Chapter 15: It's my fault

Zorak and his men began firing rounds from their pulse rifles, peppering the village center in a rain of light.

Silver dodged to the side and began taking out the guards one by one, Ruby broke left while he broke right as they seemed to read each other's minds. It was like they were in perfect sync, she would take out the ranged ones above on the bridges with her sniper while He defended her on the ground.

Then they would swap places and Silver would launch to the top bridges and start taking down soldiers while Ruby carved a path toward Zorak.

The soldiers weren't wearing Exo-Suits, they were trained well, but no amount of training could make up for the gap between a soldier and an Exo-Wielder, since those with suits were both trained and powerful.

The leader saw her coming and quickly donned his Exo-Suit, a black and grey suit covered his body in an instant as he blocked her attack, but Silver was already done cleaning up as he came from above.

Zorak took a blow from Asura straight to the torso as he was flung toward the forest floor. Ruby and Silver were already piling on top of him, both scythes aimed downward in an arc to strike him.

It was strange, Ruby realized, five years of them fighting against each other… now they were fighting alongside one another… against her own people.

It was some form of cruel irony… but it was also undeniable that what these soldiers were doing here was wrong. Still, she didn't want to kill Zorak if possible.

As they stabbed downward Ruby veered Silver slightly off course with her scythe to avoid a fatal impact as they landed.

Silver was annoyed, casting an irritated glance toward her as their scythes embedded themselves in Zorak's legs, pinning him to the ground.

The squad leader had really picked the wrong people to fight…

"Ruby, why'd you do that?" Silver asked in half-annoyance. "This man is clearly committing a hostile takeover of an innocent settlement."

Ruby retracted her scythe, "It's no reason to kill him. Let's get some answers out of him first."

He wanted to argue but she made a fair point.

"Alright," Silver dug his scythe in harder, twisting the blade as the man screamed out in pain. "What exactly were your orders for this place? Who sent you? Was it Onyx? Salem? Who do you work for…?"

Zorak yelped in pain as Silver squeezed harder, "I'm not gonna tell you anything! Filthy pirate scum!" he spat in his face, which Silver easily avoided.

"Poor choice…" he aimed Eclipse at the man's head and pressed down, squeezing the trigger ever so slightly.

Ruby instantly pushed his hand away, "Stop! You don't have to kill him!"

"Fine, you talk to him, but if he's uncooperative I'll have to end him myself," Silver got up and began walking toward the main hut, "I'm going to free the villagers."

Once Silver disappeared into the hut, Ruby squatted and prodded the man in his wounds, "Alright if you value your life you'll answer the questions."

Zorak gave her a look of disgust, "I know that weapon anywhere," he gestured to Crescent Rose, "That's Captain Rose's weapon. Exo-Suit weapons are unique to the user so unless you're a clone of some kind… you're captain Ruby Rose aren't you?"

Ruby faltered for a moment, she had no idea her weapon was so recognizable.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." She responded curtly.

He snickered, "I figured as much. The great captain Rose turned traitor… how could you turn your back on your own like this?"

Ruby felt that sting her to her core, "I am no traitor… but you might as well be. What's an officer of the UFSH doing attacking innocent civilians and masquerading as mercenaries? On whose orders are you acting?!"

He grinned maniacally as he stared her in the eyes through the mask, "You really wanna know?"

Ruby nodded.

"Salem gave us an order to secure this planet, I don't know why specifically, but when she said it was occupied by Faunus refugees… well I just couldn't hold myself back…"

"The Chief Admiral did?" Ruby was alarmed, "But why would she do that? These people have done nothing wrong!"

He shrugged painfully, "Fuck if I know what they've done. I don't care. Do you think this is the first operation like this we've done? I can't even count the amount of Faunus camps we've pillaged and raided across the galaxy. This ain't our first rodeo Rose, and it ain't gonna be the last."

"Not if I remove you from the equation first…" Ruby placed the edge of her blade under his chin. She had heard just about enough out of him. None of this made any sense… yet it made too much sense at the same time. Ruby didn't want to believe that Salem was evil but… from the evidence up to this point, it would seem that all signs pointed to her Chief Admiral as being the root of the problem.

"No… this has to be a mistake, Chief Admiral Salem would never order something like this, you're throwing blame to the head office to make up for your criminal behaviour." She reiterated.

He began laughing. Hard. "What? Are you that dense or just in denial? News flash lady, I'm not the only squad doing this. There are dozens more just like me, in all corners of the galaxy doing the exact same thing! We're not special!"

Ruby began to feel the weight of reality sink in, the fragile image she'd desperately tried to paint over the United Forces and her leaders was quickly beginning to crumble as a mild existential crisis began to set in. Maybe she really was on the wrong side of things... and if that was true... then was everything she'd done up until now meaningless?

Meanwhile, in the hut, Silver was finally done freeing all of the captives. As he removed the shackles and bindings of the chief, he made a small headcount. Based on the size of the village and the number of Faunus here… there were either more captives somewhere else or worse…

The main count of people were women, children and the elderly alongside only a small handful of men.

"Is this everyone?" Silver asked the chief.

The elder rubbed his wrists, "There… are a few more. Those men took most of our boys, I'm… not sure where they were taken."

Silver's brows furrowed, "All at once? Surely your men would've fought back!"

The elder shook his head solemnly, "It wasn't at once… our boys started disappearing about a week before. It was isolated at first, just a handful from a hunting party we thought got lost… then more… and more…"

Silver's eyes darkened as he stood up, "I'm going to find your boys."

He exited the hut to find Ruby with her scythe to the man's neck and he could practically hear her head spinning from the breaking down of her moral compass.

Ruby Rose was a powerful woman who led an entire ship and crew against him for years. Her sense of justice was the strongest he'd ever seen and her desire to help the helpless and protect the weak was something he admired.

Knowing all of that, he also knew how much pride she took in her work, and how devoted she was to the cause.

Seeing this… hearing these things… would either break her or ruin her if she wasn't eased into it. The depth of the UFSH's evil was a rabbit hole even Alice would fear going down headfirst. If his suspicions were right… Ruby shouldn't see this mess.

He would continue to be her villain until she came to terms with the reality of the situation. He would tell her in time. In the coming days, she would need something to keep her mind anchored, to keep her focused so that when her reality crumbled she could still hold onto something, even if that thing was hate.

He still needed to portray the role of a villain if it meant that she would still be herself even after being exposed to the darkness.

"Zorak!" Silver jumped down and yanked him up from the ground, "You're coming with me!"

Ruby snapped back to reality, the haze of confusion clearing as she watched Silver grab the bleeding man by the neck, "What the fuck, Silver?! I'm not done with him!"

"No, you're done. I gave you enough time, now I'll deal with him myself," he began to walk away toward the jungle.

"WAIT! DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE…!" Ruby leapt after him but Silver quickly pushed a button on his scroll that caused her Exo-suit to suddenly lose power, as she fell back to the ground. It seemed he had some control over her suit as well.

He continued to walk toward the jungle with Zorak in tow while Ruby could only watch in frustration, "STUPID PIRATE!"

"Don't worry, I'm not going to kill him, if he plays nice. I just don't want you to see what I'm about to do," Silver answered back.

Once they were out of earshot, Silver began squeezing Zorak's neck, "Where are the men you took from this village?"

Zorak grinned madly, "There… right… over… there…" he lifted a finger and pointed to a clearing several dozen feet away from them.

Silver followed the direction until he came upon a gruesome sight.

Something that could only be described as a mass grave.

A deep pit dug into the forest floor, hidden behind the tall grass and foliage, littered with decomposing corpses… all of them were young male Faunus.

"Heh, like our handiwork?" Zorak sneered.

Silver felt his blood begin to boil as he violently began to crush Zorak's arms with his bare hands, "WHY?! WHY DID YOU DO THIS?! THEY WERE INNOCENT! THEY HAD FAMILIES!"

Zorak in his pain still spat, "We were… looking for… Pandora's Prince… too bad… we didn't find… him…"

Suddenly, Silver stopped squeezing as he let Zorak drop into the pit.

They were looking for him.

All of these people were killed because the UFSH were hunting down Nova Alexandrite Flareheart…

Of course… another tragedy caused by his mere existence.

How much longer would he have to fight to rewrite the atrocities committed under his name?

He clenched his fists in rage as heat began to build in his palm, "You didn't find him? It's a shame…"

Zorak chuckled amidst the pile, "A shame indeed, oh what I would've done to get my hands on that filth."

"Would you like to tell him?"

"Doesn't matter, you're going to kill me right? Hurry up and put a bullet in me… or has the captain of the Black Rose got you whipped?"

Nova laughed airily, of course, Ruby got outed, "It does matter since you found him after all… or rather he found you."

"The fuck are you on about?"

Nova took down his suit's helmet and mask, staring the man directly in the eyes.

Zorak's eyes widened in horror as he registered the face, "You! YOU'RE! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" he never got to finish his sentence as Nova let the fire drop into the man's body. It spread quickly, devouring his clothes and incinerating him inside the suit. The heat began to build and get trapped in the Exo-Suit, cooking him like an oven. Flesh bubbled and boiled as Zorak's screams continued for a few minutes before he inevitably perished. The fire began to spread after that, covering the pile of decomposed corpses causing an erupted blaze.

Nova was silently' thankful that he was far out of earshot of Ruby, but the fire would spread if not contained.

Silver returned to the camp with a dark look clouding his gaze behind the mask. Ruby, who was still standing on the forest floor, was impatiently waiting for him to return. She saw the fire burning far off and the smoke billowing into the air. She knew what had happened.

For the pirate captain, his view was hazed over by the thoughts running through his mind. This was his fault… his life was nothing but a vile poison to others around him… yet while he didn't value his own life, those around him still depended on him. It was like a cyclical purgatory of hatred directed toward himself and the people who made him this way.

Yet… as the crisp evening air brushed against his hair underneath his hood, like a shot in the dark she stood there. An angry and vengeful face laced with scorn… but he couldn't bring himself to see anything but the beauty and strength she held. There was something about Captain Rose bathed in the glow of twilight that seemed to make her silver eyes glow, even behind her suit's mask.

His actions had hurt her again.

Not intentionally… not that he ever did before.

It would be hard for him to mend this tear… but it was for a good reason. As she came to terms with herself, he would be her anchor…

He… didn't know why.

There was just something about her that compelled his every being to want to protect her, even if he ended up getting struck down by her hands of justice.

"You killed him," it wasn't a question.

He didn't respond until he walked toward her, she could tell something was off… even in the boiling rage she felt in her soul for his actions… how much she wanted to strike him down… she knew he was lost in his head. She'd known him long enough to tell.

"I didn't promise you I wouldn't," he replied softly, stopping near her ear.

At this time the villagers had filed out of the main hut, and the chief approached the two. "Thank you… from the bottom of our hearts…" he turned to Silver, "Did you find our missing people?"

Ruby spun on him confused, "What missing people?"

Silver took a sharp breath and let out a light, heartless laugh, "No, I didn't," he locked eyes with the chief, "But there's a fire you're going to want to look after in case it gets near the village."

The chief, confused at first, but unwilling to question his saviour responded hesitantly, "Of course… is there any way we can repay you?"

Silver thought for a moment. He was a pirate… they didn't do things selflessly… but he couldn't bring himself to take from the people that he caused suffering to.

A reminder of why he wore the mask.

"No compensation necessary but…" he pulled out one of his storage cubes and from it was a large black banner with a silver dragon's head, its mouth agape and bearing its fangs. It was encircled by a similarly coloured flame, "This village is now the territory of Silver Flame. You are under my protection, so hang this banner high, for when any dare threaten you, they will have to answer to me."

The Chief hesitantly held the cloth as if it were fragile glass, "S-Sir are you sure?"

Silver shrugged, "Nope but I've already done it, no takebacks," he turned to Ruby while still talking to the chief, "We've got business to take care of so… stay safe… and I'm sorry." He said that last part quietly.

The two were walking back to the factory in tense silence. Ruby silently raged while Silver was wallowing in guilt. She opened her mouth to break the silence when Silver paused, "Head back on your own, I'll… catch up."

"What?! NO! You need to explain…!" but he was already gone, sprinting off into the tree line, leaving her behind.

The return to the factory for Ruby was just a plain walk through the forest, it was oddly discomforting not having him or his antics around, and she found herself more trapped in her head than she realized.

Several things happened in the span of a few hours that threatened to break her psyche, her perception of reality was crumbling and yet she was more calm than she thought she'd be.

At first, the idea of the UFSH spreading a black ops team of soldiers across the galaxy to hunt down Faunus was a shock. It wasn't the first shock and she doubted it would be the last.

Ever since Silver kidnapped them, she'd seen a side of the world she didn't get to see before. She was viewing what it was like from the other side of the fence, or at least she was beginning to. She was unsure how much more she'd find out there, but one thing was for sure.

She no longer fully trusted Salem and the heads of the UFSH.

Innocent until proven guilty, in her eyes, but the cracks were there, part of her still refused to paint Salem as the villain, even when all evidence suggested otherwise. She needed to hear it from Salem first before making any commitments to either side.

Something very disturbing was happening behind the scenes, and if what she heard was right, then it was happening for years now.

If she'd learned this information a few weeks ago, then she'd have been broken for sure… but something was dragging her out of the pits of despair, preventing her from drowning in it.

Ruby had the answer, but she wasn't aware of it currently, her residual anger directed towards Silver's actions was the nagging sensation dragging her back up. In her mind, all she could really think about was that he should've handled things differently. It didn't need to resort to bloodshed.

If she ever got the chance she would confront him about this.

Finally, she was back at the factory, the others were handling things with ease. The barriers had been repaired and the defenses were back online.

Weiss, Yang and Blake were all lounging inside with their Scrolls at the ready for an emergency. When they saw Ruby they bolted to their feet and rushed to meet their captain.

"Ruby!" Yang grabbed her shoulders, "Did anything happen out there?"

She lazily shrugged, still feeling hazy, "There were some… enemies taking over the nearby tribe. Silver and I dealt with them, so it's all good now."

Yang frowned as she noticed her sister's demeanour, "What's wrong?"

"It's… nothing."

Weiss interjected, "It's not nothing, come on tell us."

Blake picked up on the subtle queues as she noticed the other members of Silver's crew around and gently motioned them to the side, away from listening ears, "Okay talk."

Ruby heaved a sigh, "The… enemies we encountered. They weren't regular pirates or mercenaries."

"What were they…?" Yang asked but she already surmised.

"UFSH Soldiers."

"WHAT?!" Yang shout-whispered, "Were they out looking for us? How did they find us?!"

She shook her head, "No, they were… like some sort of black ops squad. They were hunting… the Faunus."

Blake's eyes hollowed as she felt a chill run down her spine.

Weiss didn't miss the change in her friend's behaviour but said nothing.

The captain continued, "They… well they were capturing the Faunus people and… at first we thought they were mercs but my helmet was tuned to UFSH frequencies and it accidentally picked up on the messages they were receiving from command. It was no doubt a UFSH line and the orders…"

Yang, shocked, took a step back, "But that doesn't line up with the UFSH code! That's not what we do!"

"You think I don't know that?!" Ruby hissed back, "Sorry…"

Blake, finally collecting herself, put a calming hand on Ruby's shoulder, "I get it… it's a lot to take in. Where's Silver? Did he know? What did he do?"

Ruby gave her a weak smile, "We fought them off… it was pretty easy since they didn't have Exo-Suits. We captured their leader and I was interrogating them when Silver just snatched him from me and dragged him into the woods. They were gone for a while before…"

"He killed him? On what grounds does he get to play judge, jury and executioner?!" Yang flared up, watching around to spot him out only to come up empty.

Ruby grabbed her by the wrist, "Don't go picking a fight we can't win, Yang."

"But Ruby…!"

"She's right," Weiss spoke up, "Part of me is also suspicious… we don't have all the pieces and whether we like it or not we can't go attacking them just because we don't like how they do things. This is the world of pirates, and we need to learn to play by their rules."

Unbeknownst to them, Hex was hearing the whole thing, and a grim look appeared on her face. She would need to have a conversation with Nova.