90A/N: Not so long ago, in an airspace very close to you...
"SKY SKIRMISHES"
Soul of Remnant Chapter 14
Pirates are on the move! The notorious space pirate, NORMAN QUAY, plots to launch an attack on Beacon Academy to capture the daughters of TAIYANG XIAO LONG, seeking revenge for his captivity by the girls' mothers. Meanwhile, OZPIN has to keep calm a dangerous ex-Sith Lord.
Remnant's secret defenders, led by GENERAL JAMES IRONWOOD, move to intercept Quay. But at the same time, he cannot ignore esteemed thief ROMAN TORCHWICK and the two Imperial prisoners, and decides to bring them along with him.
However, what Ironwood's organization doesn't know is that they are playing into the hands of Torchwick's benefactor...
...Yeah, this will never sell. May as well make it a chapter in this story. Oh, and just in time for Volume 4 of RWBY!
Beacon Academy—Blue-2 Hanger—09:39
Before Ruby and Kebiin's duel, Ironwood was seeing three prisoners loaded onto his ship. Torchwick, Fleece, and Herbert were all handcuffed, escorted into the hangar by soldiers. "I have to say, General," Torchwick admitted, "you sure travel in style. I could totally see myself taking this ship for a spin."
"Over my dead body, terrorist," Ironwood scowled.
"Well, obviously," Torchwick chuckled. "I mean, you'd have to come down with a very nasty case of death. But I heard that you nearly did die once, though, so it can't be that hard. What was the Sith Lord who took half of your body, again? Darth Cadith, I think?" Ironwood's eyes widened at the name. "My two new buddies Evan and Fleecy, here, were more than willing to play twenty questions. See, Jimmy, from one cynic to another, you can't be paranoid all the time. You have to learn to read people. They revealed some juicy, juicy stuff. Stuff I'm going to use as soon as the three of us get out of here. Along with the information about Little Red's not quite dead mommy not exactly being a legal Remnant citizen—"
Torchwick stopped talking. The reason, of course, was Ironwood's patience being completely replaced with overwhelming rage, and lifting the thief off the ground with his metal arm. "Listen to me, you piece of filth," Ironwood spat. "You are a thief, a coward, a terrorist, a murderer, and a sociopath. I am able to END you, and nobody important would actually give a damn. The only reason you are STILL alive is because you have information that I can use to save countless innocent lives. The only reason I'm bringing you aboard is because I want to keep a close eye on you and the Imperials. With that said, if you even THINK about blackmailing me or the rest of my associates, there will be a lot more Dust merchants sleeping soundly at night."
While Ironwood was talking down Torchwick, a particularly short soldier slipped something into Herbert's pocket. The soldier then walked towards the ship, but not before looking at Herbert, and pointing at Torchwick. Herbert looked forward, and cleared his throat. "What have you done with the Akk Bleeder, general?"
"What does it matter to you, Imperial?" Ironwood asked, dropping Torchwick.
"So there really is a heart in that tin can chest of yours," Torchwick wheezed while laughing. "Can't wait to see it."
"Well, I don't see it in this hangar, and the Void Crow forced us to bring it in," Fleece added. "Where's our ship?"
"If you must know," Ironwood said, "you're not getting it back. We had went ahead and sent it to Atlas for reverse-engineering. President Schnee has already agreed to do some research on your space-flight technology. He was rather eager." Turning back to his ship, he saw one of the Mantis-class dropships loaded into the ship's cargo hold. "As for those, well… I decided to keep a few of your toys. Not that you'll be needing them."
As he and the soldiers led them on board, nobody saw Torchwick's small smirk.
Blue-2—Bridge—09:52
Qrow and Goodwitch came in, ready for a fight as the ship took off. "So, Jimmy, this is your ride?" Qrow asked.
"The Blue-2 is my mobile base, yes," Ironwood sighed. "It controls most of the Atlesian droid army stationed here in Vale. Any of my mechs in range of the central tower will respond to my orders from here."
"That's a bit impractical," Raven's voice spoke up. The three turned to see Raven sitting at a nearby console. "Having all of this equipment stationed here, I mean. Not to mention the droid army in general."
"Raven," Ironwood groaned. "You've been offworld for almost two decades, so I can forgive your old distrust of machines that aren't R0. But time's moved on. The Age of Huntsmen is evolving, and this way, a lot less unnecessary lives will be lost in hot zones. Every gun held by a droid is one less man or woman potentially being marched to their death."
"But what if your ship is captured or destroyed by the enemy, or worse, your droids are hacked?" Raven offered. "Do you have any idea the colossal body count that could happen because of that? Ordinary people don't get hacked and turned against you or completely shut down and leave civilians defenseless."
"What are you doing here?" Goodwitch asked. "I thought you were meeting with Yale Shan."
"That's SUMMER who's meeting with Yale Shan," Raven corrected. "Something we all mutually agree is a risky move, since Yale is one of the most powerful Jedi in the universe, not to say Summer isn't on her level. Thankfully, the meeting has been suspended for now, because Summer is currently freaking out about some news people could have shared with us earlier—like a bounty a Hutt put on her daughter's head, thus making dealing with Bal'rog a priority in our plans. Ozpin's keeping her company, explaining a lot of details she's missed, by the way. God help him. Anyway, I got bored of watching the base, so I decided to come here... and apparently, so did he." As if on cue, Raven pulled out her sword and blocked a blue lightsaber. Tillicru faded into existence, deactivating his Force Cloak. Before either could take this swordfight any further, several men and women on the bridge immediately trained their weapons on the alien Jedi. Tillicru knew this wasn't in his favor, so he ended his clash with the female Branwen.
"Do not use laser weapons," Ironwood ordered his men. "This won't be pretty." Turning to their second uninvited guest, he demanded, "What are you doing here, Jedi?"
"The Void Crow, Order Witch, the Raven of Nevermore, and Tin Soldier, all in one place," Tillicru scowled. "This is an unexpected, but not unwelcome, discovery. What's going on, here?"
"Other than just shooting the breeze?" Qrow asked. "Not a whole lot. So what brings you to Beacon, Tilly?" Tillicru visibly swallowed the urge to shank Qrow.
"Sure, fly into a homicidal rage when I wind you up," Raven pouted.
"I was originally using my cloak to investigate the Spirit of Roses' daughter," Tillicru admitted. Turning to Qrow, he said, "I thought that of anyone here to have the audacity to lie with a dangerous Sith, it would have been you or Ozpin, Void Crow. I suspected she would be drawn to those closer to darkness."
"Summer's never noticed either of our feelings for her," Qrow said. "Taiyang's a good man whose been through a lot of hell, not all of it thanks to Summer." Raven scowled at that remark, knowing her brother took a jab at her. "Besides, unlike Tai, who only lost her to Crumma's petty grudge and inability to let things go and she found her way back to him, I would probably HAVE gotten her killed or worse. I did with others."
"Genet wasn't your fault," Goodwitch said. "She died fighting Zulimar."
"...Amber was," Qrow replied. "I should have been there earlier."
Tillicru ignored Qrow's self-pity, and said, "Right as I was close to her, I sensed you all were troubled enough to make me look into you, instead. What is wrong?"
"If you must know," Goodwitch said, "we have a pirate problem. Some pirate named 'Quay' has hijacked a ship heading straight for Beacon. Most likely he's after one of our students."
"The Spirit of Roses' daughter," Tillicru concluded.
Goodwitch continued, "We're moving to intercept him."
"Norman Quay is not your responsibility," Tillicru said.
"He made himself our responsibility when he and his pirates blasted his way into a civilian airship hangar, killed innocent guards, taken who knows how many people hostage, and is making a beeline to my alma mater," Qrow replied. "He's after my nieces, so that's not helping his case." Starring the Twi'lek down, Qrow said, "We can kill each other later. But right now, that pirate needs to be stopped."
Tillicru and Qrow stared at each other for a few minutes, but the Jedi relented, turning off his lightsaber while Raven sheathed her sword. "You are fortunate, Hunters," Tillicru said, "that Grand Master Shan has agreed to humor your Sith friend. And also that Remnant is not yet part of the Republic, so legally, I cannot see you arrested for your various crimes."
"With luck," Goodwitch said, "Remnant joining either the Republic or Empire won't become the case. So, are you here to help us or not?"
"I'll help you, for now," the Twi'lek agreed. "So, what are we up against?"
"A pirate crew, most likely with several Cartel supplied battle droids and thugs," Ironwood said, checking over his pistol. "Quay probably has hostages, most likely to try to force Miss Rose to surrender."
"What makes you think she'd actually do that?" Tillicru asked.
"Ruby's idealistic, almost too much so," Qrow answered. "It's all over the news, now, that Ruby first acted against a Sith when he publicly called her out with threatening hostages. She'd respond to a hostage situation if the hostage taker wanted her specifically. You'd be surprised if you met Ruby, and gave her a chance."
"We'll discuss that matter later," the Jedi reminded him. "Is a warship really necessary to stop a band of pirates?"
"Probably not," Raven shrugged while messing with her Scroll, "but Jimmy always did like to be thorough and overkill the problem."
"You Branwens are both characterizing me poorly," Ironwood said.
"The Sobrik Shipyard Incident would disagree with you," Goodwitch said. "That was a few dozen heavily armed droid soldiers, yes, but you didn't have to park Summer's ship on top of them."
"Not going to lie, that was a hell of an entrance," Raven replied.
"They were giving the rest of you a hard time," Ironwood argued.
"And one wonders why Summer never considered giving you the Glass Eagle after the Great Hunt," Qrow quipped.
"Speaking of Summer," Ironwood said, "why isn't she part of this right now? Glynda told Ozpin of Quay's impending attack."
"Same reason we didn't tell Taiyang," Goodwitch argued. "Those two, if their daughters were in desperate trouble and they could reach them, would tear through the entire galaxy to protect their kids. By not involving Summer or Taiyang, we're doing the universe a favor."
"Oh, so I should have NOT told Mint about this?" Raven said, putting her Scroll away. Everyone looked at her in shock. "Hey, I just wanted to let Summer know what I was doing, so I texted the Jawa who should tell Summer."
"Then let's hope that the Spirit remains calm," Tillicru said, facing forward.
Unknown Location—10:00
It was safe to say Summer Rose was not calm. This was best demonstrated by the fact that her face was in an angry pout while looking at Ozpin. Speaking of him, he was suspended upside-down. "So," she said, having been caught up to speed about the Republic, Imperial, and intergalactic presences in Vale and Beacon, "are there any other tidbits of information you have yet to share with me?"
"Please, Summer, I'm sorry for not telling you all of that before, but put me down," Ozpin pleaded. The ex-Sith sighed in apology, before flipping Ozpin back to his feet and dropping him onto the couch. Looking around, he said, "I haven't seen this facility in some time."
"It was hard to clean up," Summer said as R0 rolled in. "And why didn't anyone help, leaving giant bugs to move in? You all know I have entomophobia from Alderaan, Korriban and Balmorra!"
"[Number of giant spiders triggered Master's fear of bugs=14, not counting children,]" R0 replied. "[Results of it=not pretty. Bird-lady=had to deal with most of it.]"
"Right," Ozpin recalled. "I forgot how you react when you see Deathstalkers. It's just... you react so violently, nobody would know you hate fighting them."
"[Some people=freeze up in response to fear,]" R0 noted. "[Master=grabs nearest giant, blunt object with Force + beats fear to death.]"
"You're normally a reserved woman, it's just hard to imagine at times," Ozpin admitted. "Still, why are you so upset about an underground base not being cleaned?"
"Sentimental value," Summer said.
"[Ozpin=forgot who owned this bunker?]" R0 accused. The droid pointed with its repair appendage to a framed picture, near a collection of others. One was Team STRQ a few weeks before graduation. Another was Summer, in a black mourning gown, standing on the cliff with an empty jar, her silver eyes slightly glowing while R0 stood by her side, holding a dusty old cowboy's hat. The next was Summer tearfully congratulating Raven and Taiyang on their wedding. A third, one Ozpin lingered on a little too long, was Summer training a black-haired girl with blue eyes and red clothes about 15 at Signal. A rather amusing one had Summer chasing after an infant Yang who riding on R0. This was followed by Summer, her hair a mess, reading little Yang a bedtime story. One that tugged at Ozpin's heartstrings was Summer and Taiyang wearing matching red clothes for their own wedding with Yang having a red rose in her small hair. The next had a six months pregnant Summer munching on a cookie while little Yang nuzzled her head on belly, followed by a picture of a tired Summer holding a newborn Ruby, who had a few small strands of black and red hair, while Yang peeked up at her new little sister. The last picture on the shelf was Ruby and Yang, both young, cuddling up to Summer.
But before all of those was one extra picture. In the particular picture was a fifteen-year-old Summer, back when she was Natsumi, looking almost like Ruby but with a brand on her face, wearing black and red robes that had the Sith Empire logo on the breast, standing next to two other teenage girls. One was a Cathar that looked like Citarhi wearing an black armored top and red armor-plated pants, and the second was a human girl with bright red hair in a pair of pigtails with energetic green eyes, wearing a red tunic and a black long skirt. Standing behind them were two people. One was a female green Twi'lek in her early forties wearing blue and gray robes of the Sith Inquisitors on top of a red gem-infused headdress, looking proud of the three acolytes. The other being a tanned man in his mid-late forties, wearing a brown cowboy hat and gray duster jacket over a white Imperial shirt and black pants. The blood red sands and tombs around them pointed to this picture being taken on Korriban.
If Ozpin recalled the story correctly, this was taken mere weeks before everything about Natsumi and Crumma's intertwined destiny was sealed in blood: the massacre that would eventually lead Summer to Remnant.
"Oh," Ozpin realized, looking at the man. It was, arguably, the closest thing Summer had to a family picture of her childhood before Beacon. And the man was Summer's foster father. "Summer, I'm very sorry. Gamaro Riggs was not a Huntsman, but an old man who was a pilot. As far as the Empire would be concerned, he was of no consequence since he lacked the Force. Yet, he still meant a lot to you. So that's why you took great care of this bunker, and you're upset the rest of us didn't. It's just that nobody wanted to risk Ruby and Yang being exposed to the galactic community... and you left a picture of your Master, your childhood friend, and a location clearly not on Remnant here. And that's not even getting into your magic. Ruby, being your daughter, most likely has the same magic."
"That explains why you want Ruby trained as a full-Huntress two years early," Summer realized. "You think our Himura bloodline magic could be the key to defeating the Grimm for good... or at least until you can successfully get Remnant's citizens safely off-world. Also explains why you knowingly allowed a first-year team to take on such a dangerous mission... if you could successfully trigger Ruby's magic like mine was, she'd be capable of destroying whole swarms of dark-siders."
"That was part of the reason," Ozpin said. "But she doesn't know she has this magic, yet. Just Force-sensitivity."
"I know you all were keeping my past a secret, but would it have killed you to at least clean up Papa's bunker?"
"My duties as Headmaster of Beacon prevented me from really coming out here," Ozpin said. "And as of late, it has been more than just my duties as Headmaster."
"Why?" Summer asked. "What could possibly have happened in ten years that could get YOUR direct attention?" Ozpin sighed.
"Amber's in a coma, Summer," the Emerald Wizard answered. Summer's eyes widened.
"Amber?" she breathed. "Didn't she and Qrow have a near-relationship?"
Ozpin groaned at the mention that Qrow and the Fall Maiden were almost an item. In a way, the Maidens were like Jedi: intimate relationships and families, while not forbidden, were strongly discouraged with the Maidens. These women's duty was to Remnant, not to the kingdoms or to close loved ones, since the familial connection would not only confound their judgement, but would be an exploitable weakness. Ozpin had found stories of Maidens who died to save their children or their lovers, which made his choice to scout Pyrrha Nikos for the next Fall Maiden candidate all of the harder... what with her crush on Jaune Arc. The fact that Qrow and Amber used to be close strongly made Ozpin doubt that Qrow—a man with years of alcohol abuse, most likely coming from his team falling apart and the small string of his various lovers DYING—was reliable as a Maiden's Shield—a special agent that wasn't a Headmaster or their assistant teacher that could be deployed on missions to serve as a Maiden's secret bodyguard. Yet, he performed his task quite well... until Cinder stepped into the picture, and doing the unpredictable.
Summer snapped Ozpin back into reality when she continued, "Why is she in a coma!?"
"Because someone found out that she was the current Fall Maiden," Ozpin said. Ignoring Summer's disapproving glare, he continued, "This woman who nearly killed Amber not only succeeded in defeating a Seasonal Maiden, something to worry about on its own since while possible it's far from an easy feat, but she bypassed the age rule that should have protected the Maidens' power from her, and she has stolen half of Amber's power. If not for Qrow, Amber would be dead, and we'd have a full rogue Maiden on our hands. With your past coming back to haunt us, we may need to bring the other three back into play."
"The Maidens, again!?" Summer asked.
"I know you have bad history, but we could use—"
"Franklin Ozpin, you know that they tried to kill me several times in the past because of Darth Zanzis!" Summer said. Ozpin flinched, knowing that not too many who knew it used his first name willingly unless it was calling him out. "Almost none of them have trusted me since then! Amber was the one who actually saw me as a human being instead of just a threat! And now, you want them to stick their noses into my life AGAIN!?"
"You know Remnant needs their protection," Ozpin said. "They're the ones who guard our world from the darker secrets."
"And so do I," Summer said. "Except unlike them, I do it of my own volition instead of a duty forced on me by some ancient Jedi!"
"You have no proof that the original Wizard was a Jedi," Ozpin remarked.
"Do you have proof that he WASN'T a Jedi?" Summer countered. "While I admit the reasons I have are selfish in the long-term, I have been protecting Remnant from outside forces for almost a decade. The Maidens don't have to get involved with scrubbing up my past."
"And right now, you're desperately trying to get Jedi help to protect this world, despite the fact that they also tried to kill you multiple times," Ozpin replied.
"This is out of desperation more than liking the Jedi more," Summer sighed. "Ozpin, my Plan A has failed miserably. The Republic and the Jedi are my Plan B, right now, and the Maidens aren't called for at ALL with that. I don't know exactly what you've been through since I 'died', and I may be bitter about their unreasonable dislike of me just because I'm not of this world, but I don't want to risk their lives in a battle that is mine."
"What exactly was Plan A?" Ozpin asked. "And what's Plan B?"
"My Plan A was to prevent the Republic and Empire from genuinely getting involved in Remnant," Summer said, "and hoped they never found out about my daughter's existence. Plan B is something, upon almost twenty-five years of retrospect, I should have done on Korriban like Citarhi told me to: make sure Crumma stays dead when I kill him this time."
"That's not exactly a plan," Ozpin pointed out.
"Well, you've hardly told me of any of your plans," Summer replied. Ozpin nearly chuckled, knowing she wasn't wrong. "But in all seriousness, it does require my cooperation with as many Jedi as I can get, as well as something that could short-circuit his cybernetics. I would take Sith, too, because of Force Lightning to overload his implants, but I doubt anyone besides those not affiliated with Darth Mel would agree. The only other thing to guarantee this works is a Force-slayer blade. The two on Remnant I know about are Wilt & Blush and Crocea Mors, and I don't want to endanger Ruby's boyfriend... even though she denies it. So I need to find Raven's master."
"Mr. Arc and your daughter would make an adorable couple," Ozpin chuckled. "Add Miss Nikos, and it's you, Raven, and Taiyang all over again." A door opened, revealing Naywi and Mint. "Why do you have a Jawa?" Ozpin asked.
"She wanted to come along," Summer replied. She asked, "What's wrong, girls?"
"[Red-flower lady,]" Mint called, holding up her own Scroll, "[Bird-lady contacted me. She mentioned pirate from Rishi Station is back. He heading to your daughters' school!]"
"Quay!?" Summer asked.
"It's just a pirate," Ozpin said. "Besides, it sounds like Qrow, Raven, James, and Glynda are all on it."
"This guy's actions are the reason Dohet is dead," Summer replied.
"Your ex?" Ozpin asked, giving her a frustrated look.
"Just because I had a crush on him doesn't mean I dated him," Summer replied.
"And yet, you adopted his student," Ozpin said. "How many students has this made of yours, Summer?"
"I'm not the first Force-user who has taken on more than one personal apprentice in her lifetime, Ozpin," Summer replied.
"Miss Raven also mentioned Master Tillicru joining forces with them," Naywi said.
"Tillicru's here!?" Summer questioned. "Ozpin, I asked if there was nothing else I should know!"
"Okay, that one was unexpected," Ozpin defended himself. "But at least he's intercepting Quay."
"It doesn't change the fact that if Tillicru does manage to help them deal with Quay, he'll still be near my daughter and my husband," Summer said. "And even if Tillicru isn't a threat, Quay working for Bal'rog is."
"If you want," Ozpin said, "we have your ship. And there are a few Republic soldiers, including three Jedi Masters and their Defender ship which is better for aerial combat than the Eagle, right outside." Summer frowned, thinking about whether or not she should haul out the Glass Eagle for this fight. Turning to Mint and Naywi, Ozpin asked, "Did anyone mention what Quay is in?"
Quay's Heavy Cargo Transport—10:25
"Nothing like a good plan coming together," the pirate captain chuckled as he sat in the captain's chair. He was certainly enjoying the flight to Beacon. Like Ozpin's group had predicted, Quay had his crew of aliens take a Bullhead full of people hostage, and had some flying the ship to Beacon. He also had loaded up a few dozen Cartel security droids, courtesy of an eager Bal'rog.
Speaking of the Hutt, he was on Quay's holocom. "[Do not gloat yet, pirate,]" the Hutt smirked. "[We have yet to have the Spirit of Roses' Daughter in chains!]"
"Relax, Bal'rog," Quay chuckled. "I'm about… hey, buddy," he turned to the person he had flying the ship, "how far are we from Beacon?"
"A-about 20 minutes out," the pilot replied.
"One hour away from her being nice and ready for one of your slave collars," Quay finished. "Or, you know, decorating your wall. Speaking of which, do you mind carbonite or do you like handcuffs?"
"[Handcuffs,]" the Hutt replied.
"Okay, fine. See you in a bit, buddy. Have those Credits ready for me." He then turned off the holocom, and said, "Alright, people, let's hurry this up. We're going to be rich!"
"Who or what was that creature!?" a female hostage requested.
"Bal'rog the Hutt," Quay said. "Vicious gangster… way above you little people." He then turned to the one on communications, and said, "Alright, here's the deal. If you request for landing and avoid giving even the slightest hint that something is amiss, you will get to live to see tomorrow. If I find one thing out of place, you're gonna wish I simply shot you before you die."
"Y-Yes, sir," the man nodded. He then pressed a button, and said, "Attention Beacon Academy Airship Platform, this is Cargo Bullhead #66, requesting permit to land."
"Hold on, Cargo Bullhead," the person in charge replied, "we were not expecting you… what is your cargo?"
"About 20 advanced combat droids," the communications officer replied. "Ordered by General Ironwood. My apologies, we were late to join the fleet and needed to refuel."
The dock manager was silent for a few moments. He then said, "Cargo Bullhead #66, you are clear for landing. Come towards Bay C-3." The radio cut off, and the communications officer sighed—
BANG!
He screamed in agony as a blaster bolt went through his shoulder. The rest of the captive crew screamed, while Quay had a plain look on his face. "Why did you mention the battle droids, you idiot?" he asked. "It's almost like you asked for this." Quay then motioned towards two members of his crew, who grabbed the pained man, the Rattataki brandishing a knife as he was dragged out. Over the not-so-subtle sounds of a man being tortured, Quay then said, "Alright, people, let's get ready to fight because that nerf-herder just sold us out. Kill anything with a pulse and a gun pointed at you. We're walking out of here with the Spirit of Roses' Daughter one way or another."
"Y-You monster," a woman breathed. "You're nothing more than a monster!"
BANG!
She yelped as the shot rang off near her head. "What of it?" Quay scoffed. "I'm here for the money, nothing more, nothing less. You seem to forget the only reasons you're all still alive is because I still need you. If I really wanted to, I could kill every single one of you, and treat it like a casual walk. You're just here for my revenge." He turned to press the communications button, when a massive airship pulled up towards his. He then found his holocom beeping. He pressed the talk button, revealing Qrow.
"Well, you're one ugly son of a Hutt," Qrow greeted. "How's life treating you, pirate boy?"
"...Who are you, dead man?" Quay asked.
"Just the Void Crow," the reaper replied. Quay bristled at the thought of a Force-user of Qrow's caliber coming after him. Qrow said, "Let me make clear what you're up against. We have a highly advanced by Remnant's standards warship with its guns pointed at you, four powerful Huntsmen, myself included, oh, and a Jedi stowaway. Here's the deal. Surrender, release the hostages, and you'll be able to at least live. Don't, and start praying to whatever god you follow. But they won't be able to help you."
"I don't think you're in a position to negotiate," Quay tried to argue. "I have a ship full of people, and if you try to be a hero, they're all dead! Do you want that number of bodies on your conscience? Your best chance as saving their lives is to hand over the Spirit of Roses and Raven of Nevermore's brats!" Qrow looked behind him at a noise, and shook his head.
"Should not have said that, buddy," Qrow said. "And not just because they're my nieces… one of their moms was just on this ship."
"Was?" Quay asked.
"And now, she's on yours."
SHING!
A Rodian's death scream echoed throughout the ship, followed by blaster fire. Quay's eyes widened again. Quay looked at Qrow.
"By the way," Qrow confessed, "that's my SISTER. Have fun until I get over there. In fact, pray I get to you, first." With that, the comm cut out. Quay turned to his crew.
"Alright, change of plans!" he said. "Forget the hostages, find and kill the Raven of Nevermore! And somebody get on board that warship and take it out before they have more boarders on us!"
Blue-2—Interior—10:49
"So," Torchwick said as he watched the soldiers scramble to fight the pirates, "I think we're safe enough." He turned to Herbert, who (in Ironwood's rush to intercept Quay) threw him and Fleece in Torchwick's cell, and requested, "My Scroll, please."
"S-Scroll?" Herbert asked. He pulled out the device that the small guard slipped into his pocket. "This thing?"
"Aw, she wrote a message," Torchwick smiled as he took it. "'Roman, I'm going to free you very soon'. I love you, too, Neo."
"Neo?" Fleece asked. All of the sudden, a pair of guards dropped dead in front of them. From around the corner, a smiling pink and brown-eyed assassin popped her head in front of the cell. She pointed at the two Imperials.
"Don't worry, Neo," Torchwick said, "they're with us." Neo nodded, and opened the cell, holding a few things for Torchwick: his hat, his cane, and a cigar. Torchwick took all three, and Neo held up a lighter. After lighting up his cigar, he took a long drag. He breathed out, and said, "Oh, I needed that." Neo beamed. A few more guards came down their way, and Torchwick popped open his Melodic Cudgel's gun mode, and fired a small fireball, sending the soldiers running for cover. They then took aim again—
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
The soldiers all fell, courtesy of Herbert. "Wow, imagining them in Pub colors helps," Herbert said, checking the gun he picked up. Neo looked at him in curiosity. "Hello?"
"Oh, she doesn't talk much to anyone who's not me," Torchwick said. "It's not you. Well, actually, it might be you." All of the sudden, his Scroll rang, and he sighed at the caller. "Do I have to?" he asked Neo. She nodded. Torchwick pressed the "talk" button. "Hi, dear, how are the kids?"
"Shut-up, for one," Cinder said. "And two, I need you again, Roman."
"Sheesh, take a joke, Cindy," Torchwick scoffed.
"I will when you actually say something funny, and make me not want to gut you."
"Hey, this would have worked," Torchwick defended himself. "Little Red and her team were just too soft to kill me... Kitty Cat's mistake. So, what makes you want to spring me early?"
"Because, Torchwick, I need your skills," Cinder replied. "The power I seek would be nice right now to level the playing field, but there's an Emperor coming. I need enough Dust to take him out. You are better at getting it than I am, so that's why I'm collecting you now."
"Emperor?" Torchwick asked. "Let me guess, Sith Emperor Crumma?" Cinder grew silent. "Oh, Cindy, I learned a few things. Including about a very special someone we could use against Little Red. I'm going to call her 'Big Red'. Or would you prefer 'White Rose' or her real name: 'Natsumi Himura'?"
"We're going to talk later. And you're not going to enjoy it."
"Get down!" Fleece said as she forced Torchwick to do just that. Neo opened up her umbrella to block a few of the bullets of the Atlesian soldiers. Herbert took a moment to return fire.
"Enemy down!" Herbert said. "Taking point! Watch my left, Neo!" He and Neo moved up to deal with more soldiers.
"...Roman, who were those people?" Cinder bluntly said.
"If I said 'Atlesian soldiers I convinced to join our cause'," he answered, "what would your reaction be?"
"I'd say 'cute', and then demand the truth, since nobody from Atlas has that significant accent."
"Prison mates?" Torchwick replied.
"Hey, you people have grenades!" Herbert said. He then grabbed one, and threw it. The resulting explosion rocked the hallway.
"You actually had people locked up with you?" Adam's voice asked.
"Oh, Beast is here," Torchwick said, grabbing his cane, and blocking a soldier's melee attack and clubbing him across the face. To make sure the Atlesian soldier wasn't getting back up, he pressed his cane down on the man's neck, and pulled the trigger. He then turned to Fleece, and asked, "Can you do me a solid and take the rest of this? I really shouldn't leave Neo and Herbie to do all the work. Despite the fact that for a grunt, Herbie's racking up a higher body count than Neo." He then tossed her his Scroll, and continued onwards to help clear a route. Fleece looked at the pictures of a black queen piece and a white wolf with red scratches, and gulped.
"H-Hello?" she asked.
"What's your name?" Cinder requested.
"Marigold Fleece," the captain replied. "Captain in the Imperial Navy. I was here on a mission to either secure Remnant's takeover by the Empire or capture the Daughter of the Spirit of Roses. However, we failed our mission and were captured by the Huntsman known as Qrow Branwen, or as the Mandalorians call him, 'the Void Crow'."
"Well, Mary," Cinder said, "can you do me one favor? Tell me why I shouldn't sheer you when I lay my eyes on your Imperial face? Yes, I'm aware of your Sith Empire. And I hate both you Imperials and the Republic, since your presence interferes with my plans. So, you have one minute to sell yourself. Starting now."
"Mr. Torchwick said he was hiring us, since if we return to the Empire, we'll be killed for failing our mission!"
"Do you really think that Roman's calling the shots?" Cinder sneered. "His reckless behavior nearly cost me the White Fang. He's lucky his arrest could benefit me. If I didn't need him, this wouldn't be a courtesy call or me having him busted out. I don't like complications in my plans, Little Bo Peep. And right now, I'm not seeing where keeping lost Imperials around fits in my plan. Hurry up, and try again. 45 seconds."
"Please give us a chance," Fleece insisted. "I'm a top notch navigator, pilot, and field medic! I graduated quite high in my class! You could have use of me!"
"You're gonna have to try a little harder, human," Adam suggested.
"Thirty-nine, thirty eight, thiry-seven," Cinder hummed.
"I can give you information about the Empire's operations on Remnant," Fleece tried.
"Thirty-five, thirty-four..."
"What if we bring you a starship!?" she asked. "It's not much, but it's right aboard this ship, in the cargo bay!" The other line was silent, the only sound Fleece hearing was that of a body falling.
"A starship?" Cinder asked.
"It won't be huge," Fleec said, "but it'll be a hell of a lot tougher than anything else on this world, and if you wanted to, you could leave Remnant behind!"
"I'm intrigued," Cinder said. "You managed to convince me with twenty seconds left. Consider this your audition. Adam, provide cover for her and anyone else with Torchwick. Remember: he and Neo are needed at all costs. The Imperials are expendable. If Sheep here fails to deliver this starship, I give her to you."
"H-Huh!?" Fleece said.
"Clock's ticking, Fleece," Cinder said. "And tell Torchwick to hurry up." With that, the line disconnected.
'(From one terrible boss to another… I must be cursed.)' Torchwick walked back to her.
"What's the matter, Fleecy?" Torchwick asked. "You look pale."
"Is there any chance your escape plan involves the Mantis-class dropship?" Fleece nervously asked. "We sort of need that, now."
"Let me guess," Torchwick chuckled. "Cinder wasn't exactly happy I complicated my own rescue by insisting you guys come with us, and you had to add the starship as an additional touch to save your own hide from her?" Fleece blinked. "Yeah, something I should have told you straight-up: my boss' elite group only takes the best, and she hates it when unexpected monkey wrenches pop up. If you want to live, you have to prove yourself useful to the new world order she's bringing. But you're in luck… fighting our way to take over the bridge is incredibly stupid, right now. But the cargo bay, well: let's just say it's our way out of here. Come on!" Torchwick and Neo ran towards the cargo bay, but Herbert stopped to help her up.
"Come on, Captain," Herbert said, turning back to shoot a few approaching soldiers. "We have to move."
"Right," Fleece said, grabbing a fallen soldier's pistol. They ran to catch up to their newfound allies.
Deck—10:45
Ironwood and Goodwitch avoided the blaster fire of the pirates who boarded the ship. The general returned fire before ducking into cover. "You know, Glynda," Ironwood smirked, "it's nice to be working together, again, like this."
"Don't get sentimental right now," Goodwitch said. She used her crop to levitate a pirate's blaster from his hand and throw it overboard. "We have to deal with these pirates. Qrow, Raven, what's your status?"
"Boarding an enemy ship in the middle of a firefight where everyone has a blaster on you isn't exactly easy in my regular bird form!" Qrow complained. "No wonder Raven said 'screw it', and warped on board. Also, I have the hostages to consider. One wrong move, and there's going to be more bloodshed than necessary!"
"I already saved a few," Raven replied. "Still, these pirates have some upgraded Cartel droids… holy crap!" Suddenly a portal opened up nearby, and four lasers erupted from it, one hitting the side of the Blue-2.
"Raven!?" Goodwitch asked.
"That was too close!" Raven said. "I guess Quay had more Dust than we thought still aboard his ship. He must have shared it with the Hutt Cartel, and Bal'rog used it to upgrade his combat walker droids because this one's huge, and the others aren't slouches! If only we could take this fight higher… Dust can't work outside of breathable atmospheres without the Force itself being channeled through it. Summer's lucky."
"Indeed," Ironwood said, grabbing his pistol and taking down another pirate. "Where is Tillicru?" He was answered by the Jedi jumping in front of them, and parrying blaster bolts before Force Pushing some of the pirates off the ship. "So much for a 'thou shalt not kill' order."
"This is to protect Natsumi's child, and with her the Republic and Jedi Order," Tillicru justified, deflecting more shots. "If Natsumi Himura's daughter is injured, captured, or killed and we could have done something to prevent it, she would no doubt end her alliance with the Republic violently. Keeping the Spirit of Roses' Daughter alive, if for the time being, will keep the Spirit of Roses pacified. Furthermore, I cannot turn a blind eye to your student population, even if they are not being endangered by these pirates."
"...Well said," Ironwood nodded. He suddenly felt his Scroll buzz. He looked at it while Tillicru took over the defense. He growled. "Damn it!" He then turned his gun on the pirates, and opened fire, killing several. "I should have known that I was compromised!"
"What's wrong?" Goodwitch asked.
"Torchwick escaped, and the guards I stationed in that section are all dead," Ironwood replied. "I had a mole in my unit."
"So we're between a terrorist and a band of pirates backed up by a criminal empire," Goodwitch frowned. "If this can get any worse, now's the time!"
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Goodwitch, Ironwood, and Tillicru all barely stablized themselves from the rocking of the ship. The three looked at the source… another Bullhead, this one carrying several armed White Fang members, one of which was Adam Taurus himself, and Cinder in her masked stealth combat attire.
"...I asked for this," Goodwitch chided herself.
Adam turned to his men, and said, "Destroy Atlas' army. I'll deal with the unexpected Jedi."
"Are you sure about that?" Cinder asked, looking at Tillicru.
"You said you wished to do something," Adam replied. "Now's your time." With that, he jumped down, landing on the Blue-2's deck.
"[Well, this was unexpected, but not unwelcome!]" a Weequay grinned. "[Locals coming to help us put these Huntsmen down!]"
SLICE!
The Weequay's body dropped to the ground as Adam sheathed his sword. The body then began to completely dissolve. "Who said you alien scum could touch my world?" Adam spat. He yelled at his men, "Slaughter the pirates, too!" Turning to Tillicru as gunfire rang out between the pirates and the White Fang, he said, "Have you made peace with your Force, Jedi?"
"Now this is the type of darkness I sensed coming here," Tillicru said, looking at the warrior. Noticing Adam's stance, he remarked, "Were you trained by the Raven of Nevermore?"
"Raven Branwen, I'm guessing," Adam asked. He scoffed. "No... I was trained by the same Faunus who trained her. That man was a traitor to my kind, teaching a human our techniques, and dealt with as such."
"I sense a lot of hostility in you," Tillicru remarked. "You killed your own former Master, which alone makes you dangerous. And there is someone else you feel betrayed by. A lover, perhaps?"
"Stop pretending like you know me!" Adam said, rushing at Tillicru, who blocked with his own lightsaber. Cinder, meanwhile, watched the White Fang engage both the pirates and the Atlesian troops. She smirked before dropping onto the deck.
"You," Goodwitch scowled at Cinder. "Allying with the White Fang, most likely enslaving them? Terrorist attacks? Grimm invasions? Attacking certain people with the intent to steal their power for your own selfish reasons!? You've caused more than enough trouble, you arrogant, foolish child! Ozpin was right about you!"
"I wouldn't talk down to me, anymore, if I were you," Cinder warned, summoning her bow. "You and Ozpin always looked down on me. You never approved of my training, Goodwitch. There was only one person before her who ever believed in me... even if she was a fool. But no matter. When I left you all, I was but the learner. Now, I am the Master... a complete circle for your arrogance." She summoned an arrow, drew back, and let if fly, only for it to be caught by Goodwitch's Semblance, not flinching as the tip was centimeters from her nose.
"Only a master of evil, Cinder," Goodwitch replied, returning the arrow to sender. Cinder blocked the shot with her hand, and even the unexpected explosion didn't seem to faze her, instead spliting her bow into two swords. Goodwitch decided enough was enough, and reached into her cloak, pulling out a familiar weapon. The blade of Goodwitch's lightsaber was violet.
As the two clashed swords, Cinder declared, "You should never have denied me the power that was rightfully mine. You should never have denied ANY of us the power that was rightfully ours! We were promised the Maidens' power, but instead, we were left for dead, and forgotten! Only I survived! Why!?"
"We said we'd TRAIN you four, against our better judgment, but we never promised make you Maidens! Rightfully so, knowing just how dangerous you girls were and what chaos would be unleashed if you ever got your hands on the Maidens' power!" Goodwitch replied as the swords relaxed. "And all you've done since that fateful day has only proven Ozpin and my fears correct. You were never meant to have that power, because you're absolutely insane!"
"Insane!?" Cinder spat.
"Insanity: noun," Goodwitch defined. "A state of mental illness where you repeat the same actions over and over expecting a different result. Example: you're once again pursuing dangerous magical power despite our warnings that you would never be given this power because of how dangerous and hostile you have proven yourself as."
"We'll see about that! And speaking of that power, before you die, I will drag the answer about where the rest of it is. While I'm at it, you'll tell me where I can find Summer Rose." Goodwitch's eyes widened. "Yes, I know she's alive. I aim to fix that. As well as her daughter and your new student."
"You won't touch a hair on any of their heads!" Goodwitch replied.
"We'll see."
And thus began Cinder and Goodwitch's clash.
Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Well, that happened. Let's review.
Ironwood's decision to bring Torchwick, Herbert, and Fleece aboard the ship was probably the most canon-based dumb decision he could have made, but it was either that or risk someone inside the school, where they know they have a potential mole (especially with Jedi and Sith about), breaking them out and/or killing them before they could be properly interrogated. But yes, Herbert CAN kick ass for a Force-blind Imperial. He's not on the same level as Grey (who DID technically beat a Dark Councilor in confirmed droid kills before Darth Mel cheated), and Torchwick and Neo are far more impressive than him, but Herbert can get the job done against non-Force-users and even low-level Force-users.
Meanwhile, I remembered Tillicru existed, so I had to put him somewhere in this scenario, and make use of his status as a serious threat to the Huntsmen AND their various enemies. He's an anti-hero as far as Ozpin's group is concerned, but he's useful in stopping Quay, who is ruthless against the helpless, but is scared of Force-users. Unfortunately, Tillicru is now held up by Adam, who apparently had the same master as Raven.
Cinder being forced by circumstance to make a move since Quay made one against Beacon (which she needs standing, and she needs Torchwick, so she can't afford to ignore Quay, even if he does a bit of damage, and she can get back Torchwick while crippling Atlas' guns and defenses, leaving Vale open). Also, if she eliminates key members of Ozpin's group now, she could easily weaken his position.
Finally, Summer and Cinder have had their respective histories given some light. Summer (since coming to Remnant) has had multiple students and we get to see her "family" from her childhood and glimpses of her life, and Cinder and three other girls were apparently betrayed and left for dead (not that it excuses her behavior) in the past by Ozpin's group, and Cinder being the sole survivor has a desire for revenge. If you want parallels, Cinder is an expy of Vader's more ruthless and power-seeking tendencies.
Well, all that's left is a few reviews.
RedemptionWarrior: Definitely, Ruby needs to train in non-weapon-based combat. It's a huge, exploitable flaw. As for why the lightsaber isn't a gun (yet), keep in mind it's RUMWASH's lightsaber, and Ruby's using it in its basic form. Not to mention Summer herself doesn't use multiformed weapons (although in my old drafts she does attach her lightsaber to her sniper rifle for the purpose of having a lightsaber bayonet). Ruby has yet to actually figure out how make blasters, similar to Star Wars Rebels' Ezra making a lightsaber-blaster hybrid.
FEV Grim: You're welcome. Arguably, it's nice to have apprentices for Darth Mel. I'll keep them in mind for the next fights. And I think we had a conversation about your last request so... yeah, we're good.
Ritzel: You know, you have an incredible point that, realistically, the Sith would have taken Ruby by now. However, I wanted Mel to be a noble demon villain who resents her boss and wants to play the long game of getting Summer on the throne in a more agreeable manner. I know it's slightly out of character for the Sith to do this, but please bare in mind not every Sith in canon/Legends has gone in with overkill invasions. Still, I understand where you're coming from, and I will do something about that.
Gabriel H. Sapphire: I do, too. I just wanted to have a small joke about Taiyang. Even the villainesses want him.
DaManWOFear: Yeah, things have escalated. Everyone here has come for Ruby and knows/fears her mother (save for Penny), and now she's super nervous. But Ruby is not going to make herself an easy target, wielding Rumwash's lightsaber.
Emerald surprised me by having some standards, at least compared to Mercury (who takes pleasure from causing pain and recorded the madness that was the Fall of Beacon) and Cinder (who is a power-hungry monster that tears apart the kingdoms and wants to start a world war, and comes damn close to succeeding). Here, she may be jealous of Team RWBY like in canon for being so happy, and she's willing to do bad things, but if even she is surprised by Ruby's genuine niceness and was horrified by what happened to Vale in canon, maybe she has a chance. Will she make a Heel-Face Turn here? I don't know, yet... maybe she'll try to convince Ruby to join HER side in an attempt to save her from Cinder's wrath (since Emerald would ultimately believe that Cinder's victory is inevitable, everything else Ruby does in this next Volume is just delaying Cinder's "assured" triumph at best and straight up pissing her off into wanting Ruby dead at worst (which has to be the case because Ruby threw a huge monkey wrench in her plans with that silver-eyed warrior mode), and the safest spot from Cinder is arguably BEHIND her). I have a whole theory that Cinder was reluctant to execute Pyrrha, and was originally planning to recruit her to the dark side, but Pyrrha's defiance and standing with Ozpin just sealed Pyrrha's fate to die on the top of the tower. But that's not here.
Speaking of Cinder, well, she's spending more time preparing for the inevitable confrontation with Summer. Will it be enough? Probably not, but it may not be that far off of an estimate, since the Star Wars Expanded Universe has had several Jedi and Sith defeated in surprise ambushes by non-Force-users, and Cinder is nothing if not a smart fighter. As for the Darth Mel fight, that WILL be an excellent one. It will probably make Ruby vs. Kebiin pale in comparison (because up until now, I've only had Teams RWBY and JNPR vs. Rumwash and Imperials, and that fight was tough for the heroes because giant spider droids and Jaune and Pyrrha were both nearly killed by Rumwash's dirty fighting).
Yeah, I will, one way or another, see Rogue One. Mainly to see how much damage Vader can do. There were a lot of dead Rebels promised in getting the information on the Death Star (sorry, I'm pro-Empire, simply because while the people in charge were unquestionably assholes, it at least promised a stable, peaceful government... up until they started wiping out planets as a result of Rebels and massacred the Jedi Order because a small Jedi strike team tried to assassinate Palpatine with very little presentable evidence. Had nobody considered petitioning the intergalactic government?). Speaking of which, when one applies real world logic to the Death Star, it should have been impossible for Luke to destroy it the way he did, the Force not-counted as a factor.
Alright. So, next time on Soul of Remnant, we'll have another battle in Combat Class while the battles aboard the Blue-2 occur, and see if the Branwens can work together. Farewell, subjects!