Unfortunately for the Nagato, the past two stellar systems turned to be busts. The Dingo system's star had gone supernova, and the Elephant system had only empty rocks as planets, leaving the mood of the crew sour, to say the least. Yang hasn't cracked bad puns in days, and nobody was thrown in the brig since a week. The only two that seemed to be in good mood were Nora and Ren, because they were working in some secret project they refused to talk about before finished. Everyone else was cursing their luck; even Jaune's optimism was gone.
"We arrived at the Falcon system, captain. Six planets, one in the living zone. Its star is in normal conditions, and the planet has evidence of atmosphere." Penny informed, and Jaune left a relieved sigh out.
"Thanks Penny. OK crew, let's go scan those bastards. Let's hope we have better look this time." He said, and the ship moved towards Falcon-3.
"Captain… I am detecting radio signals…" Velvet called, and that got the captain's attention as he moved to her station, looking on the screen over her shoulder, making her blush a little as she felt his proximity.
"Can it be just space radiation?" He asked, and she shook her head.
"It is a pattern, repeated every forty seconds, apparently conveying some type of information… It sounds like a distress signal." She played for the crew to hear, and the series of blips and blops really sounded like some type of transmission.
"Very well… Penny, help Velvet in trying to decipher this transmission. We are in yellow alert as of now. If it is a distress signal, we don't know why it is being cast, so no taking chances. Ren, tell Nora to ready the fighters. We will be extra careful this time." Jaune said before returning to his seat and activating the speakers. "Attention crew, we detected what could be a distress signal and we are going to investigate. Lt. Xiao Long, you and I are going to ride the fighters. Cmdr. Goodwitch, assume the bridge. Cpt. Rose, keep a fireteam ready. I will let you choose this time. That is all." Finishing his orders he entered the tube in the direction of the docking bay.
…
"Bumblebee?" Jaune asked Yang as he noticed she named the fighter she was going to ride and painted the name in golden letters.
"Yeah. You said once nameless ships are bad luck, and after my lil sis misadventures with the bullhead, I decided everything able to fly in this ship needed a name." Yang proudly said, and Jaune started reading the names she gave the fighters and bullheads.
"So, the other fighter is Ladybug… it does fit... Nuts & Bolts… very self descriptive. White Rose… charming… Seamonkey? Why? Monochrome… It doesn't even make sense." He concluded.
"They are all ship names. The Seamonkey still needs fixing after that crash, but soon I think it will fly high and might." Yang stated and Jaune just shrugged. Very little could surprise him now. He turned to Ruby as she finished putting her armor.
"Hey, Rubes, who you chose as fireteam?"
"The usual culprits. Me, Weiss, Blake and Pyrrha. Who will fly us around if you and Yang will be riding the fighters?" She asked and Jaune winced slightly as he realized he forgot that.
"Neptune as usual. Cmdr. Goodwitch can fly the ship if needed to be, as can Penny." He explained; glad to see Ruby just accepted it. "This time we will be more careful. Apparently the galaxy has more people than we thought."
"Yet we are to meet them. If we do, I hope they have a salon. I sure need some care." Weiss commented and they just stared at her for a moment before deciding to not bother an answer.
"Anyway, let's hope if we indeed make first contact that these aliens are nice. So avoid any unnecessary aggression, OK, Rubes?"
"Don't worry, skipper. Yang is not going with us."
"Hey!" they chuckled as Yang yelled from the fighter.
…
"So, is that our target, skipper?" Yang asked as the fighters flew towards the source of the radio signal.
Jaune looked over the window to see the simple spaceship they found floating in a rough orbit around Falcon-3. It was a long, copper colored vessel that reminded him of the colonies they came from, except that ship was hexagonal instead of cylindrical. There were a few lights flicking around, and some inscriptions on the hull. Jaune noticed that it only had one warp engine, the second one missing, maybe in an accident. Both fighters flew around it, using the scanners o board to analyze the ship. It was three times bigger than the Nagato in all senses, but seemed to be a cargo ship instead of a battle or exploratory one.
The fighters were pretty much like miniatures of the Nagato in format, except it had full wings instead of the half-wings that housed the warp engines. Yang was having a field day flying around, happy to do something different, but Jaune kept doing the job he needed to. When they finally finished scanning, they flew away from the ship.
"So, what you think, Nora?" Jaune asked as he finished sending the data back to the Nagato.
"I think we need a pet. Something cute like a bear or a lion."
"Nora, no dangerous creatures, I already told you that. Also, I was asking about the data I just sent you." Jaune patiently explained over the radio.
"Oh, that. Well, it's a cargo ship if I ever messed up with one. Mostly a big hollow vessel where the cargo fills the center."
"Oh, so it is like a big burrito!" Yang exclaimed and Nora laughed a little.
"Yeah, you can say that. No life forms detected, but! If those readings are correct, it is filled with Dust." She finished, and Jaune wondered about it for a moment. While scavenging the ship felt wrong, they could use all the Dust they could get their hands on. After a second of internal conflict he decided to dispatch the fireteam.
"Tell Rubes they are going inside. Yang and I are going to patrol around a little to be sure there are no surprises. Priority is locating any survival. If we don't get any, we will take as much Dust as we can." He finished, and the fighters flew to the other side of the planet.
…
"And the hatch is open." Blake said as she jumped down to a wide corridor with a hexagonal format like the ship. There was no gravity floor there, so they used their magnetic boots to stay in place.
"Am I the only one that think what we are doing is wrong?" Ruby asked as she jumped next. It really felt questionable to pillage a ship that was sending a distress sign.
"Our priority is rescuing any crewmember. But if they abandoned ship, its cargo belongs to whoever retrieves it. It is how old laws worked back when we lived in the planet. I believe it would be followed in space too." Weiss justified, but the sense they were doing something wrong didn't left Ruby.
"Neptune, better you keep a little distance. We will radio you if we need." Ruby said to the pilot and he closed the hatch to obey the order. "OK, Blake, keep yourself camouflaged until we deem it safe. Weiss, pointer, Pyrrha, back."
Blake activated her active camouflage, and after a few distortions of light she turned virtually invisible. With that, they moved in line, the catgirl a little behind in case they needed cover, while the Marines, weapons ready, walked towards the middle of the vessel. According to the scans the ship they were in only had that corridor big enough for them, all the rest were probably maintenance shafts for robots to enter. There was only one room big enough to be called a bridge, and apparently there were no quarters, so they assumed the vessel was for short trips.
It didn't take long for them to find the 'bridge', but compared to the Nagato's that one was pretty poorly equipped. Only a small chair surrounded by monitors and in the wall several crude panels with buttons to be pressed. With a sign from Ruby, Weiss checked the chair and the panels, and they mostly showed schematics of the ship, confirming that was the only room in the whole ship. She couldn't understand the weird alien language, though, and left it as that.
"Apparently the only crew member left. Or maybe he is in the cargo bay?" Weiss wondered, and pointed to a door on the back of the bridge. Ruby nodded and they approached the door, pressing the rather large and soft button.
The door opened and they entered the cargo bay. There was no platform, so, they just jumped and glued themselves on the wall. For their surprise, there was no big cargo of Dust in the vessel. They saw that the cargo bay was sprinkled with Dust powder making a rather beautiful if useless decoration, but what filled the cargo bay surprised them. Two spaceships were there, and their format remembered them of the fish they saw in old images, but they were covered in weapons, in a rather rudimentary way if they could tell.
Before they could speak anything, several spotlights glared upon them, momentarily blinding the Marines. When their vision came back, they were surrounded by people in black clothes and weird shaped hats, all of them with weapons on hand. But they weren't humans; they were aliens, live ones.
They had four glassy red eyes with no pupils, and small scales covered their skin. They also had small tails and their legs bended like the legs of a chicken. One of them started speaking in their alien language, probably given orders to them. For a brief second the Marines looked at each other, before jumping to attack the menacing aliens.
The attack by surprise was working perfectly. Weiss and Pyrrha were quickly in getting close to the enemies and dispatch them with their guns, the redhead satellite shield flying and hitting many of them, while the white Marine used her many combinations of Dust rounds to take down her fair share. Ruby kept in the middle providing fire support, and for a moment it seemed they would deal with them.
That was when someone attacked and defeated Weiss with a degree of easiness that was beyond scary.
The figure that defeated the white haired Marine was definitely feminine, and maybe of a different species than the previous attackers. She wore a white jacket and brown panties, and carries a strange device the Marines weren't familiar with in her hands. She had brown, strawberry and white hair, and her eyes were chocolate and strawberry colored, but every time she blinked they changed colors. Her most prominent features though were the beautiful white pattern on her skin, like vines growing over it, the pair of crystal like hornets coming from her hair and twirling behind her pointed ears and the small crystal-like structure growing on her forehead. All else were almost identical to humans.
Pyrrha jumped on her, using her weapon in lance mode, but the mysterious alien girl easily blocked the attack with her weird weapon, no more than a half bubble in a stick. Surprised, the redhead Marine tried to use her semblance, to discover whatever weapon she was using was not made of metal. They traded blows for a bit, clearly the alien girl having no difficulty to deal with her adversary. When the Marine believed to have found an opening and thrust her spear through it, the girl simple shattered like made of glass. A confused Pyrrha stood there before being stunned by the mysterious adversary taser-weapon, disabling her armor and knocking her out.
"Pyrrha!"
Ruby shouted and attacked the mysterious girl with her plasma scythe, but once again the enemy dodged every blow with easy before tasering the last Marine in the battle. As Ruby conscience started to fade, she could see the feet of several aliens approaching her and her friends.
…
The wake up was nothing but rough, and Ruby opened her eyes slowly as her armor finally restarted working. She noticed she was in a different room, maybe inside the ships hidden in the cargo vessel. Pyrrha and Weiss were on their knees, and Ruby saw their weapons in the hands of some of the aliens. They all pointed heavy weapons at them, and this time the marines knew they couldn't fight back.
Before they could speak, a new alien walked toward them, the same species as the others, with the mysterious girl walking by his side. He wore a white jacket, instead of the black ones the others wore; the same weird hat and had a cane. On his mouth a weird object emitting smoke. This new alien started speaking, apparently both gloating and explaining something, but the Marines couldn't understand whatever he was saying. The alien stopped and looked at them, likely expecting a reaction, but none come. He groaned and called one of his goons, and after a brief exchange hit said goon with the cane in the head, gesticulating something.
The goon got out and came back later with a box, that his boss took it. He approached the girls and gestured for them to remove their helmets. When they didn't comply he put a knife under Weiss neck.
"OK! We will do it!" Ruby shouted, and after checking that the atmosphere was safe, she and the others removed the helmets, and the aliens murmured in shock towards each other. The alien boss took a small rectangular device from the box and glued it to their foreheads, just above and a little behind their left eyes.
"Can you understand me now?" He spoke, and they eyed him in surprise. "Good, those old translators are working. Now, as I was saying, I am Roman, and this is my crew of entrepreneurs. Since you fell for my little deception, I think I deserve to know who you are and where are you from."
"I am Captain Ruby Rose, Marine Corps of the Remnant Colonies on board of the FTLRSS-7 Nagato. That is all information we are allowed to say." Ruby said in her most serious voice, and after a brief moment of silence there was laughter around.
"Great, soldiers! Those alien creatures are soldiers! And they have a ship! We can always use a new ship."
"Are we sure we want theirs? They are pretty ugly! I bet they are disgusting too!" One of the other aliens said and the others agreed, and Roman raised his hand to silence them.
"We will clean up if they are disgusting. But a ship is a ship."
"What have you done with the crew of this ship?" Ruby asked, and Roman looked surprised.
"Nothing. This is a Vareelian mining ship. There is no crew. They just send their worm drones to mine and the ship to get whatever they want. Vareelians are lazy ones, they just like to let their machines do all the work while they sit back in their planet having their big heads stimulated by their own machines. So it was easy to hack inside one and use it to attract good doers like you, little alien, to steal equipment, sell slaves…"
"You are a pirate." Pyrrha accused, and he gestured in fake indignation.
"Independent entrepreneur, thank you. Now, here is the deal, we will contact your ship, and in exchanging of your lives, they will give it to us. You can have this one, and wait for your people to come to rescue your crew. Good deal, don't you think?"
"They will never do it!" Weiss shouted, and they laughed.
"They always do, ugly one." Weiss almost yelled over the comment, but held back. "Now, let's show your ship what they are dealing with. Crew, let's get out of this flying coffin and meet our adversaries."
The ship moved to the outside, and on the screen the Marines could see the top of the cargo bay opening, and the two alien ships moved outside and moved towards to the Nagato, and there was a moment of great discomfort between the alien crew as they analyzed the Remnant ship.
"Captain Roman, that ship is as weird as their crew… and it is big… like, three times our size!" one of the alien goons said, and Roman spared a disgusted look at him.
"It is Admiral Roman as I command several ships, you imbecile. It doesn't matter its size, we have hostages. Try to contact them, let's hope their radios work the same as ours." It took a few tries, but soon the image of Glynda Goodwitch filled the screens of the pirate ship. "Hello there, do you understand what I am saying?"
"Yes, we do. I am Cmdr. Goodwitch of the Nagato. You are?"
"Ah, good, the translator is working two ways. I am Admiral Roman Torchwick. I got three little trespassers in my property, and I was wondering how you are going to compensate me, but seeing your ship, here, I know how. You will surrender your ship in…." He counted the Marines with an unneeded flourish. "Three cycles, or you won't see them again. You will know how much a cycle is because every cycle you fail to meet my demands; I will blow up one of your friend's ugly heads off. That is all, have a good day, see you in a cycle."
"What if they ask for reinforcements?" The alien goon asked.
"Pfft, from who? The only people in this sector are the Valeerians and they help no one. And since they obviously aren't from this sector, they don't have anyone to aid them in a 20 kilocycles range. We just sit back and wait. We kill two of them, and if they don't comply by the third, we shoot her in a torpedo and flee while they go rescue her."
Ruby clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. She couldn't believe they were trapped in a pirate space ship. Her mind was working as faster as she could but she couldn't think of a plane that wouldn't get them killed. She wished she could turn invisible just like…
BLAKE! She is still somewhere! If she boarded this ship with us, she can save us!
…
"I don't like your plan, captain. It is my fellow Marines we are risking." Blake said as she was hiding in one of the pirate ship's service lockers with the brooms.
"It is the best chance they have. We don't have enough personal to simple board their ship and rescue Ruby and the others. So, you get to the bridge, and when we give you a distraction to use, make sure they are ready to get hauled as fast as possible." Jaune said over the radio, hoping the aliens didn't detect the transmission.
"I will be very angry if they get hurt, captain." She lowly growled at the radio.
"Trust me, OK?" Blake closed her eyes for a second. Jaune trusted her, so she wanted to trust him back.
"I will do it." She finally said.
…
"Captain Roman, the alien ship is hailing us." Roman slapped the face of the goon that called him captain.
"Pass them through." The face of Glynda appeared at the screen. "Ah, that was fast. So, Commander… When can we board my new ship?"
"I advise you to surrender now, Admiral. You have one minute to do it. You will know when your time is up because we will start firing against your ship. That is all." With that the screen turned black. Roman and his crew kept looking at yet, a bit shocked.
"Sir, the alien ship is closing in."
"It is just a feint. They won't do anything!"
"Sir… They are aiming at the Crosk…"
"Calm the fuck down and contact them. I will blow up one of their… Oh crap…"
The alien pirates turned to see what their captain was looking at, and saw three of their own downed, and the three Marines putting back their helmets and with their weapons in their hand, as Blake uncloaked and revealed herself.
"OK, here how we will do it. Let us go and we will tell our ship to not blow you up." Ruby threatened as she pointed her said pistol against Roman.
"Now, let's all calm down and…"
"SIR! THEY ARE FIRING AGAINST THE CROSK!" They all looked at the windows and saw as the alien ship was being hit with heavy fire.
"Evasive maneuvers, fire back, launch the mosquitoes and…"
"SIR! TWO SMALL SHIPS APPROACHING US! Oh no…"
"Oh no what?!" Roman growled while grabbing his crewman by the collar.
"They launched missiles against the bridge… Our bridge…" Roman and the crew at the bridge all looked through the windows as the two fighters fired against them, the missiles approaching fast.
"And guess who is not wearing space suits?" Blake said and before they could react the missiles exploded at the front of the bridge, opening a big hole.
Half of the alien crew was sucked in space, while the Marines jumped on the operating consoles and into the space, grabbing on the fighters and flying away. Roman held in a rail in the bridge with his cane for a minute or so before the emergency curtains closed the hole. He grunted as he got up and looked at the monitors.
"Captain… The Crosk is lost… They are aiming at us now…" One of the alien crewmen said to Roman, and he narrowed his eyes on the screen, seeing the other ship exploding into pieces.
"Emergency warp, get us out of here!" He growled and took his hat. "I don't know who those aliens are, but they just made an enemy they will regret making…"
…
"This was probably the worst flight I ever took…" Weiss complained as the fighters returned to the Nagato, jumping from the wing she had to hold.
"Worse than that time you and Ruby flew in a giant Nevermore?" Nora asked and everyone looked at her.
"We never did that!" Weiss shouted and the energetic girl looked confused.
"It was a dream you had, Nora, I told you before." Ren explained and Nora nodded and started skipping to the fighters to check them out. The four marines got together to check each other, and soon Yang and Jaune joined them.
"ARE YOU CRAZY? WHAT IF THOSE MISSILES EXPLODED US AWAY?!" Weiss yelled at the two pilots.
"Calm down, snow angel. It was a calculated risk and you are all alive and safe." Jaune answered as he removed his helmet and showed a smirk.
"Never, ever call me that again, Captain Arc, or I will make sure we got a new captain by week's end!" Weiss threatened, and they just laughed a little.
"Penny, what about the alien ships?" Jaune asked the ship, the answer coming a second later.
"The ship we fired against exploded, while the one that held our friends warped. The bridge waits your orders, Captain." She explained, and Jaune took a few moments to think.
"Let's approach and scan the wreckage, we will rescue any survivor. If no survivors are to be found, we see if we can salvage anything useful. I will decide the rest after those results." Jaune explained and turned back to the Marines. "Anyone hurt?"
"Just our egos." Ruby explained with an awkward smile. It really hurt being defeated by pirates.
"I want you to get checked by Doc anyway. Now, do any of you know how we were able to talk with those aliens so easily? I doubt that for some cosmic coincidence their language and ours is the same." Ruby pushed the translator of her forehead and gave it to Jaune.
"They said it was because of those things."
"Oh, a new toy!" Nora immediately took it and twirled the small piece of equipment around her fingers. "Ah, clever guys! A data bank, a mind wave reader, I can so make this myself, built-in into our helmets and communicators!"
"Very well. Ren, help her; this is your top priority. Talking with them will work wonders instead of just firing at them. I am going to the bridge." He them turned to the Marines and petted Ruby. "Glad to see you all safe and back."
She smiled toothily at him.
…
"No survivors, skipper. We double checked. Also, no salvage deemed useful by Nora or Ren." Velvet explained as Jaune sat in the captain's chair. He left a small sigh out and checked his screen.
"The planet?"
"We detected the mining worms all around. Hundreds of them, of many sizes. I believe the planet could be colonized before, but their activity is ruining it." Jaune left a loud groan out as another chance to accomplish the primary mission just escaped his fingers. He cursed the aliens that created those worms under his breath.
"Very well… Coco, Sun, sink that vessel. I don't want the pirates to use it as a trap again. Neptune, we are leaving to the Giraffe system after that. Tell the Marines I want their reports ASAP." Jaune finished his orders when he noticed Nora was calling him. "Anything wrong, Nora?"
"In a way… Pyrrha is still in her armor, and she is in the training room…"
…
"Do it again."
The training drone got up, and attacked the redheaded Marine. Pyrrha easily used her shield to block it and kicked it away before using a series of slashes to hit the drone in its target spots. As the drone fell down, she ordered to repeat the sequence, and once again she dispatched the drone with easy, and she sighed. That wouldn't do, it was too easy. The alien girl defeated her fast and efficiently. She needed to get better.
"Do it again."
"Major, I think you need to rest." Penny said with a concerned voice as once again the Major defeated the drone.
"I am not tired, Penny. Do it again."
"Cancel that order, Penny." They turned to see Jaune entering the training room. The drone got back at his storage and Pyrrha put her weapon away. "Penny, can you give me a moment with the Major?"
"Yes, Captain." Penny turned around and Jaune approached the Marine as she remove her helmet, showing her face covered in sweat. He gave her a towel and signed her to sit at the bench. She did and he sat by her side.
"What is troubling you, Pyr?" he asked in a casual manner, and the girl understood that they weren't talking as officers, but as friends.
"Back in Remnant, I was the 'Invincible Girl', the 'Goddess of Victory', the 'Undefeated Mistralian Champion'. I haven't being defeated in a championship since… I don't even remember since when, but today… I was so easily defeated by that pirate, and she wasn't even wearing a Hunter armor… My Semblance had no effect on her. If we found more enemies like her, what use I would have…" She talked with a defeated tone, but stopped when Jaune put an arm around her, his hand on her shoulder and gently pulled her closer. It surprised her at first, but she relaxed and rested her head on his.
"No one is invincible, even this girl you are talking about, Pyr. The field is different from competitions."
"And that is part of the problem. I am not fit to be in the field anymore…"
"That is ridiculous. Ruby and Weiss also got defeated, and they had being in the field often." Pyrrha cast her emerald eyes on Jaune, and he smiled at her. "I have complete trust on you, Major Nikos. I am sure you will find a way. But! I am ordering you to rest, for at least 24 hours, and I making sure Penny will inform me if you disobey me. Besides, you don't need to fight alone; you have a team, a crew to help you out."
She let his words sink in and nodded. It was true, she wasn't alone in the arena anymore, she could and needed to count with her fellow Marines, the crew at the Nagato, and especially, she knew she could count with her captain. She relaxed and a small smile formed in her face as she kept her head resting on his. That was going for a while until he spoke again.
"You know, this would feel better if you took your armor off." He spoke, and she opened her eyes and straightened, giving him a shocked look… Until she realized her Hunter armor probably wasn't the best to cuddle with someone.
"I am sorry!" She apologized earnestly, and Jaune just chuckled a little.
"Now, I will have Rubes make team exercises with you, but not before you take a bath, eat something and get a good night of sleep." He said with a supportive smile, and she smiled back.
"I will do it, Captain. Thanks, for talking with me."
"I brought you here, Pyr. You can always count on me as I know I can always count on you." He answered and she smiled brightly.
"I will hold you on that, skipper." She said before using the automated arms to remove her armor. Jaune smiled and offered his arm to her.
"I will escort you to your quarters, Major. If you don't mind."
She took his arm and smiled. She knew he could take her anywhere he wanted. She would follow him anywhere.