On-board the Kashgar, somewhere in the cold emptiness of space...

A massive headache was all Roy could feel when he woke up. A dull pain across his left temple made him wonder if it wasn't better to stay unconscious for a little while. Instead, he started to hear some muffled sounds, until he could discern the grave sound of the Battle Stations alarm, and the sounds of gunfire echoing through the walls. As his mind finally started to process his situation, he opened his eyes and tried to get up. When he tried to reach the ground, he realized that everything around was floating, including himself. The young lieutenant taped his heels to activate his magnetic boots, stepped on the ground and checked more carefully his surroundings. He was in a dark corridor with dim red lighting, his rifle floating away. He was alone here, but he could still hear gunshots in the distance. This was good news, it meant that he wasn't the only one left and that the ship still had life support up and running. It was also bad news, because they were still fighting. Even worse, if the ship was in zero g, then they were losing.

Roy reached for his weapon and realized that his radio was no longer working when he felt a dent in the side of his helmet, followed by static in his ears. Disappointed, he turned on his helmet-mounted flashlights, checked his suit's terminal and headed for the nearest security station. He was second-in-command of the ship's marine detachment, surely his credentials were still valid. The lieutenant wandered carefully, checking every room and corner he came across while trying to remember all that happened.

It was all supposed to be a routine patrol, it was even his first assignment after his graduation from Officer School and his training in the Federal Rangers, but a distress call from a nearby research station changed all of that. Rescuing the scientists from the pirate raiders was easy, even recovering their "artifact" wasn't much trouble. No, the real problem started when something ambushed the Kashgar after they left the station. It didn't look like anything man-made, which sent shivers down Roy's spine. Their new enemy also had four smaller escort ships, didn't hail back and attacked immediately. Perhaps the life-long question of Are we alone in the universe? has finally been answered. To make things worse, they packed quite a punch. The Kashgar was outmatched and outnumbered. Against five hostile and unknown targets, the lone destroyer fought well, but could not hope for victory. After losing three of the four escort ships, the aggressors were nearly at point blank range and launched a boarding party. Unfortunately for them, Captain Robins was not keen on losing his ship so easily and ordered an emergency jump. A final volley of the ship's main guns crippled the massive claws that kept the Kashgar on a leach, and the lone destroyer limped towards a safe FTL vector. As the FTL drive engulfed the ship however, something interacted with the quantum portal. The ship was subject to a sudden and powerful acceleration, and then nothing.

It was strange, really, recalling all of that. Roy was tempted to think it was all just a dream while he drunkenly lied on the officer mess's floor, but his left temple indicated otherwise. After a while, he reached a large room with a central desk. Once convinced that the room was clear, he checked his suit's terminal for his oxygen levels. Four more hours, he only spent fifteen minutes to reach his destination. The room was large and hexagonal, with a large door behind the main desk leading into a small armory. As he walked toward the desk, Roy looked out the window. It was more of a flat screen displaying live feed from the outside cameras, but the result was the same. They weren't in their asteroid ring anymore, and there wasn't a fucking space whaly thing parked outside either, which was good. What was more worrying, perhaps, was the large, shattered moon they were sailing by. A problem for another time, with some luck.

Roy sat on the leather seat and entered his credentials in the desk's computer. He started by checking the latest sit-rep. Ship's bridge was gone, detonated by Captain Robins himself. Aux. CIC was overrun, and ship controls are in lock-down. Order to abandon ship. Not a whole lot of good news, then. He then switched to the internal cameras and his heart grew tight. Most of the ship's crew was already dead, and it wasn't pretty. Most died impaled or squashed against pipes or bulkheads when the inertial dampeners fried, but some were killed by weapon fire or worse. Some corridors had creatures roaming inside, and those were definitely not human. They looked like a mix of insect and wolf, with armor plates and large, bloody teeth. On the bright side, the fighting was down in Engineering and the hangar bay, mostly, so he would not have too much trouble for now. There wasn't many on either side, so maybe they could win this. The ship still had atmosphere in most sections, including his, so he could get another helmet from the armory, and even spend some time to gear up. Unfortunately, security terminals don't have access to navigational data, so he'd have to regroup with the rest of the crew to know more about their situation. He tried to contact the ship's AI, Elena, but only got automated responses. Might be something to do with that lock-down. Given his location, his best bet would be the hangar through the maintenance elevator.

Roy spent another ten minutes in the armory before heading out. If it all went well, he wouldn't meet anything until he reaches the elevator. After donning his new helmet, he could now hear the radio chatter while it adjusted itself to his suit's settings. Once done, he switched to a general frequency:

"This is 2nd lieutenant Anderson, does anyone copy? Over."

After a short silence, an angry voice answered him:

"Lt. Anderson, please refrain from using an open frequency and switch to 456.821, out."

Roy nodded in his empty corridor and tapped some buttons on his suit's terminal.

"This it Lt. Anderson, please come in, over."

"Anderson, where the hell have you been for the last hour?! Over."

Roy recognized the Russian accent of Lt. Commander Dyogtrev, the ship's XO.

"Knocked out cold, sir. I'm on deck 7C, heading towards the hangar, over."

Another moment of silence. Roy started to wonder if it was such a good idea to use the radio.

"Fine, be quick, we're leaving as soon as we reach low orbit. Dyogtrev out."

Low orbit. These words ringed a few bells in the lieutenant's mind. As he ran at a good pace towards the hangar, he started to piece it together. If there was a moon, then there was a planet nearby. Since lifeboats were not designed for an atmospheric entry and didn't have the engine power to stay in orbit, the only option left to abandon ship lies in the hangar. This, coupled with the ship's state and the fighting concentrated on the hangar and the engine room meant that the Kashgar was beyond saving.

Roy reached the elevator without too much trouble, even wondering when luck would leave him. He instantly regretted it when one of the roaming creatures found him. Without thinking, Roy mashed the call button before emptying his weapon on the creature running towards him. The first shots hit it right in the chest, slowing it down but not killing it. The second volley tore away its left leg, but the creature carried its momentum and slid towards the lieutenant, who backed into the elevator. As the doors closed, Roy fired a last volley into the creature's head, who fell on the floor, lifeless. Cautiously, Roy pushed away the clawed limb blocking the door with his rifle and sat down, exhausted. As the adrenaline wore off, Roy stood back up and reloaded his rifle, keeping the empty power cell in his ammo bandoleer. Shortly after, the elevator doors opened, and Roy was greeted with half a dozen barrels pointed towards him.

"Geez! Don't shoot! Friendly!"

"Ah, fuck, El-Tee, you scared the crap out of us." sighed one of the men, lowering his weapon. The others quickly followed. Roy noticed that only two had armor, the four others were still wearing their navy uniform. Roy walked past their makeshift cover and gave a quick salute to the man who talked to him.

"Sorry about that. Trying to NOT get eaten, you know, the usual."

Roy looked at his name plate. Sergeant J. Chester. The name didn't ring any bells. Roy probably met him a couple of times, but that was about it.

"Eh, yeah, I can see that." chuckled Chester, pointing at the blood splatters on Roy's armor. It was black, and viscous, but didn't seem dangerous. "You should meet up with the others on Bay Two, they're prepping for evac."

"Duly noted. See you soon, sergeant!" It felt weird, being an officer at his age. Most non-commissioned officers were probably ten or fifteen years older than him, and yet there he was, the man in charge of all of them. Well, almost. There was Cpt. Rachel Mella, the redhead in charge of the 117 marines of the Kashgar. Some tried to seduce her. Most of them ended up in the kitchen or in the sickbay. Thinking about every day's life on the Kashgar cracked a smile on Roy's face, although no one could see it behind his vacuum-proof helmet. It wasn't long before a certain Lt. Commander snapped him out of it.

"Anderson, are you listening to me?"

"Sorry sir, yes sir."

"Focus, lieutenant. I'll start again. We loaded up the artifact and the scientists on Lotus One and Arrowhead. Six of us will go with them, the rest will leave on Lotus Two. There isn't room for everyone, so the rest will hurry back to Engineering and hope for the best. Anderson, you'll be in charge of Lotus Two, Cpt. Mella will stay with the scientists. From what we got off Aux. CIC before we left, we have about ten minutes before the ship reaches the atmosphere, make them count. Move out!"

Roy remained still for a few seconds, looking at everyone around while he processed what the XO told him. Diogtrev was surprisingly calm, and from what he said, he wasn't leaving the ship. The man may be an asshole, but he was an honorable asshole. From what he saw on the cameras, there was about fifty of them still alive across the ship, and there was only room for nineteen. Well, the fight wasn't over yet, so maybe it wouldn't be so much of an issue. Roy hurried to Bay Three, where Lotus Two was parked. The craft was still tethered to the fuel line, and three missiles were magnetically locked on a chariot beneath its right wing. Apparently, Roy didn't have to choose who gets a lift, as three sailors decided to join Diogtrev. This left him with twelve men and women, including the pilot, call sign Hot Dog. All around, people were leaving the other exits to regroup on the main corridor. Roy could see some of them shooting in the darkness, but saw no return fire. They were winning, then. Roy looked back at his group. Four marines were covering the craft's rear ramp while the others were untethering the craft, loading some crates and finally going up the ramp. No one asked any questions. No one complained. No one talked at all. It was as if everyone came to term with their fate, leaving their lives at the mercy of whatever god was watching. Roy himself walked up the ramp and took a last gaze on the hangar bay. There was little trace of fighting now, a lot of cargo crates scattered around, some bodies here and there, kept in place by their magnetic boots, blood floating around along with weapons and debris. He was lucky, the worst of the fight was probably down in Engineering, where the intruders realized that they had to pull the ship into a safe orbit, or a controlled descent, if they wanted to live through all of this. Back towards the main corridor, he saw the Lt. Commander and a dozen others heading towards the darkness. Things started to move back toward the ground. They already reached the gravity well, then. Roy closed the ramp and switched to short range radio.

"Okay people, saddle up, we're dusting off imminently."

As the ramp closed up, Roy saluted one last time his commanding officer, before settling on his seat. He heard the sound of the cabin being pressurized, and the plasma thrusters coming online. As the harness locked them onto their seats, the craft's intercom came to life:

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for flying Air Hot Dog, I'll be your captain for today. Outside's temperature is 230°C and rising fast. Our flight will take uh… a while and there will be turbulence."

The pilot's attempt at humor was… refreshing. It felt as if it was just another mission, not a desperate escape from a burning ship. Of course, it wouldn't hide the facts, but the anxiety fell even so slightly. Some marine raised his head and shouted:

"Hey, El-Tee! Think Cpt. Mella will leave anyone standing in her plane?"

The others started laughing. While it was true that Cpt. Mella took Roy under her wing when it came to leadership, by no mean did this make her any nicer off duty. Well, maybe a bit.

"I don't know, want me to kick your balls in her stead?"

More laugh. This was good, the ambiance wasn't that dramatic anymore.

"Think the others will be fine?"

"We'll know soon enough…"

The craft started to shake, while the cabin's temperature rose slowly. They were out of the ship, but still far from safe.

0100 hours, Beacon Academy, team RWBY's dorm

It was late at night. Ruby was still working on her homework up in her bunk bed. While the girl was somewhat hyperactive when it was about weapons and fighting, she was much less diligent with professor Oobleck's history lessons. Lost in thoughts, Ruby stopped pretending and dropped her pen on her notebook. She looked out the window and sighed. She rolled on her back, wondering if Jaune would be faring any better on his assignment. She even considered copying Weiss' work, but the heiress would probably lecture her again about being a responsible leader. She wouldn't be wrong, either. As her mind wandered about totally-important stuff, Ruby realized that she was watching the largest shooting star she ever saw. Unlike any other, that one was much slower, giving Ruby all the time in the world to admire it. The more she watched, the more details she could discern with her sharp, trained eyes. After a moment, she realized that it was more than just a shooting star. While it seemed like a single trail in the sky, she could discern several more coming from it, and their numbers kept growing. By now what she saw was a beautiful myriad of white and yellow trails in the sky. Ruby had to take some pictures. Hell, her team needed to see this. Especially her best friend. Ruby jumped down from her bed and started to shake her partner.

"Weiss! Weeeiiiiss! Wake up! You've gotta see this! Weiss!"

"Ruby...What's going on?" groaned a half-asleep Weiss.

"Look out the window! Isn't it pretty?" Ruby was almost jumping on the spot now. As soon as Weiss got up, she dashed to Blake and her sister. After both groaned, an ecstatic Ruby pointed towards the sky.

"Everyone, look! Before it disappears!"

"Uuuugghhh, Ruby, it's way too late for… wooaaaa" Yang suddenly had her eyes wide open, taking in the sights.

"What is it?" asked Blake while joining the others on the window.

"I have no idea but it's so coooool!" Ruby looked like a five-year-old kid at that point. Weiss, however, looked worried.

"This doesn't look natural. Whatever this is I'm sure it's not just a big shooting star."

"Shhh, don't ruin the moment, Weiss!"

Ruby watched in awe, but Weiss' words kept her focused. Ruby tried to look for anything worth mentioning, but the trails were just that: trails of light. The four girls could do little more than watch with fear and curiosity until the trails died down, their final moments forming a rain of light in the sky.

"Well, I guess that's that" Yang yawned, leaving her Scroll on the bookshelf. "I'm going back to bed."

"Yeah, it's late Ruby, we should go back to sleep."

Ruby, however, didn't answer. She had her eyes locked on a small flickering light moving in the distance. It wasn't there before, surely it had something to do with the phenomenon. Weiss stepped closer to Ruby.

"Do you see something?"

"I'm not sure… I think something's out there."

Weiss tried to look for whatever Ruby was thinking about but couldn't see anything unusual.

"Well, don't stay up all night, we've got classes tomorrow."

"Yeah, you're right…" reluctantly said Ruby as she turned around. "I just…"

As Ruby looked back out the window, there wasn't a doubt anymore. A black dot in the middle of a flickering light, growing larger as time passes...What she saw was definitely an aircraft, and one coming at high speed towards Beacon.

"Ha! I knew it!" claimed Ruby as she turned to look at Weiss, a triumphant look on her face.

"But… I don't see anything! Ruby, are you sure you're not just tired?" Weiss wasn't worried now, she was exasperated by Ruby's antics. Ruby looked saddened by Weiss' reply, and turned back to the window.

The black dot and flickering light were closer now. She could almost tell it was an oval. Ruby sighed.

"Pretty sure, yeah. It's not my first time finishing up late."

It was true, she jumped two years ahead, of course she'd be lacking in some subjects. Ruby worked hard to not let that plunder her grades. And for the most part, it paid off. Ruby looked up again towards the flickering light but couldn't find it. Instead she found two teardrop-shaped white-bluish light beneath a dark shape.

"Look! This isn't a star, is it?"

Weiss bent forward, as if it'd help her see into the night. To her surprise, she could actually see what Ruby was talking about. After a few moments, a faint sound reached team RWBY's ears. As the white-bluish lights drew closer, the sound grew louder, until it was a continuous roaring that forced Yang and Blake out of their beds.

"Uuuuggh, what is that noise? Can't we sleep in peace?!" Yang was still half asleep, but conscious enough to sound angry.

"It's an airship, and it's really weird, look!" Ruby pointed toward the light with a worried look. Weiss was still focused on the object.

"Airships don't make this sound… whatever this is, it's something new." mumbled Weiss. Before she could add anything, the lights died out, and the roaring stopped. A black aircraft could still be seen in its place. It looked like a bullhead, but fatter, uglier. Its engines were over-sized, nearly the size of the fuselage itself, and pointed downward. Well, they were, before they rotated to be horizontal again. Before she could look further, the aircraft streamed past Beacon Academy, under the watchful eyes of team RWBY. Shortly after, a loud crash along with broken trees could be heard. Ruby turned towards her team.

"You guys thinking what I think?"

"You bet, sis!" Yang smiled, already fetching her clothes. Blake nodded, and Weiss crossed her arms, a faint look of approval in her eyes. Ruby smiled at her team. Moments like this make her realize how far they'd come since their initiation.

"Let's hurry, I'll call the headmaster!"

0100 hours, skies of Vale

Roy and the eleven others were all strapped in their seats for the last thirty minutes, the dim red lighting filling the cabin. In this time, they got to know each other a bit. The turbulence and the noise of debris impacting the hull aside, it could've been like any other insertion. Roy was the only Ranger among the group. Five others were naval personnel and the rest were marines. Roy knew one of them, Private Oliver McKelley. An eighteen-year-old kid who was a lot more muscles than brains but was good company. He was transferred to the Kashgar with the same shuttle than Roy and was barely younger. It was his first assignment, too. The others, Roy didn't remember all their names. Mike, Denis, Julie, Stella, Peter and some more. They all talked for a bit, but the conversation didn't go far. Some of their people wouldn't make it. Hell, most of their people didn't make it. Out of the 526 crew members, they were only thirteen of them left for sure. Breaking the uncomfortable silence, the pilot's intercom turned on:

"Alright lads, I've got good news and bad news. Good news is that sensors are saying breathable atmosphere and I can see a lot of fancy lights down there, so we're not alone on this rock. Bad news is, we lost our comms in the debris field, so we lost contact with Arrowhead and Lotus One. And last thing, we're running low on fuel. Tank's taken a few hits, no way I'd burn that much."

"Set us down, Hot Dog, find us a nice place."

"Already on it, skipper. There's a large plateau with some sort of... temple...thing on it, I'm landing on that. Buckle up lads, we're in for a rough ride."

"Aw, come on! Can't we have a nice trip for once?"

As the intercom switched back off, the passengers could hear the craft's hydraulic system rotating the engines to slow their descent. The cabin was suddenly pulled upward, crushing its occupants into their seats. The transition wasn't smooth, Roy gritted his teeth to endure the deceleration. After a little while, however, the engine's constant roaring became intermittent, and eventually stopped. The weight crushing everyone in their seats was lifted, letting them breathe normally again.

"We're all gonna die, aren't we?"

"No, he can pull it off, right? Right?"

"Just hold on, guys. If there's one thing I remember from basics, it's that landing is the hardest part..." said Roy as he closed his eyes and braced himself for impact.