"Giraffe-5 is completely covered in artificial structures. There are no visible forests, oceans or even mountains. The space between it and its three moons are littered with space ships, stations and artificial satellites. Its natural moons are completed hollowed out and any valuable resource taken. The same goes to all planets and moons in the system." Velvet explained as the planet in question was show in the screen. It was like looking at a grey marble covered in black stripes and copper colored spots.
"And you believe this is the Vareelian home planet, Velvet?" Jaune asked and a close-up image of the planet showed several vessels circling the planet, all similar to the cargo ship they found in possession of Roman and his pirates. "Any answer from the inhabitants of the planet?"
"None. We have being hailing them for six hours now, using the translators Lt. Lie and Sgt. Valkyrie made based on the ones the Marines retrieved, but no answer. Also…" Velvet changed the image for that of the planet in infrared. It was almost all dark with only some very small orange and yellow spots. "The planet heat sources are just those. It is like it is mostly empty."
"So, the Vareelians moved out? Got wiped by a deadly virus and they are all zombies? Forgot to pay the bills?" Jaune asked and got a few laughs from the crew and a blushing Velvet, still unused with the tendency the crew had to joke about everything.
"N-no!… Well, I can't say what happened at all… But the planet orbit is unstable, and it is inching towards the sun. It does have a breathable, if polluted, atmosphere, nothing the filters in the Hunter's helmet can't deal. But as a colony…" She said in a sad tone, and Jaune nodded.
"Well, if they aren't answering the phone, we will knock at their doors. Tell Nora to prepare the fighters, Yang and me are going to pay a visit." Jaune said as he stood up. Velvet looked at him with shock and rushed to gentle hold his arm. Her chocolate eyes were full of worry for her captain.
"Captain! What if they have automated defenses? Or even something worse?"
"This is why we are going in the fighters. If they start shooting, we haul our asses back. Don't worry, Velvet, I won't take any unnecessary risk." He gave her a comforting smile, but she still looked at him with worry.
"So I am going too. I can help with the Vareelians." She said with determination, but Jaune gave her another small smile and gently touched her shoulder, which make her blush even more, but she still kept her eyes on his.
"There is no space in the fighters, Vel, and I want you to be my eyes up here, OK?" She looked at his eyes for a while before diverting her gaze and nodded shyly.
"Maybe she can go on your lap, skipper." Coco shouted with a smirk, making Velvet turn around red as a beet.
"COCO!"
…
"I still think this is a bad idea, captain." Glynda stated as she looked Jaune and Yang prepare to deploy in the docking bay. "You are the captain, so if you should send anyone, it should be me."
"I am going because I am the captain, Commander. It is my job to work as an ambassador too." Jaune answered as he put his helmet on. Glynda was still unconvinced, since the boy still lacked the experience she had.
"So better not take Lt. Xiao Long with you. She is a walking diplomatic incident."
"Hey! I am going so the Vareelians can bask in my beauty!" Yang said as she too put her helmet on.
"Lt. Schnee made clear, overly so, that aliens don't exactly think of our species as pretty, and it is not like they can look under your Hunter." Glynda added as she fixed her glasses. If there was one Marine that seemed to love getting in trouble, that one was Yang in the Commander's opinion.
"That is because the pirates didn't see me. Relax, Commander, I will bring our golden boy here back in one piece." Yang winked under her helmet and put an arm around Jaune.
"So you better bring my sister back as well, skipper. I will be SLIGHTLY mad at you if you don't." Ruby stated in a joyful manner while, for some reason, checking her rifle, and Jaune chuckled and nodded.
"Wait, just slightly? And here I thought you loved me, lil sis." Yang shouted and Ruby just showed her tongue to her blonde sister. Sometimes they had trouble believing they were 19 and 21.
"Yeah, yeah, let's get going, Yang. Uncertainty and danger waits!" Jaune commanded and the two laughed as they boarded the fighters. "If I find the gift shop, I will bring something for you all."
"No lousy t-shirts!" Nora yelled from behind her workstation.
…
"Did they just dump all their trash into orbit?" Yang asked as the two fighters skillfully avoided the sea of debris that surrounded the planet bellow. While not dangerous in themselves, they were a pain to dodge.
"We should be grateful they aren't firing at us. In fact, it is kind of weird nothing started firing at us yet." Jaune stated as he moved out of the way of a big satellite and scanned it as he passed. "Most of those things aren't even working anymore."
"Well, do you want to land? We can go to one of those hotspots the bunny pointed out."
"Later. I want to fly around for a while. Let's try entering the atmosphere." Jaune said as he maneuvered close to Yang.
"Well, skipper, how about a bet? Whoever enters the atmosphere first need to grant a small wish to the winner?" She asked over the radio, and Jaune thought about it for a while.
"As long as it isn't against the regulations, why not?"
"That's the spirit."
With that she accelerated and Jaune pursued her, the two ships leaving a trace of shining blue ions behind them as the impulse engines worked. The fighters dodged and veered side to side to escape the thick cloud of space debris, while the two pilots taunted each other with dangerous maneuvers, especially from Yang's side. They separated to avoid a big space station, flying on opposite sides of it and after passing it Yang approached Jaune, their canopies almost touching as she waved at him before accelerating again.
The completion ended as the duo maneuvered to enter the atmosphere, with Bumblebee being the first to enter it. The shields made the air light up in fire as the friction started, but a few seconds later they were flying tin the planet grayish atmosphere.
"I won, skipper. No trying to back off now. I WILL collect my reward when she go back to the Nagato." Yang spoke over the radio in an overly cheery, and Jaune just left a nervous chuckle out. He just hoped she wouldn't do anything that would get him in trouble, especially with Glynda. He decided to call the ship.
"Remember I am your superior officer, Lt. Xiao Long. Nagato, here is the advanced team."
"WHAT YOU TWO WERE DOING?" Jaune was surprised hearing the voice of Velvet going an octave high as she angrily shouted. "That was so dangerous!"
"Calm down, Sgt. Scarlatina. It was perfectly safe." Jaune said sheepishly.
"You better not do that again, skipper!" She said with such indignation that the captain felt guilty, while Yang was laughing out loud in her fighter. "Anyway, Ren ran an initial analysis from the data your fighters sent and told me most of the tech on the planet's orbit is dead, mostly for lack of proper maintenance."
"Well, that reinforces the thesis no one's home. We will do some fly-bys around and send you the data. And Vel? Sorry if I worried you."
"Understood." She answered back in her soft voice before they ended communication.
"She is like the bunny from that old comedy that looks fluffy and cute then flies on the throats of everyone." Yang said between her laughs.
"Yep, and we don't have holy grenades to keep her away, so better not infuriate Vel anymore." He said and they both laughed a little.
"This is one ugly planet…" Yang commented as she looked at her screen, the camera pointed downwards.
The whole planet was covered in buildings, roads, train tracks and machines, most of them completely shut down, but with no life to speak of, everything was just rusting away, but there was no overgrow to speak off. The fighters approached a city, and all they could see was the copper colored skyscrapers between the black roads beneath. There was not a single sign of life, no trees, no birds, no people, even if everything seemed built for them. The two fighters found no sign of automated defenses or any defense at all.
"It is like they simple destroyed everything natural and covered in concrete and steel…"
"That would explain why they ripped out resources of their neighboring celestial bodies." Jaune wondered as he maneuvered between a set of tall buildings, scanning them. "No life signs around here. Let's go to one of those hot spots Velvet found."
They flew for an hour or so when they saw the tallest building they ever saw, and with little frame of reference, they almost saw it as big as one of the Remnant colonies. It was, as most constructions around, hexagonal in shape, with at least three kilometers high, and its base was at least a kilometer wide on each side, thought it was constructed in levels, like buildings upon buildings, starting from largest to smallest at the top. They flew around, detecting only glass, metal and concrete. There were reactions of a Dust reactor from the bottom, but they couldn't detect any signs of life just with that. As they finished circling it, Yang called Jaune by radio.
"Hey, skipper, does that look like a landing pad for you?" She said as she used a laser aim on her fighter to point it. It was a hexagonal appendix to the sixth level of the building, with several yellow and red marks, and a few blinking lights.
"It looks so, you land first. I will give you cover if anything try to get you."
"What a gentleman." She giggled and proceeded to land. As soon as she opened the canopy she jumped and armed her gauntlets in a defensive manner, but nothing attacked. Jaune landed his fighter side by side with hers soon after and joined her. She noticed he was carrying a rifle with him that she never saw before.
"Oh, you get new gear? Looks like an old model though." She asked as she analyzed the long weapon. It was equipped with a scope, but looked more like an assault rifle than a sniper one.
"It was my grandfather. An old Light Support Weapon of his days as a Marine. It was supposed to be an automatic machine gun, but it proved to be an excellent DMR. So, basically a good joker weapon for all purposes. Ruby and I have being training with it, so don't worry, I won't shoot your butt accidentally." Jaune explained, and he missed Yang's teasing smile beneath her helmet.
"Good, I love my butt and I am sure you do too." Jaune blushed hard, glad the helmet covered his face, but Yang just walked towards the entrance of the building, and he did notice an extra sway on her hips as she walked, and groaned as he couldn't avoid but look. Yang was smiling all the time.
The door that led inside opened automatically, and the blonde duo entered, walking slowly and carefully paying attention over their surroundings. The only signs of activity were the small cleaning robots that occasionally crossed their way. As everything built in that planet, that corridor was hexagonal and copper colored. After a few minutes of walking, they found themselves in what could be defined as the reception of that building. A central table was being operated by a robot hanging from the ceiling. They approached it and the hexagonal face scanned them. It reminded them of the mining worm they first a few weeks ago.
"Welcome to Vareelia Administration Center. I don't identify your species. Can I help you?" The robot said in a gently but very robotic female voice, surprising the blondes.
"Uh… I am Captain Jaune Arc of the Nagato… We are visiting your… lovely planet and were wondering if we could talk with the person in charge." Jaune said, hoping the translator was working properly.
"Ah, Chancellor Glonic. It has being decades since someone came to talk with him. I will check if he is available, please, wait a minute." The robot checked a panel and used small arms to press some buttons. "Please, sit for a minute as we wait for an answer."
Jaune and Yang sat in a small bench, weapons ready and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
"Captain, it has being an hour. This is not a dentist appointment. If I have to wait for one more hour, I will punch that robot into kingdom come!"
"Calm down, Marine. This Chancellor seems to be the head honcho here, so no creating a ruckus. Let's talk with the robot attender again." They approached the robot that 'looked' at them. "Excuse me; is the chancellor busy or something?"
"Oh, sorry. Let me check with him again… Yes, he can't see you right now, and unfortunately he doesn't have an open time to see you. I am very sorry." Yang was about to say something but Jaune contained her.
"You know, this is a pretty building, do you mind if we look around?"
"Of course not! The Vareelia Administration Center is quite a famous touristic spot. I recommend the sky lounge myself in the last floor. Here, visitor passes." The robot gave two hexagonal cards to them. "I will contact you if the Chancellor finds a moment in his busy schedule to receive you. Contact with alien races have being rare in the last decade and visitors even rarer."
Jaune thanked, grabbed the cards and walked to what looked like an elevator with Yang. The hexagonal pod ascended really fast, and an irritating tune kept playing, grating the blonde Marine nerves.
"I swear I will blow this place down, skipper."
"We are not doing that. Not before we talk with this Chancellor guy."
"He doesn't want to talk with us, why should we waste time with him?" Yang questioned in annoyance as she rested her back on the elevator.
"Look, have you seen anyone yet? This is supposed to be the central administration for the whole planet. And the robot said no one have come here in ten years from outside worlds, I would expect them to be a little more excited to contact a new species. Maybe the natives are being enslaved by the machines." Jaune theorized, and despite the bad movie plot theory, Yang could believe it seeing the place first hand.
"If they are as nice as Penny, I would welcome our robots overlords, for once." Jaune chuckled a little, not knowing that action pleased Yang as rare few things could. "Especially if they know how to make a Sunrise Strawberry with a little yellow umbrella on top."
"You know, Marine, I bet you are always the soul of the party."
"Yep, that is me, Yang Xiao Long, Marine extraordinary and hottest girl in all Universe!" She struck a pose and both laughed before the elevator reached the sky lounge. The place was pretty empty, just some benches and the 360º view of the world. Not that anyone would like the view of more copper colored buildings, black streets and long ranges of grey concrete.
"Nagato, do you copy?" Jaune used the radio. After a few seconds the answer came in.
"Velvet here. Did you meet the aliens? Are they the Vareelians?"
"This is Vareelia alright, but their boss refused to talk with us, and we didn't found anyone else to talk except a robot. Can you scan to see if there is life in this building?"
"I will use your fighters and Hunter sensors combined with our long range ones, wait a minute…" They did just that, and Jaune checked his gun one more time, while Yang stretched a little. "Found a few life signs thirty floors below you, but they are kind of weak. What you plan to do?"
"Lt. Xiao Long and I will pay them a visit. We will try to not destroy anything. Or everything." Jaune answered as he stared at Yang, and she just gestured in fake indignation. The captain finished the conversation. "I doubt those passes will get us there. Alternatives?"
"Have you ever rappelled before, skipper?" Yang asked and Jaune left out a nervous groan out.
Yang moved to the window and punched it off, surprising Jaune. She planted two spikes at the ground and attached two thin metallic ropes, and threw them outside. Then she proceeded to attach one of them to her belt, and prompted her captain to do the same. Jaune followed suit and the two soon started descending to the floor Velvet indicated to be the one where the Vareelians were. When they finally arrived, Jaune signalized he would go first, and Yang nodded.
The captain swung away first, then Yang and he fired his gun breaking the glass and entering first, hardlight shield ready. He was glad to have it as security robots fired against him, but Yang came soon after, jumping Jaune's shoulder and punching away the robots while the other blonde provided cover fire. After dispatching the drones, they arrived to a big space full of chairs and tables in an amphitheater arrange, and it crossed on their heads it was some type of parliament. They moved towards the door at the end but from the ground the worm-like robot from the reception appeared.
"You are not allowed here. You will be… TERMINATED."
From the ground came several mechanical limbs that attached to it, and it changed to an insect like form. Jaune and Yang spared a stare between before they started attacking, Jaune providing cover fire while. The robot proved to be far more agile than expected, and using its 'tail' it threw Yang against the chairs. Jaune put his gun away and used his hardlight shield and sword to attack, blocking a mechanical claw and cutting another off. The robot shrieked and grabbed him, slamming Jaune against the floor and then against a wall. The blonde boy stayed down as the robot menacingly approached it. But the robot stopped as Yang grabbed its 'tail'
Her visor was glowing in an ominous, threatening red. Her Semblance was active.
"You. Hurt. My. Captain. You. DIE!" She growled in anger as the servomotors of her Hunter made loud sounds.
Then she spun the robot with easy, throwing it against the wall opposite to Jaune. The robot got up soon after and tried to punch her, but Yang easily held the mechanical claw with her hand, and started to break it with the sheer strength of the Hunter's servomotors. The robot tried to punch with another claw but she got that too, and pushed the robot towards her before kicking it in the 'face', ripping the two arms in the process. She proceeded to beat the robot with its own claws.
The robot jumped back and fired a grenade, forcing her to jump back for a few meters, and using that chance the alien machine jumped against her. Yang was faster, though, and punched it in the face, activing the canons in her gauntlets, firing a Dust round that penetrated the length of the robot before exiting the end of it in a fiery blaze. As the robot fell on the ground she calmed down and rushed to where Jaune was.
"Captain!" She approached and helped him up as he groaned a little. "Are you OK?"
"Yeah, just a bit groggy. I never was so grateful for those damned armors than now. How are you?"
"Using my diplomatic skills to deal with murder robots. The usual." She teased and Jaune laughed a little. The sound of his laughs made her calm down completely and leave a small sigh of relief.
"I am taking you with me more often. Now, how about we see what is behind door number one?"
Jaune grabbed his gun again, and followed Yang as the two walked towards the door. She pressed the button and opened it, and cold air and a thin fog came from the room.
That was not what they expected to see.
There were thirty or so creatures there, the Vareelians they imagined, and they were strapped to medical beds, tubes and wires coming from their bodies. They were small, no bigger than toddlers, except by their huge heads. The skin was pale and they could see the blood vessels beneath the thin skin. They all looked doped, and breathed very slowly, the only indication they were alive. Several monitors showed their physical condition, though neither one in the blonde duo could read it. They lowered their weapons and walked around, and noticed some monitors had images like a movie instead of medical data. Yang found one where the Vareelian was represented as a muscular and tall person with long silver hair, dresses as some type of fantasy warrior saving what appeared to be females of their species. Other was a rock star, and other one seemed like a spy.
"What in all hell is this?" She shouted, and Jaune took a minute to wonder.
"Fantasies."
"Fantasies?"
"Those machines… they are controlling their mental activity. Creating a virtual world where those creatures can live their fantasies while keeping them alive. Probably to them it is as real as the real world, since it is affecting their conscious brain areas directly. They probably don't even know we are here, nor the condition they are… Or the fact they are living in a doomed planet." Jaune explained, and Yang needed a minute to process it all.
"So, they trapped themselves in a dream and left their machines to take care of the world?"
"The pirates Ruby found other day said they were like this. I think… The planet, they changed the planet so it could support their… life style. And in the process they transformed the planet in one big machine so they could never leave their ideal world." Yang growled in anger with that explanation.
"This, is not living, skipper. This isn't even death. They are undead, zombies trapped in their dumb fantasies. Turning those machines off would be a favor for them." She approached a terminal with the intention to punch it, but Jaune held her.
"Look at them. They don't have muscles anymore. They can't live without being strapped to the machines. Turning them off would kill them."
"So, we leave them like this? Let them wait for the day their planet will burn in the sun?" Yang asked as she calmed down a little.
"Sadly, that is what we will do. They did this to themselves, Yang."
"Well, I hope they are happy. Their little fantasies doomed them."
"Look at their faces, Yang. Do you think they are really happy?" The blonde girl looked at the pained expression they held. She stopped feeling angry at them, to pity them; trapped in a fantasy they couldn't escape even if they wished.
…
"OK, I am giving you an order. What is bothering you?" Jaune asked as the fighters left the atmosphere to return to the Nagato. Yang said not a word until that moment and that worried her captain.
"Nothing." She answered in almost a whisper, but her tone clear said it was something.
"If you don't answer me, I will tell Ruby to pester you till you talk."
"You are evil!" She answered in a half-shout, but calmed down and spoke her mind. "It is just… They gave up real life. They are the worst type of cowards…"
"I wonder. Would any of us be able to resist living in a perfect world that felt exactly like the real one if we got the opportunity?"
"When I was six… When I was six I discovered that Ruby's mom wasn't my mom too. I finally discovered my real mom disappeared while testing the FTLRSS-5. I become obsessed in finding her, to the point I was always trying to sneak inside Project Beacon to find any info. I stopped living my life for two years so I could find a clue about my mom. In one of those attempts, Ruby followed me and we got stuck in a service pipe. It took a day for our dad to find us, and my little sister almost died. I swear that day I would stop wasting my life just searching for an answer that might never come. When the project opened for volunteers, I did accept it so I could find clues about whatever happened to mom. But I swear to myself to never, ever let it take control of my life, that I wouldn't lose any other moment with my family and friends."
"And seeing the Vareelians reminded you of that part of your life." Jaune concluded, and Yang consented.
"I realized all I lost in those two years. They probably never will. They will die because they couldn't let go. I won't end like them. I won't let a dream stop me of living." She swore once again to herself.
"Well, that is good to hear. Look, if we cross with clues of whatever happened to your mother, I promise to investigate it. But our mission will always take priority. But you can always talk to me if something bothers you. I might be an awful talker, but I am a good listener."
"This is all I can ask for. Thanks, Jaune." She answered back, and she was happy he couldn't see her crying.
…
"Welcome back! Did you find the gift shop?" Nora asked as Yang jumped off her fighter.
"Sorry, Nora. It was a tourist trap. They didn't even have a bar." Yang answered with a smile, and Nora shrugged before returning to her work.
"Oh well, maybe next stop they will have one. One with cute little dolls!" Nora said in her energetic state as she started messing with some machine, and Yang laughed at that.
"I am just glad you are both safe. I am eager to hear your report." Velvet stated as she also welcomed them back. Yang gave a sad stare at her friend for a second.
"It won't be what you expect, bunny. Oh, here comes the skipper. I have a bet to collect." The blonde Marine approached the captain as he removed his helmet, grabbed his collar and planted a sweet, quick peck on his lips, closing her eyes on his, she smiled softly and pushed him away, making him fall on his back and look at her in shock. "Thanks for the talk. The bet is paid, by the way. But maybe we can repeat it another time."
She winked at a blushing Jaune and walked away, while Weiss followed her to chastise the playful blonde over her actions. Velvet blushed terrible but helped Jaune up, all the time staring at his lips, dreaming of having the courage to do the same, but her shy nature holding her back. Jaune just stood there too shocked to think properly.
But for Yang that felt amazing. And she was glad that she accepted that mission, not only for the opportunity to find her mother, but also for an opportunity to keep living her own life.