"There are only three planets in the Bear system, and all of them are gaseous giants. On the other hand, there are more than fifty moons spread between them, and all of them are in the life zone of the system. The chances of finding one of interest are quite high." Velvet explained at the bridge, as the image of the planets was on screen. Jaune considered the information as he tapped in the armrest of his chair.
"Any signs of possible life?" He asked the bunny girl, and she shook her head slightly, her cute ears swaying around, making her serious posture quite adorable.
"Not from here, at least. No signs of any artificial structure yet." She explained as she checked the information on her scroll.
"Very well, we start with the moons closest to the star and we go back from there. Are Ruby and Weiss still sick?" He turned to Glynda, and the Commander sighed as she checked her own scroll.
"Yes, they are. I don't even know how they could get sick from eating pancakes." She wondered as she fixed her glasses.
"Sis had the tendency of mixing things that she think will add flavor to stuff, and those things don't mix well together, most of the time." Yang explained awkwardly as she was piloting the ship since Neptune and Sun were still on the brigs.
"I am just glad they tasted it first instead of giving that to us. Commander, get Sun and Neptune out of the brigs, staying for a day covered in that green gooey might have be enough to teach them a lesson. Inform Major Nikos she will lead the next excursion team if needed and that Velvet and Penny will fill in for the two cooks." He said, and Penny gave a small jump of happiness, while Velvet looked a little worried.
"C-captain, are you s-sure you should send me instead of Coco?" Velvet wondered, and Jaune stared at her, making her blush a little and instinctively hide behind her scroll, just her chocolate eyes over it. Jaune felt that was adorable and smiled, making the bunny relaxing a little.
"I know you are fully capable as a Marine too, Staff Sergeant, and your knowledge can be useful. OK, everyone, we are in yellow alert, you all got prepared for anything." Jaune finished as he pressed the button on his armrest.
…
"Jackpot!" Neptune celebrated as they orbited one of the moons of Bear-1, a blue colored planet, and the moon in question was beige and brown, with a few white clouds around. They nicknamed it Fudge because of its appearance, something Glynda made sure to state as completely inappropriate.
"Fudge is 60% smaller than our home planet, and has equivalent smaller gravity. It have a breathable atmosphere of nitrogen-oxygen, 22% oxygen, a little of other gases, nothing harmful. It has almost negligible atmospheric water, nor any superficial water body, but…" Velvet changed the screen for one of the moon with several color splats over it. "It does have a significant vast series of natural tunnels and maybe that can have water in liquid form. That would be enough to set a colony and terraform the moon."
"And our sensors can't go deeper into those caves? I don't want a repeat from last time." Jaune asked and Velvet shook her head.
"While the moon is composed mostly of silicates, the sensors reach is limited. No signs of unnatural activities, tough." Velvet finished her report. Jaune sighed as he wasn't too keen in sending his crew away into unknown situations, but he knew they needed to go. "Very well, chose a cave with the highest likelihood of having water. Tell Nora to prepare the bullhead with a Puma attached. I will pilot this time."
"What? Why not me?" Neptune asked from the pilot's seat, still covered in the green paint as Jaune forbid him and Sun of cleaning it up for two days.
"Because I want Glynda keeping an eye on you two, and I like to see you all green." The captain answered, and Neptune glared at Sun, that just tried to whistle. "Tell the Marines to meet us in the bay."
…
The Puma was a four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle that had five seats. It was used to reach places the bullheads couldn't and to fast move the troops around. It had a big canon on top, and several smaller side weapons. Its form remembered of a feline ready to attack, there's the name. Yang was already seated in the driver's seat with Pyrrha riding shotgun. Penny was behind the redhead in her green and grey armor, with no weapons apparent. Blake as manning the main cannon, and Velvet stood by its side as she finished checking her armor. The bunny wore a black and brown armor with golden details, with a pistol as side arm, and what looked like a big rifle on her back. She looked at her helmet and left a sigh.
"Anything troubling you, Staff Sergeant?" She turned to see Jaune in his white armor, and she couldn't help but blush a little. She had seen him on it before, but she always felt like he looked great on it.
"M-my helmet is kind of uncomfortable, sir." She answered as she gently touched her ears, remembered all the times they got in the way and also all the times bullies pulled them.
"Don't they adapt the helmet for Faunus ears?" He asked, and she nodded.
"But… mine are a bit too big… and we can't make modifications by ourselves…" She spoke in almost a whisper.
"Nonsense. As soon as we get back you are asking Nora to modify it to better accommodate your features. Just make sure she doesn't add anything to it. Does your helmet cause you troubles, Blake?" he asked the catgirl on the Puma.
"No, sir, mine fits fine."
"Sorry we can't just do it right away, Vel. Now, get in the Puma, we are dropping soon."
She smiled and got the seat opposed to Penny's, and they all put the helmets. The bullheads had a modular nature, so they left go of the troop transport module for the carrier one, and that one covered the Puma, basically transforming it in part of the bullhead. The bullhead was lowered over it, and they were covered almost in darkness if not by the faint lights of their equipment. Jaune assumed the pilots seat, and soon they took off. Entering the atmosphere proved to be a though ride, despite both the bullhead and the Puma being prepared to withstand the trip. It took several minutes for them to arrive at the drop point, and they finally relaxed as Jaune's voice was heard over radio.
"We are upon the mountain range Vel determined to be the most likely place to find liquid water. There are some strong wind corridors so I can't take you safely there. Prepare to be dropped in five."
They all checked their seatbelts and waited. Not much longer and they were simply dropped a few meters from the ground. The sudden light blinded them for a second, and the Puma bounced a few times on the sandy ground before Yang took control of it and started driving them to the operation zone. They saw the bullhead overfly them and spun as a sign of good luck before flying to the upper atmosphere. It was always a safety measure to the bullheads not land in unknown territory.
Yang drove at high speeds around the valleys between the mountains, way too fast for most of them. But thanks to that they were soon at the entrance of a big cave where Velvet predicted they would mostly liked to find water. As they move off the Puma, it converted in its automated sentry mode, its wheels turning down and its arms spreading like an anti-air battery.
"The air is breathable but feels weird…" Blake commented as she allowed the outside air in his armor, a procedure everyone followed.
"It is the lack of moisture in the air, and the fact the moon is pretty much sterile. If the caves hold water, you will felt better." Velvet explained.
"Very well, Blake, you are pointer again. Velvet, by my side, Penny and Yang at the back." Pyrrha ordered, still a bit nervous about finally leading a team on her own, and hoping to not disappoint them.
As soon as they entered the cave and turned the lights on their helmets on they discovered that like a geode, the moon was plain from the outside, but beautiful on the inside, the cave covered in crystals of many colors that shone was their lights reached them. They stood there agape for a few moments, in reverie over the beautiful scene, before Pyrrha made them move again. For the first hour, the trip was uneventful, but also no signs of any water. As they walked, they only saw crystals until Velvet stopped and approached a formation.
Inside it she saw some grey stuff that didn't shone with the light and with care she took a sample and put it into the analyzer box she brought with her. After a few minutes the results came, and she left out a happy squeal, making the rest of the Marines approaching her. She just discovered life, in the form of lichens. It was one discovery that would put her name in History books, and for a Faunus like her it meant so much more.
"Aren't you a bit too happy, bunny? It is just moss." Yang said as she saw what Velvet was toying with.
"No, this is no just moss! It is lichen! Life in a different planet! Moon in this case. This is the biggest discover of our history! This changes everything we know about the universe!" The bunny said in an unusual enthusiastic mode.
"So, does that mean there is water here? Living things need water, right?" Pyrrha asked, and Velvet looked back at her analyzer box. Her enthusiasm subsided immediately.
"No, this is silicon based life form, using alcohol as a medium for its organic activity…" If she wasn't wearing a helmet, they would see her ears dropping. "It still is a fantastic discovery, we found non-carbon life forms, but to our mission perspective…"
"Well, it is too early to give up. Maybe we will find some water. My sensors detect trace amounts of it." Pyrrha said trying to cheer the Faunus girl, and it worked as she got up and nodded.
They walked a little more, and the crystals ended. Now they were walking in moss and lichens, and they were sure they saw some insects around. Velvet was ecstatic in discovering an ecosystem, but they were all based on silicon and alcohol. Things were going bad as they walked, but soon they heard dripping, and rushed in its direction the scenario changed to those of mushrooms, and now they saw big insects of pale white and beige colors munching on them, but especially, the big lake at the end of the cave.
Velvet gave a few jumps of happiness and rushed towards it, while her fellow Marines made a perimeter around her. The bunny's happiness didn't last long as the analysis came back a few moments later. There was trace amounts of water in the lake, but mostly was alcohol. Even if they were able to separate all the water from such a pool, that would take a hundred thousand liters of alcohol to get a mere cup of water.
"This moon can't hold life as us without severe terraforming…" She lamented.
"But we have so many moons around; one of them should have water. We just drop water here and be done with." Yang said, trying to cheer up her friend.
"We would destroy the ecosystem doing it… Not that the Colonial government would care anyway. They probably would just jump here and do whatever they wanted." She said as she returned together with her friends. As an exobiologist enthusiast that moon was a golden mine, but she had to accept that their own lives would take priority over those of the creatures native to the moon.
"So, this is it? Did we just accomplished our mission?" Blake wondered. The moon could be lived on, and they probably could terraform it, using the rest of the moons as resources, so that meant that what was supposed to be a long mission just finished. It felt a bit like a downer, she wondered.
"It is up to the captain to decide. At least we know now that there are places around this galaxy we can live on. For now, better we return to the ship. I will inform…. GAAAH!"
A small creature not dissimilar to a four legged grasshopper jumped on Pyrrha, and she was wrestling it off her armor. It was as big as a cat and was trying to chew her helmet off. Several others started to jump and attack the Marines, and they all fought back. Yang and her gauntlets where perfect for it, as it was Blake's PDW and Velvet's pistol, but Pyrrha was having trouble with her long weapon and the creature in her face. Penny grabbed the critter and smashed it with her mechanical hands, tossing the corpse into the alcohol lake. They kept shooting and smashing them until the creatures ran away.
"Fans of yours, Major?" Yang joked to dispel the tension, and they all laughed nervously at that, except Penny that still had troubles understanding humor.
"Well, if they are, I would rather they asked for an autograph. Let's just get out of here." Pyrrha said as she recovered her breath. But the local wildlife had another plans.
Several crystal clear tentacles grabbed them one by one, and pushed them up. They aimed the lights at the lake from where those came from and an eyeless frog-like creature emerged, her teeth filled mouth opening and closing as it left a weird sound out, and they realized that weren't tentacles, but the alien creature multiple tongues. They tried to aim, but the way they were being violently shook around by the tentacles made it impossible without the chance of hitting themselves.
"Someone do something!" Blake yelled as she flailed helpless.
"Understood!"
With that, from the back of Penny's Hunter armor, several swords popped out, and at first her friends didn't understood what they could do until they floated around and flew, their blades cutting the crystallized tentacles. One by one they got free, till the android finally freed herself and landed on her feet, calmly walking back to the group. They were about to run when the creature leapt from water, its teeth filled mouth opened.
Velvet reacted first, arming her rifle and firing, revealing its true nature.
It was a rail gun.
The magnetic rails fired the big bullet in supersonic speed, so fast the air itself started burning, and the big bullet got through the creature with such force that it stopped it on its track, the huge monsters hitting the ground and contorting before dying, fire coming from the holes the weapon made instead of blood. The Marines all looked at Velvet destructive weapon in surprise.
"I think we should run…" The bunny said simply as she put her weapon back on its holster in her back.
"Why? It is dead. It is even on fire… Why it is on fire?" Blake asked as the fire started to get bigger from the hole the weapon made.
"Alcohol. They have alcohol on their blood. And this cave is filled with it. And now, there is a fire…" Velvet explained, and after a brief exchange of looks, they started running away as fast as their armors allowed.
…
Jaune flew around with the bullhead, playing music as he relaxed. It was weird though that he already missed all the commotion his crew would give him. He never had many friends, Nora and Ren being the oldest ones, but he already considered everyone on the crew a friend, even if some were a bit too prone to causing havoc and others were a bit too affectionate. But all in all he was happy he accepted the mission and chose that particular group of people.
"Captain! We need extraction ASAP!" He heard over the radio Pyrrha's voice and she seemed distressed. He turned the music off and turned the autopilot off.
"Understood. What happened HOLY SHIT!"
The moon started to erupt in fire. From every cave and slit on the soil flames started busting out. The once brown and beige scenario was now fueled by blue flames and smoke. Jaune locked at the coordinates of the Marines and flew towards them, the bullhead shacking as the explosions and flames moved and heated the air. He was battling the controls when he saw the Puma rushing between the rocks, his Marines on it as they tried to avoid the flames and the explosions. He flew over them, trying to control the bullhead the best it could.
"I can't stabilize the bullhead! We need to find somewhere to dock!" He yelled over the radio while juggling with the controls as the bullhead tossed side to side rather violently.
"We can't stop or we will die!" Yang retorted over the radio, and Jaune tried to come up with a plan. Looking ahead he had an idea, a crazy one that he could only hope to work.
"There is a canyon up ahead a few miles from here. Yang, I will need you to try to jump! Don't question, just do it! Penny, I will need you to grapple the bullhead! Change places with Blake!"
"Are you insane?!" Blake yelled over the radio.
"I am taking you back home, Marine, just do it!"
Jaune saw from the bullhead as Blake and Penny did the complex operation of changing seats in a war vehicle in high speed while the moon itself was on fire. Several times he almost saw one or the other about to fall, but they finished the operation. He flew ahead and positioned himself over the canyon, and waited.
Yang saw the bullhead in position, and wondered what exactly her blonde captain was planning, but decided to trust him. It was that or be a very crisp girl and she wasn't compelled to be one. She accelerated and aligned the Puma the best she could with the bullhead. The car approached the edge of the canyon and they just let it go over it. For a second they fell, but then felt they were going up, and the Marines opened their eyes to see the bullhead was pulling them up. The mystery was solved when they looked at Penny.
They looked at the android and saw thin lines coming from her back, the lines connected to her swords that were pinned on the bullhead. They were pushed up and soon docked in place, and Penny guarded her weapons as the bullhead flew back to space, the moon bellow becoming a big ball of fire.
…
"So, the alcohol lakes are all connected?" Jaune asked as Velvet finished her report on the mission.
"Yes, when we lighted one, we lighted every single one. Since the lakes where underground, lightning never had a chance to ignite them, but when I fired my weapon…" She was gloomy, Jaune noticed, and approached her with a gentle hand on her shoulder, surprising the girl.
"You did what you did to protect your comrades. In my book, saving our friends is always a good thing." He said with a comforting smile, one that made Velvet look away from him.
"I not only killed any and all life forms on the moon, I made it impossible to live within now as the atmosphere is losing its oxygen and receiving CO2 in its place. Thanks to me, we lost a chance of a new home." She started crying, but she felt the captain hugging her, a tight, gentle hug filled with compassion, one that Velvet knew very little about. A life as a Faunus and as a soldier took most of such things from her.
"Vel, you all are my family now. I would kill anything trying to get you from me. You saved my friends, my family, yourself. We will find another moon or moon. Bu we will never find another you." He said with such gentle voice that only made her cry more, hiding her face on his shoulder as she cried out all her sadness. He gently petted her head, and a few minutes later she finally calmed down.
"Thanks, captain… I think I let my passion for exobiology get in the way of my mission." She said and tried to smile, as Jaune gently dried her eyes. The simple gesture made Velvet blush, but she didn't mind that touch.
"I do need you to help us with this mission, Vel. Both as a Marine and an exobiologist. So no crying over the spilled milk, OK? Now, I want you to go to Nora and fix your helmet, and then you are to take a day off. I can get Coco the day off too if you need a close friend." He offered, and Velvet finally left a big smile out and nodded.
"That would be pleasant. Thanks, captain. You are the best CO I ever had." She said, and then in a sudden surge of courage she gave a quick peck on his cheek. "I am better get going…"
Jaune stood there for a while, almost too dumbfounded to think. He was taken out of his thoughts as Glynda walked inside his office at the Nagato. Her face was one of concern, but somehow it was one of relieve too. Noticing that issue would take longer than his talk with Velvet, he offered her a seat.
"Thanks, skipper. I see your talk with Sgt. Scarlatina had positive effects." She asked in her usual professional tone, one that Jaune was now all too familiar with, and deep down he wanted her to relax a little.
"We need to be united, Commander. We are just fifteen people, and if we can't support each other in times of need, this mission will fail." He spoke, and Glynda once again was remembered why he was chosen as captain. He had a way with people, to get them to do what he wanted over loyalty and friendship, not over rank and orders. "How's everyone else?"
"Mostly tired, some too excited, especially Xiao Long and Valkyrie, despite the last one not having even left the ship. I mean, we have burned a whole moon. It is something people will not ignore back at Remnant." She stated as a matter of fact and Jaune groaned. First they destroyed alien tech, now they simple were responsible for a mass extinction event AND making a likely candidate to be their new home a deadly ball of fiery death. "But considering their age, and the situation we are in, they are performing admirably."
"You should tell them that." Jaune said with a smirk that Glynda gave back with one of her one.
"I will let you be the good officer while I am the mean one. It is working." She said and both shared a laugh, but Jaune looked concerned towards her.
"We don't know how long we will be here, Commander. I think showing the crew you are also a human being capable of feelings would be a good thing." He spoke softly and Glynda relaxed a little.
"I am older than any of you, maybe except Dr. Verd. I doubt any of you would think of me as an interesting person." She stated, and Jaune left a small chuckle out. Apparently he wasn't the only one to think lowly of self.
"I think you are interesting."
"Are you hitting on me again, captain?" She had a big grin on her face, and they both laughed a little. "Thanks for the compliment, but I am from a different generation than you and most of the crew."
"I think that is something we need, someone that has a different life experience. But… I am ordering you to take a day to relax every week too. And not staying in your quarters all day, go talk with them, or just listen. You already do a lot for us, so let me do my job too and try to keep them from exploding the ship." Jaune said, and Glynda smiled and nodded. He really was becoming a true captain as time passed.
"Anything else, captain?"
"Not right now. Tell Sun and Neptune to go get that green paint off, I will assume the helm for a while." He said and Glynda nodded, as both got out to do their jobs.
…
"Awww, and we missed it…" Ruby lamented as she was finally released of the med bay to hear Blake and Yang telling how they put a moon on fire.
"It is incredible how much chaos you all did WITHOUT Ruby. I think she might not be the problem after all." Weiss complemented, receiving a displeased pout from her captain.
"No one will ever surpass this." Yang said a little bit too proudly, and Blake sighed annoyed.
"I don't think trying to outdo this one will be healthy." The catgirl said as she kept reading another book from the ship's digital library.
"Now I really want to go on the next mission. There is not too much to do on this ship." Sun said as he entered the quarters wearing just his boxers, making Ruby hide her face with her hands, Weiss look at him indignantly and Blake ignoring him. Yang just evaluated him.
"Flying a bullhead while everything is on fire? That would impress the ladies." Neptune said as he too entered the quarters with just his boxers, both boys just out of the bath, finally without the green paint. Sun was more muscular, but Neptune wasn't shabby either. But that doesn't matter to the girls.
"WHAT YOU TWO ARE DOING NAKED!?" Weiss yelled and the two boys laughed.
"We aren't naked. Besides, we share the quarters, we are bound to see each other in less clothes than this someday, so think of this as preparing psychologically." Sun said as he flaunted his abs.
"Besides, Penny told us you all already saw the skipper naked." Neptune added with a smile.
"Well, I sure have." Yang said with a smirk before patting both boys' cheeks. "And he certainly is more attractive." She said with a wink before getting out, leaving the two of them dumbfounded.
"As a superior officer I order you two to put some clothes on!" Ruby yelled with her hands in front of her face. "Or else I will allow Weiss to use force!"
"Finally an order I would love to follow through!" Weiss said as she grabbed her knife, making both boys grabbing their shirts and protecting a certain sensitive area.
…
"So, Penny, how was your first mission?" Ren asked as he checked the android.
"Simply fantastic! It was so exciting, and being able to save my friends twice was all I always wanted to do!" Penny said with a big smile and a little dance. Ren gave a hint of a smile towards her.
"And how it was leading the mission, Pyrrha?" Nora asked as she checked the Hunter armors.
"It was a good feeling, though I wouldn't call my first time leading a fireteam an utterly success." She confessed as she sat in the ground, checking her weapons. "If Penny wasn't there and the captain didn't come with that crazy plan of his, we would be dead…"
"Come on, it wasn't a standard mission, Pyr, you did quite well." Nora tried to cheer up her friend.
"Besides, you didn't know of my offensive abilities." Penny chimed in, but both girls failed to cheer up the Major.
"That is part of the problem, not knowing my teammates capacities beforehand. I think after being on the arena alone for so long I just don't know how to work with others. Or maybe I am just not leadership material like Ruby and the captain…" She sighed, but Ren and Nora giggled. "What?"
"This is Jaune's first command. He never really commanded someone before." Pyrrha widened her eyes as Ren revealed that information. To her Jaune was a bit goofy, and prone to jokes, but she always saw him as a reliable commanding officer and someone they all could trust.
"The Captain said once that he trusts us to do our jobs, and that is why he can do his." Penny complemented and Pyrrha felt both a little better and somewhat closer to her CO.
"Not everyone is a born leader, Pyrrha. Some need to practice those skills. Jaune certainly is still learning, yet he does his best." Ren finished, and Pyrrha smiled more freely.
"Attention crew, here is your captain speaking. Since we finished scanning the moons on Bear-1 we are moving to Bear-2. Hopefully we won't cause an apocalypse this time; it doesn't look good on the reports. Today's dinner will be served at 1930, it will be fish. Yes, Blake, I will give you an extra serving. Also, I think we could use time and watch a movie all of us together. No, Yang, not a dirty one. And no, Ruby, not a fairy tale one either. Yes, Nora, there will be popcorn. The movies for tonight are Beast from the 5th Dimension and my favorite comedy Spaceballs. If I hear a joke about the title I am making you take triple duty. Everyone is invited… Scrap that, I am making it mandatory. That includes you, Commander. We will just leave the ship on autopilot, I am pretty sure the Nagato can survive without us for a few hours. Damn, sometimes I think she could do better without us. That is all, see you later."
"I never had a movie night like this." Pyrrha said, and Penny held the Major's hand.
"This will be my first time too! I am so glad to have my first time with you!"
"Oh, that means I can have the skipper for myself then?" Yang said as she entered the engineering station at the docking bay. Pyrrha blushed as red as her hair while Penny and Nora babbled about first times and movies. Ren just smiled a little.
I see the fires will keep burning here too.