Remnant Lands

Chapter 01

Full of Opportunity

Wait, so you want me to tell you a story? Huh. Not the sort of request I usually get, you know? But, I suppose my old man always knew how to tell a good yarn. Or weave one. Whatever.

That's not to say I'm not the kind to tell tales, it's just usually they're the sort of tales that get me into or out of trouble, if you catch my drift. Alright, alright, so… Let's go back to the begining.

And I mean right to the beginning.

A long time ago mankind, and in a way the faunus, came from Origin, the birthplace of our species. Infested with Grimm, we fought our way free of-

What? Skip to the good part?

Fine. Kill the pacing and drama, you goddamn slaghead.

So there was this big ship, that had a lot of important people on it. And then it blew up. Then the people who were on it got really pissed off and blew a bunch of other stuff up.

The end.

...Oh, what's wrong? Didn't think that was a good story? That's 'cause you keep interrupting me, you jackhole!

Now, I'm telling the story, just like you asked me to. Where was I?

Right. The ship exploded.

Weiss stared blankly out the portside window, some part of her wishing for an aspirin and the rest of her just wanting a bullet to the head. Okay, perhaps that was a little bit of an overreaction to the current circumstances, but it wasn't like she could run.

Oh, she'd like to run. Anything to escape another poorly told anecdote about that time her fiance totally killed a Grimm, that he swore was like, totally this big! But that would be unbecoming of a Schnee, and Weiss held herself to a standard even higher than that. So, while she was trapped in the terribly romantic and atmospheric restaurant of the pride of the Atlas fleet, the SS Hindentanic, with it's immaculate table cloths, star strewn views of passing nebulae, and a remarkably talented set of musicians providing ambience, she could not take off her high heeled shoes and use them to gouge out her own ear drumbs.

But she sincerely wished she could.

Oh, his story was finished, thank god. Politely laughing, Weiss gave her fiance a blank smile. "Oh, if only the quality of that story matched that of its teller."

Jaune flashed her his driver's license worthy smile, and it was just such a shame she couldn't photoshop his face out of the frame. "Ah, mon chérie-" And just when she thought things couldn't get worse, he manages to butcher an entire language. "-it barely holds a candle to your beauty."

"Oh, what a way you have with words." She started pouring herself a little more wine than was strictly meant to be held in a glass that size. Then took a long drink. After which she reached to refill the glass, but he quickly jumped up to refill it for her. "Have you had some of the wine yet? Or the food?" Just please put something in your face that will prevent you from speaking.

"Ah yes, my father specifically imported this from his personal stash on Strega IV where he single handed took on the barbarians in order to bring order to the land. As a show of-"

"How interesting, please have some." She plastered a smiled on as she pushed her glass towards him. "And when will the waiters be here? It feels like we've been waiting a while."

After a quick glance at his watch, Jaune sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I suppose I shall have to speak to them. Father did have a nice talk to them beforehand to ensure everything would be perfect, but since his departure they have gotten… slack."

"Oh, well don't let me keep you." Weiss reassured him with complete sincerity.

"As much as I hate to do this, but the work of a heir is never done." Another one of his puke worthy smiles. "I shall be right back with a meal fit for a queen."

"Don't rush on my account." She smiled brightly at the thought of him leaving..

"Sergeant Major, please stay here," he said as he rose from his seat with perfect form. If he was a child that was.

A redhaired bodyguard stepped forward. "Sir, I must pro-"

"Need I remind you I took down a Grimm on our last outing? I can handle myself." He said, sounding like going to the kitchen was actually some kind of dangerous task. He gestured at two random guards half forgotten in the corner. "You two, come with me."

Then Jaune tripped on his way to the kitchen, and Weiss gave what might have been her first genuine, though suppressed, laugh all night. Once he was gone she had to fight the urge to collapse into her seat while in sight of other guests. More wine was tempting, perhaps he would seem less utterly utterly pathetic if she was lightly, or heavily, buzzed. But no, that wasn't really an option because it simply would not do for the Schnee heiress to be seen getting plum drunk on her first meeting with her fiance.

And every time she remembered that that was what Jaune was, all she could think was, oh please, why?

With a sigh, she put down her sorely tempting glass of wine and reached for her echo-scroll. According to the screen, the time was only 9:20 in Veil. Good grief, only twenty minutes had passed since this trainwreck that could be approximated to a date began.

Though that did raise a good question.

"Excuse me," she said, turning to Jaune's bodyguard. The somewhat amazonian protector had been standing in the periphery of her vision just a little way from their table. What was her name again? She hadn't been introduced. The woman was tall, and dressed mostly in hi-tec Hyperion Gold armour, but she had a mismatched red cape that was pinned to one shoulder by a red and copper brooch in the shape of some insignia Weiss didn't recognise, though it tickled her memory.

"Do you happen to know if Pandora operates on its own local time, or Cronovich standard?"

"Cronovich." Green eyes darted down to meet Weiss'. She continued in a pleasant sounding tone,"I had expected the Schnee security detail to have proper briefed you on Pandorian protocols. Then again, I assume a lady such as yourself has other, more important duties to perform."

Weiss blinked, unsure if that was a deliberate snub or not. She searched her eyes, looking for some sign of defiance, but after a moment, the woman looked away, seeming slightly abashed.

Odd reaction. Weiss smiled at her in a deliberately friendly way. "I'm sorry, you weren't introduced earlier, miss…?"

"Sergeant Major Nikos, at your service." She brushed her cape to one side revealing a pauldron with three stripes across it.

That name sounded familiar again. Weiss frowned at the thought, glancing at the woman's brooch once more before it clicked. "Oh! That wouldn't be Pyrrha Nikos, would it?" She smiled happily having figured it out.

"Perhaps," she replied.

"You were on the team that opened the vault originally." Weiss said, trying to make conversation, and couldn't help but take stock of the woman again. This time she noticed the scars on the back of her hands, and the way she held herself, as if vaguely expecting the ground under her to burst open and spew a hoard of armed gunmen. "You used to work for my family."

"I did." Once more with that clipped tone.

Weiss sighed, guessing the woman just wasn't very talkative. Looking forward, she reached for her wine glass again, only to decide better and reach for the water jug instead. She glanced at Pyrrha again as she poured herself a glass. A flutter of jealousy writhed in her chest, and Weiss winced as she took a sip.

There was a lot to be jealous of. Pyrrha couldn't be much older than Weiss, and she already had a reputation any career mercenary would kill to have. Pyrrha had already led a life of high adventure and decided to settle down as a bodyguard, when Weiss had literally only just turned eighteen, and hadn't even had a taste of real combat yet. She'd been training for years to fight, and it still felt like excitement was as far away as it had been when she was twelve and learning to sing with her private tutors.

Sitting back in her chair, Weiss smiled at Pyrrha. "Is Pandora like they say it is?"

"It's worse." Her eyes flicked to the side and her hand drifted down to her hip, but after a brief second, her entire body relaxed again.

Weiss smiled just a little wider, showing a hint of teeth. If there was a place to escape from her daily upper class humdrum, Pandora sounded like that place to do it.

"I would advise against it, it's no place for a lady, let alone a Schnee."

Her eye twitched briefly before Weiss could stop it. With another sigh, she looked forward and leaned back in her chair. "That would be what I've heard about it." And hence it's appeal. Who was she kidding? They'd probably just keep her aboard a ship the entire time, and never even let her set foot on the planet.

"For good reason. A true warrior knows what is, and isn't, within reach." Pyrrha raised a hand and gestured towards one of the guards. "Please check on the young master and his guards, he should be back by now."

As she said this, two more of the guards peeled off from the small army that sat at every table near theirs, and headed off to the kitchen.

"And I suppose a true warrior would have a few interesting stories to tell while a lady's date managed to get lost on his way to the kitchen." Weiss prodded.

"Do you truly think the battlefield is a place for stories?"

Weiss gave her an annoyed look. "No, but I think here is."

For a brief second, it looked as though Pyrrha would outright refuse, but she slowly unclenched her hand and turned to a guard. "You, Davis, why don't you entertain our guest with a story?" With one last thinly veiled glare at Weiss, Pyrrha walked towards the kitchen.

'Davis' started to tell a story before Weiss stopped him. "Have you opened a vault?"

"Uh, no ma'am."

"Then why would I care about your story?" Weiss grouched, pouring herself another glass of water. With a sniff, she went for a sip when she heard something that sounded like… a gunshot?

She wasn't the only one that heard it. All around the restaurant other patrons were looking about, wondering if that was really what they'd just heard.

A second later, everyone realised that was exactly what that sound had been, when from just down the hall rang out the sound of sustained automatic fire. Jaune's small army of guards immediately sprang into action, and all around her Weiss could hear the potent clicking of bullets being loaded into chambers. The majority of them moved to the doors, covering the hallways leading the the restaurants while some of them set about tipping over tables for cover, and a pair ran off to find Pyrrha and Jaune after neither of them could be reached over radio.

Weiss was surrounded by four of her company's own guards, one of whom grabbed her arm and started to drag her towards the exit. "Come with us, please," they said, not really asking.

Snatching her arm free of their grip, Weiss scowled. "I'm going, don't drag me around like a chi-"

And then she wasn't talking to a soldier of the Crimson Lance, but a headless torso. There wasn't even a bang when it happened. No one had even heard a gunshot, but as they all heard the sound of hissing air, everyone realised why. Turning around, Weiss saw a bullet hole in the window, and just outside it in a full coverage space suit, was the shape of a man carrying a sniper rifle.

"Warning, warning, air breech detec-" Whatever else was being said was lost as gunfire rang out in all directions.

A guard immediately pushed her head down, all but tackling her to the floor while another guard flipped over their table, using it as makeshift barrier. A bullet burst through the table, sending splinters through Weiss's hair and making her flinch.

From across the restaurant, a loud, almost animalistic cry went up as the hyperion guards who'd been at the door were assaulted from the front. Shot gun blasts and automatic fire streamed up the hallway, and they guards returned the favor with their submachine guns and grenades. But it was a losing situation, even as they kept the hordes of mysterious attackers at bay, the sniper outside the window, who was soon joined by several friends, was free to pick off whomever they pleased. There was no way anyone inside could return fire, for fear of shattering the window and depressurizing the room and killing all the defenders.

Weiss peaked over her cover at the soldiers at the window, and her eyes widened as she saw one of their attackers start to load a rocket launcher. Knowing that she had literal seconds before the team outside killed them all, she bolted. Taking only the time to kicking off her high heels before sprinting for the exit bare foot, Weiss ignored her guard's cry of, "Get back in cover!"

The Hyperion guards in front of her didn't even look back as she scrambled up behind and past them.

"Get to the exit!" She screamed, trying to sound authoritative rather than hysterical.

A few of them instinctively followed her, and she and three others only just threw themselves out of the restaurant in time for the glass window to shatter. With an ear popping change in air pressure, all the oxygen in the room soundlessly whooshed out into the vacuum of space, along with tables, chairs, food, screaming guests and equally screamy guards.

Weiss only just slapped the button on the door's outer control panel in time for it to slam down and close off the depressurisation that would have killed her. The Hyperion guard to her left, looked up and threw himself in front of Weiss, just as a burst of gunfire pierced his chest. He slumped backwards, pushing her against the wall even as his weight dragged her to the ground. The two other guards raised their submachine guns, and opened fire, but without any cover it was a futile effort and were both killed by the responding barking chatter of what sounded like an Atlas assault rifle.

Unclipping the pistol off the hip of the soldier that had fallen over her, Weiss looked over the dead man's shoulder in time to see a someone running towards her. She only just had enough time to tuck the gun under an armpit, before the stranger grabbed one of her arms and dragged her out from under the body. She twisted as he did, angling her body so that it covered up the gun.

The man was tall, with biceps that stuck out even through the rugged, scrappy armour he wore. His eyes had a faint yellow glow to them, and the blood veins in them were black rather than red. He wasn't wearing a helmet, but he did have a pair of protective anti-flash goggles on his forehead that looked like they came from a welding mask.

He stared at her for a moment, before twisting around so she was facing the rest of her attackers. "This the Schnee?" He said in an oddly inflectionless voice, so it sounded more like a statement than question.

"Yes." One of her companions replied. "Kill it."

Weiss let go of the gun with her elbow, and let it fall into her free hand. She caught it awkwardly in her hand, and was forced to work the trigger with her thumb, as she put two bullets in the man's thigh. Twisting as he collapsed downwards, she put his body between him and his friends. Seeing that he was still alive, they hesitated to shoot, which gave her enough time to correct her grip on the gun in her hand, and press it to the man's temple.

"Drop your weapons, or I'll kill him!"

They stared at her for only a second, before raising their guns and opening fire anywar. Clinging to the man in front of her as a jerking, bleeding, and dying shield, she returned fire as best as she could. She hit one of the men in front of her, leaving a perfect hole in his forehead before her wild fire forced the remaining three to rush for cover in some doorways just down the hall.

When the pistol ran out, Weiss snatched up her dead hostage's Atlas assault rifle and opened fire as she crouched behind his slumped over corpse. There was a brief lull in her fire when she took a grenade of his belt, and tossed it up the hallways to where they were hiding. Only one of them was actually caught in the blast, as the other two saw the grenade and charged out of cover, firing at her from the hip as they did.

Weiss cut down one of them, before the last one crossed the last few metres to her, and kicked his thick combat boot towards her head. She ducked out of the way, and twisted to the right to avoid the butt of his rifle as it banged against the wall beside her. Seeing a grenade on his belt, she reached down and yanked the pin out of it, before bolting away from him. She was grateful he was using a Hyperion submachine gun as the first few shot he sent after her missed, but it's stabilisers kicked in and she took a bullet through the calf before he exploded in a shower that painted the hallway in blood and shrapnel holes.

Falling forward unto her face, Weiss's breath stuttered in her lungs as she let out a hissed gasp of pain. The blood drained from her face as she rolled over and examined the wound.

"This has to be the worst date I've ever been on." She muttered to herself and tried to stand up. Putting all her weight on one leg helped, but as she hopped one step down the corridor, the pain from jostling her wound was so intense that she stumbled and fell forwards onto her face again. "Anyone's ever been on." She corrected after a moment.

"I told you! Didn't I tell you not to trust Bandit brand weaponry? Yes they're crazy looking and sure, they technically function as well as any other brand, but they break. Often. Just look at it!" Ruby held out what was once a rifle, thinly held together by some duct tape. "What in the world convinced you this was a good idea?"

"Come on," Yang rolled her eyes. "I spent like, ten bucks on it Ruby, not like it cost us anything. Pretty sure the bullet's in the magazine cost more than it did."

"That's not that point! Just, ugh. I swear, if you had just let me build you something from scrap, it'd handle like nothing you've ever experien- No. Waaaaaaay~" With a squeal, Ruby ran across the bridge, easily weaving through the thick crowd. "Are you seeing this? It's out, it's finally out. Brand new, straight off the production line, Atlas quality assault rifle! Made by Schnee, sure, but Atlas! And it uses the new eridium-tech for the pulprosion mechanism as well. Yang… I think I'm in love."

"I ain't in love with that price tag," Yang scowled as she examined it. "We might be able to afford it if we mortgaged Dad's house, and his car... and him."

"Do it!" Ruby dragged Yang down to look her straight in the eyes. "I'll even offer them my first born. They still do that right? Right?"

Yang snorted. "What happened to building your own gun from scrap?"

"Hey!" With practised ease, Ruby drew a sniper rifle off her back, caressing the barrel and the scope. "Don't talk about Karl like that! He's very sensitive."

"I'll make it up to him later." Yang promised, looking over the guns on sale herself. "I thought we were here to get a replacement for me."

"Eh, just get more duct tape, we need to save money for that beauty," said Ruby, pressing her face agaisnt the glass. "Don't worry Karl, I still love you, but damn…"

Yang yawned into her hand, before picking out a compact Hyperion shotgun. "I like the way this looks, I want a gun with a smaller spray than that last one."

"Nope." Plucking it from her hand, Ruby tossed her a Jackobs one. "Try this one, Hyperion guns have some insane kick to them before the counter stabilizer kicks in."

"I can live with a little kick." Yang complained, flipping open the breach on the Jackobs and giving it an inspection. Her face took on a surprised look. "Huh, good eye."

"Told ya. Best thing is, it's the deal of day! Thank you Marcus, another three hundred saved which should save us some cash for new armor."

Yang shrugged after a moment. "Works for me, then." She posed with it. "How do I look?"

"Actually…" Ruby stepped back, taking in the brown leather duster filled with holes, the yellow tank top that had a couple of holes revealing the makeshift armor created from Hyperion scraps underneath that thankfully, only had one hole in it. Toss on an actual gun and… "You... actually look like a Vault Hunter."

"Um… Ladies, you paying for the gun or just posing?" asked the shopkeeper.

"This the problem with gun stores." Yang said aloud to Ruby. "They just don't get that sometimes a gal wants to go shopping, you know?"

"A pretty bad Vault Hunter with all those holes, but still a Vault Hunter. Hey, Mister! Think we can pose with the new Atlas rifle?"

"Sure you can missy, and while you're at it, we've got pink purses over there and some absolutely faaaaaaaabulous looking dresses that'd go perfectly with that cute little hood of yours." He gave both of them a flat look. "This is a gun shop, not some dress shop. Are you buying something or not?"

WIth a roll of her eyes, Yang approached the counter and put the gun down on it. "We'll just take this."

A soft beep rang out as he scanned the price tag. "That'll be five hundred bucks and would you like it gift wrapped?"

"No thanks," Yang replied as she took out her wallet and counted five $100 bills.

"Actually… can you spray paint things on the side of guns? I'm building this killer sniper and I think some flames along the barrel would be awesome."

Cue facepalm from the shopkeeper.

"Yang, I think he was being sarcastic about the gift wrapping," whispered Ruby.

"You're kind of a dick, aren't you?" Yang smiled at him as she holstered her shiny new shotgun.

"Welcome to Pandora," he said, not a smile in sight.

"Been there, the service is better," said Ruby as they walked out before skipping back as they were almost run over by a the crowd. The entire place looked and felt more like a concert than space station with the way bodies were packed together. "See Yang, this is why we should have come here sooner and why you need to stop destroying all the alarm clocks I buy you."

"If they didn't want to get hit, they shouldn't scream at me when I'm trying to sleep."

"I swear, I'm going to build an alarm clock that shoots at you. I'll do it!" Jumping onto the nearby railing, Ruby looked out over the suspended walkways, trying to find a path for them to go through before a grin appeared. "Say, Yang, any rules on this dump about free falling?"

"Can't say for certain, but I'd bet so." Yang shrugged. "Knowing Hyperion, they're probably something along the lines of, 'If you film it, you have to share it with us.'"

"Hm…" Ruby glanced up then down. They were on the fifth floor, the elevators to their right was completely packed and on the left was just a massive window looking out into space. A massive curved window with a very gentle slope, but how to get over there?

Despite the walkways being large enough for a freight train to run through, the milling mass of bodies covered every inch and in that mass were other vault hunters and hyperion exec's and while the idea of shooting one of those snobbish idiots in the face sent a thrill down Ruby's spine, they were also hyperion exec's. Best not to accidentally bump into one of them.

Could climb the pipes up, but going down was so much more fun. A little bit of a running jump, move along the wall, drop down onto the rundown bookshop sign on floor four just to the right of them, then a simple leap onto the window, slide down to floor three, leap across, grab the railing under the walkway, swing over the mass of idiots on the walkway below than and voila, right next to the armor shop…

Which was next to the lingerie shop. Then again, the gun store was neighbours with the church of who-fucking-cares and the pet store.

"Yo Yang, wanna go on an adventure?"

"What, did you find religion?" Yang asked, eyeing the church askance.

"Only if it lets me marry Karl. And Kevin."

"I know the people of the hawk let you marry a weapon, but only if it's a fire gun."

"Tempting, tempting, but two is more than enough for me. Plus, Karl's been so nice and understanding, I couldn't hurt him anymore by adding another gun to my heart, then again…" Ruby pulled out her sniper, narrowing missing Yang in the process and looking at it curiously. "Karl, darling, you know I love you and think you're great as is, but what do you think about shooting incendiary rounds?"

"He's always been open minded." Yang mused.

"I suppose- Sorry!- So and he used to be a corrosive gun before I converted it to electric. Bloody stalkers, why did we go to that mine again?" Ruby frowned as she dodged yet another 'I'm so important' hyperion worker.

"Because we were getting paid by some guy to gather something or other so he could… do a thing?" She shrugged. "All I know is he paid us $525 each, and those stalker had that bit under their throats that went pop when I shot them."

"Don't remind me, it smelt like something that was half way through decompo-" A soft banging sound echoed through the main chamber. "Do you hear that?"

"Sounds like trouble." A grin spread over Yang's face and she put a hand to her shotgun.

Without warning, red lights began flashing and a mechnical voice started blaring over the speakers. "Warning, warning, air breech detected, please stay calm and-" There was a screech and suddenly Handsome Jack's voice came through, "LOOT EVERYTHING IN SIGHT! And guess what boys and girls, only ten escape pods on each floor, that means half of you are gonna go pop like corn. And the camera's I've all over the damn ship will record it happening, so hey at least your loved one will get to see daddy's eyeballs explode. Anyways, for real though, there's only ten escape pods per floor because those assholes in RnD told me this ship was unsinkable. So, have fun with that!"

And then soft classical music filled the air.

"Huh." Yang mused as she raised her shotgun. "Who would've guessed the Hindentanic could sink?

All around them, people were scream, guns were firing and blood was being sprayed everywhere. Acting on pure instinct, Ruby twisted to the side, just managing to dodge a punch from the burly guy next to her before swinging her sniper from off her back and smacking him across the face, knocking him out cold.

"Marvel of engineering my ass," muttered Ruby. "Well, time to jump! Come on!"

Racing forward, Ruby leapt off the edge of the walkway, and without even pausing to think or look at where they were going, Yang followed. Not before getting two quick shots of her new shotgun off, blowing a hole in the some guy's chest.

"Man, I thought we'd have to wait until we got to Pandora!" Yang shouted happily.

Weiss limped, looking ridiculous in oversized combat boots, an evening dress, and carrying a Vladoff assault rifle that was slightly too large for her. One of the soldiers she'd killed must have been a medic or something, because he'd carried a first aid pack with some bandages, disinfectant and painkillers. Plus, he'd had small feet. His boots were still a bit too big for her, but it was better than walking around barefoot.

The medicine had helped her get to her feet, but walking still hurt quite a lot. Wincing as she had to put a little too much weight on her wounded leg, Weiss peaked around a corner and sighed in relief when she found the hallway empty. She stepped around the corner and moved forward to the door. She hit the control panel, and it whooshed open, revealing-

"Oh, would you look at that?" Weiss huffed. "More corpses!"

This was the third room she'd found in such a state, the floor sparsely visible beneath the pools of blood, gibbets of flesh, and mixed corpses. The Hyperion gold that covered the walls wasn't spared either, browning haemoglobin had been liberally applied to them as well. Weiss honestly found it only moderately less tasteful than Jack's usual preference for ostentatiousness.

And of course, as was the way of things, anything that could have been remotely useful had been pillaged. Not a single gun, dollar or bullet had been left behind. The invaders had even evidently stolen from their own dead, because apparently they were equal opportunity looters.

Weiss wasted no time searching the room for a gun better suited to her, or even a change of clothes that would be mildly more appropriate than what she had.

Quickly, she made her way across the room not even pausing when something squished wetly underneath her heel. She grimaced. Don't look down, don't look down. Whatever I just stepped on, or in, I don't want to know.

She got to the door on the other side of the room, and winced at the sticky control panel. Note to self: Always keep a personal supply of wet wipes.

The door slid into its frame, and Weiss found herself faced with a group of invaders, standing knee deep in another charnel house. They stared at her awkwardly, as if caught doing something they shouldn't have been. One of them was literally prying the gold teeth out of one of his own fallen comrades using a bayonet that was still attached to his Dahl submachine gun.

He died first, as Weiss dropped to one knee and opened fire. She kept up a steady stream of automatic fire, managing to cut down three of the seven goons before any of them got to cover. The moment the first one got their head down, Weiss stopped shooting and ducked back around the door frame, reloading the rifle as she did.

You know, maybe I underestimated the worth of these Vladoff's. Standing up, she leaned out of cover and unleashed barking, bucking, shoulder bruising, burst of automatic fire, the completely cut apart the table one of her targets was hiding behind and him with it. There's something to be said for just how useful a good rate of fire is. She'd have to send a note down to Atlas RnD next chance she got.

A shotgun blast came through the doorway, just as Weiss ducked back to avoid it. She waited for the next shot before she opened fire again, only there was no next shot. Silence reigned, and it was only broken by the sound of... gurgling?

Peaking around, Weiss was shocked to see one of the invaders clutching at his neck as the gun he was holding tumbled out of his hands. Someone was standing behind him, wrapping a cord around his throat. He kicked and flailed, trying to dislodge his assailant, but it didn't help him.

After a few more moments, his struggling ceased and he tipped forward limply. Rising up from behind his conscious form was a woman, dressed in scrappy leggings and a discoloured white shirt. Strapped over it was an armoured vest, and she had armoured pads on her knees, shins and elbows. At her side was what looked like a Dahl pistol. She had several grenades, and her face was hidden by a balaclava tied around her mouth and black glasses covering her eyes.

"Weiss Schnee?" She asked, unwrapping the strangle cord from her hands.

"Yes?" Weiss frowned, raising her rifle so it pointed at the woman.

"Would you be willing to come with me?" The woman inquired, sounding like she was asking about the weather.

Weiss considered before answering. "That depends on where we're going, and who you work for?"

"We will be going to an escape pod. I do not wish to say who I work for."

"In that case thanks, but no thanks." Then Weiss squeezed the trigger.

Her bullets found their mark, passing through the woman seemingly without resistance. Weiss's eyes widened as she realised she'd been conversing with a hologram, and a faded blur of lines shimmered through the air towards her. Weiss shifted her aim, firing towards it but wasn't quite fast enough. Something battered her rifle barrel aside, and another something smacked into her wounded knee.

With a yelp, Weiss fell and the woman twisted with her as she did. Weiss found herself, face down on the floor with her arms pinned behind her back, and her rifle clattering out of reach. Handcuffs clicked into place around her wrists, and before she could even scream a gag was shoved into her mouth. A gag that she realised was a sweaty handkerchief, that someone mustn't have washed in a while if the taste was any indication.

Then another pair of cuffs was tightened around her ankles, and Weiss could only give a muffled scream of frustration as her arms were bound to her sides by a tight cord.

Ruby edged down the corridor, lights flickering above, the sound of her footsteps echoing back to her. The Dahl pistol in her hands was still slick with fresh blood making wielding it awkward, but still better than Karl. Behind her, Yang followed with shotgun drawn, already running low on ammo, but that'd never stopped her in the past.

The young hadn't been spared. Mothers, fathers, pregnant ladies and Hyperion exec's had all been shot, stabbed and in the latter's case, spat on. And pissed on. And set on fire. Hm… Ruby fingered Karl, before shaking her head and moving past the headless body on the ground. Sloshing through the blood, they followed the trail of bloody footprints around the corner only to come face to face with a caved in roof, blocking their way forward.

No words were exchanged, not even a some hand gestures or grunts. Yang immediately took the lead, moving up carefully while Ruby covered her back. Once more the lights flickered off and two golden eyes stared back at her from down the corridor.

"Yang?" hissed Ruby as she raised her pistol, "We've got trouble."

An explosion rocked the ship, too far away to deafen them, but close enough to cause them to lose their footing. Acting on pure instinct, Ruby ducked to the side incase whatever it was decided to jump before quickly aiming once more, only to meet inky blackness. A second later, the emergency lights kicked on, bathing the entire corridor in a dull red glow.

"Nevermind, it's gone… whatever it was."

"Just keep a look out," Yang replied distractedly, as she started throwing aside some of the thinner rubble near the top of the pile. "I think we could crawl through here."

"Alright, coming up." With one last glance behind her, Ruby began clambering up the pile of rubble before wincing at how small the hole was. "I'll fit, but I don't think you will."

"Shit, I think you're right." Yang growled, glancing down at herself. "I'll have to take off my armour."

"Alright, you go first then." Exchanging the pistol for Karl, Ruby set up in the dark corner of where the rubble met the roof.

Quickly, Yang shrugged off her coat, before stripping away her pauldrons and armoured plating. When she was wearing only her undershirt and pants, she grabbed up the Dahl pistol and climbed back up the rubble. "Don't come through till I say it's clear." Then she disappeared into the small tunnel, pistol leading the way.

Through the grunts and swearing coming from behind her, Ruby could just make out the sounds of renewed gunfire off in the distance. It lasted for a split second then silence descended once more. Motion out the corner of her eye drew her attention and her sniper immediately snapped across, finger on the trigger. As the seconds ticked by, she took a long, slow breath and eased her finger off the trigger before going back to scanning the room.

Damn flashing lights making her see things.

Just as she was about to call out to Yang, the sound of approaching footsteps cut her off. Whoever it was, they were inexperienced, the scruffing of the footsteps gave that much away as they dragged their heels across the ground. Next came the shadows around the corner and Ruby raised her sniper, aiming at where the torso would be and as soon as whoever it was turned the corner, she squeezed the trigger. The electrical current froze the person for a split second, not that it mattered since it cut through the chest without meeting any resistance.

All that could be heard was the echo of a dead body hitting the ground.

"Yang, you through yet?" whispered Ruby.

There was no answer.

"Damn it, if I die covering your fat ass, I'm haunting you for the rest of your life."

A few moments later, a voice called up the tunnel behind her. "It's all good Ruby, come on through!"

"About time!" Grabbing Yang's shotgun along with her coat and armor, before hesitating and throwing Karl down and diving in. Pipes and rent metal cut all along her legs and arms, easily slicing through her thin coat and drawing blood. The dust made her eyes water and when she came out the other end, she fell head first onto the cold floor. She just laying there, a hacking cough wracking her body before rolled over onto her back and rubbing her eyes.

"You alright?" Yang asked. Just over her shoulder was a man who looked like his head had been caved in. "Found that guy like this, so I thought I should make sure who ever did it wasn't around before calling you through."

"Good idea." Rubbing the dust from her eyes, Ruby passed the shotgun and armor over before picking up Karl. "Sorry babe, but it had to be done, I promise to get you a fresh coat of paint once we've got the money."

"You know, if you can't find a religion that'll let you marry it, I'm sure you can just start one." Yang muttered as she started to put her armour on. "Could call it the First Church of Karl or whatever."

"Nah, First Church of the Mechromancer sounds so much better. Now come on, we need to find that security room and see if there are any escape pods left."

Yang pulled the coat over her shoulders, and grabbed her shotgun and giving it a brief once over. "Alright, let's go."

They passed another three bodies, two with their faces caved in and one unfortunate soul who had both legs broken and a pipe shoved through her stomach. That one managed to crawl a good three meters before finally dying. Eventually though, they came to a door marked 'Security' and with practised ease, they stood on either side. A look was exchanged then a nod before Ruby turned and kicked the door down while Yang dived past, shotgun at the ready.

"You know, I kinda wanna meet the guy who keeps doing this." Yang muttered when she was greeted by more brutalized bodies. One's neck had been twisted all the way around, and another was folded like the universe's most brutal origami.

"Yeah, yeah," said Ruby as she brushed past, placing both hands on the snooker sized table that dominated the middle of the room. A red warning sign popped up in 3D glory, flashing in front of her face. "Hey, grab me one of their hands, it's a biometric lock."

Yang picked up an arm that had been twisted out of its socket. Her eyes were shining as she said, "Need a hand disarming the lock?"

"I… don't know whether to groan or yell at you. I meant drag a dead body here, not rip an arm out! Ugh, whatever." Grabbing the offered arm, she pressed the hand onto the board and a soft beep was heard before a real time schematic of the entire ship appeared.

In the central mall of the ship, the fourth floor major walkway had collapsed, taking the third floor walkway with it and destroying enough of the second floor that only the truly desperate would try that route. The fancy-smancy restaurant on the top floor was completely locked down, looking as though someone forgot to put the glass in entirely. Red bars were everywhere as breeches and fires were were contained by airlocks and on the main display screen behind the projection was the security camera of the spacedocks. Bodies were everywhere, only two spaceships remained and two groups were hunkered down on either side. Neither side fired a shot, but both sides held guns, just waiting for the other to make the wrong move.

With a flick of the hand, Ruby pulled up the main menu and highlighted all the escape pods before drawing up the security camera footage in each area. The main screen on the opposite wall lit up, three of the cameras completely offline, but the remaining seven showed some promise. Floor four was completely empty as was floor three, but the west end second floor at four escape pods left. That would be the best be-

"Damn it!" Ruby's fist hit the console as she stared at the closed airlock in front of the escape pods and the massive gaping hole in the wall where it looked as though an escape pod had been ripped free.

"We'll just have to hijack one of those ships in the dock, then." Yang put her hand on Ruby's shoulder.

"We're good, but not that good," said Ruby.

"Well, it's either that or make our way to the Starboard side of the ship and see if any of the pods there are left."

"Yeah, if only there was… some…" Ruby stared past Yang at the space suits that hung behind the glass door. "Or we could go space walking!"

Yang blinked, and looked at the suits consideringly. "I've never done that before…"

"Don't worry, I hear it's simple. Keep the magnetic boots on, don't jump too high and don't shoot yourself." Ruby grabbed the severed arm and pressed it up against the scanner, letting the door slide open and the rack pop out, all the suits present except two. "Come on!"

"I'd kinda rather just kill those guys at the spaceship." Yang grumbled, but started to climb into one of the suits anyway.

"If you could, you'd kill the sun," replied Ruby as she grabbed the smallest suit present.

Yang just grinned savagely at that, but didn't reply.

"Please don't, I like the sun." Zipping up the suit, Ruby tried looked down at herself. "Is everyone working here giants? I can't even see through this stupid helmet."

"No, I just think no one working here is fourteen years old." Yang answered as she did up the seals on her helmet.

"Same thing. Now whe-" Face meet ground. "Ooooow… Stupid massive things."

Ruby rolled around on the ground, trying to get back onto her feet, but no matter how she twisted or turned, she couldn't even sit up.

"Um… Yang? Help?"

"How about I lead the way?" Yang suggested as she helped Ruby up.

"Good idea." This time, she managed to not fall flat on her face when she took a step forward and began shuffling into the airlock. "Just hit the big, red, shiny button and let's get this show on the road."

Yang cocked back her fist and punched the button, yelling, "Button!"

The air whooshed out and the suits poofed out, preventing Ruby from reaching the gloves or boots with how short she was. All sounds faded away with with awkward swimming motions, she began drifting out into space.

"Don't think about farting." Yang's voice came over the com.

"I didn't need to hear that!" Ruby reached out and grabbed onto the the railing on the side of hull and began dragging herself along. "Come on, I think it's this way!"

"I'm just saying, if you did let one rip right now, you'll be breathing it until we get there. And of course, if you did start thinking about it you'd start feeling like you really needed to do it."

"Stop talking about it then, you're making me think about it!"

"I'm not talking about it, I'm just saying it'd be horrible if it happened. It'd be like getting locked in an outhouse or something."

"Lalalalalalalala, not listening." Ruby began speeding up her hand motions.

"Now you're just being immature." Yang sounded amused.

"I'm the immature one? Me? You're the one who started it!"

"Started what?" Yang chuckled. "You were the one thinking about farts even though I warned you not to."

"Not listening, not listening, not listening, not listening, not listening." Think about… think about mechanical wolves and Karl and-

"Ppppppppht." Yang blew a raspberry over the com.

"Come on, there must be a way to turn off the coms on this thing…"

"Alright, I'll stop." Yang laughed. "Just trying to lighten the mood."

With a grumble from Ruby, they kept moving, glancing down through the windows every so often. More than once they caught sight of a family huddled together in some corner, sometimes dead and there was more than one lone survivor, staring out blankly into space. No bulletholes, no blood, just… still.

"Can we go back to talking about farts?" whispered Ruby in a small voice.

"Don't worry, we're almost there." Yang reassured her.

"Yeah…" As they made their way across the curve of the space station, Pandora came into view, all blue and green and small. In the past, such views would get a small sniffle out of Ruby, but this time, it was somewhat ruined by the dozen or so bodies floating before them.

"Usually it doesn't look so bad from a distance." Yang muttered.

"Come on, the breech is here," said Ruby as she dragged herself in.

Yang followed behind her without comment.

With a loud clank, their boats stuck themselves to the wall and with a lot of awkwardness from Ruby, they began making their way to the ground. Swearing under her breath, Ruby turned off the magnets and began swimming awkwardly through the air towards the nearest escape pod. A quick look inside revealed everything was in perfect working condition, the release mechanism slightly misaligned, but not enough to endanger everything. Hopefully. Maybe.

It's not like she was an engineer or anything.

"Yo, Yang, how do the others look?"

"Uh… I think this might have been an escape pod once." Yang replied. "Now it's kind of just half a pod, and not really the escape half."

Ruby drifted over to the last one and glanced in before wincing at the body pinned to the console by a crowbar. "Yeeeeeaaaaaah, this one is fucked too. Whelp, here's to hoping this doesn't kill us."

"It can't be that bad," Yang tried to smile but looked nervous herself. She tried to open the door but it stuck, so with a grunt she gave it a more firm yank and pulled it open with an almost metal on metal screech. "I mean, it's Hyperion tec." She finished somewhat sarcastically.

"And we all know that's the best quality stuff around, right?"

They both jumped when a very calm voice behind them said, "Actually, Hyperion technology is considered to have the worst safety rating of all the mega corporations. Considering the fact that Torgue once built a mechanism into it's rovers that made it explode if it fell more than three feet, that is saying something remarkable."

Both spun around, guns awkwardly floating around as Ruby tried to swing her sniper rifle around to point it at the new comer, completely forgetting about the spacesuit she had on. It was impossible to tell who was talking to them, not with the way the sun bounced off her visor, obscuring their sight, but what was obvious was the body slung over her shoulder. A body that seemed to be struggling.

The newcomer waved a hand towards the escape pods. "I believe these pods can seat up to ten individuals. Would you be opposed to sharing?"

"That depends on who you are and who you're kidnapping," said Ruby.

"My name is Blake," the woman answered placidly. "And this isn't a kidnapping."

"Yang, we've kidnapped people before right?"

"Yeah, and it looks a lot like that."

"So yeah, kidnapping." Ruby shrugged. "Look, just want to know we're not going to have, say, the entire might of Hyperion dropping down on us is all."

The woman paused. "That seems like an unlikely consequence of sharing an escape pod with us."

"Well…" Ruby glanced up at the security camera.

"Also, if you were unwilling to share the pod then I would be forced to attempt to take it by force." Blake continued. "It is not my intention to do so, but survival is my first priority."

"You think you can take us?" Yang challenged.

The woman stared at them for a few moments. "Perhaps not, but even so I will be forced to try. I feel that simply sharing the pod will be simpler and less risky for all of us."

"Not like we have a choice," said Ruby. "All it takes is one stray bullet to pierce these suits and we're dead."

Yang huffed in annoyance. "Just tell us who that is on your shoulder."

The kidnapped girl let out a muffled scream of frustration.

Blake glanced at her, before answering, "Her name is Yuki Shiroe."

Yang sighed. "Ruby? Your call."

"Good enough for me! Onwards my faithful companions, to victory!"

Blake looked at Ruby, tilting her head to the side as if in confused. After a moment, she decided it wasn't worth it to comment and walked into the pod behind them. Once everyone was in, Ruby closed the hatch and immediately their suits decompressed and with a sigh, Ruby removed her helmet. Quickly wiggling out of it, she straightened out her dress before hugging Karl tight, nuzzling the barrel.

Half a second of hesitation, Yang followed suit and then the mystery lady with the hostage, letting Ruby get the first good look at her. She calmly strapped her victim into one of the pd's chairs, ignoring her squirming, and muffled screams. She had black hair, and was wearing an armoured vest over a long sleeved shirt that looked like it might have been white once upon a time. She had pads on her knees, elbows and shins. Her face was completely covered by a balaclava tied around her mouth, and black sunglasses that covered her eyes.

"Hi! I'm Ruby." She held out her hand.

The woman looked at the hand for a moment, then looked up at Ruby. "I introduced myself just a few moments ago. Have you forgotten?"

"And now I'm introducing myself. Plus, was that even your real name? Doesn't sound very… kidnappery, yo-"

"Ruby, this button is staring at me, so you and your friend better take a seat." Yang cut across her, staring at the red lit launch button on the console in front of her. She'd taken the pilot's seat, and had already put the soundproof headset on, adjusting the mike in front of her mouth.

"Yang…" Swallowing nervously, Ruby buckled herself in. "Please don't blow us up like last time."

Across from her Blake followed suit, and the kidnapped girl whose face was still hidden underneath a bulky space suit had stopped struggling.

Yang didn't hear her though, and just grinned wildly. "We're launching in ten, nine, eight-" Then she pushed the button.

Silence.

"Yang, did y-"

The entire shuttle dropped down, lurching and tilting to the side as the metal structure around them groaned in protest. The engine kicked on, throwing them towards the back to the shuttle, buckle digging into their skin as the whole thing tried to spin around the mechanical arm that was holding them in place.

"Sorry folks!" Yang's voice cheerfully rang out over the intercom. "Forgot to disengage the the bay side lock!"

The kidnap victim made a noise that sounded distinctly like someone throwing up around a gag and inside a sealed helmet.

Blake just looked straight at Ruby. "Are you sure she's qualified to pilot an escape pod?"

"No fu-" The baseball shaped ship flung out of the dock at high speed, spinning around faster than anything had a right to. Ruby could feel her stomach threatening to rebel, lunch already resurfacing and bubbling at the base of her throat, and as much as she loved that tuna sandwich, she didn't want to taste it twice.

The glasses had flown straight off of Blakes face and smashed to pieces on the wall of the escape pod. Her eyes were clenched shut, and she seemed to be concentrated on her breathing.

Across from her, vomit suddenly exploded against the faceplate of the kidnapee's helmet.

"Eeeewwww-" Before Ruby could even finish that, she threw her hands against her lips, trying to not throw up herself as her stomach gave a sudden lurch. Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to ignore the spinning and wished that she was back on Pandora, blowing the head off of some psycho.

"Has the world stopped spinning yet?" whispered Ruby.

"Again, sorry!" Yang called out. "The leftmost directional thruster was stuck on! The good news is I stopped it. The bad news is it's controls are fucked, so we won't be able to turn right anymore."

"Do we need to turn right?" Ruby glanced over at the kidnap victim. "And we should probably remove her helmet… But look on the brightside, at least she didn't fart. Right? Ha… ha…?"

Blake opened her eyes and glanced at her. "Flatulence wouldn't be an issue in one of those suits. The air surrounding the lower body is separate to the air feed going to the helmet. Anything up to and including defecation would not affect your the quality of your air supply."

Apparently the vomit had dislodged the gag out of whoever had been in the suit's mouth. "Take this helmet off!" Whoever was inside all but screamed. "Just get it off!"

"It would be unsafe to stand until we enter atmosphere." Blake answered from where she was seated. "Especially with the level of skill displayed by our pilot."

"I swear, if you don't take this helmet off right this second, I'll..." There was a pause. "...I'm not really in a position to threaten right now, but even so I will make you regret it!"

Blake looked ahead again, not even answering.

"As my kidnapper you have a responsibility to ensure my well being!"

"This is not a kidnapping." Was Blake's only reply.

"Look like a kidnapping to me. I mean, only done it once or twice, alright twice. Fine, fine, four times, geez stop looking at me like that, but this definitely looks like a kidnapping. Pretty respectable one at that." Pause. "Wait a second, were you the one who blew up the Hindentanic!?"

"Yes. And I repeat, I am not kidnapping her." Blake replied, and looked over at her not-victim. "Please bear with it until I am able to safely stand and remove the helmet."

"I swear, the moment I get free I'm going to… going to…" She trailed off.

"See? Kidnapped. Yo, Yang!" Ruby blinked and sighed. "She can't hear me, can she? But she'd totally back me up on this."

Blake just sighed, and leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes.

"Hellooooo~" Ruby waved a hand before Blake's face. "Come on, don't ignore me, you can't win."

No response.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!"

Still nothing.

"So." Ruby turned to the victim. "Since you're no longer gagged, what's your name. I'm Ruby and the pilot is Yang!"

The vomit stained helmet turned to face her. "I'll tell you whatever you want to know if you take this damn thing off me."

"It's a deal."

"Oh thank goodness." The girl slumped in her chair. "Do you have any water? Or wet wipes? Something to clean my face and hair?"

"Nope! So your name, can't be nice kidnappers if we don't know your name."

"Helmet. First." Was the only answer.

Ruby glanced over at Yang. Everything seemed stable, and Yang was just relaxing in her seat so it should be safe. Right? With a shrug, Ruby unbuckled herself and moved towards the victim. Moving quickly, but tentatively, she reached around, fumbling a bit from the awkward angle before managing to find the clip. There was a soft beep followed by a hiss then the helmet popped off without any resistance.

And then the smell filled the air and Ruby wished she hadn't.

"Did someone throw up back there?!" Yang called out. "You better not have gotten any of it on my stuff!"

The girl in questioned let out a breath of air and breathed in deeply. "Oh, fresh air." She sounded incredibly relieved. She flipped her head, trying to toss the sticky hair from her face, but it stuck there. "Mind getting the hair out of my face?" She asked, looking up at Ruby.

"Sorry Karl." Picking up the sniper from the seat beside her, Ruby brushed the strand of hair away side wiping it on Weiss' suit.

"Thank you." The girl sighed and leaned back in her chair. "Wouldn't happen to have the keys to these cuffs?" She jangled her bindings.

"Sorry, you're being kidnapped, wouldn't be right interfering in that," said Ruby with a shrug.

"Most argue it wouldn't be right to let evil happen in front of them and do nothing about it." The girl replied half-heartedly, like she knew there was no winning an argument with a crazy person.

"Welcome to Pandora!"

"Anyway," she hesitated before going on, "how do you feel about the Atlas corporation?"

"Atlas? Atlas is awesome! They make the best guns around, bit pricey but by the stars, they blow everything out of the water! And have you seen that new Atlas Cyclops Sniper made in conjunction with the Schnee Corporations? Move aside Karl, Ruby's got a new favourite toy!"

"Oh, thank goodness." The woman slumped in her chair. "The last thing I needed was you to have some grudge against the Crimson Lance because they killed your parents when you were young or something." She took a bracing breath of comparitively fresh air, before drawing herself up as much as she could and facing Ruby. "My name is Weiss Schnee, fu-"

"You're Weiss Schnee? I can't believe I'm meeting you in person, is my armor on straight, you haven't seen Karl yet have you? Don't look at Karl! It's a work in progress, I swear I'm better at weapon manufacturer than that, totally, don't look, don't look!"

"It's fine!" Weiss said loudly. "Get me out of these cuffs and I'll get you a job designing weapons for my father. And a personalised Atlas Cyclops with the designers signature. And a mansion."

"I've swallowed the keys." Blake murmured from where she was sitting. "They won't be re-appearing until later this evening." She looked like she asleep. "Also, this is not a kidnapping."

"Hm… Don't suppose you've got a knife on you?" mused Ruby.

"I did, but she took it." Weiss jerked her head at Blake.

"Hmmm…" Ruby's eyes ran around the room, looking for any sharp object that could be used to cut Blake open. A bit messy, sure, but it'd totally be worth it.

"I would advise against any attempt on my life." Blake said without looking up.

"Oh don't worry, I've seen people survive worse, we'll patch you up in no time flat. Yang there is a registered field surgeon, you'll be fiiiiiine."

"If she's as skilled a surgeon as she is a pilot, I'd rather perform the operation myself."

"You know… that'd be pretty damn awesome to watch actually, think you can pull it off? This is Pandora after all."

Blake paused and considered the question. "I might be able to do it if circumstances are in my favor. Regardless, Weiss will have to wait until we land on Pandora to be freed from her restraints."

"You hear that? You're gonna be freed!" Ruby leapt forward only to suddenly skid to a stop as she looked down at the vomit that still clung to some strands of Weiss' hair. "Don't suppose I get that job now?"

"Have you undone my restraints?" Weiss gave Ruby an annoyed look. "Then no."

"Blake, keep the cuffs on. We'll blackmail them for a job at Atlas! Mwhahahahahahahahahaha!"

"You wish to be an accomp-"

Yang's voice rang out over the intercom, cutting Blake off. "Attention ladies and… ladies, we're about to enter atmosphere. Might want to take a seat, you know?"

Blake looked at Ruby. "Please take a seat. It would be bad for my health and yours if you became unsecured cargo during orbital entry."

"Yeah, yeah, just because I look like a kid doesn't mean I am one." Ruby settled back down and buckled herself before double checking Karl was secured in the seat beside her. "Karl and I have seen a lot of action."

"I never intended to suggest your bore a resemblance to a young goat." Blake replied. At Ruby's confused look, she continued. "A baby goat is called a kid." After a second she added. "I was making a joke."

"O...kay…?" With a shrug, Ruby closed her eyes and breathed out, preparing herself for re-entry. This was going to be rough.