Arc: Convergence Arcanum Chapter 7, a rwby fanfic

Chapter 7 – LEGEND I, The Dawn of a new light

Ruby was speaking with her mother Summer, Qrow also there to watch his niece and his former teammate and friend speaking with one another, though what they talked about was getting heavy.

"… then it came when we, no they, the team RWBY of that world just turned on him, all because of some papers, and then he suffered so much afterward, and it was horrible, why would they do that to him, why would I, no, why would the Ruby of that world let that happen, just why," Ruby spoke, slightly tearing up as she recalled the darker of the viewings, emphasis on dark.

"Ruby, it's okay," Summer gently hugged Ruby as she reassured her, "Mirai explained it to me, that wasn't you Ruby, that was a different version of you, with a different mind and different thoughts, do you think some papers are a reason to ruin your friendship, is Jaune a bad person," Ruby shook her head from side to side, a no, "then that is that, you don't judge people for such a shallow reason, and you are a good friend to those who are with you."

"Jeez Sum, way to get all sa-!"

VIIM-VIIM

/-Just to let everyone know, the next viewing will be starting in a few minutes, everyone please return to the main viewing theater-/

Ruby and Qrow said their goodbyes to Summer, with Summer telling Ruby that one last time that Ruby was herself, not anyone else, and that she was her daughter, and she would love her always.

The usual sappy mother-daughter stuff one can expect from a family such as theirs.

The groups soon met up as the viewing theater began to warm up the projection, this time with Mirai present, and as the group took their seats, she told them what she knew of the reality they would be seeing.

"Okay people, this reality will be different from past viewings, and not just due to it being in a different reality, but also because the one we will be viewing won't be Jaune Arc or an altered form of his existence."

"Wh-what, then who the heck are we looking at," Yang voiced, the rest of the group also now confused at how the person who was supposed to be the focus of the viewings would not be Jaune as they had previously seen.

"The person this view will be focusing on will be directly tied to Jaune Arc, but will not be Jaune Arc themselves, though as to who they are, well I don't want to spoil the surprise, and I believe it's time for everyone to focus on the view …"

Mirai took her seat as the screen began to play.

"… it's showtime."

Jaune Arc had wondered long ago, as he looked up at the night sky, wondering if one day he could find something greater out there, he hoped he would.

Jaune Arc kept wondering as he looked up at the starry sky, believing that out there, among the stars was something greater.

'When did I start thinking of these things, didn't I want to be a huntsman?'

Jaune thought hard about his sudden change since he had been ready to enact his plan to attend Beacon, but then, something in him changed, as though he began to see the world in different way, a way that showed him that his path to being a huntsman, was not the right path.

He only wishes he knew what it … was?

Then, it happened.

In front of Jaune came a warping, as though the air near Jaune was folding in on itself, then came multiple flashes of light and sound, as a strong, radiant glow began fill the air, and then the warping air filled Jaune's vision.

Then … silence.

Jaune opened his eyes to see that he was …

'What is this place.'

He found himself on a circular platform, in front of three circular platforms.

Then three lights, one dark purple and flaming, one radiant and glowing, and the final one …

'It's like looking at the sun itself.'

The lights glowed, the center one overtaking the other two, until at once the lights faded.

Jaune now looked and bore witness to …

"The Brother Gods," Ozpin stated in shock.

"Wow, it looks like both got hit by a truck," Yang said as she saw the brother gods, who looked like they had been given a thorough beating, "filled to the brim with explosive dust of every type."

"I am guessing that the other, much larger and obviously more powerful being is the reason for the brother gods current state, not that I feel bad for them, honestly I say they deserved it." Ironwood said in all honesty, and honestly everyone agreed, having seen the gods actions in the past.

'Greetings, Jaune Arc …'

'Huh, how-!'

Then a rush of knowledge filled Jaunes mind, and he instantly understood why he heard what he heard.

'Were talking, by thought, and you are a-!'

'A God, yes that is what beings of the mortal realm have called me and those like myself since time immemorial, such as these two here.'

The being Jaune gazed at appeared to be a light of multiple radiances that hung suspended in countless rings of radiant light, the rings surrounded by multiple wings that extended around the being that was a god, and one of the wings pointed at two humanoid entities that were knelt on the two other platforms.

One was dark purple, the other was a mix of gold and white, and both were not in good shape.

The purple one had lost a horn; a large chunk of the face was torn away leaving dark energy to seep out of the body, an arm and a leg on opposite sides were torn away, and the body had multiple crack and fissures on its surface, and the dark glow was weak and fading. The gold/white god was not any better, the remains of what had been two long horns were left as shattered stumps on its head, the right side of its face had been blasted away and the arm and leg on his left side were now gone, fissure and cracks went across his whole body along with his ambient glow fading slightly at some points of his body, and finally was his single glowing eye that seemed to be dimming over time.

'Who are they?'

'The gods of your world, the brother gods of world known as Remnant,' the more radiant god stated.

Jaune was taken aback, as he had known of the legend of the brother gods but just assumed it to be nothing but another simple myth that people made up, but now …

"SO, THIS IS THE ONE YOU CHOOSE, OUT OF ALL THE INHABITANTS OF OUR WORLD, YOU CHOSE THIS BOY."

'Yes.'

"DO YOU ONLY WANT TO FAIL."

'I won't, especially since I fixed that … problem that the people of Remnant unknowingly carry that was inside Jaune Arc.'

"WHAT PROBLEM!"

'That fact you don't know is … not surprising.'

The entity then focused on Jaune, who then became completely still, his eyes dilating as he then saw …

… everything.

The existence of magic, the first humanity, the rise of Salem, the destruction of the first humanity, the current war between Salem and her former lover and husband Ozma who now went by the name Ozpin, and the fate of Remnant should humanity be found unworthy by the brother gods.

'You need not worry of the judgement of your race occurring, for as you can see, the gods of your world are no longer in a position to do any such thing to your world, neither now … nor ever again.'

Jaune saw that the light from the two gods seemed to flare up slightly … only to fizzle and regress back to being just a fading light.

"What he speaks is the truth," came the voice of the being of light as struggled to hold itself up, "we no longer possess the power to judge the humans of Remnant, much less the power to even influence that world anymore …"

"… and it was by our own hands that we were reduced to this fate."

Jaune was given the answer by the higher god in the space.

'They attempted to lay claim to my domain, attempted to forcibly reign their dominion over the domain I currently preside over, doing this after all but abandoning their duty to their own world and domain,' Jaune felt an immense, overwhelming pressure from all sides and saw the two lesser gods being pressed into the ground as the cracks on their bodies seemed to widen, 'obviously I could not allow such a thing, so they and my children came to blows, and yes it was my children that laid low these two beings who had invaded our domain, of which if they needed my assistance I would have immediately provided it, though as you can see it wasn't necessary.'

Then Jaune felt as though all the pressure was released yet the brother gods were still pressed against the ground, then the light in the room seemed to focus on him, 'now is the part that focuses on you Jaune Arc, why you are here and what you are needed for.'

"W-what am I needed for," Jaune asked.

'The salvation of your world, though not in a way you might think of.'

"Why is that."

'You yourself are not the one who will bring salvation to your world, to Remnant, that path will belong to another, and you will be the one to start that path …'

'… your path, however, will be twofold, to grow yourself beyond the 'mistake' that currently clings to not only you but those who still live on Remnant, and second …'

'… to realize your true potential.'

"My true potential, and what is this mistake you are talking about," Jaune asked the higher god.

A chair then appeared in behind Jaune, who looked at the chair as the god stated …

'You might want to sit down for this.'

Jaune did so, and then the explanation began, but it was one that went unheard.

"Wait, why can't we hear anything," Ruby said as the silent conversation continued, "what are they talking about, and why does Jaune, why does he look so terrified," Ruby continued as on the screen Jaune Arc's face became one of shock and horror at what he was hearing.

"This silent dialogue will be revealed further along in this reality, which if my limited knowledge of this reality is correct, will occur at a major reveal during this realities 'journey'," Mirai stated as she kept watching.

Ozpin was looking on in stunned silence, seeing the gods he feared and revered, the beings whose power held sway over Remnant and had wiped out humanity with cruel ease … now brought low, beaten viciously, and defeated so thoroughly as to be powerless against an even greater god.

'Could such a being offer aid to Remnant?'

Jaune could only lean back in the chair, to horrified to speak anymore, and unable to make a comeback as he knew the gods words to be true, having had the irrefutable proof shown as he now sat in the chair, gazing with hate and fury at the gods of his world, furious at what they had done.

The two gods could do nothing as they were completely pinned to the ground, unable to rise and sporting deeper fissures in their bodies as their attempts to rise were prevented.

The greater god then spoke.

'Fear not Jaune Arc, for as I said before, salvation can be achieved, but not by your hand, and I am sorry to say that it cannot happen in a 'clean' way, thanks to the actions of these foolish children,' the higher god stated as the god of darkness attempted to make an angry retort only to be pressed further into the ground, the god of light not saying a word as he simply was pressed into the ground.

'This is why what I have passed onto you is the only method that can assure that your world is saved, though not in the way that those who live on that world will accept, not at first anyway, that is why I offer this as a choice and not as a command Jaune Arc …'

Jaune looked at the greater god, and before it could even say a word …

"I accept, I will go and do it."

"… I knew I choose correctly and thank Jaune Arc."

The light began to fill the area of the platform, and Jaune began to be swallowed up in the ambient light, and Jaune looked back at the greater god and spoke.

"You're welcome, and plus …"

"… I get to go to space, so that is something."

Jaune Arc soon faded away, leaving the greater god alone as chains of radiant light appeared around the brother gods, binding them both as the greater god said one final line.

"May you have blessed tidings on your path through the civilization of the humans of my dominion, the dominion of the Galactic Empire Jaune Arc …"

The god then laid its attention to the two brother gods and said with intense pressure in its tone.

"… and you two shall be appearing before the Divine Court for your, disreputable actions, both to the world you were supposed to protect, as well as your transgressions against my children and myself, let us be off then."

In a flash of light, the three gods had disappeared from the unknown space, and the reality soon crumbled away into nothingness.

The scene fades away into dust as everything darkens.

"Hooh boy, looks like the idiot brothers are in some hot water now," Qrow stated seeing the brother gods essentially going off to whatever fate awaited them.

Ozpin for the first time in his life was truly stupefied, a divine court, the gods themselves being sent to be judged, it was a miracle he could remain conscious after all he had seen.

"Hey, what's happening to Jaune now, what does it mean by space, and what is the Galactic Empire," Yang stated, now interested what was going to happen next.

"Oh Xiao-Long, what happens next is going to be … quite surprising, I can assure you that," Mirai intoned as the scene now played, showing …

… 35 years later

"Why did 35 years pass, what happened to Arc during that time," Wiess questioned.

"So much Schnee, so very, very much," Mirai said.

The scene showed a long hallway made of white, polished metal, lights fixed into the sides of the walls as the scene transitioned down the hallway, until it reached a large open area, and in that area was a single person.

The person wore what could only be a military uniform denoting a high rank and position, and the individual themselves was revealed to be …

… a young woman with her platinum-blonde hair in a well-done bun, having a youthful face but a sharp visage as she stood in an attire that could almost be called regal with how decorated and pristine it appeared.

"Oh, come on, another Jaune as a woman story, I know you said this would be something that was going to happen a lot, but you said this one-," Yang was then cut off from her tirade.

"Yang shut up and listen," Mirai said in a tone that negated argument.

"Haah, to think that it took so much to come so far," the woman stated as she held up an object from a pocket in her coat, the object being a silver pocket watch with a coat of arms inscribed on its surface being a defined arc with an inscription in it, right in front of a coat of arms, the coat of arms of the New Galactic Empire.

The woman opened the pocket watch, seeing not only the clockface of a past era clock, but also the well-defined photo on the inside of the lid. The photo showed the woman as a young girl with a youthful and happy smile wearing a simple yet elegant one piece as she sat with her parents, her father being in his late thirties in the photo, having rugged blonde hair and a clean-shaven face with a cool look wearing a noble man's attire, and next to him was her mother, with shoulder length platinum blonde hair and in her early thirties, wearing the elegant attire of the countries noble ladies.

"They never did like noble attire," the woman acknowledged to herself as she remembered the day, her father and mother happy to have the picture over with and leaving to go wear more comfortable attire as the clothes were 'far to stuffy for their liking.'

That was a happy memory she had of her life before she grew to be who she was, one of the few women who now served in the service of the New Galactic Imperial Navy, Vice-Admiral Joan Ilyina von Arc, daughter of retired Imperial Navy Admiral Jaune von Arc and Retired Free Planets Defense Force Vice-Admiral Sanya Ilyana.

"I will make both of you proud, I swear on the name of our family," Joan said with the conviction that her parents were known for, then came an alert on a terminal on her comm unit, the message was brief, but she knew that it was time to go, and thus she made her way down the hall to her destination.

"…."

"I guess that … congratulations are in order," Ozpin said as he saw that Jaune had not only become very important but also had married a lovely woman and had a daughter now, who was also making her way up in the world.

Everyone else was dead silent, even Yang was shocked at what she had seen, unable to form a comprehensible sound as she gazed at the screen, Wiess had her mouth hanging open and eyes wide open at seeing the person she thought of as an annoying dunce now a noble, in a high military position and married to a lovely wife and a beautiful daughter … her brain was left basically frozen.

THUD

"Huh …"

Pyrrha had passed out on the floor, her eyes glazed over with shock at what she had seen, the others only able to look on at this, though RWBY and Ren and Nora were a bit worried about her, but it allowed some to find their voice.

"Wow, Jaune-Jaune really went up in the world, and I mean way up," Nora stated bluntly, Ren only able to nod silently.

SPLASH, VSSSSSCCCHHH

"GYAAAAA"

Pyrrha shot up as a bucket of ice water was dropped on her and a low shock baton was plunged into the water, shocking the girl back into consciousness.

"WAH-WAH, what the, what happened, why am wet, huh, *sniff-sniff*, and why do I smell like wet bacon," then a healing ring appeared around Pyrrha, healing her of her burns and drying her.

"I believe the impact of this realities Jaune being married and having a daughter may have been what caused your fainting spell," Mirai stated, noting that Pyrrha was getting woozy once again, "if you pass out again, I will use that to wake you up."

Right in front of Pyrrha appeared a long mechanical arm, and at the end was a three-pronged device that emitted furious sparks of electricity, the device appearing to be more like a torture device than a weapon, and Pyrrha was left perspiring at the message Mirai was giving, and everyone else was feeling the underlying sense that she would do the same to them should she need to.

"Also, you're going to want to see this," Mirai stated as the screen played.

Vice-Admiral Joan walked along the hallway and passed several Imperial Sailors along the way.

"MA'AM," giving the Imperial salute as Joan passed them by, Joan returning the salute as was military custom for those in the Imperial service, those under her command were of the sort who valued their duty and had genuine loyalty to the New Galactic Empire and Constitutional Monarchy that governed the New Empire.

"Now here we are, fighting for her once again," Joan said aloud as she walked along the hallway.

"Well, that is the price for our service and how we repay the Empire and our leaders for the chance we were given," came another female voice from beside Joan.

"Commodore Diane how is the fleet doing," Joan spoke to her second in command.

"Excellently Ma'am, the fleet is in position and we are about to meet the opposing force," Diane said as she walked beside Joan.

Commodore Diane von Schultz, third daughter of the noble Schultz household, a petite woman with her brunette hair in a bob-cut, with a very humble physique and personality but now focused on the task at hand while on duty in her Imperial Navy uniform, their families having known each other since long before, their respective fathers having served together in the Imperial Navy, so Joan and Diane had known each other almost since childhood and had been close since.

"The rest of the staff are waiting on the bridge, we should hurry," Diane said.

"Yes, I believe we should," Joan stated as she picked up her pace.

The two soon arrived on the bridge, with two other women and two men in important attire waiting.

"Attention on Deck," one of the men, another Commodore name Julian von Vernier, stated to the bridge crew as Joan arrived, everyone standing at attention as Joan stepped onto the deck.

"Looks like everything is running smoothly, excellent, everyone to your stations, we are about to meet the enemy, let us show these terrorist helping scumbags why you never cross the Galactic Empire," Joan stated aloud, a resounding 'YES MA'AM' echoing through the bridge.

The view shifted out from Joan to show the bridge in its entirety, and expansive space filled with many terminals, and at the entrances were figure in heavily armored suits wielding very large rifles, and the scene kept shifting as it revealed the viewing area of the bridge, showing what was outside.

The vast expanse of space was revealed, with the fleet passing be a green gas giant with several moons in its orbit, the view expanding outward as the view of the cosmos became clear. Then came the view of the fleet, consisting of no less than 11,000 warships, with two fourths of the fleet consisting of battleship-class vessels, one fourth consisting of dedicated carrier and cruiser classes, with the remaining fourth consisting of destroyers and auxiliary vessels.

The ships were all made with elegance and practicality, with the surface being sloped and elongated with the ship largely starting at a point at the front before becoming a smoothed rounded shape beneath while being mostly flat at the top with several points where the hull was raised where the hardpoints of the vessels were installed and at the end of the ship were the massive engines that propelled the ships as well as weapon hardpoints aimed to the rear of the ships, the Imperial ships as a whole having a largely wedge-shaped design, the same shape largely shared among the design of all Imperial vessels.

The Imperial standard battleships were immense warships, largely consisting of a long forward hull with its engines located at the very back of the ship, with the bridge located at the point where the hull and engine mountings met. The standard weapon compliment consisted of eighteen bow mounted beam cannons, twenty-eight beam cannons that were spaced on the port and starboard sides of the ship with some located on the rear of the battleship to ensure all angles were covered, 128 missile launch tube systems located in clusters focused on the bow and near the ventral part of the ship near the engine nacelles, with the final weapons being high capacity railgun weapons located in the bow within special housings, the railguns loaded with anti-starship munitions for punching through the hulls of enemy starships. The final offensive feature of the ship were several launch ports for the ships complement of Walküre fighter craft for anti-fighter/starship combat.

The Imperial cruisers were similar in shape to the battleships, though not as large as the ships and with less engines, with the ships spaced evenly near the battleships. The weapons of the ships were also less than the battleships, with the cruiser only mounting forty beam cannons located on the bow, port and starboard of the ship, and hosting vertical launch missile launchers that were largely located on the ships ventral hull, and also possessed anti-armor railguns, though not as many as the battleships. It also had a complement of Walküre fighters, but only had fifteen launch points for the ships.

The destroyers were markedly smaller than the cruisers, with their hull design being far simpler and possessing less engines than the cruisers. The weapons of the destroyers were only eleven bow mounted beam cannons with the ship having to rely on its eighteen missile launch tubes located near the engines for defending against attacks from the sides and back, though it was at least upgraded from the original design to host a small wing of Walküre fighters from its three launch ports located on the bottom ventral section.

The Imperial Carriers were an entirely new ship, having been crated after the war, its size between that of a cruiser and a battleship, with a design that was between that of a cruiser and a destroyer but with only twenty five hardpoints for laser cannons, eight located on the bow and twelve spaced on the starboard and port of the ship, along with forty missile launch tubes interspaced along the ships hull from bow to stern, but its primary offensive means came from the multiple internal hangars which carried not only wings of Walküre fighters, but also several wings of the new Einherjar gunship/bomber hybrid craft. The Einherjar was based off of a mix between the Walküre and imperial transport shuttle, successfully mixing the carrying and armor capacity of the shuttle with the maneuverability and speed capabilities of the Walküre, though unlike the Imperial shuttle, it's armaments were largely offensive in nature, carrying a mix of heavy weapons and several missile launchers for mass defense against fighters and attacking capital ships, but its main weapon was a scaled down but incredible powerful version of the battleship mounted anti-armor railgun unit, having a single weapon built along the length of the hull, with the barrel just below the main cockpit, with a crew of two on the ship, on to pilot and the other on weapon control as well as operating the ships turrets (with computer assisted targeting), one above the ship and the other below to cover as many angles as possible. The Einherjar was roughly the size of the Imperial shuttle but with the streamlining of the Walküre and with far better armor and better engines. The rest of the ship was also for transporting troops and vehicles for planetary assaults.

The last ships which were centered between the rear and middle of the formation were the Imperial Transport ships, which differed in both hull design and overall appearance to the more combat focused ships of the fleet. The two main features that made the ship stand out from the other ships of the fleet were its trimaran muti-hull design, in which three large hulls were interconnected with one another in a triangular configuration with thick connecting sections between the three hulls, and the second was the large use of transparency on the sides of each hull, transparency being a sort of energy field made to maintain the atmosphere inside of a ship as well as a less potent form of shielding for the ship, with transparency found on most ships, but only used in a few parts of imperial warships, usually on the bridge section of the ships or over the launch ports for Walküre fighters or transports, but the amount used by the transport ships vastly exceeded what was used on the combat-focused ships. Due to the glaring amount of open space where enemy fire could penetrate the ship, it led to many weapons being placed on the ship to defend itself and its cargo, with the ship having over 312 laser cannons placed in arrays along the flanks of its three hulls, as well as being screened by cruisers and destroyers, with several carriers among the transports ready to provide fighter support.

Joan gazed at her fleet through the transparency of her personal flagship, a modified standard imperial battleship modified with greater space for Walküre fighters and a complement of Einherjar gunship/bombers, which consisted of an extended section along the bottom of the ship's hull, the ship itself named by the current Emperor of the New Galactic Empire, the Hraesvelger. Joan nodded as confirmations came from the ships of her fleet as the ships began to take their formation, announcing to her fleet.

"All ships, set course for the Invictus Sector, we will meet the Neo-Terrans and the Imperial traitors above and, on the planet, Glaeces-732, all ships prepare for warp."

With her words, the engines of the Hraesvelger lit up, and soon the engines of the rest of the fleet came up, before energy contrails surrounded the ships in the fleet, and one after another, the ships accelerated in a burst of light into warp space, the fleet leaving contrails of light as they disappeared into warp-space, until the last ships of the fleet had shifted into warp space.

The space near the gas giant was now empty of the Imperial fleet, with only the fading light of the ships warp jump as evidence to the fleets presence.

Mirai turned to look at the group, and chuckled as she saw how everyone in the group was utterly slack jawed by what they had just borne witness to, Wiess was especially funny as she was left weakly pointing while jabbering at the screen about "He was a, but he, wha …" and "Th-this is just a, a, aaa …", Mirai smiled at this as the more disbelieving were left shocked at what Jaune's other reality daughter had achieved, not to mention how much more Jaune Arc himself had achieved in that reality. Then she noticed that Ruby was missi-!

"EH?"

Mirai saw as Ruby was at the screen, a good deal of droll leaking from her mouth as she gazed with almost … 'orgasmic' joy at the screen, her eyes now starry at the scene of the fleet and what comprised the ships of the fleet, Mirai remembering Rubies on and off excitement over weapons, which the viewing had apparently reignited. Then a hard-light hologram of Cybil appeared, and produced a napkin, before wiping Rubies mouth, which caused the girl to come out of her state.

"Huh, wha-what, what was I doing, why was I on the floor, and wherearetheawesomeshipsgoingwhat!"

Her mouth was covered with the napkin as Cybil said, "Ruby, calm down, there will be more to come in the next viewing, but for now Ruby, please cover your ears."

"Uhm, okay," Ruby did as she was told.

HOOOOOOONNNNKKKKK

"Gya"

"What the!"

"HYA!"

"The fuck!"

"Sw*click*, uh I mean nothing, nothing at all, and OW that was loud!"

A blaring horn went straight through the viewing area and causing everyone who was once out of it to be left dazed by the blare.

"If everyone is now awake, we are continuing the viewing," Mirai stated as the scene came up.

There was a small pulse as one Imperial ship came out, then ten, then hundreds, and many more.

Into space appeared the entirety of the Imperial fleet, battleships, carriers, cruisers, destroyers, transports, and the flagship Hraesvelger appeared in space, coming up on the enemy world, going in behind the moon.

"All ships, we are about to enter contact with the enemy force, prepare for operation, use of strategy 315 for the coming battle, strategy 412 will be the fallback, all forces prepare to meet the enemy, for the New Galactic Empire, for the Emperor!"

"FOR THE EMPIRE!"

The call resounded through the fleet as the fleet came around the moon …

The enemy fleet came into view.

"Enemy force in sight, fleet identified as Neo Terra 5th fleet, also picking up old Imperial fleet signatures of the 45th fleet, combined force number over 1800 plus ships, also identifying orbital defense units in planets orbit along with an orbital station just behind the fleet," came the voice of Commodore Diane as she looked at the date they had received, "my god, they've brought everything out to meet us."

"I expected no less, our intelligence did say that the Admiral on their side was the type to bring all his forces to bear on his enemies," Joan smirked a bit, "doesn't help the fact that the Imperial traitor with him is an impulsive individual who can only lash out in anger from losing his silver spoon."

There were giggles from some of the crew, the barb helping to lighten the mood.

Hehehe, that is pretty funny," Yang acknowledged, the rest of her team and NPR also chuckling a bit, with a bit of chuckles coming from Qrow and (shockingly) Glynda.

"It does help with morale, especially in a battle like this," Ironwood noted.

"I truly hope so, for their sake," Ozpin stated, seriousness setting in.

The composition of the opposing fleet came in, and even Joan felt sweat trickle down.

At least half of the enemies were made up of Imperial warships, like the composition of Joan's fleet though missing carriers as they were made after those from the old Empire had left the New Empire, the fleet numbering at about 7000 plus warships and support craft, Joan was not as worried about the Imperial half of the enemy force as she knew the capabilities of the enemy ships and strategies of the fleets commander.

It was the Neo-Terran fleet that Joan was worried for.

The ships all possessed a design ethic that diverged from either the Empire or the (now defunct) Alliance, and also a feeling of disgust went through Joan and a number of the veteran crew as the ships of the Neo-Terra fleet had the same hull design of the (now dissolved) Alliance of Free Planets flagship, the Triglav, a ship that was known, acknowledged, feared and respected by the Empire, both old and new, with ships still active as part of the autonomous zone made for the former citizens of the Alliance (though not without some conflict happening). Now seeing the design of the ship being used by what were essentially a terrorist group masquerading as a legitimate government …

Joan put those thoughts out of her head, and gave the enemy fleet ships a look, as well as looking over Imperial intelligence.

The battleships of the Neo-Terran fleet consisted of a similar layout to that of the Triglav, though with the rear hull expanded and with double the weapon complement of the original, with most of the laser cannons located on the long spars, including the heavy laser cannons located on the ends of the three outreaching spars. The main difference was the hull of the warship, having been made more utilitarian like most ships that were used by the alliance, though this allowed the fitting of more laser cannons and missile launchers on the hull, the scan showing increased emplacement's on the ships flanks and near the engine, thicker armor portions and an expanded space for the enemies Centurion fighter craft, which were just slightly enlarged and altered Spartanian's that had been the alliance's main fighter, just slightly enlarged and given an expanded weapon complement.

The cruisers followed the same design philosophy, but the spars only had standard laser cannons while the space at the center where the spars rotated was reported to have an anti-armor railgun system, though much stronger given its size, while the rest of the ship followed a more streamlined pattern that made it look more like the Triglav in its shape, though it had an expanded area beneath that was likely to be more missile launchers, but only ten launch ports for Centurions.

The destroyers of the enemy fleet a sort of mix between the design of the Triglav and an Imperial destroyer, with the three spars having the curved and pointed aesthetic of an imperial destroyer which points along the flanks and rear that looked like that of a standard Alliance warship, with a several laser cannons and missile tubes, and a small complement of Centurions.

The final ships were the transports, which were simply the same Alliance transports that had been repainted in Neo-Terran colors, with little change to their weapons payload or mission profile.

The primary issue came from the station near the rear of the fleet, which had several large laser weapons aimed at the fleet, and likely held reinforcement craft within.

'I wonder if it would be wrong to say that this is getting me excited,' Joan thought as her fleet began to form up to engage the enemy.

"All forces, commence battle!"

"Oh, this is gonna be so good, I can't wait to see the space battle, it's gonna be epic," Nora all but screamed out, though at least trying to restrain her excitement.

"I KNOW I KNOW I CAN'T WAIT; I THINK I'M GONNA EXPLODE FROM ANTICIPATION," Ruby did not even try to retrain her voice as the excitement came in the form of Ruby bouncing in her seat, Weiss trying to calm her down.

"Listen, I know that this is getting interesting and, I will admit, exciting, but that is no reason to …?"

(Sawano Hiroyuki – CRY)

(START)

"What is that, that music," Wiess said softly as the others heard it the music coming in.

"OH, THIS IS GONNA BE AMAZING," Nora felt ecstatic as she heard the music play.

(0:10)

The scene showed Joan gazing out into space from the Hraesvelger's, bridge, watching the ships of the Imperial fleet slip pass, Battleships and Cruisers taking formation as the battle was about to commence.

Joan's Commodore's came to stand beside her as the fleet made ready to start the battle.

(0:33)

Joan gently thumbed her hand over her pocket watch as she held it, giving a silent prayer as she then gazed resolutely at the outside of her ship through the transparency, her Commodore's Diane and Julian standing on opposite sides of Joan, faces hardened and resolved for the coming battle.

Then …

(0:42)

Joan swept her hand forward and soundlessly gave the order, and the battle commenced, her flagship and the surrounding ships opening fire with their forward laser cannons, beams of light red light shooting through space from the multitudes of starships from Joan's fleet.

The blasts slammed into the enemy, some shots bouncing off the enemies shields while others got through hitting the armor, inflicting moderate damage …

… others got through, blasting into the ships, and causing them to blow apart, destroying well over several dozens of Neo-Terran and Old Empire warships.

However, the enemy was now in range, and returned fire, laser cannons erupted through the fleet, hitting multiple imperial ships, and leading to the destruction of several ships, including a cruiser that had detonated just to the side of the Hraesvelger, the blossoming explosion illuminating Joan, who wore a focused and emotionless expression, all while giving orders as the casualties began to mount.

The battle began to accelerate at a violent rate as the two fleets closed in, and soon both sides had launched their fighters, Walküre's and Centurion's (including the Old Empire's Walküre's) engaged in an intense battle, the fighter supporting their fleets by destroying either enemy fighters or attacking opposing warships. The two fleets were now clashing together in a violent yet coordinated melee as missiles and anti-armor weapons were being thrown into the mix from both sides.

The battle was becoming a stalemate, with both fleets starting to lose ships at an even rate.

(1:33)

Joan knew that the battle was not in her favor and began to send orders to her fleet, looking over the battle through a holographic overview, and knew that if they kept up at the rate they were going, they would not last long.

She sent her orders, and a smirk soon graced her face as the orders were sent.

Her fleet than began to focus its forces on a direct assault, aimed right at the Old Empires flagship, a gaudy white battleship class vessel with a large hull extension containing a large-scale laser cannon that is usually found on fortress stations, the ship called (quite blandly) Kaiser, and the forces of Joan's fleet began to make a direct push on both the front and flank aimed at the Kaiser.

The first ships came into range of the Kaiser's escorts, the Kaiser at the center.

(2:06)

A powerful fusillade erupted aimed at the escorts and the Kaiser, all the while, a special flight of Walküre's from Joan's fleet made a direct assault on the flagship, and Joan's guess was proven right as the Kaiser was unable to properly defend itself, and was now firing the heavy laser cannon, which was being fired with little regard as it struck not only Joan's ships, but even the ships in its own fleet along with the Neo-Terran ships.

The enemy formation began to crumble, and Joan felt her smirk widen when several Neo-Terran ships opened fire on the Kaiser, this allowed the special Walküre squadron to make a direct run on the ships bridge, the Walküre's cannons and missiles punching through into the bridge and causing a massive amount of damage as the Kaiser erupted in a ball of fire, its Admiral (in-name-only) now dead.

This caused a great disruption throughout the fleet as the forces on the Neo-Terrans and the Old Empire were now in disarray.

This allowed Joan to rebuild her formations and then signal her special surprise.

(2:50)

Suddenly Neo-Terran and Old-Empire Transports and their escorts began to explode in a surprise fusillade of heavy fire from both above and below.

The source of these attacks was revealed as several squadron of Einherjar gunship-Bombers attacked with both long range anti-starship missiles and their anti-armor railguns, the ships having snuck behind on low power under using the chaos of the battle, and now tore apart the support fleet and waiting reserves, with a detachment attacking the fortress station along with boarding parties, the Einherjar attacking several ships as they were exiting the main hangar, causing them to block the way out and trapping the reinforcements inside. The Einherjar and their escorts that had devastated the support and reserve forces then began launching attacks throughout the enemy fleet, causing further chaos and disarray as they took down both Neo Terran and Old Empire ships.

The Neo-Terrans and Old Empire were now in complete disarray, with the Neo Terran Admiral doing what he could to get the two fleets back into some sort of order, but finding the situation to be impossible to salvage, and then he saw Joan's fleet and knew the battle was lost.

Joan now stood looking to the enemy fleet, the improved mood evident on the ship as victory was now very apparent.

(3:12)

Joan ordered a final strong push, and her fleet launched an all-out attack on the disorganized enemy fleet, her ships tearing through the Neo Terran and Old Empire fleets, cutting down several thousand ships from both sides with focused attacks and heavy fire, and her fleet managed to cut through the bulk of the enemy fleets, devastating their forces and allowing her fleet to send reinforcements for the boarding parties that were now wreaking havoc on the enemy station.

The enemy Admiral saw that most of his forces were now destroyed and his 'allies' were completely devastated, and he saw he had no choice.

He gave his last order of the battle.

(3:56)

Joan then saw as the enemy fleet …

(3:57)

… began to retreat.

Then last of the Neo Terran fleet began to turn away from the battle, the flagship leading the surviving forces from both Neo Terran and Old Empire as they left the battle space and then began to warp away as they abandoned the Glaceas-372 to its fate, with several large transports from the planet retreating with the Neo Terran and Old Empire forces.

Joan witnessed this and soon received word that the fortress station had been captured by the forces that were sent in and the ships within had surrendered, the last remaining Neo Terran of high rank, a Commodore having sent the order to surrender rather than allow the deaths of more of his men.

The battle had ended, and Joan watched as her fleet soon took formation near the captured fortress.

The battle was over, and the New Galactic Empire …

… was victorious.

(4:11-end)

The silence following the battle and end of the music could be felt through the room, and Mirai saw that half of the viewers had enraptured and excited looks, while the more mature held a more analytical and focused yet still excited gaze at the screen.

Nora, Ruby, Yang, and shocking Wiess, and perhaps more shockingly Blake let out cheers at what they had seen.

"OH, MY GODS DO YOU SEE THAT THAT WAS BEYOND AWESOME, THAT WAS AMAZING!"

"THAT WAS, LIKE BEYOND JUST WOW, IT WAS … I CAN'T EVEN THINK OF ANYTHING BECAUSE OF HOW EXCITING IT WAS!"

"THAT WAS AMA-, AH, ahem, I mean it was uhm, it was quite a spectacle"

"That was really something to watch, not even the books I read had this level of action, and the music, I feel like it meshed so seamlessly with the flow of the battle, and what was the language in the song, I heard some English as well, was it some type of Mistralian language."

"The language was Japanese actually, a lot of some of the better made fictional works from the Prime reality were made by the people of the island nation of Japan, and quite a lot of their works are popular in many parts of the world if not the whole world," Mirai stated, "makes me wish they were the ones that made your show really, then it would have really been something, this I know."

The group began to discuss amongst themselves but kept it down as the viewing progressed.

Vice Admiral Joan Ilyana von Arc was now in her quarters following the after-battle cleanup, and the subsequent occupation of the planet, which ended up being a quick affair as the military garrison had chosen to surrender and only a small Guerilla force had tried to put up a resistance.

Suffice to say that dealing with such a minor opposition had been a very quick affair, the enemy resistance wiped out in but a few days with the survivors now imprisoned.

Joan began to write in her log regarding the battle, filling out the necessary information on her terminal, finishing her work in relatively short order thanks to having prepared ahead a few pre-written reports of what she believed would happen and ended up getting close to right on one of five reports she had written, needing only couple alterations to make the report accurate and complete.

She finished up, drinking a cup of Imperial Officer brand coffee, with a heavy helping of cream and sugar, all the while deciding to read up on some old intelligence files, looking over the information on the Neo Terran and Old Empire factions.

Neo-Terran Faction: Originating as a minor splinter group of the now defunct Terraism religion of the past, the movement first began as an effort by members of the original movement to create, in their words 'a new Terra, equal in radiance and beauty to the world of our birth', the goal being to terraform a new world to exactly Earth's atmosphere and composition, and transplant everything from Earth to this new world, creating a true mirror image of Earth. This led to a schism between both factions, as the main faction desired to restore humanities home world itself, and thus excommunicated what had become the Neo Terran movement, which left all charted star maps on a small scale colony fleet and headed for uncharted space using the turmoil of the first Empire-Alliance war to slip away, and were believed to have perished in the darkness of space. It would not be until two years after the full cessation of hostilities between the Galactic Empire and the last remnants of the Free Planets Alliance that this faction would re-emerge, having settled on many worlds outside of the Empire's sphere of influence. It was soon found that factions of the Old Galactic Empire had made their way into the territory of the Neo Terran territories, using the warships and fleets they took with them to overwhelm the colonies and allying with a hardline faction of the Neo Terran movement that largely followed the original goals of the Terraism religion, and began a mass rearmament of the Neo Terran colonies, from forced conscription to a total industrial push towards warfare, the Old Empire and current Dictatorship that held sway over the multiple colonies of Neo Terran space. In a bit of irony, it would be the members of the original leadership of the Neo Terran government that would come to the New Empire and make the government aware of this new rising threat to its people and worlds. The first contact between the New Galactic Empire and the Neo Terran/Old Empire forces would occur on a Neo Terran world, the coordinates to the currently settled worlds of the Neo Terran's having been given to the New Empire by the Neo Terran refugee's, and the Imperial Navy had managed to attack the building Neo Terran/Old Empire forces as they were preparing to invade the Empire, though the battle had led to heavy losses for the Empire, the invasion was halted and the enemy fleets were scattered and forced to retreat, the victory being largely attributed to the enemy forces lack of experience, as well as the surprise of the Empire who had managed to catch the invasion force in a largely lax state. Thus, did the Neo Terran Conflict commence, with the goal of bringing the territory under the authority of the New Empire, the overthrowing of the current Neo-Terran administration to put the original administration which had agreed to submit to Imperial rule back in power, and finally to either capture or eliminate the traitorous Imperial remnants of the Old Empire.

"Well, that's how you can basically sum it all up," Joan said as she read several more in-depth files on the Neo Terran and Old Empire factions.

As the war progressed the Neo Terrans and Old Empire began to adapt and had claimed two major victories during the New Empires attack on the neo Terran worlds of Nemea and Pascel, the military forces of the enemy factions having started to gain experience and adapt to the strategies of the New Empire.

'That just means we need to keep making that we always update our strategies, keep up the soldiers training at their best, and make sure our intelligence is up to date,' Joan thought as she read some of the reports from the officers in charge of securing the settlements on Glaceas-372.

"Mmhhh," a voice came from behind Joan, who looked behind her, revealing that she had been in her quarters, which were quite large and moderately luxurious, which was a holdover from the Old Empire's custom of Nobility and Peasantry, with high ranking officers or nobles having excellent accommodations while the peasantry got more squalid rooming (which thankfully had been improved to allow for much better living conditions following a number of reforms in the military), and in a large Queen-sized bed, lay Diane in her sleeping attire, Joan herself also in her more personal attire smiling softly at the sleeping woman, who was sleeping in her bed …

"Hehe, she's so cute when she like that, but that's one of the reasons I love her so very much," Joan gently giggling as she looked with soft, loving eyes at the woman who was both her closest and dearest friend as well as the love of her life.

"Well, best I get some sleep as well, we are going back to the capital to report to the senate," Joan soon got into bed as well, soon finding herself in the warm embrace of Diane as she gently slept as the Hraesvelger, continued its journey to the Galactic Empires seat of power.

The planet Fezzan, in the Fezzan corridor.

There were a number things that the students wanted to say, which were of course sensible things like the fact that the Neo-Terrans were peaceful before the Old Empire came along, what the planet that Joan and her crew were heading for was like, but the question that came out was from the mouth of the resident loudmouth with so little tact it did not even exist.

"So, are Joan and Diane like-!"

"Yes."

"So, they aren't like-!"

"No."

"Even-!"

"No, yes, no, no, yes, no, yes, yes, no, yes."

"Okay, so they are in a serious relationship, sorry never mind," Yang sat herself down, Ruby just shaking her head while the rest of the team just had looks that said 'really' to her, while her uncle just had an exasperated expression, while everyone else was of no comment or just shook their heads at Yang.

"So then …"

BANG, GYA

A rubber bullet hit the side of Yang's head knocking her to the ground as the bullet bounced away, a muffled, "yeah I deserve that" coming from Yang.

"… let us continue."

The capital world of the New Galactic Empire, Fezzan …

The Hraesvelger entered orbit of planet, soon docking at the Imperial shipyard that hung over the planet, the ship locking itself in place as the docking system held the ship in its berthing area.

The scene transitioned to a door in the station, which opened to reveal Joan along with her Commodore's, with Diane standing quite close to Joan in comparison to Julian who kept a professional distance.

The walked down the hall, and met …

"It's Jaune, damn he looks good," Yang noted, having shaken off the impact of the rubber bullet.

"I must say he pulls off military attire quite excellently, far better than even myself," Ironwood looked at his own attire, "I think the military attire for Atlas could use some … updating."

"I concur," Winter said, looking at the officer uniforms of the Galactic Empire that were a mix of simplicity and regal decorum, and shockingly … comfort.

"Welcome back Vice-Admiral Arc, both the Admiralty and the Empire commend you and the fleet for the taking of Glaeces-732 and securing another important foothold for the Empire, your actions serve as shining example to the Empire and her people," Admiral Jaune von Arc stated as he saluted his daughter and fellow officer.

"Thank you, sir," Joan saluted back, keeping the professional military courtesy, even if it was her father.

"Your crew is dismissed, but I must speak with you in private Vice-Admiral, let us head to my quarters, it is a matter of importance," Admiral Jaune stated.

"Lead the way sir," Joan followed behind her father as her Commodore's and accompanying guards returned to either the ship or into the shipyard.

Jaune and Joan soon arrived at his office, and soon they were standing together in the room, looking at each other …

… then they both hugged each other, now able to show how happy they were in a private setting.

"Aww, that's so sweet," Ruby said, happy at the father-daughter moment.

"He maybe an officer, but he is also a father, and having a proper balance between both is an essential thing in the military, something that unfortunately many in Atlas have yet to learn," Ironwood stated, still upset about the multiple flaws in the Atlesian military.

"I am so proud of you, I heard of your strategy and leadership during the battle, your mother heard as well and she sends you her best, as well as a small gift," Jaune held up a clear little bag wrapped with a ribbon, and Joan soon had an overjoyed smile as she saw it had cookies made by her mother.

"Yay, thanks daddy," Joan said in a warm and happy voice having received something she loved from someone she dearly loved, "and tell mom I love her so very much."

"Don't worry, she knows, she always had such a sharp wit about her, just one of the many things I love about her," Jaune had a look of longing on his face as he recalled the love of his life, "speaking of love lives, has Diane been good to you."

"Daaaad!"

Joan's annoyed expression at her fathers questions got a chuckle out of him, though she did know he meant well.

"Oh, I know that very well, heck its one of the reasons why I never really got together with anyone, dad had to butt in whenever I tried to at least get to know someone," Yang said, exasperated.

"Suuure, that was the only reason," Wiess spoke, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Haah, yeah, just another day in our lives," Qrow said, a haggard edge to his voice.

The two discussed more of their personal lives as they lounged about, that was until Jaune received a call on his terminal …

… a call that came from the Imperial Ministry.

"Admiral Jaune von Arc here, yes sir, I see, yes she is here with me, I see, all right then we will be there soon," Jaune stated as the call disconnected, and he turned to Joan, who saw it was now professional time, and stood at attention.

"That was the Minister of the Military, his orders were for both you and I to go to the imperial palace on the planet, where a general meeting to discuss the current strategy in regard to this war will take place, hope you and your officers are ready …"

"… you're going to be meeting the Emperor and the Imperial Senate."

Joan knew then and there that now; things were going to get serious.

"Ooohhh, they are going to meet the Emperor of a Galactic Empire, this is so exciting," Nora stated.

An Imperial shuttle shot down from space, flying over the capital of the Empire as it made its way to the Imperial palace, home of the Senate and the current Emperor, the ship landing on one of the many landing pads as other ships also landed.

Joan walked with her father Jaune and an escort of Imperial commandos wielding heavy assault weapons, as they walked, they were soon joined by many other Imperial officers, mostly men with only a small number of women.

As they walked to the senate chambers, Joan thought back at the time when it was announced that the Empire had allowed for women to be allowed service in the New Empires military, which had originally been exclusively a male affair, which was mainly due to the patriarchal nature of the Old Empire since its conception, with women not able to hold any meaningful positions of power and mostly able to look forward to a better life if they caught the fancy of an important male noble or officer. This was an accepted fact for much of the history of the Old Galactic Empire, that was until the rise of the Lohengramm Dynasty under the last (official) Emperor of the Old Empire, then First Emperor of the New Galactic Empire, Reinhard von Lohengramm, a many that many who serve in the military and nobility, be the man or (shockingly) women, aspire to emulate in some way. The man had been from a noble yet poor family, and was born as Reinhard von Müsel, who had started on his rise to become Emperor to save his sister, Annerose, from her life as concubine to the Emperor before him, Emperor Friedrich IV. He rose through the ranks of the Imperial Military during the Alliance-Empire War, having become a highly respected and highly successful Admiral in the Imperial Navy, with him going on to gain a massive amount of political power during the war that soon led to him overthrowing the reigning government when Friedrich IV died. Reinhard proved he was a true leader and more than deserving of the title of Emperor, not only reversing and getting rid of so many of the worst reforms of the Old Empire, but also creating the new Empire, either subjugating or eliminating his most violent imperial opponents who supported the old Empire (though sadly not all of them), and creating the New Empire as well as successfully conquering the Free Planets Alliance (though he gives his wife the credit of ending the war as she had ordered the capture of the Alliance's capital world).

Joan wistfully thought about the life of the greatest man who led the Empire, the man who had the foresight to annul the monarchal system of the Empire when it was clear that it would no longer be stable, switching to a more balanced system of a Constitutional Monarchy, which while having its own issues such as a possibility of mediocre people winding up in positions of power and issues with political decisions, but was far mor stable than the monarchal method of the Empire, which only worked if true, dedicated and competent leader was in power, anything else would only lead to stagnation and political corruption at the highest levels. Joan was happy with how much Reinhard had accomplished in his life, according to her father, who was and is still one of his most devout supporters.

Reinhard had accomplished so much in his life and died at young age both from a newly discovered degenerative disease as well as from severe overwork, but his dream of a thriving humanity still lives on. The one regret that Reinhard held, all the way to his death, was the loss of the one person in his life he genuinely called 'his friend', and that was the death of Siegfried Kircheis, the one man who was equal to Reinhard, who had died stopping an assassination attempt against Reinhard.

Of the many losses Reinhard had suffered through in his path of revolution and reform, the death of his childhood friend had been his greatest regret of all, second only to when he had learned of the death of his one true rival, an admiral of the Free Planets Alliance named Yang Wen-li, who had been killed in an assassination from the still present Terraism religious group, which had taken to terrorism.

Joan was soon shaken from her thoughts as they arrived at the senate chambers, standing alongside the other high ranked officers of the Empires military, with most of them being Admirals and Vice-Admirals like herself.

The filed into the room, soon taking their assigned seats as the Senate was in the middle of its discussion, men and women speaking to and fro regarding issues that appeared to be largely about the current war, which to much of the New Galactic Empire had been very unexpected as many had believed that the age of warfare had ended.

'Guess someone should have made sure of that,' Joan thought to herself as she was directed to her seat.

Then came the voice of one the guards.

"All rise for the Emperor of the New Galactic Empire, Emperor Vahlen von Leiden."

We all stood at attention as the Emperor of the current regime stepped in, a relatively young man in his early thirties, and an individual who had achieved much in his life, having served in the Imperial armed forces and was staunch believer in the ideals of Reinhard von Lohengramm, stating that it was the late Emperor's reforms that had allowed him the opportunity to become what he was, since he had started from a commoner background.

It should be said that the role of Emperor was largely as a mitigator in political affairs now, with much of the power being held by the senate which made Reinhard the last true Emperor of the Empire.

Regardless, everyone was soon seated, and the talks began …

The group listened to the senate speak, learning about why Joan and the other admirals and vice-admirals had been brought where they were.

"Okay, so the Neo Terran's and Old Empire guys are planning an invasion of the Empire, one that is going to be from multiple parts of the Empire's borders, which is basically the enemy fleets attacking from everywhere, even from the front," Nora surmised with strange clarity, "huh, that's gonna be a lot of space battles."

"It appears the Empire managed to gain information from a separatist element in the Neo-Terran leadership with the routes that the invading forces will take on their path to the Empires territories, so the plan is to have the several of their more accomplished officers and their forces intercept the invasion forces and tie them down while the Empire's main force continues to push into the heart of Neo-Terran space, all the way to their capital worlds," Ironwood, noted, his military mindset on full, "each officer will be charged with a fleet that will intercept the enemy, as well as establishing forward outposts to sustain their efforts, while others will be heading for worlds that the Neo-Terrans have discovered as life-sustaining planets that the invasion forces will use as forward bases that they would later turn into future colonies to add to their sphere of influence."

"So Joan and the other officers are being sent to intercept the invasion fleets before they can attack the Empire, with the main focus being to halt the invasion forces and if possible, force the enemy to surrender if possible, while the Empire, with mister, or should I say, Admiral Arc along with most of the veteran officers, will lead assaults aimed at the total capitulation of the Neo-Terran/Old empire forces, with the goal being to capture their capital world and key colony worlds. I must say, this is quite an ambitious endeavor, and the sheer scale of the operation is far and away beyond anything I have witnessed, or will likely ever witness," Ozpin noted, seeing the strategy meeting play out, along with the multitudes of images and star maps that appeared.

"Oh, it looks like the meeting is ending," Ruby piped up.

The Emperor rose, standing tall as he looked at the assembled senators and officers, then he spoke.

"Proud soldiers of the Empire, your goal is now clear, your mission beyond just important. Our enemy wishes to assault our worlds, subjugate our people, and bring our Empire to ruin. This must not happen."

He took a deep breath, as he proclaimed to all.

"I stand here now, and see not just officers and soldiers, I see those who bear the future of our Empire, those whose actions in the coming days, weeks, maybe even years, will be the deciding factor between victory and defeat. We will achieve victory, this I say not only as an Emperor, but as a citizen and soldier of our mighty empire, as a warrior fighting for the very future of our people."

He then gave the salute of the Empire, which was returned by the officers and even the senators.

"LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE!"

With this, the meeting was adjourned, the officers and senators filing out of the meeting, the Emperor himself leaving soon after.

Joan arrived in her personal room located in the palace, holding with her a black file, labeled 'CONFIDENTIAL', which she was to read herself regarding her mission.

Joan decided to get comfortable and placed the file on her desk, then went to get into more comfortable apparel, going off to shower quickly.

She showered at length, having deposited her important attire on a rack before entering with her change of clothes, shutting the door behind her.

"Wait, there won't be a-!"

"Not this time, but I will inform you all should a 'you know what' scene comes around, and for those who do decide to perve to those scenes, be they male or female," a large number of guns appeared from the ceiling and walls, Mirai just smiling as this happened, "I think you all can see where this is heading."

"Huh, why would you count us girls aaasssss …."

Wiess spoke before looking at Yang, along with the others in the room …

… seeing her have a far to suspicious smile that was a vain attempt at innocence but only made her look more guilty.

Then they saw Blake who had tried to send back a pen and notebook but was caught in the act.

The looks of dismay and disappointment from those in the room was scathing.

"Let's continue."

Joan soon exited the shower, wearing a simple shirt and tight pants as she dried her hair using her towel, entering her room, looking back at the desk to see the still sealed file, before moving to a coffee maker in the corner, the machine making a hot cup of sweetened hazelnut coffee, all done in mere moments.

"I want one of those …"

Joan sat at the desk, setting the coffee down on the desk as she opened the file.

"Hmm," Joan hummed as she looked over the papers, "so the enemy force will consist of at least three large scale fleets, all lead by a three vice-admirals and one high admiral, the high admiral is from the Old Empire, figures. Hmm, these force numbers are nothing to underestimate, and it looks like the vice-admirals are pretty competent, two Neo-Terran's and one …. A defector huh, so a traitor from our New Empire, he will probably go down fighting even if he loses, since even if he gets captured, treason warrants an automatic death penalty." Joan flipped through more papers which had fleet compositions and raised her eyebrow when she saw that the fleet possessed a ship from the distant past.

"A dreadnaught huh, well I guess it does fill a role here," Joan stated as she looked at what was a massive ship the was mostly an elongated cylinder the was open at the front but possessed multitudes of engines in the back, the massive ship at the center of the fleet. Joan remembered that dreadnaughts had been used in the past as shows of power, but were no more than heavily armed and armored, mobile bases made for particularly long-distance missions that were believed to take years but were largely phased out due to the staggering resource costs of just keeping a ship like that operational and were largely unnecessary when warp technology became for more accurate and efficient.

"Geez, this guys must really be desperate to bring these things back," Joan was bemused at what she read, but kept a serious demeanor, since the ship was still heavily armed, armored, and likely possessed vast reserve forces within, as well as any unknown large or even massive scale weaponry that it may have.

Joan then saw the header of the last few pages, "huh, looks like they are going to use a planet as their staging area, now let's see where … they …"

Joan let the papers she had been holding fall to the floor, a look of shock on her face as she looked at the paper, now gripping it with both hands as she gazed intensely at it.

"This, this is, can it really be," Joan said, shock evident in her voice, a view of the world appeared, revealing …

"REMNANT!"

"So, Remnant is part of this universe, and its under the threat of invasion," Ozpin noted, a serious look on his face.

"General, based on what we have seen, what possible countermeasures could be made to counter such an invasion," Winter stated, the others looking to the Atlesian general, but felt their hearts drop as he sported a haggard and defeated visage.

"Nothing, I can not think of a single possible means of countering such a force, Atlas barely has five hundred ships in the fleet, and we still have no means of achieving space flight, and even if we did, we would be horrifically outnumbered, outgunned, and outmaneuvered against a force, and that's not even taking the resulting fear and panic from such an invasion that would cause massive scale Grimm incursions all across Remnant," Ironwood heaved a sigh as he just looked at the screen, "and given what we have seen already, they would not only be able to easily deal with the four kingdoms, but would likely be able to even deal with the Grimm in their entirety, even with Salem."

The mood fell, but then Ruby spoke.

"But Jaune's daughter is coming, and she defeated a fleet even bigger than her own, did you all remember that, like with the lasers and explosions-!"

"That would all depend on when she arrives, because I can say with honesty, if that fleet arrives before she does, then I can estimate a time of about four days to a week …"

"Before what?" Yang stated.

"Before the four kingdoms are completely conquered, and I say this with the huntsmen in mind, who if you remember may be warriors, but are not soldiers, against a force of tat size, I do not see any real hope of victory … at all."

"Dang, thanks for dissing us all James, but yeah, I can take on any Grimm you throw at me, but a massive space fleet, that's way outside of fighting class, not that I won't fight them, even if it kills me," Qrow stated, nonchalant in his attitude, even at his own mortality.

"It's continuing."

"It's real, its actually real," Joan said, stunned as she flipped through the papers, which had close-ups of the planet, with the dragon-shaped continents in full view, as well as landing sites that were selected by the Empire, sites that were in the bottom area of the largest continent.

"Vacuo," Joan stated, now remembering her father's old stories, ones she had skeptically believed were real, but now saw were true.

KNOCK-KNOCK

"It's me Joan."

The voice of Diane at the door shook Joan from her thoughts, and she moved to the door and opened it, finding the girl in her sleeping attire, clutching several papers in her hand.

"So, it was all real, the things your dad had said," Diane said as she entered, the papers revealed to have been the same as Joan's, containing the same records, including the information of the planet, a world that was designated as Deemas-716, but to Joan and Diane, was known by the name Remnant.

"So, it was all real, what my father said, I honestly just thought that it was all just a fantastic story, now though," Joan looked at the paper of the planet, then she took a deep breath and said, "no, it doesn't matter if Remnant is real or not, what matters now is our duty to the Empire. Whatever we find on this world, we will face it as proud soldiers of the Empire, nothing less, nothing more."

Diane just chuckled at Joan's words, but stood firm as she said, "that's right, we will face whatever lies there, and we won't be facing it alone," Diane stated, Joan nodding at this both with firm looks of resolve in their eyes.

"Saying that, there is something else of importance, it was a cypher that I found in the file, could you look at it, it might be something -!"

Joan pushed herself up off the chair, surprising Diane, then …

Diane was left wide eyed, Joan embracing her and giving her a deep, passionate kiss, the papers falling from Diane's hand, showing the 'cypher' was just the words 'a deep kiss' written on the paper, obviously by Diane.

"Ooooohhhh," Nora said, enthralled by what she saw, "things are getting hot now."

"The amount of romance we will be seeing will be relatively brief, so don't get your hopes up to high Nora," a 'humph' from Nora being the only response, then several turrets appeared, "and everyone else, any thoughts that may or may not be more or less vulgar."

The men had wisely averted their gazes, but Yang was just looking with a 'shit-eating' grin, Wiess was looking through her fingers as she was torn between looking and not looking, Ruby was also more than a bit entranced, Blake was writing on her notepad, and Pyrrha was just looking a bit wistful (likely thinking about Jaune and herself in a passionate embrace).

"So then …."

BANG, BANG

Y+B, "Gya, Kya"

"…. Let us continue."

Diane was stunned for a bit, but reciprocated the move, hugging Joan and returning the kiss as well …

… for about 5 whole minutes.

They soon stopped, Joan with a loving yet teasing smirk while Diane now sported a strong blush on her cheeks, "geez, you can be really unfair, you know that Joan," the blush on Diane's face was strong.

The two soon retired for the night, getting just a bit more intimate as the night went on.

"We are approaching the ending, and are the Y and B conscious still," Mirai stated, turning to the group.

"Unfortunately," Weiss pointed to her teammates as she buried her head in her hands, Yang chuckling as she smirked, having started thinking about how the two girls were 'getting it on', while Blake was putting her perverted fantasies to paper, the large welts on their heads from the rubber bullets doing little to impede them.

"Haah, let's just continue."

Joan and her Commodore's, Julian and Diane, were walking along the hallway of Hraesvelger, Joan walking by saluting the crew as they saluted her and her advisors. The Hraesvelger, itself had left the shipyard and made its transition to warp.

"Well, looks like this is it, part of the largest operation since the Imperial-Alliance war, everything is running smoothly and efficiently, and that is good in my record," Joan stated, focusing on when her flagship arrives at the deployment site.

"Relax Ma'am, throughout our service you have proven yourself an excellent strategist and forward thinker, whatever we run into during our mission, we will not be facing it alone …"

Hraesvelger, dropped out of warp.

"… not even remotely alone," Diane finished, seeing the sight before her.

The force that was arrayed near one of the Empire's many shipyards, was a sight not seen since the old Empire days, fleets consisting of several hundred thousands of ships of multiple classes were arrayed into their respective fleet formations, with a unique flagship located at the center of each fleet, all ready to enter warp.

"We are getting into position ma'am," came of the voice of a one of the many operators on the ships bridge, the Hraesvelger coming to a halt in the middle of its formation, Joan gazing at the fleet she now had, as well as looking over at the fleet that would be going with her, led by a veteran admiral of the second war, having fought against both the Alliance and hardliners of the Old Empire, and was now willing to fight them again. The ship used by the Admiral was also a battleship-class like Joan's own ship but had a hammerhead shaped front and midsection with more laser and missile emplacements, the ship designated Mjöllnir.

A call then sounded through the fleet, a final speech from the Emperor, who himself had gone with the main forces to strike the heart of the Neo-Terran territories, giving the fleets one last strong affirmation as to the task they will all undertake, and the reasons why we all took the task …

… and every reason was a good reason.

"Warp drive ready ma'am, we will go on your command," came the word of the bridge crewman.

Joan nodded, before she made one final address to the crew.

"To every man and woman here, every one of you will soon be a part of history, taking part in what will be the largest operation that ever executed in the history of the New Galactic Empire, stand tall, stand proud, for the Emperor, FOR THE EMPIRE!"

"FOR THE EMPIRE!"

The call came through, the morale of the fleets forces was at its highest, the fleets now beginning to enter warp, the ships soon shooting away in pulses of light, with the fleet next to Joan's own fleet entering warp in a radiant pulse.

"All ships, commence warp!"

With those last words, the fleet soon entered warp, battleships, cruisers, carriers, destroyers, frigates and transports of every kind shot into warp, the fleets having all left the system …

… and headed off into the radiant black of the cosmos.

"That's it, that's the ending of this showing, shorter than the last one wasn't it," Mirai, stated, the group surprised at this fact.

"Wow really, huh," Yang said, "ah whatever, that was awesome, heck it was astounding, and yes I said that."

"I agree, it was quite a spectacle, though I am left wondering as to the fate of Remnant in that reality," Ozpin wondered.

"Don't worry, it will come up at a later time, I can assure you of that," Mirai then got up, stretching her limbs as she said, "we have about an hour till the next viewing, go visit summer, use the restroom, or just look at your quarters, because I assure you the next viewing will be a long one."

The group left soon after, and Mirai watched them go, but as she was about to leave, the screen came on one last time.

"Hmm?"

The view of a planet was shown, a world with continents resembling dragons in shape, and from orbit all seemed peaceful as the sun passed over the world.

Then the view zoomed in on one spot of the planet, specifically on the city of Vale …

… things were different.

KRAAA-KACK!

A single Nevermore flew through the skies over vale, the creature however was not in good shape, its body giving off a large amount of ash as it flew listlessly through the sky, appearing to be ill in a way, with multiple cracks on its mask.

The creature flew over the city of Vale, going over the wall that surrounded the city, a wall with multiple breaches in it, leading into the city, yet as the Grimm flew, the number of Grimm within Vale was not a high number, and every Grimm appeared to also have the same illness as the Nevermore, which proceeded to fly by the collapsed remains of Beacon tower, the whole building having been knocked down by an Atlas cruiser that had crashed into the building. The cruiser itself had no real damage minus the shattered remains of the Wyvern that had fallen on it, so the reason as to why it fell was a mystery.

The rest of the city appeared to be largely abandoned and eerily quiet, with only the sporadic sound of the Grimm to cut the silence, and large amounts of cars, trucks and airships had been left around the city, with the strange part being how only a few were damaged while most were in pristine condition yet had not been used, while some appeared to have simple stopped in the middle of the roads.

The view shifted as the Nevermore flew out of Vale, but was not starting to lose altitude as it fell from the sky, and as it lowered it began to brush the tops of the trees …

THWING

SKRAA

A heavy bolt shot from the ground and pierced the skull mask, destroying the Grimm's brain.

The creature slammed into the ground, corroding to nothing as it died, the Nevermore completely disappearing as it came to a stop before the shooter.

The shooter wore a tattered red cloak which fluttered in the breeze and held a large crossbow like weapon with a blade at its edge, looking at the deceased Grimm as it faded, leaving the bolt behind.

The figure reached to pick up the bolt, the hand in a long glove that went up the arm, and then a gust of wind blew the hood away, revealing the figure of a young woman with black-red hair, which reached to her mid-back, the face with a cut running along the side of her cheek, wearing a pair of goggles that she used to protect her eyes when firing her weapon.

The girl then removed the goggles, revealing her eyes to be heterochromatic, one eye was dull silver and seemed to be fading …

… while the other eye was deep red, the color of thick blood.

The girl had an expression that made it seem like she was having difficulty with comprehending something, and as she looked at the sky once more after retrieving the bolt, she was left wondering.

"Why, why is this happening …"

The girl just lowered her head and walked back into the forest, back her home as the scene faded.

"….."

Mirai just looked at the screen as it faded out, checking to see that no one was near the viewing theater when the scene had come up.

"Well, for another time."

With that Mirai left, leaving what she saw for later.

Authors note –

Hope this one was a good one, also trying to get some more regularity going, but this is not an easy process.

Hope you all are doing well, and I hope to have a new chapter up soon.