I do not own RWBY or Warhammer 40,000, only my original characters.
I am so happy with how much people enjoyed Hidden Faith, so here is the next chapter of Return of Faith. That's right, title change! I had a ton of fun writing this chapter, though I do admit that I had to restart quite a few times, I love 40k, but all the techno-jargon involved always goes right over my head. Still, I am really happy with this chapter, and I hope you all will enjoy it.
Also, I forgot to let you guys know, I commissioned Nemris over on DeviantArt to draw two characters from my space marine chapter and he did a damn good job on it, so check it out if you want.
HEADS UP! I changed a crap ton with this chapter, replaced some stuff or rewrote it. I just felt like what I had first was just too rushed, so I went back and changed what I felt I needed to. I think it's better now but let me know what you guys think.
Return of Faith
Chapter One: Discovery & Decision
The moon was shattered.
Though it had been two weeks since they first arrived in the system, the bridge crew of the Solaire's Light still couldn't quite wrap their heads around that fact. No matter how many glances they shot the broken satellite, the magnitude of the sight still left them breathless and confused. Dead worlds were nothing new to them, but this was something different. None of the crew knew why, but they felt it in their souls. There was more to this.
The first piece of evidence to that was the fact that the world the shattered moon orbited was a garden world of pristine beauty. Its sapphire seas and emerald forests shown vividly from the observation deck of the Solaire's bridge, filled with all sorts of creatures, according to the ship's auspex scans.
It should be a desolate wasteland, blasted into oblivion by the thousands of mountain sized chunks of debris sent plummeting into its surface when the moon was shattered, whenever that might have been. But there was no evidence of the world ever suffering such a bombardment and the sheer number of fragments floating in the invisible grip of the moon's gravitic pull made several deck hands think it never had.
On the bridge's observation deck, studying the sight before them, stood two figures. Their focus was not on the shattered moon however, but on the garden world that it orbited. The larger of the two, a man clad in sleek carapace armor beneath a dark coat, continuously shifted his attention between the planet and a data-slate he held. His companion in contrast, was wholly focused on the world, or more specifically, on the massive amount of psychic energy radiating from the world… and the strange tranquility of it.
"Have you sensed anything new, Kara?" The harsh, mechanical snarl that was her companion's voice jolted Kara Storrel out of her stupor. She looked over to him, but his gaze was fixed on the data-slate. "Have there been any… changes with the world?"
Kara shook her head and turned back to stare at the strange world. "No, Inquisitor. It is as calm as when we first arrived in the system."
Inquisitor Oscar Kress made a sound at that, rendered into a hard snarl by the stylized silver-skull respirator mask fixed to his face. Kara couldn't tell what the sound was supposed to represent, but she didn't need to. Her gifts told her that he was still skeptical of all this. She was too.
"And the song?" He asked, finally looking up from the data-slate to glare at the world.
"I hear it, but it has grown weak," Kara gave a resigned sigh. "It's a miracle we heard it at all. Had we not been where we were, I fear the song would have gone unheard, or worse, draw the attention of more malevolent forces."
He said nothing and returning to studying the data-slate. Silence filled the space between them.
She risked a glance at the device in the inquisitor's hands, curious. "Another report from the twins?"
"One that doesn't give me headaches, thank the Emperor," her lord answered with a relived sigh. His answer made the young psyker raise an eyebrow.
Yole and Yuria Lond were two of Kress' most trusted agents, having been with inquisitor long before Kara ever showed up. Master infiltrators, they had been on the planet's surface for the past twelve days gathering intelligence and forwarding it directly to the inquisitor's private cogitator terminal in his personal chambers onboard the Solaire. What reports the inquisitor allowed Kara to read had left the psyker curious, confused, and… unsettled.
"They've found more evidence of a former Imperial presence in the city called Vale," His fingers danced across the screen as he typed back a response before scrolling through the rest of the report. "A failed Ministorum mission probably, though they have confirmed the existence of multiple cults dedicated to the worship of the Emperor, so I suppose it wasn't a complete failure…" His voice trailed off and his fingers froze above the data-slate. Kara sensed his surprise and frowned.
Although she was the newest of Kress' retinue, she had quickly learned that little surprised the old man. In his centuries of service to the Golden Throne, he had seen and experienced much, and it had taught him to always expect the unexpected.
This planet, and whatever Yole and Yuria had found on its surface, had genuinely shocked him. It was the first time Kara had ever seen him surprised by something. It made her nervous. Inquisitors were not meant to be surprised, they were meant to eliminate surprises. But this damn world just didn't seem to understand that, apparently.
"Inquisitor Kress?" She reached out a hand to touch his shoulder, but stopped herself, knowing it was not her place to do so. She entertained the idea of probing his mind to find the identity of his shock but crushed the thought with the reality that such an intrusive course of action would end very poorly for her. Even his tolerance for psykers had its limits.
If he made any indication that he heard her, his hood and mask denied Kara the benefit of seeing it. Instead, he turned his back to the psyker and started walking away, his attention still held by the data-slate. Kara moved to follow him. "Captain!" He all but shouted, his mask distorting the word savagely. "Move us out of orbit and prepare for warp jump. We're leaving this system."
"What!?"
"Aye, Inquisitor!" The bridge lit up with activity as the captain relayed the order to the rest of the crew. Deck officers scurried across the bridge, ensuring everything was going smoothly as orderlies and servitors transmitted the order to other sections of the cruiser and moved the Solaire's Light away from the planet.
Kara felt the planet's energies less and less the more distance they put between themselves and the world, but she was no longer paying attention to that. "Kress!" She jogged over to the inquisitor, now standing by the captain's command throne and looking over the organized chaos of the bridge. He turned to regard the young psyker, his cold blue eyes glaring at her. "Yole and Yuria are still down there! We can't just going to leave them there! They're going to-"
"Be quiet, Kara." Kress told her, his voice calm but carrying an underline of annoyance. She cringed as she realized she had overstepped her bounds and quickly obeyed the inquisitor's order. "Do not question me like that again in the presence of others."
Embarrassed, Kara bowed her head. "Your concerns are misplaced anyway," he replied, almost casually. "Yole and Yuria's orders are unchanged. They will continue to gather information on this world and its populace until our return." Kress then held out the data-slate for her to take. She scrolled through its contents, absorbing the knowledge reaped by the twins. Her master said nothing as she did this, gauging her reaction to what he was disclosing to her.
Kara's fingers froze, and her body went rigid when she came upon the document titled "Creatures of Grimm". She didn't even finish reading the first sentence before Kress took the data-slate back. She did not resist. Once the device was back with the inquisitor, Kara made the sign of the Aquila and muttered a prayer of purification to the Emperor. When she was finished, Kress made the subtle gesture for her to enter his mind, so they might speak in secret.
Still shaken, Kara responded as she had been trained to, giving him the equally subtle sign of acknowledgement, before entering her master's mind. Despite lacking any sort of psychic ability, the inquisitor's mind was a masterfully guarded thing. His memories and subconscious were completely closed off to her, blocked by centuries of psycho-conditioning and training. Only his current thoughts were open to the psyker, and only because he allowed it.
I share your concerns regarding this world, Kara, his mental voice was so different from his physical one. It was smooth, almost gentle. If circumstances were different, I would declare Exterminatus upon this world here and now.
Then why don't you? Kara asked, her fear tainting her thoughts. You know what's down there, the planet is crawling with daemons! Its people are beyond saving at this point, Emperor knows how long they've been exposed to the taint. Killing them would be a mercy.
Ordinarily, yes, but this situation is anything but ordinary. He brought forth the information provided to him by the twins' reports, specifically information regarding the people and the planet itself. Immediately, Kara understood what her master was getting at. Before she could protest, the psyker felt her master's mind close itself off to her. Understanding what he wanted from her, Kara begrudgingly removed herself from his thoughts. Kress then continued to speak.
"Remnant has proven itself to be a world that could either greatly benefit or threaten the Imperium," he said, both to her and to any of the bridge crew trying to eavesdrop on them. "As an inquisitor of the God-Emperor's Holy Inquisition, it is my sworn duty to uncover the truth and to use it to protect the Imperium of Man from foes both within and without." He took several steps forward, hands clasped behind his back as he gazed out into the void of space. "I will learn Remnant's secrets, I will unravel its mysteries, and only then will I pass judgement upon it.
"But do this, we will require assistance," he scrolled down on the data-slate, then handed it back to Kara. "And who better to aid us in this than those who first brought the Emperor's Light to Remnant?"
~o0o~
On the world below, the people of Remnant continued with the preparations for their Vytal Festival, completely ignorant to the attention they had garnered. Such was especially true in the Kingdom of Vale, the appointed host of the Festival and its famous battle tournament. There, the citizens worked with eager anticipation, stringing up banners or welcoming tourists from the other Kingdoms.
From the confines of Vale's capital city, Remnant appeared an incredibly unremarkable planet. To a casual observer, the world was indistinguishable from the thousands of other 'civilized' worlds that filled the Imperium. It was only when one left the safety of the city would they see Remnant as the Death World it truly was.
Yuria found such deception impressive. It spoke much of this world's rulers, their skill in manipulation and politicking, as well as what they considered priority. They did not want their citizens to have to worry about the daemons at their door, nor the criminals running rampant through their streets. They desired the masses to rejoice in the resolution of their history's greatest conflict, to be happy and complacent while monsters brayed and prowled just outside.
It was commendably manipulative.
"So, we are to remain here?" The agitated voice of her twin brother Yole drew Yuria out of her thoughts. "Continue with this mundane mission?" He never enjoyed 'quiet' operations.
Yuria smiled a little at her brother's irritation. The siblings sat opposite of each other in one of Vale's many restaurants. For nearly two weeks, the twins had been gathering information on this world and forwarding it back up to Kress in high orbit. They had learned so much about this strange planet, things both fascinating and terrible, things that many of the Holy Ordos would see censored and made forbidden to look upon by punishment of death.
Remnant had no idea how fortunate it was to have been discovered by Oscar Kress and not one of the Inquisition's more… zealous members.
Yuria answered her brother's question. "Yes, we are to continue gathering intelligence until the inquisitor's return." Her voice was sweet and demure but held a liar's edge to it. Many were those she had deceived with her voice, luring them into false safety before showing her true colors.
Her brother's voice was similar, though much deeper and far blunter than her own. "We are saboteurs, dear sister," he remarked in a low whisper. "We should be dismantling the fortresses of the Imperium's foes, assassinating heretic leaders and rebellious planetary governors, not scrounging through databanks on this backwater of a planet!" Yole let out an aggravated sigh and ran a hand through his white hair. "This is a job for Orbeck, not us."
Yuria smiled at her brother. "Tech priests are not known for their stealth, Orbeck especially," she reminded her brother. "He would not even think to hide what he is from these people – not that he could anyway."
Yole huffed, then grinned a bit. "It would be hard to hide those legs of his," he said.
"Not to mention the rest of him," The two shared a short laugh, then ceased as a waiter came along with their food. Few were the missions where they had the chance to sample local cuisines without fear of being poisoned. They had both ordered the establishment's most popular dish, a strange sandwich containing a slab of ground meat, a slice of dairy, and various vegetables and sauces. On side were deep-fried wedges cut from some starchy plant, heavily dosed in salt.
It was called a 'cheeseburger with fries' and was a planet-wide delicacy according to their findings, despite its less than healthy ingredients.
The two ate their meals in silence, enjoying the flavor of the food. In their service to Inquisitor Kress, both Yuria and Yole had attended feasts at the tables of lofty nobles and boisterous Imperial Guard generals, tasted many delicious and exotic dishes that cost more than a guardsman earned in five years. Yet, there was a pleasant simplicity to the cheeseburger that quickly saw it become a favorite of Yuria's.
Her brother enjoyed them too.
They ate quickly but savored every bite. Individuals of their occupation learned early that time was a thing not to be wasted regardless of their mission's nature. Yuria allowed herself some indulgence however, taking smaller bites and slightly longer pauses between swallowing.
"I meant what I said, dear sister," Yole said after wolfing down several fries. "I hold the greatest respect for Kress, but our talents are wasted here. Tell me you do not agree."
Yuria did not answer right away, still occupied with chewing her food. She swallowed, then spoke. "The situation here is delicate, dear brother. Remnant is a strange and troubling world, filled with all manner of insanity and potential." She placed her nearly finished sandwich back on its plate and fixed her brother with a stern look. "Every scrap of information we find is valuable. The more we know, the better Kress can determine what judgement to render upon this world."
"It's covered in daemons, dear sister," Yole reminded seriously. "Actual, Throne-damned daemons! I may know little about the Warp, but even I can see that burning this world to cinders is the best option."
"Then why did they not destroy Remnant when they first came here?" Yuria asked, reminding her brother of their latest discovery. "If the Warp's taint is so strong on this world, then why have we seen no references of the Dark Gods in any of the archives we searched? No, dear brother, this is not just some daemonic incursion," he snorted at how she spoke of it so mundanely, "something else is going on here."
The two were silent for a while, their eyes locked and unblinking. Then Yole leaned forward, "Is that why Kress left for Salem? To petition their aid in retaking this world?"
Yuria offered her brother a playful smile. "Thanks to us, Kress knows the Emperor's Word has reached this world and that those who brought it here are still remembered by Remnant's faithful." She picked up one of her last fries, staring intently at it between her thumb and index finger. "Their return will ignite the fires of faith to spread across this world once more."
"You overestimate these people, dear sister," Yole said, leaning back in his seat. "They are complacent, weak, and lack any resolve to fight. Even those 'Huntsmen'" He rolled his eyes at the title, "fight only if it benefits them financially."
Yuria plopped the fry into her mouth, chewed briefly, then swallowed. "You are too unfair, dear brother," she told him. "We have only seen what Vale's people are like, yet you assume the whole planet to be like them?" She giggled. He growled.
"The Emperor's Word gives strength to those who hear it," Yuria whispered, her voice taking on the tone of a Scholas drill abbess reprimanding a misbehaving child. "Remnant's faithful have been persecuted and hunted down for nearly a century. They are blamed for the Great War and made outlaws for following the one True God," She picked up the remains of her cheeseburger, "But they persevered regardless of their government's best efforts. Such resilience will prove useful to us, as will their devotion."
Yuria took a bite from her meal. Yole grumbled, "It will make the occupation of this place easier, I suppose." A strange look crossed over his face then, making Yuria halt in her chewing.
Yuria knew that look.
She swallowed her bite. "What are you planning, dear brother?" she said, curious to what thoughts swirled inside her brother's head.
"My deear sister," he began, his lips curling into a predator's grin. "I merely thought of a way for us to fulfil our mission, while also providing Kress with a warm reception upon his return."
A serpentine smile crossed Yuria's features, and she took another bite out of the cheeseburger.
~o0o~
The Beacon Academy library was customarily quiet. Earlier in the day, many students had been preparing for the start of the second semester, studying for future tests or finding research material for papers yet to be announced. It was late now; the sky was dark and most of the students had since returned to their dorm rooms to get some sleep.
Team RWBY had been among those students who had made use of the library earlier in the day, though they used it to play a game of Conquest of Remnant instead of studying for classes. It had been fun, and they even met one of Sun's teammates, Neptune, who joined their game when Blake left suddenly. Thing is, when they had finished playing and returned to their dorm room, they had neglected to clean up their boardgame.
So now Ruby Rose strode through the library, intent on retrieving her boardgame before it was too late. She headed straight for their table, wasting no time in her quest, knowing she would have to wait until tomorrow after classes to get it if she didn't find it now. If she did that though, there was a chance it would be taken by someone else, or worse, found by Goodwitch and thrown out.
It was a chance Ruby wasn't willing to risk!
"OMPH!" "GAH!"
Focused on her goal as she was, the leader of Team RWBY just failed to notice someone moving out from behind a bookshelf corner and right into her path. She felt her head connect with metal before suddenly finding herself sitting on her backside. Groaning, she rubbed the spot on her head where she hit the metal, wincing a little.
"Ruby!" A familiar voice exclaimed. "Sorry I didn't see you there." She opened her eyes and was greeted by an apologetic Jaune Arc.
Like her, the leader of Team JNPR had fallen, but quickly stood back up and offered his hand to her. Ruby took it. "Thanks, I'm okay," she said, and Jaune nodded with a relived smile. He then bent down to retrieve a familiar cardboard box. "My game!"
Jaune held it out for her to take, which she did. "Yeah, I saw you guys forgot it, so I was going to take it back to your dorm when I finished studying!"
"You were studying? By yourself?" Ruby said, actually a little surprised. Jaune had never been that much of a studier, often relying on his teammates for help. Ruby was a bit the same, sometimes.
Jaune scratched the back of his head and gave a weak chuckle. "Yeah, well, given how bad I did last semester, I thought it would be a good idea to put in some effort this time." He frowned a bit. "Got to be ready for the participation exam, you know?"
Ruby nodded. In order to qualify for participation in the Vytal Tournament, teams had to take an exam to prove they were ready for it. It was primarily battle training and teamwork exercises, showing off how well teams could fight together and handle combat in different environments, but there was a written exam too. Ruby really didn't know why they needed a written exam, maybe to show the students were learning more than just how to fight, but she did know that it was just as important to pass as the combat tests.
"Yeah, I should probably start studying for that too," though Emperor knows she didn't want to. Not wanting to linger on studying, Ruby changed the subject, "So, you want to head back to the dorm with me?"
"Sure." And the two leaders retreated out from Beacon's archive of knowledge before the librarian locked it up for the night.
It was as the two walked out the library doors that Ruby realized this was the chance she had been waiting for! Since her talk with Father Carmine, Ruby had wanted to speak with Jaune. He had been the only one to speak out against the unjust persecution enacted against the Emperor's faithful, and she wanted to know why.
She hadn't had the opportunity until now. During the break, she and Yang had gone back to Patch to see their dad and Zwei. Ruby had enjoyed the time off from classes and homework, and their dad had been happy to have them back in the house. He had also been happy to hear that Father Carmine was doing well in Vale and had not been discovered by the police. Ruby still couldn't believe the priest had been friends with her parents. Another example of the Emperor's Hand at work, just like right now.
"So, Jaune," Ruby began, earning the blonde's attention. "I wanted to ask you something."
"Sure, Ruby," he said with a pleasant smile. "What is it?"
Ruby quickly checked to make sure they were alone. "It's about what happened last semester. You know, with that one student?"
Jaune's smile fell as he instantly knew what she meant. "Oh," he said, dejected. "You thought it was stupid of me to say something too?"
She was surprised by the slight bitterness in his voice and raised her hands to deny his question. "N-no, no, I didn't mean that. I-I was just… curious is all." He raised an eyebrow at that. "Y-you know, they're the worst of the worst, after all! Remember when Professor Oobleck talked about them he said they controlled Vale through fear and corruption, and started the Great War, and are just a bunch of crazy cultists." Ruby let out a nervous laugh. She had rehearsed this darn it, she could do this! "I just wanted to know why you… why you thought it wasn't fair. The way they treated him, I mean."
Jaune stared at her with conflicted eyes, then looked away with a sigh. He didn't answer her, or say anything for that matter, until they reached the stairwell. He stopped at the foot of the stairs, and beckoned Ruby to move underneath it. Recognizing this to mean he wanted to tell her something confidential, she followed his gesture with a nod, crouching to avoid bumping her head.
Jaune followed behind her, made one quick check to make sure no one else was there, then spoke.
"Ruby, I-" he paused for a second, unsure if he should continue before shaking his head and looking her dead in the eye. "Have you ever heard of the Paladins?"
Ruby tried to hide her surprise at the mention of Vale's order of holy knights. "I-I've heard a-a little about them," she stuttered out, still trying to keep up her façade of ignorant curiosity. "They were soldiers, right? Worked for the old Church?"
They were more than just soldiers. The Paladins of Vale had been the first and last of the great knightly orders. The sworn shield and sword of the Faith, it was their holy duty to guard Vale's faithful from both the Grimm and the heretic. They were honorable, pious, and highly skilled in battle. In a way, they were the Faith's equivalent to Huntsmen, only the Paladins did not fight for money or fame.
They fought for the Emperor, and for the safety of His people.
When the Great War ended, the last king of Vale– cursed be his name – had the Paladins' role in the conflict all but erased from history. They were wrongly remembered as 'corrupted' enforcers of a 'corrupted' religion, deserving nothing but scorn.
What did they have to do with Jaune speaking out?
"Yeah, kind of…" Jaune paused again, trying to find the right words. "Remember my great-great-grandfather? How I told you he fought in the War?" Ruby blinked. She vaguely remembered that Jaune mentioned the man when he showed her Crocea Mors for the first time. "Well… he was a member of the Paladins."
Ruby's eyes went wide, stunned. Jaune seemed to take her reaction as a bad sign and immediately started trying to stammer out an explanation. "B-b-but I'm not – I-I mean that doesn't mean I'm one of them! I-i-its just I grew up with stories a-about the Paladins, like how they protected the people and the Kingdom. N-n-not that I ever believed them! I jus-"
His fearful stuttering snapped Ruby out of her little stupor. "Jaune! Jaune!" she said, grabbing his face to cut off his rambling and make him focus on her. "It's alright, I'm not going to report you."
Jaune blinked, "Really?"
Ruby nodded, "Really."
Ruby then let go of his face and the Arc boy let out a massive sigh of relief and let himself slid down the side of stairwell wall. His fear was understandable, especially if his lineage was true. Jaune very well could be thrown in jail or put in one of those horrible reconditioning centers if his heritage was revealed. Then again, the same fate awaited Ruby and every member of the Faith, should they be discovered. Such was the risk they took to worship the one true God.
"The Paladins were the reason I wanted to become a Huntsman," Jaune admitted. "The stories my granddad told about the Paladins always had them saving villages and slaying Grimm, regardless of the peril. I wanted to be like that too, to be like my great-great-grandfather. A hero."
He looked over at Ruby then. "That's why I spoke out back then, about that student being expelled. I don't worship the Emperor, but I knew plenty of people back home who do, and they've never hurt anyone. They aren't the monsters the Kingdoms make them out to be, so when I saw that guy being treated like trash by everyone because he worshipped the Emperor I couldn't just… It didn't…" He trailed off, unable to properly voice his thoughts, but Ruby could figure it out for herself.
"You couldn't let it go," she said, taking a seat next to Jaune. "It didn't matter if he was a worshipper of the Emperor or not; you saw an innocent person being treated like a criminal for no good reason and couldn't let it stand." Ruby placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled. "Just like a hero. Just like a Paladin."
Jaune was silent for a moment, then smiled and said. "I see you've gotten better at your pep-talks."
Ruby punched him in the arm good-naturedly, "shut up!" she giggled and Jaune laughed in return before standing up and offering a hand to help Ruby do the same. The two friends then left the secluded confines of the stairwell and headed back to their dorm rooms.
The walk back was quiet, but pleasant. Neither Jaune or Ruby felt it necessary to break the silence and so it persisted until they reached their destination. The two were just about to enter their respective rooms when Ruby made a split-second decision.
"Jaune!" She said, just as his hand gripped the doorknob. He looked back at her, and Ruby felt a slight blush color her cheeks. "I-if you ever want to talk about… you know what," She whispered that bit, knowing there were security cameras in the hall, "Some more, just give me a call. It was… nice."
Jaune smiled and gave a nod of his head. "Definitely. And, uh, thanks for listening." He opened his door and went inside, waving goodbye to her. "Goodnight, Ruby!"
Ruby waved back, "goodnight, Jaune," then turned and entered her own room to present to her waiting teammates the boardgame they had forgotten.
~o0o~
Author's Note: So… quite a bit of changes made to the original, huh? I'm sorry if any of you liked the original, and thought it was good too, but the more I thought about it the more I realized it was a mediocre first chapter. It focused too much on the Inquisitor and the battle scene, (something I am really bad at), and nothing else. There was more I wanted to do with Yole and Yuria, but I felt it wouldn't have flowed as well with the battle. So, I got rid of the battle and replaced with another scene, one I was going to use in chapter two but felt would work better here instead.
Next chapter will have the battle, but I am probably going to rewrite it significantly, might even change the point of view. Actually, on the topic of battles, I am looking for a beta reader for the battle scenes in this story to make sure they are the best they can be.
Now, I feel like this was WAY better than the original chapter with much better flow, more intrigue, and better set up for what I have planned for this story.
I hope you all enjoyed the changes to this chapter and are eager for the next installment.
As Always: Please, Fav, Follow, and Review! Thank You!
DeadRich18 Out!