AN: Wow it's been a while...welcome to the next chapter of Glyph Runner. Quick heads up with this chapter, there may be a slight change to the writing style in one of the sections in this chapter as I had some help with the combat scene. MartunaMajor I really needed it! Also before I get remarks about how Roman is being OOC he is like this for a reason, unfortunately I can't explain why due to spoilers. I think that's everything. Enjoy the journey, keep moving forward, and don't feed the guard dogs. - Phoenix Commander signing off
I DO NOT OWN RWBY IT IS THE SOLE PROPERTY OF ROOSTERTEETH PRODUCTIONS!
Thanks for the help with the chapter MartunaMajor!
Chapter Two: Fight or Flight
"How many are there, LtCmdr?!" Ozpin asked, turning to face Oobleck who had been monitoring the DRADIS.
"Sir, DRADIS is showing ten, no twenty contacts in total. All fit the designs of Grimm fleet ships. Single Goliath Battleship, 15 Nevermore Cruisers, 4 Deathstalker Carriers!"
"Why hasn't the planetary defense grid activated!?" Ozpin shouted. The defense grid consisted of 100 automated orbital stations that were supposed to help defend a colony world. They were dark and unresponsive to the invaders, but Vale was already burning before the enemy was within range. The Grimm had sent bombers ahead of the main force, the smaller vessels when powered down would have appeared only as space debris, until they slipped past the defensive line. Their first strike had been against the capitol buildings that held the station's defensive servers. Without them, the Beacon would not survive the engagement.
"Those detonations must've taken out the defense servers on the planet, Sir, otherwise the vacuum around us would be full of DAC rounds." LtCmdr. Port replied from his station as he brought the Beacon's main guns to bear on the approaching Grimm.
"Commander, we are the only fleet vessel able to engage. But we don't have the firepower to go up against a force that large." Qrow said, staring at the DRADIS. His eyes filled with worry.
"I know that, Col. Branwen! But we can't just sit by and let these bastards destroy our home either." Ozpin said, thinking about their options. They were the only military vessel in the area, the others were most likely responding to the other attacks. Or they were wiped out, that outcome was not impossible, but it was one that the Commander of the Beacon did not want to think about.
"Well that leaves us two options. Fight and lose, which means Vale is destroyed and everyone is lost, or save as many as we can, and run." The marine said, vocally weighing the outcomes.
"Both end with us losing Vale," Ozpin sighed, "But I'd rather lose our home than lose every person on the planet."
"Sir, the Deathstalkers are launching fighters! DRADIS is showing five squadrons each on intercept to our location!" Oobleck called out as the alerts signaling the oncoming fighters began to sound. Seconds after the alerts started ringing, a text only message scrolled across Ozpin's command station.
/SENDER: KING
/FLEET WIDE ORDERS
/CODE BLACK
/Full retreat, under no circumstances are vessels to engage the enemy. All ships, civilian and military, are ordered to regroup at predesignated coordinates. The Remnant systems are to be abandoned.
"Admiral Tai….if we're lucky and I see you again, I'm going to need answers and you had better damn well have them! The Grimm knew where the servers for the defense grid were!" Ozpin thought before forwarding the orders to Qrow's station. "Set condition red throughout the ship. We are saving as many people as we can and then running. Can the four vessels that accompanied us make an emergency jump?" Ozpin said as the lights on the bridge dimmed and warning sirens blared.
"Sir, I've been in contact with Captains of the Patch, Signal, Mountain Glenn, and Vale. They are equipped with aura FTL drives for a jump." Lt. Peach responded.
"Then send them these coordinates. We're going to cover them, launch our Paladins, and bring as many survivors from the surface as we can, then meet them at the rendezvous location." the Commander replied, sending the emergency coordinates to his Comms Officer. "Launch the Hunters and get the Paladins prepped!"
"You're going to have the Hunters form a screen, aren't you?" The XO asked, picking up on the idea.
"How else will our Paladins get through that many fighters and bring back the civilians?" Ozpin answered with a grimace. If the time came when they could return, he'd see the Grimm pay dearly for this attack.
"Can they hold off that many though, and are you really going against orders, Commander?"
"Those toasters don't have our ability to act on instinct. What is it Maj. Rose always says?" Ozpin asked, thinking about the wolf faunus who lead the squadrons of the 9th Fleet.
"Always fly with your gut cause most of the time it's the correct choice. Summer drills that philosophy into all her pilots." Qrow replied.
"Exactly! That is our edge, now get our Hunters and Paladins in the water. And Colonel, for the record if we can save even a few families before we jump, then it'll be worth it." Ozpin said, giving Qrow a look that left no room for argument.
"This is Colonel Branwen to all hands, get to your stations. We are buying the civilian vessels time to jump to an emergency rally point. During the combat, we will be deploying Paladins to the surface to evacuate as many people as we can. We will then leave the system to make for the same location." Qrow's voice sounded over the ship-wide comm relaying Ozpin's orders to get the CAP and the Paladins deployed.
"What about Vale? Does that mean we are running?" A yellow and blue suit pilot asked as his Hunter was loaded into a launch tube.
"I'm pretty sure that's the idea, Jaune." the voice of one of the other pilots answered over the CAP-wide comm.
"But Hammer, what about all of the people we can't get off the surface!?" Jaune replied scowling behind his helmet.
"Easy, Shield, I know that this is not the best scenario, but we are out numbered. We can't save them all. I'm sure that the Commander and Colonel's decision is giving us a best case outcome."
"But Shinobi-" The pilot's argument was cut off by his wingman.
"Jaune, Nora and Ren are right. This isn't how things were supposed to be, but what is and what was no longer matter. What matters now is what we do to help those who need it." The voice was calm despite the current situation. Shield hadn't known Sentinel to crack under pressure. Her demeanor brought him some comfort and helped set his mind to the task.
"Y-you're right, Pyrrha. Let's make sure the Paladins get to the surface and back in one piece." Shield replied, getting his emotions under control to focus on the job at hand.
"And make those Grimm pay for every inch of vacuum they take." Hammer, Nora, added determined to take out as many of the enemy as she could.
"Couldn't have put it better. Hammer squadron and Shinobi, you guys are on clean up. If the Grimm make it past the screen, scrap them. The rest of you form a wall, pick your targets, and show these scrap heaps what the Remnant Navy can do!" Capt. Schnee said over the CAP-wide frequency.
"Mind if I cover your wing, Ice Queen?" Dragon asked as the CAP took up formation to intercept the oncoming fighters as the Paladins launched.
"Wouldn't have it any other way, Dragon." Weiss replied before switching to a private comm. "Yang, you know your folks are alright? It'll take more than this to bring down the 9th Fleet."
"I know Weiss, I'm just worried about my sister. Summer will be fighting out in the open with her squadrons." Yang replied, her voice wavering a little.
"Don't think about what might be, think about what you know. Your step-mother taught us to fly with our instincts, and she'll be doing the same. We have an edge on these machines, she'll be fine. You'll see." Weiss hoped the smile she had put on her face had conveyed through the comm. "If only I knew how my family is doing...I hope they got off of Atlas before the fighting started there." She didn't know her family's fate, but even if they were gone, Weiss "Ice Queen" Schnee was going to keep fighting and do what she could to help her friends do the same.
"I hope you're right, Weiss. Looks like the fun is getting ready to start. Shall we?" Yang said, the ghost of a smile forming. "Thanks for that Weiss, I needed that pick-me-up." The pilot thought, as she returned her focus to the enemy.
Weiss chuckled slightly before switching back to the CAP frequency. "All fighters engage the enemy, you have your orders. Good luck, good hunting, and for fucks sake stay out of Beacon's firing solution!"
The Griffon fighters, launched from the Deathstalker carriers, swarmed towards the wall of Hunter craft, with even more amassing behind them as the larger ships were becoming obscured.
"My God, there are so many of them." Shield said, watching the ever growing assault fleet approach them.
"Stay focused Shield, we've got a job to do." Sentinel replied.
The Hunter ships held their trajectory facing the oncoming Grimm invasion, each squadron, consisting of 25 fighters and a squadron leader, were spread out in front of the R.C.S: Beacon.
"Break!" Ice Queen called through the comms.
The six squadrons broke and went into different directions, with Hammer and Shinobi staying back in the formation. Only four individual ships were left behind.
Ice Queen's voice rang back through the comms. "Pilots! What are you doing? What squadron were you assigned to?"
"We weren't assigned to one, Capt.," responded one of the pilots.
Ice Queen sighed, "Fine, stay back with Hammer and Shinobi, and once those Paladins take flight, you are to stay on their asses and no further, do you read?"
"Understood, Capt."
"How the Hell did four pilots end up unassigned to a squadron!?" Ice Queen thought, as the four pilots took up positions with Hammer and Shinobi squadrons. Once they left, she focused once more on the swarm of Griffon attack-ships in front of her.
Dragon's voice came through the comm. "Alright everyone, let's clear out these bastards!"
Instinctively, Ice Queen started to open fire, her two 30mm dust-accelerator-cannons stitching a line through the open vacuum. The 25 other ships followed suit, and immediately broke formation as the enemy ships fired their own shots.
The Beacon had turned to port, bringing its main starboard batteries to bare for a massive broadside, filling the space between the Hunters and the Griffons with fire. The shells from the Beacon's primary batteries assisting in the fray added to the chaos and helped to thin out the swarm of fighters, picking them off before they even reached the Hunters.
Ice Queen expertly wove her way through, pulling up onto the back of a Griffon, pulling the trigger, and watching the fighter explode. She pulled back and turned around, firing at another few fighters that passed by her, taking out another one. Dozens of dust rounds were whizzing past her ship as she tried to keep moving, looking back towards the carrier to see Hammer and Shinobi doing their parts perfectly, with backup fire from the Beacon's point defense turrets.
The Hunters, with the support of the R.C.S: Beacon, were holding strong, but against 3 to 1 odds, the number of fighters alone would eventually wear down the defenders. And once the larger ships of the invading Grimm fleet decided to join the fight, they wouldn't survive long.
Weiss moved around again to pass behind another Griffon, a few shots ripping it apart. As she looked around for her next prey, she noticed the impossible to mistake yellow Hunter charging at a cluster of Grimm fighters, firing a javelin missile right into the heart of the formation, the resulting explosion tearing two of them to bits, with the force of the blast scattering the rest. Ice Queen took aim and picked off two more before they could regain themselves and fly off. They didn't go far as they reconvened on Dragon's tail, trying to shoot her down.
"Dragon, watch your six" Ice Queen called, moving to aid her.
"I see them," Dragon called back, angling her ship upwards to drag them away from the fight, a slight wide spiral to avoid any dust shots. Suddenly, she cut off her main thrusters and swiveled her nose around, firing at the four ships, her dust cannons destroying all of them.
"Got 'em!" Dragon called, re-entering the battlefield.
After a quick look around, she figured now was as good a time as any. "Ice Queen to Beacon Actual. The Paladins are clear for takeoff. I repeat, the Paladins are clear."
She spun her ship around a Griffon ship flying straight at her, the shots she fired sailing off into space. She turned back to see the hanger bays open and the first Paladin ship takeoff.
"Thanks for the cover, and good luck Ice Queen! You too Dragon, give 'em Hell!" Reaper, BlackRose's co-pilot, said over the comm.
"Copy that BlackRose, get back here in one piece!" Dragon replied as she spun to intercept another Griffon.
As the BlackRose broke through the atmosphere of Vale leaving their escort of Hunters to deal with any pursuers, Ruby could hear her mother's advice repeating itself in her ears. "Always fly with your instincts Pup, and you'll come home safe every time." As long as the pilots of the BlackRose listened to that advice, Ruby and Blake would make it back to the R.C.S: Beacon in one piece.
Vale Surface
"Come on Glynda, we have to make it to the clearing! I can hear that Paladin nearby!" A man dressed in a white coat and black dress pants shouted as he and the President's aide sprinted through the forest on the outskirts of Vale City. Even from within the tree cover, they could still smell the smoke of the burning city, and when the wind was right, hear the screams of the dying. Roman Torchwick, developer of the colonial defense grid that had protected the planets, winced at the sound, and wondered if his wife had managed to get out of the city in time. "Cinder I hope you made it out…"
"Damn it Roman, can you think of anyone else other than yourself?! We left him to die in the capital!" The voice of the presidential aide pulled Roman out of his thoughts.
"Listen Goodwitch, if we had stayed to help him we would have died with him. You saw where that nuke detonated. Besides, Ironwood ordered us to leave him behind." Roman said, pointing the direction of the burning city.
"That doesn't make it right!" Glynda Goodwitch had been working with Colonial President James Ironwood for 12 years. She'd known him longer than that, though. Months before the attack he had made a declaration to the Colonies, that when it came time to pick the next President of the Remnant Colonies, he'd be choosing her.
"No, but it was necessary. You saw the fleet orders, the colonies are lost. The Grimm won. After all, we're going to need a leader and he already chose you, didn't he? Don't let him die in vain." Roman said, consoling the blonde haired woman.
"I-I'm sorry, Roman. You're right, James wouldn't want us to die with him." Glynda replied, wiping her eyes clean of the tears that had been flowing. The action left behind a streak of blood, her last action as the Presidential Aide had been to try and keep him from dying.
"I'm sorry Glynda, now come on, we need to get to that clearing. We'll grieve when we're safe." Roman said, motioning for Glynda to follow him. "What I want to know is how the Hell those fucking toasters found out about my planetary defense grid! Nobody destroys my life's work and lives to regret it!" He didn't know that hours before his wife had walked into the mainframe of the defense network and triggered a beacon showing where to strike.
"Holy shit." Blake whispered as she circled the BlackRose over a clearing on the border of Vale City. She could make out almost 100 people gathered in the clearing waiting for the Paladin to land.
"We're gonna need a bigger ship. We can't take more than 14 of them or we'll never get off the ground." Ruby said, from her station she was able to get an accurate count of the civilians, 93 in total, "And as much as I'd like to be able to, we can't make a second trip. I hate this! We'll be leaving people to die!" She growled out, a thump echoing through the Paladin's cockpit as she brought her fist down on her monitor.
"I know Ruby, but we need to decide before we land how we're choosing who lives." Blake replied. "One way would be to draw lots."
"Is it really though? We'd be putting someone's life in the hands of a slip of paper."
"Do you have a better idea?"
"Unfortunately not. I just wish we could save them all." Reaper sighed, there was a slight tremor in her shoulders. "Those fucking Grimm are going to pay for this!"
"Me too, Wolf." Shadow agreed, using the pet name she had given to Ruby. "I don't need my senses to tell me her temper is in overdrive. I need to talk her down when we have time." Blake thought. Ruby's protective instincts were what made her the pilot she was, she could switch from one action to another at the drop of a hat. In the simulations at flight school, those instincts had saved her and Shadow more than once. Unfortunately, her emotions almost always ran high. Blake had to talk Ruby out of rash decisions more than once when they were younger.
"Let's get to the ground, be ready to launch ASAP in case things go south. They're desperate to survive." Reaper said, pulling Shadow out of her thoughts.
"Copy that, Reaper." Shadow replied, pushing the BlackRose into a dive toward the clearing. Before the black and red Paladin had even touched the soil, the panicked and desperate civilians had encircled the dropship.
As the cargo ramp opened, Ruby stepped out into the open. The glare from the setting sun forced her to close her eyes for a brief moment. The people in the clearing took that moment to surge forward to the ramp. Before they could get onto it though, Reaper had drawn her sidearm.
"Get back! Back up now!" Ruby shouted, her weapon trained on the nearest person to her. "We can't take all of you. If we try to, then we won't even be able to leave the planet, let alone get to the Beacon!"
"What do you mean you can't take all of us?!" A woman shouted, from where she was, Ruby could see she had two kids with her. They couldn't have had more than 12 years between them.
"I mean we can't take you all. If we try to, the flight through the atmosphere would be unstable. Chances are we'd all die trying to get through." Ruby replied, the external speakers in her helmet amplifying her voice.
"Then how many of us can you take?!" Another woman shouted.
"Our Paladin can only hold 14 of you. We're going to have to draw lots to figure out who." The red-clad pilot replied, tightening her grip on her pistol.
"Are you fucking kidding?! That's ridiculous! I am not dying here!" A man shouted as he rushed the Paladin.
"Back off!" Reaper shouted, as she fired a warning shot. The bullet went past the man's ear, smashing into a tree in the other side of the crowd with a loud splintering crack. Ruby didn't need to look to see that the tree had a large crack two inches wide and four feet long. The bullet had been fitted with a micro-explosive and designed to punch through armored vests.
"Alright! Alright, we'll draw lots!" The man relented, backing away slowly. Ruby held back a growl when she caught the remark he whispered when he backed down the ramp. "Fucking fascist bitch."
Using a piece of paper torn from a notebook, Ruby wrote down 93 numbers and then passed them out amongst the worried colonists. Looking out over the crowd, Ruby could just make out the R.C.S: Beacon in low orbit over the planet. The fire from it's main batteries and the smaller, fainter lines from the Hunter-fighters lighting up the darkening sky. Ruby could also make out the darker forms of the larger Grimm fleet ships as they moved in toward the planet and it's only defender. "They must've fallen back into a low orbit to make a better stand. We need to get out of here fast."
"Well, are you going to call the lots or what!?" One of the people shouted, pulling Ruby's gaze back to them.
"The lots are: 7, 23, 8, 12, 42, 89, 73, 9, 14, 69, 11, 63, 10, and 15." Reaper replied, she could see the people in the crowd tensing. She could see the fear in their eyes as they held loved ones, praying that they'd get off of Vale in one piece. Ruby hated every number she read off, as she condemned people who were not called to death at the hands of Grimm. The light slowly left their eyes as they accepted their own deaths. "You all may never find this out, but I truly did want to save all of you." Ruby thought sadly. As the lot winners hurriedly made their way up the ramp, Ruby recognized two of the people as Roman Torchwick and Glynda Goodwitch, having met them once before, as they were introduced when they were meeting with her father. "Dr. Torchwick, Ms Goodwitch, glad to see you made it out of the city safely."
"Lt. Ruby Rose, wasn't it?" Glynda asked, as Reaper helped her up the ramp.
"Yes ma'am, do you know if President Ironwood made it out?" Ruby asked, hoping the leader of the colonies had survived.
"N-no he didn't." The former aide said, her voice was barely above a whisper, but Ruby was able to make out the tremor.
"I'm sorry, Ms Goodwitch."
"Me too, Lt. Rose." Glynda said, turning to face the darkened interior of the dropship.
As Reaper turned to board the BlackRose with her and the ramp started to rise, the man that she had threatened with her warning shot pulled a small pistol from the jacket he was wearing and rushed the vessel. "I told you I am not fucking dying here!" He turned the pistol toward Glynda. "Let me on, or she dies!"
Ruby only heard her mother's advice as she let her instincts take over. Reaper pushed her charge back into the ship, and in the same moment, turned her sidearm to the man and fired twice. "No one is harming someone I'm trying to protect!" The first round hit him square in the chest the bullet entered with little resistance, the molten and fragmented core of the round exiting out of his back sprayed the crowd with blood and bits of bone as the small explosive blew apart his sternum and blew a four inch hole through his back. The second bullet struck him in the head blasting his face into an unrecognizable mass and destroying his skull. Ruby calmly walked over to the corpse and kicked it down the ramp. The pilot then kept her firearm trained on the crowd until the Paladin's ramp closed.
Enroute to R.C.S Beacon
As the Paladin entered the upper atmosphere, Ruby finally broke the silence that had filled the cockpit after the incident with the crowd. "I really wanted to save them all. But in the end, I ended up turning my gun on the very people I had sworn to protect. I didn't want to have to take his life, he was just afraid, yet what else could I do?"
"Ruby, listen, what you did helped protect Goodwitch and the rest of the people on this ship. When he drew on her, he turned into the enemy." Blake replied, she wanted to be able to just console Ruby. She could sense her emotions were conflicted. On the one hand, they had saved her and the people on board the BlackRose, while on the other she was now questioning her morals as a soldier.
"But we can't keep having to kill civilians. If we do, then we aren't going to survive and are no better than the Grimm." Ruby replied, her voice breaking a little as she tried to focus on her station.
"I know, but we can only hope the killing will stop once we leave." Shadow replied, even though she said it softly, Blake knew Ruby could hear her.
"I hope so, Blake. I don't want to have to turn my weapon on another Remnant again." Ruby whispered.
Blake focused back on her flying, "Beacon Actual, this is the BlackRose, we are coming in hot for a combat landing. We have Dr. Torchwick and the Presidential Aide on board!"
"Roger that BlackRose, you are the last ones home, get your ass back to the barn! We are jumping in 30 seconds!" Lt. Peach's voice crackled through the comm.
Twenty seconds later, just as the R.C.S: Beacon retracted its landing-bays, there was a bright flash of rippling blue light as the aura FTL drive shunted the ship into the dimension between space, sending them to their destination.
Leaving Vale behind to burn at the hands of the Grimm.