Prologue

TThe Warrior King stood at a table, waiting for the leaders of Mistral, Vacuo, and Mantle to arrive. It had been three weeks since the climatic Battle of Vacuo had concluded with a decisive victory for Vale and Vacuo, bringing the war to an end. That wasn't cause for celebration in the King's eyes, though. To him, the fact that it had even come to that point was a tragedy, one that he had to end right then and there lest the kingdoms destroy themselves. When he entered that battlefield, Mistral and Mantle looked upon him with only hatred and disgust. When he left, even his ally Vacuo viewed him with nothing but fear. They capitulated to him, offering him the chance to become the most powerful man in Remnant's history, but he refused. Absolute power in the hands of one person was what got them into this mess, and even if he trusted himself to make the right decisions, he couldn't guarantee that future leaders would do the same. The time of monarchs was at an end, and by the time these negotiations were finished, he would make the others see the same. The four leaders of the Kingdoms had been meeting on the island of Vytal every day for almost two weeks now, trying and failing to come to an agreement. Arguments and demands seemed to be the only thing that got offered, but slowly and surely progress was being made. Still, he gently brushed his hand against the pommel of his sword for reassurance. Grimm attacks were still frequent even though most of the fighting had died down, and already many of his loyal soldiers had lost their lives simply protecting the rancorous delegation.

'I hope this is the end of this bloodshed,' the King thought to himself as he looked around the camp through the flaps of his tent, gazing upon its lush grass and dense wall of trees that encircled it. He had chosen the failed colony on Vytal for the signing of the peace treaty, hoping its location and the redwood forests surrounding the colony ruins would discourage any attempted ambush.

He was lost in thought as a soldier walked into the meeting room, and he looked upon the man as the soldier respectfully bowed his head and brought his closed fist to his chest. His metal armor slightly clanged with the action, and his sword rattled in its scabbard attached to his hip.

"M'lord, the Chieftain of Vacuo is here," the soldier announced.

"Good." The Warrior King nodded. "Has the Emperor of Mistral and the Chancellor of Mantle arrived yet?"

"Yes, m'lord," the soldier confirmed. "They are waiting for you at the table."

The Warrior King sighed and stood up, stretching his aching muscles. He walked out of the tent, where he was joined by the Chieftain of Vacuo, easily seen in the misty clearing. The Chieftain was a horned faunus woman, not much shorter than the King himself. Her clothing was somewhat tribal, being made up of mostly leathers and animal hides dyed a muted orange color. Tribal tattoos were etched along her dark skin with thick, wavy lines, painting the image of a proud yet noble warrior. She nodded at the King as he arrived at the meeting table, the Emperor of Mistral and the Chancellor of Mantle arriving shortly after him.

The Emperor of Mistral was a slender man with a long, thin mustache, the mist making his royal dress robes cling to his body and making the light blues slightly darker. The Chancellor of Mantle, a large broad shouldered man with a rather short temper, sat at the table. He took off his white, fur rimmed cloak and draped it over the back of his seat, rubbing his hand through his large, trimmed beard that covered much of his face. He studied them for a moment with cold, calculating eyes, then leaned back against his chair and straightened himself

"So," the Chancellor said as he crossed his arms across the table, "what now?"

"I believe we were talking about Faunus rights last time," the Chieftain replied coolly, shooting harsh glares towards the Emperor and Chancellor as they rolled their eyes in exasperation.

"This again?" the Emperor snorted. "We already agreed to end faunus slavery and we even gave you that island. What more do you want?"

"Equal rights in all kingdoms, for one," the Chieftain snorted. "Or have you forgotten how badly my people were treated by yours during the war?"

"Wasn't this war about keeping the freedoms of the kingdoms and not having an outsider enforce their rules against the population?" the Chancellor retorted. The King looked at the man with disappointment. It seemed defeat had done nothing to throw away his prejudices. If anything, they only increased in furor. His ally nodded in agreement, massaging his chin as he began to speak.

"Noble Chieftain, please understand. This is simply how things have always been," he pointed out, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "You are asking to overturn thousands of years of history in the course of a few weeks. I'm afraid that is simply impossible."

"It's only impossible because men like you refuse to do anything about it!" the Chieftain hissed, slamming her fist on the table with enough force to rattle the table. "Don't think I don't know about how much money you personally made on the faunus slave trade, Emperor, or your kingdom's hypocrisy in enforcing Mantle's philosophy among your people. You have no right to lecture me on morals."

"How dare-?!" the Emperor indignantly shouted, pushing himself to his feet as the Chieftain did the same. Before their argument could continue however, the King calmly stood up and grabbed the shaft of his sword. At once the angry bickering stopped, replaced by nervous glances in his direction.

"Alright, that's enough. All of you," the Warrior King calmly stated. "We are never going to come to an agreement at this rate."

The tension was thick enough to be cut with a knife as the King stared both parties down. The Chancellor wisely chose to not join in, instead seeming to shrink down on himself lest he incur the King's wrath. A trickle of sweat formed on the Emperor's brow, then the Chieftain respectfully nodded towards the King and sat down, her eyes closed and once again displaying nothing but calm. Everyone was staring at the Emperor now, and after a moment he relented and sat down.

"Well, if your pet Faunus would stop making ridiculous demands…." the Emperor started in a low, indignant whisper, earning a hiss from the Chieftain. The King prepared to calmly rebuke him, but suddenly, there was a loud rumble like the sound of a Mantlese jet engine coming from the landing zone, followed by the clanking of armor and confused, almost fearful shouts. A Valeian soldier rushed towards the table just as the four leaders stood up in confusion, the guards of the other leaders reaching for their weapons to defend their liege if needed.

"What is the meaning of this interruption!?" the Chancellor shouted at the soldier.

"M-M'lord, some sort of Airship has landed outside the camp!" the soldier replied, panting slightly.

The four leaders glanced at each other suspiciously before heading out to the clearing. Any retorts or commands they had died on their lips as they looked upon the source of the interruption. Sitting in the clearing was a craft that matched nothing that Mantle had at their disposal. It had a sleek and slim design; a large gap down the center of the craft with a pair of upwards curving wings on the sides. A lone fin rose into the sky from atop the craft's hull, which the light of the sun reflected off of right into their eyes. It looked elegant and graceful, more like a work of art rather than the machine it clearly was. The engines glowed blue as they died down, but it lacked any sort of windows to look out of. At least any they could see. More importantly, it lacked anything resembling weapons attached to its hull, which only became more obvious as a pair of landing skids extending from the bottom front. With a hiss, the doors opened to reveal a woman, but unlike any they had seen before.

Her skin color was a striking dark blue, her face covered in a series of white, circular markings that centered around her eyes. Instead of hair, she had a set of fringes that looked like hardened tentacles, the ends curving upward. She didn't wear any armor; instead, she wore a regal light purple robe with a white center. It stretched down her feet, and her hands were clasped together in front of her stomach as she smiled towards them. The Warrior King knew at once that this woman was not human nor faunus, and more than likely not even of this world.

"Hello," she greeted, her voice soft and calming. "My name is Matriarch Lidanya of the Asari, and on behalf of the Citadel Council, I would like to welcome you to the galactic community."

Ruby Rose looked at the holovid with star-struck wonder. Her older sister, Yang Xiao Long, was sitting on a bench with a slightly disinterested look on her face as the human-shaped museum VI continued.

"It was on this day that Matriarch Lidanya had welcomed the people of Remnant to the galactic community, bringing with her a chance at a new life among the stars. With the help of the Last King of Vale, the Matriarch had helped establish the Huntsmen academies on Remnant, and later, on other worlds. The following decade after First Contact led to rapid technological advancement for the four kingdoms along with an exploding population, with many colony ships leaving the Oum system in what is now called the Human Diaspora."

"Come on, Ruby," Yang said, tugging on her younger sister's arm. "Ms. T'essava will be leaving soon and we don't want mom getting freaked out like last time."

Ruby pouted a little bit but followed Yang as the rest of the class started to head back to the shuttles. Ruby looked back at the VI that was made to look like the Warrior King for a little bit before taking Yang's hand. She couldn't help but look around, however. Despite being on Remnant, there were an assortment of various species all around her. She saw limber salarians conversing among themselves in frantic speech, tall and proud turians intermingling with their human and faunus coworkers, and a small and rotund volus managing the gift shop. She smiled to herself. It seemed as though every time she went to Vale, she met a new alien that had come to visit or even live on the planet. Once she even met a quarian, and she ended up talking to him for almost an hour about various tools and gadgets Ruby just couldn't get enough of. She was so distracted by the sights around her that, as they left the museum and walked towards the shuttles, Ruby bumped into a large leg, falling down onto her behind. She looked up to see a large krogan in red armor with a shotgun attached to his back. The right side of his frontal plate was dented and mangled, with what looked like a claw scar from a beowulf prominently running down the side of his face.

"Where is your mother, kneehigh?" he grunted as Yang helped Ruby to her feet.

"Um, she's at Oikos," Ruby innocently answered. "She was hunting Grimm outside of Illyria. She should be home today, though."

She paused and leaned her body to the side, trying to get a better look at the weapon he had. "That's a cool gun. What is it?"

"A shotgun," the krogan tersely answered, looking around quickly before settling his gaze back onto the young girls. "Now, what's a pair of squirts doing here all alone?"

"What's it to yah, big guy?" Yang spat, getting defensive.

Rather than take offense, the krogan laughed a little. "Heh. You've got some fire in you, kid. I ask because the world is dangerous without your parents around. Especially this one, which is why I'm here on vacation."

Yang growled and put Ruby behind her, putting her fists up in case the large alien tried to attack her little sister. The krogan let out a belly laugh at the eight year old child prepared to fight him if necessary.

"You've got a quad, kid."

"Ruby Rose! Yang Xiao Long!" an asari in a blue dress shouted at the two girls before Yang could do anything and Ruby could ask what a 'quad' was. She looked mortified to see them standing and talking to the krogan, though on his part he only looked relieved. "What are you doing? You shouldn't be talking to strangers!"

"But Ms. T'essava-" Ruby started.

"No buts!" She started, turning to the krogan. "I am so sorry if they bothered you in any way."

The krogan shrugged and turned to walk away, grumbling to himself as he left. Ruby watched him go as their teacher lectured them about talking to strangers, Ruby tuning her out a little.

'That gun looks so cool!' Ruby thought with a grin as they headed towards the shuttle.

"See you next week!" Ms. T'essava called out to the children.

Yang and Ruby were the last ones out of the shuttle, looking around at the landing zone. There were kids surrounding the shuttles, a lot of screaming and yelling as children ran out of the shuttles and ran towards their parents, Ms. T'essava tried to keep the children calm and have them leave in an orderly fashion, but gave up shortly afterwards with an exasperated sigh.

"Yang, where's dad?" Ruby asked, not spotting Taiyang among the crowd.

Yang shrugged. "I guess we're walking."

Ruby pouted as she shouldered her backpack, starting to walk down the ramp to the sidewalk. As the chaos of the landing zone faded in the distance, Yang put her hands behind her head, interlocking her fingers, and let out a sigh.

"Well, that could have gone better," Yang said, smirking towards her younger sister. "You really are a weapons nut, aren't you?"

"Yaaaaang….." Ruby pouted.

"Oh relax, sis," Yang giggled, ruffling her hair. "I'm just teasing you. Come on, we're almost late."

Yang and Ruby picked up their pace, nearly running down the dirt walkway. When they approached their house, Yang paused before she got to the door. A Kingdom's Alliance shuttle was parked on the street in front of their house, a crest with a wreath, lamp, sword and staff together painted on the doors and hood of the vehicle. Both girls knew at once what they meant, and with excitement she could barely contain, Ruby rushed towards the front door of their house, giggling and smiling.

"Mom! Dad! We're home!" Ruby shouted happily as she burst through the front door. But instead of the warm greeting and sweet smell of cookies she expected, she was met only with silence. Her father, Tai, was sitting on the couch with her uncle Qrow, his face in his hands. Sitting across from them was a dark skinned man in an Alliance uniform, looking down at the ground when he heard Ruby come in. Tai looked up at his little girls, his eyes red and puffy from almost nonstop crying. Qrow's face was almost blank as he was patting his back, staring off into space. Ruby dropped her backpack and slowly looked around, noticing that Summer was missing.

"Dad…. where's mom?"

Ruby stood at Summer's grave, looking down with tears in her eyes as a soft rain hit her black dress. Nearby was an elderly man named Admiral Hackett, speaking to her father. He had something in his hands, but Ruby wasn't paying attention to that as she was instead lost in her own thoughts. Yang was sitting on a chair nearby, staring off into space with a blank expression, her eyes red. Qrow was standing at the edge of the cliff face, looking out over the sea towards Vale with Harbinger strapped to his back. He held his hands behind himself, his fingers twitching slightly in thought. There were a few other Alliance personnel around, paying their respects to Summer by leaving flowers on her grave or speaking with Tai. Ms. T'essava was there as well, along with a few professors and faculty of the illustrious Beacon Academy. She only knew that because they stayed close to Beacon's headmaster, Professor Ozpin; the rest she didn't recognize.

So lost in her thoughts, Ruby jumped a little when the man from earlier, Lieutenant David Anderson, gently patted her shoulder.

"You're Ruby Rose, right?" he asked with a kind smile.

Ruby wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded. "Y-yes sir."

He smiled warmly, patting her shoulder before bringing his hand back to his side. "You know, Summer talked about you a lot," he said, looking down at the grave. "She really loved you. Always excited to come home to see her 'Little Rose.'"

Ruby smiled sadly at the mention of her mother's nickname for her. Anderson noticed and respectfully gave her a few moments, turning his attention back to Summer's grave. Finally, he continued with an almost reverent tone.

"Your mother is a hero, Ruby," Anderson resolutely declared. "Remember that. Would you like a moment alone?"

Ruby just nodded as she looked down at Summer's grave again. She heard his soft footsteps leave her behind, and once again she was all alone. Ruby didn't know how long she stood there, just standing in silence, but eventually something took hold. She clenched her tiny fist, and while her sadness didn't quite go away, something else overtook it in her heart.

'I'll make you proud, mom,' she silently vowed, then turned around to walk back to her family.

Two Years Later

Ruby was standing by her mother's grave, a crafted sword sheathed against her hip. She smiled sadly at the gravestone as the autumn leaves fell gently to the ground around her, the crisp cool air hanging in the air. The first frost of the year would be coming soon, but she didn't mind.

"Hey, mom. I thought I should probably visit you, a lot has happened in the last two years. I've started combat training." Ruby pulled out the sword. "My teacher said that I should try a few different weapons. According to her I might be good with a sword, but we'll see about that. Oh! Dad has retired from his huntsman duties but now teaches at Signal Academy. I actually go there now with Yang."

Ruby then paused and looked away from Summer's grave for a moment before continuing. "The Alliance has found those responsible for Oikos, the Skyllian Blitz, and…. And your death. I saw Uncle Qrow before he left. The look on his face when he found out… it kinda scared me. Scared Yang too, but neither of us said anything. He left a few days ago with the Alliance soldiers, apparently they're planning on attacking somewhere. Uncle Qrow wouldn't tell me exactly what was happening beyond that. I hope he stays safe."

"Hey, Ruby!" Taiyang shouted from the forest. "You're gonna get sick if you stay out there too long!"

"Coming, Dad!" Ruby shouted back before turning to the grave one last time. "I should go, Mom. See you later."

Codex: The Massacre at Torfan

The moon of Torfan was used as a base of operations by batarian pirates during the Skyllian Blitz in 2666. In 2668, the Kingdoms Alliance had sent a taskforce to the moon in retaliation to the Skyllian Blitz and the execution of the huntress Summer Rose.

The Alliance had sent a large taskforce led by a huntsman to the moon, but the assault on the fortresses on Torfan had been a costly affair. Most of the taskforce had been slaughtered before they breached the walls, but they were able to get a few huntsmen and huntresses into the stronghold. Once inside, one of the huntsman had massacred every batarian within the facility, leaving only the slaves that were supposed to be sold that day alive but very much traumatized.

After the massacre, the Batarian Hegemony had demanded the Alliance to reveal the name of the huntsman responsible. When the Alliance refused, the batarians used this event to close their embassy on the Citadel.