"Youth always tries to fill the void; an old man learns to live with it." ― Mark Z. Danielewski

Ruby was flung from the portal with some force and nearly fell flat on her chest, fortunately, her time training had paid off and her arms shot out to meet the floor leaving her ready to do push-ups. Standing up onto one knee she looked around to face a sight beautiful and mortifying alike.

Aside from the large rock she was on there was nothing around her aside from a stone path leading into the distance, the sky was a navy blue and flowed around the rocks as if it were the wind, carrying within it all sorts of strange things. A lamp post to the side floating unsupported, a pack of Grimm' frozen still as they ran (But not looking forward but back; away from something) and her grave… the mother who had been snatched from her all these years ago, never met or even heard her voice.

"Step down the path child" Spoke something in an ethereal voice, she complied walking down the path's firm stone "Ruby Rose" continued the thing "Betrayed by those you should have never been with in the first place. Yet you saw it coming didn't you?" mocked the voice "You have travelled far and met many curious characters, have you not? Well, it is time for you to meet one more…"

Upon the path she trod the path began to shift; forming a single stone platform and a rough arch. As she approached a man appeared from the arch, appearing in the form of minuscule shards flowing like the sand moulding together. He was tall with black hair and pitch dark eyes and wore an odd suit "I am the Outsider" said he in the same ethereal voice "you are currently within the void" seeing her confusion he elaborated "All you mortals react the same way… Kingslayers, Bodyguards and little girls alike. I have brought you here in an unusual streak of ingenuity on my part since usually, I confer my gift onto those destined to change the world yet you are… different"

He disappeared and she felt the voice behind her to see and entire city constructed behind her; with chaos and Grimm tearing the poor souls trapped within.

"You, Ruby rose were always destined to be a pawn, a higher pawn than others but nevertheless a pawn… Let's see if you can do better?"

The city disappeared to be replaced with a field of grass and rock, with soldiers scurrying ahead as... Ruby Rose stood on a rock and yelled into a radio pointing onwards with her right hand.

"Now the little gift I will give you would have isolated and ostracised you, but you have joined my little refugees and they will accept you even if it is against their core principles. Not to ramble on though, I will give you my mark; granting you powers beyond those like you. Perhaps not as powerful, but far more useful to where you are heading"

The scene changed once more to reveal the burning city, yet one-half was burned to the ground while one was rebuilt.

"Perhaps you will burn the world to the ground; replacing the bloated and corrupt elite with new people and new ideas. Or perhaps you will allow them to remain and take over as the ruler of the land. Perhaps a mixture of both? I wonder what you will do Ruby Rose…"

"Argh!" yelled Ruby as her hand suddenly shot with pain and a black symbol tattooed itself on her left palm

"You know what?" said the being looking over her as she clutched her hand in pain "Let's make it interesting, I'm not telling you what your powers are; perhaps it will be more entertaining that way…"


The being turned around and levelled a hand at her and with a sudden gust of force, she was thrown off the platform.

Ruby woke up with a jump; her head still aching from the odd dream, she raised her hand to rub the sweat off her brow. The mark was still there, the dream had been real…

Just then the buzzing of her phone woke her properly; it was about 6:00 so it did not trouble her too much to clear her eyes and pick it up

"Attention all Overseers and Staff, there will be a meeting on the main street at 9:00 all are encouraged to attend

H. Overseer

T. Campbell"

'A meeting? Should I attend…? I'll ask Blair about it' Then she realised that it being six in the morning he was probably asleep and didn't want any disturbance from her since back on their last mission he'd slept until about 8:00

Thus she found herself clothed and heading down for breakfast. Entering the hall she found it to be more crowded than usual but still managed to get promptly served with a bowl of porridge and a glass of juice by one of the catering staff behind the counter.

Taking a seat in her usual spot she quickly finished up her bowl before pulling out her phone and finally texting Blair "Hey, wake up, there is a meeting at 9"

Soon the phone vibrated and she saw a reply "Wait seriously?"

"Yeah, so you've got like an hour, wait didn't you get the notification"

"I disable my notifications while sleeping"

"K, so you coming?"

"Yeah, I'll be down in five"

Sure enough, he ran through the doors with speed and joined the queue for a bowl of porridge and joined her at the table "Sorry 'bout but as I said I turn off my notifications when I sleep. Anyway, what is the meeting about?"

"I don't know, it just said there would be one on the main street at nine"

"Well it will take us like ten minutes to get there so we may as well leave now"

"Alright then, perhaps you should finish your porridge first though?"


They hurried down the corridors and soon arrived on the main street just outside of the administrative block. The street was mostly packed but the three thousand or so people here still managed to fit somehow. Mere moments later a silence befell upon the crowd as one of the upper windows of the building opened and the high overseer climbed out onto the ledge along with a microphone

"Brothers and sisters, today I have news which will affect us all in a major way… Premier Fillin Serei will soon declare our independence from Atlas…"

The news was met with a loud cheer from the crowd and the High Overseer waved his hand to calm the crowd before continuing "However the Premier fears a reprisal since Mycelle is technically a colony of theirs and the potential for an invasion is high"

This was met with angry whispers from the crowd although Ruby could not make out much of it "As such» continued he "We are deploying all combat-worthy Overseers to the cities with around a fifth staying behind to ensure the security of our base, your assignments will be sent to your phones within the hour as well as where you will be leaving from. Godspeed and glory to the Republic Of Mycelle!"

"Glory to the Republic!"

"Otherwise good luck! And hopefully, this will go down peacefully" and thus he climbed back inside taking the microphone with him

A fury of activity followed, consisting of checking phones and walking off to arm up. Ruby and Blair also checked their phones and found themselves assigned to the 4th 'Homeland' division; to be stationed in Murmansk itself.

They left the street and Ruby asked "So what do I do now? I've never taken part in anything like this"

"Gather all your equipment, armour and weapons you need. We will be transported by truck to Murmansk so weight should not be an issue. I mean literally bring everything, even a gas mask and NBC suit since we have no idea what we're up against"


They split off into their respective rooms and Ruby upon her arrival swiftly flung open the closet and equipped her webbing as well as the armoured vest she had been issued along with a helmet before he heard a knock on her door. Outside was an old lady with a cart of plastic-wrapped urban camouflaged smocks who hurriedly asked" what size are you dear?"

"10"

She was quickly handed one before the lady moved on to the next door and knocked on it. Shutting the door Ruby took off the armour and put it on over her uniform, also putting on the helmet cover onto her helmet and securing the straps. Putting the armour back on she fastened her sword to her side and began filling the pouches on her webbing with magazines and grenades along with a few pouches of thermite and a magnesium strip, all wrapped in plastic to secure them. Her rucksack came last, being swiftly equipped with her tarpaulin, sleeping bag, pots, stove and a few days' worth of rations.

Having finally cleared the closet she put on the final touch; the Overseer's mask. Made of a hard material it could even stop pistol bullets if they weren't fired point-blank. Now fully equipped she checked her phone once again to see where they would be leaving from 'Hangar 4' read the message 'departs at 12:00'

Seeing how she had plenty of time before departure she decided to head over to Blair's since she had nothing to do.

Walking down several corridors to his block she knocked on his door and he soon opened; also dressed in full combat gear and asked "Yeah, What is it?"

"We have a whole two hours to go; I thought it would be more productive to spend them here than lying on my bed"

"Oh? Well come in then"

She went in as he shut the door behind her and sat down on one of the chairs as he went back to packing his equipment. Ruby looked around, the room was nearly a clone of hers aside from there being burn marks on the table and a few framed pictures hanging here and there on the relatively barren walls.

"So… This is happening" Began Ruby "But why war, isn't this an independent country?"

Blair looked over at her and then back to packing "Technically no, Mycelle is a technical colony on Atlas. However since they abandoned us to our fate and refused to help against the Grimm they are widely hated by the population here and no one sees themselves as Atlesian. Yet due to this technicality we have been forced to pay taxes and the like to the Atlesian government despite not gaining anything from it… No more, this ends tomorrow when our message of independence will be broadcast worldwide through a hack of popular TV channels"

"So you knew of this?"

"No, but it is often hinted at in the newspapers and the Government Declaration of Targets for this year literally states, 'To gain independence from Atlas'. Seriously it is quite obvious"

"I see, but do you think they'll invade?"

"Probably, their government is literally run by the Schnee Dust Corporation and I know for a fact that the original purpose of the colony was dust mining; I doubt they would want to lose this land to us"

"But wouldn't their people be against such an act?"

"Sue for peace, Prepare for war. That's what my granddad told me once, and he was quite the wise one. I don't hope for war, but if it happens I sure as hell wish to win it"

And with that the conversation was over; Blair had packed his bags and they headed over to the hangar they were to meet the rest of their group.


Arriving about half an hour before departure they made a quick visit to the supply officer to replenish ammunition stocks before heading over to the group beside a truck with a wooden sign beside it; '4th Homeland' roughly scrawled on it with spray paint.

They hung around for an hour or so before a man in a camouflage jacket came over and yelled at us and the other twenty or so Overseers to get in. The Truck was also painted in camouflage and was covered by a tarpaulin strung over a frame with wooden benches on the side and a glass window leading to the driver's cabin. They first hauled their rucksacks in one by one and them climbed in to take the remaining space on the benches; squeezing them to the point where some chose to sit on the floor to avoid being squashed.

Sure enough the truck promptly took off down the track which lead from the base and to the main road leading to Murmansk, there were oddly few cars on the road so Ruby asked "Erm… shouldn't there be more refugees fleeing the city?"

"No, such is the culture of our land; back when our Grandfathers were all trapped by hordes of Grimm within Murmansk those that could flee by boat, leaving no chance of escape for those that remained. So the people fought harder, like cornered rats scratching at the cat as it tries to eat them. Fortunately the Overseers arrived just in time to save my grandfather's ass or else I wouldn't be here right now"

"Oh? But can the people help us against an invasion"

"What do you mean" laughed Blair "Of course they can; most bear some form of arms and those who don't will be useful fo the building of barricades and evacuate the wounded or something"

With that discussion over their truck roared into the suburbs of Murmansk. As the buildings got higher and higher they suddenly ground to a halt and she held yelling from the front of the truck "What'ya telling me I can't go here!?"

"Sorry sir but no civilian vehicles on this road"

"Does this truck look civilian to you, you knob'ead?"

"Do you have authorization?"

"Hell I don't need no authorisation, I've got 20 Overseers packed into this thing and I'm sure they wanna get out sometime soon" he opened the little window leading out of the cabin "Ain't that so fellas?"

After receiving grunts all over the men manning the checkpoint came over and affirmed there were indeed Overseers in the back and the man wasn't crazy. Several apologies and an invitation to tea later they were through and let out of the truck into the park.

The are had completely changed from the peaceful field with a few trees here and there had turned into a complex of sandbags barricades and artillery position dug deep into the ground.

As they walked through they were saluted by both man and officer alike and lead towards the largest dugout available, walking in they were greeted by a stout old man with a long moustache and gestured around a map which was pinned with nails to the earth wall "Good to have you with us Overseers, we will assign one of you to each squad. Please leave the commanding to the unit's sergeant but don't hesitate to take command should he become incapacitated"

He turned to the map and began to point out various locations and the importance of securing each one "Anyway, this here is a list of our squads; write your name beside one and then ask the men to locate them, most should be bunched up around a fire or something so it shouldn't be too hard. Dismissed!"

As they began signing the sheet Blair walked over to her and whispered over "Don't worry about it, you'll do fine" before signing his name and walking off out of the dugout. She being one of the last in their bunch was met with a nearly full list. Picking up the pen she signed for 2-2-Echelon (Although with there being only two other options there wasn't much choice).


Walking out Ruby immediately began asking around and was eventually directed towards a fire in the distance. As it grew closer a chort of five tents was highlighted by the dying sun; several figures sitting around the campfire as the warm tounges reflected off their balaclavas. As she walked over they stood up and saluted as Ruby introduced herself "At ease people, am Overseer Ruby Rose; to be attached to your squad until further notice. Who is in charge here?"

"Me" declared a woman from inside of one of the tents "And to think that we were issued one…"

"Yeah, so I'm with you guys now… What are your names?" Said she more awkwardly than her former line given that it was the only one she'd bothered to remember

The squad named themselves before the woman finally spoke "Claire, I'm the squad lead; pleasure to meet you"

"Yeah, so for starters where should I pitch my tarpaulin?"

"There's a free spot over there by Nixon" noted one of the others

Thanking the soldier she began to set up her tarp and ground sheet and was soon the proud owner of a hovel. Laying her rifle and sword within she walked out and sat by the fire with the others as they bickered amongst themselves.

"Hey Gabriel? You may want to make a move soon, or you'll die a virgin." Noted one of the soldiers

"Fuck off Joseph, were all gonna make it out alive; especially now that we have Overseers. Aint that right Ruby?"

"Yeah, I mean this place looks quite dug in. I doubt their cannons could even scratch this place's paint" replied Ruby before being interrupted buy the squad leader

"Hey shut up you all, it's nearly eleven and you all need to be fully rested for tomorrow, be it peace or war…"

Thank you all for reading this latest chapter, please review (I could really use some) and a favourite wouldn't hurt either