Review Responses
colt45cliner: That's one of my favorite war movies! I'm planning a one-shot multiverse fanfiction presented by Gold-Sith showing shorter viewings. "We Were Soldiers" is a pretty good suggestion. Thank you.
Night Hunter533: You're right. I'll admit I shoehorned a bit too much of Remnant into Earth in the last story. I'll be sure to find better counterparts for the cast in the next adaptation.
NavyThunder4: This will make a good one-shot viewing in my next fic. Thanks for the recommendation.
Theanimemaster9000: Thank you. And yes, I'm always open to recommendations. Just send them via PM.
Guest, September 1st, 2022: I love Spielberg's work, but I think "Schindler's List" will be too dark for an adaptation. I'd rather avoid themes like the Holocaust if it pleases the readers.
Komod0-Sensei: Lol. That's a good point. As a kid, Judge Doom's reveal was terrifying for kids. But the opening of the Ark was terrifying for everyone!
BLADE OF ILLUSIONS: Indeed. After what Cinder did to Amber, it's karma at its finest.
StrongGuy159: "Toy Story" would be an excellent future adaptation for an animated picture. I'd probably have a hard time deciding the cast though. If I need any help, I'll send you a PM.
Slime HeirWorth: That's a pretty good idea. Perhaps Jaune could play Corban Dallas since he played John McClane in the "Die Hard" adaptation.
Author's Note: This viewing will take place in Volume 7 between episodes 2 and 3. If you spot any mistakes or flaws, point them out and I'll fix them immediately.
Inspiration: Alien
Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit story for entertainment purposes only. "RWBY" is the property of director and animator Monty Oum (RIP) and production company Rooster Teeth, and "Raiders of the Lost Ark" is the property of director Ridley Scott, production companies Brandywine Pictures and 20th Century Fox, and distributed by 20th Century Fox.
It was morning at Mantle's movie theater when the group stepped into the lobby for their next multiverse viewing, much to the excitement of everyone familiar with the mysterious but friendly Gold-Sith's shows.
All of Gold-Sith's previous viewers located in the city (RWBY, ONRJ, Qrow, Maria, Ironwood, Winter, and Penny) had been contacted last night via emails delivered to their scrolls. Although it was early, they figured since they had some downtime available, the group had decided that a movie night was in order before their first mission.
The Ace-Ops had all received their invitations and accepted the offer, even if they were dubious about Gold-Sith's existence.
"This better not be a prank you kids are playing on us," Harriett warned in her typical no-nonsense attitude as the group headed for the small theater Gold-Sith had designated.
"Take it easy, Harriet," Elm placated her teammate.
"Trust me, you'll all love it," Ruby promised with an eager expression.
"Yeah. Besides, Gold-Sith is a nice guy," Yang added. "He's always happy to welcome new members to his audience."
"And you've all heard it straight from the horse's mouth, so no need to be suspicious," Qrow concluded, referring to Ironwood.
While it was true that Ironwood informed the Ace-Ops about Gold-Sith shortly after receiving his invitation, they were still on the fence. But either way, they were up for some fun anyway before they
The party entered the theater that Gold-Sith had designated. As usual, there was a seat for everyone invited. The tables were laden with all the food and beverage they'd need. And the large screen was currently blank.
The Ace-Ops surveyed the room curiously.
"Strange, I've never seen a theater this small before," Marrow noted the small number of seats.
Clover and Elm both approached the food table and were surprised to find their favorite snacks and beverages there.
"I don't remember telling anyone here I enjoyed Tostitos," Elm noted as she held up a bag of aforementioned chips.
"That's because you didn't. Gold-Sith already knows~," Nora said in a little sing-song voice.
Elm crossed her arms. "Even so, where's this 'interdimensional being' you talked about," she asked skeptically.
On cue, the screen shined on and Gold-Sith's shimmering yellow figure appeared. "Good morning, everyone. Welcome back," he greeted with a bow.
The Ace-Ops all stared gob-smacked while everyone else smiled and waved.
There was a pause before Harriet put her hands on her hips. "Well, I'll be damned. He is real," she said in surprise.
Maria chuckled. "I didn't believe it at first myself, but here he is," she said gesturing to the screen.
"You guys don't seem all that surprised," Ren remarked on the Ace-Ops relatively blasé reaction to Gold-Sith.
"Well, we've already got Grimm, relics, maidens, and an immortal witch who wants to destroy the world, so it didn't sound unfeasible," Vine explained with a shrug (1).
Penny stepped forward. "It is such a pleasure to see you again, Gold-Sith. I'm movie ready once more!" she declared with a grinning salute.
"And I'm very happy to see you've been rebuilt, Penny," Gold-Sith said with a warm smile before turning his attention to the Ace-Ops. "And I am honored to meet such fine soldiers of Atlas."
"Likewise. But I'm still a little...iffy about this," Marrow said cautiously, since it was all so much to take in at once.
"Well, if General Ironwood says he's a friend, then I trust him," Clover assured the rest of his team, putting them at ease.
"Speaking of which, it's refreshing to see you again General Ironwood. And you too Specialist Schnee," Gold-Sith said.
Ironwood and Winter both smiled and gave greeting nods to Gold-Sith, grateful to see a familiar face from Vale.
"Although, since things are much more serious now than they were back in Vale, we can't afford too much time with multiverse viewings," Weiss pointed out with a frown.
"Well, Ms. Schnee, as luck would have it, I have a solution to that problem: I can slow down time," Gold-Sith revealed.
The crowd gasped or widened their eyes in disbelief. Gold-Sith was full of surprises, but they weren't expecting such a reveal.
"Really?! How?" Maria asked in amazement.
"Well, it's over a very finite around of space. This room covers the entire space. I can slow time to roughly one third that of outside the theater doors," Gold-Sith explained.
"In other words, three minutes in here is roughly one minute out there," Oscar deducted quickly.
"Yes. Even as we speak, time is crawling along outside."
"That's awesome!" Nora chirped with a fist pump.
"So now we have extra time to watch the multiverse that way!" Ruby gushed as she bounced up and down until Weiss stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.
"No way! You're making that up," Harriett accused while shaking her head.
Gold-Sith just shrugged. "You don't have to take my word for it, Ms. Bree. Once this film is over, you can check the time of day outside for yourself," he said simply.
"Speaking of which, what kind of film are we watching tonight?" Blake questioned.
"I'd rather not spoil the surprise for all of you," Gold-Sith replied. "Anyway, everyone sit back and enjoy the show."
Everyone gathered whatever snacks or beverages they wanted from the table and took their seats. The overhead lights dimmed, and the movie started.
The film's title gradually appeared, starting with the white letter "I" while panning across a background consisting of a large gas giant planet. Soft but unsettling music played concurrently. More bars faded in to form rest of the letters making up the film's simple title.
ALIEN (2)
The low haunting music sent shivers down the spines of half the audience. Even Ironwood, Winter, and the Ace-Ops were a bit disturbed. A few even felt the film would have horror elements mixed into it.
"Well, that was pretty creepy…" Ruby commented with a slight shudder.
"Alien. So, this must be a sci-fi flick," Marrow said with an eager smile, being a fan of the genre.
"Too bad Neptune isn't here. He'd probably want to watch this," Weiss remarked while sipping a cup of tea.
Cut to a large spaceship that resembled a refinery was drifting through the star-studded blackness of outer space while the following white text appeared.
SDC Commercial Towing Vehicle 'The Nostromo'
Crew: Seven
Cargo: 20,000,000 tons of dust
Course: Returning to Remnant
Everyone stared in amazement at the huge ship cruising through space. They could tell the viewing must take place in the future if spaceships existed. Ironwood even felt a bit envious that this version of Remnant had achieved space travel.
"That's a lot of dust the ship is carrying," Weiss said in an impressed tone before she realized something. "Wait a second... dust doesn't work in space!"
"Well...apparently it does in this universe," Vine said, having no other explanation for it.
"But if it's returning Remnant, then that means there's dust on other planets?" Winter said in realization.
"That's correct, Ms. Schnee. In this universe, dust reserves are running low on Remnant, so the SDC has employed commercial vessels like the Nostromo to mine it from other worlds that are rich with the element. Some of these planets are dozens of light years away from Remnant," Gold-Sith explained.
"Oooooh," a few people hummed in wonder and marvel.
Cut to the ship's interior, starting with the lower engineering deck. It was a dark, dimly lit industrial corridor with grates and heavy pipes.
Higher up on the main deck, it was less ominous than the engineering deck, but still deserted. A short tour through the ship's interior showed the mess hall, a pair of lockers containing space suits. There wasn't a soul in sight.
Most of the audience was slightly disturbed by the foreboding and empty atmosphere of the ship.
"Where's the crew?" Nora asked in a low tone.
"I don't know. The ship can't be abandoned, though. The text said it had a crew of seven and it was returning to Remnant," Clover reminded.
"Maybe they're sleeping somewhere else on the ship," Blake guessed as she munched on some anchovies.
Finally, the bridge was shown. Like the rest of the ship, it was deserted and completely silent, save a sheet of paper rustling softly. It was as if the ship itself was sleeping.
Suddenly, at the pilot's helm, one of the ship's computer monitors hummed to life and turned on with piercing mechanical noise.
Most of the audience gasped or jumped in their seats at the sudden noise from the computer's loud activation.
"I hate jump-scares," Nora grumbled, prompting angry nods from a few other audience members.
"It's always when you least expect it," Oscar added as he calmed down.
"I have a strange feeling there will be more where that came from," Ozpin predicted.
The text: "Nostromo 180924609" was shown on the monitor's red screen. Next, the screen interchanged between different programs accompanied by digital clicks and beeps. The transmission was reflected in reverse on the visor of an emergency helmet sitting nearby.
Then, the screen then went blank, leaving the bridge in silence once more.
The audience stared in puzzlement, not comprehending the computer's activity.
Ruby spoke up first. "What was that?" she questioned aloud.
"I think the ship just received a transmission," Penny theorized from her extensive knowledge on technology.
"From where?" Ren asked the big question.
Elsewhere in the ship, the lights flickered on in a winding corridor while peaceful music played. At the end was an octagonal door. With a soft hiss, it opened into a room with seven padded, coffin-like beds with clear-plastic lids. The lids lifted, revealing the sleeping crewmembers in their underwear.
"So that's where the crew is," Elm said
"What are those things they're sleeping in?" Ruby asked curiously.
"Cryopods. They're fueled by ice dust. You see, many space journeys can last weeks or months, so the crews often go into hibernation to survive the long journeys," Gold-Sith explained.
"Just like in other sci-fi movies," Jaune remarked, knowing a ship could carry only so many provisions.
From left to right, Sun Wukong, Lie Ren, and Oscar Pine were visible. Executive Officer Ren was the first to stir as he sat up groggily and stepped out of his cryopod.
Nora blushed as she couldn't help but ogle Ren in his underwear. Ren noticed this and blushed as well.
"There's Sun, Ren, and Oscar," Ruby pointed out, mentally noting they were all aged up to their thirties.
"Hey, I aged pretty well," Oscar commented on his counterpart.
"Nice abs," Harriett complimented Sun, while Blake huffed slightly in jealousy.
Cut to the crew seated at the mess hall table eating breakfast, drinking coffee, and chatting amongst themselves. All of them were visible except for one female member only seen from the back.
"Have you got any biscuits over there?" Sun asked the hidden crewmember.
"Here's some cornbread," she replied as she tossed a plastic cornbread packet to Sun.
"I am cold," navigator Velvet griped, having just stepped out of the shower.
Sun and Neptune did an unusual handshake and chuckled about it.
"There's fearless leader!" Nora chirped as she pointed at the screen.
"I see Vomit Boy's rocking the beard," Yang admired Jaune's rugged facial hair.
Jaune pouted at Yang while the Ace-Ops snickered at the mention of his nickname.
"Velvet is there too," Ren easily identified the Rabbit Faunus.
"Sun and Neptune are friends in this universe, as usual," Weiss finished, happy to see the lovable goofball duo.
"Still with us, Neptune?" Chief Engineer Sun asked his partner.
Technician Neptune sipped his coffee. "Right," he said groggily.
In the background, the seventh crewmember was exposed. She had a fair complexion, medium length black hair with red streaks and silver eyes. Sitting in front of her on the table was a tuxedo cat wearing a dark red collar with a gold, round pendant (3).
Ruby, Yang, and Qrow all gasped sharply in unison as they instantly recognized the woman. It was Summer Rose. No doubt about it.
"Mom…?" Ruby whispered in shock and disbelief to see her mother alive onscreen.
Yang nodded slowly. "Yes. It's her," she confirmed softly.
"She's a splitting image of you," Weiss noted how much Ruby took after her mother.
Qrow squinted his eyes at the cat. "And is that…Zwei? As a cat?!" he said in befuddlement.
"Huh. Suddenly he's not so bad," Blake noted, knowing it was her cat Faunus heritage talking.
"I feel dead," Ren muttered with a puff of his cigarette.
"Anybody ever tell you, you look dead, man?" Sun asked jokingly, much to Neptune's amusement as he chuckled.
"I probably would after hibernating in one of those pods for who knows how long," Ren agreed with his counterpart.
Ruby was still gazing at her mother in surprise. While overjoyed to see Summer again, she silently prayed that she wouldn't die in this viewing if any dangerous situations arose.
Neptune discreetly mouthed something to Sun.
"Oh yeah, right," Sun said. "I just forgot something, man. Uh, before we dock, I thought we ought to discuss the bonus situation."
"Neptune and I, we think we ought to, we deserve full shares. Right, bro?" Sun said.
"Right. You see, Mr. Wukong and I feel that the bonus situation has never been on an…equitable level," Neptune agreed with Sun.
"Well, you get what you're contracted for like everybody else," Captain Jaune Arc responded.
"Yes, but everybody else, uh…gets more than us," Neptune said a bit awkwardly.
"They're griping about money?" Oscar asked aloud.
"Everyone gripes about something. And that's a good thing to gripe about," Qrow reasoned as he opened his flask.
"You'd probably gripe about a lack of alcohol," Winter snarked while Qrow just scoffed and took a swig.
From behind Jaune, a beeping sound was heard.
"Jaune, MUTHER wants to talk to you," Science Officer Oscar informed the captain (3)
"MUTHER? Who is that?" Elm asked, remembering there were seven visible crew members.
"It could be a computer system that runs the ship," Penny suggested.
"That makes sense. Since the crew was in hyper sleep, something had to be flying the ship," Marrow agreed.
Jaune glanced behind at the lights behind him. "Yeah, I saw it. Yellow lights for my eyes only," he said.
Jaune rose from his seat. "OK, get dressed, huh? Sun?" he instructed as he grabbed his jacket.
Sun raised his mug. "Can I finish my coffee? It's the only thing good on this ship," he requested while Jaune grunted in agreement.
Ruby giggled. "That sounds like something Dr. Oobleck would say," she noted her old professor.
"He's right though. There's nothing better than a cup of coffee in the morning," Clover agreed with Sun's counterpart.
"Mr. Wukong certainly has his priorities straight," Ozpin said in agreement.
Elsewhere on the bridge, Jaune headed towards MUTHER's chamber with his coffee mug in hand. He walked over to another door and hit a switch. The door opened into a short, dark corridor with another door on the opposite end.
Jaune flicked on a light to illuminate a small box containing the keycard to access the mainframe. He punched in the code, took the key, and inserted it. Finally, he came to the door on the opposite end of the corridor, pressed a switch next to it, and it opened with a soft hiss.
"That's a lot of security measures guarding MUTHER," Oscar remarked.
"They'd need them since she's such an integral part of the ship," Ironwood reasoned, having similar precautions in Atlas facilities, especially those protecting Fria.
"So, if Jaune has access to MUTHER, does that mean he's captain of the Nostromo?" Blake wondered aloud.
"It would appear so," Ren said as he munched on some popcorn.
Jaune stepped inside the core of MUTHER, the artificial intelligence that assisted the crew in its endeavors. The core itself was a small computer room with hundreds of tiny lights and several computer screens. In the center was a mechanical chair with a built-in keyboard to operate
Jaune sat down in the chair and pressed a switch to rotate it so he could face the main monitor. He punched a few buttons on the keyboard, bringing the main monitor to life.
"Morning, mother," Jaune said softly as he took another sip of coffee.
Jaune brought up the Nostromo's systems on the monitor and scrolled down to select interface. The screen switched to the following text: "INTERFACE 2037 READY FOR INQUIRY"
On the keyboard, Jaune typed: "WHAT'S THE STORY, MOTHER?"
While everyone pondered what MUTHER summoned Jaune for, they were fairly certain it had to do something with the bridge's computer system suddenly activating.
Meanwhile, on the bridge, the rest of the crew sat at their assigned stations with headsets on.
"Right?" Summer asked Ren.
"Ok. Plug us in," Ren ordered.
"Thank you," Oscar said as he hit a few switches at his post.
Velvet stared at her monitors in puzzlement. "Where's Remnant?" she said, noting something was wrong.
"Huh? They haven't arrived home yet?" Nora said in puzzlement.
"Maybe something went wrong with the navigation system," Vine suggested.
"But wouldn't that be MUTHER's responsibility? She's running the ship while everyone is in cryosleep after all," Penny reasoned, hoping the Nostromo's crew wouldn't wind up lost in uncharted space.
Ren shrugged his shoulders. "You should know," he replied, since Velvet was the navigator.
"It's not our system," Summer informed Velvet from behind.
"Scan," Ren ordered as he pressed a switch.
Ren's camera screen did a 180 scan. The surrounding stars were visible, but Remnant wasn't.
Velvet sighed. "I can't believe this," she muttered.
"Contact traffic control," Ren instructed Summer.
"This is commercial towing vehicle Nostromo, out of the Solomons, registration number 180924609, calling Atlas traffic control. Do you read me? Over," Summer tried to contact traffic control, her voice echoing.
There was no response to Summers transmission. "Nothing," she reported to Ren.
"Keep trying," Ren instructed.
"Calling Atlas traffic control. Do you read me, Atlas? Over." Summer tried again twice but received no answer.
Velvet finished her scan. "I've found it, just short of Zeta II Reticuli. We haven't reached the outer rim yet," she reported.
"That's hard to believe," Ren said doubtfully.
"What the hell are we doing out here?" Velvet said in bafflement.
"Zeta II Reticuli? That system is almost forty light years from Remnant," Maria said, having some knowledge of astronomy.
"So why did they're cryopods open so far away from Remnant?" Yang wondered aloud.
"Maybe there was a malfunction in the system. Or perhaps MUTHER woke them up early," Elm voiced a few explanations.
Winter nodded slowly. "Remember in the beginning with the computer screen? Maybe Penny was right about a transmission being detected," she theorized while the android smiled pridefully.
"Don't know. What the hell are you talking about?" Ren asked, confused.
"That's not our system," Summer pointed out again in a condescending tone.
"I know that," Velvet said irritably with a forced smile.
"Geez. Passive aggressive much," Elm commented, reminded of minor spats she occasionally had with Harriett.
"If they're that far from Remnant, wouldn't they need faster than light travel?" Maria questioned while tilting her head.
"That's correct. Faster than light travel is indeed a reality in this universe," Gold-Sith explained.
"That is so awesome!" Nora declared loudly, loving all the high-tech sci-fi features so far.
Everyone else could only marvel at the technological advancements Remnant had made in this universe. Ironwood however sighed covetously, wishing Remnant had the same space travel capabilities.
Down on the engineering deck, Sun and Neptune walked along a corridor while complaining about their pay.
"Do you ever notice how they never come down here?" Sun asked as he followed Sun. "I mean this is where the work is, right?"
"It's the same reason we get a half-share to their one. That's the way they see it," Neptune replied unhappily.
"Nobody gets the same pay and benefits," Yang said sympathetically.
"Unfortunately, everyone's gotta put up with that," Blake sighed, knowing only too well how many Faunus workers were denied the same pay as their human counterparts.
"Same old shit man," Neptune grumbled as the duo turned a corner heading for the upper decks.
"I think I know why they don't come down here. It's because of you. You've got no personality," Sun accused.
"Besides womanizing?" Yang deadpanned, eliciting a few chuckles from the audience.
"That's not true. He had other good qualities," Weiss defended her former crush.
Back in the mess hall, Jaune had called a meeting. Everyone except Sun and Neptune were present and seated at the table. The two mechanics entered from a nearby corridor.
"Wonder what they want now?" Sun said almost under his breath as he approached Oscar. "You happen to be in my seat. Can I have it?"
"Yes, of course. I'm sorry," Oscar complied as he quickly got up.
"Who said it was your seat?" Oscar scoffed, annoyed by Sun's bossy attitude.
"They could have designated seats," Ozpin guessed internally.
"Thank you," Sun said as he wiped off the seat and sat down.
"What's happening now, skipper?" Sun asked Jaune.
"Well, some of you have figured out we're not home yet. We're only halfway there," Jaune reported unhappily.
Sun shot Jaune a confused look. "What?"
"MUTHER's interrupted our journey course," Jaune began explaining.
"Why?" Ren asked while looking up at Jaune.
"Yeah. She's programmed to do that should certain conditions arise. They have," Jaune explained the situation.
"Like what?" Summer asked offscreen.
"It seems she has intercepted a transmission of unknown origin. She got us up to check it out," Jaune explained further.
"Looks like you were right, Penny," Ruby said to her android friend.
"But where is it coming from?" Vine asked, noting that Jaune said it was of unknown origin.
"A transmission? Out here?" Summer asked in puzzlement.
"Yeah," Jaune replied simply.
"I wonder what role mom plays on the ship?" Ruby said as she ate some strawberries, eager to see how her mother played out in the multiverse.
"I don't know sis, but I'll bet it's a badass one," Yang predicted enthusiastically.
"So far we've got Jaune as the captain, Sun and Neptune appear to be engineers, and Velvet is the navigator," Qrow identified the known roles of the cast.
"Typically, a ship's crew also includes a first mate and a science or medical officer. Summer could be one of them," Clover pointed out.
"What kind of a transmission?" Velvet asked.
"Acoustical beacon, that repeats at intervals of 12 seconds," Jaune replied.
"SOS?" Ren asked in assumption.
"I don't know," Jaune replied.
"Human?" Summer asked pointedly.
Jaune shrugged "Unknown."
The audience was mystified and intrigued by Jaune's news. Receiving a transmission in deep space from an unknown source could mean anything.
"An S.O.S.? Maybe someone's in danger," Oscar guessed as he ate a handful of popcorn.
"What if they were attacked by aliens?" Nora assumed, wondering if the crew would wind up fighting extraterrestrials.
"Or maybe it's coming from aliens," Ruby said ominously.
"So what?" Neptune asked, earning a chuckle from Sun.
"We are obligated under Section-" Ren began before Sun cut him off.
"I hate to bring this up, but this is a commercial ship, not a rescue ship," Sun reminded the others.
"Right," Neptune agreed with his partner.
"It's not in my contract, this kind of duty. And what about the money? If you wanna give me some money, I'd be happy to oblige," Sun offered his services.
"The man's right," Neptune said obsequiously.
"You know, Sun's kinda greedy in this universe," Blake said with disapproval.
"And Neptune is kind of a kiss-ass," Yang added with a giggle.
"Let's go over the bonus situation," Sun rambled on since they were on the subject of money.
"I'm sorry. Can I say something?" Oscar requested politely while looking at Jaune.
"Let's talk about the bonus more," Sun continued, ignoring Oscar.
"There is a clause in the contract which specifically states any systematized transmission indicating a possible intelligent origin must be investigated," Oscar stated in an officious manner.
Sun sighed and rubbed his temples, clearly not in the mood.
Oscar glared at the screen in irritation at Sun's counterpart interrupting him.
"Sun does have a point. They're essentially space truckers. It's not exactly they're job to investigate distress signals," Harriet agreed with Sun's counterpart.
"But someone could be in trouble out there," Ruby retorted, never one to ignore a potential call for help.
"Even so, shouldn't they contact the authorities to investigate instead?" Elm suggested, knowing it would be dangerous for civilians to get involved in such affairs.
"Well, even if faster than light travel exists, it would probably take too long for anyone else to show up," Ren reasoned.
"We don't know if it's intelligent," Neptune reasoned.
"I don't want to hear it. I want to go home and party," Sun complained.
Jaune lost his patience. "Sun, will you just listen to the man?!" he shouted.
Everyone familiar with Jaune were surprised by his angry outburst at Sun. Jaune himself was a little taken-aback by his authoritative attitude, even if he was the captain of the ship.
"Damn. Fearless leader isn't having any of Sun's attitude," Nora noted with a smile for Jaune's heroic spirit.
"A good leader must always be assertive," Ironwood advised, prompting a nod from Cover.
"Like Ruby said, if someone's in danger, they've gotta do something," Jaune reasoned.
"On penalty of total forfeiture of shares. No money," Oscar finished while looking at Sun, earning a backwards glare from the latter.
"You got that?" Jaune asked firmly.
Sun chuckled to take things down a notch. "Well, yeah," he said with a smile.
"All right, we're going in," Jaune commanded.
"Yeah. We're goin' in, aren't we?" Sun said to Neptune as he clapped him on the arm.
"Call me paranoid, but I have a bad feeling about this trip they're taking," Marrow said warily.
Harriett cocked her brow. "What makes you say that?" she asked, thinking Marrow was indeed being paranoid.
"Just a gut feeling. The spooky music in the intro. And the film's title didn't seem all that promising either," Marrow answered gravely.
"Good point. But all we can do is wait and see what happens," Qrow said, hoping Marrow's hunch was wrong.
Cut to outside the Nostromo as it approached a gas giant planet 250,000 miles ahead. It had a noticeable ring and several moons orbiting it.
"Approaching orbital apogee," Velvet's voice could be heard. "Mark…"
"That ship is enormous. Are they really going to take it down to the surface?" Weiss wondered aloud.
"That's a good point. Would they even be able to find a spot large enough to land?" Jaune questioned.
"I doubt it. Perhaps they'll land in a smaller ship," Ironwood assumed, knowing it would be too risky to land the refinery.
Back on the bridge, everyone else was strapped into their seats at their stations while Velvet began to count down. "Twelve, eleven…"
Oscar began plotting the course to the planet. "Equatorial orbit nailed," he announced as a grid image of the planet appeared on his screen.
"Nine, eight seconds on descent…"
"Grids energized. Fields focused," Ren said offscreen.
Cut back outside the ship as it drew closer to the planet where the signal was transmitting from.
Blake examined the planet. "Isn't that the planet we saw in the intro?" she questioned while pointing at the screen.
"Yeah, I think you're right," Weiss confirmed as she also observed the planet.
"That kind of feels like a bad omen to me," Ren said in a low voice, agreeing with Marrow's earlier hunch.
Jaune examined his screen. "D.O.R.'s online," he said.
"What's the status of the lifters?" Summer asked from her station.
"Give me an AC pressure reading," Jaune instructed Summer.
By now, the Nostromo was orbiting the planet. The planet itself was so close it partially blocked out one of the systems suns.
"I'm curious. Is the Nostromo powered by dust?" Maria asked, knowing such a huge vessel would require a substantial amount of dust just to get off the ground.
"Actually, in this universe, most starships are powered by what's called nuclear fusion. It's generated inside a reactor within the ship," Gold-Sith explained briefly.
"So, what does that mean? Is dust being phased out in this universe?" Winter questioned with a hint of puzzlement, wondering just how this 'nuclear fusion' worked.
"Hardly. Dust remains a vital part of Remnant's economy and a highly prevalent energy source given its sheer variety," Gold-Sith assured.
Back on the bridge, the planet practically engulfed the ship's viewport.
"Forty-eight seconds and counting," Oscar announced as he continued his work at his station.
"SR-1 stable," Summer reported.
"Hmmm, that looks like a gas giant to me," Maria noted now that the planet was close enough.
Oscar blinked in confusion. "So how are they supposed to land and locate the signal?" he asked.
"Actually, the signal is coming from one of the planet's moons. Specifically, the moon is called LV-426," Gold-Sith informed the audience.
"That's a weird name for a moon," Yang remarked as he licked an ice pop.
"It could be unexplored. I suppose only surveyed or colonized planets and moons are given proper names," Ironwood theorized as he sipped a glass of water.
"Prepare to disengage from the platform," Jaune ordered the rest of the crew.
"Mark, twenty seconds, eighteen, nineteen…" Velvet began counting down the disengagement.
The Nostromo detached from the refinery it was towing and was shifted away by the extendable crane it was attached to.
"Three, two, one, lock," Velvet finished counting down as the crane stopped moving.
"Disengage," Jaune ordered as he hit a switch on his console.
The clamps on the crane holding the Nostromo released the ship and it lowered itself slightly as it prepared to take off.
Everyone was impressed or intrigued by the Nostromo's detachment function.
"Oh, so the Nostromo can detach from the refinery. It did say it was a towing vehicle after all," Ren realized.
"Very convenient to detach from its payload like that," Marrow added with a nod.
"If only our airships could perform the same feat," Ironwood lamented, though he knew such functions would be expensive and cumbersome.
"Umbilicus clear," Summer reported as she examined her monitor.
Jaune hit a few more switches. "Money's safe. Let's take her down," he ordered.
The Nostromo's huge engines lit up with a loud thrumming sound and pushed the ship forward just enough to begin its descent towards the moon where the signal was coming from, leaving the refinery behind. A beautiful music score played concurrently.
The audience felt a sense of serenity from the soundtrack. A few even smiled and swayed slightly to the music.
"This soundtrack is gorgeous," Weiss commented, reminded of classical music she often listened to.
"Roll 92 degrees port yaw," Kane instructed as he examined the ship's trajectory.
"Prime the port," Summer said.
The Nostromo slowly but steadily entered the moon's atmosphere.
Oscar carefully continued operating the controls at his station as the Nostromo began its descent. The other crew members continued their work as well.
"Prime ventral, prime dorsal," Summer said.
"Down a degree," Jaune instructed.
"39,000 meters," Velvet reported.
The ship entered LV-426's atmosphere and began to shake. A thin but noticeable layer of dust from the moon began to blow around the ship.
"Turbulence. Locked and floating. You can drop us anytime now. We'll catch you," Summer said as a grid image of the planet's surface appeared onscreen.
Another screen showed the planet's landscape getting closer. Jaune examined it closely to find a good place to land the Nostromo.
"Inertial damping's going off. Hold on, people. There's gonna be a little bump," Jaune announced as the ship shook.
Outside, the wind and dust were intensifying around the ship. There was a sharp, metallic screeching sound.
Everyone winced at the grating sound and worried expressions crossed their faces.
"That definitely can't be good," Blake muttered, her sensitive cat ears flattening in discomfort.
"Sounds like the ship is straining against the wind," Elm commented.
"Or maybe all that dust is effecting the engines," Jaune guessed as he slowly ate some popcorn.
"What the hell was that?" Sun inquired about the noise as he looked around in alarm.
"Pressure dropping on deck three. Must have lost a shield," Neptune reported.
"Let's go with it," Jaune ordered as the descent was almost finished.
"Is that wise?" Oscar questioned Jaune's decision.
"They've come too far. They can't just turn back now," Yang retorted.
At his station, Oscar looked nervous. "Dropping off now. Still dropping," he announced as he closely watched his monitor showing the ship's descent. "Here we are. We've got it."
"Take her down. Navigation light's on," Jaune said as he hit an overhead switch.
The Nostromo's external lights shined on as it's landing gear extended outwards as the descent neared completion. The ship's computers began to emit a beeping noise to indicate the Nostromo's proximity to the ground. The dust and wind continued to whip around the ship.
On the bridge, the turbulence began to intensify, as did the proximity beeping.
"We got 5-3, still out. No problem, just down 11%. Grid status, okay," Ren announced from his station.
Summer shot a glance at the terrain monitor, showing the moon's rugged, mountainous landscape.
"It looks like landing will be difficult even without the rig," Winter took note of the moon's terrain.
"Maybe they can find a clearing or a valley in close proximity to the signal," Penny theorized.
Outside, the first signs of the moon's surface were visible. Jagged rocks were seen half-hidden in the strong dust storm that was raging on.
Many audience members felt a sense of unease even from what little they could make of the moon's unpleasant looking surface.
On the bridge, Velvet counted down to the ship touching down. "Fifteen meters and dropping. Twelve, eleven, ten, nine…"
The rest of the crew sat back anxiously in their seats as the ship crept closer towards the moon's surface.
The audience braced themselves as well in apprehension, half-expecting something to go wrong with the ship's landing after hearing Neptune's report on the pressure drop.
"…three, two, one," Velvet finished her countdown.
"Kill drive engines," Jaune instructed.
The ship finally touched down on the moon's rocky surface as the beeping reached a high-pitched tone. Unfortunately, one of the ship's landing gear pads touched down awkwardly atop a rock. The ship's sheer weight pushed the rock into the ground.
The rough landing shook the entire ship, jostling the crew in their seats. A fire alarm went off as several electrical circuits burst in a shower of sparks, filling the bridge with smoke.
Everyone watched in concern and alarm at all the damage caused by the landing, hoping it wouldn't prevent them from taking off. Already, the Nostromo was getting off to a bad start on its mission.
"I could almost see a rough landing like that coming," Clover said, know he probably could have prevented it with his semblance if he were there.
"Landing on a rock caused all of that damage?" Nora questioned in surprise.
"Maybe. Then again, the Nostromo probably isn't built for landing on such rough terrain," Vine presumed, remembering the ship was basically a space tug.
"What the hell happened?!" Jaune shouted amidst the chaos.
The crew hurriedly got out of their seats and grabbed fire extinguishers to put out the damaged machinery so a fire wouldn't break out.
Oscar hit a few switches to shut off the alarm after the crew had managed to extinguish the fires.
"Hopefully the damage wasn't too bad, or they'll be stranded out there," Ruby fretted, especially considering Summer was aboard the Nostromo.
"I've seen worse airship landings here in Atlas. They should be all right," Elm said to calm Ruby down.
"Somebody give me a straight answer!" Jaune demanded.
"Is the hull breached?" Ren asked worriedly.
"I don't see anything. We still have pressure," Summer reported from her station at the back of the bridge.
"That's a relief. A hull breach is the worst structural damage any ship can get," Winter noted, having witnessed such a thing firsthand.
"And on a spaceship, it would compromise the amount of breathable air they have onboard," Marrow added as he munched on a hotdog.
"Hit the screens," Jaune commanded.
"Right," Ren obliged as he returned to his station and got to work.
Outside the Nostromo, strong winds continued to howl, blowing dust in every direction.
"With all that dust blowing around, how are they even going to find the signal?" Ruby questioned, knowing visibility would be low.
"They'll figure that out later. First, they need to survey the ships damage," Weiss reminded her partner.
Back on the bridge, some of the smoke had dissipated and several bright flood lights were switched on.
"Secondary load-sharing unit is out. Three of the four cells are gone," Sun the crew a damage report over a radio.
"Is that it?" Summer asked among the rest of the assembled crew.
"No, hold on. Uh… we can't fix it out here anyway and we need to reroute a couple of these ducts," Sun went on.
Ren glanced at Jaune. "Dry-dock time," he informed glumly.
"How long does dry-docking take?" Nora asked, unfamiliar with ships.
"It depends on the type and size of the ship. It can take hours or days," Ironwood explained.
"That's with seaborne ships. With spaceships it could be different," Maria reminded.
"Hopefully it won't be too long. They're food and water stores won't last forever," Clover said, knowing the Nostromo was on it's own.
Sun and Neptune were on the now smokey engineering deck surveying the damage while communicating through a radio. Blue sparks from damaged machinery illuminated the chamber.
"Dry-dock. Tell him to dry-dock," Neptune instructed Sun.
Sun switched on the radio. "But we couldn't fix it out here anyway. We've gotta reroute all these ducts and uh… in order to do that, we've got to dry-dock," he informed.
Back on the bridge, Jaune sighed at the report. "What else?" he asked loudly.
"Some fragments caked up. We've got to clean it out and repressurize it," Sun answered over the radio.
"How long before were functional?" Jaune asked through the radio.
"Look...what is it…what?" Sun muttered in frustration.
"17 hours, tell him," Neptune instructed.
Sun paused before hitting the radio again. "At least 25 hours," he answered Jaune dishonestly.
"I understand he's overworked and underpaid but squeezing out extra hours for more money is kind of a dick move," Jaune criticized.
"Well, either way, they're still stuck there for a while," Maria reminded as she sipped some tea.
"At least they'll have plenty of time to investigate the distress signal," Penny said looking on the bright side.
"Get started on the floor panel. I'll be right down," Summer instructed.
"What the hell's she coming down here for?" Sun questioned irritably.
"She better stay the fuck out of my way," Neptune grumbled as he ducked under some wires to further survey the damage.
"I'd like to see what she's gonna do when she gets here," Sun added offscreen.
Ruby and Yang both glared at the screen, obviously displeased with Sun and Neptune's demeanor. Qrow wasn't too happy either.
"She's gonna fix that attitude of yours, buddy," Ruby hissed with narrowed eyes.
"Yeah. Mom isn't gonna take any shit from you," Yang agreed, hoping Summer would teach the two engineers a lesson if necessary.
Author's Note: I know there's already a parody of "Alien" in "Reaction time (All the good names are taken (sigh))" by spart1339. But that doesn't mean I can't write my own. Besides, in the event I write an adaptation of "Aliens", I'll be able to tie it to this adaptation.
Partial credit for casting choices go to AthanMortis, particularly in suggesting Summer Rose for the role of Ripley.
1.) If you really think about it, someone like Gold-Sith wouldn't be too out of place in RWBY universe.
3.) Originally, I was planning on leaving the title and opening credits out to create a fear of the unknown for the audience. I feel the haunting music could also be a giveaway. But I decided to keep it in at the last minute. After all, such a vague title still leaves a plenty of guessing room for the audience.
3.) I'll explain the functions of nuclear fusion later in the story.
4.) I thought it would be funny for Zwei to play such an unexpected role. Originally, I was going to give the role to Blake and have her as just an ordinary cat, but I figured it'd be an amusing irony that Zwei play him instead.