Yeah so the last few months have been crazy. Between a new job, a new heartbreak, Huawei's Seeds for The Future in El Salvador, food poisoning, an earthquake, a car accident (I'm fine, it was just a fender bender), getting COVID AGAIN, and university trying to kick my ass as usual.

I am back.

Chapter 17: Turmoil

Nova sat in his office with Hex as he ran through the information he had so far. Their conversation earlier had really added some context to his feelings for Ruby, and for almost an entire week he had avoided her like the plague. He didn't need distractions, not when things were this precarious.

Nitro walked into the room, covered in ice and shivering, "Cap'n the cryo freezer is acting up… it's working a little too good."

Nova raised an eyebrow and pinched his nose, pulling up the systems for his mother's cryopod in the ship's lab, "Looks like the coolant we bought wasn't rated properly… the system is reading all red."

Hex squinted and looked over his shoulder, "I can make some tweaks to it and get it up and running but I'm going to need some extra hands…"

Nova felt his tongue clamp up, "By extra hands you mean…"

"Yang, her mechanic expertise will help the process."

"And if we don't fix the issue?" he counter asked.

"The entire lab freezes over due to coolant leaking and we lose access to that sector of the ship within two days." She confirmed for him.

He dragged his hands over his face and slumped over the table. He was far too mentally exhausted for this shit.

When was the last time he had relaxed?

It must've been another era…

He glared Hex in the eyes before relenting, "Fine… I'll leave it to you two to handle her. I trust your judgment on the situation." He nodded to Nitro.

Hex smirked at him, he had given in so easily only because his mother and their lab were the priority. The captain didn't play games with the lives of his family, blood-related or otherwise.

Once they were gone Nova gripped the desk and cursed, "First Onyx, then Ruby, then the UFSH… then Ruby again… now this?" He was mentally clocked out and not doing okay.

"Please… gods… I just need to sleep. Even one hour will do…" he said softly, feeling his body shaking.

As he was about to pass out on the desk, an alert came in through the system, "FUCK!" he cried out, almost… in tears, as he smashed his fist onto the desk.

At once another notification flashed, this time an orange alert.

Snarling to himself, he opened up the red alert first, 'White Fang invades Omega System, Venus III towns attacked and raided. This follows a string of robberies and invasions across the Psi Nebula. What could the White Fang be doing and where will they strike next?'

It was a news headline… why was this coming up on red alert?

It was flagged red and sent by… Blake?

Now he was extra confused.

There was a message attached, 'Captain Silver, I'm flagging this to you because we're entering those hot zones soon. I need to speak with you, privately, as it may concern the safety of your crew.'

This was… odd.

Nova and Blake had never interacted until now, in fact, out of all the members of Team RWBY they had the least words shared between them… but out of all the members of that team, she was the only one who hadn't outright tried to kill him.

Perhaps this was his time to learn why.

He pinged her communicator, "Blake? You needed to talk to me?"

Blake was sitting in the cafeteria with Team RWBY, sharing dinner. Yang was covered in grease and Weiss was looking proud at her creation. She made a loaded chicken and shrimp fried rice with an unsweetened cacao drizzle.

At first, the members of the team were hesitant to try chocolate on rice, especially the crew of the Solar Flare… but with nothing else to eat, they were all pleasantly surprised.

Yang took a big spoonful of the rice and chicken, scarfing it down and wiping some of the sauce off her face, "OH THIS IS GOOD! The chocolate doesn't even taste like chocolate it's just the texture… wow!"

Weiss smirked as she folded her arms, "Naturally, I learned the recipe from Luna."

"Who's Luna?" Blake tilted her head. 'That name sounds awfully familiar…'

Weiss suddenly squeaked and covered her mouth, "Oh shit…" she leaned in and whispered to her team, "That's the previous cook, you know, the girl who's bedridden and sick?"

"Silver's sister?" Yang tilted her head, "So… her name is Luna. Is that a code name like Silver?"

Weiss shook her head, "No… that's her real name. I… saw her face too."

At the mention of Silver, Ruby who was silently moping, flinched.

Blake, interested in the subject, asked, "Oh? What did she look like?"

Weiss hesitated but sighed. This was her team, she could trust them, part of her wondered when she started caring about the integrity of the pirates but that was but an afterthought. "She was beautiful… long silver hair, bright blue eyes like sapphires and she looked like a porcelain doll."

"Sounds like someone is jealous she's not the prettiest anymore," Yang snickered with a mouthful of food.

"Shut up, she just… I don't know… she looked so frail." Weiss trailed off.

Taking a plate of food, she started chewing, looking at her friends. It was strange… they had adjusted to being captives so easily. Not that they felt like captives anyway. It was like they had been part of this crew from the beginning. The pirates they had been trying to capture were treating them like family and it was comforting. Their initial hesitations and fears had long since disappeared.

The only one who didn't seem to be adjusting was Ruby, she was slumped on the table and leaning on her arm for support.

"Ruby? Why are you so quiet?" Weiss asked. "Didn't you see Luna as well? She told me you guys met."

Ruby snapped out of her daze and looked up, "Huh? Oh… yeah…" her mind drifted back to that conversation and her gut-wrenching discovery of her feelings for Nova.

It was after that conversation did she realized the extent of how deep the rabbit hole went. How much she thought of him, how much she noticed the small things he did. Like the way he would nervously spin his pens while working, or his bad habit of twitching his fingers like he's reaching for his gun when he felt unsafe… or the way the starlight glimmered off his unbelievably sexy body and… at once she made her train of thought end in a screeching halt, mentally slapping herself.

"Say… Ruby, you've been awfully quiet these last few days… you good?" Yang asked, "Did your last screaming match against Silver end badly?"

Ruby looked around nervously, "It's… nothing… I'm good. Just tired, he's been dumping loads of paperwork on me and just leaving, every every day, not a word from him either! It's frustrating!"

"Sounds like you miss him," Blake jeered.

Ruby turned red and fumed, "T-That's not…! SHUT UP BLAKE!"

Yang's eyes widened at her reaction, "Woah… easy Ruby, the way you sound is almost like you really do have feelings for him…"

Ruby grew quiet.

Weiss dropped her fork, "No…"

Ruby buried her head in her hands, "Somebody save me…"

Blake gave her a half smile and walked over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder and rubbing her back, "Hey… he's not the worst person in the world to fall for… at least he's a good person."

Ruby shot up, "A good person? Blake, he's my mortal fucking nemesis and top ten most wanted criminals in the world. WHAT DO YOU MEAN GOOD PERSON?!"

"I don't know… he did save those people and didn't ask for anything in return…"

"But he killed people too! He killed UFSH soldiers!" Ruby countered.

"But they were the bad guys," Blake said firmly, "They were enslaving and killing Faunus, my people. If it were me in his position… I'd do the same thing."

"Blake…!" Ruby's eyes widened in surprise. "You're not that person anymore…"

The cat-girl folded her arms, "Ruby… you know my history with the White Fang… why I walked away… but that still doesn't mean I didn't agree with what they originally stood for."

Yang moved over and stopped Blake, "She's right, Ruby. We may not like what Silver did, but he did it for the right reasons. The world isn't a comic book… it's morally grey. I'm starting to realize it now, these people… they're not evil."

Ruby groaned and slumped over, "I know…" she mumbled, "I know… that sometimes we need to do things we don't like… get our hands dirty to do the right thing but… fuck if it doesn't mean we stop trying to find a peaceful solution that doesn't involve bloodshed."

"Have you tried telling him this?" Weiss offered.

"Yes! Multiple times!" Ruby fumed, "But it doesn't get through to him."

Blake grimaced, "Speaking from experience I can say that people are a product of their experiences. Silver… is probably only like this because that's all he's ever known… all he's ever had to deal with… maybe he's left snakes alive out of mercy and they came back to bite him…"

As Blake spoke, Ruby's mind drifted to Luna's conversation again… the history of Silver. She couldn't say she didn't understand the bigger picture… but her morality was conflicting with reality.

"Look… I get it, alright?" she grumbled, "Still doesn't make it any better. Also… you guys sound like real parts of his crew now. Don't forget that we're still UFSH soldiers."

Yang and the others shared a guilty look as they realized how they sounded. When had they grown so comfortable being on this ship?

That's when Blake got a ping on her communicator from Silver. She answered it, "Silver? Yeah, we need to talk… okay I'm on my way."

The others looked at her curiously, "What's this about?" Yang asked, feeling uneasy now.

Blake shook her head, "Just going to discuss with the other captain," she made sure to stress the word 'other' as if she now acknowledged Silver as a leader. A point that Ruby did not miss.

Blake stepped into Silver's dimly lit office, where he sat at his desk, mask on, hood drawn low. He gestured to a chair as she entered, smoothly pouring a drink into a glass. "Take a seat, Blake. What brings you here?" he asked with a relaxed tone.

She accepted the glass and gave it a curious sniff—a blend of blackberry and raspberry, unusual but intriguing. "Captain Silver… I need to talk to you about my past with the White Fang."

Silver leaned back, folding his arms. "I didn't realize you had ties with them."

Blake nodded, taking a small sip. "I… used to be one of them. I was Adam's second-in-command."

Silver nearly choked behind his mask, but managed to keep his composure. "You're serious? That's… not something I expected to hear so casually."

"I thought you should know," Blake continued, lowering herself into the chair. "We're heading into White Fang territory soon. If Adam finds out I'm with this crew, he'll come after me—and anyone with me. We need to be ready."

Silver hummed thoughtfully. "So, you were a pirate. What made you leave? Why would he come after you?"

Blake's eyes darkened with memory. "The White Fang wasn't always like this. My parents and I joined when it was first formed. Back then, we weren't pirates… we were freedom fighters. When my parents stepped down, Adam took over. At first, things seemed to be going well, but his methods… they became more brutal."

Silver listened quietly, sensing the weight behind her words. She was trusting him, opening up in a way that surprised him. He wasn't sure why she felt safe enough to do so, but he accepted it.

"When Adam started targeting civilians… using them as pawns for power… that's when I left." She shuddered at the memory. "Innocents should never be casualties in someone else's war."

Silver nodded solemnly. "I agree. Leave the fighting to those who choose it—soldiers, pirates. The innocent should never be dragged into it. You've got strong principles, Blake. You'd make a fine member of this crew."

A small, warm smile tugged at her lips. "Thanks, Captain." She set the empty glass down. "You're not what I was taught to believe. After what I saw on that last mission… I know now I can trust you. I just hope the rest of my team can see that too. Ruby is still my captain, but… I'm putting my faith in you."

Silver blinked, momentarily taken aback. This wasn't a turn of events he'd anticipated. One of Team RWBY, already acknowledging him as an ally. "Blake… Thank you. But I'm not sure I deserve that. I've done things… things I'm not proud of."

"What you've done was to save lives," Blake said firmly. "That makes you alright in my book." She stood up to leave, pausing at the door. "Ruby will come around. Just give her time."

Silver watched her go, her final words lingering in the air, leaving him to wonder what she truly meant.

Now that the talk with Blake was over, he had to review the orange alert. 'Provision Supplies are reaching the re-stock threshold. Requesting stop at the nearest spaceport.' The message he'd been dreading for the last month, the sinking feeling forming in the pit of his stomach, the message was a sign that his time with Ruby was potentially up.

Though he had to admit, it wasn't just her. He'd miss all of them. In that small month, he'd grown comfortable, having peers he could openly communicate with aside from his team. If... they chose to leave... he'd probably never see them again.

The message heralded from their quartermaster. Seems food and necessities were running low on the ship. He glanced at his bar, taking stock of what he had left. He had enough rum for a few months, but his coffee was dreadfully low.

He radioed Blake, "Hey Blake, are you heading back to the bridge?" he asked, knowing full well she had just left the office and it would probably be easier to run after her but he honestly didn't have the energy to stand.

"Uh… no, I was going back to finish off dinner…" she responded awkwardly, "Need something?"

"When you're done with dinner, head back to the bridge and chart a course for the nearest Space Station. We're going grocery shopping, and… tell Red that I intend to keep my promise."

He could feel Blake tense up behind the communicator. There was a small pause of weighted silence before she responded, "Yes, captain."

Blake returned to the cafeteria with a mixed expression, on one hand, she had felt lighted, finding someone she could place her trust in aside from her captain… she had a new captain to add to the list. One that didn't take away from her current one, but… more along the lines of a friend she wanted to believe. On the other hand, their time together might be over.

As per Silver's original promise, he offered to let them off at the next Space Station, granted that is if they even wanted to leave.

"Guys…" she started off, looking at her team nervously.

Yang was on her third plate of food when she stopped, "What's wrong Blake?" she asked, sensing her discomfort.

"Silver wants to make port at the next space station. We're low on supplies…" she answered.

At the mention of port, they all shared a knowing look. They still remembered what Silver said when he kidnapped them.

"Is he finally letting us go?" Ruby asked sarcastically.

Blake nodded, "He said… he intends to keep his promise this time."

Ruby snorted in distaste, "Well I wouldn't be surprised if he let us go then took us back at once. It would be just like him to lie like that."

Yang frowned, and stopped her, "Ruby… let's think about this seriously. Let's say he is telling the truth… then we would need to consider our options."

"We could probably take a ship to the nearest UFSH outpost and have them bring us home," Weiss prompted, sitting back on her chair and folding her arms.

"That is an option," Blake said, "But… what about… not leaving…?" she suggested hesitantly.

It was like a pin-drop could be heard from the silence that followed as all eyes trained on her. Ruby's especially was glaring daggers at her.

"You can't be serious," Ruby was building levels of aggression. "Blake this is our chance to finally go home and you want to stay here?!"

Blake sat softly, matching Ruby's gaze, "I… yes… I think we should. There's still so much we don't know, so many holes to fill and not enough puzzle pieces. If we go home now we might never discover them."

"Why do we need to? Who cares what the grand plan is, we can just go home and live our lives normally," Weiss spoke, "Is… what I would say if this whole thing didn't rub me the wrong way. My gut… is telling me we should stay."

Yang walked next to Blake and squeezed her hand, "I… as much as I want to go home, I think you two are right. It's not time yet."

Ruby looked at them all flabbergasted, "Are you guys serious?! Are you turning on me?! FOR HIM?!"

Blake shook her head, "It's not like that Ruby, just put your anger aside for two seconds and think things through! You're letting your emotions control your decision-making, this isn't like you."

"You only get like this when it comes to him," Weiss pointed out with a frown, "Is it really that bad?"

The ice queen had a fair idea of what was going through Ruby's head. Given the revelation that Ruby was growing feelings for Silver, it was probably a lot of self-hatred and conflictions in her head that was making her so frantic. That answers why Ruby was avoiding Silver… but why was he avoiding her?

"How can I not be like this? God it's so fucked up! Don't you guys get it? Our whole lives are possibly a lie, I'm reduced from a ship captain to a fucking secretary and now my own teammates are switching sides on me? Nothing makes sense to me anymore and I'm so fucking tired of my head spinning! I just want to go home…"

Yang's expression softened, "You know we can't do that… if we abandon the mission now we might be doomed to oblivion for the rest of our lives."

Ruby knew she was right. If they went back now they could never be the same soldiers they were, knowing the things that she knew.

Then it hit her like a truck.

Her team didn't know.

She had been keeping them in the dark about the truth for so long that she'd forgotten the whole point of her and Nova's fight…

They needed to know…

She owed them that much. Even if it meant sealing their fates.

"That's… not the only reason," Ruby muttered softly.

"What?" Yang raised her eyebrow.

Ruby bit her lip, "I… I've been keeping a few things from you guys and… fucking hell…" she dragged her hands over her face.

"Ruby, what on Remnant are you talking about?" Weiss raised her eyebrow sassily.

Ruby fidgeted with her fingers before spilling, "The truth is… I learned… a few things from Silver… about what the UFSH really does…" She passed them her Scroll containing all of the information he had given her.

All of the falsified reports.

The coverups.

Their missions were labelled as protecting the peace… the ones that inadvertently killed millions.

Yang's face was stony, "T-This can't be real." she looked at Ruby with her eyes pleading, "Please tell me this isn't real!"

Weiss looked like she was going to throw up, her pale complexion looking sickly.

Blake covered her mouth and looked away, "I… if my mind wasn't made up before… now it is," she said swallowing hard.

"It's all real," Ruby said softly, feeling guilty, "I had never seen Silver more serious in his life."

"We're… monsters," Yang clenched her fists, balling them up so hard she drew blood.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Weiss grabbed the nearest trashcan and heaved into it.

"How long were you keeping this from us?" Yang asked darkly, "Ruby…"

"About a week? I don't know… there was so much going on that…" She was cut off when Yang made a throaty scream, muffled by her closed mouth.

"Holy shit Ruby! You didn't think information like this should have been told to us at once?!" She fumed.

"What does it matter when it happened?! I was going to tell you anyway I just…" she growled back, "Look you're not the only one who's lost and torn up about this alright?! HOW DO YOU THINK I FEEL?! YANG?! THIS WAS MY WHOLE LIFE, EVERYTHING I'VE EVER DONE AND WORKED TOWARDS! TO FOLLOW IN MOM'S FOOTSTEPS AND…!"

At the mention of Summer Rose, she fizzled out like a dying flame. Ruby was right, Yang was a Huntress because that's all she knew. Ruby was a Huntress because she was picking up for where her mom left off. Ruby's entire life, from her mother's death up until this point was all thrown to shit.

"I'm sorry… I…" Yang reached out.

Ruby brushed her off, "Yeah… I'm sorry too. Look I… I couldn't trust Silver, alright? I still can't. He's betrayed my trust one too many times, I… needed to be sure."

Weiss, having recovered, spoke up, "You know… you keep saying Silver betrayed your trust multiple times, like he's done something unforgivable but… we've never seen him do that."

"You wouldn't say that without solid reasoning either," Blake said, acknowledging her leader was not normally like this. Something had to have happened.

Ruby opened her mouth, "It all happened back on Romulus, at the party." She began to recount the tale of what happened, her first conversation with Silver. How the chemistry started, how he lied to her and toyed with her feelings.

Yang's eyes were red with fury, "So that's why you…! It makes so much sense now! I'm going to kill him…" She was ready to storm off when Blake stopped her.

"Wait… I think this story runs deeper than we think. We should listen to Silver's side first," she said, ready to defend him.

Yang raised her eyebrow at Blake's newfound loyalty, but simmered down, "Yeah… okay."

Weiss on the other hand was putting two and two together.

It wasn't that Silver was toying with her.

His actions up until this point were now all making perfect sense.

Why she chose to reach out to her for help.

Why he trusted Ruby so much.

Why he was trying so hard to show her the light.

Why Silver was avoiding Ruby as much as Ruby was avoiding him.

Like gears turning and locking into place, the mechanism of Weiss's brain surged as the realization hit her like a hundred-ton space freighter.

This wasn't just small crushes or growing feelings.

Ruby and Silver… were neck deep, head over heels, in love with each other.

Weiss stared at her captain with disbelief for several seconds before grabbing Yang and Blake by the shoulders, "Alright, enough fighting. We make port and when Silver suggests to us if we want to leave, we tell him we're staying right?"

They all looked at her, and then at each other. Emotionally they said, "Agreed."

-Yang and Hex, Laboratory-

Deep in the bowels of the ship, Hex and Yang rode the elevator as it descended, "Where are we going?" Yang noticed the elevator key pad wasn't lit, displaying the floor. It had been descending for more than 10 seconds now, and for a highspeed elevator on a ship this large... they must be going deep.

"We're heading to the 13th floor," Hex replied with a serious tone, watching the progress on the elevator drag further down past the 12th floor.

"There is no 13th floor," Yang frowned.

"Exactly." her ominous warning was picked up on easily. Yang could already tell whatever this was, it was top secret even from the rest of the crew. The air became frigid as the sudden drop in temperature made the blonde shiver.

Hex fought off the cold a little before the elevator stopped off into a small lobby section with a changing room and a pair of large, oval glass doors at the far end, "Change into protective gear," she then pointed to the coat racks with hazmat suits and black body suits hanging.

"What are these?" she asked picking up the black suit. It was not latex but the material was stretchy. The fabric was thin but felt like lizard skin, layered intricately with what seemed to be Dust.

"Protective gear, they're anti-thermal and anti-radiation. Throw the hazmat gear over it before we head inside," she said changing in the open. Yang had to look away bashfully as she caught sight of Hex, "Uh... right," she coughed, heading for the changing room.

Once they were done, clad in the hazmat gear they stepped before the large glass doors. It was impossible to see beyond, what Yang thought was intentional frosting had turned out to be just a wall of ice covering the door and barring it, "What's going on? The ice-age?"

Hex sighed and punched her arm, "Not that I need to say anything but... whatever you see beyond this door, doesn't exist you got me?"

Yang nodded, "Right," she felt he weight of trust Hex was placing on her, though she didn't quite understand why.

"Tall, blonde and muscular, give me a hand would you?" Hex asked with a half-smile, placing her hands on the door. Yang snorted a chuckle and helped her push, together they heaved past the ice wall and breaking into the room As soon as they did, a rush of freezing air flooded out, frosting the waiting room, "Quick, shut it!"

Once the door was properly sealed behind them, Yang was left to marvel at the interior. It was a massive laboratory, and despite the mounds of snow and ice that covered all of the equipment, she could make out a work station, engineering bench, and some of Hex's trademark symbols on the desk.

At the very center, tethered to several large gas pipes that fed from the ceiling, was a large cryo-chamber. It was very advanced, seemingly built for not just basic function but a complex life support system that both sustained life and kept the body in good shape.

"What... is this?" Yang asked her mouth agape, her breath frosting up the hazmat suit's interior glass.

"This..." Hex wiped the frost off the cryo-chamber's glass, "Is Silver's mother."