Chapter 7: The Mistake
After returning to the Razor Crest, the Mandalorian explained to Neo what Cordovin had told him. About how there's a good chance Ruby and her team would return to the base. And how he was going to Atlas.
Hearing this, Neo held her hand out for her Scroll. Djarin returned it and she began to type. "Mando, I'm sorry. I can help you get the lamp, but I can't go to Atlas."
"Why?" he asked.
Turning back to her Scroll, she began to type but stopped. She decided he needed to hear what she had to say. She walked over to the other side of the hull and picked up Zero's head. Pressing the cylinder against her throat again, she mouthed words as Zero spoke for her.
"I DIDN'T TELL YOU THIS EARLIER, BUT NOW I HAVE TO. CINDER DIDN'T JUST ATTACK ONE ACADEMY. I HELPED HER DESTROY ANOTHER ONE."
"What?" Djarin was surprised to hear this. "Why?"
"SHE CAME TO ROMAN AND I IN VALE, ASKING FOR OUR HELP. HE ACCEPTED HER OFFER, NOT BECAUSE HE HAD ANYTHING TO GAIN, BUT BECAUSE HE HAD TOO MUCH HE COULDN'T AFFORD TO LOSE."
"What do you mean?" Djarin asked.
"CINDER WAS ABLE TO INFILTRATE A PLACE CALLED BEACON ACADEMY. ROMAN AND I TOOK CARE OF AN ATLESIAN FLEET WHILE A HORDE OF GRIMM DESTROYED THE ACADEMY. BUT THE GRIMM'S INVOLVEMENT WASN'T BY CHANCE. CINDER HAD A MASTER WHO CLAIMED TO BE THE GRIMM'S 'QUEEN'. HER NAME IS SALEM, YOU MAY HAVE HEARD HER MENTION THAT BEFORE."
Djarin understood. If she went to Atlas now, she would be arrested for her involvement in Beacon. But there was something else he needed to know. "What do you know about Salem?"
"ONLY RUMORS." Neo replied. "THAT SHE LIVES AMONG THE GRIMM, SOMEWHERE FAR FROM THE KINGDOMS. AND SHE CAN MAKE THEM DO WHATEVER SHE WANTS."
"Cinder told me that Salem wanted to change the world once she had each Relic from each academy. Is that true?" Djarin asked.
"POSSIBLY. OTHER THAN THE LAMP, I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE OTHER RELICS OR WHAT THEY DO. ALL I KNOW IS THAT SALEM WANTS THEM."
Sitting down, Djarin thought about what Neo had just told him. He didn't like that she kept all this from him, but he was content with the fact Neo told him now. Cinder wouldn't have told him any of it.
"I'M SORRY I DIDN'T TELL YOU BEFORE." Neo apologized. Djarin said nothing. "MANDO? WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?"
Djarin stood up and faced Neo. "Once I have the Relic, all I want to do is ask where I can find the Jedi. I never thought about what I would do after. Holding on to it would put a target on my back. We need to get it someplace safe. And I have a plan."
"WE?" Neo asked.
"Ruby wants to take the lamp to Atlas. If she's an enemy of Cinder, she's an enemy of Salem as well. If we take her to Atlas, you can deliver the Relic to whoever's in charge. I think that'll be enough to pardon you of whatever you did." he explained his plan.
"I DON'T KNOW. IT'S RISKY." Neo replied.
"Come." Neo looked down to see the Child at her feet. "Come." he said again.
Smiling and picking him up, Neo looked back to the Mandalorian and nodded.
The next morning, Djarin took the Razor Crest to a cliff to observe the base. He landed as far out of eyesight as he could before putting the Child in his room and walking with Neo to the edge of the cliff. Taking his scope off his rifle, Djarin looked at the base to see Cordovin walking towards a ship with a white-haired girl in a blue dress and red scarf behind her. Realizing this was one of the children he saw yesterday, he kept his eyes on her and her suitcase. Seeing the ship take off, he wondered why she was leaving the base alone. And why Cordovin seemed to let her pass. Feeling a tap on his shoulder, Djarin saw Neo pointing towards the other side of the cliff. Looking through the scope, he saw Ruby Rose with four other children and the man he saw before. "What are they…doing?" he asked Neo, who replied with a shrug.
Seeing the airship turn around, Neo pointed to the sky so the Mandalorian could see as well. Turning towards the sky, he saw the two guards from yesterday falling with a parachute. "They hijacked the ship." he told Neo. "Whoever's flying is going to pick them up and take them to Atlas." Neo was about to run towards Ruby and her group to stop them, but Djarin grabbed her arm. "Wait, something's wrong." he said, handing her his scope. "Look. The ship's not landing in front of them. It's just flying in circles." Neo looked through the scope to see he was right. Taking a cylinder radio off his leg, Djarin radioed Cordovin, who gave him the base's contact frequency yesterday. "Cordovin, I found them. They've hijacked one of your ships and-"
"YES, I KNOW!" a loud voiced answered him. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it!"
Feeling the ground shake around them, Neo looked towards the base. Seeing one of the mountains by it move, she pointed so the Mandalorian could see. Suddenly, a towering robot exited the mountain, walking into the ocean, towards the ship. Lifting the cannon on its right arm towards the ship, a burst of yellow electricity hit the ship, causing it to swerve out of control.
"Standby, bounty hunter." the radio called out. "And watch how a true soldier MAINTAINS ORDER!"
Walking towards the edge of the cliff with a look of determination on her face, Ruby watched as the Atlas airship was being followed by Cordovin's mech. "It's time you asked yourselves, children." Cordovin called out. "Do you truly wish to defy ME?!" Ruby held her hand on her ear. "Hurry back Weiss. I need you on the ground if we're going to take this thing down."
"Well, let's see how your resolve holds out against the might of the Atlesian military!' Cordovin fired a missile at the ship, only to watch it explode before hitting its target. Looking towards the cliff, she saw Ruby lower Crescent Rose, along with her friends drawing their own weapons.
"SO BE IT!" Cordovin yelled, firing a burst of ice towards the group. Weiss, however, was able to bend the earth on the cliff to block the shot.
"That was close." Oscar said.
Turning to face them, Ruby began to explain her plan to them. "We need-"
Suddenly, Crescent Rose exploded into dust before Ruby's eyes. Everyone looked at her, just as shocked as she was. "Wh- what just-" she wasn't able to finish as a burst of energy hit Nora's weapon, also disintegrating.
Looking at the trees, Jaune realized what was happening. "SNIPER!" he yelled as another burst barely missed him.
Scattering beyond the ice wall, everyone ran in different directions, trying to avoid who was firing at them. Cordovin saw them, taking aim towards the ship as it flew away. Firing another burst of energy, the ship dived as the burst missed. Preparing to fire again, she heard a voice call out. "Cordovin, focus on the ship. I'll take care of the people down here."
Nora, Jaune, and Ren suddenly stopped running, turning towards the trees. A burst of rose petals suddenly appeared beside them. "Did we lose him?" Ruby asked.
"I think so." Jaune replied. "What do we do now?"
"I-" Ruby stopped talking as Qrow landed in front of them.
"Uncle Qrow, what are you doing? Weren't you with the ship?" Ruby asked. Qrow just looked at them, saying nothing. "Uncle Qrow? Are you-" Ruby was cut off as 'Qrow' raised a pistol at her and fired. A red hot bolt hit Ruby's shoulder, causing her to fall to the ground. Raising the gun, another bolt fired at Jaune. However, he used his shield to deflect it as Nora sent an uppercut into her attacker's chin. The illusion wore off after this punch, causing 'Qrow' to turn back into Neo. Landing a few feet away, Neo saw Ruby get off the ground, a wave of anger building inside both of them.
"What are you doing here?" Ruby demanded.
A sound of fire behind them caused all four students to turn around and see someone flying towards them. Ducking before he got too close, they saw the assailant turn around and land next to Neo.
Standing up, Ruby got a look at the second enemy; an armored warrior who was pointing a rifle at her and the rest of team RNJR.
"Who are you?" Ruby asked, getting no response from either of them. "What do you want?" she tried again. This time, the man in armor shifted his weapon to her waist. Looking down, Ruby saw that he was pointing to the Relic of Knowledge.
"Hand it over." he demanded.
"No." Ruby replied.
"Drop your weapons and surrender." This time, he was addressing Jaune and Ren.
"We have you four to two." Jaune replied.
"I like those odds." the man in armor replied.
Nora couldn't move. She saw the rest of Team RNJR charge towards their new enemies, Jaune and Ren taking on the one in armor while Ruby attacked Neo. But Nora stayed right where she was. She suddenly felt her chest tighten as she fell to the ground. She couldn't breathe, the pressure of the situation was literally crushing her. Tears were forming in her eyes. She couldn't do this. She couldn't fight him.
"Nora!" she looked up to see Ruby fighting Neo. "Help!"
Snapping back into reality, Nora rushed towards Ruby and Neo, her hands turning into fists. Seeing Nora rush towards her, Neo pushed Ruby aside and moved her umbrella in Nora's way. Dodging her fist, Neo opened her umbrella and used it to push Nora over her head and off the cliff.
"NO!" Ruby yelled as she rushed towards Neo. Throwing fists toward her opponent, Ruby watched as Neo kept dodging her punches. Ruby had been practicing her hand-to-hand combat and while it had vastly improved, Neo was able to predict her attacks. Ruby decided to send a kick into Neo's face, but she ducked. Opening her umbrella again, Neo was able to push Ruby back a couple of feet. Growing even more frustrated, Ruby used her Semblance and rushed at Neo.
The Mandalorian was holding his own against Jaune, able to block his sword with his Amban rifle. Ren on the other hand, had proven to be an elusive opponent. Keeping his distance after receiving a powerful electric shock from the Mandalorian's rifle, Ren used StormFlower to shoot multiple bullets at the Mandalorian, only for them to bounce off his Beskar armor. Needing a new approach, Ren waited until his full attention was on Jaune.
Jaune had merged Crocea Mors together to form a larger sword, and he swung his blade with all his strength. Only to meet the Mandalorian's rifle again. Pushing with all his strength, he had the Mandalorian on the ropes.
Hearing footsteps coming from behind, Djarin had to act fast. His opponent was strong, but careless. He had left his lower body open, and Djarin knew right at once where to strike.
Feeling a hard kick to his groin, Jaune let out a pained groan as he fell on his back. Ren leapt into the air to stab the Mandalorian in the back. Only to be met with a jet of flame. His Aura fading, Ren could start to feel the flames burning his skin. Letting out a bloodcurdling scream, he fell to the ground.
Seeing his enemies on the ground, Djarin knew it was time to finish them. Taking his vibroblade, he picked Jaune off the ground. He lifted the blade above his head, and plunged down.
"MANDALORIAN!" a loud voiced yelled.
The blade stopped inches from Jaune's eye. Turning to his left, Djarin saw Nora at the edge of the cliff, having climbed back up.
"Stand down, Mandalorian!" Nora yelled again.
"You know me?" Djarin asked.
Before she could reply, an explosion caught both their attention. Seeing Cordovin's mech in the ocean, its cannon had been destroyed, with rocks and ice sticking out of it. It was thanks to Oscar, actually. He told Qrow to land in front of the mech's visor once a new round of dust was locked in the barrel. Once he did that, Maria fired a missile into the mech's cannon while Weiss froze the ocean around its feet so it wouldn't move. Unable to see the attack until it was too late, all Cordovin could do was watch as her cannon fell into the ocean.
Turning back towards the cliff, Maria had the Mandalorian in her sight, as she prepared to launch another missile.
"Neo, take care of Ruby and the girl." Djarin said while pointing to Nora. "This shouldn't take long."
Walking to the edge of the cliff, he stood still as the airship came closer and closer. Then, he jumped.
Flying through the air on his jetpack, the Mandalorian flew closer to the ship until he reached the cockpit. He punched the glass and it shattered in an instant. Reaching inside, he grabbed the control panel. Maria was trying to shake him off by flying and spinning in various directions, her sight blocked by the Mandalorian. Oscar couldn't do anything at the moment, trying to keep his grip on the seat as Maria flew recklessly.
Before he could punch the glass again, Djarin felt someone kick him, which loosened his grip. Falling to the ocean, he saw Qrow on the ship, having knocked the attacker off.
"You okay?" he asked Maria.
"We're fine, but he's clearly lost his mind. What was he think-" a soft beeping noise cut her off. Looking at the control panel, she saw a small device flashing and beeping.
It didn't take a genius to figure out what it was.
"GET OFF THE-!" Maria didn't get a chance to finish as the bomb blew up in her face. Qrow turned into his bird form just in time, but Oscar had fallen out the window from the explosion. He suddenly felt himself land on a white wasp, with Weiss steering it. Landing at the cliff, Weiss' semblance gave out and they both feel to the ground. Qrow landed next to them, his eyes locked on the out of control airship. Jaune and Ren joined them.
Maria couldn't see where she was flying thanks to the Mandalorian, so she didn't know her attempts to shake him off had set her on a course straight into Cordovin's mech.
Which, thanks to Qrow, had no shields.
Focusing on getting her cannon of the ground. Cordovin didn't have enough time to move her other arm in the way. All she could do was watch as the airship flew straight into her.
After the airship made impact, the mech fell into the ocean, completely destroyed.
Which left everyone who had witnessed the act of destruction in a state of disbelief.
A clicking noise snapped all of them back into reality, turning around to see Neo holding Ruby and the Mandalorian holding Nora. Both of their weapons pointed at their heads.
"I'm not looking to kill anyone else today. Throw your weapons to the side and kneel." Djarin instructed.
Qrow raised his weapon in an attack stance, only for the Mandalorian to fire at his feet and quickly point his blaster back at Nora's head.
"WEAPONS! NOW!" he ordered again.
Seeing he wasn't bluffing, everyone threw their weapons to the side and knelt on the ground. Letting go of Nora, Djarin pushed her towards them, blaster still at the ready. Getting the message, Nora joined her friends and knelt on the ground.
Turning to Ruby, he removed her belt and took the Relic. Finally, after days of searching and fighting, the Relic was his.
"We're done here. Neo, let Ruby join her friends." Neo didn't move. "Neo?" Djarin asked.
Seeing the position she was in, Neo knew she wouldn't get another chance like this. Ruby was right here, helpless. She could slit her throat right now, and finally avenge Roman.
"Neo, don't." she turned to see the Mandalorian facing her. She suddenly felt conflicted, his words from the days before echoing in her mind.
"Neo, I know what you're thinking. You have the best chance to avenge whoever Ruby took from you. But you don't have to do this. Look what you've done; I trusted you to hold your own against Ruby, and you survived. Again. You don't have to forgive her, but you can live on. Live on and prove yourself, Neo. This is the Way."
That did it. With tears in her eyes and a soft smile, she released Ruby. Who surprisingly, walked over and fell to her knees with no resistance.
Content with their work, the Mandalorian placed the Relic on his side and took out his radio. "Argus base, we have the fugitives. Send a ship to our position."
Ruby lowered her head in shame. She let everyone down.
"Sir, we've been trying to reach you and Cordovin! Argus is in danger!"
Ruby's group was shocked to hear this. "What do you mean?" he asked.
Hearing a roar from the ocean, everyone looked to see a giant Grimm in the distance.
"It's a Leviathan! It begun its approach during your battle! We need Cordovin!"
Their eyes turning to the mech, everyone was thinking the same thing: they made a huge mistake.
Author's notes: thanks for the reviews on my last chapter! They really helped me see what I needed to do. I'm going to post one more chapter tomorrow, and that will be the end of Volume 6. I need some time to think how I'm going to do Volume 7, but don't worry. I think you'll like what I have in mind.
To Mandalore the Survivor, I spoke to you in a PM earlier today, so I won't go too deep into this. All I want to say is, don't worry about the next chapter. You'll like what I have planned. PAR KOTE BAL IJAAT BE MAND'ALOR!
To an unknown guest, you asked a great question about Remnant not being in the Unknown Regions. You're right, Palpatine would have taken Remnant in the blink of an eye if he found out about Remnant's ancient history. To be completely honest, I had not thought about the reason behind this too deeply. I know that may annoy you, but I'm not going to give you a bullcrap reason and say I planned it all along like Disney did with the sequels and Palpatine. I'm sorry if this angers you (and anyone else who reads this), but I promise I will mention it later in the story. I'll do it right and do my best to make it seem not out of place with the story as a whole. I'm sorry again.
To GhostCXR, thanks for your continued support! I hope you like this chapter.
Also, a lot of you had asked about the next Spring Maiden, with theories about Yang and Qrow being involved. They will certainly be involved, but you'll have to wait and see.
Anyways, hope you enjoy! See you next time.