Chapter 8: Truth
The Mandalorian got a good look at the Leviathan, and saw Ruby's group distracted by it. Seeing his chance, Djarin swept Neo off her feet and activated his jetpack. He flew her back to the forest and landed in front of the Razor Crest. Running inside, Djarin went straight to the cockpit and took the ship off the ground. Flying out of the forest, Djarin saw a horde of flying Grimm heading for the city. He took evasive action and turned the ship towards the ocean.
"Neo, we need to get to Atlas. If we stay here too long, those things will tear the ship apart." Neo was standing next to him with the Child, watching Atlesian ships fly towards the oncoming storm.
"BUT WE DON'T HAVE RUBY AND HER FRIENDS." Djarin heard Zero's voice speak for Neo. "IF WE GO TO ATLAS WITH JUST THE RELIC, THEY'LL SHOOT US DOWN. WE NEED-" the droid's voice suddenly cut out. But Djarin knew Neo was right. The Razor Crest didn't exactly send a "friendly" vibe. There would be a chance Atlas would shoot first and ask questions later. So, he turned back towards the cliff. Looking down, he couldn't see Ruby. All he saw were the same people standing on the cliff with two new girls, one blonde and one with black hair and…cat ears?
Neo then pointed towards the Leviathan. Getting a closer look, Djarin saw a white wasp flying towards the beast. With Ruby on top of it.
"RUBY!" everyone except Ruby turned around to see Yang and Blake emerge from the forest.
"Yang! Blake! Are you okay?" Weiss asked them.
"What happened?" Blake asked them. Before anyone could reply, the Leviathan roared again.
"Was that a giant Grimm?" Yang asked.
"Yes." Ruby replied, still looking towards the beast. "And I just destroyed the only thing capable of stopping it."
"What are you talking about?" Yang asked.
Jaune spoke for Ruby. "It's not her fault. At first, things were fine. But Cordovin took a giant robot out and shot at the ship. Before we could help, Neo and someone wearing armor attacked us. He flew to the ship and caused the cockpit to explode."
"I escaped, but the ship crashed into the robot and exploded. I don't think Maria made it. They took the Relic and escaped." Oscar finished for Jaune.
Yang and Blake were shocked to hear this. Blake covered her mouth while Yang was frozen in place.
"So…what do we do now?" Yang asked.
"I can stop it." Everyone turned to Ruby. "Weiss, I need you to summon one of your wasps. If I can get close to the Leviathan, I can use my eyes to destroy it."
"Ruby, that's too dangerous!" Yang replied. "You only started to learn more about how to use your powers, you can't-"
"I HAVE TO!" Ruby shouted. "Don't you see what I did? Everyone thought stealing an airship was stupid, but I made us do it! I got Maria killed! I let Neo and her friend get away with the Relic! I HAVE TO MAKE THIS RIGHT!"
Everyone stood still while Ruby shouted at them. Nobody wanted to say it, but she was right. The plan only led them from bad to worse. And they left Argus vulnerable to attack. They had to do something.
Weiss stabbed Myrtenaster into the ground, summoning another wasp that Ruby jumped on immediately. Weiss made it fly towards the Leviathan.
"Okay, you can do this. You have to do this!" Ruby said to herself. Stopping in front of the Leviathan, which was distracted by the airships, Ruby closed her eyes and concentrated. Filling her head with memories of her childhood and Beacon, they were suddenly replaced with ones of strife and despair. Penny being torn apart, Yang losing her arm, Pyrrha dying.
But Ruby quickly pushed these thoughts aside. Now wasn't the time for doubt. Enough have died already. Concentrating on more memories, she suddenly saw her mother standing on the edge of a cliff, smiling.
That did it. Opening her eyes, they shined brighter than the sun. The light dying down, she saw the Leviathan encased in stone. Hearing cheers from behind, she turned towards the city with a smile on her face. She did it.
However, she heard the sound of stone breaking behind her. Turning around, she saw every piece of stone falling off the Leviathan. It let out a massive roar.
"No…" Ruby said to herself. She failed. Again. Only this time, her foolishness had led her to death.
A burst of yellow energy began to form in the Leviathan's mouth. Opening it wider, the Grimm fired.
Only for it to stop inches from its face and stay.
Hearing something coming from behind, Ruby turned around to see a massive ship coming towards her. Jumping off the wasp, Ruby watched as the ship fired two bolts of energy towards the Grimm. Both made contact with its face, causing it to turn into dust.
As Ruby continued to fall, the ship flew beneath her and opened a door. Falling into it, Ruby used her Aura to absorb the impact. Then, she started to cry.
"It's dead." Jaune said.
"Ruby did it?" Yang asked him.
"No, she didn't." Everyone turned to Jaune confused. "I mean, she used her eyes to turn it to stone, but it broke free. Before it could attack again, a gray ship destroyed it.
"Where's Ruby?" Yang asked.
"I don't know, I can't see."
"Uh, guys?" Oscar said while looking in the forest. Turing around, the group came face to face with a dozen Manticores. But they didn't have the firepower to take them down.
Suddenly, the gray ship Jaune saw earlier flew towards them, firing bolts towards the Grimm. After destroying most of them, the ship turned around and opened a door. Getting the message, everyone ran inside as the ship took off. Ruby was sitting on the ground, crying.
"Ruby, are you okay?" Yang rushed to her.
Before she could reply, the ship suddenly started to move higher and higher rather than forward.
"Wait, where are we going?" Blake asked.
"Why is the ship moving up?" Weiss said.
Qrow looked around to see Neo on a ladder.
"Hey! Stop!" he yelled.
Neo quickly went up the ladder, Qrow giving chase.
Reaching the cockpit, Qrow turned his weapon into its gun form and pointed it at Neo.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." a low voice called to him.
"Oh really?" Qrow asked. "And why's-" before he could finish, he looked out the cockpit window to see billions of stars rather than the morning sky.
"Qrow, what's going on up there?" Ren called out. But Qrow didn't answer.
Climbing up, Weiss, Blake, and Yang looked out the window and were entranced by the same sight.
"It's dangerous to shoot a weapon here." the armored man turned to them. "One wrong move, and we'll all be sucked into space."
"Space?" Weiss asked. "No, that's impossible."
"Take a look." he replied. Getting closer to the window, Weiss could make out what looked like a giant globe below them. She turned to the pilot. "Who are you?" she asked.
"Call me 'Mando'." he replied. "I'm sorry about before, but I'll explain in a minute. You should tell your friends what's going on, we'll be here a while."
Coming back to the hull, the Mandalorian and Neo looked to see everyone sitting together. Everyone except Ruby, who was sitting in the corner of the hull. The Mandalorian walked towards them while Neo went to Zero's head. The speech unit had broken, she would need to fix it.
"I take it you have questions." he said to Weiss. "That makes two of us. But I can see this is a lot to take in, so you can go first."
Looking at each other, nobody said anything at first. Then, Yang spoke up. "Are you an alien?" she asked.
"Yes and no." he replied. "I wasn't born on your world, but I'm human." Taking off one of his gloves, he showed everyone his human hand.
"Who are you?" Blake asked next.
"I'm a Mandalorian." he answered. "But you can call me 'Mando'."
"I thought you said your name was 'Amanda'." Jaune asked, hearing the 'a' in front of "Mandalorian."
"No, I'm A Mandalorian." he replied.
Everyone turned to Jaune, with a look on their faces that said "Seriously?"
"Oh." Jaune said, embarrassed. "Sorry."
Oscar went next. "How did you destroy that Grimm? How did you save Ruby?"
"Your friend jumped off her…thing. I was then able to shoot the Grimm before it fired that burst of energy at her."
"But I saw the burst of energy stop before it hit Ruby." Jaune interrupted. "Leviathans can't do that."
"Well, that…" the Mandalorian turned to a smaller door and opened it. "is thanks to this little guy." He replied, taking the Child out of its room.
Everyone looked with shock and surprise, while Weiss pointed Myrtenaster at him.
"No, it's okay!" he yelled. "He's not going to hurt any of you." he said as he handed the Child to Neo, who took him in her arms.
"THAT saved Ruby?" Ren asked next. "What is it?"
"Well, I don't know a lot about its species. But he's the reason I'm here." the Mandalorian replied.
"I don't understand." Qrow said. "Remnant may be home to humans, Faunus, Grimm, but nothing like that."
"I've been tasked by a Mandalorian Armorer to reunite the Child with its kind. A race of sorcerers called 'Jedi'." he answered.
"You're saying that kid's an alien sorcerer? And you think there's more of them on Remnant?" Oscar asked.
"No, I don't think I'll find any here." he replied. "I came to Remnant to look for this." he continued while taking the Relic off his side. "I learned about the Relic of Knowledge on my travels. It can guide me to the Jedi."
"No." everyone turned to Nora. "You can't have it."
"I already have it." he replied.
"Well hand it over before I rip it from your hands!" Nora yelled.
"Nora, stop!" Ren yelled while the Mandalorian reached for his blaster.
"No, Ren! We can't let him take it! Mandalorians are a race of thieves and murderers! I mean, he's working with Neo! Who else could he be working for? Cinder? SALEM?!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. "I'm not going to just sit and watch this MONSTER take anything else from me!"
"Nora's right." Yang said, ignoring the last part. "I didn't see what happened, but this guy destroyed Crescent Rose and our ride to Atlas! He could be taking us to Salem right now!"
"I don't have any allegiance to Salem." the Mandalorian replied. "And I don't know much about your world, but I'm willing to bet stealing is against the law."
"Look asshole!" Yang yelled, her eyes changing from lilac to red. "We didn't have a choice! That tiny bitch knew we needed to get to Atlas but she kicked us out! We were trying to get that Relic to good people!"
"Oh, and I suppose you're 'good people' too." he retorted. "Students from a corrupt academy trying to steal from your world's most powerful kingdom! That's right, I heard about the girl who was killed by one of you at Beacon!"
"You don't know what you're talking about!" Yang yelled.
"What did you think was going to happen?! That Atlas would welcome a bunch of thieves with open arms?"
"You don't understand, we were-!"
'YANG, STOP!" Everyone turned to look at Ruby, who had tears in her eyes. "Don't you see?! He's RIGHT! Even if he didn't show up with Neo, we would still have gotten nowhere!"
"Ruby, you don't know that." Yang said, her eyes turning back to normal.
"YES, I DO! Everyone was counting on my plan, and I failed! We could have thought about something else, but I made us go through with it! Even worse, I got Maria KILLED! And when I had one chance, ONE CHANCE TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT, I FAILED AGAIN!" Ruby fell knees to the floor, sobbing.
"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."
Weiss, Blake, Yang, Qrow, and Oscar all went towards Ruby to comfort her. Before Nora could go, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning around, she saw the Mandalorian with Ren.
"Tell me everything you know about the Mandalorians."
"WHEEEEEEE!"
A young girl with red hair yelled at the top of her lungs in excitement as she soared through the air, her arms being held by a man wearing a jetpack. Doing 'Figure-8's' in the sky, she was having the time of her life with him.
"Alright, that's enough." the man said as he approached the ground.
"BUT PAPA!" the young girl protested.
"Sorry, Naga. We've spent enough time here already."
"Okay…" Naga said disappointed.
On their way home, Naga looked up to her father. "Papa?"
"Yes, dear?" her father replied.
"Is it all true? Everything you said and showed me?"
"Yes, Naga. I'm from all the way up there." he said pointing to the stars.
"WOW! And you've seen it all? Everything beyond Remnant?"
"Everything." he said with a smile. "And one day, when you're older, you'll see it for yourself too."
"REALLY?!" the young girl asked in excitement.
"Yes. You won't have to worry about the Grimm anymore. One day, I'll take our whole family someplace safer. A world where you don't need to fight to survive."
"No fighting? That sounds boring." Naga replied.
"Naga." he stopped and knelt to her level. "Do you remember what I told you about violence?"
"Yes Papa. Violent excitement exhausts the mind and leaves it sterile."
"That's right. Your mother and brother seem to understand this. It's important that you remember it too. Okay?"
"Yes Papa." Naga replied.
About five minutes later, Naga and her father reached their home; a small cottage in the country side.
Opening the door, Naga expected to see her mother cooking dinner and her older brother welcoming her with open arms. What she saw was far worse.
A crimson-armored man stood before her. Naga looked him over, from his feet to his head. She saw a sash of bullets on his chest. Looking at his head, she saw his face had a black 'T' and horns on his head. After looking at the man, Naga saw a broken table with her mother lying next to it.
"Mama?" she called out looking at the body.
"Naga, what's-?" her father stopped talking when he got a good look at the man standing in his house.
"Ben." a gruff voice called to him. "There you are."
"Hudu? Hudu Shiv?" Naga's father asked.
"So, you do remember me." he replied.
"How did you find me?" Looking around the room, Ben saw his wife broken and battered beside the table. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" he yelled.
"Ben, you know me better than that. I don't kill the innocent. But I can't say the same for my friend."
Another armored warrior came downstairs, a woman in crimson armor.
"I took care of the other one upstairs, but no armor. Maybe he's not-" she stopped as she saw the two other members of the household. "Well, well. Speak of the Devil and he shall appear." she said.
"Rook? You killed my wife?" Ben asked.
"Yeah, and that whiny brat upstairs. I honestly would've expected more from him, being the son of a Dar'manda." Rook Kast replied.
Putting his arm in front of his daughter and gently pushed her behind him, Ben looked up. "What are you doing here?"
"The Empire took our home, Ben." Hudu replied. "They took our weapons, our armor, and our Beskar. All of it. Now we're on the run, jumping from one world to the next. You were smart to hide here, the Empire doesn't really like this planet. But if they heard someone like you was here, they'd come in a heartbeat."
"I don't care about that. Why are you here?" Ben asked again.
"We need all the Beskar we need right now. After we heard a Dar'manda was here, we knew you'd still have it. Even if you're unworthy to wear it. Where's your armor?" Hudu demanded.
"Hudu, Rook, you have no right to take it." Ben replied. "I know I broke the Creed, but you're still my brother and sister. I'm still of Clan Vizla, I'm still Manda-"
"YOU ARE NOT ONE OF US!" Hudu shouted. "By breaking your oath, you wear the title of Dar'manda. Worthy of neither respect or mercy. Now tell me where your armor is or you die!" he said, pulling out a blaster.
"Alright, alright! It's behind that mirror!" Ben said pointing to a mirror on the wall. Hudu walked up to it and punched the glass, which shattered on impact. Behind it was a secret room, with a set of white Beskar armor. And a turret.
The heat sensor detecting a presence in the room, the turret fired multiple blaster bolts. Each one hit Hudu in the chest, not killing him, but enough to knock him to the floor.
"NAGA, RUN!" Ben yelled to his daughter while Rook jumped towards him. Naga took off running.
After about five minutes, Naga fell to the ground. She was exhausted and scared, not knowing where her father was. Hearing footsteps, she turned around to see Rook Kast.
"There you are." she said as she picked up the girl.
Flying back towards the cottage, Rook saw Hudu walk out with the armor.
"Is he dead?" Rook asked, dropping Naga to the ground.
"Yeah." he replied, pointing to the body inside.
"Papa? No, Papa!" Naga yelled as she rushed inside. But it was too late. Ben Vizla, the Dar'manda, was dead.
"Well, guess it's time to wrap it up." Rook said as she pointed her blaster to the girl.
"No, wait." Hudu said. Walking inside, he knelt down to the girl.
"Your name is Naga Vizla. Is this right?"
Naga, too scared to say anything, nodded.
"Not anymore. If you wish to live, you won't carry that name anymore. Your father was not worthy of the name Vizla. And neither are you. From now on, your name is Nora Valkyrie. Understood?"
Naga didn't reply.
"Understood?" he asked again. This time, she replied.
"Y-yes. My-my name is Nora V-Valkyrie."
With this, Hudu and Rook left, leaving Nora Valkyrie to mourn.
"Not long after that, Ren found me in Kuroyuri." Nora finished her story, crying as Ren comforted her.
"Dar'manda." The Mandalorian repeated. "Your father broke the Creed. Dar'manda is a title given to those who break away from the Way of the Mandalore. Killing them, in the eyes of the Mandalorians, is a noble act." After saying this, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Looking up to a blue screen, he read "I need to show you something." With this, Neo and the Mandalorian went to the cockpit.
Neo showed the Mandalorian a video of Oscar. Having convinced him to talk to her, Neo recorded Oscar explaining their situation and mission. About Salem's history and her war against a man named "Ozma." About the Gods of Remnant and the Relics. And how Salem was immortal.
"So that's who Salem is." Djarin said. "Neo, do you believe him?"
Neo nodded. Out of everyone on Remnant, Neo was the one Djarin actually trusted.
Neo showed him her Scroll. "Mando, I have to admit. All of this, Salem, the Grimm, the Relics. It's…really intimidating. I don't know what to do."
Taking a seat, Djarin took a moment to think. All he wanted to do was take the Relic and leave. But when this thought crossed his mind, a familiar feeling came over him. It was a feeling of doubt and uncertainty. In fact, he felt the same way when he took the Child to the Imperials. It only left when he came back to rescue the Child.
"Don't worry, Neo. I'm going to help." Djarin said.
"You have a plan?"
"I'm working on it. But first, I need to take them to Atlas. You're welcome to come along."
Going down to the hull, The Mandalorian addressed them all. "Neo showed me what you're all up against." Everyone turned to face him. "I know I haven't made the best first impression, but I want to help. I can take all of you to Atlas. On one condition; Neo gets to deliver the Relic to General Ironwood and I get to ask the final question."
"No way." Yang said. "You can ask where the Jedi are, but Neo's not coming with us. She helped Salem destroy Beacon. She's a killer!"
"She's not the only one." With this, Blake looked down to the floor. "I've killed people too. Some deserving of it, some of them not. But Neo holds no allegiance to Salem. And out of everyone here, she's the only one who's gained my trust. So, I take you all to Atlas, Neo gives the Relic to General Ironwood. Agreed?" Everyone except Ruby looked at each other, nodding. Oscar stood up. "Deal." he said.
"Alright." Djarin replied. "Let's get going."
Author's notes: and that's the end of Volume 6. I know it ends when they arrive at Atlas, but you get the idea. I need to think things over before I start writing Volume 7, so you may not see a new chapter for a little bit. Don't worry, it might take a few days, a week at most. Also, special shoutout to Mandalore the Survivor for helping me find other Mandalorians to use in this chapter. I hope you liked how I involved him in my story. I decided to involve him in Nora's backstory because I've been waiting for it for a while. Then I realized, "Why wait when I can create?"
To an unknown guest, I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Also, Ruby has a lot on her mind right now, but losing Crescent Rose is in there too.
To GojiraFan455515, yes Raven's death was unexpected for everyone. But I hope you like this chapter.
To TheDankLord, I'm glad you're taking the time to analyze what I've written and make theories. I'll be going into Palpatine's involvement later, but I think this chapter gave a little hint for what I have in store later.
Also, one last thing. I apologize for any grammar mistakes or other weird things you may have seen in previous chapters. I make sure to reread everything I write, but I need to start doing it piece by piece rather than a whole. So, my bad, I'm sorry. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you think. See you next time!