Disclaimer, I do not own RWBY or any of the franchises referenced in this work
Note: Reuploading this chapter after FFN decided to just delete it all of a sudden. Hopefully it stays up this time. Sorry about the mess
Chapter 29: Tin Soldiers
Inspiration: Star Wars: The Clone Wars
"Welcome back all of you, today's viewing is another universe we've seen before, although with some changes." Blank said as his audience took their seats.
"More zombies?" Nora hedged.
"No. but before that." Blank said, before flickering once, causing Ironwood and Winter to reappear in their seats.
"I will never get used to that." Ironwood groused as he shifted into a more comfortable position, slightly ticked off that he was pulled away from his research on the ARC anti-demon weaponry. Their effectiveness was somewhat lacking against the demonic hordes but Grimm went down a lot easier and any possible edge in the war against Salem was always welcome.
"I see we're back, what viewing is in store this time?" Winter asked.
"A return to the universe with the Jedi, although not quite the same as the previous one. Some of the characters have been shuffled around, this one takes place during the final days of the republic." Blank said and the lights dimmed.
"Joy. So they're doomed." Roman's sarcastic laughter heralded the screen coming to life.
Blake and Jaune stood on the Venator's bridge, staring out into the void of hyperspace. Their mission on Mandalore had been a complete success and the Sith lord Tyrian Callows was now safely in custody. All that was left was bringing him to the Jedi council where he would stand trial.
According to the latest transmission from Coruscant, the Clone Wars were almost at an end. Once the last of the separatist leadership had been brought to justice for their crimes, peace would return to the galaxy at last.
But despite the nigh inevitable republic victory in the near future, an air of melancholy hung between the two friends.
"They're about to win the war and they're unhappy about it?" Ironwood frowned in confusion.
"Victory must have been too expensive for them." Ozpin said.
Blake's expression soured slightly and Jaune noticed immediately. "Something… on your mind?"
"As a Jedi… we were trained to be keepers of the peace, not soldiers. But all I've been since I was a padawan is a soldier." Blake said softly.
"Eh… I've known no other way. Gives us clones all… mixed feelings about the war. Many people wished it never happened, but without it, we clones wouldn't exist." Jaune admitted.
"Well, then perhaps some good has come from all of it. The Republic couldn't have asked for better soldiers, nor I, a better friend." Blake's words put a smile back on Jaune's face as the two exchanged a salute.
"So I'm a Jedi here? And Jaune's a clone?" Blake asked.
"Ex-Jedi. That version of you left the order after they shattered your faith in them. Jaune Arc here is one of the many clones that make up the grand army of the Republic, and the ranking officer." Blank said.
"Commander Arc, the latest briefing has come in." An officer approached the two of them before delivering the news.
"Want to have a look? It might have an update on General Ozma's efforts." Jaune offered.
"You go, I'm sure it's more good news." Blake turned the offer down, preferring to remain on the bridge in peace. She was Jedi no more, as a civilian, there was no longer any reason for her to sit in on another mind numbingly dull briefing from command.
Jaune gave her a small nod before walking away to his briefing. Blake remained where she was, lost in her own thoughts until a sudden shift in the Force pulled her out of her reverie. Her head started to hurt as voices not her own intruded.
"It's not the Jedi way! He must-" Adam's voice became distorted and it hurt to even try and process the noise. Blake winced as the volume intensified, screams, shouts and then more screaming.
She staggered about, swaying unsteadily as she tried to maintain her balance even in the face of the excruciating headache plaguing her.
"…What have I done!?" Adam's panicked and grief stricken words were the last thing bouncing around inside her head as the force 'vision' ended.
"Adam?"
"…What has he done?" Blake asked, frowning at the mention of her former mentor.
"Sealed his own fate and that of the Republic." Blank answered.
"Pity he didn't die in the war then." Ironwood groused.
"This version of Adam Taurus wasn't always a bad guy, just pushed by circumstances down a road he wouldn't have chosen to take. He's one of the biggest heroes of the Clone Wars, but everyone else just tried to use him as a pawn. It ends poorly." Blank elaborated.
"…What did he do?" Blake asked again.
"In this universe, he becomes Vader." Blank said.
"Oh."
Jaune's face was blank as he received his new orders from high command. His eyes narrowed as the hologram of a hooded figure rescinded his mission to deliver Tyrian for trial in favour of a new one.
"Execute Order 66." A soft, sinister voice spoke.
"Yes Lady Salem." Jaune bowed his head and acknowledged his new orders without protest.
"What. Come again?" Goodwitch stared blankly at the screen, not quite believing what she was hearing.
"Arc's working for Salem?" Qrow blinked once, before chugging the rest of his bottle.
"What's order 66?" Ruby asked, a tinge of worry for alternative Blake in her voice.
Blank said nothing, allowing the viewing to continue playing.
As Salem's hologram winked out of existence, the doors opened with a hiss as Blake rushed through, still badly affected by the force vision. "Rex! It's Adam. I feel like something terrible has happened."
Jaune's hands trembled and the helmet in his hands shook before he lost his grip and it fell from his limp fingers.
"Jaune…?" Blake hesitantly spoke up as she noticed the clone trooper guards beginning to raise their weapons at her.
"No!" Jaune ordered the guards to stand down before they could open fire.
"I'll do it."
"Jaune, what's happening!?" Blake approached only to freeze in her tracks when Jaune pulled out his dual pistols and aimed them right at her head.
"Stay back!" Jaune shouted, the blasters in hand trembling and throwing off his aim. Sweat beaded on his forehead and his face contorted in an ugly grimace as his fingers began tightening on the triggers.
"What!? I… I thought they were friends!" Pyrrha exclaimed.
"They are." Blank said.
"Then why?"
"Because he has no choice." Blank answered.
"Find him… find him!" Jaune shook his head as he struggled to get the words out and hold off pulling the trigger as long as possible.
"Fives! Find himaargh!" Jaune's blasters opened up on Blake, sending two bolts towards the former Jedi. Blake dodged the poorly aimed shots and leapt forwards, evading the incoming fire from the clone guards and tackling Jaune at the same time.
Jaune's head collided with the holotable, stunning him and causing him to drop his weapons. Blake let him collapse to the floor as she ignited her lightsabers, deflecting the clones' blaster bolts back at them, burning smoking holes through them.
Shock, panic and sheer disbelief ran through her at the sudden betrayal of her friend and comrades. But there were more pressing concerns than her feelings now, Blake waved her hand and forced the blast doors to seal shut with the force.
"Jaune!" Before she could question the stirring clone commander, another set of doors opened up behind her, unleashing a squadron of clones, all gunning for her head.
Her twin lightsabers flashed as she deflected the incoming fire, returning the blaster bolts to the clones with deadly precision. As Jaune got back up and started shooting at her too, Blake switched tactics, deflecting the lasers upwards instead, her performance a graceful and deadly dance.
Even if she managed to down all the clones in the room with her, something she didn't want to do, more were definitely on the way and there was no way she'd be able to fight off a whole ship worth of soldiers on her own.
The more bolts deflected into the ceiling, the poorer visibility got as smoke poured from the damage and several lights were hit as well. Until eventually, her impromptu smoke screen concealed her completely and her lightsabers deactivated.
"Hold fire, we got her!" One of the clones shouted and hesitantly approached, waiting for the smoke to clear.
Jaune's eyes narrowed as there was a distinct lack of a dead body when they could see into the smog again. His eyes flicked from side to side, searching for any trace of his target before a shower of sparks drew his attention upwards.
There in the ceiling lay a circular hole, cut clean through by Blake's lightsabers and leading into the maintenance ducts. Jaune lowered his pistol and glared furiously at Blake's escape route.
"Sir, are you alright?" One of the clones asked.
Jaune winced slightly and closed his eyes, as though warding off a headache. "Fine, just uh… tired is all."
Shaking it off, he donned his helmet again, ensuring it wouldn't be so easy to take him down the next time they met.
"There's something wrong with him." Roman muttered.
"You mean besides the part he's trying to kill one of his friends and taking orders from Ms I am clearly a villain?" Qrow raised an eyebrow.
"He was fighting it at the start… did they mess with his head?" Roman mused.
"Mind control? That's impossible isn't it?" Weiss said.
"There was the Jedi mind trick, could Salem have done the same?" Winter wondered.
"On all of the soldiers? Unlikely I think." Ironwood replied.
Jaune breathed slightly easier once his helmet was back on and firmly sealed. "I want you to go to the detention level, execute Tyrian."
"Yes sir! Alright men!" The clone nodded and led a section of his squad off to deal with the Sith lord in custody.
"They're executing Tyrian? He's not working for Salem in this universe?" Cinder queried.
"He is. He's simply obsolete now." Blank said.
"Ah, I see." Cinder's smirk widened slightly at the thought of the accursed scorpion finally outliving his usefulness and being disposed of.
"Alright, we know Blake Belladonna is on board. She's been marked for termination by Order 66. Under this directive, any and all Jedi leadership must be executed for treason against the Republic." Jaune addressed the remaining clones with him.
"Any soldier who does not comply with the order will also be executed for treason. Understood?"
"YES SIR!" The loud acknowledgement from the other clones filled the air and Jaune nodded.
"There are only so many places to hide on this ship, gather up search parties, fan out and move section by section. Come on, let's get moving." Jaune waited for his soldiers to rush off to comply with his orders before following behind them, his full-face helmet obscuring his expression from the world.
"They have discipline, shame it's being put to use in this manner." Ironwood muttered, his tone laced with distaste.
"Treason against the Republic? I'm pretty sure they're looking the wrong way." Taiyang said.
"Not… exactly. At this point in time, Salem is supreme chancellor of the Republic and functionally the head of state for the entire galaxy. The truth about her being a Sith lord and the individual responsible for orchestrating the entire war is unknown to the wider galaxy. When the Jedi tried to put her down, they failed and she used it as a pretext to brand them all traitors of the highest order and subsequently order their destruction." Blank said.
"So that's how the Empire came to be?" Blake asked.
"Indeed. She rules the Republic already, after the Jedi purge and the elimination of the separatist high command, there was no one left who could challenge her reign. And it was a short step towards announcing the birth of a new galactic empire."
"And Jaune? He's friends with Blake, there's no way he'd betray her like that." Ren said.
"He doesn't have a choice. None of the clones do, just as designed."
Tyrian's eyes snapped open as the ray shields to his holding cell opened with a hiss. Two clone troopers stepped through with blasters raised. Trapped inside his sarcophagus prison and held in place by heavy duty restraints, he could do nothing but watch as one of the clones unlocked his coffin and prepared to finish him off.
But before the clones could execute their captive, Blake intervened. Force pushing one of the clones into a wall hard enough to knock him unconscious, she drew one of her lightsabers and sliced the other's blaster in half when he spun around.
Then with a wave of her hand, she slammed the clone into the ceiling, crushing him against it with the force until he blacked out. Blake glared at Tyrian as she let the clone fall to the ground, levelling her weapon at Tyrian's throat.
"Don't make me regret this." Blake snarled at the Sith before hitting the release on Tyrian's restraints, freeing the mad man.
"You've… you've survived." Tyrian coughed out as he stumbled out of the sarcophagus prison and fought to catch his breath.
"Is this your doing? Choose your words carefully." Blake held the lightsaber to Tyrian's throat again and demanded answers.
"No, no it was not my doing. I don't know what has occurred. But surely you have felt it. The voices crying out. The death." Tyrian admitted freely and Blake looked away, not wanting to think about the force vision that heralded this madness.
"The clones turned against me. Even Jaune… I don't know why, they just suddenly… weren't themselves." She said before turning back to the door and looking for any hostile reinforcements.
"Brilliant… brilliant!" Tyrian began laughing to himself as he pieced things together.
"I was not privy to my master's plan, but now… now I see it. She turned the Jedi's own army against them." Tyrian rose and dusted himself off, despite their falling out, he could still appreciate Salem's masterstroke.
"You have done the right thing by coming to me, only together can we survive this. Now if you'll follow my lead-" Tyrian shut up when the glowing laser blade stopped just short of his neck.
"You don't understand, I'm not here to team up with you. I need a diversion, and you're it. Now go cause some chaos, it's what you're good at." Blake shot down the idea immediately and began walking away.
"Care to give me a fighting chance?" Tyrian asked, raising his empty hands to draw attention to the fact he was still unarmed.
"I'm not rooting for you. Now get going." Blake ordered. Tyrian frowned in displeasure before turning on his heel and leaving.
"No way that's going to come back and haunt her later." Emerald said sarcastically.
"They're… not going to work together to survive? I mean they're on a ship where everyone is trying to kill the both of them, surely they can work together?" Weiss muttered.
"Heh, and get stabbed in the back? Enemy of my enemy is my enemy's enemy, that's all." Mercury chuckled.
"Indeed. Backstabbing and treachery are ingrained into Sith culture and their Rule of Two. Betrayal is how that Tyrian ended up where he was anyways." Blank said.
"Sir, we've finished our sweep of the detention level. The prisoner has escaped. No sign of Belladonna or Callows." A clone patrol reported to Jaune.
"Destroy the escape pods. Increase security on the hangar decks." Jaune took the bad news in stride and ordered the only ways off the ship locked down.
"Right away sir!"
"Destroy the escape pods? That's a bit much isn't it? What happens if there's an emergency?" Winter asked.
"Then they all die together." Blank said.
"…They would go that far just to kill two individuals?" Ironwood muttered.
"Yes. The clones were made to be expendable soldiers who would do anything to see their mission a success. They were literally created to be sacrificial pawns." Blank answered.
"It's despicable." Nora growled.
"That it is." Blank agreed.
"Bring up every file on clone trooper 5555." Blake instructed one of her droids to hack into the ship's database in the hopes of discovering what Jaune was trying to tell her before he went crazy.
Her astromech droid beeped and began carrying our its tasks as Blake stood by and watched for intruders. Thus far the clones hadn't made it to this droid storage bay but it was only a matter of time before they arrived.
"Okay Jaune… what am I looking for?" Blake mumbled as she scanned through the various files and documents her droid was projecting holographically.
Most of the files were meaningless to her, just bites about his service record or deployment history. But one stood out, an x-ray image, something about his brain, but chunks of the report were missing or redacted.
The file switched to a hologram of a kaminoan giving some kind of report. "An independent investigation confirmed that the clone trooper CT-5555 experienced a malfunction with his inhibitor chip. Both the senate committee and the Jedi council have accepted these findings. However, a grievance report was filed by CT-7567."
Blake massaged her chin in thought as the recording came to an end, figuring that that was probably what Jaune was trying to direct her to. "R7, bring up that report."
Her droid beeped in the negative, unable to comply.
"It's sealed? Try Adam's pass code, 8108." Blake said, her astromech beeped several times as the code was accepted and it was granted access to the file in question. It's holoprojector came alive again and a recording of Jaune began to play.
"I already know this report is gonna fall on deaf ears. Haah… but I owe it to fives to record what I saw. I'm… not sure I believe it myself, but… there's a possibility that the inhibitor chips the kaminoans put inside of us have a… purpose that we don't yet fully understand."
"Inhibitor chip? I don't like the sound of that." Ruby said.
"So, that's the thing that caused them to go cuckoo all of a sudden?" Yang asked.
"Indeed. Those chips were installed in the clones ostensibly to prevent rebellion or insubordination." Blank said.
"And the real reason for it?" Ozpin queried.
"To overwrite them and ensure they cannot disobey Order 66 when it's given."
"Fall back! Fall back!" A clone yelled as his squad was forced on to retreat. Those still on their feet continued firing at an unseen approaching threat to no avail.
Before the clone who gave the retreat order could get away, he was bowled over by a flying clone trooper. As his comrades continued shooting, an unamused Tyrian Callows rounded the corner, blaster bolts continued flying by him harmlessly, none of the clones able to aim accurately with the force messing with their minds.
Making a pulling gesture, Tyrian ripped a section of the wall away, knocking over a clone with the sheet of metal. It served as a shield from stray bolts yet still left him free to demolish the clones with his force powers, throwing them around the corridor like ragdolls.
Once his makeshift shield was starting to have more holes than swiss cheese, he discarded his shield but laying it flat and sending it shooting towards the clones at neck level.
Two bodies hit the ground, followed shortly by their helmets.
Using the force to rip more metal panels free and sandwiching clones with bone crushing force, Tyrian used the panels as his next set of shields before sending them shooting towards the clones again with deadly accuracy.
"Fall back towards the main hangar!" The patrol sergeant shouted as his squad was being picked off one at a time, none of their weapons capable of standing up against a pissed off Sith lord.
"You must seal the blast doors." Jaune ordered through the comm link.
The clones hurried to do as instructed as Tyrian's annoyance with their blaster fire grew and he started tearing the guns from their hands with little more than a thought.
As the doors began to seal shut, the sergeant was the last one to flee through. But his escape was halted when he suddenly rose into the air, held aloft by the force. Then he was shooting back towards Tyrian as the madman reeled him in.
As his squad desperately tried to pull him back towards safety in a macabre tug of war, they weren't strong enough to overcome the force pull. The sergeant continued being pulled in close, arm outstretched and the door sealed completely around it.
Tyrian rolled his eyes at the desperate attempt at survival. None of them would be leaving this ship alive once he was done here. At least he got what he came for, the communicator would prove useful in tapping enemy comms, nice of the sergeant to leave it behind along with his arm.
"That's one way to disarm someone eh?" Yang joked, and a chorus of groans and complaints rose afterwards.
"Yang, no. Just no." Blake shook her head and promptly slapped Yang on the back of her head for her terrible pun.
"Oh come on, that one basically wrote itself." Yang complained.
"It's still bad." Weiss piped up.
"Hmmph! Everyone's a critic." Yang folded her arms with a grumble.
Boots thudded along the hallways as more clones rushed to reinforce the squads Tyrian had bloodied. Jaune himself was heading down to deal with the Sith since Blake hadn't reappeared and Tyrian was the clear and present danger.
As he was bringing up the rear of the formation, one of Blake's droids shot out from the shadows to collide into him. "Hey. Hey! Out of the way!"
Another one of the droids dashed past them to interface with the ship and seal off the blast doors there, cutting Jaune off from the rest of his unit. One by one they sealed until he was locked into an impromptu holding cell.
"Are you crosswired!?" Jaune yelled at the droids for their sudden interference.
The droids simply beeped several times before one of them displayed a recording of Blake. "Jaune. I think I know what's happening. I saw your report on Fives. It isn't your fault. You were programmed, your mind was altered to do this when you were very young. I can help you."
Jaune drew his pistol and pointed it straight at the droid once the recording finished. "Where is she?"
"I'm right here."
Jaune's skin crawled as Blake announced her presence from right behind him. As he spun to face her, he inadvertently exposed his back to the droid. A mistake he paid for in full when the droid unsheathed a stun prod and electrocuted him.
"Arrrggghh!" Jaune screamed in pain as the sudden surge of electricity was strong enough to bypass his armour's shielding and zap him directly. Shocked into unconsciousness, Jaune sank to his knees and toppled forwards where Blake caught him.
"Careful! We're trying not to hurt him?" Blake chided her droid, reminding them they were trying to fix her friend not fry him from the inside.
She gently lay the comatose clone commander on top of two of the droids and began walking towards the medical bay. Her droids had locked down all the doors leading there but already the clones were starting to cut their way through the barricades.
"Okay, they got Jaune. So now they just need to get that chip out of him and he can tell everyone to stop?" Pyrrha asked in a hopeful tone.
"Maybe. Except he gave the order that anyone who disobeyed that Order 66 will be executed too. Rest of the ship will still be trying to kill them both." Qrow's reply took the wind out of her sails immediately.
"So what can they do?" Ren asked.
"…I don't know. But they better think of something fast." Qrow muttered.
"R7, run a scan, see if you can find the inhibitor chip the report talked about." Blake instructed as she continued keying commands into a console panel. The still comatose Jaune lay on an examination table in the med bay as the scanner warmed up.
As the scans progress and her astromech processed the data, sad beeping came from it as it couldn't detect the chip even with the med bay's most advanced scanners. Blake frowned but refused to give up. "But the chip has to be there. Check again."
She bit her lip as the scans continued to come up negative. Time was running out for them, already the clones had found the med bay and were trying to breach the doors. Her droids had done their best to lock it down, but it would not hold forever.
Drawing upon her Jedi training once more, she pushed down the rising panic and moved to Jaune's side. If technology could not help her here, maybe the force could.
Placing her palms on either side of Jaune's head, Blake closed her eyes and tapped into the force, willing it to work with her to reveal the truth. "I am one with the force and the force is with me. I am one with the force and the force is with me…"
As the force did its thing, the unconscious Jaune began to mumble the mantra as well. The strain showed on his face as Blake's intervention began messing with the inhibitor chip's functions. A small beeping sound came from the monitor as the scanner suddenly picked up a spike of unusual activity inside his brain, signalling the location of the inhibitor chip.
"You found it!?" Blake's eyes snapped open and turned towards a viewscreen displaying the results of the scan.
"R7! Get him under and remove that thing!" Blake instructed and began working on the console again.
When her droid beeped its uncertainty, Blake shook her head. "I don't know if it'll work, but if it doesn't, we're dead anyways."
Once more she pushed her uncertainty down as the med bay prepared for an emergency operation. Sparks flared as the clones outside were almost through the doors. Blake grit her teeth and drew her sabers again while her droids worked on Jaune.
Finally, the worst came to pass as the doors started unsealing slowly. A clone ducked under the door to push it up the rest of the way, while his compatriots began filling the air with blaster bolts.
Blake's sabers flashed as she deflected the bolts away, not allowing a single one to touch her or hit Jaune by accident. Thrusting her hands forwards, she delivered a powerful force push that sent some of the clones tumbling backwards.
Alternating between force abilities and using her blades to deflect incoming fire, she held her ground as best she could but more troopers continued pouring in.
Behind her, Jaune was starting to stir. As he came to, his hands began reaching for his blasters immediately.
"Uh oh. he's waking up." Ruby said nervously.
"They got the chip? Tell me they got the chip in time." Yang muttered.
A blaster bolt made it past Blake's defence, striking her and causing her to drop one of her lightsabers. As the volume of fire headed her way intensified, she was forced backwards, doing her best to hold off the clones with just her one good arm.
Just when she thought it was over, several blaster bolts shot by her head from behind her, nailing the attacking clones and downing them instantly, including the one holding the door open. Without his interference, the door sealed shut under the guidance of her droids, one of which began welding it down tight.
Blake swung around to find Jaune fully awake, twin pistols in hand and shaking. The clone commander was breathing hard and continuing to point his guns in her direction.
"Jaune? Are you okay?" Blake asked.
"Y-yeah. I'm okay." Jaune took another deep breath before lowering his guns.
"Sorry for what happened earlier." Jaune apologised and gripped the side of his head where the chip had been removed. His mind was his own again but he was still reeling from the aftereffects of the biochip's activation.
"I almost killed you…" Jaune muttered softly, barely able to believe the events that transpired despite living them.
"How widespread is this?" Blake asked, partly to get his mind off it and partly to get answers on how deep the conspiracy went.
Jaune's face fell and he took another shuddering breath before answering. "Blake… it's all of us. The entire grand army of the Republic has been ordered to hunt down and destroy the Jedi knights."
The two of them lapsed into silence as the implications weighed upon them. Only the sound of clones beginning to cut through the doors reminded them that they were both deep behind enemy lines and the situation was only going to get worse.
"Aren't there supposed to be safeguards for these situations?" Ironwood asked, ill at ease with the idea of an entire army being subverted just like that.
"There are, the inhibitor chip is the safeguard. It was there to prevent any one commander from going rogue and taking up arms against the Republic. But when Salem is the Republic, that safeguard loses its effectiveness really, really quickly." Blank answered.
Ironwood frowned and thought back to Atlas's own mech soldiers. They weren't clones but the difference was pedantic given what Cinder planned. Countermeasures were something to look into in the future, since even without Cinder in the equation, he had no guarantee Salem wouldn't be able to install one of her agents in Atlas high command… if she hadn't already done so.
"How long was this cancer growing inside the Republic? There's no way something of this scale could have been done in recent memory." Winter asked.
"Decades in the making. The entire war was carefully orchestrated to sow the seeds of the future empire. Plunge the galaxy into enough chaos and the people will willingly bow down if it means peace and 'freedom' from future conflict." Blank said.
"And clearly it worked." Cinder huffed.
"That it did." Blank confirmed.
"How are we gonna get out of here?" Jaune asked as the clones outside were almost done cutting through the door. Getting off the operating table, he put on his helmet again and drew his weapons.
"I have an idea." Blake said.
"Which is?"
"Just set those things to stun. We're not trying to kill anyone." Blake replied.
"Yeah well, tell that to them." Jaune muttered before doing as she said and thumbing his weapons' non-lethal setting on.
"They're almost through…" Raising both pistols, his fingers tightened on the triggers as the cutting torches on the other side reached the top of the door and began cutting horizontally.
"Wait. Wait… now!" Blake launched a super powered force push as soon as the doors were breached, sending the slab of metal flying outwards and bowling over the clones in the way.
As the others tried to close the breach and open fire on the med bay occupants, they were met with precision fire from Jaune, all of them falling before they could get off a single shot.
Exiting the med bay, the two of them found more clones rushing them from either side of the hallway, blasting at them without a care. Blake and Jaune moved in concert, the clone commander dodging behind the Jedi while she deflected enemy fire and then sniping the opposition once she created an opening.
A performance the two of them had perfected through years of fighting in the field alongside one another. It was one they never thought they had to do against Jaune's fellow clone troopers, but perform it well they did.
And eventually, they were the only two left standing.
"They… they actually work well together." Weiss muttered in surprise, not expecting such a level of synchronisation.
"The Jaune Arc and Blake Belladonna have been working together for a long time in this universe. The two of them were assigned to then Jedi knight Adam Taurus and have fought side by side across many battlefields." Blank elaborated.
"It's still impressive. There aren't many units or teams who can boast such cohesion." Ironwood praised, even the best he had, the Ace Ops still had their own kinks to iron out.
"Alright, now what?" Jaune asked as he gingerly stepped over one of the stunned clones.
"The escape pods have been destroyed, taking the shuttle is our best bet." Blake replied, thinking of the shuttle used as Tyrian's prisoner transport before things went to hell. Behind his helmet, Jaune winced as his earlier orders came back to haunt them both.
"Haa… boys are having a rough time with it. Did you hear Tyrian also escaped?" Jaune asked.
"He didn't escape. I let him out." Blake corrected and Jaune doubted his ears for a moment.
"What. Why!?" He couldn't fathom why she'd do something like that, especially considering how much trouble they went through to lock him up in the first place.
"Diversion. Come on!" Blake started sprinting off, in a hurry to find a way off the ship before more clones could come and stop them.
"That's one word for it…" Jaune sighed before dashing off to catch up with Blake.
"This is the part where things get worse, isn't it?" Qrow facepalmed as he could feel the universe just moving to screw with them.
"It is Tyrian Callows, and unless I'm mistaken, he's even worse in this universe. Of course things are going to go wrong." Cinder rolled her eyes.
"Really, she should have just let them kill him."
"You're not entirely wrong on that." Blank said.
"Target number one has escaped the medical bay." Tyrian glanced at the communicator he retrieved from the clone sergeant and huffed quietly. The Jedi was still alive and had evidently kidnapped one of the clones if the chatter was anything to go by. Good, all the better to draw attention away from what he was planning.
Tyrian looked up when two clones rounded the corner and raised their rifles. Raising his arms, Tyrian started force choking the both of them, raising them into the air as he strangled them to death.
Leaving one corpse to fall to the ground, Tyrian continued levitating the surviving clone until he made it to his destination, the hyperdrive core. Once the door opened, he tossed his passenger towards a clone guard stationed on the catwalk, sending both of them tumbling over the sides to their deaths.
When the other clones noticed him and started shooting, Tyrian sprinted forwards and used the force to blow his way past them, leaving death in his wake. When a clone tried sniping him from above, he waved his hand once and forcibly redirected his aim to shoot down his comrades instead before ripping him off his perch and letting him fall.
After clearing out all hostiles in the area with him, Tyrian's insane grin widened as he got to work. All around him, machinery sparked and screeched as the force tore them from their housings. Alarms blared and smoke began filling the air as Tyrian systematically demolished the hyperdrive generators.
When more clones arrived, drawn by the alarms and damage, Tyrian brought his arms down, dealing a fatal blow to the generators and dropping them right on top of the clones, crushing several and sending the rest falling into the abyss when the catwalk gave out.
Explosions rocked the ship as the Venator was instantly pulled out of hyperspace. The destruction of the hyperdrive and the sudden forced exit was causing the damage to cascade through multiple subsystems of the stricken ship. The engines would tear themselves to pieces soon enough and the ship would be dead in the water, perfect time to find a way off the sinking boat.
"…He did all that and he was still asking for a weapon earlier?" Ren said and shook his head.
"Fighting chance my ass, this is a complete slaughter." Roman added.
"Sith are essentially walking weapons thanks to the dark side of the force." Blank said.
"Oh I don't like the sound of that." Jaune grumbled as the ship rocked from another series of explosions. They were still on the run but something had gone seriously wrong somewhere and the whole ship was reeling from it.
Busting into a control room, Jaune started shooting immediately, stunning the clone crewmen on duty with his blasters. Blake picked off the ones he missed with the force, and between them, they managed to down everyone before the alarm could be raised.
"Hangar bay doors are sealed and they got everything locked down. If they weren't trying to kill us, I'd be proud." Jaune complained as he got to work on the console, trying to find a way around the lockdown.
While he worked, Blake began tasking her droids to get their escape route ready and to find out what the hell was happening on the ship.
Beeping from one of the droids pulled Jaune away from his work as he struggled to parse what the droid was saying. "What do you mean the hyperdrive is offline?"
More beeping.
"Destroyed? It's completely gone!?" A warning sounded and Jaune sighed once he looked it over.
"We're caught in that moon's gravitational field." Jaune grimaced as he saw their projected trajectory set them on a collision course with the moon of a nearby planet. If he was reading the damage report right, the engines were a lost cause and the crash would kill everyone with how fast they were coming in.
"R7, open the main hangar doors." Blake gave the order and the roof of the main hangar began opening up. Light streamed in from the opening and they could see the surface of the moon rushing up to meet them.
"We need to get out of here." She said softly when Jaune looked to her for advice.
"No shit." Mercury snarked.
"Bet he's really regretting ordering the escape pods destroyed now." Roman said.
"It wasn't his fault! Fearless leader was being mind controlled!" Nora shouted, protesting Jaune's innocence.
"Whose fault it is doesn't matter right now. If they don't get off asap, the ship will be their tomb." Taiyang muttered.
When the bay doors opened and they could see the shuttle waiting for them still intact, the two of them breathed a sigh of relief.
And those sighs died as soon as the rest of the doors opened, revealing a veritable army standing guard.
"They were waiting for us." Jaune exhaled as he watched his brethren form up in front of the shuttle. Anyone trying to get to the ship would have to go through them first.
A clone lieutenant stood in front of the legion, waiting. Jaune exhaled softly and closed his eyes, of course he'd be there ready for them. It just wouldn't be him if he wasn't.
'Damnit Ren.'
"Oh no…" Ren closed his eyes with a small sigh.
"So what do we do? Fight our way to the shuttle!?" Jaune asked, a note of panic seeping into his voice.
"There are too many." Blake said after a pause.
"Besides, I don't wanna hurt them."
"…I hate to tell you this, but they don't care! This ship is going down, and those soldiers, my brothers! Are willing to die to take you and I along with them!" Jaune started raising his voice and waved his hand towards the army outside angrily.
Then his stance slackened and his shoulders slumped, looking away from Blake as though ashamed by his own outburst. He didn't resist when Blake reached up and removed his helmet. Jaune wasn't able to meet her eyes as angry tears continued streaming down his face.
"It's killing him inside to have to fight his comrades." Summer said.
"They're more than just comrades. All of them are clones, that's his family trying to kill them both. And because of circumstances, even if the two of them do manage to escape, everyone else on board will die." Blank replied.
"It's tragic." Pyrrha summed up.
"You're a good soldier Jaune." Blake said as she placed a hand on his shoulder.
"So is everyone of those men down there. They may be willing to die, but I am not the one who is going to kill them."
A moment of silenced passed between them before Jaune spoke again. "So we're just going to surrender? Admit defeat? Is that it?"
"No." Blake said.
"Well I don't see any other option." Jaune lowered his head.
Blake stared out at the army lying in wait for them as the gears in her mind churned. Slowly a plan began to take shape, it was a long shot but far better than a suicidal charge or just waiting to die in the crash. "I have an idea."
When she noticed Jaune's sceptical look, she handed his helmet back to him. "Don't worry, it's a good one… I think."
"That idea better be something special or they won't need to wait for the crash." Emerald commented.
"Sir, we think Callows might be headed your way." Ren's communicator pinged as one of the clones tracking the Sith's rampage through the ship gave his best estimate of Tyrian's destination based on the units he was butchering along the way.
Before Ren could reply, a loud shout rang out in the hangar. "HOLD YOUR FIRE!"
He looked up and saw a captured Blake being escorted towards them at gunpoint by Jaune.
"Hang on, we have Belladonna and the commander. Send all remaining troops to my position." Ren said into his communicator as the clones raised their weapons and took aim at the new arrivals.
"I said hold your fire Ren! I have the situation under control." Jaune ordered.
"You have your orders sir, now execute it or I will." Ren shot back but held fire for the moment, allowing Blake and Jaune to close in.
"The order was to execute the Jedi for treason against the Republic. The problem is, Blake Belladonna is no longer a jedi, hasn't been for some time." Jaune argued back, keeping the clones' attention on them while Blake's droids snuck past to carry out their tasks.
"…Sir, you said yourself. We're under special order from Lady Salem to eliminate Blake Belladonna and any other clone who disobeys Order 66." Ren said.
"Just keep him talking a little bit longer." Blake whispered as her droids still needed more time.
"Ren! Ren, listen to me, we've known each other a long time, if we don't get this right, we'll be the ones committing treason! Not her!" Jaune yelled back at Ren.
The clone lieutenant seemed to struggle for a bit before raising his guns again. Jaune's face fell but that was always how it was going to be he supposed, with the inhibitor chip inside them, there was no way Ren would be able to disobey Order 66.
"Commander Arc, you're in violation of Order 66. I accuse you of treason against the grand army of the Republic. You'll be demoted in rank from commander and subject to execution along with the traitor Blake Belladonna!" Ren's words cut deep into Jaune, it hurt more than any physical injury he'd every sustained in his life.
"Ready." Blake whispered as she saw the signal from her droids that they were good to go.
"Yeah well, I never much liked being a commander anyway." Jaune replied.
"Now!" Blake started moving the instant her droids dropped the lift platforms the clones were inadvertently standing on. The bulk of his troops fell to the fighter storage deck below, leaving a greatly diminished opposition force for Jaune and Blake to deal with. When Ren turned to see what happened to his men, Blake force pushed Ren over the edge to join the rest down below.
While the clones were reeling from the surprise attack, Jaune tossed Blake's lightsabers over and started blasting immediately, stunning the closest troops. Blake herself began deflecting incoming fire and slicing apart the blasters of nearby clones.
"They're doing it! They're gonna get away. Nothing can stop them now." Ruby cheered before rapidly shutting up when she felt her uncle's glare boring a hole in the back of her head.
"What have I said about not jinxing things?"
"Uh… oops?" Ruby laughed nervously.
"This must be where Tyrian messes things up again… ah speak of the Grimm and it shall appear." Cinder said.
Tyrian grinned as he noticed Blake and Jaune fighting off the clones, while all of them were tied up in the melee, that left no one to stop him from stealing the shuttle first. As he skirted the mayhem unfolding, Blake noticed him running past.
"Jaune! The ship!" Blake deflected more blaster bolts before running off towards the shuttle. Tyrian's sudden appearance was a reminder that they were here to secure a way off the sinking Venator and fighting off all of the clones was not their main priority.
"You wanted this chaos, HAVE IT!" Tyrian roared as he started tossing random objects towards Blake to keep her at bay.
When she closed in despite his barrage, the Sith snarled and unleashed a massive force push, tossing Blake backwards into the elevator pits. She stabbed her lightsabers into the ground in an attempt to halt her flight but still went over the edge anyways.
One of her droids noticed their master's predicament and fired a cable towards her, allowing her to grab on and avoid falling to certain doom. Jaune growled under his breath and halted pursuit of Tyrian to assist his friend instead.
Down below, Ren and the other clones were beginning to stir and did not fail to notice Blake hanging from the cable. Blaster fire surged upwards as she continued her ascent, with one arm tied up with the cable, she only had one lightsaber free for defence.
Jaune took aim and let loose with his stun blasts, nailing as many of the clones as he could, doing his best to give Blake cover fire.
"Move it, move it! Get these lifts activated, get us up there!" Ren ordered when Blake was almost to the top.
"The panel's locked out!" One of the clones called back.
Ren frowned and looked at the astromech hauling Blake up, figuring out what was going on. "Fire on those droids!"
But despite the clones' best efforts, Blake managed to make it to the top with Jaune and her droids' help. And the first thing that greeted her was the shuttle about to take off with Tyrian at the helm.
"The shuttle!" She began sprinting towards it in a last ditch attempt to secure their ride off the doomed vessel.
Right before Tyrian could blast off and leave them to their fates, Blake planted her feet on the ground and began force pulling on the shuttle, refusing to let it escape her grasp. The ships engines whined in protest when Tyrian forced it to the maximum and Blake began skidding forwards as the tug of war continued.
Jaune dashed over and grabbed onto one of her arms, adding his own meagre strength to the contest in an effort to help.
"Incoming!" Jaune fired his one pistol at approaching clone troopers, the reinforcements Ren had called when they arrived were finally here. And there were just so damned many of them.
When Blake continued sliding forwards and losing the tug of war, Jaune lost his grip on her and growled in frustration. With all the clones right on top of them, he didn't have the luxury of trying to help her again, not when he needed two arms to return fire.
As more troops continued pouring into the hangar and moving to flank them, they suffered their first casualty. Blake's R7 took a direct hit from a stray bolt and most of its internals were destroyed by the ensuing explosion, leaving the burnt-out chassis to topple over on its side.
"Tch, I guess Tyrian lives to die another day." Cinder grumbled as the odds of the Sith going down with the ship continued to decrease with every passing second.
"Oh come on! After all that and he just comes in and steals the ship!? It's bullshit!" Yang complained, her eyes flaring red in anger.
"Eh, releasing him was a poor gamble then." Qrow said.
"So… what's the backup plan? They… do have a backup plan, right?" Blake asked.
"At this point, they're just making it up as they go along." Blank's answer received a few worried gulps.
"Ahg!" Jaune took a blaster bolt to his shoulder, his armour soaked up most of the damage but it still numbed his limb and forced him to drop his blaster, cutting his damage output by half.
"Can't hold them off! There's too many of them!" Jaune shouted in despair as even more reinforcements continued pouring in. Blake heard his cry and exhaled, they weren't dead yet but at this rate, they soon would be.
There was only one thing to do now. Blake closed her eyes and released her grip on the shuttle, allowing Tyrian to escape. As the shuttle shot off to safety, she allowed her anger at its loss to drain away. They weren't done yet, not by a long shot.
Jumping in front of Jaune, she began batting aside enemy fire before the clone commander could be overwhelmed. Using the sudden respite to retrieve his fallen sidearm, Jaune shook off the numbness in his limb to start shooting again, refusing to let this be the end of them.
Blake switched up strategies again when she noticed they were being encircled. Trusting Jaune to keep them off her back, she released her grip on her sabers, letting them fall to the ground blade first, then using the force to spin them around and cut a circle around them.
"Wha!" Jaune screamed when the floor suddenly gave out under them thanks to Blake. They crashed down to the lower storage deck and Jaune landed in a heap while Blake kept her footing.
"Heh, cats land on their feet, right?" Yang joked and Blake started glaring at her partner for it.
"Okay, they're free from the guys up top, but what about the ones down below?" Weiss asked.
"I'm sure they'll think of something." Ren said.
Jaune groaned as he got to his feet, then he groaned again when he noticed Ren and the other clones arranged in a firing line.
"Blast them!" Ren ordered and blue bolts filled the air once more. Jaune and Blake once again defaulted to the tried and tested Jedi block and clone shoot technique to stay alive.
A 'miracle' happened when the previously locked down elevators suddenly worked again, shooting upwards at maximum speed and sending the bulk of Ren's troops skywards.
Up above, Blake's remaining astromechs chirped and beeped in success as they once again evened the odds for their master. The both of them knew that this was the end of the line for them, and their AIs could only hope that it was enough for Blake and Jaune to get away.
"Hey!" A loud voice interrupted them as the droids found themselves under the scrutiny of several angry clones and staring down the barrels of multiple rifles.
"Blast those damned droids." Blaster fire rained down on the two helpless droids and their squeals and beeps were silenced permanently.
Ironwood's armrest crumpled under the grip of his mechanical arm and he frowned at the screen. "That… actually pisses me off for some reason."
"I concur general." Winter said, an equally vexed expression on her face. Both Atlesians found themselves reminded of Penny, and it absolutely sucked.
"Nothing… nothing… Nothing! Everything down here is under maintenance!" Jaune called out as he ran past fighter after fighter after fighter, so many flight-capable craft in one place and none of them worked.
"There!" Blake's eyes widened when she noticed a lone Y-wing sitting in the dock. It was the only one here ready to fly, or at least she hoped so.
"Get me over there!" Jaune ran towards the Y-wing as more of the clones started catching up to them. When he was about to take a running jump off the edge to get to the bomber, Blake did it for him with a force push that sent him colliding into the Y-wing's nose.
As he scrambled up and into the cockpit, Blake continued drawing fire from the clones, buying him time to start it up. The former Jedi herself was beginning to tire from the extended combat and taking several blaster shots, her clothes did a good job of soaking up the damage but enough was bleeding through that she was beginning to weaken.
Fortunately for her, that moment was when the last of the Venator's engines gave out. The ship lost lateral control and began to tilt to the side, sending unprepared clones tumbling away. Those who retained their footing still had to contend with crates and even fighters being torn loose by the stress and being sent hurtling towards them.
Blake herself lost her footing momentarily but with her Jedi training was able to get back up and use her lightsabers to halt her descent.
"Come on!" Jaune yelled at her before the bomber's cockpit hatch closed, leaving the gunner position open for her.
Blake began running towards the Y-wing, a mad dash to safety. As she leapt into the air, seconds before she could land on the bomber, the magnetic clamps failed and the Y-wing was forcibly ejected from the ship and out into the moon's atmosphere and she tumbled into empty air.
"Arrghh! So close!" Ruby's fist thudded against her seat in frustration.
"Relax Ruby, your friend isn't done yet." Summer said.
Jaune fought the controls and hurried to start the Y-wing's engines, doing his best to level out the bomber in the crashing Venator's wake. The controls jerked in his hands repeatedly as turbulence buffeted the bomber.
The entire carrier was coming apart at the seams, debris was everywhere and more continued to be ejected from the stricken ship. Jaune's eyes flicked from one place to another, trying to spot Blake's falling form amidst the mess while avoiding crashing into anything large enough to bust the Y-wing's shields.
Then he noticed Blake descending on his right. hitting the hatch release, he unsealed the gunner seat again and took the Y-wing in, trying to match their speeds and allow Blake to slide in safely.
Blake managed to grab onto the hatch momentarily before the heavy winds ripped it from her grip and sent her tumbling away again. Jaune grimaced before flying the Y-wing in the direction she went, going for another pass.
Blake struggled to keep her eyes open as the wind in her face stung. Managing to right herself somewhat and control her fall, she noticed one of the Venator's engines had come unstuck from the main body and angled herself towards it.
Crashing into it hurt, but it bled off some of her momentum and allowed her to start 'running' down the engine. As she neared the end of the engine, Jaune's Y-wing came in close for another try.
This time, when she jumped off and headed for the bomber, their trajectories matched and there was no additional momentum to pull her off again. Jaune carefully decelerated the Y-wing to allow Blake to close the distance naturally without splattering her against the side of the bomber.
When she finally got a secure grip on the Y-wing, Jaune decelerated further and began to pull up, allowing Blake to 'land' safely on top and then climb in. Once the hatch was sealed, Jaune gunned the thrusters and shot off while the Venator sank through the cloud banks on its final approach, thick black smoke trailing from the once formidable Republic ship.
Jaune's grip on the controls slackened slightly as he felt his heart get stabbed repeatedly. Allowing the autopilot to take over, he sunk into his seat quietly, mourning the loss of all of his brothers. Turning back to look at Blake, a similar expression was etched on her face.
The rest of the flight down to the moon's surface was in silence as neither of them could find the right words.
"It's tragic." Ozpin said.
"It is. What a senseless waste of life." Goodwitch agreed.
"What about clone Ren?" Nora asked, but no answer was forthcoming and she squeezed her own tight.
Several days after Order 66 was given, most of the fires had burnt out. The smoking blackened husk of the Venator lay half buried in the ground, a monument to all the lives lost.
The Y-wing was parked in front of the ship's nose and Jaune was heading back to it, his painful task complete. Returning the shovel to the bomber's storage compartment, he looked over to where Blake was still standing, alone.
Row after row after row of clone trooper helmets had been placed on sticks and left to stand there. It had taken the two of them days to retrieve as many of Jaune's former brothers from the wreck and give them all a proper burial.
Now their battered and broken helms would serve as their grave markers and Blake prayed they found their rest in whatever afterlife awaited.
Blake retrieved one of her lightsabers and stared at them silently. These things had been through so much with her, she thought them lost when she left the order. Until Adam returned them to her before the mission to bring down Tyrian.
And now, one would be lost again.
She let it clatter to the ground in front of Ren's helmet and fought back a tear.
It was done. Former Jedi Blake Belladonna and clone commander Jaune Arc had both died in the crash. She pulled up her hood to hide her features and began walking away, back to the Y-wing. The galaxy had changed while they weren't looking, now it was time to find a new place in it.
"It's good then, if they believe they're all dead, then the Empire won't go after them." Ironwood mused.
"They're not going to just let it slide though, are they? It can't end like this!" Nora slammed a fist into her armrest in anger.
"They join the rebellion." Ren stated, it was the only real path forwards he could see them taking. Neither of them looked the type to just let the empire run roughshod over everything they held dear.
"Indeed. But that's for another time maybe." Blank said.
Snow whipped about in the wind as the first stirrings of a blizzard could be felt. Snow troopers and other imperials milled about in the biting cold as they secured the crash site of one of the Venator Star Destroyers lost in the last days of the Republic. A lone shuttle touched down carrying with it the one imperial who had any connection with the wreck.
Darth Vader paid the other soldiers and droids no mind as he walked with purpose, guided by the force. No words were said, only the sound of his breathing apparatus meshing with the howling winds.
He stopped right in front of the ship's prow and stared at the wreckage in silence. The force guided him here, and he knelt down. Sifting through the built up snow, he found what he was searching for.
An old abandoned lightsaber, rusted over and clogged with snow in places. As he dusted off some of the snow on it, his grip on it switched to a gentler one. Pushing the switch, a familiar blue blade emerged, despite the exposure to the elements, the weapon still worked just as well as the day he returned it to his pupil.
Letting the weapon fall to the side, he stared into the cloudy sky as though searching for answers. None were there to be found, only a lone bird circling overhead.
Deactivating the lightsaber, Vader turned his back on the wreckage and began walking away. Just dust and echoes now, nothing left for the man once known as Adam Taurus.
As he walked away, he was reflected in the visor of one of the clone helmets that hadn't been buried by the snow. Slowly, his reflection became smaller and more indistinct, until it disappeared completely, fading into the mists.
"…Is it just me, or does this actually feel… kinda sad." Roman asked. Neo held up her scroll for him to read and he nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, that does make sense I guess, it feels like he's lost everything."
"No kidding. It sorta reminds me of how you used to be Tai, when… you know…" Qrow trailed off as bad memories rushed to the surface.
"What's his story exactly? He's not the Adam I know at least." Blake asked.
"Vader's story is one of tragedy. Born a slave, he thought he found freedom with the Jedi Order. Instead, he got mistrust, jealousy and cold indifference. Still, he found people he cared for, grew attached too despite the Jedi's teachings. A great teacher, a wife, a pupil he came to see as family and a loyal clone commander. And the more he tried to hold onto them, the faster they slipped through his grasp. Now all that's left is Vader, a broken shell of a once great man sealed inside a suit forever." Blank elaborated.
"…He's a bad guy isn't he, so why do I feel sorry for him?" Nora scratched at her hair in frustration.
"He is. Vader was born from his own poor decisions, but he is as much a victim of circumstance as anyone else. Just a few 'what ifs' and Vader might never have existed." Blank replied.
"Yeah… I can see that." Ozpin closed his eyes, understanding the words far better than anyone else in the theatre.
"Well, that's it for this viewing. Feel free to go refresh yourselves." Blank said and dismissed his audience.
Author's notes: So much character in two episodes. If you're a Star Wars fan and you haven't watched the end of the clone wars yet, go watch it. It's definitely worth your time.
Cast list:
Jaune Arc as Captain/Commander Rex
Blake Belladonna as Ahsoka Tano
Tyrian Callows as Darth Maul
Salem as Darth Sidious
Adam Taurus as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader
Lie Ren as Jesse
Ozma as Obi Wan Kenobi