Rich, Desperate, or Both


She entered the office, shaking slightly from nervousness. Before her was a wide panoramic window, overlooking the landscape of Vale Prime. In front of the window was a grey-haired man in a naval uniform, observing the vista and sipping on coffee.

"You wanted to see me, Fleet Admiral Ozpin?" she asked, her nervousness evident in her man turned around, revealing brown eyes peering over dark spectacles.

"Ah, yes, Lieutenant," Ozpin said as he stepped away from the window. "Please, have a seat." The girl obeyed and sat in one of the chairs facing Ozpin's desk. Ozpin sat down across from her and pulled up a file on his terminal.

"Lieutenant Ruby Rose," he said. Ruby's heart skipped at the use of her full name. "Age 19, graduated top of her class at the Vale Naval Academy. Extreme proficiency shown in piloting, marksmanship, and tactics. Currently stationed on the Star Destroyer Amity under the command of Captain Flowers. Recently eliminated five pirate fighters during a raid in the Vert System."

"The pirate thing wasn't that big a deal," Ruby said shyly.

"Most would disagree," Ozpin said warmly. "You have a very impressive resume, Lieutenant Rose. I do hope you're enjoying your hard-earned shore leave."

"I am, I just wish that there was someone on Patch I could visit," Ruby lamented. "My mother couldn't get shore leave and my father is on a business trip."

"I do apologize, but Admiral Rose is a busy woman," Ozpin said.

"I understand sir, it's just.. unfortunate," Ruby said.

"Indeed," Ozpin said. "Ruby, I have a job for you, one that no one can know about. Not your family, not your wingmen, not even your captain. It is top secret."

"For me?" Ruby asked, stunned. "Why me, sir?"

"I need someone that I think is capable of carrying out a mission like this," Ozpin explained. "I believe you are the perfect candidate."

"What do you need me to do?" Ruby asked.

"The heir to the Atlesian Empire, Princess Weiss Schnee, has run away from the Imperial Palace," Ozpin explained. He pulled up a picture of the Princess on his terminal and showed it to Ruby. Even though it was just a picture, she was the most beautiful girl Ruby had ever seen. "It is believed that she has taken an experimental Atlesian weapons system with her. Your mission will be to track her down. If she doesn't have the weapon, you are to bring her back to Atlas. However, if she is in possession of the weapon, you are to bring her back here."

"Aren't we allies with the Empire, sir?" Ruby asked. "Why are we worried about their Princess?"

"It is because we are allies that this concerns the Republic," Ozpin said. "This weapon is deeply concerning to our scientists, and if it could conceivably be a threat to the Republic, we must have it. However, if we return the Princess to Atlas, in the event she is not in possession of a weapon, I am sure that Atlas will be grateful."

"So, if I find the Princess, it's a win-win for us?" Ruby simplified.

"Precisely," Ozpin said. "Of course, you must not let anyone know what your primary objective is. If Atlas becomes aware of this operation, the entire galaxy could be impacted by the consequences."

"Oh, so no pressure," Ruby said while laughing nervously.

"We will be taking precautions," Ozpin comforted. "You will not use Republic equipment of any kind. We will purchase a ship for you, and outfit you with nonstandard weapons and equipment. We will give you a encrypted ID chip, so you still have access to Republic assets should you need them. It will appear as a civilian ID, but a DNA scanner will switch it to military."

"Oh, that's handy," Ruby commented.

"Indeed," Ozpin said. "You may go and begin preparations. Tomorrow morning we will outfit you and you will be on your way. You are to start in the Ceru system, on the planet Aulara. Intelligence reports sightings of a woman fitting Princess Weiss's description there."

"Understood," Ruby said, accepting her mission.

"Good, until tomorrow, Lieutenant Commander," Ozpin dismissed.

"Um, sir?" Ruby said before leaving. "I'm just a Lieutenant."

"Not anymore, Ruby," Ozpin said with a smile. "Your performance during that pirate raid alone is enough to warrant a promotion. You may receive another, if this operation goes smoothly."

"Thank you, Admiral!" Ruby said excitedly before leaving to prepare for the mission.


"What kind of job are we talking about here?" Yang asked curiously.

"I need transport to another system," Weiss started.

"Please don't tell me you need to go to the Aur System," Yang cut in.

"What? No, why would I go there?" Weiss asked in confusion. "I need to get to the Mele System. And we cannot have any contact with the Empire whatsoever."

"Everyone's running from the Empire, you'd think they're evil or something," Yang snarked. "What's the cargo?"

"Myself and another passenger," Weiss said.

"Well, avoiding the Empire to get to that system isn't going to be cheap," Yang said.

"I can pay you 50 now," Weiss offered. Yang and Blake laughed.

"Listen here, Wishful Thinking," she joked. "I don't know what brilliant economy you grew up in, but 50 lien won't even get you to the other end of the spaceport."

"50 thousand," Weiss clarified. Purple and gold eyes widened.

"That, will get you many places," Yang said. "All in advance." Weiss produced a large stack of lien chips from her cloak and put it on the table. Yang scooped them up and counted them. "Alright, Weiss, you've got yourself a ship. We leave tomorrow morning, docking bay 1348."

"Thank you, Captain," Weiss said before excusing herself. Yang and Blake watched her walk out before turning to each other.

"50 thousand!?" Blake exclaimed.

"She's either rich, desperate, or both," Yang deduced. "Either way, our money problems are solved! Let's go get what we need, and then head back to the ship and start getting her ready."

"Yang, wait," Blake said, grabbing Yang's arm. "Something's not right."

"What do you mean?" Yang asked. They waited for a moment, and then saw two Stormtroopers enter the cantina. Yang looked to Blake, who had her jaw clenched and her muscles tensed. "Easy Blake, we've dealt with troopers before, the Empire's not hunting you." Blake nodded and exhaled, but was still on edge. Despite the years they've had to talk around and avoid the Empire, Blake was never really able to let her guard down around them.

The troopers went around to the different patrons, showing them a hologram and asking if they had seen that person. Nobody pointed to Yang or Blake, leaving the two to relax. The troopers made their way around and finally came to the couple.

"Have you seen the woman?" came the voice from behind the helmet. The girls looked at the hologram. It was a rich looking girl, dressed in expensive fabrics and wearing a lot of jewelry. Their interested wasn't truly piqued until they saw the name of the person. Princess Weiss Schnee.

"Can't say we have," Yang said flatly. Totally called it, both rich and desperate!

"Any suspicious looking people?" the trooper asked.

"Aside from the typical smugglers and thieves hiding in plain sight, no," Blake answered.

"Thank you, please contact the authorities if you see anything," the trooper said before he and his partner left. Yang and Blake waited a moment before paying their bill and leaving.

"Now before you say anything," Blake said. "Yes, you called rich and desperate."

"Woo!" Yang cheered as she threw her fist in the air.


"Babe, did we replace that negative power coupling?" Yang called from inside the ship.

"Yeah, I did last night," Blake called back as she detached the fuel line from the Celica. Yang called for something again, but Blake couldn't make it out with her hears covered by the bow. "I can't hear you, come here!" Yang came down and stood on the boarding ramp.

"I asked if the port sensor array was recalibrated," she asked.

"Didn't you already do that?" Blake asked. Yang looked down as she racked her brain, trying to remember if she did.

"Oh yeah, I think I did," Yang giggled out. Blake smiled and walked over to her.

"I think someone had one too many sunrises last night," she said before pecking Yang on the cheek. "I'll go and check."

"I'm not hungover! I couldn't have been that drunk!" Yang said as Blake entered the ship. She looked back out of the ship and noticed Weiss, still wearing her cloak, entering the docking bay with another cloaked figure. Weiss stopped and looked at the ship for a moment.

"This is the ship that will get us to Mele? The one that I payed 50 thousand for?" she said in disbelief. Yang rolled her eyes and stepped off the ramp.

"No, she's not easy on the eyes," Yang defended. "But, one of the fastest hyperdrives in the galaxy, the ability to evade and outrun Star Destroyers, she's got it where it counts." She turned her attention to the other figure. "Hey there, Yang Xiao Long, I'll be your pilot for this trip."

"Salutations, Captain!" the figure said enthusiastically as she took Yang's hand.

"Now, we're almost ready to go, so if you two will please come aboard, Blake will show you your cabins, and we'll be on our way soon," Yang said as she began to guide them. The other figure stepped aboard, but Weiss stopped outside the ramp.

"Thank you, Captain," she said. "You're helping us a great deal."

"Don't mention it, Princess," Yang said without thinking. Yang was then pinned to the stud of the boarding ramp with a dagger to her throat. Weiss' hood fell during the motion, and revealed the face that Yang saw in the hologram the previous night. Icy blue eyes bore into Yang's amethyst.

"How did you know?" Weiss hissed.

"A couple of troopers came to the cantina after you left last night," Yang calmly explained.

"What did you tell them?" Weiss said, even lower this time.

"I would never disclose a client's info," Yang snarked. Weiss blinked a couple of times in confusion.

"How are you joking with a knife to your throat?" she asked.

"Princess, I've been doing this a long time, you're hardly the first person to put a knife to my neck. Besides, I've got a fallback." Yang motioned downward with her eyes. Weiss looked down and saw that Yang had one of her blasters drawn and pressed to Weiss' stomach. Weiss sighed and put her knife away. Yang likewise holstered her blaster.

"I'm sorry," Weiss said. "I'm just… on edge."

"Believe me, I know what you mean," Yang answered as she looked up the ramp. Being with Blake for so long, she knew it all too well. "Now, if you're done threatening me, let's go get you settled."

"Thank you," Weiss agreed. The two of them walked aboard and found Blake just stepping out of one of the guest cabins with the other figure.

"Well Weiss, here's your bunk," Yang said, gesturing to the neighbouring cabin. "Right next door to… I'm sorry, did you tell me your name outside?"

"I am sorry," the figure said, putting her hood down. A bright smile and curly ginger hair lit up the room. "My name is Penny, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Likewise," Yang said. "You two go on and get comfortable, we just gotta run through some final checks." Blake and Yang left them to go to the cockpit.

"Penny seems… weird," Yang commented.

"Not as weird as the runaway Princess that we're transporting," Blake said as she sat in her chair in front of the console.

"Fair," Yang agreed. "I'm gonna go make sure we didn't leave any supplies."

"Okay, I'll just finish diagnostics," Blake said.

Yang left the ship and proceeded to the lobby outside the docking bay. All of their supplies was loaded up, and there was nothing forgotten in the library. As Yang turned to leave, she caught sight of a squad of Stormtroopers talking to the lobby receptionist. They were holding up a hologram to her. The hologram of Weiss. The receptionist pointed in the direction of Docking Bay 1348. Yang quickly turned around and dialed Blake on her wrist-comm.

"Blake, get ready for takeoff, I want to be in the air as soon as I'm aboard," she ordered.

"Why, what's going on?" Blake's voice said over the comm.

"Trouble, just do it." Yang switched off the comm, and as soon as she was out of sight of the troopers, broke into a run toward the docking bay. She made it into the docking bay and onto Ember Celica's ramp when troopers started filing into the bay.

"Stop that ship!" one of them ordered.

"Blake, go!" Yang shouted. Blaster bolts bounced off the Celica's deflector shields as the ship began to rise. Yang ran into the cockpit and into her seat, taking primary control from Blake. Yang hit the thrusters to get off planet as fast as the Celica could manage.

"How many times have we left a planet with people shooting at us now?" Blake joked.

"Dunno, lost count," Yang snarked back. The excitement brought Weiss and Penny into the cockpit.

"What's going on?" Weiss asked as they sat in the seats behind Blake and Yang.

"We made a few friends," Yang said. "Blake, watch the sensors, I'm going to start making the calculations."

"Two Star Destroyers coming from the other side of the planet," Blake said as she checked the display.

"Why aren't we in hyperspace yet?" Weiss asked angrily.

"Because I don't want to die!" Yang snapped. "If I pull that lever without precise calculations, it could send us shooting straight into a planet or a star, and that wouldn't be good for anyone, would it? Blake, put the shields double-aft and divert power from the quad guns to the sublights."

"Well then why aren't we outrunning them? You said this ship could do that!" Weiss complained again.

"I'm working on it!" Yang said as she continued making calculations. "There, coordinates locked!" Yang reached over to the hyperdrive lever and pulled, stretching the stars before them until they were enveloped in the familiar blue tunnel. Yang and Blake both exhaled and leaned back in their chairs, sharing a sideward look and smile.

"So… we made it?" Weiss asked.

"Normalize all systems," Yang told Blake. She spun round to face Weiss. "We made it. We'll be in the Mele System in about a day. So now you guys can relax, and not put knives to people's throats for the rest of the trip." Weiss' face tinted a slight red.

"Thank you, Captain," she said before she and Penny stood up and headed back toward their quarters.

"What about knives?" Blake asked in confusion.

"Weiss knows that we know who she is," Yang answered. "She… didn't take kindly to me knowing at first." Blake looked at Yang and noticed something. A thin line across the blonde's neck. It wasn't bleeding, it wasn't even really a scratch, but Blake knew. Something sharp had been there.

"Are you okay?" Blake asked concernedly.

"Babe, you of all people should know that a knife to my throat isn't enough to rattle me," Yang said through a smug look. She patted the blaster strapped to her thigh and winked. "I had it under control."

"If you say so," Blake said. "You good up here? I want to check some stuff out."

"Yeah, it's smooth sailing from here anyway," Yang said. Blake got up and headed out of the cockpit. She didn't go to any engineering systems, though. She headed for the passenger cabins. She walked up to Weiss' cabin and knocked.

"Who is it?" Weiss called from inside.

"It's Blake."

"It's open." Blake opened the door and stepped in. Weiss was sat at the desk, setting a tablet down to turn and face Blake. "What brings you here, Miss Belladonna?"

"Why were you holding a knife to Yang's neck?" Blake asked shortly. Weiss visibly swallowed hard.

"It was a moment of panic, Captain Xiao Long and I had a misunderstanding," Weiss said.

"What kind of misunderstanding, Princess?" Blake said, making sure to emphasize the title. Weiss looked down in defeat.

"I should have figured you'd know, if the Captain did," she sighed. "I'm running from my family's Empire. I was afraid that she'd turn me in if she knew."

"Why would a Princess run away from her life of luxury?" Blake asked, genuine curiosity in her voice.

"When she doesn't agree with what it's built upon," Weiss said, some disdain in her voice. "My father is a warmonger and a tyrant. He crushed the Vacuo Confederacy just because they had a Faunus leader. That's not right, and I don't want any part of it. I'd rather be poor and hunted than supported by something like that."

Blake was taken by surprise. An Atlesian who wasn't racist or trigger-happy. And she was even royalty. Blake was shocked that someone who lived a sheltered life in the Imperial Palace could even be so self aware.

"I understand if you want to drop us at the next system, what I did was out of line, and my composure during the chase was subpar as well," Weiss said.

"No, we're not doing anything like that," Blake said. "It must have taken a lot of courage to be able to get this far, and you're leaving behind a life that you couldn't live with a clear conscience. I understand your position. I'm not the biggest fan of the Empire either."

"Why's that?" Weiss asked. Blake hesitated. The only people that knew about her secret were Yang and Junior. She had just met Weiss, an Atlesian Princess. An Atlesian Princess, that didn't want to be. Blake reached up and undid her bow, putting her cat ears on full display.

"I have to keep them hidden in Imperial Space," Blake explained. "I also had to leave behind an old life, because I didn't agree with it's direction." Weiss looked for a moment longer.

"The White Fang?" she asked, and Blake nodded. "You made the right choice. Both sides of this war are wrong. Armed conflict won't solve the Faunus treatment in the Empire, it will only worsen it. I'm glad you don't support it."

"Likewise," Blake said while smiling. She put the bow back on. "Please, keep this a secret."

"Of course I will," Weiss said. "I am sorry again for my behavior earlier."

"Don't even worry about it," Blake said.

"And, thank you… Miss Belladonna."

"Just Blake, Weiss," Blake said as she turned to leave. She made her way back to the cockpit, happy from her unexpected conversation. Yang turned and looked at her as she entered.

"You were gone a while," the blonde commented.

"Ended up talking to Weiss," Blake said.

"Oh no, Blake, you didn't threaten her, did you?" Yang asked. Blake was a little protective, and she had done far worse for less extreme offenses.

"No, it was actually nice," Blake said.

"Really? Starting to cozy up to Atlas a bit?" Yang teased, earning a punch in the arm from Blake.

"Not on your life," she laughed out. Blake looked out of the viewport at the blue and black tunnel before them. Princess Weiss Schnee, the runaway Imperial Princess. An unexpected friend for Blake. But it just left her wondering more. Who was Penny, and what does she have to do with Weiss?


And now we know where all of our heroines are in the galaxy! Thank you all for reading, I can only hope that this chapter lived up to the last one. Loved all the feedback I got, I think it was the most well-received chapter out of all of my stories, you guys rock! See you next time!