This little writing project is the result of me playing Starsector while simultaneously watching RWBY which ended in this random creation. To those who are unfamiliar with Starsector its basically a top-down space strategy game, if you have any love for sci-fi I highly recommend it. Below is a link to the official website where you can buy the game. Now I don't own Starsector or RWBY I am just having fun. This is my first ever post so criticism is appreciated, enjoy.

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CH 1

Dishonor Among Thieves

Tonight is a good night, Emerald thought to herself as she casually strolled through the streets of Downtown Vale. The day couldn't have gone better, while everyone at Beacon was so busy enjoying themselves at the dance Cinder was able to successfully place the back door into the CCT system, while there was a close call with that Ruby girl the rest of the mission went off without a hitch. Seeing as she no longer had to socialize with those annoyingly cheery bunch of Huntsmen she decided she would enjoy the rest of her night by indulging in her favorite pastime, pickpocketing.

Already she snagged a wallet from a drunk at the bar but she wanted something a bit more challenging. While eyeing an Atlesian officer who was walking with an apparent date outside a clothing store passing by them an even more tempting target caught Emeralds eyes. Passing by the couple was a guy carrying a large fancy black briefcase that just spoke of something that had to be stolen.

The guy carrying the briefcase was dressed pretty average wearing jeans, a navy blue shirt, a black vest jacket, and red beanie over brown hair. He clearly was in a hurry occasionally looking over his shoulder and pushing a few pedestrians out of his way without giving them a second thought, a perfect target. From experience, Emerald knew that no matter what was in the case it was probably valuable especially if he was in such a hurry and if not he probably had a good amount of cash in his wallet.

She then began mirroring him from the other side of the street, as he turned onto the next street Emerald cut through an ally getting ahead of him stopping at a blind corner that he would have to walk by. Hearing the rapid stamping of her preys footsteps approach the corner she took a deep breath and started to approach the corner at a jog hoping he would fall and drop the case long enough for her to use her semblance.

The collision sent both tumbling, Emerald trying her best to fall as realistically as possible masking her inner smile with a look of surprise with an illusion, while the target who was caught totally off guard as he fell to the ground dropping his briefcase as he went. Using the opportunity she grabbed the briefcase masking it with an illusion while creating a fake one in its place.

"Son of a-" he said as he got to one knee.

"I am so sorry are you alright?" Emerald said trying to sound as shy and meek as possible trying to get briefcase guy into a false sense of security offering him a hand up. While he looked mad initially his round freckled face was laced in a frown but when he saw how meek and guilty she looked he immediately backed down and took a more friendly expression forcing an understanding smiling in a way to hide his frustration.

"Ah don't sweat it, it was an accident," he said accepting her hand to help him up. As he rose Emeralds free hand drifted towards his back pocket snagging the wallet using her illusion semblance to hide the wallet from view and making sure the feeling of the wallet was still there. Brushing himself off the guy immediately went for his briefcase after making sure the lock was still on he turned to Emerald. "Sorry for bumping into you and all but I am running late so I got to go."

"Sure, have a good night," Emerald said giving a wink at briefcase guy and her best smile sealing the con.

"Same to you," he said as he continued on his way, to Emerald's satisfaction the guy turned again clearly having one last look at the girl he just bumped into before disappearing into an apartment building. Usually, Cinder was the one who always seemed to have the guys looking over her but sometimes Emerald could pull a few looks her way.

As soon Emerald was at least a block away she dropped the illusion on the case she nabbed, Sorry, you may be cute but your still a fool, she thought with a grin to herself as she made her way back to Beacon satisfied with her haul. Out of curiosity, she pulled out the wallet she stole off the briefcase guy. Nothing stood out at first with only about 20 Lien, a coffee rewards card, a receipt from what looked like a fast food place, and some kind of an ID card in a language she didn't understand with a logo of a black circle with a ring of yellow stars connected by lines along the inside of the black circle. However, while the rest of the card was jibberish, she was able to make out the guy's name on the card, "Yacob Cabrakan".

Apartment Block 30 min Later

On the third floor of an apartment building, Yacob was running all over the apartment stuffing clothes and other personal items into suitcases. Bloody finally I can get off this rock and cash in, he thought happily to himself as he continued to drag boxes over to the front door. Checking his scroll he saw that it was still early and that his pickup was still 10 hours out. All Yacob could think of was heading back to Ilm, of lounging down in his apartment on Artemis station, watching the latest thriller with his cat lying next to him. The thought of his inevitable procrastination encouraged him to speed up his packing.

Looking around the apartment he saw that there wasn't much left to do so he took a seat at the kitchen table and placed the briefcase and a wallet on the table. Going through the wallet he pulled out a few credit cards with the name Emerald Sustrai on them, as well as about 100 Lien in cash. A little memento from my business trip, he thought to himself chuckling as he pushed the wallet to the side bringing the briefcase up close. "Now let's do one last check," Jacob said as he typed in the code and opened the case. His pleasant smirk was washed away instantly and replaced by a face of pure terror. "WHERE THE FUCK IS IT!" Yacob screamed, sending the chair flying backward as he shot up staring dumbfounded at the empty case in front of him.

Slowly approaching the table he was about to lift the case up until suddenly it just vanished into thin air causing Yacob to jump back from the kitchen table in surprise. Yacob stood their motionless his mind ablaze with horror desperately trying to make sense of what just happened. I don't get it I always had my hands on that case the only time when it was ever out of my gri...was when I bumped into that girl. Looking over to the wallet he grabbed its contents and sprinted out of the door.

Arriving at the corner where he encountered the mint haired girl he began scanning the few people who were still out at one in the morning. If she is some local pickpocket she would probably still be in the area, like cats they tend to have their favorite spots he thought remembering his childhood in the lower habs of Galatia. While walking he pulled out his scroll and did a search of the local's network hoping she would turn up in a database somewhere using the name he got from her wallet. To his surprise, his first search turned up a result, on his scroll was an image of that same girl along with a couple of others on what looked like an list of athletes at a sporting event. Scrolling down he read "Vytal festival tournament participants: two months out"

He then recalled the locals trained fighters at some sort of school called Beacon that was on the outer edge of the city. Well if I had to guess where she was staying I would assume it would be there.

Beacon Guest Dorms

Getting back to the dorms Emerald was greeted to Cinder who was browsing through her scroll while Mercury was bouncing a tennis ball against the wall looking, board. Mercury was the first to notice Emerald "Sup, did you get my takeout?"

"Get your own food I am not your fricken mother," she replied angrily as she threw the briefcase onto the desk and began examining its locking mechanism.

"Oh common I was exhausted after that dance," he said sarcastically hand over his forehead pretending to swoon.

Before Emerald could retort Cinder halted her two subordinates squabble. "Enough you two, Emerald what have we talked about when it comes to your 'hobby'?" She said clear irritation underneath her silky voice as she gave Emerald a stern look.

Emerald raised her hands in surrender "I know Cinder, I made sure to head downtown before I robbed anybody, besides its good practice."

Cinder let out a sigh and lowered her head in frustration, why are all my subordinates so insubordinate. Lifting her head back up she could see the fearful look in Emerald's eyes, "no more going into town pickpocketing, am I understood?"

"Yes ma'am," The look of relief washing over her face.

"So what is that you got there?" Cinder asked gesturing towards the briefcase.

"Not sure I have been trying to open it the entire way back but it's shut tight."

While Emerald was talking Mercury began trying to force open the case with his hands only to have Emerald grab it from him. "Do you seriously think I couldn't force the case open you would be able to?"

Mercury shrugged.

"Hand the case over," Cinder commanded. Emerald readily obeyed putting the briefcase in the outreached hand of her master while in the opposite hand a dagger materialized. Turning the case over Cinder examined the locking mechanism, which appeared to be a complex electronic lock. She began to steadily work on the gap where the suitcase would have opened just underneath the electronic panel with her dagger, which slowly glowed red hot in an attempt to melt her way through.

Landing pad Outside of Beacon

Upon disembarking the airship Yacob was slack-jawed at the sight of Beacon academy, never in his life had he seen such a beautiful structure with white marble towers reaching into the sky, fountains and gardens leading up to the main courtyard and a large clock tower emanating a gentile green glow topping off the whole structure. It gave a feeling of security and comfort like a perceptive giant watching over his domain.

"Uhm can I help you with something?"

The feminine voice snapped Yacob out of his trance as to his surroundings, as he turned he was greeted by a beautiful blond-haired woman in a white top, black skirt, and ragged purple cape draped over one shoulder. He immediately recognized the women as one of the professors when he was researching the school.

"Ah yes um I am looking for a student named Emerald Sustrai," he said nervously.

Glynda pulled out her scroll and pulled up the student roster quickly finding the image of Emerald. "What is your name and relationship to Emerald?" She asked, eyeing up the boy. He was dressed pretty average with the exception of the red beanie and a box of roses in his hand.

"The name is Jacob Cabrakan, and well I am a friend of hers." He said rubbing the back of his head shyly giving a slight blush. "I just wanted to congratulate her on winning her match today and bring her a gift," holding up the box of roses he carried under his arm.

Glynda did a quick search of the name and found he was a private Bullhead pilot who lived in downtown Vale, no criminal record and he did some work for Beacon ferrying students when the school required extra pilots. Looking back at Jacob he immediately looked down at his feet his face a bit red clearly embarrassed by how obvious his intentions were. Young love, "Emerald is in building 3 on the west side campus room 312, any signs of trouble and I will throw you out myself. Is that understood Mr. Cabrakan?"

The boy's face lit up "crystal clear ma'am thank you so much!" He then immediately started heading towards the building with a slight skip in his step.

Once Yacob was sure he was out of the teacher's sight his face took a more serious demeanor and his skip turned into a determined jog. Looking down at his scroll he saw he had 2 hours till his pickup would arrive, I have to hurry. Reaching the building he followed the teacher's instructions up to the third floor and arrived at the room.

Pulling a small grey disc the size of his pinky finger Yacob knelt down and placed the device at the bottom of the doorframe and retreated toward the stairwell at the other end of the hallway. Once in the stairwell, he put on an earpiece and after a second a groaning sound came through. "Why will this freaking case not open!" Came a frustrated male cry which was then followed by a crashing sound.

"You moron," came a familiar voice that Yacob recognized.

"What! It's not my fault that this case is so tough," came the male reply.

"That's enough you two," Came a cold command from a third person in the room. "Emerald go and find something you can use to get this blasted thing open."

Immediately putting the earpiece away he looked out the stairwell door window and caught Emerald storming out the dorm room door towards the elevator.

"Blasted case!" Emerald said to herself as she disembarked it was already night most people at Beacon were either studying or asleep so she was left alone as she walked out of the dorm building she walked across campus and into the armory. "Well, Yacob lets see how your stupid case stands up to Thief's Respite." She said as she entered the locker room of the training building and approached her locker but something was wrong, her ears tuned to noticing the slightest sound discrepancies over years of pickpocketing detected something was very wrong and after a split second she realized what it was, there was no sound of the door closing behind her.

Wheeling around she was greeted by a guy with a box of roses holding open the door. Upon seeing the red beanie Emerald immediately recognized who the stranger was. "Ahhh, I appreciate you holding onto my case for me but unfortunately I am going to need it back now," Yacob said in a calm voice with clear venom leaking from between his words.

Emerald froze on the spot unsure how to proceed, while she was confident she could take him in a fight if there was too much of a ruckus Beacon security would be alerted. The last thing Emerald wanted was to draw too much attention to Cinder and Mercury. "I think you might be mistaken," Emerald said cooly with a smile on her face trying to look confident.

"Nah...nah I got the right case and the right girl." He said silently closing the door behind him, "I wouldn't easily forget such a pretty face." Slowly he took the lid off the box of roses letting the lid drop to the floor revealing the bright red flowers. "I propose we have a little exchange. You give me the case and I give you these roses that I picked out just for you, I promise you that you will receive no better offer." A crack of a smirk on the edge of his lips.

"You don't know who your mes-" A sound like thunder exploded out of the rose box sending rose petals all over the room. Before Emerald could react she was sent flying back into the locker, the impact sending the briefcase skidding across the floor, looking up Emerald saw rose petals flying around the room the rose box falling to the ground revealing a snubby looking shotgun. Before she could react she could feel another slug slam into her, then another, and another. While her semblance held she fell to her knees once the bombardment ended coughing violently, as she looked up she could see the door closing behind Yacob as he began sprinting out of the Armory briefcase in hand. Getting up she pulled Thief's Respite out of the locker and went after him.

Exiting the Armory she just spotted Yacob rounding the corner of the building just opposite the armory rounding that same corner Emerald was met by the Beacon gardens that were behind Ozpin's tower that went up to the cliff that looked over the Emerald Forest. In the middle of the gardens, she could see Yacob sprinting over the rose bushes and hopping over shrubberies heading for the edge of the cliff. I have to deal with him if he gets away Cinders plans will be at risk, the thought drove Emerald to sprint faster as she used her agility to effectively traverse the gardens, leaping and bounding over thorny bushes and shrubs. Yacob was far less elegant his boots crushing the flowers underfoot as he got closer and closer to the cliff's edge. End of the line, Emerald thought.

But to Emeralds shock Yacob didn't slow down rather he went full speed over the cliff, damn he must have a semblance strong enough to survive that fall, Emerald thought as she reached the edge of the cliff. To her surprise below her was Yacob was repelling rapidly down the side of the cliff, just below where she stood she could see a nail jammed into the side of the cliff holding a rope in place. Without missing a beat she leaped off the cliff's edge after him using her weapon on the cliffs face to slow her descent. As she reached the nail she sliced the rope which sent Yacob tumbling the remaining 30 feet into the trees below. When Emerald reached the ground she saw the pile of broken branches and leaves where Yacob landed, however, he was gone.

After searching around for a minute Emerald heard a loud roaring of an engine, there you are, she thought as she headed to the source of the sound. As she made it into a clearing she spotted Yacob limping across the open field toward what looked like a metal box in the middle of the clearing. "Got you!" She said bringing her weapons to bear unloading a clip at Yacob, but right before the rounds made contact a blue barrier seemed to form around Yacob shattering the rounds before they deal their blow.

Wheeling around Emerald could hear Yacob shout through gritted teeth "Shit!". Taking his shotgun out he fired two towards Emerald, both going wide which was then followed by repeated clicking. Upon hearing the click Yacob's eyes went wide, throwing the gun down he began desperately hopping on one leg towards the box.

Seeing her opportunity Emerald went after him, and right as he was hopping up the ramp Emerald tackled him sending the two to the floor of the metal box. Emerald having Yacob on the ground raised the two knives on Thief's Respite and drove them down towards Yacob's neck. Yacob, however, stopped the blades by using his right arm as a crossguard and with his one good leg drove his knee into her crotch followed by a punch with his left hand into Emerald's face launching her against the ramp that closed behind her.

Emerald recovering from the surprising counter-attack opened her eyes to see that Yacob had crawled to a panel on the opposite wall where he pressed a button. Not wanting to find out what the button did Emerald launched herself once more at him knives raised and shouting. Before the blades had met flesh she heard him cry at the top of his lungs. "LAUNCH!"

All of a sudden a roar erupted from all around them and before she could land on him an invisible force pulled her from her leap slamming her violently down into his chest. She heard a pained groan from Yacob as she landed on him, but to her surprise, she was unable to get back up the invisible force that was pulling her down hadn't stopped but was sandwiching her against Yacob. It felt like an Ursa was sitting on top of her and as seconds ticked by more and more weight was being put on followed by sudden lightheadedness. What's happening? Emerald thought as her eyes started to roll backward despite her effort to keep them forward, she could feel her eyelids close and all she could see was blackness. Whatever force was pulling on her she could feel her skin being pulled back against her bones, her cheeks flattening against her jaw and her eyeballs being pushed into the back of her sockets.

Emerald couldn't think her mind was in panic mode all she could think about was that she was about to die. Images flashed through her mind from her childhood all the way up till the chase that put her in this predicament. Then her thoughts were replaced by nightmares, Cinder burning her alive for failing her, being trapped back in the slums where the buildings seemed to fold in on her like the maw of a Grimm the tips of the roofs looking like teeth as she desperately ran begging for help, but no help came and the maw closed in on her leaving Emerald in a pit of blackness where there was no escape.