Ruby was still fumbling with her helmet as the lights around her shifted from its normal color to blue and the alarms blaring outside of her quarters. Today was the day, the day they will end the Grimm armies. For years Remnant clashed against the dark armies of Grimm, slowly chipping away their forces as they pressed on into the heart of their forces. Just as she attached her helmet to her life support system, a call from the doorway snapped her out of her thoughts as she turned to face them.
"I know that you're on standby Ru, but that doesn't mean to take your time." The female pilot called.
"I know, I know," She replied as she pulled herself towards the door, even with the black helmet covering most of her features she could still make out the amber eyes staring back. It didn't take her long to appear at the door, holding the side handle next to the doorframe to keep her from floating away, "You know you're the only one that can get away with that nickname Kali."
The black clad pilot chuckled as she pulled the younger pilot out into the hallway, "I know, now let's get to the briefing room before your father gets mad at us."
Both the red and black pilots gripped the accelerating handles that propelled them effortlessly through the zero gravity halls. It didn't take them long to reach the doors to the briefing room, as both pilots held the handles waiting for the doors to open up.
"Why is that the Atlesian Ships have artificial gravity and our ships don't?" Ruby asked as she stopped herself from flipping upside down.
Kali chuckled at the sight before answering, "Well it's because the Atlesians love to make decorative microwaves rather than focusing on the essential parts."
Ruby couldn't suppress her laughter at that remark, "That's true, their ships are always the first to be destroyed."
The conversation was cut short as the doors opened, revealing another black clad pilot only that he had yellow stripes along his arms and helmet. "It's about time you arrived Kira, we were just about to start."
"Don't worry Ghira, I brought her just like you all asked." Kira said as she embraced the bigger man.
"Hey lovebirds! Don't forget that we're in a meeting you know." A shout came from the back of the room, as Ruby flew past the two Faunus she instantly flash a grin at the man in the back.
"Qrow!" She said as she virtually crashed into the older pilot who laughed at the small action.
"It's nice to see you too Ruby," Qrow said as he started ruffling her hair. After a while, the two of them separated as they noticed Tai and Summer approaching them.
"So the first person you go to is Qrow instead of your own father? I'm hurt Ruby." Tai said as he faked getting hurt earning him a playful punch on the shoulder from Summer.
"Hey, it's not my fault that she knows who's cooler than the other." He playfully jabed at the older man.
Ruby laughed as the rest of the room rolled their eyes. Everyone shifted their eyes towards the door as a white-haired man entered along with a blonde haired woman closely behind. The room immediately went quiet as everyone stood to attention, well tried to stand.
"Everyone, I believe you all know why we're here?" Ozpin asked as his gaze shifted among all the pilots. No one said a word as they nodded in reply.
"Glynda if you would," The white-haired nodded towards his colleague who began to type on the central computer.
"Our target is Salem, as of right now The Grimm have left us an opening for us to attack. She's onboard the Grimm Dragon Class Cruiser along with several Goliath Class Carriers, we believe that they are onroute through the Wind Path System."
"I see, the Wind Path System is riddled with many asteroids and not many ships can pass through at the same time." Another voice joined the conversation from behind Qrow. Ruby strained her neck trying to see the other pilot in the room, she saw a male pilot clad in white and barely can make out his azure blue eyes.
"That is exactly why this is our time to strike, as the Goliath Carriers are moving through it would leave the main cruiser exposed." Ozpin looked towards all the pilots in the room before his eyes fell upon Summer, "And the one leading the charge is Miss Rose herself."
Summer saluted in response as her attention went to Ruby who smiled back.
"Because of Miss Rose's special ability, she needs to be protected at all cost. That is why I assembled all of you."
"All of you are to protect the Frigate, Tempest, from any Grimm fighters. Qrow and Raven are being assigned assault fighters, Ghira and Kali are piloting the bullhead, and Jacques is being assigned to the interceptor." Glynda scrolled off her tablet.
"Sortie begins in three hours," Ozpin exited the room, leaving all the pilots and Glynda alone.
Everyone was about to leave to their quarters until their attention drew to the smaller girl who cleared her throat.
"So… what will I be doing?" She asked.
Glynda looked through her tablet before looking back at the young pilot, "You will be on board the Corvette, Storm, as for your father he will be onboard the destroyer, Quake."
Ruby looked at her in confusion, "But I have my own fighter, I can go with the others!"
Glynda looked at her hesitantly before answering, "Your father and your mother asked me personally to pull you from the main force. Even without their permission I still wouldn't allow you to fly at all with your ship."
"Just because I modified it doesn't mean that it isn't space worthy."
"Your last test left you out in dead space and your engines were shot."
"That- was an accident," Her voice trailed off.
"Exactly, we can't afford to miss this chance. Now if you'll excuse me I need to help resupply the rest of the fleet before the jump."
Everyone said their farewells as they proceeded towards the hanger bay, Ruby stayed behind as she sulked in the corner.
'I'm sitting out on another mission again'
Shortly after she buried her head in her arms ignoring the world around her. The crimsonette didn't even register the door to the room opening until she felt a pair of arms being wrapped around her.
"There, there Ru. Your parents just want you to be safe." Kali said, trying to reassure her.
"But I want to help Kali, it just feels like I'm just tagging along so that they have a another way to keep an eye on me."
"There are other ways to help than being on the front lines Ru, it's just you have to find out how to." Kali slowly let go of the embrace as Ruby looked up at the Faunus with a small smile.
"Thanks Kali, I- I think you should go on ahead. Wouldn't want to keep your husband waiting any longer."
The older woman flashed a small smile as she propelled herself towards the exit, before she left she turned towards the crimsonette and shouted, "You know, I believe I saw a couple of workers move your ship into the Storm."
Ruby's mood immediately shifted as she looked up with a massive grin, "Did they really?!"
The cat Faunus chuckled at the sight as the younger girl made her way towards the exit. "You know I can't wait for you to be an aunt when this is all over."
Ruby's face immediately flushed at that thought as she tried (and failed) to cover her face with her hands. "W-wha?!"
"What? You'll be great! Not everyone gets to know an expert pilot who graduated at fourteen."
"Aren't you nineteen?" Ruby asked with a brow raised.
The ebony haired woman shrugged before replying, "I can wait another year or two. What about you? Found anyone you like?"
Ruby chuckled at the remark, "I think I'll wait another decade or two, not many people seem interesting."
"Don't wait too long, otherwise you might not find anyone to date."
"I'll take it to heart, promise me that you'll make it?"
"Only if you promise too."
Both pilots nodded in agreement as they went their separate ways after reaching the hanger bay.
"Torpedos Ready!"
"All thrusters and online, fuel pipes are good to go."
"Weapons are green, Point Defense Cannons are loaded."
"Shields up and charged!"
"All stations are ready to go, on your word Ozpin."
Ruby sat at a console trying her best not to fidget around in her seat as the timer went down. She glanced around the bridge as everyone began to strap themselves in. Captain Peach was directing operators to their stations before she strapped herself in as the FTL drives were spinning up. She looked out from the window next to her towards the rest of the fleet as each ship emitted a lightish blue glow before disappearing into the darkness. Her trace was broken as the lights around her shifted to red and the alarms began to blare.
"-umping in five, four, three-"
Her grip on her harness tightened as she felt the whole ship shake, it felt like minutes as the moment passed. The jump was short and as soon as they came out of slipspace, the red lights shifted to blue as everyone began stand at attention.
"The Tempest hasn't came out of FTL yet Captain!"
"Then fire torpedo hatches two through seven, lay down covering fire for the main calvary to arrive." Captain Peach ordered.
Ruby felt the vibrations of the torpedos launching from her console, she went through the cams to examine the battle's current condition. Several other ships came out from FTL, some already firing towards the Dragon Cruiser as it launched out counter attacks of its own.
"Goliath Class Carrier port side!"
"Shit, several Lancer fighters are heading this way!"
Ruby flicked through the monitor, getting a view of the intercepting fighters.
"Captain! Permission to use the rail guns?!" She shouted.
Peach looked hesitant at her direction, she slowly nodded in approval as she punched something on her tablet.
Ruby's console lit up in response as the screen displayed the status of each gun. She took a deep breath as she closed her eyes.
"Enemy fighters closing in, they're too close for torpedoes!"
"Damn, torpedoes four, six, and seven missed."
"Lancers almost in PDC range Captain."
Ruby blocked out all the commotion around her as she focused her breathing, she's done this before she's just have to focus on the feeling.
Peach starred at the younger pilot before focusing back on the battle, "Send out the fighters, prepare all teams for combat and-"
Peach held the nearest rail as the Corvette shook, she looked around as everyone seemed fazed by the impact.
"Status report!" Peach shouted as she tried to fix herself upright.
"Rail gun batteries one through five had shot ma'am."
"Confirmed hits from all shots, all Lancers were destroyed ma'am."
Peach looked her staff in confusion before looking towards the crimsonette. Ruby's eyes emitted a small yet noticeable silver glow as her hands danced across the console.
"Captain, several more fighters are onroute. I would recommend that we divert energy to Port side shields." Ruby said without looking away from the monitor.
"Y-you heard the lady, get to it men!" Peach recovered from her shock as she went back to her console.
'Ozpin was right, those born with silver eyes are a force to be reckoned with'
"Ma'am, the Tempest as just came out of FTL. Your orders Captain?"
Peach looked out from the main window, everything was falling into place. They had Salem trapped between an asteroid belt and their fleet as her escort was already crossing through the field.
"All hands get ready! We're about to clear the way for the Tempest!"
"Aye Ma'am!" The whole bridge echoed with the chant.
The Storm lurched forward as the engines fired up. Ruby braced herself as she shook in her seat as the Corvette accelerated near the asteroid belt towards the massive cruiser. She eyed the monitor for any movement from the enemy command ship as she scanned the surrounding area. Her senses were warning her, but she couldn't see anything on the scanners. She pulled her eyes away from the monitor as she saw the Tempest closing in, launching torpedoes and firing a hail of plasma. The enemy flagship did nothing but fired back while the Tempest and two other Destroyers closed the distance. Ruby looked towards the Frigate that almost upon the enemy cruiser until her scanner flared. Her eyes broke away from the fight as she glanced towards her scanner. Red blimps began to light up around them as they flew closer to the fleet.
'No, this can't be a-'
"Captain Peach! Turn Starboard side now!" Was all she could've yelled before it was too late.
The Storm immediately shifted left as a bright yellow beam grazed the hull. Before they could recover another beam passed through the portside engines. Ruby pried her eyes from the scanner as she stared at the rest of the fleet. Similar beams ignited all around the battlefield as their fleet was being torn up to shreds.
"Damage report!" Peach shouted as she pulled up the interface.
"We lost engines three and four, hull breach on deck thirteen, PDC systems are down."
"Captain we've got incoming!"
Captain Peach looked towards the commotion as she saw several black ships emerged from the asteroid belt.
"This was a trap," Peach's voice trailed off as the enemy drew closer. Several smaller ships latched onto the Storm as the crew tried to reorganized themselves.
"We got intruders on deck eleven and twelve!"
Ruby unstrapped herself from her chair as she launched herself towards one of the elevators.
"Ruby! Where are you going?!"
She turned around as she entered the elevator, "If we don't stop them, this whole ship will go down!"
"Ruby get back her-" Was the last thing she heard as the doors closed. She held onto the side rail until the doors opened. She flew through the halls with haste until she arrived in front of the armory doors. She punched in the code but the screen read access denied .
'Dammit they have a seer onboard? I don't have time for this'
She stuck a cord into the side panel as she typed into her gauntlet. Seconds after the door opened and she was greet with the sight of many weapons. Ruby pulled a Vector LSR from one of the racks and an energy revolver. Just as she was holstering her weapons she heard metal scraping against the metal behind her, she ducked behind one of the many crates as she held her breath. The sound drew closer and the sounds it made became more audible, she can hear the metallic growl that came from whatever it was at the door.
'A beowolf? I thought they sent in the creeps first'
She didn't have time to think as she heard the metal monster approaching closer, without any hesitation she kicked herself upwards as she pulled the Vector from her side. It took a moment for the Beowolf to register her presence until a barrage of plasma ripped the exoskeleton and the circuits underneath apart. She caught herself from drifting, she kicked off the ceiling towards the exit. She looked back towards the mechanical beast, black fluids began to seep out of the holes as certain limbs began to spark. She pulled a couple of clips before heading back to the elevator, she closed the door and punched in the button. The elevator didn't shift at all as she punched the button once more.
"Great, just great." Ruby tapped her helmet comm and adjusted the frequency, "Captain Peach, elevator is broken. I need time to get back to the brid-"
"No, head to the hanger and get out of here Ruby, we have multiple Grimm machines outside our door and they disabled the elevators too."
"Wha- I'm not just going to leave you-"
"Yes you will Ruby, the moment you are off I'm scuttling The Storm."
Ruby froze like a deer in headlights when she heard that. Dammit everything was going wrong, she couldn't do anything let alone try to save anyone. She punched the wall in frustration, leaving a small dent in the process.
"Why? Why can't I do anything?" She cried as she removed her hand from the dent. She felt like she was about to burst into tears but felt nothing. After a short while she placed her hand against her comms, "O-okay, I- I promise I'll make it back."
"Don't worry about us kid, we'll hold them off as long as you need to."
And with that the transmission was severed and she was alone, she looked around in the cramp elevator eventually settling on the hatch above her. She shot open the hatch and pushed away the flying debris as she crawled out. Soon after she pulled herself down the elevator shaft, hastily making her way towards the hanger bay. It didn't take long for her to cut through the doors and even shorter to slip through. She flew past several halls passing by dismembered crew mates, she tried her best to keep on going and fighting the urge to stay behind to find survivors. She kept her Vector to her chest as she made it inside, the lights were still dim and both the hanger doors were closed. Even in the dimly lit room she can still make out the Grimm inside, their red eyes glowed in the darkened room.
'Two Beowolves and an Ursa?'
Thankfully they still haven't noticed her as she crept into the room, she hid behind a cargo container listening to the metallic growls. They shifted around the room, one grew closer to the crimsonette, she pulled out her revolver and kept it close to her chest as the sound drew near.
Her grip tightened as the metal claws scrapped the ground next to her, she held her breath as she concentrated on that feeling from before. She jumped from her spot as the container behind her was shredded in half, the beowolf kept its feet on the floor as it tried to swipe at her. She slowly floated upwards as she pulled the trigger, the barrel flashed as the shot tore off one of its arms. A couple more shots rang out as the metallic body was in five pieces with random scrapes and black fluids floating about. By the time she caught herself from drifting the other two Grimm turned their attention towards the young pilot, she kicked off of the ceiling towards her fighter in the back. By the time she made it over to her ship the Grimm was almost upon her as they tore through ships and cargo, the beowolf emitted a bone chilling howl as the Ursa continued its path towards her.
'Shit, it's calling for reinforcements'
Before she could react several shots pierced through the walls as bright lasers lit up the room. The lasers continued to puncture through the hull leaving holes that led to the vacuum of space. Several stray shots tore apart the oncoming Grimm while several nearly hit her as she hid. Soon after the lasers stopped firing, Ruby looked out from her cover as she examined the ruined hanger. Several remaining fighters were torn up like paper and the two Grimm that were pursuing her also suffered the same fate. Holes dotted the walls as debris were sucked out. She silently cursed to herself as the ship began to tremble around her.
"Ruby! Are you off the ship yet?!" Peach yelled through her comms.
"Almost there, what was that?"
"Enemy ship made a pass by, lost the other half of the engines and the bridge is the only place with life support."
"What's the current situation on the battlefield?" She had as she pulled herself into the cockpit, tightly strapping herself in.
"We lost contact with the Tempest and several other ships, Quake, Clockwork, and Lionheart are the only ships left in this sector."
Ruby closed the cockpit and began to fire up the engines, her fighter emitted a low hum as it started up. "Peach! Can you open up the hanger door?"
"Negative, that stupid Seer has the entire ship on lockdown." There was a brief pause from the Captain before she continued, "Ruby you better make it quick, they almost cut through the opens."
She didn't say a word as she directed the front of her ship towards the massive door.
'Engines green, FTL drive green, Overdrive Core green, weapons green'
"Peach, is that ship still out there?"
"-old on, it's on starboard side and-" The radio staticed.
"Thanks for the heads up." Ruby fired torpedoes at the door, the broken doors were blown off and pulled into space along with several containers and unmanned fighters. She cut her engines and allowed her craft be pulled along with the other debris, she braced herself as her ship spun in space.
"I made it out Peach… Peach? Come in Peach?"
Her fighter gained distance from the Corvette before the bridge was engulfed in flames, soon after the ship detonated taking the Grimm ship with it. She blinked away the forming tears as she stared at the wreckage before her. The sound of static broke her out of her trance, she turned on her engines as she activated her ship's comms. Immediately her headset was flooded with many distress calls as she flew past the wreckage.
"-his is Gold Three, I got two on my tail-"
"-nemy fire on port side need assistan-"
"-an anyone contact the Tempest?!-"
"Several more ships are appearing through the field-"
Soon after all the calls were cut as a familiar voice overshadowed everyone else's.
"All ships prepare for a full scale retreat!"
It took a moment for her to register who the speaker was.
'Ozpin? Wait does that mean-'
The thought died as she was in view of the entire battlefield. Several ships were already pulling away from the battle as the Grimm pursued them, several fighters scrambling away as Grimm Lancers gave chase behind them. Her ship darted around the fields of debris constantly looking for the Tempest. She didn't see anything after the Storm was ambushed, she silently prayed that her mother's ship was still intact. She cleared another asteroid before she felt her world shatter around her, she already recognized the wreckage before her. She knew the ship before she had the chance to look for it's name.
The Tempest
The ship had one massive hole that went through the front of the Frigate to the engines, the bridge was torn to pieces, and by the looks of it the Tempest took the worst of the damage along with one of the Destroyers that had accompanied it during the beginning of the attack. She sighed in relief as she saw that it wasn't the Quake as she got closer. Her train of thought was interrupted as she scanner blared to her right, she took notice of the blimps that appeared on her radar as she picked up her speed. It wasn't hard for the crimsonette to make her way through the maze of debris, trying to shake off the enemy however was a different story. Ruby used the scapes of metal as cover from the oncoming shots from the Grimm, several fighters were tailing her but far enough behind for her to easily dodge their shots. She knew she couldn't outmaneuver them forever, so she used what little time she had to devise a counter attack. Shortly after her cover ran out and the pursuing fighters had a clear shot at her, she quickly fired up the engines and darted side to side avoiding more shots. She looked ahead for any obstacles before reaching up and pulling down a monitor with handles attached to the side of it.
"Hold still ya shi-" She pressed the triggers, allowing a small turret to extend from the back of the fighter. Shots rang out from the gun catching two Lancers by surprise, just as she was aiming for the last pursuer her feed went dark as she felt her craft violently shake. She pushed the monitor back into place as she took control of the ship, she accelerated the engines while attempting to shake off the last Lancer behind her. Ruby glanced behind her and saw the Lancer gaining on her, she smiled as she immediately cut her engines allowing herself to stall as the Grimm flew past her. Right as the enemy flew into her crosshairs she fired watching it burst into a small ball of fire with scrapes of metal flying all over.
'That takes care of that, now heading to ev-'
"This is Onyx One I repeat we need immediate assistance! I repeat-" A distress call rang out from her comms as she began to punch in the coordinates for FTL.
Ruby felt her blood freeze knowing who the caller was, she didn't hesitate as she answered the call, "This is Crimson Two, what's your status?"
"Enemy Griffons are on our tail, sending coordinates now!" Kali said before the call was cut.
As soon as she received the coordinates she sped towards their location in hopes that she wasn't too late. She past another destroyed ship before she spotted the bullhead. Two Griffon Class fighters were tailing the assault shuttle while they were trading shots as well.
"Damn those things are maneuverable," Ruby said as she came up behind them, as she tried lining up the shot. She fired in bursts, slowly clipping the Griffons until one of her shots tore through their engines resulting in one of the fighters to crash into the other. She flew through the smoke as she regrouped with Kali and Ghira.
"What's your status Onyx One?"
"Shields are holding but we lost one of our rear turrets," Ghira responded through the comms, "Ruby are you okay? Your ship is-"
"It's fine. Just a scratch, I'll hold." She began to insert the coordinates once more until her lights flickered throughout her cockpit. She flipped through one of her panels to read her fighter's condition. "Shit coolant cells were damaged and the FTL drive was damaged-"
Her panel sparked as her engines began to die, caution signs covered most of the monitors and the computer started to act up.
"Charging FTL drive." Was all the computer said as she heard the engines charging up. Another message appeared along side the FTL warning, she barely had time to read it as she felt her entire cockpit go cold. "Damage to the Overdrive, initiating suppression systems."
"No! Cancel that order-" Her eyes felt heavy as she saw her windows fogging up, she could barely see her ship going into FTL as she closed her eyes. She felt herself drifting into an abyss of everlasting darkness.