Chapter 30: "The Kelvin Incident" Pt. 3
I'm back bitches!
Ugh, sorry for the sort-of-hiatus. Had some problems with school (had to transfer as a result, pain in the ass), and now I have a job (good news: I got a new job! Which means getting to pay for my newish car [gift from my parents, thanks guys :)]). I even got a promotion, yay! So yeah, very busy time for me. And thanks everyone for your continued support, it really means a lot to me. Now, on with the show!
No reviews this time, felt a bit odd and unfair doing it after so long being gone.
Disclaimer in the prologue.
Meanwhile on board the enemy ship, Narada.
James had silently stepped out of his shuttlecraft down a ramp. He looked around to find himself in what looked like a large, misty, and damp hanger full of junk, crates, and rocks. It smelled strongly of oil and unprocessed ores.
Everyone felt a little grossed out by hat they were seeing.
"Is that supposed to be a mining ship?" Blake asks in disgust. "Looks more like a what you'd see in a dump truck."
"You will follow us." a gravelly voice shook him out of his observation, and he found himself facing two large Romulans dressed in what looked like rags and dirty trench coats. These weren't the Romulans he was used to seeing over his years of Starfleet service; they looked more like they were part of a motley gang of rejects (Coco: "Oh thank Oum. Would really suck if that's their official uniforms."). He furrowed his eyebrows, thinking of demanding a few answers, but they didn't look like they were in the mood to tolerate any resistance. Instead, he silently fell in step between the two apparent guards as they escorted him.
The trip was surprisingly short considering the enormous size of the ship he was on, but Ironwood already found himself in what looked like the ship's command center after navigating a few corridors and one lift. At this point, the escorts grabbed onto his arms none too gently to force him the rest of the way onto a raised platform. He was nearly pushed onto his knees, but managed to keep himself upright as he glared at the familiar Romulan that offered the 'cease-fire' earlier over the comm.
Qrow nodded at the defiance in the man. "Good to see your other's not a pushover. Though I'd probably just punch the asshole who took a shot at me."
James glared at the drunk at his little jab, and looked back at the screen. 'Still, as a Captain of a science vessel, it is nice to see that my other still has some iron in his spine.' He chuckled a bit at his little joke.
He then shifted his hardened gaze over to another Romulan man sitting nearby, slouched over, in a throne-like chair while holding a pike upright in his left hand. He was also bald, and built quite beefier than the first Romulan's lanky frame. His most distinctive feature, though, was the fierce-looking tribal-like tattoos adoring his forehead and cheeks. This man was the apparent leader of these Romulans, but he wasn't even sparing a glance for Ironwood as he seemed lost in thought.
James' eyebrow started to twitch. 'My other came aboard your ship at your orders. The least you can do is show a hint of acknowledgement.'
The man, despite having Romulan features, was immediately familiar to the audience.
Oz paled, seeing Hazel there, and apparently in charge of that massive ship. 'Well, that's not good.'
Salem hummed in surprise at seeing her subordinate as an alien.
Hazel's eyes widened, seeing himself sitting on that chair. "Huh, so I'm an alien here?" He played with that thought for a bit in his head before nodding in acceptance. 'I suppose that's fair. Haven't had much screen time since that horrible future.' He shivered a bit at remembering his allies' brutal deaths.
The first Romulan began speaking, apparently the one doing the talking for the two. (Coco: "What, too lazy to speak for yourself big man?")
"Look at this ship." he ordered as he somehow 'snatched' a 3D holographic image of a strange and futuristic-looking ship with some spinning appendages around its single engine from a nearby console, and 'tossed' it to hover in the air in front of Ironwood for him to look at it in confusion.
"Are you familiar with this craft?" the apparent second-in-command continued, uncaring of the human's obvious confusion. Ironwood ignored the question and hologram, and glared back. He understood if he answered their questions quickly, he'd be outliving his usefulness much sooner. He needed to give his ship more time.
Raven gave a nod of respect, along with every Arc in attendance.
James just sighed, knowing his other's time remaining in the land of the living was growing ever shorter. 'Please, just a few more minutes.'
"Who is your commander?" he demanded, before shifting his gaze to the Romulan on the chair. "Is it him?"
"I, Ayel, will speak for Captain Hazel." the first Romulan stated calmly.
"Then ask Captain Hazel what gives him the right to attack a Federation vessel unprovoked." Ironwood growled out, and that was enough to get Hazel to actually look at the human in the eyes for the first time in this exchange.
Cinder blinked in surprise. "Amazing." She looked at a now glaring Hazel. "Didn't think I'd ever see the day where you'd act so disrespectful Hazel."
Hazel grumbled at his other's rude behavior and Cinder's comment, while the children near him giggled at his dour look.
He kept quiet, though, and glanced to his second-in-command. They seemed to have a silent conversation with their eyes in an instant, before Ayel nodded slightly and moved back to the console to 'snatch' another 3D hologram and toss it in front of Ironwood like before. (Roman: "Wait, can he even speak?")
This time, it was an image of an elderly and stoic-looking male humanoid with graying hair cut in a bowl style and pointed ears. At first glance, the image looked like a Romulan, but Ironwood knew he was looking at a Vulcan instead. Vulcans normally didn't have the more pronounced eyebrow ridges like most Romulans did.
"Do you know the location of Ambassador Ozpin?" Ayel asked, his tone demanding an answer.
Ozpin sighed, "Of course."
Salem was shaking her head in slight disappointment. 'So, he managed to ruin the life of another version of dear Hazel eh? I wonder how many universes he managed to do that.' She glanced at Hazel who was taking deep breaths to calm himself. 'How many times must you meddle Ozpin?'
Ironwood, at this moment, had this feeling that he and his ship had stumbled into something that went far beyond anything he would understand. Knowing he couldn't deflect any more, he instead wasted as much time as he could trying to 'remember' if he saw this man anywhere.
"I am...unfamiliar with Ambassador Ozpin." he answered finally when he noted the two Romulans' patience was running thin. A long pause followed, before Ayel finally asked something that truly baffled him.
"What is the current stardate?"
"Stardate?" he repeated in confusion, wondering why he was being asked that question. Shouldn't they already know? "2233.04." he answered as if that was obvious.
"Just where are you from?" Ironwood had to ask, now realizing these Romulans weren't in any way associated with the rest of their people for some reason.
Unfortunately for him, it seemed that they got all the answers they needed, since that was when Hazel's face darkened into a murderous glare. Grabbing a nearby pole, he rose up from his seat. With a loud *shink*, it extended and deployed several ominous-looking blades at one end, getting Ironwood to look at him in shock. Before the captain could even react, Hazel roared a blood-curdling war cry as he leapt off his chair toward the human in one motion, and reared back his pike for an attack.
James Ironwood could barely get a gasp out when the weapon violently impaled his chest, and darkness took him almost immediately afterward.
The heroes flinched at this, but were prepared for it this time. They knew the man didn't have long when he agreed to come aboard that ship, and were just hoping that he managed to buy the people on the Kelvin enough time.
Most of the Huntsmen and those from Atlas stood up and gave a final salute to the brave captain who sacrificed his life for his crew. Qrow just lifted his flask in respect.
'I hope I've given Jaune enough time.' was his final thought.
'Me too.' James and several others thought.
Back on the USS Kelvin
A low tone sounded out in the silent bridge as Captain Ironwood's biometric readings flatlined, showing him to be deceased.
"Damn it, James." Jaune cursed silently. There was no time to grieve as alarms immediately blared up around the bridge.
"Sir! They've locked on to us again. They're launching!" Neptune announced, much to then heroes' fear.
"Bravo-Six maneuver, and launch full spread!" Jaune ordered sharply as the ship began to evade more incoming torpedoes while every one of their working weapons began firing back.
On the viewscreen, everyone could see the front hull of the ship's saucer section lighting up with the pale blue of photon torpedoes launching in groups and the searing red glare of multiple phaser beams tracking incoming enemy torpedoes through space. While they still took several hits even with all weapons firing at will, Jaune was satisfied to see quite a few of their own torpedoes had hit their marks on the enemy ship, knocking out some of their launchers. As a result, fewer torpedoes were now launching toward the Kelvin.
James nodded, "Smart of you Mr. Arc." His eyes narrowed at the damage done to the Kelvin, "Let's hope it's enough."
Although the ship was putting up a valiant effort, it was still slowly getting overwhelmed. When a particularly nasty hit resulted in an explosion that rocked the bridge and knocked several crewmen, including Ren, to the floor, Jaune decided they've stayed on this ship long enough. He moved to Ren who was struggling to get off the floor, apparently dazed and bleeding from a nasty head wound. (Nora: "Oh no, Renny!") After kneeling down to do a quick check, he concluded his friend had a concussion.
Nora growled, wishing she was there. 'Though what good could I do in space?' Ren reached over and gently grabbed one of her clenching hands, silently calming her down.
Frigga and Odin looked at the interaction, and softly smiled. 'Oh my, do I hear wedding bells?' Frigga thought with a smirk as she began to make plans.
"You'll need to evacuate with the others. I'm sorry, but you can't stay here any longer with that injury." he ordered as he pulled Ren to his feet.
"Jaune, I can still-!" Ren tried to protest, but Jaune wasn't allowing him any time to speak.
"I'm issuing General Order 13!" he shouted authoritatively to the whole room as he slung Ren's arm around his shoulder. "We're evacuating NOW!"
Everyone around him responded with a loud "Yes sir!" as they all begin to file out of the sparkling and burning bridge. He passed his wounded friend off to Neptune.
"Jaune, you need to come with us." Ren pleaded as he kept a grip on Jaune's shirt, knowing him well enough that he'd make sure to be the absolute last man off this ship before anyone else.
"I have to ensure everyone else makes it off safe, including my wife and baby. You weren't even supposed to on board, so you need to get back home to your wife and kid alive, Ren. Until I know everyone alive gets away, I'm not moving from this spot." Jaune replied back firmly as he gently pried Ren's hand off, already set in his decision.
Nora bowed her head as tears started to fall. 'Thank you Jaune.' She thought as she rubbed her stomach with her free hand.
Ren took deep breaths as he and Pyrrha were preparing themselves for the worst, as were their friends.
Yang clenched her eyes shut, praying that Jaune would make it out of there. 'Please, for our child, come back to me.' Ruby gave her a side hug, hoping to calm her down.
"Just try to make it out alive, okay?" Ren sighed, and gave Jaune a one-armed hug goodbye, before he left with Neptune. Jaune turned around to glance out the viewscreen, which was lighting up with weapon fire and explosions across the Kelvin's hull as the ship's auto-targeting program spent the rest of its torpedoes on disabling as many of the enemy's launchers as they could. He let out a sigh, and sat down on his chair to tap on the intercom for a ship-wide announcement.
"All decks, this is the Captain speaking. Begin evacuating the ship immediately."
Outside the sickbay
"Get to your designated shuttlecraft. Repeat. Evacuate…" Jaune's voice continued to boom throughout the entire ship, and it definitely got one Yang Arc's attention as she was being wheeled out of sickbay by Velvet and Doctor Laxi.
"That's Jaune's voice! What's happening?!" she exclaimed as she panted through another powerful contraction.
"You'll have to deliver in the shuttle." the doctor stated, before ordering Velvet to push Yang's wheelchair to their shuttle with a firm 'Go!'.
Throughout the entire ship, every able crewman were streaming through corridors toward their shuttles, with many helping carry their injured comrades. Unfortunately for Chief Engineer Sun Wukong, he was engulfed in a massive explosion just as he was leaving the engineering section. To his credit, he made sure he was absolutely the last one out of that section, so he was the only one that perished.
The students winced at his death, while the Huntsmen gave a nod of respect for his sacrifice.
As Yang was being wheeled toward her shuttle, she snatched a communicator off Velvet.
"Jaune!"
A palpable sigh of absolute relief was heard from the device.
"Yang, you're okay! Thank the Brothers. I have medical shuttle 37 on standby. Get to it now. Can you do that?"
Despite the situation, Saphron couldn't help scowling at her little brother for thanking those heathen gods. 'You're an Arc, Jaune. Don't thank them for anything!'
"We're on our way there, captain." Velvet replied confidently as she was busy pushing through the crowd.
"Y-yeah, what she said." Yang managed to respond as she wrapped her free arm protectively around her belly while she was being wheeled through absolute chaos and fire. (Blake: "All this stress can't be good for the baby.")
"Everything's gonna be okay, Yang. Do exactly as I say. Shuttle 37." Jaune repeated, almost in a frantic tone as he prayed silently for his wife and their child to make it to safety at last.
"Jaune, it's coming." Yang exclaimed. "Our baby, it's coming now!"
"I'm on my way." her husband affirmed after a surprised pause.
Yang opened her eyes, thinking that he would keep his word. 'Please hurry.'
Bridge
Jaune was now all alone on the bridge. After hearing that his wife was alright for the moment, he wanted nothing more than to be by her side as they welcome their new child together. With that in mind, he moved up to the helm to begin preparing the automation program that Neptune set up to help protect the evacuating shuttles. As he typed in the command and was about to execute it, a torpedo hit on the hull close to the bridge made the room give a violent lurch that nearly knocked Jaune away from the console (Pyrrha: "Oh no, Jaune!"). The entire room then flared up with sparks and fire for a moment, blinding him a bit. When he regained his sight, his heart sank.
Displayed prominently on the helm console's display was a message.
AUTOPILOT MALFUNCTION
MANUAL ONLY
As if to force him to accept this heartbreaking news, a computerized voice spoke from the console.
"This command cannot be executed. Explanation: autopilot function has been disabled, and manual input is required." the monotone voice stated, as if driving the point home through Jaune's chest.
A cold feeling began washing over the heroes and all of Jaune's family. They didn't like the sounds of this.
He roared wordlessly and slammed his fists on the console, blinking back frustrated tears. He then paced back and forth rapidly with an anguished expression for a long moment, oblivious to the entire bridge going up in smoke and sparks around him. That was all the time he took to stop and set his jaw in firm resolve, glare hatefully at the looming enemy ship on the viewscreen, before his hands immediately began moving across the console to take manual control of the ship.
He would've loved nothing more than to just leave the bridge and get on the shuttle with his wife and child. He could've taken the chance now, but with no one on board to maneuver the Kelvin between the enemy and the escaping shuttles, it was guaranteed that at least half of the evacuating group would be picked off easily enough. He couldn't just risk hoping that his shuttle, with his wife and child onboard as well, would be one of those that made it out. Even if their shuttle did make it out, he'd never be able to look his wife and child in the eyes, even twenty years later, and tell them with total honesty that he did everything he could to give rest of the Kelvin crew their chance at living.
The heroes gasped.
The villains shook their heads, though the mothers held their children closer to them as they blushed a bit at Jaune's dedication.
Yang burst into tears, knowing now that he wouldn't be coming back. Her family minus Raven went to embrace her as she cursed the aliens for this. 'Damn you. You stupid, loyal idiot.'
Jaune's children felt their hearts break, knowing their daddy was not going to make it out of the doomed ship.
The older Huntsmen bowed his head in respect.
Raven, Vernal, and Sienna hugged their daughters as they looked on in sadness and respect. Their little girls glared at Hazel, blaming him for their dad's certain death.
His decision was just in time as the first of many shuttles began to leave the hanger out the back of the cylindrical secondary hull, and the Kelvin immediately maneuvered into the path of several torpedoes that would've ripped apart the small craft like it was paper. After the first craft got away safely, it was like a dam burst as the rest of the shuttles began streaming out of the hanger with the large ship valiantly shooting down and absorbing all the torpedoes meant for them.
"Oh no you don't, you bastards." Jaune glared out the viewscreen as his ship continued to absorb the enemy fire, "If you want them, you'll have to go through me!"
Meanwhile, with Yang
"CLEAR THOSE DECKS NOW! GET TO THE SHUTTLES! MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!" one crewman roared as he directed traffic toward the hanger. Among the crowd streaming through the sparkling and steaming corridor was Velvet pushing a panting Yang in her wheelchair as she strained to try not to deliver her baby right there.
She let out a pained scream as she clutched around her belly. "That was a big one!"
"Just keep breathing. You'll be fine, Yang." Velvet replied in a calm tone as the medical team finally reached the final corridor toward their designated shuttle.
"And the baby too right?!" Yang asks in worry for her other's child while clutching onto her family.
"And the baby too, right!?" Yang was only concerned about her child's health at the moment.
Yang nodded, not even a tiny bit embarrassed that her other asked the same question as she and her family waited for the reply.
"And the baby, too." The rabbit-eared brunette replied kindly as she wheeled Yang into the shuttle, much to both of the blondes' relief. Doctor Laxi and several other medical technicians were right behind them as she typed a few commands on a nearby wall terminal to confirm that the shuttle was now occupied. They all immediately entered the shuttle followed by Yatsuhashi, their assigned pilot.
While the large man was taking the helm, the medical staff was helping a groaning Yang from the chair onto a bed in the rear who was clearly holding on by a few last threads now. Yatsuhashi was starting up the shuttle and doing checks when the comm beeped.
"Captain to shuttle 37. Is my wife onboard?" Jaune's voice spoke firmly, having seen on his command terminal that the shuttle was now occupied.
"Yes sir, she is." Yatsuhashi's reply was immediate, expecting Jaune to be on his way with that confirmation.
"I need you to go now. Do you hear me?"
Yang shed a few tears, hugging an equally sad Ruby close as she looks at the screen. Jaune's friends and family lower their heads in sadness.
The large man paused in his flight check, not believing what he heard. "We're waiting on you, sir."
"No, this can't wait. Just go. Take off immediately." Jaune's response was firm and unyielding. Yatsuhashi paused again to argue, but his captain continued with a tone of finality. "This is an order."
The large man allowed a pained expression, before yielding.
"Yes, sir." he replied curtly, his tone clearly implying he didn't like the order as his hands moved across the controls.
Most of the heroes saluted the brave sacrifice of the Captain, hoping that he at least protects the escaping crew.
The children cried at their dad's orders, knowing that he would soon be killed. They all hug their moms close for some comfort.
The shuttle came to life and began moving, and Yang knew something was wrong. She looked like she was about to fight the pilot for the controls as she tried to get off the bed.
"No, wait! We can't go yet! He's not here!" she cried in desperation while the staff had to keep her pinned to the bed. "Please stop! STOP!" she continued to struggle even as the shuttle took off, following the rest of the evacuating crafts out of the hanger.
The mothers' hearts went out to the young woman onscreen. The universe even started out all happy too, with the news of a happy couple soon receiving a child. Now said couple will soon be separated forever.
On the bridge
Jaune was now busy helping to aim all of the working phaser banks toward any incoming torpedoes he could find. With the aid of the tactical system's auto-targeting, he was able to keep any incoming torpedo off the evacuating shuttles. So far, none of the escaping crafts were destroyed thanks to his efforts, and he aimed to keep it that way until every last one of his crew got away.
"Jaune? The shuttle's leaving. W-where are you?" Yang's tremulous voice over the intercom was almost enough to have him make a beeline for her and damn the consequences, but he took a breath to steady his resolve.
"Yang... Sweetheart, listen to me."
Back in the escape shuttle, Yang's expression turned to shocked anguish as she immediately understood from Jaune's tone. Meanwhile, her last hold on the baby in her womb slipped, and it was now forcing its way out. She managed to ignore the pain as she focused on Jaune's voice.
"I...I'm not gonna be there."
"No." Yang's pained whimper made Jaune feel like the worst human to exist.
"I'm sorry, but the autopilot's out and this is the only way any of you can survive."
"A-are you still on the ship? You have to be here! The baby's coming!" Yang sobbed, her heart breaking even as she was having to push, beginning the delivery in the middle of the Kelvin's destruction.
The pain of this, all of it, no one could stop the tears from flowing. Some, like Saphron and Sienna, looked away while closing their eyes in grief; others looked on as they watched the scene play out.
"The shuttles will never make it if I don't fight them off." Jaune replied firmly, feeling a new stab into his heart with each of Yang's heartbroken sob.
"Jaune...I can't do this without you!" Yang pleaded, desperately wishing for her husband to be by her side this instant.
"Please, Jaune." Yang whispered. "I can't do this alone."
"Yang, I'm sorry I can't keep my promise to stay by your side when we got married, but we both knew you've always been much stronger than me. You'll be alright without me there, and I want you to live for yourself and our new baby. Be happy, and at least make sure our child will know who I was in the future." Jaune's loving and soothing tone was enough to lessen both Yangs' anguish a little. "Besides, I did promise I'd do my best to make sure our baby's future happens. That's one promise I intend to keep, Yang."
Yang sobbed, damning him for dying on her. 'You fucking asshole, why? Why did you have to make me love you?' She looked down at the tiara that she held in her hands. She wanted to throw it away, to forget that she wanted it in the first place. "I promise." She remembered his words, those damned words. 'He promised make sure our child has a future.' She caressed the metal as she felt an odd sense of peace looking at the thing. Her eyes blazed with new determination, and after wiping her tears away, placed it back on her head. 'I promise, if we ever have a future together, that I will be right by your side as we protect our child's future.'
Yang let out a strangled sob, and allowed a bitter chuckle even as she pushed a little more of her baby out. For her, the pain of giving birth didn't register much next to the agony in her heart of eventually losing her beloved husband.
"I wish you didn't have to say that. You Arcs and your damn promises." she whispered in resignation.
Many of the children flinched, along with Saphron. It was sort of a Clan thing to keep their promises.
Yang sighed, but had already accepted her responsibility to watch his back. 'Seriously, it's like I have 2 Ruby's now.'
Doctor Laxi, in between her spread legs and prepared to receive the newborn, had on a solemn expression as she felt sympathy for her patient's inevitable loss, but she had to do her job.
"Okay, I need you to push now." she stated in a quiet but firm tone, knowing this would do it. Yang, now fully focused on the birth, screamed in painful exertion as she gave one final push.
The mothers were glad that the alien doctor wasn't getting sidetracked from delivering the baby.
The men all cringed at the screams the woman was making, feeling very uncomfortable seeing the miracle of childbirth right now since this was a sort of private moment.
Meanwhile, Jaune had to tune out the baby delivery going on over the intercom as he noted a massive wave of enemy torpedoes heading towards the shuttles. He expertly maneuvered the Kelvin into most of the incoming torpedoes' paths, rattling the entire ship around him from their impacts, and used whatever working phasers he had left on the ones that managed to slip by. By some miracle, he managed to immediately strike down every torpedo that aimed for the evacuating crew, except for one that zeroed in on the final shuttle that just left the hanger, much to his horror. His heart felt like it was in his throat as his hands desperately blurred across the console to find any working phaser bank while the last torpedo was inching agonizingly close to the rapidly retreating shuttle.
James sucked in a breath. "Come on, you can do it." He muttered in desperation, something that the students did as well.
Finally, he found and fired one aft phaser bank that shot out a brilliant red beam across space for an instant, before slicing apart the final projectile right at the edge of its effective range. The torpedo then disintegrated harmlessly only mere meters from its target. With that final strike, all shuttles were now safely away, and not a single one were lost in the evacuation.
James fell back to his seat, happy that the crew escaped. He nodded at the man, "Damn fine job there, Captain." Winter and the other heroes nodded in agreement, glad that he was able to save everyone.
Jaune would never know that he had just saved the lives of his wife and child who were on board that last shuttle.
Many felt a shiver of fear at that little nugget of information.
"Holy shit, what were the chances?" Mercury muttered in disbelief, Emerald nodding as she held her twins close.
Whitley sucked in a breath, "Oh dear, imagine if he was just a second too slow." Willow gulped, hugging her children close as she shuddered in fear, much to their embarrassment.
"Just in time, too." The blonde whispered to himself in relief as he glanced down at the now useless tactical console, its display showing all weapon systems were now offline (Mercury: "You gotta be kidding me, now they turn off?"). He was also satisfied to note on a nearby console that there were no more life signs on this doomed ship aside from himself now. He moved over to the helm console, and took a moment to glare in spite at the enormous enemy ship filling the flickering viewscreen. With a growl, he typed on the console to set up his final action as the Kelvin's captain.
On the flickering viewscreen, the HUD formed a projected flight path right into the center of the large ship's 'maw', and a 'Collision Warning!' message flashed ominously next to it.
Many paled, knowing what the man was planning to do.
"Is he really-?" Glynda stopped herself from finishing her question as she places a hand over her mouth in horror.
Ozpin solemnly nods, "It's the only way for his family to make out of there alive." He closes his eyes, not liking his favorite student going out like this. "Without weapons, he doesn't have anything that can stop the enemy missiles from hitting those shuttles."
The heroes didn't like this, but knew that sacrifice would sometimes be needed to save people. Summer sighs in regret as she hugs her children. 'Just in the job of being a hero: A willingness to sacrifice yourself for the good of the innocent.'
"You're going to get it right up your assholes, you green-blooded pointy-eared bastards." He growled quietly as he slammed the throttle forward so hard he almost broke it.
Sienna snorts in amusement, even as tears fall from her eyes.
Vernal and Raven grinned at the glaring figure, loving how even in the face of death their man doesn't flinch or beg. "Yeah, boldly go where no man's gone before!"
Hearing that broke some of the heavy atmosphere as a few snorted in laughter.
Nora nodded at the declaration. "Yeah…" She stand up, "The MILF's are right!" Ignoring the shouts of "Excuse me?!" from Yang & Raven, and grinning at Robin's and Amber's laughter, she points towards the screen. "Go fearless leader! Show those alien jerks who's boss!" Taking a deep breath, and grin still in place, she does a fist pump. "And show them why it's not a smart idea to fuck with an Arc!"
The Arcs gave shouts of agreement, spurred on by Nora's little speech. "Go daddy!" "Fuck their shit up!" and "Kill their asses!" were heard as the heroes and a few villains joined in.
Out in space, the heavily wounded Kelvin's impulse engines on the stern of its main hull flared an angry red as they roared to life like it was the ship's final war cry. It then quickly accelerated toward the large enemy ship for one last charge in an effort to cripple it. The ship shrugged off all incoming torpedoes when the enemy realized what was happening and desperately tried to destroy it. However, it was too late; the Kelvin had already gotten too close for the torpedoes to be effective anymore.
Jaune sighed in exhaustion as he eased back into his captain's chair, the entire ship beginning to fall apart around him from the strain of going so fast with the amount of damage it had taken. He felt completely drained; he had already accepted his fate and that seemed to take all the strength out of him as he stared forward with almost unfocused eyes at the viewscreen, watching the enemy ship's menacing spires surround all around his ship as if it was a beast's mouth biting down on him. Little did the 'beast' know it was going to get a bad case of indigestion as a result.
Yang glared, "Hope you bastards are hungry, 'cause my hubby's got one hell of a feast for ya!"
Despite his upcoming end being prominent in his mind, he was happy that he had done his job as a ship captain. He protected his crew, and more importantly, his wife and child. He couldn't ask for anything more.
The parents nodded, feeling the same way.
As he blankly watched the time to impact - just passing sixty seconds left- ticking down on the viewscreen like it was the countdown to his death, a soft crying was coming in through the intercom, feeling like a balm to his soul. He couldn't help but smile joyously as his previously exhausted expression cleared away completely, feeling like everything he did today was worth it as he listened to the cries of his and Yang's newborn child.
"It's always worth it." Many of the fathers said, each of them remembering how their little treasures were born, and how it felt the first time holding them in their arms was.
In the shuttle, Yang was exhausted and in anguish about her husband's upcoming fate, but she was also smiling joyously as she accepted the crying baby, wrapped in a bundle, from Doctor Laxi into her arms. The baby stopped crying at that point, as if knowing it was safe. The new mother was smiling and cooing softly as she stared lovingly down at her new child.
"W-what is it?" Jaune asked after a moment, his voice coming in through the shuttle's intercom.
"It's a boy." Yang whispered as she held their newborn son close.
Coco smiled, "So he was right." She teared up a bit at the beautiful, yet tragic, moment.
"A boy?" he had to smile wider at that. "Tell me about him."
"He's so beautiful, and healthy." she sobbed half in joy and half in anguish. "Jaune, you should be here."
Jaune swallowed a painful lump in his throat as he heard that. He wanted to say so much, but there wasn't much time left as the viewscreen's time to impact display ticked past thirty second left.
"What are we gonna call him?" The new father wanted to at least be there for naming their child, if nothing else. Yang sniffled, understanding her husband's rush.
"We can name him after your father." she suggested.
Saphron sniffled a bit with a smile, "That's a terrible idea." She muttered as Terra gently hugged her.
" 'Richard'?" Jaune had to chuckle. "You kidding me? No, that's the worst." he paused for a moment. "And I'm sure you'd say the same if I suggested your dad."
Yang scoffed softly as she caressed her baby's head lightly. "Yeah, no 'Tai' either, country boy. One of him is enough."
"Tai's a great name." Tai grinned a bit, trying to make the scene a bit less devastating.
It worked as Yang and Ruby chuckled. "That's an awful name, dad." Yang said with a few tears. Ruby nodded, "Y-Yeah, if anything it should be after a gem, like mine." She grinned as she wiped her own tears away.
"Let's name him after your grandfather. Let's call him Ryujin." (1) Jaune suggested as he watched the impact timer tick past fifteen second, and the enemy ship's main hull was now filling the entire viewscreen.
"Named after my old pops huh?" Tai hugged his children close in pride, "I think I can be cool with that."
"Ryujin. Okay. Ryujin it is." Yang whispered in acceptance, knowing this would be the last thing her husband would ever decide for their child. In addition, the name just seemed to click in both parents' minds as the one that would fit their new child perfectly, despite the rush. (Yang: "Oh yeah, a badass name for a child with a badass mom.")
Outside, the Kelvin was already beginning to break into large pieces as it got closer to the enemy ship's main hull, but all the pieces' friction-less momentum in the vacuum were still carrying them toward their target as Jaune intended.
Inside, the captain watched the sinister black hull of the enemy ship looming uncomfortably close on the viewscreen, and he swore he could see the whites of any Romulans' eyes if they happened to be looking out their viewports at the incoming wreckage.
"Sweetheart, can you hear me?" Jaune spoke quickly as he braced himself into his chair.
"I can hear you!" Both Yangs replied, ready to hear her husband's final words.
"I love you so much, baby. I love y-!" A heart-wrenching explosion filled the bridge as flames engulfed Jaune.
Everyone flinched at the explosion engulfing him and the room.
The intercom broadcasted its Captain's final words, before the transmission abruptly cut out. Yang gasped softly, the only sound being made in the deathly silent shuttle. She dared herself to glance out the shuttle's rear viewport to catch sight of a huge fireball impacting against the massive ship's main hull. For a moment, the enemy ship didn't seem affected by the suicide charge, but then it began to drift erratically through space away from the retreating shuttles. It apparently lost power.
James and the other Huntsmen rose up and gave a salute to the man who sacrificed himself for his people.
Saphron bowed her head, "May the Pillars guide you on your next journey, baby brother." Robin and Altani bowed their heads at the little prayer. Even the other children, even if they didn't know why.
Yang closed her eyes, "May the Pillars protect you." She didn't know why she said that, but felt it was appropriate, even more so when she saw the other Arcs look at her with thanks.
Willow sighed in remorse, wondering if Jacques would do the same if he was in Jaune's shows. She scoffed at the idea, 'As if he would risk his oh so precious life in the first place. He'd probably be one of the first to get inside the escape shuttles.'
When the Kelvin crashed into the Narada, its shielding actually held, but it also absorbed a massive feedback that was surging back toward the ship's power core. The computer had to shut everything down temporarily lest this feedback cause a chain reaction that could've resulted in a catastrophic failure across multiple systems. So the Romulans couldn't go after the shuttles to pick them off even if they wanted to. Instead, they would recover and retreat into the unexplored regions of the galaxy's Beta Quadrant to lick their wounds and return one day to complete its mysterious mission in the future.
At this Yang scowled. "Oh yeah? Well my other's still kicking. And her son, my son, will also be ready to take you on." She gave a savage grin, "So bring it on, we'll both be there to kick your asses back to wherever the fuck you came from."
Saphron grinned, "Spoken like a true Arc." She bows her head to a happy Yang, while ignoring the glares aimed at the younger blonde.
Yang sobbed softly as she finally realized her husband was truly gone, and gazed down at her beautiful son in her arms. The baby was oddly silent, as if sensing the solemn mood in the shuttle. But, despite still being mostly blind from the recent birth, he managed to find and squeeze one of Yang's fingers with surprising strength. She smiled brokenly with tears streaming down her cheeks, feeling like her new son was already trying to comfort his mother.
The mothers all cooed at the baby's actions, while the fathers chuckled at the little Arc's act of comfort.
Doctor Laxi watched in solemn silence, her big eyes watering as she struggled to keep herself from breaking down. Instead, she forced herself to watch Yang's and the baby's vitals closely on a nearby display for something to occupy herself with.
Yatsuhashi was silent as he focused on piloting the shuttle, but anyone could see his hands were trembling, and a tear streaking its way down one of his cheeks. A tearful Velvet sat at Yang's bedside to offer her a consoling hug, and the blonde accepted easily enough with both women crying bitterly for those who died in this senseless attack.
In another shuttle, Ren, whose head was heavily bandaged, slammed his fist against the bulkhead with gritted teeth and watery eyes. He had just watched his old friend die to save the rest of the crew, and he had been helpless to change anything. He swore to himself he would never be that helpless again in the future. It was finally time to consider changing fields from science to command so he could make more of a difference as a ship captain in the future, and make sure nothing like this tragedy would happen again on his watch.
Ren nods, looking at Yang out of the corner of his eye. "I know my other will also be there to help your son, Yang."
Yang nods in gratitude, "Thanks Ren."
Out in space, the audience could see the disabled enemy ship floating aimlessly away from the escaping shuttles in the harsh glare of the red dwarf. Over eight hundred crew members were still alive thanks to the efforts of James Ironwood and Jaune Arc. This should have felt like a victory against such overwhelming odds, but each and every single one of the surviving crew members, especially Yang and Ren, felt the cost was too high.
Winter winced, "I hope they overcome this tragedy."
James smiled a bit, "I wouldn't worry for them, I'm sure they will pull from this stronger."
Jack, taking pity on them, decided to pause the viewing so that they could recollect themselves.
END
Man, glad that's done.
Now I've had a lot of people asking me this: Is Kirk from this Universe going to show up in the Nexus? The answer is no. The only children that are supposed to show up are those from Possible Futures (as in those who are actually likely to be born within their own Universe [that's why Finch won't be showing up, this Winter and Qrow hate each other]). Though that does mean a version of Yang's son will show up in the future.
The only reason Lucy and her sisters showed up was because of a gift a Reader gave to the mothers, and those mothers didn't really have all too much for variety. Neo just had different ways to have Ice Cream, Emerald had a plethora of pistols, and Vernal barely got anything. I had to do something to have the gifts as interesting as I could. Robin, Altani, and Alice were always meant to show up because they were from possible futures. So yeah, sorry but this version of Kirk will not be showing up.
Speaking of gifts, *Ring* *Ring*, it's time for the Holiday rush, and everything's half on! Now, I know I would give a list of the people in the Nexus for you guys to give gifts to, however, I'm changing it up a bit. Since there are way too many to properly organize, I'm making it so that every character gets 2 gifts each instead of 4. Sucks I know, however, there are a crap ton more people to deliver. Now, here's the list:
Ruby (XX)
Weiss (XX)
Blake (XX)
Yang (XX)
Nora (XX)
Zwei (XX)
Pyrrha (XX)
Ren (XX)
Glynda (XX)
Tai (XX)
Penny (XX)
Winter (XX)
Sienna (XX)
Adam/Eve (XX)
Ilia (XX)
Qrow (XX)
Ozpin (XX)
Velvet (XX)
Coco (XX)
Adrian (XX)
Saphron (XX)
Terra (XX)
Raven (XX)
Vernal (XX)
James (XX)
Salem (XX)
Tyrian (XX)
Neo (XX)
Roman (XX)
Hazel (XX)
Watts (XX)
Cinder (XX)
Emerald (XX)
Mercury (XX)
Jack (XX)
Lucy (XX)
Peridot (XX)
Garnet (XX)
Amber (XX)
Robin (XX)
Altani (XX)
Alice (XX)
Frigga (XX)
Odin (XX)
Ghira (XX)
Kali (XX)
Whitley (XX)
Willow (XX)
Klein (XX)
Maria (XX)
Chibi Blake (XX)
As you can see, there's 16 new people on this list, so 2 presents max for each (and no, the other pets don't count, the list is long enough without that on my brain [Zwei's the exception 'cause he was here first]). Now, you all have the same chance, but like before I want actual names to go with the gifts, so any 'Guest' will be ignored. This is for me to make sure everyone has a fair shot (won't know if any guests are the same people after all). That being said, first come, first serve. PMing and reviews are both acceptable (no responses to other reviews will be posted 'till after the Holiday chapter though, too busy with the gifts). As before, you all get 4 chances to give a single gift to a character, that way if some of your choices are filled, you still have options. One more thing! Since the holiday is fast approaching and I don't have a whole month like before, I won't be able to post the Holiday chapter on the 25th like I did last time. Now, let the gift-giving commence!
List of current Jaune's children in the Nexus:
Neo: Lucy
Emerald: Peridot & Garnet
Vernal: Amber
Raven: Robin
Sienna: Altani
Glynda: Alice
1. Ryujin – translates to Dragon God.