Edited for clarity and/or minor fixes 5/3/19


Volume 1 Epilogue – Dawn on a New World


/-\ Ruby Rose; Landed OIP – Unknown Continent /-\


"Uhhhhgggg…" I groaned as my eyes fluttered open, immediately closing them again as the blinding light of the sun invaded my pupils. I rolled over, noticing I was half-in and half-out of the pod in the process, before scanning the area.

Around us in all directions lay a vast, featureless desert.

Well, it would be featureless were it not for the fallen piece of Covenant carrier in the distance. I stood up, brushing off my slightly sandy armor, and turned to check on my teammates.

They were all still out cold, though their vital signs indicated that they were still very much alive. I had my doubts that Winter wouldn't panic when she woke up, losing an arm isn't fun, after all, but everyone else should be able to calm her down slightly. That said, its better safe than sorry.

"Hey, Alice? Ya there?"

"Alice?"

"What? Oh sorry, I was… uhh…" She trailed off. "Analyzing something?"

I gave a deadpan look before realizing that she couldn't see my face. "Whatever. I'm leaving you with Winter, try to calm her down when she wakes up."

"Alright." She said. "Yank me."

I retrieved her AI chip from my helmet before inserting it into Winter's. Realizing my party would be fairly vulnerable to Grimm attacks in their current state, I sealed them, and the Oracle, inside the drop pod. Alice would be able to open it should she need to.

With a sigh, I turned around and headed towards the Covenant wreck; hoping for anything that could help us.


/-\ Jacques Schnee; SDC Mantle branch office /-\


I slammed the door of my study shut, completely furious with recent events. Just as I poured myself a shot of whiskey, I heard a knock at the door.

I rolled my eyes. 'What could those ingrates possibly want now?' I thought to myself. "Enter." I ordered.

The door slowly creaked open and my son walked in, closing the door behind him with an audible click. "Hello, Father." He greeted.

I clasped my hands together, resting my chin on them. "Hello Whitley." I reciprocated. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

He walked forward, hands behind his back just as I taught him. "I was told to inform you that Mother's surgery was a partial success." He said. "While she has regained feeling in her arms, it appears that she shall be a cripple for the remainder of her life." He said matter-of-factly.

I hummed. "It would seem that errant support beam did more damage than I thought." I observed. "And what of your sisters? I would prefer that Weiss be the one to announce her disinheritance, it's better for the company's image."

He shook his head. "Both remain missing. They were last seen boarding a green airship bound for the strange dreadnought."

I frowned. "Very well." I said. "If they do not return within a day, I shall declare them both deceased. You are dismissed, Whitley."

He nodded his head. "Thank you, Father." He said before swiftly exiting my study.

I quickly downed my drink and reached for another, ignoring the burning sensation in my throat, only to realize the bottle was empty.

I sighed before reaching for my scroll. "Klein, bring me a fresh bottle of Jackdaw Nielson's. I appear to have run out." I ordered before clicking the device shut.


/-\ Glynda Goodwitch; Beacon Academy Airdocks /-\


I inwardly sighed at the sight before me.

Dozens of Atlesian huntsmen-in-training exited the various airships that brought them here. Some of them didn't even seem to be mentally present, either wearing a thousand-yard stare or just oozed the feeling of exhaustion. Others clung to a trinket of some kind, likely a possession of a loved one. A third group had their weapons drawn, albeit at a low ready, and clutched them tightly.

My already sour mood worsened more when I realized that these people were the ones deemed still mentally fit to pursue a career as a huntsman or huntress.

The amount of pure, unadulterated devastation that was possible by this… Covenant, as Miss Schnee had called them, was just… staggering.

In a single night, barely even eight hours, they had done what Salem hadn't in millennia. They had managed to destroy an entire capital city… along with most of its seven million inhabitants.

Two days ago, during the 'Sunset Invasion' as it was called by the media, the aliens had managed to kill almost as many people as we ourselves did during the decade-long Great War.

Reports coming out of the area were few and far between, given the CCT was destroyed in the process, but survivors are estimated to number less than a million. The grand majority fled to Vale, with the remainder fleeing to Mantle and Argus, though scattered reports of a rogue Atlesian flotilla have made their way around.

Seeing the students had, for the most part, finished disembarking their transports, I broke myself from my introspection and gave them their instructions.


(A/N) And that's that. Volume 1 is officially done.

To clarify, I never intended this to be anywhere near a full chapter. Just to tie up some loose ends and give a bit of info about the state of the world after what could've been a literal apocalypse has been averted.

Also, I not only wanted to address reviews before the next chapter… whenever that is, but also, I wanted to release the timeline I've been using making as I went… At least the V1 portion of it…

So here ya go!


Year 1581 Post-Establishment

October 24 (Su)- Ruby arrives on Remnant.

October 31 (Su)- Ruby turns 15 by Remnant standards.

November 1 (M)- Students arrive at Beacon.

November 2 (Tu)- Initiation day.

November 3 (W)- Badge and Burden pt 1.

November 4 (Th) - Badge and Burden pt 2, _WBY gossips about Ruby.

November 6 (Sa) - RWBY shops for weapons, Ruby meets and fights Qrow.

November 7 (Su) - Ruby trains _WBY in urban combat.

November 13 (Sa) - RWBY raids first Blazing Suns hideout.

November 18 (Th) - Ruby tells _WBY about her past, takes all night.

November 19 (F) - _WBY reels from the revelations, pre-Jaundice.

November 23 (Tu) – Jaundice.

November 24 (W) - RWBY resumes their raids.

December 3 (F) - Forever Fall, Blake is revealed and runs off.

December 4 (Sa) - Ruby tracks down Blake and convinces her to come back in the morning.

December 5 (Su) - Blake returns, reveals her past.

December 6 (M) - Ruby pays a visit to Junior's club and hires 'Cel'.

Year 1582 Post-Establishment.

January 1 (Sa) - Yang's 18th birthday.

January 2 (Su) - _WBY gets their Helljumper armor, Cel's report comes in.

January 4 (Tu) - Operation: BROKEN FANG, Ruby relieves Adam of Wilt and Blush.

February 25 (F) - RWBY meets Sun and Penny.

March 3 (Th) - Ruby vs Pyrrha.

March 5 (Sa) - 1st semester ends, R_BY arrives on Patch, Weiss arrives at Schnee Manor.

March 10 (Th) - Sunset Invasion begins.

March 11 (F) - Fall of Atlas, Operation: BLOOD MOON partially succeeds. Winter loses her arm and RWWBY is stranded in an unknown desert, RWWBY V1 Epilogue.

March 12 (Sa) – Jacques V1 Epilogue.

March 13 (Su) - Glynda V1 Epilogue.


And that's that. Now for part three of why this 'chapter' exists.

Reviews!

Helljumper206 – I have every intention of continuing FoR alongside ASH. In fact, I kinda want to finish FoR before the main story's hiatus is over.

Jafr86 – Oh, you'll definitely be getting a Volume 2. Just… after ASH is done. The two main reasons for the hiatus is so 1) I can plan out how the rest of the volume is gonna go without rushing anything and 2) So I don't burn myself out on writing this thing. This story will be subdivided into volumes, of which, there will be hiatuses in-between so I can either write something else or focus on a completely different activity.

Dragon Lord Syed 101 – Umm… They did.

Dovah117 – Yep, relic is safe and sound hiding under Beacon. Keep in mind that Atlas, the most technologically advanced kingdom on Remnant, is now glassed, so getting a proper prosthetic may be more difficult than it was for Yang in cannon. I'm just going to flat-out say that Remnant isn't a shield world, but I have something special in store for that Monitor. I'm probably gonna be staying away from the big wigs in the Halo Universe, meaning Arby, Chief, Cortana etc. won't be showing up. Also, Happy New Year to you too!

Raw666 – The covvies will return, either later in this fic or at the end of ASH, I haven't decided. As for their current strength, I'd probably put them at 4-6k troops (A CAS-class usually has 20k, but half were killed in Atlas [Aura's a bitch to fight against] and then, assuming roughly equal distribution throughout the ship, half were killed when the stern exploded) and no roflstomp vehicles (Scarabs). Not a bad idea with the personality of Alice, I'll look up the episode.

Osterreicher97 – Yep, the Monitor is what the covvies were looking for under Atlas… though the actual Atlesians didn't know it was there. That's exactly what happened with the grimm, lol. In the show, Salem has at least some control over the grimm, in this, its enough to keep them from entering a warzone for a few hours. Massacres like what happened outside Shelter 76 were pretty common, and the highest I stated was 101. Even accounting for Atlas's pride meaning half of them were unusable, that's still 50 shelters, of which, only a small fraction survived long enough to evacuate. And that's not even counting the people that died in the streets. Its my headcannon that most of the actual mining the SDC does takes place in Mantle, a city stated to be extremely poor.

Her entire life-worth was basically based on how many people she can save. Actually, that was probably literal considering her history as a slave. Mistral is definitely acknowledged to be accepting of criminals in cannon (See Little Miss Malachite and her spiders).

Technically, the covvies are only flying half a ship at the moment.

Thanks! I do put some thought into the name of every chapter, though some are better than others. Looking at you 'Players and Pieces' and 'Rotenwald'…

Guest001 – It'll be out soon. I'm not stating a deadline because, if my past is anything to go by, I'll just miss it. I do have one that I'm keeping to myself, though.

Kragh50 – Thanks! I'm in the same boat with Mass Effect fics, but it doesn't stop me from reading those.

Mr Wolffe – Not really… or at least, not as bad as some of my other chapters.

Guest002 – Thanks! I certainly will, I just want to both plan it out and also finish up my other two ongoing fics first. I'm already at least somewhat familiar with RvB (the vault dwellers in ch14 were basically Red Team), but I'll check out the other two.

Guest003 – At least since 'Halo Legends: The Package', maybe earlier. That also might be the only time Modular Dispersal Technology is actually used by the Covenant, but I'm not sure. That episode in conjunction with Halo: CE's third and last levels, 'Truth and Reconciliation'/'The Maw' are actually what I based that scene on.

OptimusPrime117 – Yea… I'm gonna keep getting grief for the suit thing, aren't I?

I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think augs transfer from mother/father to child. But that's still a reasonable enough reason to tell them not to have kids, so I'm gonna go with it.

Guest 004 – I completely forgot about them the second they weren't relevant, lol. Congrats! Your review is the entire reason why the 'Jacques' Epilogue exists!

Badass154 – Thanks!

Aaaand that's all, folks!

Ruby B-312 will return soon after the conclusion of 'A Summer's Harvest' (whenever that is) with V2CH1 'Keep Moving Forward', preceded by one week with the as-of-yet-unnamed 'Winter' Character short.

The more observant of you might've noticed that she's been added to the main character roster in the story description. I'll just say that I have plans for her and leave it at that.

Have a happy new year!