Reach for the Stars

Hey everyone, here is my new story, Stardust! This story is heavily inspired by BurningPeace's Millennial Rose story, as well as my favorite thing other than RWBY, Star Wars. Now this is not a crossover, but the galaxy that I've created follows the same rules as Star Wars, as well as some naming conventions (hyperspace, Star Destroyers, etc). Anyway, hope you enjoy!

The stars lit up the sky over the night side of the planet Patch. Ships could be seen lifting off on the horizon, heading to the other inhabited planets in the Vale system or beyond. Freighters, personal transports, shuttles, starfighters, ships of all shapes and sizes carrying all sorts of cargo. In Patch's orbit, a Vale Republic capital ship ensures that all ships leave the planet safely and without conflict, the destroyer's silhouette barely visible in the night sky.

"Oh, Yang, what's that really bright one?" little Ruby asked her older sister.

"Which one?" Yang replied, scanning the stars for the subject of her sister's question.

"That one right there!" Ruby pointed to the bright star in the northern sky.

"That's Vale Prime, the capital of the Republic," Yang answered cheerfully. "And see that other bright one over there? That's Vytal!"

"What about that one?" Ruby asked.

"I don't know the names of all of the stars Ruby," Yang said.

"How many are there?" Ruby asked.

"Billions and gazillions!" Yang answered, stretching her arms out for emphasis.

"Wow, that's a lot," Ruby said, mesmerized by the made up number. "Did anybody see all of them?"

"Mommy says no one can do it, because there's so many," Yang said.

"That's not true!" Ruby said, sitting up with a massive grin on her face. "I'm going to see all of them when I learn to fly!"

"Not if I do it first!" Yang said, sitting up with her sister. "I already got a head start!"

"Yang that's not fair!" Ruby said, pouting. "You're bigger than me, and Uncle Qrow won't start teaching me until my next birthday! You can't leave Patch until I learn to fly!"

"That's not fair either!" Yang protested.

"Hey kids," their mother's voice called from the house. Summer walked into the back yard, where the two girls were stargazing. "It's nighttime. You have to be quiet because other people are sleeping."

"Mommy, Ruby says I can't leave Patch until she learns to fly!" Yang tattled.

"Yang, you can leave Patch as soon as you're old and ready enough," Summer said, smiling warmly at her adopted daughter. "And Ruby, you just need to be patient. Your time will come."

"Sorry, Mommy," Ruby said, throwing a quick glance at her half-sister.

"Ruby, you know who you really have to apologize to," Summer said.

"Sorry, Yang," Ruby said. "You don't have to wait for me."

"Ruby, what do you want to do when you learn to fly?" Summer asked, an idea forming in her head.

"I wanna be just like Uncle Qrow! I wanna fly a starfighter!" Ruby said excitedly.

"And you, Yang?" Summer asked the blonde sister.

"I dunno," Yang said simply. "I just wanna fly!"

"See Ruby?" Summer said. "Even if Yang were to wait for you, you two would both choose a different path. Of course you two should remain close, you are family after all. But, you two aren't always going to be by each other's side."

"What path should I take, Mommy?" Yang asked.

"Well, Yang, you're only seven," Summer said while ruffling the mass of blonde hair. "You don't need to have that figured out just yet. The sky's no limit, so reach for the stars."

Ruby and Yang both looked at the sky once again. Thoughts of their futures spent living their lives amongst the stars. Ruby flying with the Republic and defending the peace that the galaxy was experiencing. Yang on the other hand, just imagined living. Having her own ship, exploring every corner of the galaxy, living life the way she wanted. She wanted to be free in the heavens.

10 years later

This is not what Yang had in mind. She grimaced as she checked her funds on her scroll.

"Dammit," she said under her breath. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to eat for the rest of the week, let alone afford fuel to get her off of this rock. She took a sip of her drink. She'd been on Genta for too long. Maybe she could ask her parents for some help? She pushed the thought away, the last thing she wanted was to go to them asking for a handout. That's just prove that they were right, and that she wasn't ready to leave Patch yet. What she needed was work.

She looked at the holoboard in the corner of the cantina. No one was around it, which means nobody has seen her notice. "Pilot and Ship Looking for Work." Yang looked at her surroundings. A lot of freighter pilots, some of them probably smugglers, like herself. There was also some local blue collar workers and off-duty Imperial Officers. No work to be found from them.

Maybe I could join the Empire, Yang thought. At least they pay. The headline on the holoscreen above the bar caught Yang's eye. Atlesian Empire defends Saph system from White Fang attack. As she was watching, she didn't notice the brown-hooded woman approaching her table until the stranger sat down.

"Can I help you?" Yang asked her.

"You're the pilot looking for work I presume?" the woman asked.

"That's me, Yang Xiao Long, captain of the Ember at your service," Yang said, grinning at the possibility of work and stretching out her hand.

"A pleasure," the woman said cheerfully while taking Yang's hand in a handshake. "Sorry, but I'd rather not speak my name until… certain parties aren't around."

"I can respect that," Yang said. "What kind of work are you offering?"

"I need an escort," the woman explained.

"Wrong place," Yang said with a smirk. "Brothel's down the street."

"I meant I need passage and security to another system in Imperial space," the woman said giggling. Yang was glad the woman had a sense of humor, otherwise she might've lost the job with that joke.

"Sounds simple enough," Yang said.

"I'd also like to avoid any encounters with the Empire if possible," the woman added.

"There's the catch," Yang said. "Well sister, you came to the right pilot. My ship is stealth-equipped, so I can send fake clearance codes to that Destroyer placed in orbit. It'll go anywhere."

"Perfect," the woman said happily.

"What's the cargo?" Yang asked.

"Just myself and some equipment," the stranger said. "How much will you charge for all of this?"

"Well I'd need to know where I'm going first," Yang said.

"I can't tell you that here."

"Same reason as your name?" The hood nodded. "Okay tell you what. I'll need 3,000 lien now for fuel and supplies for the trip. Once we're clear of the Empire and I find out where you're going, then we'll talk about the rest."

"I can do 3,000 now," the woman said. She reached beneath her cloak and pulled out a stack of lien chips. She counted them in her hand before handing them to Yang. "Here you go, 3,000 lien."

"Beautiful!" Yang said as she took the money. "You've got yourself a ship. Looks like I have some preparation to do. Tomorrow at noon Galactic time, docking bay 479."

"Great!" the woman said. "See you tomorrow, Captain."

"Just Yang is fine," Yang smiled. As much as she loved having the title, she felt like this woman could be a friend. Her friends shouldn't call her Captain, it's too formal. She watched as the woman walked away, before getting up and heading for the bar. "Get me a brattle burger to go, I've got some shopping to do."

Yang ran checks on all of the Ember's components. It'd been a while since she left the planet, she had to make sure the old girl was still space-worthy. The shield generator was in perfect working order, but the front cannon needed a little cleaning. After cleaning it, she checked the engines and hyperdrive, both of which were ready to go. Yang entered the cockpit and told the ship's computer to run a diagnostic, just in case she missed anything. She looked up from the console and saw the strange woman entering the hangar, who was then stopped by an AK Security Droid. Yang made for the entry ramp, knowing that the girl would need some help.

"Identify yourself," the droid commanded the girl.

"I can't," she replied.

"This docking bay is off-limits to those without authorization."

"Easy there bolt brain, she's my passenger," Yang said, approaching the girl and the droid. "She's authorized by me." The droid looked at Yang for a moment, scanning her for identification.

"Yang Xiao Long, captain of personal freighter Ember, freelance freighter pilot, authorized in docking bay 479 in Genta City. Inquiry: business of passenger," it said in it's robotic voice.

"Transport to the Vale system, visiting family in Republic City on Vale Prime," Yang answered. The droid analyzed for a moment.

"Valid. Move along." The droid turned and left the docking bay, leaving the two women alone.

"Well, here she is!" Yang said proudly. "I know she's not the most impressive ship, but she's got it where it counts. I already got your stuff loaded up, so I just need to decouple the fuel line and we'll be good to go. Go ahead and make yourself comfortable."

"Thank you Capt- I mean Yang," the woman said before boarding the ship. Yang went and closed the valve on the fuel line before disconnecting it from the ship. She then boarded after the woman, who was waiting for her in the cockpit, her face on full display. She had brown eyes and shoulder-length brown hair, her lips formed into a sweet smile. She was cute.

"How'd you come up with that lie so fast?" she asked Yang as the latter took the pilot's seat.

"The Vale system is my go-to when I have to lie about my business. The Empire doesn't ask too many questions when you bring up Republic space, " Yang explained. "You have our heading?"

"The Aur system," the woman said. Yang racked her brain. The system found familiar, she just couldn't place why.

"Aur system, Aur system, Aur-wait!" Yang said as she remembered the system from the stories. There was only one planet of note in the Aur system. "Are… Are you going to Remnant?"

"You caught me," the girl said. "Is that a problem?"

"No! Not at all!" Yang replied. "My mom always told me the legends about Remnant, like the Hunters and Dust. I've always kinda wanted to see humanity's point of origin for myself, but never had a reason to. Why do you want to go there?"

"Oh right, I forgot!" The girl stretched her hand toward Yang. "Dr. Veri Dian, archaeologist."

"A pleasure," Yang said, taking Veri's hand for the second time since meeting her. "Well, if you're an archaeologist, then it'd make sense why you'd want to go. Why pick me though? Surely the Empire would allow you to do your research there."

"Do you know how much permits and an Imperial Escort cost? It's cheaper to hire a smuggler," Veri explained.

"Point taken," Yang said. "Well, if we're going to Remnant, I'm going to need about 10,000 more lien after the trip."

"That won't be a problem at all!" Veri cheered. Clearly a grand total of 13,000 lien was cheaper than whatever the Empire would ask for.

"Alright then, beginning takeoff sequence," Yang said. She had only been on Genta for about a month, but it felt like an eternity since she last broke atmosphere. She missed space, and was excited to get off the ground after so long. Yang closed the entry ramp and spooled up the engines. The ships repulsors kicked on, lifting her off of the ground. Yang raised the landing gears and guided the ship up and out of the hangar, before angling toward the sky and letting the main engines launch them toward orbit.

"Star Destroyer Evasive, this is personal freighter Ember, requesting clearance to leave the system," Yang said over the ship's comm.

"Copy that, Ember, please transmit destination code," a voice replied. Yang punched the fake Vale code into her console and sent it to the Destroyer. After a moment, the voice came back. "Clearance granted, Ember, have a safe trip."

"And just like that, the Empire is completely oblivious to where we're actually going," Yang said as she plotted the jump to lightspeed.

"It's really that easy?" Veri asked.

"No, I'll have to mask our signature once we jump. If any Imperial patrols find us, we just have to jump to the Vale system and restore my normal transponder. They'd have no proof it was us in the Aur system."

"Wow, you're pretty good at this," Veri said, an impressed look on her face.

"Trick of the trade," Yang said. "A good smuggler makes their illegal activities seem legal. You strapped in? We're about to jump." Veri nodded, and Yang pulled a lever in her console. The stars before them elongated as the hyperdrive kicked in, before turning into a deep blue tunnel, dark mass shadows flying by the ship.

"This is your captain speaking, we have reached cruising speed, so you may now unbuckle and move freely about the cabin," Yang snarked. They both unstrapped themselves from their seats. "It'll be a couple hours before we get there, so get comfortable."

"Doesn't look like there's much for seating besides the cockpit," Veri said as she looked around the admittedly small ship.

"Yeah, she's small, but she gets all of the jobs done," Yang said fondly.

"How long have you had her?" Veri asked.

"About two years. I know it doesn't seem like long, but this ship has kept me alive that entire time," Yang answered. "What about you? How long were you on Genta before finding me?"

"About three years," Veri said. "It was the site of my first dig after graduating from the Historical Academy on Atlas. I decided to stay and research everything we found, and then I found that there was nothing left to learn. So I set my sights on Remnant."

"Do you like it?" Yang asked. "Being an archaeologist, I mean."

"It's always been my dream," Veri said. "I've always loved history, so I wanted to study it and learn more about it, so we could better understand what the galaxy used to be like!"

"As good a reason as any," Yang said, smiling at the other's enthusiasm.

The two talked like this for most of the trip. Yang learned a lot about Veri. She was kind, smart, and passionate about her work. They talked about their dreams and ambitions. Having this conversation, Yang realized that she was already living her dream. She was living freely among the stars. She was right where she wanted to be.

"Alright, we're coming up on the Aur system," Yang said as they strapped themselves in again. Yang pulled the lever on her console again, this time the tunnel they were travelling through started to slow, individual lines forming outside the viewport. They quickly turned into the familiar stars that dotted the blackness of space. However, dominating the viewport was a small, blue planet.

"That's it! That's Remnant!" Veri cheered.

"Sure is, hang on, I'm entering the atmosphere," Yang said as she guided the ship toward the blue orb. The viewport glowed orange as Ember entered Remnant's atmosphere, but soon the orange haze was replaced by a blue sky and fluffy white clouds. Yang dove downward below the clouds, revealing a large landmass. It was covered by a thick forest, with large oceans to the north and east. It reminded Yang of home, of Patch. Yang checked the ship's clock, and saw something she never thought she would. The local and Galactic clocks were synced together. It's no secret that the galaxy kept time based off of Remnant's day and year, but who else could say that they've seen the clocks perfectly synced?

"Any particular place you want me to set down?" Yang asked.

"Yeah," Veri said as she brought up a holomap. "There!" she said, pointing at a strangely shaped continent. "If the old maps are right, that's the continent of Tarra, I want to see if there's something in this area." Yang nodded as Veri indicated the area, and then changed the ship's course to head for that part of the planet. The scenery changed a lot as the flew over the planet. Forests, abandoned cities, vast oceans, even a desert. Remnant had lot of different environments packed into such a small planet. It wasn't long until they reach Tarra. Yang headed toward the coordinates that Veri gave her, and looked for a good place to set down.

"That looks good," Yang said, indicating a clearing in the forest ahead of them. Yang lowered the landing gears and set the ship down. She lowered the boarding ramp and started powering down the ship's systems.

"Want to help me push some of this equipment to the site?" Veri asked.

"I'd love to," Yang said as she stood up. She stopped to strap her blasters on before she followed her passenger to the cargo hold. One strapped to her right thigh, and one strapped across her lower back, in easy reach of her left hand. They pushed the hovering crates down the ramp and onto the soft grass. Veri led the way to the site that she was going to be studying. After a couple minutes of walking, they entered another clearing, this one at the base of a mountain. The mountain wasn't the interesting part though, what caught Yang's attention were the two massive doors at the base of the mountain.

"Oh my god, it's true!" Veri said in the most excited tone Yang had heard her use yet.

"What's true?" Yang asked.

"That there's a temple built into the base of this mountain!"

"A temple, huh?" Yang was intrigued. "Think there's any treasure in there?"

"I doubt it, but I can't wait to see what there actually is inside!" Veri cheered again. She approached the large double doors, and gave them a large push. "Yang, come help me with this!"

Yang approached the doors and helped. The large stone walls started to give way, opening up into the mountain. It was dark inside, and shadows seemed to slither around on the inside.

"Well, let's go!" Veri said.

"I don't know, I have a bad feeling about this," Yang said as she looked into the temple. It felt cold, ominous.

"What's wrong, afraid of the dark?" Veri teased. She started walking into the temple. "Come on, everything will be fi-" She stopped talking and froze. "Y-Yang, I can't move!"

"Oh stop screwing around Veri," Yang said, a little shaky.

"Yang, I'm serious!" Veri exclaimed. The slithering shadows started moving towards Veri, and started to encase her legs. Between Veri's terrified screams, Yang thought she could hear a woman laughing. She drew her blasters and started firing at the shadow and into the temple. When the shadows, Veri was pulled deeper into the temple. Then the shadows started advancing on Yang. Yang backed up out of the temple, still firing at the oncoming shadows. After she crossed the threshold, the doors slammed closed.

"Veri!" Yang called at nothing. Her new friend was gone, swallowed up by living darkness. She dropped to her knees in despair. "Veri!"

A sudden wave of force knocked Yang back about 20 feet. She sat up and looked at the temple in bewilderment. Another blast rocked her and pushed her back a few feet.

"Time to go!" She scrambled to her feet and sprinted back to the Ember. More force waves pulsed from the temple, each one increasing in intensity and making Yang stumble. She scrambled up the docking ramp and into the captain's chair. She hastily began a takeoff, firing the repulsors before bothering to raise the boarding ramp. She punched her sublights and rocketed off toward space, each energy pulse rocking the ship. She calculated the jump to Vale and got ready to jump as soon as she cleared the planet's atmosphere.

She broke clear, and pulled the lever to jump. The stars elongated, but just as Yang thought she was in the clear, a massive energy pulse hit the ship. The impact sent sent the ship careening into hyperspace, and knocked Yang unconscious, unable to regain control when the ship eventually fell from hyperspace.

There it is, the first chapter of Stardust! I'm really gonna need feedback on this one, so I really need you guys to follow, fav, and review! See you all next time!