Yes, the Space Port is a reference to Treasure Planet, and yes one of my favourite movies of all time.
Space Pirate AU Chapter 18: Montressor
The Solar Flare exited hyperspace after three hours of starlight flashing like beams across the clear windows of the dreadnought class star-ship.
Team RWBY was on the bridge with Silver and the crew as they prepared for what was to come on the other side.
Ruby had taken up a seat across the floor from Silver, on one of the communication panel chairs while Silver was staring past her. At least she thought he was staring away from her, it was hard to tell with his mask on.
She was occasionally stealing glances at him from across the room, idly drawing circles on the control panel with her index finger and sighing to herself.
"Yeesh, that bad?" Weiss asked while pulling up alongside her, knowing in her mind full well how bad it actually was.
The red leader scrunched up her eyes and sighed heavily again before flopping onto the metal, "Kinda yeah…"
Before that thought process could go any further, the ship suddenly jolted as their speed turtles, signalling their high-speed travel was over.
Ruby was instantly hit with the gleaming light of the nearby white star, almost nine times the size of the one in Remnant's solar system. Squinting, she peered out of the window with a renewed vigour to see what could only be described as a massive floating city in space loom into view.
Unlike Tortuga, this city was almost reminiscent of Vale, but less corporate and more along the lines of a moderately sized town. It was fully equipped with a large series of spaceports, on the four corners of the dome-covered city. The transparent dome that encompassed the city glistened with the traces of a light blue energy suggesting that it was shielded from the intense UV light radiating off the sun.
"Welcome to the largest spaceport this side of the galaxy, Montressor." Silver said as he stood up from his chair, "Prepare to port, we're making this quick. Remember, this is White Fang territory, so if you see any of their goons, you avoid contact at all costs. No shenanigans, no tomfoolery and above all, no fighting," Silver warned before standing dramatically, his cloak swishing behind him.
Ruby had to wonder if it was just her imagination making it do that or if he was made of magic. Either way, she had to reel in her thoughts before she got carried away.
The starship approached the west port side and approached the massive metal gates that barred entry. At once, a large shield enveloped them like a bubble, before the gates rotated clockwise like a valve, depressurizing them before opening to reveal a large white platform to disembark.
Team RWBY stepped out onto the platform, the city really was like a smaller version of Vale. Grid-like layout, tall skyscrapers, transport to and from their location. The only difference was there were mostly hotels and restaurants, not many housing areas or large corporate headquarters.
There was also a significant lack of UFSH soldiers, all of the soldiers here seemed to be employed by their local department. It was a White Wolf sigil with red claw marks and wrote M.S.P.D, Monstressor Space Police Department.
Silver followed up with Hex and Nitro, the rest of the crew piling out of the loading bay, carrying empty crates to be filled.
Silver took a deep breath and turned to Team RWBY, "Alright, a deal's a deal. You four are free to leave." he said stoically. Under the mask, he was nervously hiding the quiver in his voice. He didn't want them to leave…
His eyes glanced to Blake for her to say her piece.
Ruby put her hand on her hips and looked at him with a raised eyebrow that mirrored Weiss's sass, "Just like that? You're dumping us?"
"I did make you a promise, I swore to stop breaking my promises," Silver admitted heavy-heartedly.
The journey up to this point had been tense, and he was glad she at least spoke to him.
They pretended to huddle amongst themselves before turning back, Ruby walking up and staring him in the eyes, "Yeah, well tough shit. You're not getting rid of us that easily."
"I understand, well, if we must part ways… wait… WHAT?!" he exclaimed uncharacteristically. It was so out of character that even his crew jumped in surprise.
"You heard me," Ruby huffed and got into his face, invading his personal space, "You're. Not. Getting. Rid. Of. Us." she prodded his chest with every punctuation.
"You guys really want to stay? After everything I put you through?" he asked earnestly.
"Giving us an excuse to hide our leader's blunder?" Yang pointed out, "And treating us like one of your own instead of prisoners? You're alright in my book Silver." In the back of her mind, she remembered the lab. The burning questions in her mind about who this man was, and the level of faith he had in her.
"I… I don't know what to say…"
"This doesn't mean we're officially pirates," Ruby narrowed her eyes, "Just… that this journey to uncover the secrets isn't over yet." she then said the next part very quietly, "I'm not ready for it to be over."
"So you're saying if I leave you here, you won't argue? I can just take your crew," Silver retorted with a tease.
Just like two puzzle pieces fitting into each other again, their banter returned to its normal state.
"You wouldn't dare…" she squinted at him, "You need me."
"Oh? What makes you say that Red?"
"Just a feeling, I'm your expert on UFSH and technically your inside girl, what happens if you get caught? Who's going to bail you out?" She smirked back, putting her hands on her hips and leaning to one side.
"I'd fight my way out, the day I need you to save my ass is the day I swallow my own tongue, more likely than not I'd have to save your naive ass." he taunted back, leaning toward her.
The others watched this back and forth with wide eyes and mild shock, now that they knew Ruby and Silver were in love with each other, this wasn't casual taunting. Ruby and Silver's body language screamed 'Just fuck me already'.
"Yeah well like I would want you of all people to save my ass," as she said the words, Silver was silently gazing at her curvy posterior before catching himself. "I'd rather get shot in the face," she threw up a middle finger and turned to her team, "Come on girls, let's go grab supplies in town while we can."
Yang shook her head, "No can do Ruby, I gotta help Hex fix something in the lab."
Ruby groaned, "Ugh… okay Blake?"
The Faunus girl shook her head as well, "Nope, sorry Ruby, I can't be caught by the White Fang, you know the trouble it'd cause."
Turning to Weiss, Ruby silently raised her eyebrow, "You got something to do too?"
"No actually, I was going to pick up new cooking supplies anyway," Weiss said honestly.
"Perfect," she clapped her hands together, grabbing Weiss and briskly strutting away with her hips swinging, leaving Silver to stare at her fleeting frame.
"She didn't even let me explain how this spaceport works…" he groaned.
Yang snickered as she caught him staring, "Mhm, sure, okay I'll be heading back with Hex, see yah around temp captain," she saluted before heading inside.
Silver sighed again and looked at Blake, "I'm… gonna go buy some stuff I guess. I need more coffee."
With that, he adjusted his white cloak and mask before heading toward the city.
-Montressor skyscraper, penthouse level-
"An interesting ship just docked at our spaceport." A voice over the comms, shrouded by the voice medications he used.
Two women sat idly watching tv, one clad in a bright pastel purple outfit, filing her nails to a point, though they seemed more like claws. A flash of a tail flickering behind her, "Looks like the boss finally sent us work, I was getting bored," she said pulling up the status.
The other girl was snoring away on the couch and shot up with a start, wiping the drool off her speckled face she looked at the screen, "What's up...?"
The purple girl pulled up the video feed and smiled broadly, "The Solar Flare? In these parts? Gear up Ilia we've got some observations to do."
Ilia, the girl with the speckled face groaned, "Why are we going to fuck with Silver's crew? That's a terrible idea... but... the boss knows best I guess..."
Her companion smiled, licking her lips, as she zoomed in on Silver's face as he exited the ship, "Oh~ Scales, I love the outfit... I wonder if you missed me as much as I missed you~?"
-30 Minutes Later with Ruby and Weiss-
Ruby and Weiss had more or less an idea of how to move around despite never being in a space pirate port before. It was easy enough to hail a transport bus and head into the city. It wasn't as expansive as Vale and certainly just as easy to navigate.
Once they figured out where the main street was, shopping would be smooth sailing from there.
Ruby stood next to her vice-captain amidst the crowd of swarming people. Her signature tattered, red cloak was pulled over her head while Weiss was wearing a black and grey hoodie courtesy of the Solar Flare.
All of their outfits had been branded with the insignia of The Silver Flame so most people avoided them or tried to at least.
"So he is good for something," Ruby muttered as she looked at the emblem on her shirt.
Weiss folded her arms and leaned her weight to one side, "What do you need to get? I want to buy some spices, Luna gave me a list of special ingredients…" She pulled out her scroll and began running through the items.
"I…" Ruby raised her finger then faltered, "Don't… need anything strangely enough. On board the ship we have pretty much everything I need. The only thing is maybe a lack of junk food but… Silver sometimes leaves snacks from his personal stash out for me," she recalls that one time she was up late and he had left her a bag of cookies on his desk.
Weiss smirked at the mention of his random acts of kindness, "Really now? And you're sure he's not sweet on you?"
The red leader huffed and blew a strand of hair out of her face, "Oh please, did you not see our last exchange?" she said while they walked down the street, "He wanted to bite my head off."
"Or maybe just sink his teeth in you," Weiss wiggled her eyebrows and burst out laughing.
"Weiss don't make me stab you," she threatened half-heartedly while blushing, "It's not like that between us. It could never be like that…"
"Whatever you say, Ruby," they continued to walk down the street until Weiss stopped at a grocery store.
The aisles were loaded with some standard grocery goods, at first glance at least. After closer inspection, running through the aisles, Ruby noted that most of the goods sold in this store were contraband.
Spices, foods, vegetables and meats were all either difficult to come by or straight-up banned from being sold. Not because of health reasons, but simply because the UFSH didn't do business with these brands, therefore labelling them illegal.
She eyed a bottle of strawberry jam made by a badger-looking Faunus, his face and name were on the label but she couldn't read the language. Only discerning its contents by the bright red strawberry on its cover.
"Why did we ban this stuff again?" Ruby asked while glancing over the items, "It all seems so harmless to me."
Weiss put a few things in her basket, namely packets of spices before answering, "Not sure. Dad said it was because the sellers didn't have the proper licensing and it interfered with our markets…"
"Well no shit it interferes," she said eyeing the price tag, "99 Cents for this jar? That's basically a steal. Something like this on Remnant would go for at least ten Lien."
Weiss noted the price as well and raised her eyebrow curiously, "Huh… you're right. It's even authentic, look at the detailing on the bottle. Why is this so cheap when UFSH brands are much pricier?"
"It's because the UFSH mega-corporations control the market with a tight leash and they're so powerful that if anyone dares not comply or fall under their restrictions then they are either disposed of or labelled as contraband," A voice beside them interrupted Weiss, startling her.
It was a girl with light brown skin and dark brown spots on her face, she wore a coffee-brown jumpsuit with darker brown padding. When Weiss simply stared at her speechless she chuckled, "What? You two are not from around here are you?"
"Uh… we're sorta new in town?" Weiss offered cautiously.
"No need to be so tense," the mysterious girl replied, "My name's Ilia, and if I wanted to hurt you, it wouldn't be here," she eyed them up and down with a slight grin, "Besides, I don't want to fuck with Silver's crew. That monster would hunt me to hell and back if he found out."
Ruby blinked, "Uh…"
"That's who you are right? Judging by the insignias on your clothes. That's Silver Flame's brand, I'm guessing you are new recruits to his crew?"
"Do you know hi- OW!" Ruby grumbled as Weiss elbowed her, "I mean do you know our captain?" she said that with a bitter taste in her mouth.
"Who doesn't?" Ilia countered, "The young supernova pirate captain that everyone is either too afraid to cross or go near? Come on, don't tell me you signed on for his crew without knowing that."
Ruby had to mentally slap herself, of course, she asked a stupid question. It was crazy how her perception of Silver had unconsciously changed over the last month.
Somehow, somewhere along the way she had stopped envisioning him as the evil monster of the stars that she believed for 5 years. To her, he was just the slightly dorky, very annoying, but oddly kind and caring man who just happened to be her temporary boss. He was a pirate, that part still didn't change for her, but he was at least trustworthy.
Like a stone hitting her on the head she almost fell over from the realization that despite everything, she actually trusted the guy.
"Is she okay?" Ilia asked Weiss while looking at Ruby who seemed to be going through some sort of epiphany.
"Yeah she's fine," Weiss replied, "I better get her out of here,"
"Oh, well we should go cash, you guys probably don't know how it works here right?" she offered a helping hand, guiding them to the cashier.
"We don't use physical cash here, if you're part of a crew like I am, you get an invoice from the cashier with the items you want and it gets sent to your starship so your quartermaster can handle it. The process is very organized and streamlined. Alternatively, you can buy it with your card if you have one." Ilia waved her card.
Weiss fished around her pockets while Ruby, finally catching herself, picked up a six-pack of cherry soda for herself. As they reached the cashier Weiss said, "I think I'll just use my card honestly."
As they approached the cashier, a small mole rat Faunus stood at the front behind the counter. The moment he saw the Silver Flame insignia he shrunk down, shaking his head furiously and spouting in a language they didn't understand.
Ilia gave him an apologetic smile and said, "Don't worry, they're with me right now."
Reluctantly he gave in and began cashing their items.
During the process a TV was playing above the counter, "BREAKING NEWS!" the reporter, a weasel Faunus in a gray suit, was saying, "Planet Romulus has a break-in, the expected Dust Mine is now on temporary hiatus. Their mayor had this to say."
The camera cut to the mayor of Romulus sweating profusely in the heat just outside the town hall, "I don't know what happened! We hired the best Team the UFSH could spare at the time, Team RWBY, but even they were no match for Silver. It seems that man is either too powerful, or they aren't strong enough."
The cameraman asked, "What about the accusations on Team RWBY? Remnant HQ for the UFSH is stating that Team RWBY may very well have been in on it."
Romulus' mayor shrugged, "Well… that would explain a few things…"
The story then cuts to another panel showing the profiles of team RWBY.
Ruby and Weiss almost froze as their blood ran cold.
"This leads us to our next story! Team RWBY missing in action! Last seen chasing Silver Flame into his starship. They are believed to be captured for the time being, but if no word is heard from them within thirty days, the UFSH is willing to declare them dead. Chief Admiral Onyx suggests that they are alive and are actually now roaming the galaxy with Silver as traitors. More on this later tonight."
Ruby and Weiss shared a silent look.
"Ahem," Ilia coughed as she pointed to the still-nervous cashier.
Weiss slapped her forehead, "Right, my mistake," she pulled out her SDC black credit card and swiped it. Once approved they headed outside, however, during the entire process, Ilia had been watching…
She followed the two outside silently, as Ruby and Weiss seemed to be lost in their own world.
"Did you see that?" Ruby shouted in a hushed tone, "Traitors? MIA? Really?!"
"Well… we kind of are, the news is strangely accurate," Weiss pointed out, "Right now we're neither UFSH soldiers nor are we, pirates. We're in a weird limbo."
Before they could leave, Ilia pretended to make a loud squeal while walking out, "Oh man, that store is stuffy," she said airily, "You know…" she walked in front of the two, "I never did quite catch your names."
Now, in the light, she could get a full view of Ruby and Weiss's faces, and at once she realized who they were.
Ruby and Weiss, sensing the change, reacted instantly.
Groceries, were forgotten as they bolted off, down the street, rushing past the people and storming through the crowd.
"Oh… I love a good chase…" Ilia smiled darkly as she pulled out her whip sword and latched onto the buildings, swinging on it like a vine while chasing the two.
The two ran past the hundreds of people on the street, long had they lost track of their bearings. Ruby and Weiss had only one option right now, run.
"Remind me again why we're not fighting her head-on?" Weiss asked as they ducked and weaved through the crowd. She looked back to see Ilia not too far off, she was right on their tail, jumping from building to building.
Ruby made a 'tch' sound as she caught sight of her, "No power suit, and without weapons we're sitting ducks. That and the fact that she's White Fang, if what we know about the Fang are true then we need to avoid a direct fight at all costs. Call Silver."
Weiss quickly pulled out her Scroll and dialed Silver's number. "Come on, pick up… pick up…" Weiss mumbled as there was nothing but dial tone.
"Shit he's not answering," she responded to Ruby.
"Fuck," her eyes darted around for a nearby alleyway, "Call Yang or something, then duck there."
Weiss followed up, calling Yang while the two ducked through the crowd into the alley off to the right and out of the crowd.
It was relatively clean, with only a few dumpsters around that were practically empty.
"Hello? Weiss?" it was Yang on the other end, "You guys okay?"
"Yang?! Oh thank god, listen, we ran into some trouble, we're on the East side of…" STAB* mid-call, something sharp stabbed through the phone. It was Ilia's whip-like sword, as it retracted mechanically through the air and back to her.
She sauntered up to Weiss and Ruby, toying with the edge of her blade, "You girls done running?"
"Come on we were chums just a minute ago, why are you trying to kill us?!" Ruby spat, raising her fists.
Ilia waved her hands dismissively, "Yeah I'm pretty friendly, up until I realized you two were UFSH soldiers, the infamous captain and vice-captain of Team RWBY."
Ruby rolled her eyes, "What gave it away? Was it our charming personalities?"
"Your faces were plastered all over the news, and that one over there," she pointed at Weiss, "Paid for her stuff using an SDC Black Diamond Credit Card. Only really rich people get those."
Weiss face palmed and Ruby began to feel nervous, there was something off about this. If it were a simple case of them being found out, it would be easily explained… but Ilia's appearance… the timing of it all felt so very… odd.
Almost like this was pre-planned.
"Weiss… take my scroll and call again for backup, I'll hold her off." Ruby said nudging Weiss with her heel to say it was in her back pocket.
Once she had the item, Ruby bounced on her heels getting into a fighting stance. She was an amateur when it came to martial arts, but she at least knew a thing or two.
"Come on then," Ruby shaking her hands off, "Let's do this."
Ilia raised her eyebrow, "What? No Exo-Suit? Shame…"
Ruby's eyes widened in realization, but it was too late as a dark green suit with brown dots appeared over Ilia, the suit even sprouted a long, curled tail behind it.
As fast as she could blink, Ilia was already bouncing off the walls, sticking to them like a lizard while launching at Ruby.
The UFSH captain raised her right fist just in time for Ilia's sword-like tail to stab into her arm. Ruby winced in pain but tried to counter by throwing three swift straight left hooks at her head. Without the power of her Exo-Suit, Ruby wasn't fast enough as only one of the punches hit. Despite being only one, the force managed to knock Ilia back as the tail retracted from Ruby's arm, a gaping hole in her forearm.
"Shit!" Ruby grit her teeth, tearing off part of her cloak and wrapping it around her arm. "Without my suit, I can't use my Aura."
Weiss tried to resist the urge to run to her captain, as she quickly dialled Hex this time, "HEX TRACE THIS LOCATION NOW! SEND BACK UP!" Weiss yelled into the phone before Hex could respond.
"Weiss?! We've been trying to reach you what the hell is going on out there?! Did you run into White Fang?!"
"Never mind that just find us!" she hissed.
"Silver is already on his way, but it'll take time. You guys just need to stall for a few minutes okay? Please… don't get hurt." Hex's voice sounded soft and worried,
"Too late for that," Weiss said darkly as she hung up.
Suddenly power whirred to life in the backs of their necks as Ruby's eyes glowed, her Aura restored. Her Exo-Suit was online.
Ilia raised her eyebrow as her tail curled back into a spiral, "Oh…? Powered up now are we? Cute."
Ruby's eyes roared silver as her suit transformed over her body, Crescent Rose summoned in full bloom as she got into a reaping stance.
"Now we're on an even playing field," Ruby grinned.
"Make it uneven," Weiss joined her in combat. With Exo-Suits donned they began to launch an all-out assault on Ilia.
Weiss's boosters activated as she dashed through, trying to pierce Ilia but the girl suddenly shifted colour, her suit almost becoming invisible as Weiss's attack missed.
Ruby who was about to follow up with a launching strike had to veer sideways to avoid Weiss. "What the fuck?!" Ruby exclaimed as she tried to find Ilia. "Invisibility? Or Cloaking?"
"Camouflage actually," Ilia said shifting back and appearing between them, her tail smashing into Weiss's back and sending her crashing into the wall while she kicked Ruby in the head, knocking her to the floor.
Ruby had just barely managed to dodge the strike thanks to her keen senses as she back-flipped out of the kick and simultaneously swung Crescent Rose upwards, cutting right through Ilia's armour.
The Chameleon Faunus hissed and jumped back, alarmed that the strike even managed to hit her, "Well… guess the rumours about you weren't wrong after all… you're strong."
"Yeah? I've still got a lot more to show you…" Ruby glowered.
Ilia clapped her hands as several armoured troops from the streets began to crowd into the alleyway, "Handle the Schnee. I've got her…" she pointed at Ruby.
-Meanwhile Across Town-
Silver was out shopping for coffee, as he was painstakingly selecting a brand based on his keen sense of smell. It was a difficult choice on which ones to buy in bulk since he was very particular about his tastes.
"Aha… there you are…" he spotted a brand of coffee banned in eighteen galaxies, "Death's Kiss, 750mg of caffeine in a single cup… lovely."
As he made the purchase, his phone rang. It was Hex.
"Hey Hex, what's up?!" he asked casually, while the cashier tried to organize his bulk order.
"Ruby and Weiss are in trouble. We aren't sure what's going on but she was panicking, mid-call and then suddenly nothing. It might be White Fang."
Silver hissed and at that same time the tv caught his eye. The news report about Team RWBY and his eyes went wide, "FUCK!" he yelled, scaring the small deer cashier.
"Sorry…" he apologized, turning back to his phone, "Hex, ping me their location."
"No can do it on Weiss's Scroll, it's offline."
"What about Ruby? Can you trace her?" he asked, silently writing to the cashier to send the packages to his ship.
"I… no something's blocking our signal from the outside. She needs to make the call first, Weiss did call from somewhere on the East side based on the call quality. I can tell that at least."
"That's all I need, keep me updated." With that he bolted out of the store, turning on his Exo-Suit as he began speeding to the direct opposite side of the city.
About 1 minute into flight he got a ping from Hex that appeared on his HUD, a location of Ruby's Scroll.
"Hold on Ruby… I'm on my way," he said to himself, "Just stall for ten minutes…"