Suuuupppp. How is everyone? So, surprised to see an update so soon? Well don't get excited. This is only because I'm on a roll. I'll probably be on this for another chapter or two so we'll see.
Now onto the story.
Light of Remnant
Ch. 7 This Ain't No Place for No Hero
Following our miraculous defeat of the space giant, Relic, and the acquisition of our own sector, still have no idea what that means exactly, the Reds decided to throw a little celebration. By celebration I mean a straight up kegger on the ship. Which we have finally named, The Kaalvar.
Deciding to hold off on drinking myself into another head splitting migraine, I decide to walk the ship some more. Checking out the different utility rooms and going over what little Zox has been able to show me so far. Seeing as I'm most likely going to be helping him or Skallox with their own hobbies during my free time, I might as well memorize myself with them.
I just wish that there was something more to do around here. Going home is an option, I'm sure. Don't think Guy and the others would mind if I took a little time to myself to at least see my family and tell them my current situation.
Probably freak my parents to find out that their son is a space cop. My sisters will be sort of a mixed bag. Argente, Dore, and Marron, the eldest's, will be more concerned than anything, seeing as none of them wanted me to become a Huntsman, let alone what basically amounts to one on a universal scale. The youngest, Verte, Violette, and the twins, Blanche and Noire, will probably gush over their big brother becoming a superhero.
While thinking of my family, my mind wanders to those I thought I could see as family. One day at least. Team JNPR, or just NPR now, was alright in the beginning. As far as I could tell. Nora excited nature was flamboyant at first, but Ren's calm nature helped to offset it. Having a partner that was almost the polar opposite of you can be a good thing sometimes.
That's what I hoped with my own partner. Pyrrha seemed like a great partner at first. She was strong, kind, even helped me adjust to being team leader at first. Maybe that's why I felt bad for not telling her how I lied my way into Beacon.
After I told her, she reacted as I expected. Giving her space seemed like the best thing to do at the time. It might have even worked out if Cardin hadn't of heard us.
The spiral of events that came next slowly brought my world crumbling down. I lost the trust of my new friends, earned the ridicule of most of the student body. Everything was at an all-time low. The only hope I had was to try and reconcile with my team.
Apologizing to them was the best I could do in the beginning. Time and hard work would show if they would be willing to forgive me. That's what the mission Ozpin gave us was supposed to help with.
And in the end, they left me. In what little free time I've had so far, I keep playing it over and over again in my mind. I stayed behind to give the others time to get on the Bullhead. If worse came to worse than only one would die. But when I was almost there, they left. Couldn't even wait another minute to leave. The horde wasn't close enough for them to worry about.
The rage over the memories makes my blood boil. Some napalm leaks out of the corner of my mouth before I begin to calm down. I can't let the anger over take me. That isn't me. Though if the ring staying stuck to my finger is anything to go off of, it very well might be.
Checking the utility room that holds the central plumbing, I hear the sound of cheering above. Seems this room is right under the bar. Looking at some of the gauges to insure the repairs are working properly after our forceful acquiring of the spacecraft, I feel some hot liquid pelt my shoulder. Believing it to be a leaking pipe, I look up to see holes on the ceiling grow as red fluid spills down. Ducking out of the way, the unknown substance drops where I was standing. It continues to travel downward, making a new hole.
"What the in the world was that?" I realized that after I became connected to this ring, I've been noticing that my cursing has become more frequent.
Peering through the large hole in the ceiling Skallox and Bleez are standing around said hole talking, and a woozy looking Zox with a familiar red liquid covering what would be his chin. Looking down the new hole on the floor, it seems the blood spilled down into the next floor and straight out the bottom of the ship.
"Do you guys have any idea how long it'll take to patch this hole?!" Yelling up to the home wreckers above as I use my ring to clean up the leftover spill. With the containment finished I join the rest.
The drunken Zox attempts to pat me on the shoulder before missing entirely. "Sorry Jane *burp* I'll help you fix this later."
Soon Guy and Rankorr join us. "Heard my name."
The tipsy Zox puts a fist in the air in sloppy cheer. "Here's to Gard Guyner! Started Green, ended Red. Good enough for Zilius Zox."
"We were just speaking of the sector you obtained for un in exchange for defeating Relic." Skallox speaks up this time as he hands out a beer to Guy.
Taking the bottle, he rips off the cap and takes a sip of the alien brew. "Not just any sector, Skallox. Our own sector. 2814."
There it is again. What's a sector exactly? "You guys talk about sectors all the time. I don't get it. They're… planets?" Seems Rankorr is just as confused as I am.
"Not exactly. There used to be these little blue space goblins. Called themselves the Guardians." And we have another complex and probably confusing explanation. "Way back they thought they could run the Universe. To make things easier, they broke it up into sectors. 3600 of them."
"Did anyone else get a say?"
"The Guardians weren't very democratic." Seems Bleez doesn't care much for the blue guys.
"They sound pretty arrogant." Anyone who believes they can just make up the rules as they seem fit won't inspire much confidence. That's what dad used to say at least. No matter how much we may have fought, I still agree with some of his beliefs.
"Either way, Ysmault is in sector 2814. Wanna know what else is in 2814?" The two earthlings break off into their own discussion. With the thought sectors in mind, I might as well see where Remnant is.
"Hey, ring. What sector is Remnant a part of?" If it's within the same space, visiting home will be a lot easier.
A ping emits from the super jewelry, "Remnant is a part of sector 2815."
Damn, one off. "Any idea if it's possible the use these rings to move a planet?"
"I'd have to call a few guys, but in the end, it'll be more trouble than it'd be worth." Yep, I knew it. Guy just confirmed it. Oh well, wishful thinking I gue-
…I'm just gonna forget that remark.
"If you're done talking about what-if's." Bleez uses the opportunity to speak up. "When the Green's patrolled the sector, they were the law. Now, we're the law."
"Bleez is right. And I figure the Reds should be the ones to protect Earth. Considering a third of us are from Earth, and technically half of us are human. It's only like one in a thousand for the Greens."
"There were more before."
"Huh?" Seems Guy doesn't know who Ran is talking about.
"There's the cat, right? Dex-starr. Unless there're space cats flying around, I assume he came from Earth. Think he'll come back?"
"Gardner better hope not." Skallox's warning doesn't seem to put much fear in the man being hunted by a killer kitty cat. I'd usually agree with him, but after these past few days anything with one of these rings could be dangerous.
Noticing Zox passing out on top of a table, I figure it would be for the best to lay him on his side in case he throws up. As I help the giant ball to the floor, I notice Ratchet mumbling to himself.
"You alright there, big man?"
He gets in a defensive stance, probably startled by my sudden question. "It is nothing for you to concern yourself with."
I don't take much offense to his rather rude behavior. Ratchet doesn't seem like the kind to do well with others. "Well, if you need to talk to someone I got free time."
"That is unnecessary… but thank you."
The others seem to be talking about a way to get the sectors attention, let them know who patrols this place now. "I believe I have an idea for that. We need to show the sector what we can do. Show them how we're different from the Green's. The Green's sit back and wait for threats to appear. They react. But were Reds. As our lord Atrocitus taught us, we exist so that others will not have to suffer as we did. We do not react. We act."
That seems a lot more noble than the initial view I had on these guys. They seemed more like violent killers when we first met. Looks like things aren't as black and white as it looked.
Though it doesn't look like Skallox shares the same beliefs. "No one wants to hear a sermon, Ratchet."
"This is not a sermon, Skallox. This is a call to action. A call to purpose. We will find the evil in 2814, and we will destroy it." The floating brain's enthusiastic voice echoes around the room. "We must do something public. Something too big to be ignored."
"Alright. I got some open cases from when I was a Green, but—"
"No. I know what to do. I do not believe there is much time left." The moods taken a heavy turn all of a sudden. I miss the drinking. Oh man, am I turning into an alcoholic? "I would like to use that time to tell you about Field Marshal Gensui. Consider it a gift to your good friend Ratchet."
He goes on to tell us the rise of a tyrant on a far-off world, called Kormorax. Gensui stole the freedom for its inhabitants. Any that disobeyed were executed. To make the take-over easier he enslaved the other race of people living on the planet. Using the slaves as labor, they went to work remaking the planet in his image. After his planet was finished, he moved to his star to build something called a Dyson Sphere.
"I feel like I've heard of something like this in a comic once."
"What in god's name is a Dyson Sphere?" Ran's question seems to irritate our resident crimson angel.
"Are humans in general this dull, or is it just these two. The bright twinkly lights in the sky are called stars, you idiots. A Dyson Sphere—"
"Hold on. My department. Let me -urp- handle this." The drunken Zox finally wakes from his minor nap. "A Dyson Sphere is when you build something around a sun to gather energy, not just the little bit on the surface. The entire energy of a star, all to yourself. One of my favorite kinda sphere."
Oh… oh no. That's not good.
The puzzled expression on Ran tells me he doesn't get it. "And what do you use a Dyson Sphere for?"
Bleez looks like she's about to tell him off before I intervene. "He's gonna use it as a weapon. A giant satellite that can destroy anything in its path."
"Hmph, seems one of you is smart enough to understand something so simple."
"Shut it, Bleez. Name me one Pink Floyd tune. Just one. You can't, I'll wager. Lack of education is a relative thing, missie." Falling into his seat, the flame headed earthling face palms. "Unbelievable."
"What?"
"The guy has a freakin Death Star!"
I raise my hand to get the others attention. "Alright, my turn to ask a stupid question. What's a Death Star?"
"I'll tell ya later, mate. We'll make it a movie night." Taking another sip, Ran continues. "So, aside from the star thing, the guy still has a plant worth of soldiers. We may be strong, but there are only seven of us."
"That wouldn't have stopped Atrocitus—" An angry Skallox interrupts Ratchet from his continuing his train of thought.
"I might have an idea about that." Bleez puts her finger up in an effort to make a point. "I've been looking through the ships records to see what's there."
"Waste of time." After his last was spilled (thrown) Skallox grabs another.
"Not so. Information is a weapon. You kill your enemies, they're never useful again. Blackmail them, and they can be useful forever." Done with the blood thirsty goat man, the blue skinned angel speaks to Guy. "Barg knew Gensui. The pirate we took the ship from. The one you killed. Apparently, Barg knew just about every scum in the sector."
"So, you think we can maybe sneak past Ginsu's security with the ship? Unless you've got a spar Brag in your back pocket, I don't know what that does for us."
"Maybe we do." Ran's body is covered in a red glow one second, the next a purple humanoid with tendrils for a chin is sitting in his place.
"Ah!" Guy exclaims in surprise at the sudden transformation of our fellow human.
"I can use my constructs to change how I look. It's a bit difficult, and I can't keep it up for long, but I can do it." Ran transforms back to his flaming haired self as Guy formulates a game plan.
Ran, disguised as Barg, will land on the planet with Guy, Skallox, and Bleez as his body guards. Bleez passes on the lovely opportunity to be his um… forced bed buddy. Ratchet will be the manservant. Zox and I will stay on the ship in case they need back-up. At first, I thought he was just gonna keep me on the side lines again, but he made a point about me being inexperienced. The fight with Relic was one thing, this is a whole planet, and we don't get a full Green Lantern Corp backing us up.
While on the ship I'll help Zox get what we we're working on earlier up and ready. If it works like he says it should, if all else fails they'll have some good back-up.
"Jaune, pass me that splicer."
"Got it!" Handing down the tool to Zox, I look at the ships systems to see if everything is working like he said it should. "So, how do ya think they're doing in there?"
*Boom*
An explosion is heard of in the distance, making the ship shake a little. "… Pretty good I think."
"Zox! Jaune!" Guy radios through our rings.
"Gardner, do you need back-up? I've almost got the ship ready."
"We've been made. The whole thing was a trap. They'll be coming for you. You two gotta get out of there."
"Want us to pull the ship around?"
"Leave the damn ship! Just get outta here! Don't worry about us, we'll get out. Meet you back on—" Static takes over as the line's cut off.
"Guy!? Can ya hear me!? Guy?!" I try to reestablish contact, but to no avail.
Zox pulls himself out from where he was working, "Get over to the controls. Get us into orbit."
Rushing over to the pilots seat I realize something. "Um, I don't know how to fly this thing."
The big ball face palms before pointing at a red button. "Push that button! After the engines start push that lever forward. It'll accelerate us. Pull up on the wheel when we have enough speed and keep us in orbit."
Following his commands, my hand shakes a little at the thought of piloting a spaceship for the first time. After the engines rev up, the ship lurches forward, accelerating faster and faster. Before we hit a building, I turn the wheel to the side, narrowly avoiding it. The sound of Zox rolling and cursing can be heard in the background. "Sorry."
Finally pulling up, I begin the ascent to orbit. After escaping the atmosphere, I set the ship to auto-pilot while I help Zox. "You are a terrible driver."
"Hey, what do ya want. It's my first time."
"Ugh, keep the ship on auto pilot for now. The A.I. will take care of the rest. Help me finish this up." Pulling over the device we were going to hook up to the engine, we begin the final stages.
Before long, the modifications are almost done. Then we see the light through the window.
"Ohhh no." The sun weapon that they were working on fired a giant laser at us. It'll hit the ship in a few seconds, destroying it, and us with it.
"Help me get this baby fired up!" Zox shoves his ring arm in the opening of the device, he blasts the thing with the power of his ring. Meanwhile, I'm providing a secondary power source by channeling my energy through him. "Come on. Come on!"
Right before the blast hits us, the entire ship is covered in a red energy shield. Seems like everything worked. "All right! We're not dead!"
"You're right, but the others still need help. Wanna take this baby for a test drive?"
"Does that mean I ca—"
"No, you can't fly. But you can operate the guns." Oh well. At least I get to blow something up. Hoping on the gun controls, the cannons warm up as we rocket back towards the location of the others.
"Woohoo! ZZ blob and Vomit-boy to the rescue!"
"I knew I shouldn't have told you that!"
As we get into range, I open fire on the guards surrounding the group. With the others free the rest of the cannons are set to give cover fire. While waiting for the rest to make their way to the ship, we look over the ship to ensure there's no damage from killer sun beam.
"I'm surprised how well that worked. Didn't think we could take a hit like that."
"If ya think that's cool, wait till you see how it handles a real fight." The sound of the bay door opening can be heard as we make our way towards the hangar. "Did you guys see that? Booooom. Amazing, right? I me—" Entering the hangar, we saw the down looks on the others face's. Along with Ratchets body. "Oh no."
Guy continues to walk past of. The rage is coming off of him in waves. I can't believe he hasn't gone mad from how angry he seems. "Take out every military instillation you can find on the surface. Every troop formation, every tank, wreck it all. And then blow up that sphere thing around the star. I don't want Kormorax threatening this sector ever again."
"Okay, no problem, but how did Ratchet—"
"Just do it. And then let's get the hell home."
Leaving us to our job, Guy heads to his room. I start to feel something familiar. It's rage, but not the normal kind. It reminds me of when I first got the ring. The kind of rage you feel when you lose something.
Following Zox to the bridge, we target every instillation that we can find and prepare the cannons. We decide to operate some of them manually. It feels better to pull the trigger ourselves than simply pushing a button.
After all the bases are destroyed, we head back home. To bury Ratchet. To mourn.
The day after we buried Ratchet, Guy called me in private to talk. I met him on a cliff overlooking the lake. Since yesterday he's had a serious expression plastered to his face. "You wanted to see me?"
He was sitting on a rock near the edge. "Ya, go ahead and sit down." He signals me to sit on the rock near him, but I decide to make something more comfortable.
Using my ring, I make a construct of a recliner chair. Leaning back in the chair, the soft light-hard material allows me to sink in. It seems that the feeling of the construct can change depending on what you imagine. "Like it? Been messing with the ring a little, practicing some different objects and shapes."
"That's cool. Listen, I need to tell you something. It's about Ratchet." Taking a moment, he takes a deep breath before continuing. "The reason why Ratchet was so eager to go on that mission, was because his ring was leaving him."
"So, he wanted to do one last mission before he was left without a ring?" Why would he call me up here just for that? Sure, Ratchet leaving the group would be a little sad, but it's not like we would just abandon him.
"Yes. But there's a reason it was such a big deal for his ring to leave. A Red Lantern's ring is different from the other corps. The ring isn't just a tool that gives us power. It's our hearts as well. When the ring leaves us, it means that our heart is leaving us."
My blood runs cold at the revelation. Looking down at my shaky hand, I trace the ring on my finger. "That means, if the ring leaves, if our heart leaves, then we die?"
"… Yes. I wanted to let you know. Since our rings can leave us if we let go of our rage, I thought it would be best for you to know." Silence passes between us. Neither one of us say a word.
"I… need some time to think about this. A couple of days."
"That's fine." He places his hand on my shoulder as he gets up. "Take your time. If you need to talk about anything, I'll be here."
Giving my thinks, Guy leaves me to my thoughts. My head falls into my hands as the news sinks in. If I ever lose my ring, then that's it. I'm dead.
I need to take some time to myself.
I need to head home.
Sector 2815, Vale.
Beacon Tower.
These past few days have been rather trying. Handling the media after word of Mr. Arc's death has been difficult. Students dying on a mission are rare, but those are senior students on their own missions. Even then the casualty rate is extremely low. Though none have faced a mission that had such a drastic turn of events.
I've been able to keep the media at bay, but it's only a matter of time before I have to give an official statement. Before then, I would like to talk with the Arc family. Give them some time to grieve and mourn their fallen son before the reporters descend on them.
It's the very least I can do. After everything I've done to them.
The door to my elevator opens, revealing Professor Goodwitch. "Headmaster, here are the recent documents from the Council regarding the Vytal Festival."
"Thank you." Ever since the loss of Mr. Arc, the Witch of Beacon has lost her usual stern appearance. While she has not allowed the students to see any sign of weakness in their teacher, her colleagues have noticed her depressed appearance.
Mr. Arc may not have been her best student by far, but he was the one who had perhaps the most heart, aside from Ms. Rose, but that could be seen as more of a childish nature than a drive to improve. The young boy had made great strides to improve in the few weeks that he had been here. While not as good as his peers, it would not be long before he could stand on even ground with them. Those kinds of students have always been a weak spot for the blond professor. Or maybe just this student in particular.
Leaving me to my work, she takes the elevator back towards the ground floor. Deciding to keep my mind bust with these new additions will hopefully keep me from feeling bad for myself.
