Chapter Text
Lower Decks
The shimmer of the Transporter died down, she blinks the remaining spots from her eyes, she was never good with transporters, it wasn’t as if she had sensitive eyes or anything, just… something didn’t gel well, between her and de-molecularization that wasn’t her own doing.
She hops down from the pad, luggage in hand, nodding to the Transporter Chief, and begins on her way.
She was Ruby Rose, in her final year at Starfleet Academy, assigned for Cadet Rotation aboard the USS Alsius, captained by Winter Schnee, the first Remnantite to achieve captaincy of their own star ship.
Her mentor, General James Ironwood, of the Atlas Military, was once rumoured to have been offered instatement into Starfleet at the rank of Captain but had turned it down in favour of commanding Remnant’s last standing army against the Grimm.
Ah, the Grimm.
As per Starfleet’s regulations surrounding the conservation of life, there had been initial friction regarding the hunting of Remnant’s oldest enemies.
But after numerous studies, observations, outright attacks and committee meetings, the consensus was clear.
Grimm left no bodies to dissect, and anything they were scanned with turned up blank.
Whatever they were, they were either impervious to scanning technology, or possessed biology so radically unlike anything else on Remnant.
They were an aberration to the planet, something that interacted with the native population, hunted them, not out of sport nor nutrition, but what appeared to be minor telepathic capability to sense emotional states.
One hundred years ago, a Huntsman would have regarded all that information with a ‘well, duh, Grimm are soulless demons’, but now, through the lens of scientific method rather than hard-set cultural roots that spanned decades, there was a theory emerging throughout the scientific communities of the UFP.
Remnant had been visited by aliens before, depositing non-native creatures, maybe even bioengineering both them and the native populace, and had abandoned their creations long, long ago.
Remnant was a Class M planet, with many creatures that had similar physiologies and biology as Earth creatures, even along similar evolutionary paths. Of the two primary humanoid races, both resembled the standard Human, yet had defensive and offensive abilities, called ‘Auras’ and ‘Semblances’, likely evolved to combat the relentless hunting from the creatures of ‘Grimm’, which were the only puzzle piece that didn’t fit nicely and neatly within the comparative models of a million other worlds.
Still, Ruby was no xenobiologist, a butterfly from Earth looked like the same butterfly from Remnant, despite being assured that there were a hundred million tiny little differences.
All she really cared about was the engineering.
As a Cadet, she’d be rotated out of each major department for a month each, and she was gunning to make the most of her time in Engineering, while she wasn’t likely to get anywhere close to the Warp Core, or any truly vital systems, messing with anything regarding the internal running of a star ship made her giddy.
Still, she was a gun-nut at heart, and if there was anything to take away from Yang’s career in Internal Security, it was that she rocked the yellow, and learning to handle alien weaponry was intensely rewarding.
“Cadet.” A voice, authoritative, yet curious, stops her in the hallway. She eyes the pips on their neck, a Lieutenant.
“Sir.” She straightens her back to the Lieutenant, setting her shoulders.
“What is the purpose of the object affixed to your back?”
“I’m a Remnantite, Sir, our cultural expression is through the possession of weaponry.” As she explains, she unhooks Crescent Rose from its harness and presents it to the officer.
“May I?” He holds out a hand, yet doesn’t force her to release it, nor assumes he has the right to take it.
“I’d prefer you didn’t, Sir, these weapons are considered culturally to be a part of one’s soul, it would be like handing you my heart.” Ruby recited, Weiss had taught her the precise string of words to get a doubtful superior off her back, her culture was important as any other, thank you very much.
“Understood, thank you, Cadet.” With a satisfied nod, the Lt. diverts their attention elsewhere, and Ruby allows herself to relax, before swiftly moving on, itching to find safety in the privacy of her quarters.
Here she is, her assigned room, thankfully the Alsius was a larger vessel, no need for bunking in hallways as she’d known Yang had to do upon her first Cadet rotation. Instead, a smaller two bunk room, which she’d share for the duration of her assignment on board.
But who would she share it with? She wonders, imputing the assigned access code, and the doors whish open.
“Sal-U-Tations, bunkmate!”