all were military channels!"
"Which military?"
"That's the thing sir. There was at least a couple from each of them. The Atlesian 4th Fleet, the Valean Royal Skyrangers, the Mistralian 2nd Flotilla; by Salem, even the Vacuoan Dust Devils! And every single one was a mayday! The number of SOS calls just kept increasing. Then, about two minutes later, I was still listening when this horrible crack was heard! The network filled with static, then shut down! I immediately came to get you sir. Do you have any idea what happened?"
Ghira cursed under his breath, "The Atlesian 4th Fleet? But they're stationed right outside of Atlas." Once more turning to Tanner, he replied, "Something must have taken out one of the CCT towers."
Finally arriving, Ghira jumped off and dashed into the support tower. Just as the boy had said, the entire network was offline. Rushing back outside, he started sprouting orders. "I must gather the village council for a meeting, I need you to…" Whatever he was about to say was lost when a massive CRACK echoed over the Island. Turning to the North, he was just in time to see a flash of light slam into the stormy horizon. The sound wave hit them a moment later, flattening grass and sending wild animals scurrying for their dens. For the second time that day, Ghira felt his blood go cold. Mistralian warships routinely patrolled their borders for pirates or stray grimm.
Grabbing the spyglass he always kept handy, he peered toward the storm. Nothing at first, then, through the mist, the front of a Massive airship shuttered into view, its rear end trailing fire and smoke. The unique orange and brown paint adorning its hull identified it as a Mistralian cloudcutter-class warship. Seconds after its reveal, another flash of light slammed into the top of it hull, the shot easily pierced the dying vessel and splashed into the ocean. As for the ship, the force of the impact drove it another dozen meters towards the water it had been patrolling. Its energy pylons glowed red and black as the burn and gravity dust within strained to keep the ship's bulk in the sky. Sadly, it was for naught, for yet another flash of light slammed into the 125 meter long vessel. This shot hit a more heavily armored portion of the hull, but instead of saving the vessel, that fact doomed it. The shot, instead of piercing straight through like previous hits, shattered on impact, releasing dozens of broken shards into the vessel's engine, shredding the delicate components within. With a final, audible groan, the once mighty ship died. Power went out, and it dropped like a rock. Slamming into the ocean's surface, it was still for a moment, and then slowly started to sink.
Ghira and Tanner both stared in shock. Then Ghira's leader sense kicked in and screamed at him to do something. Turning toward the town he heard yelling and angry shouts. He stopped and analyzed the situation. 'Attack on all four kingdoms. Targets seemed to be communications and military assets. No attacks on Menagerie, but then again Menagerie possesses no primary CCT tower, nor does it have any military.' Ghira snorted. 'At least, not an official one… Still, he doesn't know what happened to the other kingdoms after the CCT network went down. They could be perfectly fine, or they could have been utterly destroyed. No Faunus was targeted, but once again, that might just be because they have nothing worth targeting. Then there's identity of the attacker. Could it be the white fang? No, they couldn't have done a job like this even at the height of their power, and they are now far from that time. Then who was it?' Throwing a couple of ideas around in his head before dismissing them for being too ridiculous, he realized he simply had too little information. And right now, there was only one way to get that info.
Turning to Tanner, he spoke, "Boy, I need you to go to the militia HQ and tell them to evacuate the townspeople to Mount Hollewelm."
"Evacuate?!" exclaimed the boy.
"Yes, evacuate! And that they should get the razors ready for action. Understood?" replied the chief.
The boy nodded in confirmation.
"Good, now go!"
And with that, the boy was sprinting off into the distance. Ghira, in turn, hoped back onto his speeder and headed for the town center. Upon arrival, he found not the chaotic mess as he had feared, but instead the majority of the town leaders gathered into a semi-circle around Kali. Meeting her eyes, they shared a smile. His quick-thinking wife had calmed the town in his absence.
Someone in the crowd apparently noticed him as well.
"Look, it's the chief!
At that, all eyes turned towards him.
He surveyed the crowd. Some looked calm, some worried, some scared, but they were all looking to him. Good, he would need their trust for this.
"I know you are all confused, to be honest, so am I. But I need you to do exactly what I say."
The crowd nodded.
I need all fishermen, and anyone who has a boat, to go prep it with medical supplies, life vests, blankets, and dry clothes. We're going to go see if there are any survivors."
He paused, now came the hard part.
"The rest of you need to gather as many belongings as you can and head to the militia headquarters. They will then take you to Mount Hollewelm."
Silence.
Then, a single question. "What do you mean?"
Ghira gazed deep into the eyes of the little wolf Faunus that had asked it.
"We're evacuating."
Instantly shouts rose from the crowd.
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
"This is our home!"
"I won't abandon my livelihood because a bunch of humans died!"
Ghira shouted to regain order, "Please, Please, Calm yourselves!" As the noise finally died down he continued, "This is only a temporary measure. We simply don't have enough information to know what happened, or what's going on. Once we do, we can decide on a more appropriate course of action. Until then, we must insure our own safety." As he stopped, he looked around. No one looked happy, but no one looked angry anymore. He did a mental shrug. It would have to do. "Everyone know what they're doing?" Receiving no negative response, he nodded. "Then get to it!" With that, the crowd quickly dispersed.
Within the hour the town was almost completely empty. One group was headed south, towards an ominous group of mountains, while a second group, consisting of a small fleet of fishing ships, headed north, towards a slowly sinking airship.
Thanks for reading!
I have big planes for this story, that is, if people like it.
Just a small warning, this is an AU (duh) but, in later chapters you'll notice I've also changed some canon bits around. The main being that Ozpin never died. Why did I do this? Simple. I know nothing about Oscar. No one does. We've only ever seen him interact with a voice in his head. Not exactly the best way to learn someone's personality. I would have to create a whole other character for him. In other words, an OC. That kind of defeats the purpose of using a canon character. So, sorry Oscar fans, but the chances of seeing him are slim indeed.
Reviews- Tell me what you think! Don't like it? Tell me why! Of course, don't be an ass about it. If you have a problem with it, I'm sure you are fully capable of telling me like a civilized human being. No need to screech like an angry monkey at a zoo. If you do so, you will promptly be ignored and your review deleted. I'm fine with constructive criticism, in fact, I encourage it, but there is a fine line between constructive criticism and flaming! Tell me what I did wrong so I can do better next time, or, if you have any questions, message me!
Note- The author's note in this chapter is undoubtedly the longest in the entire story. No AU in this story will ever be this long again.