Disclaimer: Still don't own it

I want to thank the last few reviewers for their praise for this story and I greatly appreciate the encouragement. I really want to make a shout out to IMS and SSDConker for their statements and letting me know that I should have been more specific in terms of Vader's Tie Fighter; which I should have done. I am going to try and move the plot more forward starting with this chapter so expect our characters to finally encounter one another now; especially with the members of Team RWBY.

Ruby knew it was time to leave.

While she had hoped to spend a few more days in Vacuo City to rest and replenish her supplies, the current mood prevented that.

It still amazed her that even though the White Fang had gunned down civilians just as they did the stormtroopers, she was seen as the villain by the people of the city. After her arrest by the Imperial reinforcements, she had been quickly let go when the Officer she saved not only vouched for her but said she was a hero. She then had been awarded a medal as well as given a bounty on the White Fang members that she had killed in combat. It was only after she had gotten back to the hotel she was staying that the dark looks got shot her way even though the staff still treated her politely. Hiding in her room for the rest of the day, only coming out to get something to eat, she saw that she had made the local news with a few of the reporters appearing to be a little bias towards her. From her bed, she watched as the people she interviewed, both Humans and Faunus, stated that she shouldn't have interfered and that it was the White Fang that were the real heroes; even if they had murdered a few innocents in their ambush on the Imperial troops. The Huntress couldn't help but feel disgust towards the people she was trying to protect from those who wanted to cause chaos on Remnant.

Currently, she was in her bedroom packing her things so that she could be ready to leave first thing in the morning. Her food lay not too far away on the nightstand next to the bed while her Crescent Rose was next to the door which was locked. She had left the room earlier to see if there were any jobs available that would take her out of Vacuo but everything was on lockdown by the Empire to root out any more White Fang that happened to still be in the city. Imperial landing craft had arrived earlier in the day to deploy more troops and even heavy vehicles were now in the mix with walkers of various types patrolling the perimeter of the city itself. After she couldn't find anything to travel with, the Huntress had decided to just strike it out on her own and had received permission to leave the city of the authorities. She had even been allowed to catch any passage on any craft to the other Kingdoms if she wanted though Ruby had declined the offer. She needed some time out in the wilderness to train and hunt Grimm without having to deal with the local politics. A part of her felt that the people just needed to understand that this was a new Remnant now with the old one not coming back any time soon.

She was packing her Dust cartridges when there was a knock at her door.

"Yes?" inquired Ruby loudly as she opened the door to see a dark-green uniformed Imperial Officer standing there. Though she wasn't familiar with the insignia on his uniform, he looked young enough to be a junior officer.

"Sorry to bother you Huntress but this is for you," stated the young man politely as he handed her a small circular device. It was about the size of a tennis ball and black with a couple of red buttons on it.

"What is it?" asked the Huntress as she examined it after taking it from him. The young blonde-haired man had a pair of armored troops behind him though she did not feel intimidated by them in the least.

"It's an emergency transponder ma'am. If you are ever in trouble, just press the larger red button and a detachment of troops will be there in moments for support or extraction," informed the Officer, as he pointed at the device.

"Thank you," was all that the young woman could say as the officer and the accompanying troops then left her. He had given her a small polite bow before doing so with the troops also saluting her.

As she put the thing on the bed, Ruby was glad that she was leaving first thing since this was bound to make the patrons even more annoyed with her. Even if she had decided to stay a few more days, there was no way she could have stayed invisible after that particular visit. The news had yet to mention her name or where she had been staying but no doubt interested parties would now know thanks to the visit. While she had nothing to fear since she was a trained Huntress and a pretty powerful one at that, Ruby suspected that it would be safer to make sure her weapon was at her side once she headed to bed for the night. The young Huntress had learned to keep her aura up even when she was asleep so that she could be protected at all times as well as was able to sense when danger was nearby; which was useful when in Grimm territory. While she doubted that she would suffer any attacks by any White Fang with the Empire now patrolling the streets in force, Ruby had longed to never let her guard down. It was a lesson she had learned from Beacon the hard way and the Huntress had vowed to never forget again.

Once she was done getting ready, Ruby placed her things next to the door and decided that it would be a good idea to go to bed early. Turning on the television to watch something until she felt tired enough, the young woman contemplated on her possible destination. Truth be told, there were very few places that offered good options for her at the moment though she supposed that she could always venture to one of the outer continents for the first time. It was said that Atlas had established a few settlements under Imperial protection and it would be easy for her to get a transport there. She could even contact the Empire now and leave right away if she wanted though she did want to think about it first. Perhaps she could make her decision on the way to Mistral since all roads led to Haven and she would have a better idea on her plans by the time she got to the city. The other reason she was happy to leave was that there was a chance that word of this might reach the people she knew; which she did not want to face right now. While Ruby was more than willing to reconcile with her sister and wanted to see her father again, she felt it just wasn't the right time yet. The last thing she wanted was for one of them to try and persuade her to give up her current quest.

Sleep came easy for her after a while once she had shut off the television. It was quiet outside except for the sounds of Tie Fighters overhead which she was able to ignore. The problem Ruby did have though was the recurring nightmares that often plagued her on occasion. There were a mix of them but they all had a frequent element to them; which involved the death of her loved ones and the laughing of Cinder Fall. They had started in the aftermath of the Battle of Beacon when she had witnessed the Fallen Maiden shoot that arrow into Pyrrah's chest and then turn her friend into ash afterwards. While things had been hazy after that, Qrow not really giving her details when she had unlocked her Silver-eyed powers, she did know enough that she had battled Cinder for a brief time before the Tower fell under attack by the Empire. Apparently, her Uncle had arrived just in time before a group of Ties had opened fire on the Grimm Dragon and grabbed her unconscious form during the battle. It was then that Cinder had fled while the Grimm had been killed by the Imperial Forces; though there had been a general lack of details on the incident. Ruby had awoken a few days later and that was when she learned about the aftermath as well as what had been hidden from all of them.

Ruby supposed that out of all of her family, she had grown to be rather angry with her Uncle Qrow. While the logical part of her young mind knew that he had kept things from her out of a necessity to protect her, she couldn't help but be cross. The fact that he had known all about how her mother had died, with even her father not knowing the full truth, had enraged her at the time when he had finally informed her of the facts. Ruby had always looked up to her mother Summer Rose and had wanted to be a Huntress just like her; especially after finding out that she had inherited her semblance which was a rarity on Remnant. To find out that her mother had been murdered instead of being lost on a mission had taken quite a toll on her mind since it had put things in perspective. Summer had been targeted by Salem and her minions for her lineage that even she did not fully understand; still in the process of learning her true strength when forces had ambushed her on her last mission. Qrow had even found her and instead of bringing her home, he had buried her in a secret spot and lied about her disappearance so that the truth could be hidden. While her father and sister had understood and forgiven him, Ruby could just not bring herself to.

Which was one of the reasons why she left to train on her own in the first place instead of asking her Uncle to help her.

She had risen from bed even before the sun had come up with her alarm going off on her scroll next to Ruby. Dressing quickly back into her usual Hunter attire and wrapping herself into her red cloak, the young woman looked to see if she had missed anything since she did not want to leave anything behind. Finding that she did indeed have everything on her, Ruby slipped out of the room and into the darkened hallway quietly. As she headed down the hallway, her large backpack made some slight sounds though she did her best to move through the deserted pathway without trying to wake anyone up. There was an older man at the front desk who just gave her a blank look as she handed him her key; though he did thank her once she had left him a tip. Since she had grabbed some food for the trip already, there was no reason to stop by the bar which had just opened in order to get a quick bite. Opening the main door, the Huntress slipped off into the night towards where the city exit lay.

The first group of stormtroopers she had come across demanded that she show some identification as well as a reason why she was out this time in the morning. The Empire had established a curfew in the city until all remaining White Fang had been rooted out. After showing the patrol her credentials, she was allowed on her way and they must have radioed ahead since the next group of soldiers she passed waved her thru without stopping the young woman. As she got closer to the exit, she encountered heavier Imperial forces in terms of AT-STs and more Sabre Tanks along with large squads of white-armored troops. They had huddled around the main entrance to Vacuo and they had built a few bunkers for better protection. There were stormtroopers manning gun batteries pointed towards the city with troops on the tops on the walls walking along the ramparts. While they were slightly intimidating, Ruby saw no reason to fear them even with the sounds of Ties overhead; seeing three circling the area she was in before heading off in another patrol route. Approaching the exit, she once again showed her credentials to the Imperial Officer in charge before being allowed to head into the desert.

"Morning," greeted a voice to the left of her once she had gotten past the Imperial forces stationed on the outside of the city entrance. She turned to see Nix standing there in the sand with his gear.

"Morning; I guess you had the same idea as I did," Ruby said to the man as the sun was starting to rise over the horizon. While he was dressed in his armor, the man had left off his helmet though it was strapped at his side.

"More or less since the mood seemed to have changed just a tad. When I overhear bartenders debating about spitting in my drinks, I take that as a sign that it's time to move on," stated the arc trooper with a shrug. Like Ruby, he had a backpack on though it was over his rocket pack and thus had to remove it before taking flight.

"Sorry you had to deal with that but I was feeling unwelcome too. Apparently the White Fang have more respect than those who tried to stop them," the red-cloaked Huntress said bitterly as they slowly trekked along the road leading away from the city. While she wasn't resentful, she couldn't help but feel a little angry at those she wanted to protect.

"You're going to find that when one's planet is now under the control of another, yesterday's terrorists become today's heroes. Given that the people here are slowly losing their freedom to the Empire, you can't really blame them for being the way they are," stated Nix as he tried to reassure the young woman. He had taken part in the early campaigns of the Empire and saw firsthand those who had welcomed him when he had come as the Republic but then wanted him to leave when it was the Empire.

"It's like they don't remember what happened at Beacon when the White Fang let Grimm into the school and people died. Vacuo students were amongst those who lost their lives trying to escape," Ruby argued as she put her hood on to protect shield her head from the rising sun. It was cool now but it was only a matter of time before the temperature would rise.

"People have short memories when it comes to current threats. I am no rebel by any means but I do see where they are coming from. What you saw back there is what is going on on a hundred planets right now all over the galaxy. Of course people here need to get that they should feel lucky that this isn't some Core World or they would feel an even more heavy hand of the Empire than they have right now," informed the Clone as he put his helmet on to protect his own head not to mention use the scanners to see if anything tried to sneak up on them.

"The whole thing is stupid; the Grimm and their Queen is the threat. Not the Empire who I have not seen do a single thing that wasn't warranted," Ruby told the former soldier as they just kept walking and took their time. The last thing they needed to do was exhaust themselves in getting to the oasis a few miles out. The Kingdom was littered with them and served as rest areas when traveling through the desert.

"Don't know what to say to you other than you better get used to it. So how long do you think it will take to encounter our first Grimm?" Nix asked with curiosity since he had yet to detect anything on sensors. He had read that the creatures were attracted to negative emotions and they had to have been drawn closer to the city given the current mood.

"Probably not long since all the negativity in Vacuo had to have drawn any roving bands in the area. More likely we will probably come into contact with either deathstalkers or nevermores though we are not near any mountain ranges where the fliers nested," answered the Huntress as she closed her eyes to see if she sensed any of the monsters. She couldn't feel anything and that slightly confused her since she expected to at least feel one lone deathstalker by now.

"I am surprised that the Empire doesn't have a few scientists on the planet studying the things," stated the clone out loud after a minute of silence between the two. He was still getting nothing except empty desert and a few vultures hanging around.

"From what I read back at Beacon, all attempts to study Grimm are useless since they dissolve once they had been killed. As for live ones, there's been nothing ever discovered though like I said, Salem is the one who rules them. My Uncle Qrow didn't know if she had created the Grimm or simply just came to control them somehow," informed Ruby as the continued to move along the pathway. The road itself was paved for now but soon would be in lesser condition the more they got away from Vacuo; which was getting smaller and smaller as they walked.

"I am curious to see what that looks like and I am willing to bet that there are some people on the planet researching these things. I also wouldn't be surprised if a few of these Grimm were taken off planet to some Imperial research facility in the Core," remarked Nix as he suddenly got something on his sensors. Before Ruby could respond to that, he held up his hand to silence the young woman.

"What is it?" asked the Huntress as she looked at him in confusion. Her hand went to her Crescent Rose involuntarily which was a habit of hers.

"I've got movement in that direction," answered the former commando as he pointed to the west of their location. Their view was blocked by some pretty high sand dunes.

"I'm not sensing any Grimm," Ruby stated as she closed her eyes and concentrated though she was coming on empty for the creatures. There was no species of Grimm that she had failed to sense with her new abilities so she had learned to trust them.

"Never less, I am sensing something moving in that direction," was all that Nix said and he contemplated on whether he wanted to check it out. The problem was that it lay pretty off the main road and he did not know the area well enough to risk getting lost.

"That doesn't make sense; I am going to check it out," said the Huntress as she quickly moved in the direction he had pointed to. It made no sense to her for anything to be out here given that nothing lay in that direction except empty desert.

"Guess that solves that," Nix said to himself as he moved to try and catch up to her. If she knew it or not, the young woman was using her semblance slightly with a small trail of rose petals coming from behind her.

By the time he caught up to her, they had just come up over the first dunes though there was a second set just after them. Making their way down the hill, they climbed the first one and it was when they reached the top that they got a good look at was causing Nix's sensor to go off. They then quickly dropped to their stomachs and crawled backwards a little when the sight of a large group of White Fang appeared below them. It seemed that they were part of a large convoy with a row of trucks and other vehicles heading towards the direction the two originally had been traveling. The convoy was currently stopped with the Faunus walking about with their weapons drawn as if they were on patrol. While more than a few had cloaks on to protect them from the rising heat, a few were in their standard attire though Ruby noticed that they had the traits of desert animals and assumed that they could stand the temperature. In the mix of the vehicles were a few that were obviously military and probably leftovers from when the Kingdom's militaries had been disbanded. Given that they were tracked tanks with desert coloring, Ruby believed them to be Vacuo in origin given that Atlas stuff would be a little more modern.

"Guess the Empire was too late in locking down the city," Nix stated quietly as they watched the scene from below. He was glad that his armor was made to prevent glares which would help in preventing them from being seen.

"Or they got out using a secret exit since Vacuo City is rumored to be full of them. I do wonder how they have yet to be detected by the Empire," Ruby remarked since the collection of metal vehicles had to have at least appeared on any passing Tie Fighter's sensors. It had been a while since she had seen so many of the group in one place given that they operated in smaller cells; this looking more like a small army.

"I think I know and it seems that they have some pretty good contacts on this planet. See the truck with the large dish on it? That is an old Separatist Sensor Jammer and its likely preventing this group from being detected by the forces in the city," explained Nix as he used the optics on his helmet to get a good look at the other tech the terrorist group had in their midst. He was surprised to see that besides Separatist blasters that the White Fang were holding, there were a couple of Old Republic AT-RTs strapped in the back of a tracked flatbed.

"Are you sure?" asked Ruby as she looked over to see one of the trucks with what appeared to be an oversized radar dish twirling around. It looked as if someone had taken it off of something else and attached to the vehicle it was on.

"Blew more than a few of those things up in my day so they are kind of hard to forget. They got some pretty advanced tech down there; older stuff than what is used in the empire but still more cutting-edge that what a local terrorist group should be using," informed the former commando as he watched the people below start to get back into their vehicles. It looked like they were getting ready to leave and continue on towards their unknown destination.

"The White Fang were good at stealing stuff from the Kingdoms back before the occupation began. There were also those who sold the group tech as well which was why they often had some Atlas stuff. I am counting about thirty vehicles," stated Ruby once she finished studying the whole scene. She had no idea how many people were made up of the convoy but suspected that it was probably a lot.

"That's about what I got as well though I can't tell how many of them there are since my sensors are being jammed. There is a slight break in the jamming net though which is probably how I first detected the movement," Nix told the Huntress as they watched the vehicles start to move slowly along the sandy ground.

"Could they be detected by the Empire?" she asked him as she watched them go; conflicted on what to do next. All Ruby knew was that she was not going to simply let this go and had to do something.

"If they knew what they were looking for. Given the clear skies and told about the jammer, the fleet in orbit would easily pick this little posse up. While it was hard for us in the old days during the Clone Wars, sensor tech has modernized a bit under the Empire," answered the clone as he was unsure on what to do. While he didn't really want to get involved in local matters again, he really didn't want to let these White Fang go with what they had.

"I see; well I am going to follow them. Maybe they'll lead me to where they are getting all of this technology and I want to do something about it," Ruby said to the former soldier as she got on her feet and prepared to tail the vehicles. It bothered her that the White Fang were in possession of such technology and wanted to see it destroyed.

"With you there; let's go," Nix said as he rose to his feet as well. They then moved quickly to catch up with the enemy.

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