Author's Headnote: Sorry, my keyboard is fighting against me. So, updates are going to be slow.
The Ruby of Cerberus: The Citadel: Turian Corvette
Ruby Rose:
Health: Healthy
Aura: 100%
Semblance: Petal Burst
Weapons: Crescent Rose, M-7 Lancer, M-2 Kessler
Credits: 613
Party Relations:
- Weiss Schnee: Well, she's doing better than Ruby.
- Blake Belladonna: She found some books, but then she can't read them because paper books can't translate.
- Yang Xiao Long: Paying the rent for the hotel room
End of Main character status report
Unknown Star, The Citadel, Commerical District, December 9, 2174, 10:00 (Military Time), Friday, Rented Room
Ruby had woken up from the hotel room. She started to rub her eyes before heading towards the shower, where she cleans herself... applying soap on her body and shampoo conditioner on her hair. However, she heard her omnitool making a noise... it was ringing. As a response, Ruby checked on it, briefly out of the shower. It was Miranda. She answered it on an audio only call. After all, she didn't want to make a call while naked.
"Audio only?" Miranda asked.
"I'm taking a shower right now. So, I'm no position to answer calls in video." Ruby answered.
"I see... well... I'll call you back in thirty minutes..."
"Kay, bye!" Ruby said, hanging up, followed by her hopping back in the shower cleaning herself.
Well, that aside... she continued to clean her body, nonetheless. Spending time cleaning and washing is something Ruby needs to do before heading into the day, especially when Miranda is calling her.
After washing up, Ruby stepped out of the shower to begin to dry herself off. Being clean and dry, she instinctively knew to put on the Cerberus equipment. Likely she needs something from Ruby and her team. So, she went to get dressed and prepared to get her weapons ready, because she knows she'll need it.
After getting everything ready... she went to wake up Yang whilst Blake appears to be polishing her new helmet. Miranda is also calling again.
Ruby had answered, video this time.
"Well, now that you are dressed... I have a task for you... but first, you need to acquire your own ship." Miranda stated.
"None of us know how to pilot a spaceship." Ruby stated.
"Then you'd need to find a pilot as well..."
"So... any suggestions? We're not exactly high on money."
"You're going to have to steal one."
"What!?" Ruby objected.
"Well, I know you're quite high in morals given your actions in Adek, but morality is not in a black and white spectrum. You'd have to acquire to find a pilot and acquire a ship. By any means necessary. Fortunately, in most cases, finding a pilot would guarantee a ship."
Ruby sighed... "Where would I find a freelance pilot, anyhow?"
"The Citadel is a large place. You are bound to find at least one."
"Well... okay, I guess. We'll go pack up and go search for a pilot. I'll go wake everyone up and check out the hotel. No doubt you'd need this to be quick." Ruby stated.
"Very well, call me from the ship you've acquired when you're done." Miranda said, signing off.
Ruby once again sighed. She had gone and woke up Weiss and Yang. Along with waiting for them to get dressed in their Cerberus armor equipment. Though Blake is already awake and put hers on immediately, she also put on a helmet. Though this helmet appears to be different for one. It's mostly black with purple details around it, along with a grey full-face visor and cat ears. The helmet does seem to clash with the rest of her armor, though. Well in color and looks that is, other than that they seem to fit together.
"What's with the cat ears?" Ruby asked.
"Normal helmets can't fit because of cat ears, so I needed a helmet with... cat ears..." Blake stated... reluctantly.
"Either way, we're gonna be leaving soon."
"We just have to pack up our things and leave... to where?"
"That's what I'm figuring out. We're going to have to find a ship. And a pilot."
"Great, so we're being homeless for a bit until we can get someone to fly off here..."
"I guess we'll live in the said ship, too..."
"Well, better than being homeless."
"Well, I guess we better hijack and steal a ship." Yang said, dressed and ready.
"We also need someone to pilot it." Weiss reminded.
"I think I could."
"Yang, it's not a car, you'd be operating in three dimensions! I think it's better we find a capable pilot first."
"Do we tell them who we work for?" Blake asked.
"I don't see the problem with that... I mean, I don't think they're like the bad guys of a sci-fi movie." Ruby said, with a squeal in her voice. "Sorry, voice crack."
"Weiss, get the luggage. We're going to find the things we need." Yang said, heading out. Ruby and Blake followed.
Unknown Star, The Citadel, Commerical District, December 9, 2174, 14:00 (Military Time), Friday, Markets
Well, after checking out. Team RWBY was wandering around the citadel. They were looking for a pilot... because a ship would be quite useless without a pilot. Their luck seems to reach them, after many failed attempts, they bump into a Quarian. This Quarian was wearing a Black environment suit, along with yellow armor on it with black marker scribbled all over it. The mask is blue. With a purple visor. From the looks of it, he seems to be wearing bits and pieces from various suits to make his.
"Well, it seems you four are in a hurry to leave." The quarian stated.
"Sorry sir... we're just looking for a pilot..." Ruby said.
"What for? Clearly you've already must have one if you have a ship."
The four of them stayed silent.
"I assume you don't own a ship, guessing from the awkward silence."
"Uhhmmm. Yep. That is also what we need."
"Why would you need a ship?"
"We need to get off the citadel..."
"For what reason?"
"Uhm... we'll know when we get one..."
"Well, guessing by the equipment. You know how to fight... so you can just steal a ship, but yet... the reason you're looking for the pilot is because you don't have anyone who could fly a ship."
"That's basically it, yes."
"Well, I feel like there is something we can both benefit from."
"What do you mean?" Yang asked.
"For one... I've been tracking down a ship that was stolen from me to this part of the Citadel in Docking Station Q... I'll tell you more when we get there, follow me."
"Why?" Weiss asked.
"C-Sec is often suspicious of my kind. It would be for my safety if we discuss somewhere private." the quarian said, heading somewhere. "Follow me."
So, the four of them went and followed the quarian towards his destination. To where that may be will remain until team RWBY gets there for themselves.
Unknown Star, The Citadel, Citadel Docks, December 9, 2174, 14:34 (Military Time), Friday, Docking Station Q
The five of them are in an alleyway near the space docks. Would a spaceship be closer to a boat or a plane? While that question drifts Ruby's brain, she gets slapped by her teammate, Weiss.
"Pay attention!" Weiss scolded
"Sorry!" Ruby said, in a nervous tone.
"Yes... you see... I'm a pilot looking for a crew. You're a crew looking for a pilot. Get the pieces together?" The quarian reminded Ruby.
"Sure... sure, but do you have a name?" Yang asked.
"Haedvin Jaular vas Cordavire" Haedvin introduced himself "Formerly, vas Rayaa."
"And your ship name?"
"The Cordavire... in hindsight I shouldn't have expected you four to know about Quarian culture. We have a ship-based culture, after all."
"So... you consider ships to be like... a family name or something?"
"Perhaps. But nonetheless... my ship is a Turian corvette, stolen by eclipse mercenaries. I would have done so myself, but taking on a band of mercenaries by oneself is suicide unless you are an Asari Commando, which I doubt any of us are. This is especially true for eclipse mercenaries which have numerous biotics and engineers in their ranks."
"Soo... don't charge in guns blazing? Wish SOMEONE should have taken that advice." Blake said, passively aggressively scolding Yang.
"Hey, it was only twice." Yang countered.
"No matter... this is a... delicate operation, so only four people would be able to partake it... one of you will have to sit this out." Haedvin suggested.
"So... no destruction or collateral, Yang you're on luggage duty." Blake stated.
"Don't I get a say on this?" Yang objected.
"Blake has a point. Your skills in stealth are worse than Jaune's..." Ruby stated.
"Excuse me, but who's 'yellow'?" Haedvin asked.
"We'll explain once we're off the Citadel. It's a long story. Alright, everyone but Yang get to the ship!"
Party Update:
- Party in: Haedvin Jaular
- Party out: Yang Xiao Long
Character Change: Ruby Rose - Haedvin Jaular
The Cordavire, 12/9 (Human Date), 2174 (Gregorian), 15:00, Cargo hold
"So... what's the plan?"
"This requires stealth, which means precaution is necessary."
"If it's your ship, shouldn't you just report to C-Sec?"
"Mercenaries always change the tag ID on every ship they acquire, mine included. So, if I sue, they'd win."
"Ouch, I see..."
"And they don't sell their ships either, which means to take it back we'd have to steal it, along with removing any members on board."
"Do we have to kill them?"
"No, but you will have to remove them from the ship if you intend on dragging bodies to the docks."
"So... what do we do?"
"You know how to sneak, right?"
"It shouldn't be that hard..."
"If you get caught Eclipse mercenaries will biotically restrain you and beat you down, along with C-Sec locking you up."
"Why are they locking us up?"
"We are trespassing on their proclaimed property."
"So... could we fight them?"
"I doubt it, even then. I highly recommend caution. This ship is from the Relay 314 Incident, so it's quite old... and delicate."
"Why are you driving an old vessel?"
"I'll explain later, for now... I'll be sneaking through the cargo hold, entering through the airlock and towards the bridge is always a terrible idea, never sneak through the front, or in groups."
"So... split up, take out, and take the ship?"
"Yes... I'll go first?"
"Wait, why are you taking a box?"
"Clearly you're more new to stealth than I perceived."
Haedvin jumped out of the catwalk after climbing the shift, he had landed in the cargo hold.
The help is something Haedvin needed. At the very least, the girls would provide a distraction for him to take out the eclipse mercenaries in a smooth and swift blow, sneaking up and eliminating all of the mercs one by one, all without them knowing it. He's quite capable with an omnitool, most of his experience is revolved around stealth, infiltration, and close-quarters combat. Sure, he can use a gun, but he only uses a handgun because any other weapon would be too heavy for him to sneak around without getting caught. So, he carries an Elanus-risk control brand handgun, the M-2 Striker. Though, similar in line to Hahne-Kedar's Kessler line of pistols, this one is a higher caliber, so he can deal with enemies quicker. The trade off is that the shots need to be more accurate. Besides, he seldom uses the handgun for combat. more so to disable security.
Speaking of, there's a security camera in the cargo hold. In normal cases, he would use his gun to shoot the camera out, but he doesn't want to damage his own property, so he uses the omnitool to disable it for the time being.
The cargo hold is mostly empty. Which is surprising since one would expect mercs to have a lot of treasure. But it's nothing more than a box of rations. Quite the place to hide, too. Haedvin uses the cardboard box he brought here to hide amongst the other boxes, because he hears footsteps heading towards the room that he's in. Peeking out from a grasping center, he watches two soldiers, an asari and salarian head in... they look around, but as expected, they do not check near the boxes. After that, they proceed to have a conversation.
"Nothing. I could have sworn I heard something here." The Asari said.
"Well, nothing's out of the ordinary from what I've seen." The Salarian said. "Maybe check the boxes, likely someone may be hiding under them."
"You've been playing too much human hologames. No one would be dumb enough to hide under a cardboard box. Pretty sure we'd notice if we see a cardboard box in the middle of the hallway."
"Perhaps, but a cargo hold is somewhere where boxes would be normally seen."
"And possibly destroy our rations? I'm sorry, but most of the Eclipse higher-ups are commandos, I do not want to get on their bad side."
"Fair, I wouldn't either. I heard a single asari commando can crush entire turian tanks into balls of metal."
"That's honestly lowballing from what I've seen. An Asari Matriarch who served as a commando can punch a large crack onto a mountain."
"How large?"
"Quite. It was comparable to the taller mountains found on the more mountainous planets."
"Planets don't have just a singe biome, you know."
"It was still large, there was snow on top of that mountain."
"Well, I see your point now."
"Anyways, we need to head back to our station."
"Right, the captain's not gonna be happy with our procrastinating."
And just like that, Haedvin ditched the box for now and snuck up behind the two and bashed their heads together. He then sabotaged their omnitools. As for the bodies, that will be dealt with after the rest of the ship is cleared, for now... he ties the two of them up and places them at the end of the cargo hold.
Now all that Haedvin needs is to focus on clearing out the ship.
Character Change: Haedvin Jaular - Blake Belladonna
The Cordavire, December 9, 2174, 15:05 (Military Time), Friday, Crew Quarters
Blake had landed at the crew quarters, thankfully most of the guerilla fighting Blake partook in revolved around espionage. Blake was hardly ever set on the frontlines, unlike her former partner, Adam Tauras. She doubts that Ruby or Weiss would be capable of something as stealth, but this is not a problem for Blake. Though, gambrol shroud used to have suppresser, she left it behind in the White Fang camp... so, she doesn't have that... besides, dust rounds don't work in this dimension.
She landed in what looks like the crew quarters... there's a bunch of beds here, for given. And two doors, one of which likely leads to the bathroom. In which one of the soldiers have just walked out of and spotted Blake... standing in plain sight right in front of them. Blake reflexed by shooting down the merc with five bullets of the kessler pistol. Looks like she got herself in the distraction, she quickly went and hid under the bed as more mercenaries gather around to investigate the firing.
Five mercenaries showed up to the crew quarters and noticed the dead body. They sounded an alert to sweep the area, though they don't check near the furniture. They do grab the body and remove it, though. For reasons that is never explained.
She hid around for a couple of minutes, but then she sees them all go toward the bridge... likely Ruby and Weiss doing something stupid in there. No less, the objective is to clear the ship of hostiles without sounding an alarm.
Hopefully it won't fail horribly. For now, she gets out under the bed and proceeds to continue scouting the area. Hopefully, finding a good way to take down the current crew to capture the ship for Haedvin so they can proceed with whatever Miranda needs them to do. Hopefully, nothing stupid going on the bridge to compromise that. For now, she sneaks around. She knows how to sneak around and doesn't hide around in a cardboard box like some weirdo.
Character Change: Blake Belladonna - Ruby Rose
The Cordavire, December 9, 2174, 15:08 (Military Time), Friday, Bridge
"Are you sure that they wouldn't notice us walking right at the front entrance?" Weiss asked.
"Don't worry, so as long as we're quiet, no one will notice we're there." Ruby stated.
And as the two stepped on the bridge, everyone then looked at them. The crew, the robots, everyone. If this was a video game, there'd be an alert sound effect playing back-to-back for every member of the bridge to detect.
Seriously, this has got to be the worst luck Ruby had yet. She was then embarrassed in front of Weiss, and in front of the enemy crew...
"Intruder alert, sound the alarm!" one of the crewmates shouted.
As a reflex, Weiss took out Myrtenaster, and fired it... the strange blue powder reacted similar to gravity dust, though it didn't. The person would sound the alarm was knocked back by an indigo beam that came out Weiss' blade. The said, person then fell down, with a broken helmet.
"Honestly, I didn't know what I was expecting." Weiss said, then shrugged.
"Are we going to... do something or...?" one of the mercenaries asked.
"Wait your turn!"
"Weiss, this isn't a turned based RPG! They can go whenever they like!" Ruby countered.
Following that, they all open fired on the two of them and called for backup by sounding the alarm, bringing with it a loud alert noise. With Weiss and Ruby ducking for cover.
"And now you've jinxed it!" Weiss retorted.
"They would have figured it out eventually!" Ruby countered.
Ruby then got her assault rifle and started to open fire. Though, it was then thrown from her with a purple glow.
"And this is why I didn't charge in Scythe blazing." Ruby retorted. "Weiss, do that weird indigo beam thing!"
"Alright, alright." Weiss said, getting out of cover to use Myrtenaster, only for one of them to use their omnitool to freeze Weiss' left arm where she currently stands. She then ducked back to cover. Well, Haedvin was right, those mercs have stuff we aren't prepared for." Ruby stated.
"So... now what do we do?" Weiss asked.
"I have no idea! But I don't want to die on anywhere other than Remnant!"
Weiss' arm, then thawed out, in which Ruby snatched Myrtenaster from Weiss' hands.
"RUBY! What are you doing!?" Weiss asked.
"Something incredibly stupid!" Ruby answered, followed by her swinging Myrtenaster and pressing on the trigger, wielding it with both hands. The weird powder created a reaction tht launched a large indigo explosion in the middle of the bridge, luckily not damaging anything critical. The explosion did harm people in the radius, though not enough. Ruby quickly ducked for before the mercs could regain their focus and resume their suppression fire.
"Well, you were right. That is stupid." Weiss said, in shock. "Though, you're not much of a dunce as your sister!"
"Hey! Yang is pretty capable!" Ruby countered.
"Then I imagine the luggage is in good hands."
Character Change: Ruby Rose - Yang Xiao Long
Unknown Star, The Citadel, Citadel Docks, December 9, 2174, 15:14 (Military Time), Friday, Docking Station Q
Yang is playing an old game from this dimension, that was ported to the Omnitool: Solitaire. Well, it's all there is on here, and the only other games cost money. but she's not gonna spend money for a game she likely won't be able to play again once she gets back to Remnant.
Though, she does suck at it. though, this game is usually unfair from the start. being that the cards are never set up as intended so she could make one wrong move and 'oops!', now she has to start over with a lower victory chance. Yang's just lucky she's not too much of a sore loser, otherwise she would have crushed her omnitool by now.
Now to try again...
Character Change: Yang Xiao Long - Haedvin Jaular
The Cordavire, 12/9 (Human Date), 2174 (Gregorian), 15:08, Armory
After exiting the cargo hold, Haedvin entered the garage, which contains an M-35 Mako. Last time Haedvin was on this ship, it was a Turian battle truck, and not a human one. The Mako has a machine gun on it, but no cannon, unlike Alliance grade Makos. One would expect them to acquire a grizzly, but they're heavily outdated. Being that it is from the Relay 314 Incident.
After he cleared the garage, he decided to loot the armory for some grenades. Specifically smoke and gas grenades. Other kinds won't cut it. Sure, there's other various equipment here... like assault rifles, shotguns, etc. But they're quite useless for Haedvin.
And as he stepped out... he begins to prepare his operation... and just like that, the alarms are going off which means everyone is going to all be in one place. Since he doesn't hear footsteps, he wasn't the one who triggered the alarm, rather it was likely someone else.
Well, he can take advantage of this, eliminate most of the crew at once with the gas grenades. Any others he can deal with quite easily.
Character Change: Haedvin Jaular - Ruby Rose
The Cordavire, December 9, 2174, 15:14 (Military Time), Friday, Bridge
Things don't look better for the two girls... with them being gunned down and pinned by all all corners. That is until she hears Blake dive kicking one of the soldiers down to the ground. In which Ruby peaks up, and then ducks down to avoid getting shot.
"Ruby, this was supposed to be a stealth mission!" Blake scolded.
"I didn't expect this much resistance here!" Ruby defended herself.
"You're in the bridge, Ruby... the front entrance to the ship is here!"
"Yaaa... I didn't know that!"
"Haedvin literally said, do not go in the front entrance!"
"Oh... uhhh... sorry!"
"Ya... now... GAH!" Blake said, getting shot. "Ow, that hurt."
Blake then used her semblance to set aside a distraction to strike her opponents from behind... the shadow clone appears to be dodging the shots, which Ruby watched a bit in curiosity, but ducked down again. Next thing she knew she heard four people knocked down. Though they all quickly turned their guns from Ruby and Weiss to Blake. Meaning that she was gunned down... the clone was gone.
Ruby had moved to another spot on the bridge using her semblance... and using her M-2 Kessler to provide support fire, whilst Weiss was experimenting with the blue powder in Myrtenaster. Which resulted in a small shockwave when Weiss pinned it down on the ground, people ended up floating in the air. Which Ruby used to shoot them down, but while the entire fight was going, a smoke grenade was thrown, making it hard to see...
And after that, she heard another smoke grenade go off, except it's of a different color. The mercs seem to cough as a result, along with very audable neck snaps a couple of times. Well, if it's poison or sleeping gas, the helmet seems to protect her from the effects. She then felt her head being squeezed. In which she then grabs the assailant's arms and started to push them away from Ruby's head. She then turned around and unfolded Crescent Rose to present her assailant a surprise, only for it to be parried by... an omni-tool? And then the said figure went and strike Ruby, only for her to parry it.
When the smoke and gas cleared out, with all the strikes and parries, the figure is revealed to be the Quarian: Haedvin Jaular vas Cordavire. Ruby was shocked by this. It also seems that Weiss and Blake are unaffected from the gas.
"Well, you've helped me get rid of the eclipse mercenaries, not get off my ship." Haedvin warned.
"Why? I thought you needed a crew!" Ruby objected.
"I do, just not ones obvious affiliated with Cerberus."
"How do you know we're affiliated with them?"
"Your armor has their logo printed on them, though I am surprised you'd three would co-operate with me. Though, your boss would likely put me back on square one and replace me with one of their pilots."
"Wait, wait, wait, what?"
"Ya, what are you talking about?" Weiss asked.
"Can you explain, our boss never told us what their goals are." Blake added.
"You are working for Cerberus, yet are completely unaware of their beliefs?" Haedvin asked.
"Not like we had a choice; we were locked up for a month and it was either join them or be casted out in the middle of nowhere!" Weiss retorted.
"Casted out, without our stuff!" Ruby added.
"Well, it seems there has to be a good reason you're kept in the dark. I can tell you about their beliefs and how their system works, though I doubt you're telling the truth."
"Hey guys!" Yang said, popping up to the bridge, carrying all the luggage in one hand.
"Yang, not a good time!" Ruby scolded.
"Geez, entered an argument with the pilot?"
"Yes, and I would want all four of you to step off of my ship!" Haedvin demanded.
"You are outnumbered four-to-one, I suggest we co-operate." Yang suggested.
"Hasn't stopped me before." Haedvin countered.
"But you haven't fought us..."
"True, never fought someone using a farming tool."
"She's more than just a farming tool!" Ruby retorted.
"Honestly, what's even the problem?" Weiss asked. "Whatever the group we were forced to join is like, we're not like them."
"Alright then, I'll need proof of that." Haedvin demanded.
"Blake, show him your cat ears." Yang stated.
"What? No!" Blake objected.
"Cat Ears? I suggest the unique design of your helmet is not purely cosmetic then. Normally Cerberus operatives wouldn't allow someone like that joining their ranks. Alright, I'll fly you around. On one condition."
"What?" Ruby asked.
"Anything you are told, you tell me. That is knowledge, missions, anything that I don't know about them." Haedvin demanded.
"It would be easier to tell us what you do know about them, first."
"It's fair if you know what you know what you got yourselves into. But first, you'd have to tell me how they managed to get ahold of you in the first place."
"That's fair. Well, we should start at the beginning..."
Author's Footnote: Let me explain a few things
A: Yes, there will be OCs in this fic, and Haedvin is one of them, as for his story, it will be more known as the story progresses. And why he tried to betray team RWB is because no sane alien would work with Cerberus during the 2170's.
B: The Relay 314 Incident is what non-humans would refer as the 'First Contact War'. It wouldn't make sense for Quarians to call it the first contact war, so the Turian term for the event is more commonly used when talking about it, though in Alliance Space, it will be referred as the First Contact War.
C: The Cordavire, as described is a Turian Corvette. Picture what it may look like in your head as you will.
Sorry if it took so long and/or if this chapter felt a bit rushed, I had gotten severely ill and only recently started to feel better... though whether the condition improves, or declines is unknown. I'd have to write chapters for two fanfics back-to-back, so that adds to the slow updates. So... ya... See ya next chapter.