Okay, this is it. The bonus chapter I promised and the one that you've been waiting for (again, sorry about the wait). Now, unlike the deleted scenes I made, this is canon to the main story of Mandalorian Remnants. And this will be my last chapter for the story, as I have another one planned. I'll talk more about it after this is over. One last thing, every episode of the Mandalorian Season 2 (up to Chapter 13: The Jedi) has happened here, except for Chapter 12: The Siege. Djarin has met Ahsoka, but didn't go to Tython yet. He instead travels with Grogu. You'll see why. Enjoy!
Bonus Chapter: The Evolution
"Grogu."
The Child looked up to the Mandalorian, who was holding his favorite metal ball.
"You want this? Go on, you can have it."
Grogu reached for the ball, but it was too far.
"Go on, you can do it."
Grogu closed his eyes, and reached out again. The metal ball flew out of the Mandalorian's grasp and into Grogu's hand.
"Dank farrick!" Djarin cursed.
Grogu looked up and whimpered, sad that he made the Mandalorian angry.
"Hey, no. I'm not mad at you." Djarin said. "You did good. I just...when the nice lady lady said you had training, I just...you're really special, kid." Djarin was referring to Ahsoka Tano, the Jedi he met on Corvus a month ago. She told him that Grogu had made a connection with Djarin, that he sees Djarin as his father. This was why she couldn't train him: Ahsoka feared Grogu's feelings would make him vulnerable to the Dark Side. So, she offered a different path: take Grogu to the planet Tython. There, Djarin would find a stone on top of a mountain. This was where Grogu would make a choice about where he would go.
But, Djarin found himself conflicted. Rather than going directly to Tython, he travelled the Outer Rim with Grogu. He heard about other Mandalorians in hiding, and his adventures took him to worlds like Tatooine and Trask. And he was able to make allies such as Cobb Vanth and Bo-Katan. The one thing that his adventures had in common was that the Child was always by his side. Similar to how Grogu saw Djarin as a father, Djarin made a connection with him. It was...hard to let him go. It was almost as if...the Mandalorian didn't want to say goodbye.
But yesterday, Djarin found his resolve again. He knew that he had to find a Jedi for Grogu. Nothing could stop him now.
Except for a beeping coming from his computer.
Looking down, he saw a transmission was made to him earlier. Djarin was still having trouble with his ship after it was "repaired" on Trask, so he didn't notice the message. Playing it, General Ironwood appeared on his holopad.
"Hello Mando. I'm sorry this is coming out of nowhere, but...we have a problem on Remnant. One that actually involves you. If you could, I would appreciate it if you could come and help."
Djarin thought about this. Before he left, Djarin told Ironwood how to contact him. But, he wasn't expecting Ironwood to call him so soon. And he sounded sincere. What kind of "problem" was it? And how was he involved?
Looking back at the Child, Djarin remembered his current mission. But, he remembered his work on Remnant. If it wasn't complete, that would be a problem.
"Grogu."
The Child looked up.
"How would you feel about seeing some old friends?"
The Child smiled and laughed.
"Remnant it is." Djarin said. Tython could wait a little longer.
The Razor Crest arrived in Atlas about an hour after the transmission was seen, and Djarin was greeted by the Ace-Ops and Winter Schnee.
"Mando." Winter greeted as she extended her hand. "Good to see you."
"You as well." Djarin said as he shook her hand. "Marrow, Harriet, Elm, Vine. Good to see you too."
"Thanks for coming, Mando." Marrow said. "What...happened to your ship?"
"Long story." Djarin turned to Winter. "Think you can fix it?"
"I'll call a team of engineers." she said. "After what happened last time, I think fixing it won't be too hard."
"Thank you." Djarin said. "So...why did you call me here?"
"We'll explain later." Marrow said. "Teams RWBY and JNPR will be arriving soon, so we should wait until they come."
"In the meantime..." Winter continued "Feel free to wait in the academy. I'd suggest going to the training room as you walk in."
With that, Djarin walked into the academy and made his way into the training room. Now, he understood why Winter wanted him to go there.
A team of four students was currently fighting against one opponent. Well, trying to fight her at least.
"GAH!"
"OWWW!"
"OOFF!"
"DAMMIT!"
After two minutes, all four were on the ground, in disbelief of how their opponent had taken them all down. Armed with only an umbrella.
"Okay, that was better." Neo said as she walked across the room. "But, there's room for improvement." The four students groaned as they all stood up.
"Flynt, good work on your Semblance." Neo complimented a boy wearing a hat, sunglasses, and a suit with a loose tie. "But, you gotta remember some Semblances can be used against yours."
"Right on." Flynt said, remembering how Neo used her Semblance to disappear after his Killer Quartet smashed a glass copy with the trumpets. He didn't realize where she was until it was too late. And his Semblance used a lot of Aura.
"Neon, you need to work on your focus." Neo said to a Faunus girl with pink hair and a tail. "Talking to aggravate your enemies is a good strategy, but I was able to disguise myself among your team and it took you too long to notice."
"You got it!" Neon said with a smile.
"Kobalt, good work on disarming me." Neo said to a boy with dark blue hair wearing blue shoulder pads. "But remember to expect the unexpected with people using their Semblances."
Kobalt nodded, remembering how Neo tricked him with a glass copy of her while she grabbed her weapon from him.
"Ivori, I would suggest a change of weaponry." Neo said to a silver haired boy wearing glasses. "My blade was able to cut your whip quickly."
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing." he said while looking behind Neo.
"Okay, that's all the time I have for you guys." Neo said. "Good job today." With that, Team FNKI left the training room through another door, expect for Ivori.
"Quick question: how do you think a spear would look?" he asked Neo.
"A spear? Maybe try having a secondary form or hidden ability. You know, like the blade in my umbrella." Neo answered as Ivori made his way to the door. "What made you think of that?"
"I really like that guy's spear." he pointed behind her and left.
Neo turned around to see a familiar man in armor walking towards her, holding a metal spear in hand.
"MANDO!" Neo ran to him and gave him a hug. Djarin rested his spear on a wall of blocks and returned her hug.
"Hey Neo." Djarin said. "Good to see you again."
Neo let go and looked at the Mandalorian. "Ironwood told me he called you, I'm glad you came."
"Neo." a little voice called out from a satchel the Mandalorian was wearing. Djarin took the Child out and showed him to Neo.
"Hey, little guy!" Neo said with a smile as she took the Child. "Has Mando been taking good care of you?"
"Neo, you know me." Djarin said with a chuckle. "Grogu is...usually safe where I go."
Neo looked to the Mandalorian. "Grogu?"
"Yep. Turns out that's his name."
Neo looked at the Child. "Hi Grogu." The Child immediately turned to Neo and laughed. Neo smiled at this and started to walk out of the training room, with Djarin following.
"So, you're teaching people how to fight?" Djarin asked.
"Yep." she answered. "I learned how to fight outside combat schools, so I learned a few...unique things that I can teach to other people. I think I finally found my passion; I'm a combat teacher at Atlas Academy. What about you? Did you find the Jedi?"
"I did. A Jedi named Ahsoka Tano was able to help me. She couldn't train the kid, but she told me what to do."
"He's going to stay with you?"
"No. After I'm done here, I'm taking him to a planet named 'Tython'. There's some kind of stone that will help him choose where to go."
"Oh, okay."
"Neo, do you know what's going on?"
Neo stopped. "You mean why Ironwood called you here?"
"Yes."
"I don't know much, but its pretty bad. So bad that Ironwood's been keeping it from the public."
Djarin was surprised to hear this. "It's that serious?" he asked.
"It is." Neo replied. "Which is why I think...Grogu should stay here. I can keep an eye on him here."
"Wherever I go, he goes."
"Right, sorry." Neo said, handing Grogu back to him.
"But I appreciate the offer." Djarin said. "You're a good friend."
"Thanks." Neo said with a smile. "If you change your mind, I'll be in here." she pointed to an office with her name on it.
"Alright." Djarin said. Just then, a message from Winter popped up in his helmet.
"The general is ready for you."
"I gotta go." Djarin said. "I'll talk to you before I start with...whatever's going on."
"Okay, see you later." Neo said as she walked into her office.
The Mandalorian came to Ironwood's office and knocked on the door.
"Come in." a voice called.
Djarin walked inside to see General Ironwood sitting at his desk.
"Mando." he stood up with a smile.
"Hello, General." Djarin said.
"Please, let's drop the formalities." Ironwood said as he walked over and shook Djarin's hand. "Thank you for coming, I just...didn't know what else to do."
"My pleasure, James. I knew it would be important. But...I hope it doesn't involve you-know-who."
"Don't worry, the Vault's still closed." Ironwood assured the Mandalorian. "It has maximum security. Nobody can open it with ease."
"And her followers?"
"All imprisoned. Their trial was a week ago, and they're all serving life sentences in prison."
"Good." Djarin replied, his mind slightly at ease.
The door opened again, and team RWBY came in. Ruby turned to the Mandalorian with a smile on her face. "Mando, you're here!"
"Hello, Ruby." Djarin replied as he extended a hand that Ruby eagerly shook.
"Oh, it's so good to see you! Did you miss me? DID YOU MISS ME?!" It was clear that Ruby missed him.
The Mandalorian chuckled as he nodded. He turned to everyone else. "Good to see you all as well."
Blake went to the side of the room, strangely staring daggers at the Mandalorian.
Yang walked up to him. "Hey Mando. I know we didn't leave on great terms..." Yang extended her hand "...but thanks for coming."
"Of course." Djarin shook it. More people started to walk in. Team JNPR, the remaining Ace-Ops, Winter, Penny, and Qrow all greeted the Mandalorian and Ironwood activated his projector in the middle of the room. The windows closed and a projection of Remnant appeared. Ironwood turned to the Mandalorian.
"I'll...get to the point, Mando. After our battle with Salem, our next objective was clear: reuniting and rebuilding the world. The four kingdoms of Remnant had started to ease tensions and hostilities, and we've made a new Alliance with each other. We've been at peace ever since, rebuilding and uniting the people of Remnant one step at a time."
Winter continued. "Over the past month, the Alliance continued to expand and nearly unite the world. Until, we reached out to Menagerie."
"Menagerie?" Djarin asked.
"There." Ironwood said, pointing to a land mass south of the continent of Anima. "Menagerie is a continent home to hundreds of Faunus. After the Great War, Menagerie was given to the Faunus as a 'reward' for their participation."
"Fair to humans, a slap to the face for Faunus." Blake spoke up. "Two-thirds of it is desert, and it soon became a confinement ground for the Faunus." Everyone nodded at this, with a sad expression on their faces. "After the Faunus Rights Revolution, it stopped being a prison for Faunus and they were given the right to leave if they wanted." Blake finished.
"While the Alliance was being formed, we planned to reach out to Menagerie and ease tensions with humans and the Faunus." Qrow continued. "After all, not everyone knew about their involvement at Haven Academy. But when we reached out, nobody responded."
The Mandalorian turned to Ironwood. "James, I'm not sure how I can help. I have no experience with negotiation or politics. Whatever the tension is between you and the Faunus, I'm sure-"
"No, Mando." Ironwood cut him off. "It's not that they're ignoring us. Nobody is responding."
Blake spoke up. "My dad's the Chieftain of Menagerie. After Amity went up and we got things under control in Atlas, I tried reaching out to my parents. They didn't answer. I kept trying, but my calls went to voicemail."
"Maybe they're having trouble communicating." Djarin suggested.
"That's what we thought as well." Winter said. "But then the Councils of Vale and Mistral reported that sea ships travelling to Menagerie never returned."
The image of Remnant changed into a screen of a land mass and water. "We sent an airship with one of our Councilmen to see what was going on and explain the situation the world was in." Ironwood said. "This is a live recording that was sent to me yesterday." He played the video.
The recording was done in a first person view, with the pilot's hands being shown on the screen. "Councilman Sleet, we're approaching Menagerie now."
A second voice spoke. "Very good. Land on the beach."
The airship moved closer to the beach, but the pilot saw a disturbing sight in the water.
The pilot turned to Sleet. "Sir, are those...boats?"
Sleet had a shocked expression on his face. "...What's left of them." he responded. The video was showing dozens of boats destroyed and floating in the water. Looking up, the pilot saw something in the distance.
"What's that?" he asked.
Zooming in, the screen showed what looked like some kind of compound in the distance, not far from a city on the continent.
"A...factory?" Sleet assumed. "That shouldn't be possible. Menagerie doesn't have the technology to-"
A loud screeching sound cut him off. Turning to the left, they saw the source of the noise. Instead of a Grimm, they saw a metal ship flying towards them. Djarin recognized it immediately: an Imperial TIE Fighter.
"What the hell is that?!" the pilot yelled.
"Pilot, get us out of-!" Sleet didn't get a chance to finish as the TIE Fighter fired green blasts and hit the airship. The video cut to static.
The screen turned off, the windows opened. "The Empire." everyone turned to Djarin as he said this.
"This...is what we need your help with." Ironwood said.
"I...don't understand." Djarin said. "I thought the Empire would leave Remnant after what happened with Salem."
"You thought wrong." everyone turned to Blake as she glared at the Mandalorian. "Because of you, these people took my home. My parents could be-!"
"Easy, Blake." Yang put her hand on Blake's shoulder. "Nobody was expecting this to happen."
"...Do you know why they're here?" Djarin asked.
"It has something to do with that factory." Weiss pointed out. "The Schnee Dust Company is active all over Remnant, except for Menagerie. There could be a deposit of Dust there that we never knew about, and now it's being mined dry. And with the Grimm and kingdoms across the world, Menagerie seems to be the safest place for them to mine."
It seems the Empire was once again taking something that didn't belong to them. No surprise there. But...what could they want with Dust?
"What are you planning to do?" Djarin asked.
"They will be expecting an aerial attack and more ships from the sea." Penny said. "Luckily, my father has been working on something to help!" she put a set of blueprints on the table and unfolded it. Everyone looked to see what looked like a special type of ship. Only, it was metal with no sails and no deck.
"Dr. Polendina wants to use a ship like this to submerge under the sea and get past their defenses." Ironwood said. "We'll send in a team of Huntsmen and Huntresses, destroy that factory, and help any Faunus in danger. Once their defenses are lowered, airships will come and help."
"And the team?" Djarin asked.
"That's where we all come in." Ruby spoke up. "We're all going to Menagerie and we're going to stop them."
"Only one thing remains uncertain." Ironwood said, looking at the Mandalorian. "Will you help us?"
The Mandalorian looked at everyone, and looked back at Ironwood. "Yes."
Before leaving, Djarin had to talk to Neo. Walking into her office, she saw her talking to Oscar.
"Hey, Mando." Oscar said. "Neo was telling me that you stopped by."
"Hello, Oscar." the Mandalorian said. "I didn't know you were still in Atlas."
"I heard about Neo being a combat teacher here, and she's been training me." he replied.
"And it's safe to say he's my best student." Neo said.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Djarin asked. "I told you before I left...Oz is gone."
"I know." Oscar said. "But...his mission isn't over. And since he was bonded with me, I can't but feel like I still have work to do."
Djarin immediately respected this. Oscar was willing to complete this mission, as Djarin would have if he were in Oscar's place. This is the Way.
Djarin turned to Neo. "I hope you don't mind if I take you up on your offer from earlier."
"Of course I don't mind." Neo said as she took Grogu. "Did you...find out what's going on?"
Djarin turned around to make sure the door was closed.
"Neo...do you remember how you were able to destroy Salem's giant Grimm?"
"Yeah...you brought those soldiers here and they distracted Salem while I put a bomb in that Grimm's heart."
"Wait." Oscar said. "Those people in the giant ship? This is about them?"
"Yes." Djarin replied. "They never left Remnant."
"What?" Neo asked. "They're still here?"
"Where are they?" Oscar asked.
"A place called 'Menagerie'. We think they're trying to mine Dust from it."
"What for?"
"We don't know, but they've killed countless people that were trying to get there. I'm joining RWBY, JNPR, and the Ace-Ops to stop them, but Grogu needs to stay here."
"Don't worry, he'll be safe with me." Neo assured him.
"Thank you, Neo." Djarin said. "I'll be back soon." he left the room.
After preparations were made, the team took a large airship to Menagerie. A submarine would be dropped once they got close to the continent, but not close enough for the Empire to see them.
Everyone was gathered around a table, about to go over their plan. Before they began, Blake walked in with another Faunus: a blonde boy with a monkey tail and a staff.
"'Sup losers?" he addressed everyone. Winter rolled her eyes.
"Hey, Sun." Ruby greeted him.
"Ruby, Yang...Ice Queen."
"WHY DOES EVERYONE KEEP CALLING ME THAT?!" Weiss said.
Blake turned to the Mandalorian. "This is my friend Sun. He's been to Menagerie before and he wants to help." Djarin simply nodded.
Winter pressed a button on the table and a map of Menagerie appeared. Blake spoke up.
"I have a plan to get on land." the map zoomed into a large lake. "Most people would mistake this for a freshwater lake, but it's actually a shortcut to the ocean used by aquatic Faunus. Our ship can surface there and then we have two goals: evacuate the Faunus and destroy the factory."
"Evacuate?" Ruby asked.
"Yeah." Blake sadly said. "From what Mando told us, the Empire's not going to leave Menagerie without a fight. We need to get the citizens of Menagerie out of harm's way."
"Blake's right." Djarin included. "This isn't something you'll be used to. No Grimm, nothing like what you learned at your schools. This is war."
Everyone nodded, ready for the danger that was ahead. Winter pressed her hand on her ear.
"We're here." she said. Let's get to the ship."
About ten minutes later, the submarine dove under water and made its way to the lake. Surfacing, RWBY, JNPR, Penny, the Ace-Ops, and the Mandalorian all stepped foot on Menagerie. They were ready.
Two stormtroopers were walking on a path, each one dragging a person behind them. They were stopped by another stormtrooper wearing an orange sash on his shoulder.
"What's this?" he asked, pointing to the Faunus on the ground.
"Two new rebels, sir." one trooper said as he picked up a man with two horns. Or rather, one horn and the other missing.
"Not this one." the second trooper said. "This is the freak from two days ago." he picked up a woman with a bloody face and red hair.
"Same shit, different day." their superior said with a sigh. "Alright, you know the drill." he stepped aside as the troopers walked up to a wall. The first picked up the man and placed him on the wall. He stepped back, drew his blaster, and fired. The Faunus fell to the ground, lifeless.
The second turned to his superior officer. "Permission to speak freely, sir?"
"Granted." he said.
"You were right, we know the drill. But you left this one alive last time she turned on us. Why didn't you kill her before?"
"Take a guess." he said with sarcasm.
The stormtrooper looked down at the woman and saw her pants were ripped at the waist. He laughed, understanding what his superior meant. "You want another go?"
"Nah, put her on the wall. We'll find another like her." he said laughing.
The stormtrooper did as he was told, and placed the Faunus on the wall. He stepped back and raised his blaster.
And he disintegrated in front of the other two.
"What the-?" the other trooper said before a blaster bolt from the forest hit him in the chest.
The one with the orange sash fired a few blasts in the trees and turned on his radio.
"This is BP-946! We're under-!" he didn't finish as a green hook stabbed his chest and he flew into the forest.
The Mandalorian walked out of the forest and looked around. He waved his right hand and the Huntsmen and Huntresses walked out. Blake ran up to the Faunus on the wall.
"Ilia?" she said. "Ilia, is that you?"
The girl responded by throwing a fist at Blake, which she backed away from.
"Ilia, it's me. It's Blake."
"...Blake?" Ilia said, getting a closer look. She immediately got up and hugged Blake, crying.
"Ilia, are you alright?" Blake said as she returned the hug.
"No." she said, falling to the ground. "No, I'm not."
Djarin walked up to her and kneeled. "What happened here?" he asked.
"They came...in a giant ship. We...couldn't stop them, there were two many." she looked up and saw the Ace-Ops. Recognizing them as Atlesians, Ilia got up and charged at them. Blake and the Mandalorian stopped her.
"Ilia, wait!" Blake said.
"No!" Ilia screamed. "They did this, only Atlas has technology like this!"
"It wasn't them!" Djarin said. "These people are Imperials, they're not from Atlas."
Ilia calmed down and looked at the Mandalorian. "...Imperials?"
"Yes. We'll explain later, but first we need to know why they're here."
"I...I don't know why they're here." Ilia said. "They gathered everyone into a labor camp and took some of them to that building." she pointed to the compound. "The others, including me, were left in the camp." Ilia turned to the woods. "Blake, they took your father to the building. Your mom's at the camp."
Blake put a hand to her mouth. "I...I don't know what to do." she said, the thought of both her parents in danger worrying her.
Ruby spoke up. "We'll go to the factory first."
"Wait." Winter said. "The camp should be easier to get to."
Sun spoke up. "We can do both. Blake, you can go to the factory with your team, while Winter and I go to the camp."
"We'll go with Blake." Jaune said.
"I'll go with the Ace-Ops." Winter said. "Penny, go with Blake. You might be able to get past the Imperials' security."
"Affirmative!" Penny said.
"I'll join you." Djarin said to Blake.
"Me too." Qrow said.
"After we save the Faunus, we're going to destroy that factory." Weiss said to Winter.
"Good luck." Winter said.
A scout trooper was standing in front of a fence in the middle of the forest. He was looking down at a speeder.
"Uh, try tightening that bolt." he said. "I think that's causing the rattle noise I hear."
Another scout trooper came out from underneath the speeder.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Do you wanna be the one fixing this?" he asked with annoyance.
"What? No, I'm just trying to help."
"If by 'help', you mean 'telling me what's what for ten minutes', then yes, you are helping."
"Sorry, geez. I'll let you do it."
"Alright." the scout went back under the bike. The first one felt a gust of wind and heard a crackle behind him.
"Huh?" he turned around, but saw nothing. "What was that?"
"What now?" the second trooper asked.
"...I thought I heard something." the first one said.
His partner got up. "What did it sound like?"
"I think it was-" he stopped as a banana fell on his visor.
"What the...?" the second scout looked up to see a boy hanging on a tree by his tail. "HEY!" he pulled out his blaster and fired.
Sun was about to move, but the bolt missed him and hit another tree. "Nice miss, suckers!" he yelled as he landed in front of them. He hit the first one with his staff.
The second scout was about to fire again, but Harriet used her Semblance to grab him and throw him against a tree. Marrow fired two shots before the scout could get up.
Winter walked in front of the gate. "Elm, open the gate." she ordered.
Elm swung her hammer at the gate and it flew off its hinges. Stormtroopers rushed to the scene and saw the intruders.
"We're under attack!" one yelled.
"FIRE!" another ordered.
The Ace-Ops and Sun got in cover as the stormtroopers fired. Vine used his Semblance to grab a rock and threw it at the stormtroopers. The rock hit two of them, but the rest continued to fire.
Winter stabbed her sword into the ground and created a glyph. Suddenly, dozens of small Nevermores flew towards the stormtroopers, causing them to stop firing.
"Harriet!" Winter yelled.
"On it!" Harriet said. Using her Semblance, Harriet charged at the distracted stormtroopers, punching each one. When she stopped, all the stormtroopers were on the ground motionless.
Winter stood up and looked at the camp. Faunus in chains started to slowly walk out, looking at what happened.
Marrow smiled at this and walked up. "Hey everyone. I know some of you think Atlas is responsible for this, but we're here to help. We have a ship ready at the beach to get you out of here."
The Faunus started to cheer hearing this.
Harriet smiled and walked next to Marrow. "Glad we're all on the same page." she said. "Follow us, we'll get you help."
The Ace-Ops started to walk out of the camp and lead the unchained Faunus to the beach.
"SUN!" a voice called out. Sun turned around to see a cat Faunus in a ripped black dress run up to him.
"Mrs. Belladonna!" he yelled with a smile. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." she said. "Where is he?"
"Who?"
"Ghira! Is he with you?"
"No, Ilia told us he got taken to that factory. Blake's going to rescue him."
"Factory?" Kail asked.
Sun pointed to the large building.
"Oh no." she said, fear on her face.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Sun, let me see your Scroll."
RWBY, JNPR, Penny, Qrow, and the Mandalorian arrived in front of the compound. Standing in front of a door, Blake was trying to open it using a panel on the side. The Mandalorian was staring at the top of the building. He could see a platform sticking out above.
"Hold on." he said as he flew in the air with his jetpack.
Blake gave up on the panel and turned to Penny. "Penny, open it." she said.
Penny took her index finger and the tip opened to reveal a green piece. Sticking it inside the panel, Penny turned her finger multiple times. "It may take a while, this door has multiple locks on it."
"HURRY UP!" Blake yelled and everyone turned to her, shocked at her outburst.
"Blake, calm down." Yang said. "I know you're upset, but we need to keep our cool."
"Right." Blake said. "I'm sorry, I'm just...I have a bad feeling about this."
Ruby took her hand. "Don't worry Blake. We'll find your dad. I promise."
Blake smiled. "Penny, any luck?" she asked.
"One lock down, four more to go!" Penny answered.
"This place has five locks?" Nora asked.
"It does seem a little overboard for a Dust factory." Ren said.
"Hey guys, do you hear that?" Jaune asked. Everyone stopped talking and listened.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH-!" a stormtrooper hit the ground and stopped screaming. The door suddenly opened.
"...Looks like we're in." Weiss said.
Walking inside, everyone saw the Mandalorian waiting for them.
"Nice work, Mando." Yang said patting his shoulder.
"Penny, we need to find any Faunus the Imperials brought here." Ruby said. "Where do we go?"
Penny looked up at the ceiling. Djarin noticed her eyes start to turn on their own, going left and right.
"We will go straight, up, right, left, straight, left, left, right, straight, left, right, right, and straight." Penny said with a smile, pointing at each direction she mentioned.
Every stared at her in silence. "Just lead the way." Djarin said.
Everyone began to follow Penny, but they all heard a soft ring. Turning around, they saw Blake holding her Scroll. Seeing it was a call from Sun, she answered it. "What's up, Sun?"
"Blake, is that you?" Kali's voice asked.
"Mom?! Are you alright?"
Kali sighed in relief. "I'm fine, sweetheart. Where are you?"
"At the factory. We're getting Dad out of here and we'll see you at the airship. Go with the Ace-Ops, they're here to help."
"Blake, listen to me. You need to leave that place now."
"What? Why?"
"Blake...that place...it's-" Blake couldn't hear what her mother said, a blaster bolt hit her hand and she dropped her Scroll.
Two stormtroopers were firing at the group, their shots bouncing off Djarin's Beskar armor. Ruby took Rosenrot out in its rifle form and fired at the troopers, both shots hitting them in the head.
"Blake, are you alright?" Djarin asked.
"Yeah, I'm okay." Blake said, looking at her destroyed Scroll.
"Was that your mom?" Ruby asked. "What did she say?"
"She wants us to leave."
"Why?"
"I don't know, I couldn't hear her."
"...What should we do?"
Djarin looked at the exit. "It's your call, Blake." he said.
Blake looked at everyone. "...You guys go. I'll find my dad."
Ruby stood in her way. "Blake, I said we would find him. And we will."
Blake turned to the Mandalorian. "I'm not leaving." he said.
Blake smiled. "Thank you." she said. "Alright. Let's go."
Sun and the Ace-Ops arrived on the beach, where Pietro's sub was waiting for them. Sun told Ilia and Kali the plan.
"This ship will take you to a large Atlesian airship not far from here. There are doctors there that can help with anything you need.
"What about the rest of them?" Ilia asked, pointing to the large group of Faunus behind them.
"They need to wait before we can get them out of here." he replied. "Something tells me we're about to have company."
Just then, an alarm sounded with a voice. "Alert. Prisoner escape in progress. Alert. Prisoner escape in progress."
Winter put a finger on her radio. "This is Specialist Schnee requesting immediate support."
"We got this." Sun said. "Get going!"
"Sun." Kali said before getting in. "Don't leave without Blake."
"You got it." he said with a smile. Kali and Ilia got in the sub and it descended. Just then, a small airship landed on the beach, with ten Atlesian Knights walking out.
"How was that ship able to land?" Winter asked. "Councilman Sleet's ship was shot down."
Before anyone could answer, a projectile was shot into the air, and hit the ship, destroying three robots.
"...Maybe that's why." Sun said.
Blaster bolts came from behind them, causing everyone except the robots to take cover. Stormtroopers were running down the stone stairs to the beach, with mortars lined at the top.
"FIRE AGAIN!" a stormtrooper ordered.
Another mortar was fired, and it hit the rest of the Atlesian Knights, who didn't get into cover.
The stormtroopers charged towards the beach, firing on citizens who were out in the open.
After walking out of an elevator, stormtroopers began to fire on everyone. But, the Huntsmen and Huntresses were able to make quick work of them. Nora charged at a group with her axe and struck at all three of them, their bodies flying to the wall.
Penny used her swords to fire beams at other troopers, each beam hitting their mark.
Blake used her Shadow Clones to trick each trooper and hit them from behind.
The Mandalorian was using his Beskar spear to disarm each trooper and stab them in their chests. Ruby used a similar strategy with her scythe blades.
After the room was cleared, the group could hear the sound of three elevators coming up. It seemed reinforcements were on their way.
Qrow turned to Penny. "Find us a way out of here!"
Penny went to a terminal, and plugged her finger in. A door at the end of the hallway opened. "I believe that room can lead us to where the Faunus are being held, and there should be an exit."
"I'll clear the way, cover me!" Blake said as she ran to the door. As she left, more stormtroopers came out of the elevators. The Huntsmen and Huntresses were ready.
Sun was making quick work of most of the stormtroopers on the beach, hitting each one with his nunchakus. Harriet and Vine were using their Semblances to help, and Elm was swinging her hammer at any Imperial she saw. But the main problem were the mortars at the top of the stairs.
Marrow had an idea. "Winter, clear a path!"
Pushing her sword into the ground, Winter summoned more small Nevermores to disorient the stormtroopers at the stairs. Once a path was made, Marrow ran up the stairs and threw his weapon in its boomerang form. When it came back, it hit every mortar with every stormtrooper firing one. Catching it, Marrow saw the other stormtroopers aiming at him.
"STAY!"
The stormtroopers froze in place, unable to move as Winter slashed at each of them.
As she finished, another airship landed. She joined the Ace-Ops at the beach.
"Specialist Schnee!" the pilot yelled. Winter walked over to him. "Has the factory been taken care of?"
"We have a team of Huntsmen and Huntresses in there, they need more time." Winter replied.
"We have orders from General Ironwood. If that factory isn't taken care of by the time the citizens are evacuated, we'll destroy it ourselves."
"...I understand." Winter said reluctantly.
Two Imperials wearing gray suits with white at the neck and shoulders were standing at a computer.
"Hurry, they're getting closer." one said.
"Almost ready." the second responded. "Most of our files have already been sent. Just need to send a few more and then-" he was cut off as two more stormtroopers came through the door, firing their blasters.
Blake came in and cut their weapons with her katana. She kicked the first one in the head and hit the other one in the neck with her scabbard. She turned to the two at the computer.
"Quick, destroy it!" the first one yelled. The other pulled out a blaster and destroyed the computer, making sure nobody could see what they were doing. Blake ran up and knocked the first one unconscious. She put her blade on the other's throat.
"Where's the exit?" she asked.
The Imperial pointed to an open door to the right. Blake took her blade away from him and also knocked him unconscious. She ran back the way she came to tell everyone she found the exit. As she was running, she caught a glimpse of the wall to her right. She stopped in her tracks. Tears formed in her eyes.
Everyone else was shooting at the stormtroopers down the hall. Their aim was true, but more reinforcements kept coming.
"We need to go!" Ruby said.
"Where's Blake?" Yang asked.
Djarin pointed to the door she went in. "In there! We can close the door behind us, let's go!"
Everyone ran inside. Penny went to the controls on the wall and closed the door. Using her Maiden powers, Penny froze the door shut. It would take a while for the Imperials to get in.
"Everyone alright?" Ruby asked. Everyone was catching their breath, but looked up and nodded. Yang saw Blake running towards them.
"Blake, did you find-?" Yang didn't get a chance to finish as Blake ran by and struck the Mandalorian with her scabbard.
"YOU BASTARD!" she yelled at him as he fell to the floor.
"Blake, what are you doing?!" Yang yelled.
Ignoring her, Blake put her blade to the Mandalorian's throat, who was pointing his blaster at her. "DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS?!"
"Know about what?!" he said.
Ruby and Weiss grabbed Blake and dragged her away from Djarin. "Blake, what's wrong?" Weiss asked.
Tears were coming down her face as she fell to the floor. "There." she pointed at the wall. Walking over, Ruby and Weiss gasped.
"Guys?" Weiss said. "You might wanna see this."
Qrow helped the Mandalorian off the floor and everyone walked over to where Ruby and Weiss were. They all froze.
The wall had glass chambers on it, filled with liquid and a dead Faunus inside. However, what disturbed them more was that pieces of them were...missing. Arms and legs had been severed, stomachs and chests had been ripped open, heads had been removed. Blake ran up to one and kneeled down crying. Walking up to her, Djarin saw the person in the chamber. It was a large bearded man, missing his arms. Looking down, he asked "Your father?"
Blake looked up and nodded. Yang ran up and hugged her. "I'm sorry, Blake." they both said.
Ruby turned to Weiss. "I thought you said this was a mining factory."
"I...I thought it was." Weiss said.
"No, this isn't a mining operation." everyone turned to Qrow. "This is a lab."
"Why?" Blake asked the Mandalorian. "Why would they do this?"
"We're going to find out." Djarin replied. He turned to Penny. "Penny, see what you can find."
Penny walked over to the computer and plugged her finger in. "The terminal is destroyed, I cannot see their work." she replied. "Wait! I found a recording." Djarin and everyone else walked over to it and Penny played a holographic recording of a man wearing glasses. Djarin recognized him: Dr. Pershing, the Imperial scientist he met on Nevarro, the one who was studying the Child.
"Per your orders, we've temporarily ceased our work on Nevarro. We have shifted all our focus on the people of the island known as 'Menagerie'. The natives here have remarkable traits, as they have proven to be hybrids of animal and man. After your successful invasion and construction of our operation, we've selected natives with more favorable traits than others. Examining their DNA showed a remarkable 'F' count for each native. Fortunately, we were able to find natives with blood type 'O', meaning their blood could be given to anybody and the person receiving blood would survive the transfusion. First attempts at splicing 'F' DNA with our volunteers were...regrettably unsuccessful. We needed to study the native's traits deeper, which...couldn't be done without killing them. The results, however, were miraculous. Task Force 99 arrived a week ago, and all seven troopers were successfully spliced with 'F' DNA. Their new traits evolved with time, and they've grown accustomed to their new abilities. We are prepared to share our research. You have your new soldiers soon...Moff Gideon." the recording stopped.
"This must be an old transmission." Djarin said looking at everyone. "Moff Gideon is dead."
"No." Penny said. The Mandalorian turned to her. "This recording was made yesterday."
Everyone looked at the Mandalorian. "Who's Moff Gideon?" Ruby asked.
"He's the Imperial who tried to kill me and kidnap the Child." Djarin replied. "If Gideon's alive, the Child's in danger. We have to leave now."
Blake pointed to a door. "The exit's over there."
Everyone went to the door, but found a dark room rather than an exit. The lights suddenly came on and the door closed behind them. Looking around, everyone saw they were standing in a large metal room. Weiss noticed scratch marks on the walls and Ruby saw what looked like burns on the floor. "I have a bad feeling about this." Ruby said.
"That makes two of us." Yang said. "Penny, do you think you can-?" Yang was cut off as a table came up from the floor. The table's surface was blue, and everyone gathered around it. Suddenly, a projection activated, showing a man in black armor with a black cape. His eyes landed on the Mandalorian.
"Welcome, Din Djarin." Moff Gideon said with a smile.
Sun and the Ace-Ops were leading the Faunus of Menagerie onto an airship. As it took off, another took its place.
Winter turned to Sun. "How many more do you think are left?"
"Hard to say." he replied. "Menagerie was always crowded with Faunus. What's going on with the ones who made it to the ship?"
"Mrs. Belladonna is helping them settle in and get medical attention." she answered.
"Alright, this one's full!" Elm yelled. "Stand back everyone!"
The airship took off and another started to come down. However, everyone heard a screeching noise and looked up. Two TIE Fighters had just arrived at the beach. One flew towards the two airships, destroying them in an instant. The other opened fire on the beach, knocking everyone to the ground.
"Elm, use your weapon!" Vine yelled.
Elm fired two rockets at one Fighter, and it exploded. Vine tried to use his Semblance to grab the other, but it flew out of reach.
"All airships standby for evacuation and switch to attack. We need to get those ships out of the sky!" Winter ordered on a radio.
"Tell them to hurry!" Sun said. "These guys won't miss a crowd this big."
"Moff Gideon." the Mandalorian said with anger in his voice.
"I see you've come this far into our facility." Gideon said. "I'd expect nothing less from you, but your new friends? Mere children? I'm surprised."
"Why don't you come out and we'll show you what else we can do?" Yang said, punching her fist into her metal hand.
"I'm afraid I'm nowhere near Menagerie at the moment. I'm too busy looking over the research we've made here. It's remarkable, I assure you."
Blake's grip on her weapon tightened when she heard this.
"You know, it seems I have you to thank." Gideon said to the Mandalorian. "You may have eluded us at the north and cost us troopers and pilots, but when I read about these 'Faunus', I realized we could make up for our failure." Gideon smirked at him. "So, thank you."
"You're not welcome." Djarin replied.
Blake came closer. "We know about your 'research'. What was your goal? Torture my people? Take away a part of them for yourselves?"
"Precisely, Miss Belladonna." Blake was surprised to hear him address her. "Oh, yes. I know who you are. Your father told me so much about you."
Blake slammed her scabbard on the table. "Don't you dare mention my father!"
"A shame your ears are your only trait. Otherwise, you could have been quite useful." Gideon continued. Blake grew even angrier.
"Useful for what?" Djarin asked. "What did Pershing mean about 'splicing' DNA?"
"I'm glad you asked. I originally got the idea for our work from a group of clone troopers in the Old Republic. Clone Force 99, or "the Bad Batch", had favorable traits in combat. Thanks to the Faunus and the work of Dr. Pershing, the common soldier has evolved once again."
[Play 'Shinedown-Evolve' on YouTube]
Suddenly, everyone could hear what sounded like footsteps coming from the door behind them. They turned around to fight, but then they noticed something was wrong. The footsteps weren't coming from a group of stormtroopers. It sounded like one, big person.
The doors then exploded towards the group as they all ducked, except for Jaune who had to use his Aura to protect himself. The others looked up to see a large stormtrooper. Part of his armor was cut off at the arms, revealing dark grey skin and a horn in the middle of his helmet. A rhino's horn.
"YEEEEAAAAHHHH!" the stormtrooper yelled. The terminal made a sound behind them and Djarin turned to see an image that was next to the hologram of Moff Gideon. "Allow me to introduce the superior Task Force 99." The image was a file that read "Stormtrooper Zuke."
Suddenly, a blaster bolt hit Yang in the shoulder. Looking up, everyone saw a sniper in a hood on an upper platform and another stormtrooper with scratches on his helmet and knives on his chest. "Bullseye." the sniper said.
Qrow raised his weapon and shot, but the sniper jumped down and a pair of bat wings came from his back. Flying in the air, the sniper fired more shots that caused Djarin to duck and everyone else to scatter. Landing next to Zuke, the wings folded. The terminal made a sound again, and Djarin saw another name. "Stormtrooper Misty."
The other stormtrooper jumped down. Landing in front of Blake, he moved his arms to make an 'X'. His fingers sprouted ten claws on his fingernails. "My compliments to your daddy. His claws make quite the weapons."
He grabbed Blake's arm and slashed at her stomach. Blake used her Aura to block this attack, but the stormtrooper kicked her back and pounced over to Zuke and Misty. Djarin saw another name pop up on the table. "Stormtrooper Cav."
Penny opened her back and her swords came out. She was about to make them fire beams of energy, but they suddenly went limp. Penny looked confused, but then she felt her arms and legs go limp and she fell. Nora ran to her and tried to help. "Penny, what's happening?!"
"Uh, uh, uh." a new voice called out tauntingly. Penny and Nora turned to the door to see a stormtrooper with his eye slits glowing blue walk next to Zuke, tapping a computer on his arm. He was hacking into Penny. "We can't have a droid like you fighting for them. That would be cheating." the stormtrooper then opened his hand and a spiderweb shot out and wrapped Penny in an instant. Another name popped on the table. "Stormtrooper Mic."
Weiss stabbed her rapier into the ground and prepared to summon an Arma Gigas. As it was coming out of the glyph, a jet of flame caused it to disappear and almost burn Weiss. The flames disappeared and a stormtrooper with large eye slits on his helmet with red markings on his armor was standing in front of her holding a flamethrower. A tail suddenly appeared behind him and knocked Myrtenaster out of Weiss' hands. It then hit her shoulder, revealing itself to be an lizard tail, strong and powerful enough to knock enemies with ease. "I love this thing." he said with a chuckle and joined his other stormtroopers. Another name popped on the table. "Stormtrooper Shrap."
Ren raised his pistols to fire blaster bolts at the group, but he dropped them as something burned his hands. Looking down at them, he saw a green substance on them. An acidic substance. Using his Aura to heal himself and looking back up, Ren saw a stormtrooper with his lower mouth guard removed and a green substance coming out of his mouth. The lower part came back on, respirator tubes on it and a kind of dome on top of his helmet.
"I never tested my snake venom on someone with an Aura." the stormtrooper said. "Impressive recovery." he then moved to his fellow stormtroopers. Another name popped up. "Stormtrooper Aero."
Ruby used her Semblance to get to the wall, away from the rest of the stormtroopers. Before she could raise her rifle, she felt something hit her back. Falling to the ground, she turned to see her attacker. But nobody was there. Suddenly, Ruby felt someone kick her face and she fell back a few feet. Looking towards her, Djarin saw a stormtrooper appear out of thin air. This trooper was able to camouflage himself in his surroundings. He was wearing an orange sash on his shoulder. He activated a jet pack he was wearing and flew towards the rest of the stormtroopers. Looking back at the table, he saw one final name appear. "Stormtrooper Sergeant Kreel."
Moff Gideon looked at everyone and spoke again. "Mandalorian, Huntsmen, Huntresses. Meet the Special Commando Advanced Recon troopers. SCAR Squadron."
[End music]
Djarin looked at the stormtroopers as they prepared to fight everyone. His friends stood back up, and Ruby approached Djarin.
"Have you ever seen anything like them?" Ruby asked.
"No, never." he replied.
Blake looked back at Moff Gideon. "So, that's it? You stole the one thing that makes Faunus who they are to make these...monsters?!"
"Miss Belladonna, you surprise me." Gideon retorted. "As you can see, these soldiers are now Faunus themselves. And you so easily call your own kind 'monsters'?" Gideon looked at the stormtroopers. "Sergeant Kreel, I trust you understand what to do now?"
"Sir, yes, sir." Kreel replied. "Alright, SCAR Squadron! Who's ready to raise some hell?"
The Atlas airships were locked in combat with more TIE Fighters, trying to make sure they didn't hit the Faunus on the beach. But they were outmatched. The TIE Fighters had more experience with planet and space combat, and were picking off the airships one by one. Winter knew she had to do something.
"Ace-Ops, protect the citizens!" Winter ordered. "Sun, you're with me!"
"What are we doing?" he asked.
Winter stabbed her sword into the ground and made a glyph. A Manticore rose from the glyph. "Getting involved." Winter said as she hopped onto its back. "Jump on!" Sun got on and the Manticore flew into the air.
When they got close to a TIE Fighter, Winter used her sword to cut its wing, causing it to fly out of control and crash into the ocean. Sun jumped in front of another one, used his nunchakus to break the window, and tossed the pilot out. He used his Semblance to create two clones that threw him to another one and he did the same thing.
Winter was charging towards another TIE Fighter. It fired, destroying her Manticore but launching Winter on top of the ship. The pilot started to fly faster and spin, trying to get Winter off. But Winter held on, stabbing her sword into the top. The sword hit his controls, which destroyed them. The pilot tried to gain control, but he was flying into the ocean. Winter jumped off as the Fighter crashed and felt something grab her. She flew back to the beach and saw that Vine had saved her using his Semblance. Sun was standing next to her.
"That's all of them!" he said.
"Not for long." Winter said. "More will come."
"Then we gotta hurry." Sun said.
RWBY, JNPR, Qrow, and the Mandalorian were all staring at SCAR Sqaudron. They prepared their weapons.
"Well, well, well." Kreel spoke. "An actual Mandalorian. Don't see too many of those anymore."
"Thanks to you." Djarin replied.
"Well, there's that. But let's be honest. You knew we would take Mandalore eventually. Just like Menagerie."
"You may have taken it, but it's not yours." Blake said. "This island belongs to the Faunus."
"Hey, it may be your island, but this is our galaxy. Always has been."
"Not anymore." Djarin said. "Apparently, you didn't get the news. The New Republic's in charge."
"For the moment. Things are gonna change soon."
"You really think that?"
"Of course." Kreel responded. "Look around you, Mandalorian. The Empire may have crumbled due to one man's ego, but the New Republic is slowly falling into corruption and repeating the same mistakes of the Old Republic. We want to create something new. And maybe, just once, I can sleep knowing there's peace now and in the far future."
"You're delusional." Djarin said.
"Alright, enough talk!" Yang said as she stepped forward. "We gonna see any action from you clowns anytime soon?"
"I thought you'd never ask." Kreel said. "Because Zuke here..." he moved his hand to the rhino stormtrooper "he loves to get in on some action. Don't you, Zuke?"
"Yes, sir, Sarge." Zuke replied.
"Why don't you show our new friends and Moff Gideon what kind of action we like?"
"Gladly."
With that, Zuke put his head down and started to run towards the group, specifically towards Yang. Yang fired her gauntlets, but they merely bounced off his armor and his exposed skin. Yang jumped out of the way, but Zuke merely grabbed her and continued to run. He then threw Yang in front of him and hit her with his horn, pushing her to the side and hitting the wall.
Mic leaned to his sergeant. "I honestly feel bad for that chick." he said.
"I don't." Kreel said.
"Yang!" Blake called out and ran towards her. Cav stopped in front of her, pulling out two knives from his chest and popping out his claws. "We're not done yet." he said, slashing at her. Blake was able to block his attacks and lock her katana with his knives.
Ruby pointed Rosenrot in its rifle form at the rest of SCAR Squadron, but a blast from above knocked it out of her hands. Looking up, Ruby saw Misty flying and pointing a rifle at her. "Too slow, kid." Ruby tried to run back and grab Rosenrot, but Misty fired more shots at the ground. Ruby would need a new approach.
Nora turned Cuy'val Dar into its repeater form and fired blasts at the rest of SCAR Squadron, causing them to scatter. As she continued to fire, Nora felt a sticky substance on her chest. Looking down, she saw a web on her chest and a line that led back to Mic. He grabbed the line and pulled. "GET OVER HERE!"
Jaune got off the ground and put his shield in front of him, just in time as Aero spit more venom at him. His shield began to melt, so Jaune threw at Aero. Ducking, Aero fired blaster bolts at his opponent. Jaune felt a rope wrap around him as Ren used his grapping hooks to get Jaune out of the way of Aero's blasts. They both turned to Aero as he prepared to attack again.
Weiss was jumping on glyph after glyph, avoiding Shrap's tail and flames. Shrap was getting annoyed, so he changed his strategy. As Weiss was about to jump on another glyph, Shrap threw a grenade and it exploded as soon as she landed on it. Her Aura flickered, but remained active.
Djarin and Qrow looked at Kreel, Qrow changing his weapon into its sword form and Djarin moving into a battle stance with his Beskar spear. Kreel reached to his belt and pulled out a metal cylinder, bigger than his hand. Pressing a button, a green blade appeared, and he got into a battle stance. "Alright. Who's first?"
"Alright, that's the last of them!" Sun said as the last airship took off with the last of the Menagerie citizens.
"It's time we go too." Winter said to the Ace-Ops as another ship landed.
"Wait, what about the others?" Sun asked. "That building's still standing, they're still in there."
"I know." Winter replied. "We're sticking to the plan, the airships will take care of it."
"But we can't just leave them!"
"We have orders."
"Weiss is in there! Don't you give a crap?!" Sun felt a slap to his cheek.
"OF COURSE I CARE!" Winter yelled. "But...it doesn't matter. My personal feelings don't matter here."
"You're right." Sun said. He then pointed to a group destroyed Atlesian Knights on the beach. "Personal feelings didn't matter to them. They didn't have any. We do."
Winter was about to say something else, but stopped herself.
"Winter, did you notice these bots were the first things to be destroyed when we came here? They only followed their orders, their programming. They weren't willing to die, like the rest of Atlas' army. This part of the army has no heart, no spirit, no will to fight. So, no matter how hard you may want to be, you're not a machine. Your feelings do matter, because that's why we're still standing here. We're willing to fight, to protect others. And now, I'm willing to risk my life to save my friends." Sun took off, running towards the Imperial facility. Winter took a moment to collect her thoughts...and ran after him.
Qrow's sword was locked with Kreel's lightsaber. Using his blaster, Kreel fired at the Mandalorian, but the bolts simply deflected off his armor. Djarin started to charge towards him and lunged his spear, but Kreel used his jetpack to fly above the strike and kick Djarin's spear away. However, Djarin was able to grab onto Kreel's leg before he went higher. Qrow turned into a bird and flew to Kreel, who was trying to knock Djarin off. Changing back into his human form, Qrow kicked Kreel's helmet and all three fell to the ground. Qrow and Djarin got back up, but Kreel was gone.
"Where did he-" Qrow was cut off as two invisible fists hit him in the face. Recovering, he hit the thin air. Kreel then appeared before Qrow.
"Missed." he said tauntingly as he camouflaged himself again. Djarin fired his pistol but the blasts hit the wall. Kreel kicked Djarin's chest as he reappeared again.
"Missed." he said again before he disappeared again.
Qrow took his weapon, cut his hand, and threw his blood into the air, hoping for it to land on Kreel.
It landed on the wall.
Qrow then felt a hot slash on his back. Letting out a scream of agony, he fell to the ground. Looking up, he saw Kreel reappear with his lightsaber in hand.
"Yeah, like I haven't seen that trick before."
Before he could strike Qrow again, the Mandalorian stopped Kreel's lightsaber with his spear. Pushing it up, Kreel moved a couple of feet as Djarin went into a fighting position.
Yang kept punching Zuke's arm as he was holding her by the throat, but Zuke was laughing at this, his skin not feeling the punches.
"You're gonna have to do better than this, kid." Zuke said as he slammed Yang against the wall. Pulling her off, he slammed her again. And again. And again. And again.
Zuke then threw Yang as he charged at her again. Before Yang could hit the ground, his rhino horn made contact with her stomach and she flew into the wall.
"HAHAHAHAHA! Well, you certainly know how to show a guy a good time." Zuke said as he turned around to the fights going on behind him. "I wonder if your friends can do the same." Zuke started to walk over to Blake and Cav, but felt a hand grab his arm.
Turning around, he saw Yang with her hair glowing gold and a smirk on her face.
"Who's says it's over?" Yang asked.
Zuke threw his arm to punch her, but Yang simply caught it. She sent her other fist into Zuke's chest, breaking his armor and sending him back a few feet.
Yang managed to activate her Semblance at the right time. Zuke's brutal attacks have only made her stronger. Now, he was in trouble.
Zuke got back up and started running at Yang, and Yang was running at him. Before the horn could make contact, Yang jumped and punched Zuke's head, causing him to crash into the ground. Yang turned back to punch him again, but Zuke caught her metal arm and crushed it. Yang looked at it in disbelief. As he was about to send another fist her way, Yang used her other arm and Semblance to punch the ground, sending Zuke into the air. As he was falling back down, Yang jumped and sent an uppercut into Zuke's helmet, knocking him unconscious. Yang's Aura broke and she fell to the ground, catching her breath.
Ruby was running from Misty as more shots nearly hit her. Suddenly, the blasts stopped. Turning around, Ruby couldn't see Misty. Instead, she felt a force from above crash into her and pin her on the ground. Misty's wings kept her arms pinned and Ruby felt a pair of hands around her throat. She was struggling in the grip.
"Shhhhh." Misty said. "It will be over soon."
Ruby didn't give up. She was able to move her legs and kick Misty off her chest. Catching her breath, Ruby saw Misty fly back in the air, sniper rifle ready.
"You gonna run again? Because quite frankly, that's not a good strategy."
Misty was right. Ruby wouldn't be able to keep this up for long. She then had an idea.
She ran to a wall, put her two feet on it, and lunged towards Misty. Misty raised the rifle and fired. Ruby smirked.
Using her Semblance, Ruby was able to change into two bursts of rose petals, the blast missing her. Changing back, Ruby landed on Misty's back and grabbed both bat wings. She saw Rosenrot on the ground and steered Misty towards it. But Misty wasn't giving up.
"GET OFF!" Misty dived and they both fell to the ground, Ruby's Aura breaking the long fall. However, her Aura shattered. Misty recovered and lunged at Ruby. But Ruby was able to fire two bullets of Fire Dust at each of the bat wings, causing them to catch fire. Misty crashed in front of Ruby and she raised Rosenrot and knocked out her opponent.
Weiss fell to the ground as her outfit caught fire. She rolled on the ground to put it out, only to see Shrap pointing his flame thrower at her again, laughing.
~"Ashes, ashes, we all fall down."~ he sang, mocking Weiss catching fire and falling to the ground. He crouched and sent his lizard tail at her. Weiss rolled out of the way as the tail made a dent in the floor.
"Aw, just stay still!" he yelled as he sent another jet of flame towards her.
Using a glyph to get out of the way, Weiss suddenly had an idea. It was risky and would cost a sacrifice, but Weiss didn't have a choice.
Loading Myrtenaster with an Amban round and watching the blade glow, Weiss threw it into the jet of flame. The flames disappeared just a few inches from Weiss' face. Looking at Shrap, she saw that her plan worked: the Amban round disintegrated his weapon, but Myrtensater was on the ground, broken.
"OH, COME ON!" Shrap yelled. Weiss ran up to him, about to send a fist into his face, but was knocked away by his tail.
Weiss' Aura finally broke, and she had no time to recover as the tail hit her in the chest. "L-let go!" Weiss yelled.
"If you won't stay still, I'll just have to force you!" Shrap said as he came closer. Wrapping his tail around her, Shrap used it to pick her up and begin to squeeze her.
"Hmmmm..." Shrap hummed, placing a hand on Weiss cheek. "And to think I was going to burn your pretty little face off. Maybe I could convince Kreel to let you live."
Weiss, disgusted with Shrap's words, spat on his helmet.
"Or maybe not." Shrap said as the tail squeezed tighter.
Suddenly, a scythe blade cut Shrap's tail, releasing Weiss. Before he could react, the blunt side of the scythe knocked Shrap unconscious. Ruby kneeled down to Weiss, as she was gasping for breath and holding her waist in pain.
Jaune and Ren were dodging more of Aero's blasts and acidic venom. Ren fired blasts from Storm Flower, but the red bolts seemed to just deflect of his armor.
"Why are you different?" Jaune asked. "The soldiers we've seen fall after being hit by one blast."
"A magician never reveals his secrets." Aero replied, firing more blasts that deflected off Jaune's armor.
"Jaune, get down!" Ren yelled, shooting his hooks at the walls. Ducking, Jaune saw Ren launch himself at Aero. Aero ducked as well and fired another bolt at Ren, hitting him in the back and causing him to fall to the the ground.
Jaune ran over to Ren, but Aero tripped him before he could reach his friend. Lowering his mouthpiece, Aero picked up Jaune by his hair and bit his throat. Jaune screamed in pain.
Aero suddenly felt a sharp pain in his back, releasing his grip on Jaune and screaming. He felt a hook in his back and before he could pull it out, it pulled him away from Jaune.
Ren used one of his hooks to latch onto Aero and sent a kick to his face. Aero didn't get back up. Ren ran over to Jaune to see if he was alright.
Nora was swinging her axe at Mic, who was surprisingly able to dodge each swing. It seemed the experiments had enhanced his reflexes, as he was able to jump onto the walls and spring forward at his opponent with ease.
Mic had tackled Nora, but she was able to throw him off her. Mic landed next to Penny. Looking at his arm, he had an idea.
Quickly pressing keys on his arm computer, Penny's swords sprang to life and started to fly towards Nora. She was able to dodge most of them, but a couple of the blades hit her back and she fell.
"Damn, this thing is impressive." Mic said, looking at a technical readout of Penny. Turns out he was able to hack into her while Penny plugged into each door and terminal at the facility. It took time as he was only able to get samples of her, but the more terminals Penny plugged in to and the longer she was in, the easier it was for Mic.
"I mean, look at this! Jet propelled legs, ocular enhancements? Once we're done here, I'm gonna tear this thing to its core."
Nora quickly got back up, angry at what Mic was saying. She wasn't going to let him study Penny without a fight. Nora rushed at him with her axe ready.
But Mic had discovered something else while looking at his readout of Penny. Turning the swords to Nora, he pressed a button and green beams of energy fired at her. Nora fell to the ground, her Aura breaking.
Panting, Nora looked up to see another web wrap on her face. She suddenly had trouble breathing, the web was suffocating her.
Mic pulled on the string, but it was cut by a green hook. Turning around, he saw Ren pointing his weapon at him. Before Mic could raise his baster and fire, he heard a scream as an axe blade struck his chest and cut his armor. He fell to the ground and didn't get back up. Yang dropped the axe and pulled the web of Nora's face as she suddenly gasped for breath.
Cav was rather enjoying himself, fighting Blake. Sure, she was able to use her Semblance to trick him a few times, but he had another weapon: Cav liked to talk.
"So, your Semblance helps you run away and let others take the blow?" Cav asked. "Surprising, since your dad was quite the fighter. You sure you two were related?"
Blake stopped using her Semblance and charged at him, but Cav merely jumped to the wall and pounced on her, able to scratch her once or twice. He had been using this strategy ever since their fight began, and it still worked. It seemed Blake had lost control of her emotions, the pain of losing her father overwhelming her. But now, he was strangling her.
"I watched him die, you know." Cav said, still choking Blake. "After we took his arms, he still wanted to fight. So, you know what I did?" he leaned closer to one of Blake's cat ears. "I slit his throat and threw him in one of those chambers." Blake's eyes were filled with tears as she pushed him off and grabbed her pistol.
Screaming, Blake fired multiple blaster bolts at him, but Cav was able to dodge and jump over them quickly. Along with the claws, the experiments enhanced his reflexes. Scratching Blake once more, her Aura broke. Cav grabbed a knife and slit her hands, which caused Blake to drop her katana. Cav grabbed her by the throat.
Laughing, Cav leaned closer to Blake's face. "It's too bad you couldn't see your daddy give one last fight. It was...entertaining. But now, you can watch your friends fight and die instead."
Blake spat on his helmet. "I'm not gonna just sit here and watch you kill them!"
"Is that right?" Cav asked, pulling out one of his knives. "Okay. Let's make it official."
Cav swiped his knife and slit both of Blake's eyes and threw her across the floor.
Screaming and grabbing her eyes, Blake heard Cav continue to laugh as he walked towards her.
"Hey, you said you wouldn't watch them." he said. "Now, you can settle for hearing them."
He was about to grab her again as a body flew into him.
Kreel had his lightsaber locked with Djarin's Beskar spear.
"Where'd you learn to fight with that?" he asked the Mandalorian.
"I didn't learn it at all." he answered. "It comes naturally to me."
"Yeah? Well your nature's not that great." Kreel said laughing. "You wield that spear like its the first time."
"And you think you're better with a laser sword?" Djarin retorted.
"Watch me." Kreel said as he flew into the air on his jetpack. He swung the blade as Djarin blocked it.
Landing, Kreel blended in with his surroundings again. Djarin quickly activated his helmet's thermal vision. He was able to block Kreel's blade just in time.
Kreel continued to swing at the Mandalorian, but Djarin kept blocking. Having enough of this, Kreel grabbed the staff and threw the Mandalorian against the wall.
Seeing the lightsaber blade come closer, Djarin quickly put his hands up as his Beskar gauntlets blocked the strike. Djarin sent a jet of flame at Kreel, and Kreel started to scream. The flames were burning his armor quickly, so Kreel flew into the air recovering. Djarin grabbed his staff and threw it at Kreel's back. It made contact with one of the thrusters and Kreel flew out of control towards Cav. Crashing into him, they both hit the wall as the jetpack exploded and made a hole in the wall. Djarin could see Kreel and Cav laying on the floor groaning in pain. Rather than finishing them off, he ran up to Blake, who was laying on the ground.
"Blake, are you alright?" he asked.
"I...I can't see." Blake said, holding her hand out.
"Mando, I got her." Ruby said as she picked up Blake. Djarin turned back to Gideon, who was staring at him.
"Disappointed?" Djarin asked. "All this time and effort, wasted. Your experiment failed."
Gideon looked behind Djarin and smiled. "Did it?" he asked.
Turning around, the Mandalorian got a look at everyone.
Qrow was having trouble standing, Kreel's attack still hurting. Penny was helping him, she was free of Mic's control and web.
Jaune was being carried by Ren, he had been poisoned by Aero's venom.
Yang was missing her robotic arm and was bleeding on her head. Zuke had done a number on her.
Blake was blinded and being carried by Ruby. If it wasn't for Kreel flying into him, Cav would have killed her.
Weiss was holding her side, having trouble breathing and being helped by Nora. Shrap may have punctured one of her lungs by crushing her.
Djarin understood. They won, but SCAR Squadron left its mark. And they could do a lot worse on regular soldiers of the New Republic.
And to make matters worse, he could see SCAR Squadron slowly get back up. Damaged, but still alive.
"I think this test had decent results." Gideon said. "But there's room for improvement, you're right. So you can die knowing it will take time before the New Republic falls."
Djarin knew Gideon was right. SCAR Squadron was strong and still willing to fight. If this experiment was to continue with regular stormtroopers, they could stand a chance against the New Republic. He had to stop them, he had to-
Wait. What did Gideon mean by "die?"
"Computer, this base is compromised." Gideon said. "Activate the self-destruct protocol, T-minus two minutes."
"Confirmed." an automatic voice rang out. "Self destruct activated. This base will self-destruct in two minutes."
Gideon turned to Kreel. "I trust that leaves you with enough time to escape, Sergeant?"
"Yes, sir." Kreel said.
"Excellent. We'll send the rendezvous coordinates once you leave. Long live...the Empire."
"Long live the Empire." Kreel said as Gideon's hologram deactivated. Kreel turned back to his men. "Alright SCAR Squadron, party's over! Time to go. Mic?"
"On it, Sarge." Mic said, tapping his arm computer. Suddenly, part of the wall opened, revealing a large corridor. Mic turned back to his sergeant. "Good to go."
Zuke took off running while carrying Aero, Misty was flying into the corridor, Mic made web strings and swung on each one, Cav was running on all fours, and Shrap ran with Kreel. The door closed as quickly as it opened.
The Mandalorian turned back to everyone. They had less than two minutes to escape, but almost everyone was in no shape to run.
This was bad.
Winter caught up to Sun as he was in the trees surrounding the compound.
"Alright, we're here." Winter said. "Now what?"
"I don't know." Sun said. "To be honest, I hadn't planned this far."
Winter sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Hey, I'm doing my best here!" Sun said. "What do you want from-" he was cut off as a door opened on the side of the facility, with seven stormtroopers exiting.
"Alright, the ship's about 200 yards south." a stormtrooper in burnt armor with an orange sash said. "Aero, get those speeders ready." he said as he pointed to a few broken speeders.
"On it." one said as he rushed to the bikes.
"Looks like the natives are gone, Sarge." a larger one said. "You know, they might think us running away is a sign of weakness. What's say we ride out one last time and show them who's boss?"
"Don't make jokes." the burnt one said. "Shrap, how's the tail?" he looked back at a trooper wearing red marked armor.
"It's almost back now." he said, looking at a tail attached to him. "And you guys say I got the worst trait. I told you lizards can heal limbs."
"Yeah?" one trooper wearing a hood asked. "Well, at least we can ride speeders without any of our limbs hitting the ground."
"...Shut up." he said.
"Sarge, they're ready!" Aero called out. Everyone ran to the speeders.
"Aw, man." Shrap said, not looking forward to the bumpy ride. "I knew today was gonna suck."
"Enough chatter!" the sergeant ordered, mounting his bike. "We're leaving." he mounted his bike and rode away.
"Look on the bright side, Shrap." the larger one said. "We did a number on those kids, and Moff Gideon was impressed."
"Right." Sharp said as he mounted his bike. "Let's just get outta here." the rest of the troopers left.
Sun and Winter ran out of the trees and looked at the door.
"Were those guys...Faunus?" Sun asked, noticing Sharp's tail and the horn on the larger one.
"That's the least of our worries." Winter said as she ran inside the base. "Based on what they said, everyone else is in trouble."
Penny was able to blast the doors open, but it was a long way to the exit. Yang was holding Blake's hand, guiding her to the exit. Qrow was being carried by Djarin, Ren was carrying Jaune, while Penny, Ruby, Weiss, and Nora were all running. But, they weren't making that much progress. With a minute left, they didn't even make it halfway.
Suddenly, two figures were running up to them.
"Winter!" Weiss called out.
"Weiss, are you alright?" she called out.
"No time, get moving!" Djarin called out.
"What? Why?" Sun asked.
"The place is set to self-destruct and we have less than a minute." Penny said.
"And we have wounded." Djarin included.
Winter suddenly knelt on the ground and summoned a few Manticores. "Put everyone who's hurt on them." she ordered.
They saw Winter mount one with Qrow, and the others had Jaune, Sun, and Blake. Djarin used his jetpack to fly to the exit with Penny following him, but not before Penny told Ruby what to do with everyone else.
The Manticores, Djarin, and Penny all made it out, and turned back to look for the others.
"Where are they?" Djarin asked.
Before Penny could answer, the building suddenly began to explode, the highest tower first and worked its way down.
"GET BACK!" Winter yelled.
Everyone ran to the trees, and saw the entire facility go up in flames.
Suddenly, everyone saw a red burst fly out of the door and land in front of them. Taking form, everyone saw Ruby with Nora, Ren, Yang, and Weiss. Ruby stood confidently while everyone else hit the floor, disoriented from Ruby's Semblance.
"Please...don't do that again." Weiss said.
Before Ruby could respond, everyone saw a black ship fly towards the sky.
"The soldiers from earlier." Winter deduced.
"Looks like SCAR Squadron escaped." Djarin said.
"It's okay." Ruby said. "I think...they were the only ones to escape."
An airship took everyone to the larger Atlesian airship, which was making its way back to Atlas. Jaune and Qrow were immediately hospitalized. Jaune was given a treatment similar to Qrow's when he was poisoned by Tyrian, and he would need to rest for a few days. Qrow would need physical therapy to properly recover from Kreel's lightsaber strike, but he was fine. Weiss was left with a bruised lung, but it wasn't serious. Everyone was more concerned about Blake.
Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Nora, and Ren were looking through a window at Blake in a hospital bed with bandages over her eyes. Her mother and Ilia were standing at each side of the bed, tears in their eyes. Blake told them what the Empire did to her father and other Faunus. She didn't need to see to know that their hearts were broken. After they both left, everyone at the window went inside to see how she was doing. Everyone except Ruby.
Ruby saw the Mandalorian standing alone, above hundreds of Faunus who were being taken care of after escaping Menagerie. She walked up to him.
"You get checked out by the doctors?" she asked.
"I'll be fine." he replied. "How's Blake?"
"She'll...she'll be okay. That stormtrooper did a number on her, but she'll live. It'll just take a while for her to get...used to things."
Djarin didn't respond.
"Do you...want to see her?" Ruby asked.
"I...don't think she'll want to see me." he replied.
"Mando...I don't think Blake blames you for what happened."
"I do." Djarin said turning to Ruby. "I should have known the Empire would have found something on Remnant they wanted. I was focused on stopping Salem, I didn't stop to think about this."
"Mando, you have to remember that your plan worked. Without you, Salem would have destroyed everything. Nobody could have predicted this would happen."
"...Right."
Ruby put a hand on his shoulder. "Mando...remember when I had doubts about myself after Argus? How you told me about your clan? Well, this is one of those situations. We made a choice, and it had consequences. Some were right before our eyes, some were hidden. But, all we can really do is learn from it. You learned that it was your duty to protect the baby, and I had to find my confidence again. And...it helped, in the long run."
"You're right, Ruby." Djarin said. "And...I think I did learn from this." he started to walk away.
"What did you learn?" Ruby asked.
The Mandalorian turned around. "What I have to do now."
Blake was in a hospital room at Atlas. She would be given an operation to restore her eyesight in the morning, but she didn't care. Blake was reminiscing on what happened at Menagerie. All she could think about was how powerless everyone was against the Empire. They may be gone now, but what if they came back? And she couldn't help but feel guilty about her father. She wished she could have been there, to help Menagerie fight.
Blake then heard someone come in. "Yang, is that you?" she asked, unable to see.
"...I need to talk to you." she heard someone say.
"Mando." she realized. "What do you want?"
"To apologize." he replied. "You were right, the Empire's work on Menagerie was my fault. But I didn't know they would stay after what happened with Salem. I thought they would cut their losses and leave. But, I was wrong. I'm sorry for what happened.
"Mando...I'm sorry too." Blake said. "The damage was done, you're right. But it wasn't your fault. With enough time...we can rebuild."
"And I can make things right." Djarin said.
"What do you mean?"
"...After I help the Child, I'm going to find the Empire. They lost the war, but as we saw, they're not gone. There are other worlds that are in danger because of them, and I'm going to make sure they won't hurt Remnant, or any other system again."
Blake sat up. "You think you can do this?" she asked.
"Not alone." Djarin replied. "I don't know how long it will take, but I'm not going to stop fighting until they're gone. And this time...I'll make sure they stay the hell away from Remnant."
"...Good luck." Blake said. "And thanks for coming back."
"I must say, I'm enjoyed your performance."
Moff Gideon was currently standing in a room with suits of black armor lined on the walls and addressing SCAR Squadron.
"Thank you, sir." Kreel spoke.
"It is unfortunate, however, that you were unable to finish them." Moff Gideon stared at Kreel.
"My men and I feel the same way, Moff Gideon. Between the use of Aura and the Mandalorian, our task was...difficult."
"I am aware." Gideon turned away. "Fortunately, the rest of the galaxy does not have the advantages of the people of Remnant. And the Mandalorian will be dealt with soon."
"That's where we come in?" Kreel asked.
"No." Gideon replied. "This project requires...improvements. Until you are all ready, you will be off duty."
"With all due respect, Moff Gideon, we have abilities beyond that of the average stormtrooper. We can fight again."
"When the time is right. Am I clear, Sergeant?"
"...Yes sir."
The door behind them opened, and a communications officer walked in.
"Moff Gideon." she said as her turned to face her.
"The tracking beacon has been installed in the Razor Crest." she said.
"Does he still have the asset?" Gideon asked.
"Yes. Our source in Atlas confirmed it." the officer answered, referring to one of the engineers that was working on the ship while the Mandalorian was on Menagerie.
"...And we will be ready."
The officer nodded and left the room.
Gideon smiled and examined the Dark Troopers on the wall. The waiting, the loss of Menagerie, they had been worth the effort. The Child would be his. Very soon.
Author's notes: and that's the end. I hope you like this chapter, and I'm sorry I made it so long. It would have made sense to divide it, but I wanted to get all of this done before I start my other story. Let me explain my idea for it:
I want to call it "The Grimm Wars". Here's the opening: "Salem was left alone on Remnant. Her rebellion against the Gods failed, causing them to leave her to suffer. Having enough of her curse, Salem travels to the Land of Darkness to hopefully free herself. Before she can jump into the Brother's Grimm, she meets a mysterious stranger with abilities some consider to be...unnatural." Let me know what you think.
Also, SCAR Squadron is a canon group of stormtroopers in the Star Wars Comics. I like how the comics dives into the mind of a stormtrooper (especially Kreel) so I decided to use them here. Like Moff Gideon, I got the idea for their "evolution" from the Bad Batch. If you want to learn more about SCAR Squadron, go to the Star Wars Wiki and search "Task Force 99" (NOT "Clone Force 99")
Anyways, that's all I have. Hope you enjoyed my final chapter! The end ties into Chapter 12: The Siege, so consider the events starting with Chapter 14: The Tragedy as the Mandalorian's adventures after leaving Remnant. If you have any questions, send them to my Q & A. Please tell me what you like/didn't like so I can improve my writing. Happy Holidays!