"Where am I?" Jaune asked as He looked around. It wasn't his room at the Nagato, but a nice flowered garden with a few streams running around, and he heard the singing of birds from the green trees around it. Sat by his sides were Miltiades and Melanie, but now Miltiades was wearing a red dress while Melanie a white one.
"We met again. It is nice to see you, Jaune." Miltiades started with a caring smile.
"You still owe us a meal." Melanie completed with fake annoyance.
"Who are you two?" He asked as he sat up, confused.
"He forgot about us already, Miltia."
"I don't think that is the case, Mel. We are friends, Jaune. You proved once again to be deserving of our friendship." Miltiades explained, and Jaune just stared at her confused.
"You showed compassion to those who wronged you. Got out of your way to help those who you had all reasons not to. Therefore, we will give you a warning. Your next destination will be targeted by the biggest threat to all that lives in this galaxy." Melanie said ominously, and Jaune gulped.
"What should I do?"
"That we can't answer as you are still being tested. But… If you pass this test, next time we meet, we will tell you everything. Keep being true to yourself, Jaune."
…
Jaune woke up on his bed, and wondered what that dream was about. It was so realistic that he wasn't even sure it was a dream. Weeks have passed since the Nonus incident, and the crew was back on its feet, or at least as best as they could be. He looked at the clock and noticed his shift was about to start soon, so he took a quick bath and put his uniform. He grew used to it as he looked at the mirror, seeing the grey Spacy uniform, with its insignias on his left and the shoulder covered in his personal colors, a way to quick identify someone if needed to be.
He looked at the beard trying to grow on his face and decided to shave. He never liked the beard; it was awful to wear the Hunter's helmet with one. He wondered how the long haired girls on the ship did it, or even Ren as the boy was now sporting a ponytail. He, Sun and Neptune kept theirs short, as did Coco and Ruby. They were luck that Dr. Verd wasn't just a great doctor but also a great hair stylist.
He finished getting ready and entered the bridge, where the usual suspects were taking position. He sat on his chair and Penny gave him a cup of coffee with her usual smile. He smiled back and tasted it. It was awful as always, but the hot beverage helped him to fully wake up.
"Helmsman, how long before we warp out?" Jaune asked as Neptune checked his panel.
"A few more minutes, skipper. Crossing fingers for it to be…"
"Shut up! Let's not say anything! It might jinx us!" Sun shouted from his seat beside Neptune.
"There are not such things as jinx! This is just superstition!"
"I don't care about superheroes! I care about you bringing us bad luck!" Sun answered, leaving Neptune aback for a second. He was about to say something when his panel beeped.
"We arrived, skipper."
With that the Nagato reentered normal space. The monitor displayed a blue star at the distance. The ship start moving towards its living zone while Jaune checked his panels and screens, the memory of that dream he had with the twins still bothering him.
"Penny, get on yellow alert, just in case. Coco, anything suspicious on the sensors?"
"No, skipper. Just empty space."
"Velvet?" He turned to the bunny girl.
"No radio signals, long range scanner showing two planets, one in the life zone." She explained, but gave Jaune a worried stare. "Skipper, are you feeling well? You look more tense than usual."
"So I am always tense, Sergeant?" He asked, making Velvet blush, but she relaxed when he chuckled.
"Just being careful. I wonder how the rest of the crew is doing." He said casually.
…
"Keep him from my things!" Blake complained to Ruby as the girl hugged their robotic pet.
"Zwei just wanted to play!" She defended the small robot that barked happily.
"With my underwear?"
"He must like the smell?" Ruby defended herself, making Blake blush a little.
"Captain, are you saying my underwear smells?"
"Not like that! Maybe it is how you wash them? Or the soap you use?" Ruby defended herself while Yang laughed heartily at that. Weiss just scoffed and resumed reading whatever she found. Pyrrha just smiled as she watched her friends discussing about silly stuff.
…
"I am pretty sure they have worries of their own." Ren commented from his seat as he checked his panel.
"How Nora pass her time?" Jaune asked to the boy, and he froze for a moment.
…
"Nora, no."
"Nora yes! Come on, Penny! It is just an amazing matter/anti-matter gun!"
"Sgt. Valkyrie, the captain expressly told me to not let you endanger the ship. Commander Goodwitch also told me to hold back your pancake share if you so much as dream about doing so."
"You wouldn't dare!"
"Oh, Doc said to me how to proper react to that sentence… TRY ME!" The AI said chirpily.
…
"I am sure she is just doing some maintenance." Ren answered in his usual tone after a moment.
"Eh. Hmm, blue star. Pretty."
"It is brighter but cooler than normal stars. But it does have a life zone." Velvet explained and Jaune nodded as they approached the planets. "The farthest planet can be seeing on the main screen. It is the most likely to hold life."
"Let's see it them." Jaune asked and the blue-greenish planet covered in grey colds appeared.
"Initial analysis shows a colder planet than ours, the grey clouds are storms. Hopefully of water and not of deadly stuff like acid or glass." Velvet said, and everyone stared at her for a thing. "Yes, there can be raining glass. It happens when…"
"I think we will keep the details of that pleasant image for another occasion, Velvet." Jaune commented and she nodded, not understanding why her captain interrupted her.
…
"Little variation to standard gravity and atmosphere. It is colder than our home planet, with a third of the planet under ice. But the equatorial zone is fit for our survival. There are dense forests, rivers, oceans. The only big different is the big and constant rain clouds. They are not storms, just thick rain… all the time and in most of the planet." Velvet reported as the Nagato orbited the planet in question.
"Signs of natives?" Jaune questioned.
"No, no radio signs, no visible activity… The rain clouds block direct observation of most of the surface though." Velvet informed. Jaune sighed and pushed a button on his chair.
"Rubes, get your team ready. We will need direct observation of the planet. Better take some raincoats with you; the weather prediction is lotsa rain." Jaune said over the intercom.
"It is just water from the sky. How bad it can be?" Ruby answered back.
…
"HOW BAD IT CAN BE? HOW ABOUT THIS BAD!"
Weiss yelled as she struggle to move over the mud. Rain in this case meant a downpour of epic proportions, and they were glad the Hunter armors were waterproof. But moving around was challenging at best as the slippery ground of the forest made moving more challenging than simply walking had any right to be. Only one person and a small dog drone seemed happy.
"This is the first time I ever experienced rain. I like it." Pyrrha commented, Zwei happily snuggle on her back, barking in agreement.
"I forgot they didn't allow you to go on missions often. Rain is not bad in itself, but it affects mobility and visibility, so better to be extra careful." Ruby answered and looked up a tree where Blake was nested, both to scout and to keep a distance from Zwei. "Anything?"
"Trees, rain and more trees and more rain!" Blake shouted back, as uncomfortable with the rain as Weiss. "I hope it keeps like that!"
"You know, I like rain, it is soothing. I hope we get a planet where I can bath on it someday." Yang commented in a rare sweet, longing tone.
"We will. Maybe even this one." Ruby said with an optimistic tone, and Zwei barked in agreement.
"Yeah, yeah. Beggars can't be choosers. And this summer… Is this summer?" Weiss wondered as she looked around the wet planet.
"No, the planet has no seasons since it don't have an angle towards the star. So, pretty much this is the weather all year." Blake said as she jumped down from her tree, splashing mud on everyone. Weiss cleared her helmet and scoffed at her friend.
"I saw a valley down there. Maybe we can find a cave or something." Blake informed. "We might be able to use the Puma there."
"Oh, off-road fun!" Yang celebrated as they started walking back to the bullhead.
"Do we even have driven that thing in any road?" Weiss questioned.
"Details!" Yang answered with a shout.
…
The moving mud object stopped at the end of the valley and the Marines got out as the constant heavy rain cleaned their armors. Zwei ran around their feet, apparently the second happiest thing there. Yang was probably the happiest.
"This. Was. AWESOME! Let's do it again!"
"NO!" Blake and Weiss yelled at the same time.
"Zwei?" Ruby asked as she noticed the little robot dog wasn't nearby. "Zwei!"
"Why are you yelling you dolt! He is a drone! We can track him with our Hunters!" Weiss angrily shouted and Ruby left out a chuckle before activating the tracker.
They walked towards one of the many cracks on the valley in search of their robotic companion. The passage was large and rocky, so there was no mud at least. They found the dog barking against something and walked towards him.
"Zwei, why are you here?" Ruby asked as she got the dog on her arms. Then she noticed the people pointing lances at her.
They were reptilian in nature, covered in brown and black scales, but also had feathers in the top of their heads like it was their hair. They had big yellow eyes with slit pupils, and carried lances with steel tips, and wore armor on their thin but muscular bodies. They looked at the Marines with fear in their eyes, yet still pointed sharp pointy things at them.
"Errr… hello?" Ruby said nervously. The four natives looked at each other in surprise before looking back at the red themed Marine.
"You speak our language…" One of them commented, and the girl was happy the translators were working. "Who… what are you?"
"Oh, err… Pyrrha! How we explain to them who and what we are?" Ruby asked the Major, and the girl stared back in confusion. They were yet to develop a proper protocol for getting with primitive cultures.
"Well… How to explain… We are travelers from distant lands. We have no intention to harm you or your people. We are just explorers." Pyrrha said in the gentlest way possible. The leader of that group poked her with his spear a few times.
"You say you came in peace. But you are wearing armor and carrying weird looking guns." She questioned and Pyrrha looked at her friends.
"We are just protecting ourselves. Look, I will remove my helmet to show we are friendly, OK. But you might find our appearance weird." Ruby said as she gave Zwei to Weiss and removed her helmet. The creatures looked at her for a long moment, blinking and analyzing the girl.
"Weird is an apt description… Are you from the other side of the sea?" The Marines exchanged looks between them.
"Yes? We are from faraway lands." Ruby answered as truthfully as she could. The natives exchanged looks again.
"Pamolo, go to the city and inform them of this." The first native ordered and the one called Pamolo rushed back into the crack. "I am Calinora, member of the guard of Garlield. I promise to not harm you."
"I am Captain Ruby Rose of the star… of the ship Nagato. We promise the same to you, Calinora."
…
"And they are inviting you to their city?" Jaune questioned as Blake was doing the report.
"Yes. They apparently are primitive, no more than steel lances and armor. They seem afraid of us but curious, and for now they promised to not harm us."
"I don't know about that. If the planet has a sentient race, it is already a second option on our search, and while making new friends is good…" Jaune hesitated between doing some diplomacy and simple moving one with the mission.
"Skipper, making friends with them would not be a bad thing in the long term. Maybe one day they will also sail between the stars and when we met they will remember us." Velvet suggested. "Besides, it would be a good change of pace for us."
"I agree with Sgt. Scarlatina. It would help the morals of our crew if we find a friendly alien race." Glynda stated to Jaune's surprise. It was rare for the usually strict Commander suggest something like that. Probably they were really showing signs of stress.
"Very well. Tell Rubes to be kind, to behave and to flee as fast as possible if anything seems fishy." Jaune told Blake.
"Understood."
…
The city of Garlield was completely made inside the rocky walls of the valley. And it was a big, bustling city, with large streets where many people walked around. They used Dust crystals in a primitive form to light the corridors and levels of the city, and the houses were painted in bright colors, showing wooden doors and windows.
The natives wore mostly colorful clothes that covered very little of their scaly bodies. No one wore shoes, but lots of them wore complex headdresses that were tall and usually made with shiny metals. They all stared at the Marines walking with the guards, all of them without the helmets. There was no hostile reaction, just curiosity and a bit of fear.
Soon they arrived at the biggest construction on the city, some type of palace or temple illuminated by huge Dust crystals. Calinora moved ahead of them, signalizing to be followed close. They soon found themselves in an ample indoor garden with a majestic fountain in the middle filled with colorful fish. Several guards in complex armors surrounded the place. Not long after arriving a native in colorful long clothes and a crown made with Dust crystals arrived, surrounded by an entourage.
"Welcome to Galield, visitants from afar. I am queen Miklab and it is an honor to meet you." She said with a curtsy.
"Captain Ruby Rose of the Nagato. Those are my friends Pyrrha Nikos, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long." Zwei whimpered a bit. "Oh, and this is Zwei. He is our pet. It is a great honor to meet you, your majesty." They all bowed a little to the queen and she left a small pleased chuckle out.
"Good to see visitors from foreign lands being so polite. Please, follow me. I want to hear as many stories as you can share." She said with a hand gesture, and the marines followed the queen to a big banquet room, where many foods were served. Suffice to say they all had glimmering eyes over it.
…
"And the food is sooooo goooooood! They are inviting everyone for a visit! And they play music! It is so soothing and…."
"Cpt. Rose, I appreciate your report, but can we keep it at least a little professional?" Glynda said over the radio, and Ruby giggled a little. "I will report all this to the captain when he wake up. For now, remember to stay vigilante."
"Understood. Anything we should know from your side?"
"Every single sensor is showing normal readings. We will let you know if anything changes."
"Yeah, OK. Tell the skipper we will be waiting for him. Over."
Glynda ended the communication and decided to check on Jaune. He was a bit down since the team told about the first contact. She left the bridge under Ren's care (the only one she trusted enough that wouldn't create chaos) and walked to the captain's quarters. She pressed the buzzer but no response.
"Penny, is the captain sleeping?"
"Yes, Commander, but he is sleeping on the sky deck." The AI informed and the blonde woman groaned.
Jaune would from time to time sleep there, saying the lack of gravity helped him relax, but she hated the fact the captain slept in probably the most dangerous part of the ship. It took a while for her to arrive there, and as Penny said there was the blonde boy enveloped in a blanket, peacefully sleeping with the image of the planet behind him. He was sleeping so peacefully that the commander felt guilty about waking him up, but he asked to be always informed about the fireteam in the surface of the planet.
"Captain?" She floated close to him, but to no reaction. She shook him slightly. "Captain?" No reaction yet, so she shook him harder and spoke louder. "Jaune!"
"Not now, sis. I will cook another time." He answered as he turned around. Glynda sighed but smiled after and shook him harder.
"Jaune!"
"What!? Oh, Commander… Sorry…" He said as he fixed himself a little. "I thought you were Maika…"
"I am too old to be your sister, Captain."
"You aren't old, Commander. I am pretty sure a lot of the guys back at combat school found you to be perfect." Jaune said and then froze in place. "I have put my foot on my mouth, haven't I?"
"While I appreciate your flirting, captain, I am here to inform you Cpt. Rose informed everything is alright and that the natives are inviting the whole crew to visit their city." Glynda said with a smile, making Jaune blush hard.
"I was not… I… GAH! Is it wise?" Jaune asked trying to move on.
"I think the crew, and you, could use some rest." She said and Jaune nodded.
"Organize a shift schedule. No more than five of us down there at any time. Put Coco, Sun and Neptune on the next shift. The three probably could use some time out of the ship."
"I am putting you and Shen too. You have being too stressed."
"Have I? I probably have. We start tomorrow morning. Now excuse me, I will return to sleeping." Jaune said as he snuggled on his blanket again.
"Sir, it is not wise sleeping here in a Zero G environment."
"You should try it, Commander."
"Are you inviting me to sleep with you?" She answered in a serious tone, but with a teasing smirk.
"GOOD NIGHT COMMANDER." Jaune shouted and turned around, missing the small giggle Glynda left out.
…
"Morning." Jaune said as he entered the bridge with his usual crew. Penny and Glynda greeted them as they all took their positions.
"Ready for a day off?" Glynda asked Jaune and he nodded.
"I sure am! Can't wait to taste real food again!" Coco celebrated as she checked her panel. "How long before we can go?"
"Two hours at most. Ruby must be preparing her team to come back, but I bet they don't want to." Jaune answered with a smirk when a series of alarms sounded on the bridge. "OH COME ON! REN!"
"It is the subspace sensors! Something is… on the main screen…" Ren pointed and they saw an aurora effect on the upper atmosphere of the planet.
Something was warping out.
…
"I don't wanna!" Yang protested as they were walking back to the Puma.
"I know! If I could I would stay longer, but the others want to visit too, and we are just visiting anyway, not moving here… yet. We won't abuse the hospitality, sis." Ruby answered as they put their helmets and once again they were walking in the rain.
"We might convince the captain to allow us to come again. I mean, if we are allowed to." Weiss spoke toward Calinora. The native smiled at her friendly.
"It would be an honor to have you all again. My people… What is happening with the sky?"
They all looked up to see the clouds distorting and shining in many colors. Then a loud sound could be heard, like howling wind. The lights stopped and a giant black object came through the clouds, leaving a hole in them from where the sunlight came. The object had the form of a seed, and was mostly black, peppered with white spots. It landed far away, but it was as big as a mountain, and after several minutes they heard a loud sound and a shockwave pushed them down and back.
…
"REN!" Jaune yelled as they observed from space the alien object landing a few hundred kilometers from the position the Marines were.
"That can't be right! An object of that size should have hit the planet like a comet, not so… soft!" Ren said as he checked his sensors. "That thing is not a natural occurrence! It is just floating a few meters from the ground and at five hundred clicks from the city!"
"Coco, prepare our orbital weapons! Velvet, try to reach the fireteam! I want a close up of that thing NOW!"
…
"Ugh… What was that?" Yang asked as she got up and they looked at the fair away alien object. They all got up and Ruby used the scope on her gun to look at the object.
"It looks like a meteor." She said as she looked at it.
"If it was, a meteor that size would have destroyed everything in a ten thousand clicks radius and not just float there." Weiss commented and then held a hand to the side of her helmet. "The Nagato is saying it came from the subspace. They are trying to analyze it."
"What is that thing? And how are you talking with your ship?" Calinora asked as her and her group woke up.
"We are using radio, a form of long distance communication. That thing came from the sky and we don't know yet what it is. Once we know we will see how we can deal with it." Pyrrha explained trying to calm Calinora down, but the natives were looking scared at it.
"Is that a sending from the gods?"
"Calm down, we will discover what it is." Pyrrha said putting a hand on the native's shoulder.
"It is just me or that thing remind you all of the Grimm?" Blake said, and everyone stared at the object in the distance.
…
"Captain, that Devourer sensor we installed is going crazy on that thing!" Ren shouted as the Nagato positioned itself directly above the object in the lowest orbit possible.
"The thing the star charts says to stay away? Fantastic! Now the next thing you will tell me is that…"
"Skipper! I think you should look at this!" Coco called and Jaune turned back at the main screen.
The zoom was at maximum capacity and they could clearly see its surface as the 'hole' it made on the clouds was still present. The black surface had several white structures and at first it looked like it was a rock. But then small red glows appeared, and the black mass started to pulse. From it came something everyone on the Nagato knew well, a terror that they always wanted to escape.
Creatures of Grimm.
…
"WHAT?" Weiss yelled as they were informed of what the object was.
"It is some type of Grimm seed or spore! That is how they got to our planet! And they are what the people around this part of the galaxy call the Devourers!" Velvet explained hastily. There was a great silence between the Marines, only broken when Calinora talked in panic.
"You know what that is?!"
"That is a vessel carrying monsters. They attacked our homeland, and we have being fighting them for millennia. They are soulless death machines that only desire is to kill anything that lives. They always attack people first." Pyrrha explained to a frightened Calinora.
"You fought it before! You know how to defeat it?"
"We used our best weapons, and we fight them. But no, we don't know how to defeat it." The redhead explained, trying to not show how much in panic she was. Calinora stared at her and then at the Grimm seed.
"So you are saying we are doomed?"
"Our captain will try to destroy it before the Grimm came out."
"How?" Calinora asked as she saw the mountain sized black object.
…
"Orbital lances are ready captain!" Coco said as they locked on it.
"Fire!" Jaune ordered.
The orbital lances were platinum lances filled with copper fired by a railgun on the Nagato. The lances weighted ten tons, and they caused destruction by the sheer impact of an incredible heavy object fired from orbit at a high speed. It was the most effective orbital weapon they had to destroy such an agglomeration of Grimm.
The lance was fired and they followed its descent. As it made its entrance on the atmosphere it glowed brightly, and from the ground it appeared as a sword of light followed by a dark trail of smoke. It hit the target right on top, causing a thunderous sound and a flash. But the Grimm seed seemed unaffected.
"It used some type of force field!" Ren said from his panel. Jaune clenched his fists and teeth and looked at the object bellow them.
"Coco, fire three lances with five seconds of interval between them! Then fire a MOAB at that SOB! I won't let it get to the city and our people!"
"A MOAB, sir? Those things pack a lot of punch and use a lot of Dust!" Coco questioned while loading the weapons.
…
"HE IS GOING TO FIRE WHAT?" Weiss, Blake and Yang asked.
"A MOAB! Ten tons of Dust to try to explode that thing!" Pyrrha explained as calmly as possible. Massive Ordnance Air Blast, the biggest conventional weapon they could use, nicknamed 'Mother of All Bombs' by the Spacy. "It has an effective radius of a 100 clicks, and an affected area of 300. Since we are 500 clicks from the target we probably won't feel that… much."
They looked at the seed when they saw another orbital lance hitting it and shattering against its force field. And then another, and another. Lastly came the MOAB, but this one they couldn't see from the distance until it exploded, causing an incredible blinding flash of light first, before the loud sound of the explosion reached them several seconds later and the ground trembled. A cloud of dust covered the vision of the object.
"Did your captain do it? Did he kill the sky monsters?" Calinora asked anxiously as she stared at the Marines. They just looked at each other and tried to contact the Nagato.
"Nagato? Did you do it?" Ruby asked and anxiety was audible in her voice. There was several seconds of silence.
"Negative… The MOAB only destroyed a quarter of the superstructure, and now it is dissolving in separate Grimm targets… We estimate that at least ten million Grimm will come from it and they are already dispersing. Cpt. Rose… At least a million of them are closing in your position."
Ruby stood there in shock over the report Velvet gave. Ten million Grimm… She looked at Calinora and her fellow guards trembling in fear. They were equipped with metal armor and weapons, and there was no way they could fight back when even the more advanced weapons they had couldn't.
"We are going to try to curl their numbers with conventional weaponry from here but… You and your team are ordered to evacuate." With that several small fiery dots came from the sky, from the Nagato's conventional canons.
"WHAT?! NO! We can't simply leave! We need to help these people! They can't fight the Grimm alone!" Ruby protested over the radio.
"Captain! We can't stay here! We don't stand a chance against one million Grimm!" Weiss protested as she held Ruby by her shoulders. "It is suicide!"
"We are Marines! We have weapons and Hunters and…"
"Ruby! I am with the ice queen here! We can defeat a few dozen Grimm, but we can't defeat a million, what about ten!" Yang shouted.
"Calinora, we are sorry we can't help you. You need to run back to your people and warn then! Evacuate the city if necessary! We are sorry we can't help more than this." Pyrrha said to the native, which looked in disbelief back at them.
"You can fire light and thunder from the sky… What chances we do have?"
"When we first met the Grimm, we only had weapons like yours and we survived. You can do it too." Then Pyrrha held Calinora by her hands. "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality, through this we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee."
Calinora felt a surge of energy and looked in surprise at Pyrrha. The other Marines nodded and did the Aura unlocking ritual to the other guards.
"This is Aura, the power we use to be able to fight. Pass along your people and fight. Don't give up." Pyrrha explained, and Calinora nodded.
"Yeah, now we can fight them!" Ruby said enthusiastically.
"No! We have our orders! We did all we could for them, Cpt. Rose! We are returning to the Nagato!" Weiss tried to hold the younger girl but Ruby just jumped back.
"Then you can go! I won't let our friends to fend for themselves alone!"
"Ruby, please, think about it! Even if we had all of our armed forces here, ten million Grimm…" Pyrrha tried to reason with the girl.
"We do what we can! That is what we always do! We are Marines! Our job is to protect people!" Ruby start to yell.
"Captain Ruby Rose, I am assuming the command of this team as your superior officer. We are following our orders!" Pyrrha said commandingly, surprising Ruby.
"I will…" Silence. The lights on Ruby's Hunter deactivated. Pyrrha used her own to disable it, effectively trapping Ruby inside it as the servomotors couldn't move. "Lt. Xiao Long, I will have you carry Cpt. Rose back. Calinora, we are sorry we can't do more for you, even after all your hospitality."
"No… you gave us power, you tried to fight for us. This is our land and it us who should protect it. We are grateful for your blessings. That one day our paths can cross again." With that Calinora and the others left, and the Marines somberly walked back to the Puma, Ruby carried by her sister.
…
Ruby was pissed. It was rare for her to be truly angry, but now she was. She knew they left the planet, leaving the natives to deal with the Grimm alone. So they would be in the relatively safety of the Nagato when thousands, maybe millions of people would face death. That was not why she became a Marine. She became one to protect people, to make things better, not to abandon them in the first difficulty. And she saw her Hunter being removed from her body she knew who was to blame.
"Ruby, I am sorry, but our orders…" Pyrrha started apologetically as Ruby's helmet was removed. They were back in the ship.
"I know, Major. I have some words to the captain!" the small girl rushed towards the elevators, but as soon as the door opened Jaune and Glynda came out of it. "YOU! How dare you do this! We need to go back! They need us!"
"So do our people, Cpt. Rose." Glynda stated back. "The Nagato don't have the resources to fight such infestation alone, and we have our own mission to tend to. We did everything we could without compromising our own survival."
"Bullshit! We are running away! I always thought that this ship, that you, skipper, would be different! That you would stand your ground and not run away like a coward!" The small girl yelled in frustration surprising everyone.
"Cpt. Rose! You are talking with a superior officer! You are on the verge of insubordination!" Glynda warned her, but in her anger Ruby couldn't stop herself.
"I don't care! I am going back with whoever cares about those people or alone if needed!"
"No, you are not. We are leaving this system ASAP." Jaune stated coldly, once again surprising everyone around. "Captain Ruby Rose, you disobeyed direct orders, put your life AND the life of your fellow Marines in danger. You are to be confined to the brig until we can provide a military trial for your crimes. Lt. Xiao Long. Lt. Belladonna, escort her to the brigs. And that is an order."
"What? You can't do this! I am not wrong here!" Ruby protested, but she felt the hands of her friends on her shoulders. "You can't be serious!"
"Sorry, little sister. But as your big sister, I need to protect you, even if that means protecting you from yourself." Yang said, and Ruby just looked back agape and shaking her head.
"Fine… I will never forgive you, Jaune…" She said to the captain before Blake and Yang took her to the brigs. Jaune just stood there, showing no signs of any emotion.
…
Ruby sat in the small bed on the brig while hugging her knees. The Nagato warped a few hours before and she knew now they officially abandoned the friends she made at the planet to fight the Grimm alone. There was nothing she could do know if she couldn't convince Jaune to go back, and after her emotional outburst back at the docking bay she knew he had no reason to listen to her. But the fact no one got on her side hurt even more.
"Ruby?" The girl looked up to see Weiss standing outside the cell, staring down on her. She wasn't in the mood for a lecture.
"If you are here to tell me I am wrong, go away."
"No, I am not here to tell you the obvious. I am here because I want you to answer me a simple question I am sure you not answered to yourself." Weiss said, and Ruby gave her a confused look. "How?"
"How?" Ruby asked back, not understanding the question she received.
"You are… a great Marine, and you have led us to many victories back home. You have all the qualities of a leader even if you don't show them outside the battlefield. So, Captain Ruby Rose, how? Answer this question first, and then I might be able to help you." Weiss said leaving soon after. But ruby noticed the plate of cookies left on the cell's door.
…
"Hey Rubes, how are you holding up?" Yang asked the next day as she brought her breakfast. Jaune haven't talked to the confined Marine yet.
"Being better. How is everyone else?"
"Being better. To be honest, things are too tense and gloomy out there. Even Nora hasn't smiled since yesterday. Zwei misses you." The small robotic dog barked and whimpered from Yang's feet. "I miss you."
"I am sorry, but I did nothing wrong! I wanted just to help those people."
"Your heart was in the right place, but not your head. Ruby, we used the most devastating weapon we could use without destroying the whole planet and barely scratched them. We fought less Grimm with more people back home and lost, and that is with Hunters and aerial support. Ruby, do you really believe we could win that fight?" Yang spoke in a very comforting, sisterly tone.
"We would never know without trying…" Ruby answered weakly.
"So tell me, how many of us would die there before you decided it was a pointless fight?" Ruby couldn't answer back and remained silent. "Eat, the captain cooked for you."
"He did?" She answered surprised, believing Jaune was angry at her, probably rightfully so now that she could think calmly about it. She opened the tray to find the food and two cookies.
"One is from me. Jauney sent the other." Ruby had to fight her tears as she heard that.
"Can I talk to him…"
"No, you can't. At least, not if you still want to fight him." Yang said, and Ruby shook her head. "OK, I will see if I can sweeten him for you."
"Why you made it sound so dirty?"
"Oh, little sister, if I am lucky, that is how it will go." Yang said with a smirk and a wink, making Ruby yell at her.
…
Penny looked as Ruby stood by the captain's quarter's door. It was clearly the Marine was nervous, but the android had no idea how to help as she never imagined or experienced situations like this. It was the first time she saw two close friends having a real fight like that, and it was even more amusing that this one was between Ruby and Jaune, two of the nicest people she knew. The android did the only thing she could come with, and rested a comforting hand on Ruby's shoulder.
"Is he angry?" Ruby asked with her eyes aimed at her feet.
"That is not the proper word… I don't think I have one to describe how his state of mind is… But I know he don't want to be like that, or to sadden you." Penny answered as honestly as she could. Ruby just nodded.
"Well, time for my execution."
"I don't think the captain would do this!" Penny said in a bit of panic, making Ruby giggle a little.
"Yeah." With that she buzzed the door and it opened. Penny gave her a wave before the door closed, and in front of her sat a Jaune she didn't knew and didn't like. Serious Jaune, Spacy Officer. He signalized for her to sit and so she did.
But then there was a long, awful silence as Jaune just stared at her. She squirmed uncomfortable and tried to avoid his gaze, but it was always there, somehow, and after a minute or two she finally cracked.
"OK! I know I disobeyed your orders but those people needed help! I did nothing wrong!"
"How?"
"How?" That question again. What he wanted her to say? How what? How would she fight the Grimm? That was… not as easy as she thought now that she could think about it calmly. They had fifteen hunters and one spaceship with limited resource access. She started running several plans on her head about how she could use them to fight that Grimm invasion. And she finally understood that no matter how much they wanted to help, they would lose that fight.
"Do you understand know why we left?" Jaune asked as the realization struck Ruby hard and she showed as tears finally flowed from her silver eyes. "If I could, I would have stayed back there and helped. But staying there would result in our deaths, the deaths of the people back home and the death of the natives. Knowing to choose the fights you can win is a quality you will need if you want to lead people, Cpt. Rose."
"I am sorry… for saying those horrible things to you… I… I should have trusted you after this long…" Jaune finally softened his face, got up and put the sobbing girl into a hug.
"One day, I want to go back there, with as many ships and soldiers I can gather and help them. But to do that, we need to finish our mission. This is a promise I make with you, Rubes." That broke the dam and Ruby cried as loud as she could, and for as long as she needed while Jaune gently held her. It took almost fifteen minutes before she finally calmed down again.
"So… What will be my punishment?"
"Well, you did disobeyed orders, and you yelled at me." He said, making the girl squirm under his hug. "Usually all that would means expelling you from the Marines, what we can't do here, so it would be the brigs for as long as the trip lasts. And I would rather not do it. So I am temporally suspending your rank and putting you under Lt. Schnee supervision."
"Can I choose the brigs?" She asked and they both laughed, finally dispelling the gloominess and making amends. "But seriously, can I choose the brigs?"