Chapter 1 – War for Remnant
Two groups were made by Vader for the attack on Remnant. The plan was to clear the academy and make the Maidens open the vaults that sat within them. Boba Fett and the Inferno Squad would track the Maidens and take them by force if necessary. Vader and his 501st legion would be storming the academies and clearing them out from within. From there, they would secure the vault and the Relic. If all went according to plan, this would go smoothly, and the Relics would be in his master's hands soon. However, without much to go on, the Dark Lord would need to inquire in the headmaster of the academy first.
Iden Versio, the commander of Inferno Squad, proposed that they talk to and try to convince the Maiden to help them. She made a compelling argument. The planet was at war and two powerful forces that were far more powerful than humanity was fighting against them. The Maiden had no other choice. Ozpin's forces had diminished, leaving only a handful, so Vader told them they need not worry about them. The real threat were Salem's forces.
Ruby Rose, a silver-eyed warrior and natural enemy of the Grimm, was still under Salem's command. Vader informed that, despite her age and the age of all the other young men and women in Salem's faction, they are not to be underestimated. They were told that Emerald's Semblance can cause visual hallucinations, so they were told not to trust their eyes or even ears when she was around. Another individual they were told to be wary of was Cinder Fall, the Fall Maiden. She was also a thorn in their side as she would be needed to open the vault. Apparently, even Cinder and Salem were having trouble opening it. If they had opened it no doubt Salem would have had it on display as a show of power when Vader first came. But alas, there was nothing. This led Vader to conclude that the Relic was still safe in Beacon Academy. First, however, they would be headed to the kingdom of Atlas, arguably the most successful nation on Remnant.
Over the course of three days, scout droids were sent to the various academies and were expected to find information on the academies. They were successful, and the Empire would now have an advantage on the assault. Strangely, the droid sent to Atlas academy was unresponsive and seemingly disabled. Information from other academies were still adequate in the providing some of Atlas' records. From these remaining academies, maps, blueprints, educational records, military profiles, items and copies of any manner of things were taken and analyzed immediately.
It seemed that the military, educational system, and government operate as a single system in Atlas. Other academies were separate. Due to the nature of Atlas, the military commander also served as the headmaster to the academy. His name was General James Ironwood and, based on his record, he was not to be taken lightly. Mainly, he gives the orders his soldiers to do the fighting, however, when pressed, he is a powerful enemy. In his left hand, he uses a high-caliber revolver and cybernetic enhancements made to his body; his right arm and both legs were replaced due to injuries in battle. Likely the White Fang and Grimm.
Atlas' military utilized droids to fight alongside human and Faunus warriors. The newest models of these droids were called Atlesian Knight-200s. They were likely no different from the battle droids used by the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars. In which case, they would be powerful in groups, but pitiful alone. Either way, they were going to fall like the rest of those in the Empire's way. All would. One-fourth of the Relics are already in the Empire's hands - Salem's does not even have one.
The first course of action was to find the Maiden to open the vault. Of course, Ironwood would be questioned if he did know. If he did not, then Boba Fett's pay will be acquired through labour. The outskirts of the city, any villages, small towns around Atlas would all be scoured to find her. Where and whomever she may be. All forces on the planet except for their own would be met with extreme prejudice.
…
An army of troops stood at attention in the docking bay of the Star Destroyer. The soldiers were given a mass briefing and were in formed of who they were fighting, but only that. The nature of Relics was left to the need to know, that is, only Vader himself. Not Inferno Squad, not Boba Fett. He could not be trusted with the knowledge of such an object. Both he and Inferno Squad would be working together and all they needed to know was that the Empire needs to find these Maidens and secure the academy. The elite squad was used to following orders. Many a time they were given orders to strike down Rebels that plagued planets and restore order to them. They seldom questioned their orders.
Darth Vader entered his bridge and walked to the Admiral. In the docking bay, the rest of the troops marched into their transport ships with the resounding drum beat of the boots that echoed throughout the entire ship coming to a simultaneous halt. Star Destroyer took off. After about fifteen minutes of drifting towards the planet, Admiral Elatar informed Vader, "We will be entering the atmosphere soon, my Lord."
Vader turned his head to face Elatar, "Good." He turned back to the planet. "Remain in the atmosphere. Use your discretion to determine if you should flee. Despite what we already know, it would be unwise to underestimate them now." He ordered. Elatar nodded and swallowed his still present fear of Dark Lord. "Understood, sir." He managed to say. Without saying more, the Sith turned around and walked to the docking bay, his footsteps echoing down the bridge and away from the Admiral.
He reached the hangar and looked to the right of the area where his Advanced TIE Fighter sat. From the perspective of the bridge, the bay was facing the starboard side of the ship and was only just beginning to see the planet, visually getting larger and larger. Vader stepped towards the TIE, just as a few of the Empire's engineers were stepping away from it. "All is in order, Lord Vader." One of the said with a smile, which dissipated when the other one grabbed at his left arm and pulled. It seemed that his friend did not want him greeting Vader so casually. As they walked away, they averted their gazes. The Sith thought nothing of it and kept walking forward. He stopped in front of the ship, he inspected it. Visually, the ship was generally a standard TIE Fighter, save for the curved wings that were more pushed out than that of the normal TIEs. The cockpit was the same. Where it vastly differentiated were the weapons. Vader's starfighter was the equipped with two laser cannons and missiles that split in to smaller explosive devices that helped spread explosions and attack larger radiuses. Normal TIEs were only equipped with the cannons. His fighter was also equipped with Hyperdrive capabilities, where the others were not.
Vader climbed in the ship as the atmosphere of the planet was breached. An alarm was sounded in the Star Destroyer and a voice came on over the loudspeaker, "We have entered the atmosphere. All troops prepare for battle."
Flipping a few switches and hitting some buttons, the TIE Fighter roared to life but was still on the metallic floor of the hangar. Vader pulled up and it began to float upward. Their target was the city of Atlas, Vader would exit the Star Destroyer and attack any anti-air support they may have. On the ground, armies of stormtroopers would be leading the frontal assault, clearing the way for the AT-ATs. The AT-ATs would be marching from a distance and essentially take out the bulk of their enemy's forces once inside the city.
A few minutes passed, and the land below came into view. The landscape was blanketed by white snow that covered all. Greenery such as trees dotted the land, accompanied by various mountains that were in the distance. The city then came into view, first the large wall that guarded its denizens. At every eighty-to-ninety feet, the walls had large two-barrelled cannons atop them. Facing the front were two of them, the rest were along the wall as it took sharp turns to face the other directions. The wall stretched widely across the land, leaving only a simple iron gate that allowed entry. Inside the wall, the city itself was rather large. More spread widely than Mistral and remained on flat ground instead of ascending the side of a mountain. The city looked to have a particular military class to it. The buildings were set up in a way that blatantly stated organization and purpose. All districts were organized in such a way. The industrial district was marked by the plumes of smoke and soot that floated above them – Likely Dust refineries. Other districts were marked by other things such as the lights in the district that was more akin jovial activities. The organization was to be assumed seeing as the leader of the city was a general.
The city drew nearer, and Vader switched off the safety of his weapons. Swarming behind him was a squadron of TIE Fighters. The turrets below turned and looked to be charging up, a faint red glow was behind it. Vader spoke into his communicator and ordered, "Disperse." And with that the Imperial starfighters broke off from formation and became harder targets for the turrets. Vader turned right, and his ship tilted slightly, allowing for a more direct view of the wall. Peering down, he saw people running along the top of the wall and airships in the city began to rise. "Take down the airships. I will handle the turrets." Vader ordered as he pulled on the ship handle and the nose was thrusted upward. He finished the turn and his position was reset again. Now, he faced the turrets and glared with killing intent. His ship thrusted forward, and he shot at the cannons, which resisted most of the shots, only putting burn marks in them. It seemed that the weak points were the rears of them. Vader flew past the turrets, avoiding their fire, and circled around the back. As he turned his ship, he saw the weak point: it was but a bead of red, but within it was a combustible, large red Dust crystal in the back hooked up to the turret from inside. The hatch was closed, only leaving a small window, for the machinery to breathe. Turning to now face it, he shot again, only for his shots to miss and hit around it. Silently cursing, he turned again and, now over the city, rounded about and was facing them again, just barely avoiding the shots. Explosions could be heard from behind him now, in the direction of the airships. It seems the TIEs were successful.
The turrets were now facing him, and he would need to get behind them again. He charged right in between them and had to speed through to avoid the fiery shots. Vader crested upward again, but this time went much farther and allowed the turrets to lose interest in him, instead focusing on the ground troops which had now landed in front of the city wall. More explosions could be heard, this time the losses fell on the Empire's side. His enemy distracted, Vader flew above the city and allowed himself to get deep enough within that he could properly dispose of the turrets. Satisfied with the distance, he plummeted downward in a spiral, towards the buildings. He turned just in time and was now facing the weak points of the turrets. Clicking a button on the left handle, the orange targeting system screen showed two red squares that became diamond shaped and read 'Target Locked' below them. Vader clicked the mirroring button on the right handle and released the rockets. In an orange trail, the rockets collided with the backs of the turrets. As the smoke settled, he saw that the one to the right was destroyed, where the red Dust crystal was, was simply a fiery opening. The one to the left however, persisted and was already facing the Dark Lord's direction, no doubt locked on to him. He still had a distance to go but was moving fast. Despite this, the remaining turret shot, and he had to spin out of the way to the right. Regaining his balance, he cursed and was going to make for another shot when it exploded in a rage of red and orange. The rest of the support had arrived. It was likely a smart rocket that took the turret out.
Impressed, Vader slowed his speed and faced the area where the airships were getting ready to attack. A few were caught off guard and taken out without issue, however, some were on the move already and shooting at the TIE fighters that dotted the blue-white overcast sky. There were four left. A new ship joined the fray, coming from over the wall to the West, that is, left if one were to be entering the front entrance of the city. It was the Slave I, Boba Fett's ship. It shot red blaster bolts at one of the airships currently shooting at a TIE fighter and it exploded in a fiery explosion and fell to the ground below. Now, there were only three ships left.
He pushed past and avoided the airships to take out the turrets on that side of the wall. They were not shooting, likely due to the presence of friendly fighters in the space above them. Vader activated his ships' lock-on mechanism and released two rockets, one for each turret. This time, both were direct hits and the Dust crystals inside became fiery explosions. Boba Fett disengaged and gave chase to one airship that attempted to flee from the battle. Now there was only two ships remaining with fighting spirit. Vader followed suit from Boba Fett and left the fighting for the TIEs.
Vader's ship flew across the city, opposite of the airships' point of origin to take out the turrets on the other side. Reaching them without issue, the turret on the right was simply looking downward, into the surrounding forest outside the walls. The other was looking in his direction, but downward, at the side with the airships, likely not shooting for fear of endangering the citizens below. With one rocket, the one to the right exploded and left the other to look at Vader and fired. The final turret's shot just barely grazed the right wing of his TIE but still did enough damage to be noted. Taking a sharp turn to the left, he did his best to avoid the rest of the shots it was firing. He still ended up taking hits to the bottom of his left wing. Vader curved upward and kept going for a few minutes. He was high enough that he assumed that he was out of firing range of the turret and finally allowed himself to plummet to the planet below. It reverted to its position of firing at the TIEs in dogfights above the city. Vader twisted so he would be outside the wall and just as the faint red glow could be seen, he fired a rocket at it. The impact was successful as the turret was now completely destroyed. Vader activated his communicator. "The turrets on the walls have been taken down, send in the AT-ATs from all directions. No one leaves this city." He said as he reset his position and was now flying over at a steady pace over the city. The stormtroopers were now invading the city ready to fire at a moment's notice, but only found themselves aiming at nothing. The buildings appeared to be locked down; metal shutters clamping down on the concrete on the ground. Then Vader heard a beeping from his ship. The damage he had sustained would be problematic to any further fighting in the air. Vader turned to go behind their own lines to leave his ship there and proceed on foot, joining the infantry.
Setting his ship down, Vader noticed the dead silence. He flipped the same switches as before and the ship's engine fell silent. He touched the ground and his breathe became visible, his black boots contrasted harshly against the white snow. He listened for any change in noise. Nothing. He made his way to the front of the troops, who were currently holding position. Not a single enemy was seen. The stormtroopers parted and he reached the front with ease. He saw a commander pointing his blaster at nothing. It looked as if he was scanning the area, making sure it was safe. "What is the situation, commander?" Vader asked as he looked to where he was pointing. "Lord Vader, the enemy should have attacked us by now."
"Hm, where are they, then?"
"That is my concern exactly."
"Keep a close eye. We move slowly." Vader said as he overtook the commander and led the troops.
The commander threw his hand up in the air and silently commanded the bulk of their forces to follow their black-clad leader. All followed. It was not much of a march, but more of a cautious movement through the city. All the troopers had successfully entered the city wall and looked around, their weapons kept in front. A light snowfall had begun, and the wind picked up. Vader felt the Force warn him. Something was coming. Still, he progressed but kept his lightsaber in hand.
Despite having reached in the city, not one civilian was seen. Not even from the sky, looking down earlier, could Vader see any. Strange.
As they reached about a block into the city, they came to an intersection, splitting four ways. One straight ahead, two to the sides, and the one they had arrived on. Each street had a metal panel in the centre, about twenty-five metres away from where the streets crossed. Vader raised his left hand and held it behind him, all fingers stretched out. The common signal for 'hold.' All the troopers in front pointed their weapons at the metal panel as it shifted and began sliding backwards. Two metallic heads came into view. Just as they did, the commander took a thermal detonator off his belt and tossed it onto the hole they were coming from. In an explosion, both the droid bodies came into view they were blown out of the hole. One of the heads landed at Vader's feet. "Droids." He said as he looked around for others. "This is their military."
Suddenly, more droids appeared on the tops of buildings. It seems they were somehow hidden from aerial view. The droids from the rooves in front of them and pointed sniper rifles down at them and the ones from the streets to the sides were pointing assault rifles. A trap. An extremely large ship rose from behind the mountain and flew over at a relatively slow pace, but fast enough. It was larger than the others that were fought over the city earlier. It was triangular in shape but had a thin structure. The front was tipped and black with windows on the very end to allow people to peer through. As it led down, the black was met with lines of a silvery-white, with vents that allowed exhaust to exit. In the centre was most of the silver, now accompanied by blue and yellow lights. Making up most of the centre were four box-shaped apparatuses that had two on each side of the airship, likely the engines. After that, the ship was split off, for lack of a better word. Six wings adorned the back and allowed for versatile movement. There were three on each side of the ship. As it lowered, a voice came from it. It was a deep voice. If any had to guess, it was likely General Ironwood. "All ground units, open fire on the enemy. The rest of you in the air, follow me. We will take down the large ship." He said, presumably talking about the Star Destroyer.
The rooftop droids began shooting and the stormtroopers scattered, trying to find what cover they could. "Scatter! Scatter!" The commander ordered with urgency. In the fray, he threw himself to the ground in an effort to shield himself. The shooting came to a stop and all the troopers who were scrambling to find cover looked to the front of their group to see all the expended ammunition from the enemy suspended in the air. Vader had blocked the bullets with the Force, holding his left hand in front of him. The commander got back to his feet and ordered. "Shields now!" and two troopers ran to the front, taking the packs on their backs off and pressing a button, allowing for two blue circular shields to be emitted from them. Vader focused and thrusted his hands forward, sending the bullets to the droids. The snipers were taken down and the assault rifle wielding ones were still standing. The ships thrusted forward and were making their way to the Star Destroyer.
On the ground, the stormtroopers engaged the enemies, poking out of the shield and firing. The only ones who did not do this were the heavy troopers who used small but moveable shields that blocked incoming fire. Vader simply glared up at where the sniper droids were. More were in that spot, firing down at the stormtroopers. The same was happening on the sides. Vader looked to the metallic covering where they had emerged from before. The thermal detonator had damaged the mechanism and no more Atlesian Knights were being produced. "We need to seal those holes. They will keep coming through if they are left." Vader said to the commander. The commander nodded quickly and pulled out a MPL-57, a grenade launcher than shoots three grenades in a burst. Poking out, he shot at the one to the right. Vader opened his communicator, "Boba Fett. Bomb the buildings in front of our position." His only response was "On it." And Vader saw the Slave I fly overhead and drop a number of bombs on the buildings, some of which landed on the street, leaving small craters in the whitish-grey concrete. The job was done, as the buildings became fiery heaps of rubble and metal.
Vader opened his communicator again and ordered, "Inferno Squad. Have you reached the planet's surface?" The female voice of Iden Versio came through,
"Not yet, sir. Should we intercept the forces invading the Star Destroyer?"
"No. Our target is still Ironwood. Board his ship apprehend him. Most should be droids, but be aware, his higher ranks have human beings."
"Copy that." She accepted.
"Boba Fett did you read that?"
There was a slight pause. "Yes, I did." He said in a way that said he knew where this was going.
"You are to accompany them."
There was another pause, no doubt for a sigh. "Will do."
"Remember, we need him alive."
"Understood." The bounty hunter said as he disconnected.
The troopers finished off the last of the droids and the firefight came to a halt. "To the academy." Was all Vader said. As the shields dissipated and fires were now raging in the streets.
There was little doubt that there were more of these droid producers throughout the city. No matter. In due time, this city would fall, and the Relic will be in possession of the Empire.