The observation deck of the Vytal Starbase was a surprisingly decadent place for a military station. The room was carpeted and the walls painted light green, a departure from the normal hard metal floors and steel grey or off-white walls. The seats, which had been set out in rows before the stage, may have been the normal folding steel ones but they did have something resembling padding. The feature that enabled the room to be an observation deck, the giant plasteel window that made up the far wall, had been hidden away behind a lavish pair of red velvet curtains. For the day's events a temporary stage had been built against the window, and a podium placed on it, behind which Captain Oscar Ozpin stood.
If you said Captain Ozpin looked old you wouldn't be wrong, but you wouldn't be right either. From far away he looked old, what with the white hair and the cane he walked with, and up close you could see the telltale signs of ageing starting to show: the skin around his eyes starting to tighten and the lines that creviced his face when he frowned. But viewed from a sensible distance, the kind one would use when talking to the man, or watching him on a stage, he still looked young. The hair, while being white had not begun to thin and the cane ancillary, he never actually leaned on the thing. As for the wrinkles and crow's feet? They seamlessly blended with the rest of his face at that distance. It left him with the appearance of a young man pretending to be old.
This wasn't news to First Lieutenant Ruby Rose though, the red-and-black-haired woman had known Captain Ozpin as long as she could remember. Longer even, she figured, as the man had been an inconsistent staple of her life in even her oldest memories. That wasn't why she was sitting in the front row though, Ozpin had never favoured her during her career with the navy and she doubted he would start now. She had earned her promotions through blood sweat and, though she wouldn't admit it to almost anyone, tears. And that promotion allowed her to sit there in the same rather stiff dress uniform as Ozpin, a white shirt under a black jacket and a pair of black dress trousers, and claim ownership of the Beacon's engineering corps.
Ozpin cleared his throat and silence fell, the many officers, dignitaries, and members of the press within the room wouldn't speak over him, not even in hushed whispers, not today. So monumental was the moment likely to be in history and so respected was the man on stage that no one dared to transgress. "Over twenty years ago," the Captain began, "the very skies above opened up, and from them fell fire and death. I'm sure I don't need to remind you of those days, even the youngest officer here-" he glanced at Ruby, his face still controlled but amusement in his eyes- "remembers Calamity, to some degree. But, if you'll allow me to reminisce for a moment, allow me to remind you of the times that followed.
"In the days that followed Calamity the world still burning, and while we were still pulling ourselves out of fallout shelters, bunkers, and basements, it was apparent that something needed to be done.-" he flashed an amused smile- "I've heard it described as vitally important, in fact." His statement got a titter of polite laughter from the crowd. Ruby pressed her lips together, suppressing a snort at the idea of Yang's face at Ozpin stealing her pun.
"For the first time in our fragmented and brief history, we put aside our differences and came together. Atlas and Vacuo, Vale and Mistral, Faunus and Non-Faunus, we put aside our differences and worked together. Those years were tough, I won't deny it. The damage done by Calamity will likely never be fully repaired, but from that early cooperation sprung the foundations to become something more: The Vytal Federation.
"What started out as an agreement that we could ill-afford to fall to tribalism when our very survival was on the line became something far greater, together we had conquered trials that would have seen us all fall had we been divided. And so, when the home front was secured and it became time to look out onto new horizons, we came together to do it as a united whole.
"This station represents the beginning of that effort, assembled as a joint project by all five nations using technology from the original impactor. It represented the greatest step forward we as a planet have ever made. It was fitting then, that fifteen years ago tomorrow Atlas, Mistral, Menagerie, Vacuo, and Vale formalised the Federation's constitution here, and announced it to the world.
"It is equally fitting that tomorrow, our next greatest achievement will set sail. The VSS Beacon, Remnant's first interstellar craft, will loose from its drydock and set off into the cosmos." As he spoke the curtains fell away, revealing the window behind him. Outside it was an octagonal tube of machine grey metal and glowing white lights. As if by command, which it likely was, lights flickered on near the prow, illuminating the words 'VSS Beacon'. "While tomorrow is her maiden voyage, tonight we are here to christen her.
"It was tradition, once upon a time, for naval vessels to be christened by smashing a bottle of champagne against their hull. Now, my future chief engineer has protested in no uncertain terms about the risks of me throwing a bottle of alcohol at her starship-" another round of chuckles filled the room as Ruby felt her cheeks redden- "and while I think her concerns might be a tad unwarranted, the Beacon has been designed to be shot at after all, I do agree that filling the Vytal dry dock with tiny shards of glass would be inadvisable, as well as a waste of good champagne.
"I must also confess, alcohol has never held much appeal to me so despite several generous offers, I've elected not to keep the bottle. I have, I think, settled on a solution that while a little unorthodox I think everyone will enjoy. I have elected to share the champagne with all of you, metaphorically speaking. Tonight, the bar in the mess will be operating free of charge."
He stepped away from the podium, then stepped back, "Oh, a warning to the members of my crew, the Beacon will launch at twelve-hundred hours. I expect my crew to be onboard, stowed, and ready to sail by eleven-hundred hours. I will brook no excuses on that matter. Have fun."
The crowd sat still for a few moments before the quiet bustle of conversation erupted throughout the deck again. People, Ruby included, began to stand and leave the hall, headed either for the mess to take advantage of the free drinks, or in the case of the unlucky sods on duty that evening, back to their posts.
The Vytal mess hall was a far more quintessentially military place, the walls were painted white and the floor a steel grey. A few screens were mounted to the walls, playing news reports broadcast from the planet below, or showing pictures of the landscape, but that was as far as decoration went. It was similarly bare when it came to furnishings, long tables ran the length of the room, with uncomfortable metal chairs placed along them. The only standout features were the bar at one end and the serving station at the other, where booze and food respectively could be acquired.
Ruby found herself near the bar, loitering around the outside of a crowd of other junior officers bearing Beacon patches on their uniforms. One of them, Second Lieutenant Coco Addell, her name-patch said, was telling an enthusiastic story about the time her picket had fought off a pirate ship. Ruby listened passively, she knew the Second Lieutenant was lying, pirate activity across the system had been basically non-existent for the better portion of a decade, but everyone else knew that too. Trading unlikely stories had always been, if her parents were to be believed, a military tradition, and if the Second Lieutenant wanted to keep it alive, Ruby found the story far too fun to stop her.
"Coco," a gentle voice from beside her said, "that's not what happened and you know it!"
"Come on Velv," Coco said, looking down at the new speaker and catching her beret as it fell off her head, "I'm telling a story here."
Velv, or Second Lieutenant Velvet Scarlatina, as her uniform identified her, pouted. "I just think you should tell it as it actually happened."
"You aren't lying to us, are you Coco?" A familiar voice challenged, jokingly. Second Lieutenant Yang Xiao Long appeared at Ruby's side and gave her younger sister a gentle shoulder punch.
"I wouldn't call it lying Xiao Long," Coco replied, smirking.
"Oh, so you really fought off five pirate corvettes, all on your own?"
"Well…"
"It was more like one," Velvet interjected, "and it was a stolen yacht."
"Velv" Coco whined, smirking, "Ruin all my fun, why don't you?" The crowd started laughing again. Velvet stuck out her tongue, "As I was saying, the five corvettes were strafing us and …"
"Boo! Get better material!" Someone shouted.
"Oh, you got a better story?" Coco asked, "No? As I was saying…"
Ruby and Yang drifted away from the knot of officers slightly, finding an empty section of the table a bit further into the room. "Hey Rubes," Yang said, quietly.
"Hey Yang," Ruby replied, "having fun?"
"You bet, Junior serves the best Strawberry Sunrises," she said, " what about you Lil sis?"
"Yeah, everyone's here, I think I even saw Weiss a little while ago. It's nice meeting our future crewmates."
"Nice, you ready for tomorrow?"
"I think so, I mean it's a lot, you know, so I don't know what to be ready for really, but I'm prepared for everything that happened in the tests and the Beacon mostly runs itself so it should be fine."
"You're one of the best engineers in the navy, that's why Oz chose you for his crew, so relax. Enjoy the party."
"Hmm, are you ready for tomorrow?"
"Yup!" Yang responded, "I mean I'm hoping I won't have to do anything but I'm totally ready if I'm needed."
"Heh, slacking off much?"
"You know what I mean Rubes. Much as I'd love an excuse to start shooting off Beacon's guns, I'd like to not start an interstellar war."
"That would be bad."
"Yeah, you think? Also, the Ice Queen is here? Really?"
"Yup, over there talking to Ozpin and her sister, why?" Ruby pointed down
"Gonna go bother her for a bit, have fuuuun!" Yang strode off towards the white-haired girl, ignoring Ruby's futile cry of "Be nice!".
"Lieutenant Rose?" Someone behind Ruby said. She turned, the speaker was a small woman, slightly smaller than Ruby who was already a head smaller than Yang, with ginger hair and green eyes and a Second Lieutenant's star on the collar of her dress uniform.
"Yup! And you?"
"Second Lieutenant Penny Polendina, ma'am," she said, "I'm your second in command."
"Nice to meet you, Penny. Oh, uh, at ease-" Penny relaxed- "I don't think you actually have to stand at attention when addressing me, you know."
"You are the ranking officer, ma'am," Penny protested weakly, as she withered under Ruby's gaze.
"We're in the mess right now though, so relax. I look forward to working with you, Penny," Ruby said, sincerely, "Ozpin had only good things to say about you."
"Thank you, ma'am…"
"Ruby, when we're not on duty, call me Ruby."
For the first time in their encounter, Penny smiled, "Thank you, Ruby, I look forward to working with you as well."
Ruby smiled back, ignoring the distant cry of 'Yang' she heard from where Weiss had been standing, "Thanks. You enjoying the party?"
"It's alright, there's a lot of people though," Penny replied, pensive.
"Not your thing?" Ruby asked and received a shake of the head from Penny as an answer, "Yeah, not mine either." She settled into a seat near the corner and Penny joined her, "So, Penny, did you see that stupid mascot the Navy rolled out?"
Yang raised an eyebrow as she watched Ruby and the other woman chat animatedly in the corner and allowed a brief smile.
"Lieutenant?" The Captain asked.
"Yes sir?"
"I was asking what you thought of my speech?"
Yang, who had not been paying attention during the ceremony, paled slightly and swallowed nervously.
Yang winced as Weiss's bag landed on the deck with a resounding 'thud' and sent a stab of pain through her skull. The cabin they shared wasn't particularly big, they had two sets of bunk beds built into the grey metal wall with flimsy green privacy curtains attached and about two square feet of floor space between them. They did have a window, through which they could see the void of space, but the blast shield was up.
The four women looked at each other, Ruby, who was sitting on the top bunk, had a Cheshire grin, Weiss looked bemused, although it was unclear as to why, Blake had a small smile on her face as she unpacked her kit bag, and Yang looked like death warmed up, she was pale, had significant bags under her eyes, and was wincing at every loud noise.
"Oh Yeah! Team RWBY is back together!" Ruby said, and Yang winced at her high pitch.
"Team what?" Weiss asked.
"RWBY, R from Ruby Rose, W from Weiss Schnee, B Blake Belladonna, and Y from Yang Xiao Long. Together we form Team RWBY, Remnant's best and brightest."
"We're not a team, we work in different departments. And how doe spell Ruby?"
"The entire ship's a team, we're just a smaller team within that team. And I mean it's called a 'double-u'."
"Oh, so we're team RUUBY?"
"Painkillers?" Blake offered Yang quietly, holding a blister pack of paracetamol that Yang accepted gratefully.
"Thanks. You weren't at the party last night?"
"No, I didn't fancy it, caught up on some light reading instead."
"New Ninjas of Love?" Yang asked, Blake didn't meet her eyes, "Heh, you missed Ruby secluding herself in a corner and spending all evening-" she faked a conspiratorial gasp- "chatting to another officer. She was pretty, Rubes, future Mrs Rose?"
Ruby, who was halfway through a complicated and lengthy explanation about how 'Yes, RWBY was a perfectly acceptable way of spelling Ruby given the need to come up with an acronym' stopped mid-speech and looked at Yang, "Eh?"
"The redhead you spent all last night with, should I tell Dad to expect grandkids?" Yang said, ignoring the look of disbelief and muttered 'Not how that works' from Weiss.
Ruby's face flashed comprehension, then went very red. "N-no! She's my subordinate yang!"
"Tsk tsk tsk," Yang said, "flirting with your subordinates. That's against regs, you know."
"I wasn't flirting, we were just chatting. And since when have you ever cared about regs?"
"Oh, my hair is fabulous enough to be worth violating regs over-" she cradled her golden, and most definitely too long for regs, locks-" but my little sister being a rules-breaker? For shame!"
"Oh hush, I'm sure Ruby will maintain proper form," Weiss said, earning a thankful smile from the younger woman. "We all need to be doing the best we can, the success of our voyage is of the utmost importance to the federation."
"Yeah, I guess it's pretty vytal everything goes well huh?"
"When Ozpin starts using your puns, I think it's time to stop."
"Ozpin did what?"
The bridge of a starship tends to be a dry affair, the Beacon's was no different. It was a square room located near the middle of the ship with walls coated in monitor screens and computer terminals with the only exception being the forward wall, which included a view screen that was currently displaying a video feed from the exterior of the ship'. Several desks were laid out in the room, one pair at the front, another pair towards the back, and one by both sides of the Captain's chair, which sat squarely in the middle of the room and in which Captain Ozpin sat.
Around him sat his officers, in the front was helm and comms, a young blond man named Jaune Arc and Blake respectively, to his left tactical where Yang Xiao Long was running through last-minute weapon checks, to his Right was his XO, Commander Goodwitch, behind him the stations for sensors and engineering played host to Weiss Schnee and Ruby Rose respectively, the former double checking the database stored on the Beacon intranet servers, the later warming up the engines and reactors on his order.
"All stations, report!"
"Helm functional and connected Sir, response time is two milliseconds." Lieutenant Arc reported.
"Sensors functioning and feeding back Sir," Weiss said.
"Weapons online and ready, we're packing some serious heat, Sir."
"Comms online Sir."
"Power systems stable, thrusters online, Sir," Ruby Reported, "Connections to Vytal Station severed, we are now on internal air and power."
"Crew reports ready, Captain." the XO confirmed.
"Very good everyone," he said, "comms, signal Vytal that we're leaving. Helm, take us out of dock, manoeuvring thrusters only."
The ship shuddered slightly as the smaller manoeuvring thrusters kicked in and sent the Beacon forward at a relatively slow speed of twenty metres per second. Even at that speed, it took nearly five seconds to clear the Vytal dock, and almost another minute and a half to clear the sphere of influence, the arbitrary two-kilometre zone around the VSS Vytal in which ships were required to coast on manoeuvring thrusters only.
"We are clear of Vytal SOI sir, VSS Signal and Pharos are ready to escort us."
"Affirmative, Helm take us to the jump point, one-quarter speed," Ozpin ordered.
"Yessir!"
There was a noticeable jump as the beacon's main thrusters kicked in, sending everyone a step forward before inertial dampers kicked in to counteract. Ruby watched as the reactor output increased and balanced out at a little under five percent, from the less than one percent it had been at before.
One-quarter speed was a misnomer, space being devoid of meaningful forces such as gravity or air resistance meant that a voidship could keep accelerating as long as it had fuel to propel it, in the case of the Beacon the engines had fuel as long as the reactor outputted energy, which would last for months without refuelling. In reality One-Quarter Speed actually just meant one-quarter engine output, the ship would still accelerate indefinitely if left alone, but only at a quarter of its potential maximum acceleration.
That isn't to call one-quarter speed slow, however. The engines salvaged from Impactor-Alpha, the voidship that had crashed into the moon and caused Calamity, were powerful and made crossing solar systems an affair of hours, rather than the months or years it took for chemical thrusters to cover the same speed. Hours that went by remarkably quickly as the VSS Beacon and its escorts crossed the heavens.
As they approached the destination the inertial dampers kicked in again, working not only on the interior of the ship but over the whole thing. Bleeding kinetic energy away by converting it into electrical energy and storing it in the ship's batteries. Ruby watched as the potential power output of the ship increased significantly, accounting for the newly added power.
"We're at the jump point sir," the helmsman reported, as the ship came to a complete stop.
"The Signal is hailing us, sir!" Blake said.
"On screen."
The bridge of the VSS Signal appeared on the view screen, in the Captain's chair sat a man with black hair that was starting to go white at the sides, dressed in an admiral's uniform. "Captain Ozpin," he said, "May I address your crew?"
"Admiral, of course," Ozpin replied, he keyed a button on his armrest.
"I'm not much for pomp, so I'll keep this brief. You have all been chosen for your positions because you are the best Remnant has to offer in your field." His speech echoed throughout the Beacon, via the intercom, "All of you deserve to be here, and each of you are expected to see your duty through. Know that the rest of Remnant is rooting for you and that you could not possibly go into the beyond with better company. Do your duty, work with your comrades, and stand together. Ironwood over and out."
Ozpin keyed the intercom button again.
"I wish I could go with you, Oz," he said.
"I know James," the Captain replied, "I'm sure they'll have you on one of the next ships going out."
"Hmm, Good luck out there Captain."
"Thank you." Ozpin stood and saluted, the Admiral saluted back and the screen went black. "Well then, let's get underway. Lieutenant Rose, is the Stasis Drive charged?"
"Yessir! Fully charged and awaiting your order."
"Very well," he thumbed the intercom button again, "All hands, All Hands, T-Minus-Sixty seconds until jump."
All across the ship prayers were briefly said, important or delicate items stowed, and amongst the more pessimistic, quiet last words were said. The bridge crew were no exception, Ozpin and Glynda shared a glance and a silent bond of understanding. Weiss found herself muttering a prayer to the gods, Blake crossed her fingers and closed her eyes. Yang … was surprisingly unaffected by the situation. And Ruby started to quietly sing a song her mother taught her "This will be the day we've waited for, this will be the day we open up the door…"
Admiral Ironwood watched the Beacon with interest as the space around it started to warp, shimmer as though it was a mirage, and then in a bright flash of light the ship vanished entirely.
"Can anyone confirm if it was a successful Jump?" He asked.
"Their Stasis drive activation was successful," his XO, Winter Schnee Reported, "We cannot confirm whether they arrived in the Proxima system at this time." She looked nervous Ironwood noticed, unusual for her but then she had just seen the ship carrying her sister phase out of existence. He imagined he'd be nervous too in her shoes. Time would only tell if the Beacon had arrived at its destination safely.
Reality seemed to stand still for a moment, then with a resounding crack that echoed through the ship the space outside changed. Suddenly, where before there had only been empty space, there was now a massive asteroid.
"Status report!" Ozpin ordered.
"Stasis Drive winding down, sir," Ruby said.
"And the loud cracking noise?"
"Best guess sir is that it's jump phenomena, none of the test craft had atmospheres so none of them would have recorded sound."
"You're sure the Beacon's integrity hasn't been reduced.?"
"Positive, sir. All structural indicators are green." Much like all Remnant ships, a small wire ran throughout every beam and plate of the Beacon that meant that if severed it would warn the ship's computer, and by extension the engineering crew, of damage to the Beacon's superstructure. All reports were still green.
"Understood, Sensors, where are we?"
"Scanning now sir," Weiss responded, "Stellar geography isn't a match from the Remnant System, neither are the stars. I'm scanning fourteen planets, sir, none of them are Remnant. Sir, I can confirm, we are in the Proxima system."
The tension in the room visibly diffused as almost every officer let out a breath. "All hands," Ozpin keyed the intercom again, "stand down from jump."
"Lieutenant Schnee, start a general scan of the system, survey protocol," he ordered, "helm set us on a course through the system, one-tenth speed. I'll be in my ready room, XO you have the bridge."
"Yessir," the named officers chorused as Ozpin stood and left.
The beacon cruised through space slowly, at one-tenth speed it would take almost a week to cross the whole system, which was significantly bigger than the remnant system. Their scans would be over far before they'd even gotten halfway. Scanning a system wasn't easy work, although a lot of it could be offloaded on the computer, it required a keen eye to ensure nothing was missed.
Unfortunately for Weiss, it didn't seem there was much to miss. The outer six planets were gas giants, two of which didn't even have any moons. The next three were at least terrestrial but similarly featureless. By the time she came to the third world from the sun, she almost glossed over the results. Almost. "Lieutenant Rose, a moment?"
"Yeah W-Lieutennant Schnee, what's the problem." Ruby stood from her console and knelt next to Weiss.
"The computer was saying the atmosphere of Proxima-three consists of, well, this-" Weiss pointed at the screen, which was listing metallic elements- "so I recalibrated the LIDAR and targeted a different part of the planet, which gave a more sensible atmosphere composition. I was curious so I returned to the original target and it still returned the original reading."
"You're not sampling the atmosphere, look at the distance difference between the two readings-" Ruby pointed to two numbers- "you're getting blue-shift returns for something in orbit."
"I know that," Weiss said, a tad too dismissively for her liking, "I was wanting your expertise with the orbital returns."
"Starship debris," Ruby commented, looking at the list, "on par with the Beacon at the very least."
"I feared as much," Weiss said, "that does explain the high density of hydrocarbons in the atmosphere."
"You think Proxima-three was populated?"
"I do. And it's surrounded by debris."
Ruby sighed and returned to her seat. Busying herself with engine and reactor calibrations, fearing that they might soon need them.
"Commander Goodwitch?" Weiss said.
"Yes Lieutenant Schnee?"
"I think I've found something of interest."
In the end, the Captain, who had been sending a message to Remnant confirming their survival of the Jump, had agreed to investigate more closely. Soon the Beacon was in high orbit, above the debris, scanning the planet below intensely. While initial scans were done with elemental composition, gravitational profile, and habitability in mind and thus focused less on close-up visuals on the planet, additional scans done using a network of probes that crisscrossed the planets revealed not only signs of habitation but whole cities that were just abandoned.
The largest of which, christened the very imaginative Proxima-Three-Alpha by the Captain, was several times bigger than even Atlas, which was the largest city on Remnant. The Captain had declared that it needed to be explored, for the sake of discovering what had happened here. Weiss had obviously agreed.
Which is why Weiss, along with two marines, and a few other scientists, and Yang had just stepped off the shuttle and onto the soil of an alien world for the first time in, well, Remnant history. At the very least Yang had let Weiss have that honour.
The city they'd found themselves in looked like it had been taken straight out of Remnant, concrete buildings rose into the sky on either side of the tarmac roads and concrete pavements. On the ground level signs that shared design elements with shop signs hung from most buildings, written in a language neither of them could read. The likeness to Vale or Atlas was uncanny.
"So, an alien city. I'd have thought it would be more different?" Yang asked as the two of them strolled down a street. "I mean you could tell me this was somewhere on Remnant, and baring the weird language, I'd believe you."
"It is pretty weird how similar it is," Weiss agreed, waving her scanner around, "I wonder what the beings who lived here were like?"
"Bipedal, 4 arms, two legs, and it looks like 6 fingers per hand but I'd have to get closer to know for sure," Yang said.
"What!" Weiss looked up from her scanner and started searching for the alien Yang had apparently seen. Yang, meanwhile, had crossed the road (Weiss noted idly that even though there was literally no possibility of traffic Yang still checked both ways) and started staring into a window.
"Yup, six fingers!" She called back.
"What are you on about Xiao Long?" Weiss called back, stalking after her.
"Display mannequin in the window-" Yang pointed behind her at a faceless plastic model that did, indeed, fit with the description Yang had given- "surprisingly like the ones on Remnant actually, wonder why?"
"All of this is shockingly familiar to Remnant," Weiss said, "If I were conspiratorially minded I'd say maybe whoever designed this was influenced by us, or vice versa."
"I'm sure the ancient aliens were very involved in Remnant's urban development," Yang said dryly. "Come on, let's look inside."
The shop's interior was dark and dusty, and old clothes were strewn about the place as though the shop was halfway through being prepared for the day when suddenly it had been abandoned. A few mannequins were dotted around the store, some had clothes on, others didn't. Most of the clothes that had been exposed to the air had lost their lustre over time and faded, but the majority was still in packaging and looked as fresh as the day it had, presumably, run off a factory somewhere.
Yang found a shawl-like construct made of lavender silk and held it up to her chest. "Eh? Eh?"
"It brings out your eyes," Weiss replied, "unfortunately keeping it is also looting and Ozpin would court-martial you."
Yang pouted and dropped the article. "You're no fun today."
"Am I ever any fun?"
"Occasionally," Yang replied, "like that time in second year when you got really drunk and…"
"I thought we agreed to never talk about that ever again," Weiss turned to Yang, voice hardening.
"Technically I only agreed to not tell anyone else about it."
"Ugh, come on," Weiss said, stalking away.
"Ok, where are we going?" Yang asked.
"To see if those computers still work," Weiss replied, pointing to a terminal on a desk in a smaller room behind the register.
"Why would they?"
"There's clearly still some power," Weiss responded, "the automatic doors opened for us when we tried to get in. If the computers still work they might have some insight as to what happened here."
"Like CCTV footage?"
"Or a connection to something like the internet, yes."
"Clever thinking Weiss."
The Terminal did click on when Weiss pressed the on button, only for Weiss to be confronted with a series of characters she didn't understand. Followed by a loud beeping noise and the computer turning off. 'Right, the language barrier,' She thought to herself. "Stay here, I'm going to see if I can get Ruby off the Beacon and down here to help."
"First me, now Ruby? You certainly have an appetite, Weiss." Yang said, a grin stretching across her face.
Weiss scowled, and wished, not for the first time, that she had never met Yang Xiao Long.