Not really a whole lot to say, so here's the next chapter!
Chapter 4
Ruby walked into the main hangar, ready to get some modifications finished on her X-Wing. The thrusters as they were seemed to have too much output heat-wise than it gave out speed-wise, and she hoped that a few additions to the circuitry and a new coat on the engines could keep them from warping if she had to push it further.
Looking past the mishmash of other fighters and transports however, she saw Goodwitch and Yang talking outside the Bumblebee. It looked like it was getting pretty heated. Her interest piquing, she waited until the Admiral turned and walked away before making her way towards her sister. From 20 feet away, she could feel the anger rolling off of her.
"What was that about?" She asked when she got within talking distance of the smuggler. Yang's eyes were a crimson red, a telltale song that whatever it was had genuinely pissed her off.
"The Admiral doesn't think I should take off for a few weeks." She seethed through her gritted teeth.
"Did she give a reason?"
"Apparently, there is a ton of Imperial traffic sweeping through, and we can't afford to give up the base's position."
"Well duh." Ruby scoffed. "Yang, your ship is fast but it's definitely not stealthy. If you went past the moon, you'd be spotted for sure."
"I guess…" Yang muttered. "I just hate being grounded like this."
"It's alright, Yang. You'll manage." Ruby patted her sister sympathetically on the shoulder before beaming up at her. "Buuuut I was about to do some modifications to my fighter. Wanna help me out with that?" She could feel the mood melt away from the blonde as she grinned.
"Of course! It'll be just like growing up!"
The two walked over to the fighter, smiling at each other and making small talk. The younger sister pointed Yang towards the boarding ladder, the canopy already flipped upwards and the cockpit open and ready for a pilot.
"I'm gonna work on modifications, and I need you to sit in the cockpit and run diagnostics while I work. I might also need you to hand me down some tools I've left up there."
"You've got it, boss." Yang flashed a thumbs up before climbing the ladder upwards, swinging herself into the open cockpit. She began flipping switches across the board, lights flickering and stabilizing on the display.
"You've made some pretty hefty modifications here, sis." Yang called down, noting the boost controls and more adjustable yoke. Ruby shrugged as she dragged out a small toolkit, beginning to rewire the energy output.
"I do what I can. It helps keep me busy in my downtime, and it helps keep me alive in a pinch." Yang nodded absentmindedly as she hooked in a system scanner to the dash, watching it run tests on the wiring.
"So you, uh… you've killed before?"
"Of course. It's one of my duties." The younger girl replied casually, causing Yang to feel a bit uneasy. The thought of her younger sister taking the life of another living being wasn't one that she liked to entertain.
"Does dad know just how dangerous your duties are?"
"I don't know. I haven't seen him in years." The younger girl's reply seemed quicker than usual, and noticeably more forced. The smuggler decided to ease off the topic and move to something else. She was surprised when her sister did so first.
"What do you know about Blake?"
Yang sighed, combing her fingers through her curly blonde locks as she racked her mind.
"I know she's no friend of the Empire, that's for sure. And she's pretty skilled in that Jedi stuff."
"Do you think she's one of the old Jedi?" Ruby asked.
"Nah, too young. She can't be older than 19 or 20." She chuckled. "I'd say she probably learned from someone else." Ruby was silent for a moment before quietly asking another question.
"Do you… do you think whoever taught her died?" Yang stiffened slightly. Of course she hadn't particularly thought of the raven-haired Force-wielder's background, but the more she thought about it, the more it started to make sense to her.
"Well… she is pretty quiet. Definitely keeps to herself." She poked her head over the edge of the X-Wing's cockpit.
"I don't think she wants to talk about it, if it's true."
"That makes sense." Ruby sighed. Flipping the panel shut once more, she looked down at a small datapad. "Alright, Yang, I'm gonna test out the new circuitry. Let me know if anything sparks and stuff." Yang nodded and went back to the device, refreshing the scan as her sister turned on the new modifiers.
Things seemed to be going well… until suddenly red lights began flaring across the display, an alarm blaring in her ears.
"R-Ruby! Shut it off!" She shouted. The pilot hurriedly shut the wiring down again, causing the alarm to shut off. The two sighed in relief before Ruby began to giggle.
"Looks like I might need some more work here than I thought." Yang smirked. At least her sister hadn't changed too much while she was gone.
-oo00oo-
Blake panted slightly as she caught her breath, perched in a tree branch high above the ground. She had been pushing her limits over the last few days, trying to keep her training up despite not having Vader's tutelage to guide her.
She reflected on the Sith Lord's direction as she took a break, pondering what the true purpose of this could be. She had learned to always question his motives, just as he questioned the Emperor's, and this was no exception. There was no way he just wanted to find this Rebel cell. They didn't even have a record, as far as she knew.
Perhaps he wants the girl. She considered. It wouldn't be the first time he's looked for another apprentice in my time. She thought back to the last few rivals Vader had presented. Every time, she had managed to defeat them - and deep down, she thought Vader probably expected that outcome.
When she thought about Ruby, however, she realized the outcome might not be as predictable. Usually the Dark Lord had found Dark Jedi, hastily-trained Force Wielders, or even the occasional Shadow Guard that Vader had chosen to advance in terms of training. This girl, however, was an untapped source. Her powers were unknown, as well as her limits. If she were to get the proper tutelage…
Blake leaped to the ground, landing with a soft thud as her boots hit the ground. She looked around her, noting that the sun was beginning to set over the canopy, and decided that now was probably a good time to head back to the rebel base. She walked back through the underbrush, surrounded by her own thoughts.
Her arrival to the base was mostly unnoticed, a few technicians or pilots giving her a simple nod as she made her way through the hangar. She paid them no mind as she made her way to the barracks in the back of the base.
She noticed a loud snoring coming from one of the rooms - probably Yang, as she had found out through the trip from Filve to Vatin-Ell. She rolled her eyes slightly as she continued on the way to her quarters. As she passed Ruby's room, however, she heard something faintly coming through the door. Placing an ear to the cold metal, she listened carefully.
"Hng~ I-It's too tight!" The pilot squeaked out through the door, grunting and panting. "M-Maybe it'll go better if I go like this…" More stifled noises drifted through the durasteel, causing Blake to recoil, blushing heavily as her mind jumped to conclusions about what the young girl was doing in her room. Of course, it was only natural for a girl Ruby's age, but at this time? The twin moons were just starting to rise in the distance - far too early for most people to… do that sort of thing.
While deep in concerned thought about just how high Ruby's sex drive must be, the door suddenly shot open, causing her to freeze. She turned, eyes locking with Ruby's for a moment. Carefully, she looked down. Ruby was fully clothed, casual attire clinging to her form. Blake let out a huge sigh of relief, blush receding. Ruby wondered what the hell Blake had been thinking about as she sat up a bit on her bed.
"Blake! What's up?"
"O-Oh, uh… nothing." She gave a tight-lipped smile, somehow feeling even more uncomfortable than before. "The door just opened on it's own…"
"Oh. Weird. I'll get some technicians to look at it tomorrow." The redheaded pilot shrugged before patting the bed next to her with a smile.
"Wanna keep me company for a bit?"
"I wouldn't want to intrude on whatever you were doing." Blake politely declined, preparing to turn and continue to her room. Ruby nodded again, sighing.
"Yeah. Sure thing. I wasn't doing much, just trying to open this blasted box." She pulled something from behind her back, and the apprentice's eyes immediately shot open as they focused on the small item. Slowly, she stepped closer.
"R-Ruby, do you know what this is?"
"No! Do you?" The younger girl asked excitedly, sliding forward a bit and holding it out to her. Blake gently picked it up, feeling the gentle hum of unknown energy resonating inside the dark blue cube as she turned it over in her hands.
"This is a Jedi Holocron." She said softly. "Most of them were taken by the Emperor during the Purge, and finding one is incredibly rare. Where was this one?" She asked suddenly as she looked up, amber orbs locking with silver.
"One of the moons. There's an old temple on it… I guess an old Jedi temple." Ruby grinned, scratching the back of her head. "I've explored it a few times, but that's the first thing I've really gotten that's not junk."
Gently, Blake set the holocron on the desk, giving Ruby a thin smile.
"This is a good find. No doubt it's filled with Jedi secrets, training methods, or even knowledge of the Force itself."
"So… how do I open it?" She asked, cocking her head. Blake froze as she realized that she didn't rightly know. She of course had learned how to open a Sith holocron - using the Dark Side of the Force, it would react to the energy and whatever was in it would open itself to the user. Surely it was a similar concept with a Jedi holocron, which posed a problem - Blake was no Jedi.
"I… I don't really know." She finally replied, sitting in a chair next to the desk with a sigh. "Some secrets just… always stay secrets." Ruby watched the pale woman's face for a moment before resigning, lying back against the wall.
"It's whatever. Just another piece of junk, then. I guess I could toss it?"
"NO!" Blake jolted forward, catching Ruby by surprise at the Force-wielder's eagerness. The young woman coughed awkwardly before regaining her composure.
"Holocrons are rare. Incredibly rare. If you were to dispose of it, you'd be throwing away part of a culture, a civilization." She paused before shrugging. "I'd keep it safe if I were you."
Ruby nodded thoughtfully before tucking the holocron into a desk drawer.
"I'll make sure of it." Blake smiled and got up, turning to the door. Just before leaving, however, she turned back to the girl with a sort of half-smirk dancing on her face.
"And hey - maybe you'll open it up one day. Who knows." Ruby laughed.
"Yeah, sure. And when that happens, Yang will become a pacifist, and the Emperor will wear a pink dress." Blake shrugged and exited the quarters, the door sliding shut behind her. Ruby chuckled softly to herself, reclining in the bed as she felt herself beginning to doze off.
"Heh. Me. A Jedi." She said softly before her eyes slowly blinked shut, and her mind drifted off into the abyss of a deep sleep.
Hey guys! Sorry this chapter took longer than usual, and/or wasn't as long as usual! I've been writing a lot of papers for my courses lately, and that's been eating up my time!
I also have some interesting news concerning this fanfic! I have entered in the RWBY Big Bang, a huge event run by the user technoskittles on Tumblr! It's a huge mishmash of fanfiction and art being written over the next few months by RWBY fans, and I've signed up as an artist and an author! While this means I'll be working hard on a new fanfic for that, it also means I'll have to put this one on pause for a short time. I'll still write on this when I need a break from my newer work, but updates won't be very frequent, plus I have another story on here that I need to update every once in a while. So stay tuned for that, and please be patient with me!
Also a minor note, but I have successfully made an AO3 account! Don't worry, I'm still going to upload works here, but my stuff will be there too! So go ahead and give me a follow or smth if you want!
That's it for tonight! Signing off!
KoR~