Howdy, folks! Well, this chapter took a lot of work to get right, but I think it turned out well. Plus, my desktop computer has been fixed, so I can now get back to playing my Minecraft modded survival. Man, I love that game.
Anyways, some big Rooster Teeth news! The world premiere of their movie, "Lazer Team", is coming in September! It's going to take place at a film festival in Austin. I wish I could go, that movie looks hilarious already, especially Gavin Free's American accent. Michael Jones is pretty great, too.
Speaking of Michael Jones, he was pretty good in the latest dubbed episodes of Fairy Tail. Additionally, Babara Dunkleman, who plays Yang in RWBY, did great as Cosmos. It's a shame that her character didn't say any bad puns, that would have made it even better.
I don't own RWBY or Sonic. Enjoy!
Atlesian airship hovering over Beacon airspace, 12:00 p.m.
"Anybody have any ideas on what this is all about?" asked Silver.
All of the Mobians had gathered in a meeting room of sorts on the airship. Teams RWBY and JNPR were there as well, and all were sitting on chairs.
"Maybe he'll explain what happened to the first moon mission that was considered a failure," said Weiss. "It certainly is clouded in mystery."
Aeromi projected herself on the table. "Tell me about it. It's so classified, not even a 'Smart' A.I. like myself can get through the firewalls to find out."
"I just hope it isn't anything scary…" murmured Jaune. Pyrrha squeezed his hand reassuringly.
Ironwood walked in, escorted by two of the latest models of Atlesian Knights. "Thank you for coming. I know you're anxious to begin, but can you please tell me your names?" Everyone introduced themselves, and the general's gaze lingered on Ruby and Yang. "Hm… Are you two related to a man named Qrow?"
"He's our uncle," answered Ruby cheerfully. "He taught me how to use the scythe."
"Small human female is most proficient with the use of it," droned Omega. Everyone else nodded their agreement with his comment, making Ruby blush from the praise.
"How do you know our uncle?" asked Yang curiously.
Ironwood shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't answer that right now. I'm not at liberty to reveal anything." Before they could object, Ironwood held up a hand. "However, I can reveal information that may be vital to your mission to retrieve the Chaos Emerald on the moon."
Everyone settled back in their chairs as Ironwood inserted a disc into a podium at the front of the room. "What you are about to see is highly classified. If word of this gets out, I won't hesitate to put any of you in jail."
"I'm not sure you could keep us in any place for long," commented Knuckles.
Rouge rolled her eyes. "I think he was just trying to make a point, hon."
Ironwood made a screen come down from the ceiling and dimmed the lights. "This is the point of view footage of the astronaut James Ironwood about twenty years ago, during the first mission."
The gathered Mobians and humans stared at him in shock. "You were one of the astronauts?" asked Tails.
"Yes, that's right." He sighed. "I'll just be outside. I'll admit, this is very traumatic for me." He exited the room as the video started playing.
The moon, 20 years ago...
"Captain James Ironwood, Log 2." A younger Ironwood looked out at the gray lunar landscape. "It's now the second day since we arrived." The camera on his helmet showed all sorts of craters left by meteors. "I still can't believe that we can't talk about this yet. Call me greedy, but I'd like at least some civilians to know about this historic moment."
The camera jerked slightly as a second astronaut slapped his back. "Come on, Woody. If people knew about this, everyone would want to live up here on this prime real estate." The face of the second astronaut came into view, covered by a reflective helmet. "Come on, Mike and Cassie just found something interesting." He got in a moon buggy and waited for the captain.
Ironwood chuckled. "Alright, alright, you don't need to ruin the moment, David." He got in the passenger seat on the rover. A piece of the moon blocked the sun briefly as David started driving them to the foothills of a large mountain. "What'd they find, lieutenant?"
"It defies all explanation, according to Cassie. I tried to get her to explain more, but she said it would be best if all four of us were present." David chuckled. "She seemed pretty excited, though."
"We're the first humans on the moon. I think we should all be excited." By then, the rover made it to the foothills. David parked it beside a cave and got out. Ironwood followed him, the dust kicked up from his footsteps hanging in the air for a few seconds due to the reduced gravity.
The two astronauts found the other two a few feet from the entrance of the cave. One of them had hung up lights over a section of floor that was cordoned off by tape. Ironwood slid back the reflective cover of his helmet and inspected the section of floor. "Cassie, Mike, talk to me. What makes this so special from the rest of the cave?"
One of them, slightly smaller than the rest of the crew, looked up from studying the floor. The hood was pulled back, revealing a woman's face with blonde hair and gray eyes. She wore a badge on her suit that had her name- Cassie. "It's absolutely incredible!"
The other, a man with a dark complexion, purple eyes, and black hair, looked at Ironwood. "This will be hard to believe… but we have reason to believe that there was life on the moon." The badge on his suit indicated that his name was Michael.
Ironwood raised an eyebrow. "You'll have to explain that to me. Paleontology was never my strong suit."
Cassie pointed at the section of floor, which had many small holes. "These holes are similar to footprints made by some of Remnant's insects. I know, I know," she said, noticing Ironwood's skeptical look, "nothing should survive in a vacuum. But the footprints go up and down the caves, at least those that we've looked into so far."
Ironwood looked down, not seeing the pattern, but trusting his fellow astronaut. He looked over at David to inspect with him but stopped. "Wait… what about those?" He pointed at a similarly disturbed patch of ground about six feet away.
Mike went to investigate. "Good eyes, Captain. It's the same pattern of tracks." He took out a flashlight and lit up the ground. "Hm… Cassie, I think we might want to revise the size of these creatures. They were bigger. Much bigger." A strange sense of foreboding loomed over the astronauts and the guys watching the recording.
David stood up from his kneeling position. "I'll go get the camera. We'll need to document this find." As he walked back towards the moon buggy, he tripped on a rock embedded in the cavern floor. He caught himself with his hands before his visor could hit the ground. David froze as the others rushed over to him. "David, are you okay?" asked Cassie in concern.
David didn't respond at first, he just kept staring at where his hand had gone when he caught himself. "Um, guys? I don't think those footprints are fossils…" he said, his voice noticeably shaky. He lifted the hand from the ground, and the other astronauts joined him in his sudden fear.
David had landed his hand in a track of those mysterious footprints, but when he pulled it away, the imprint of his glove interrupted those footprints. "This isn't an old trail… this is recent. Very recent."
The screech of an alien creature echoing in the cave confirmed his suspicions. The sound of footprints was also heard, and they were getting closer. "What… what is that?!" screamed Cassie.
Ironwood pushed down the overwhelming fear that bubbled up inside him. "Everyone, get back to the ship. NOW!" His shouting snapped the others out of their fear-induced daze, and all four of them ran towards the exit about a hundred feet before the first creature appeared from a side cavern.
The best way to describe the creature would be a huge jaw on four spider-like legs. It was eight feet tall, and the legs made it look six feet wide. Two antennae jutted out from the sides of the creature's head. However, the most frightening aspect of the creature was that it was all black, and it had a white mask-like bone structure where the "face" would be. Glowing red eyes looked at the four, and it screeched loudly as it ran towards them.
Mike made the mistake of looking back at it, and the creature stabbed his midsection with a huge leg. His suit started spewing oxygen rapidly from the hole. "I-it's a G-Grimm…." he whispered before the creature ripped his head off with its huge jaw-like pincers.
Ironwood cursed himself for leaving his friend, and urged the others to continue. They passed another side cavern, where two more of the insect-like Grimm appeared and ran after them. "We've got to get to the buggy!" shouted Cassie.
The three astronauts reached the exit of the cave and found themselves blocked by two more of the Grimm. One of them raised a leg and lunged, piercing Cassie's helmet and killing her instantly. The Grimm gathered around the body like a pack of wolves on a deer. This gave David and Ironwood the opportunity to escape.
Ironwood quickly got on the buggy and drove off with David, the adrenaline still high in both of them. "Grimm… on the moon…" David looked at Ironwood with despair in his eyes. "We should have brought weapons! We should have expected this! We're astronauts, not Huntsmen!"
"We can't mourn them right now," said Ironwood. "We need to get out of here. Look, there's the ship." He pointed at the lunar lander they came in on. It was really nothing special, but to the fleeing astronauts, it was like a beacon of hope.
A loud screech filled the air, impossibly heard through the vacuum of the moon. David looked behind them in fright. "Oh, no… James, step on it!" One of the insect-like Grimm was following the buggy, and it was catching up.
Ironwood slammed the accelerator down, giving the buggy a burst of speed. The vehicle quickly made it to the lander, but the bug was still approaching, attracted to the astronauts' despair. He got out and started running towards the lander, but stopped when he saw that David wasn't following. "What are you doing?! We need to get out of here!"
David looked back at Ironwood, a defeated look on his face. "That Grimm will reach the lander before the launch sequence begins. If I stay, I can at least slow it down."
Ironwood grit his teeth, conflicted. David smiled at him. "Go… Tell our story, make sure nobody can live this nightmare."
The astronaut nodded, defeated. "I will." He ran to the lander to begin preparations for an emergency startup. He ignored the screaming that came from his radio and lifted up, exiting the moon's atmosphere.
Ironwood sighed in despair as he mourned the loss of his comrades.
He went to a recording device and turned it on. "Captain James Ironwood, Log 3," he started, his voice cracking slightly. "My fellow astronauts David, Cassie, and Michael have all been killed by Creatures of Grimm that reside on the moon. I alone survived and escaped them."
He took a deep breath and continued. "I have come to the conclusion that colonization outside of Remnant is not feasible, and the Grimm may be on all the planets in our system. I strongly advise the council to abort all missions outside our planet. We've got enough monsters on Remnant. We don't need to look for more."
He turned on an emergency beacon. Only then did he break down and cry for his fallen friends, his tears drifting around the cabin thanks to the lack of gravity.
"No place is safe from the Grimm."
Present day...
After the recording had finished, the Mobians and the students from Beacon were silent. Small wonder, since they just witnessed a great tragedy.
The general walked back in and looked at the gathered beings. "Are you so eager to go to the moon now?"
Okay, to get a good idea of what these new Grimm look like, Google "Starship Troopers Arachnids". Yeah, that's why I'm so excited about writing this arc. Just make the whole body black, add the mandatory Grimm mask, and tada! Starship Troopers is one of my favorite sci-fi series, and when I started writing this story, I knew I just had to have the Bugs in it. There may be a lot of bug gore in the coming chapters, so I might bump the rating up to T.
Love it? Hate it? Don't care? Leave a review, and thank for reading!