I had Ahsoka take the hit meant for Weiss for story reasons, not just for her own development, but for the development of Trigger's character. As a means to unlock his semblance, which I will say makes him like the Hulk in the story, not through a transformation. I still want him to keep his physical form.
Not sure if any of you know, but there are quite a few of the original XBOX Star Wars games on the XBOX store. Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Starfighter, Star Wars Jedi Starfighter and the Knights of the Old Republic games. I hope I can finally beat the Clone Wars game, I always had trouble on the last level. Did I mention I will be including the events of that game into Star Wars: Hyper Lethal Vector?
Alright, time to return to the battle of Haven. Canon will take a major change and a certain squad of Commando's will be returning.
Onto the reviews.
Luffy L Deathwalker: Ahsoka isn't dead.
Blind Faunus Girl: Thanks for the compliments. I think this story is better than when I started with my Lone Wolf series. I figured that with a Jedi around, someone would have sensed Lionhearts betrayal and planned to deal with it, hence why Galen instructed Rex and the clones to deal with the White Fang and search Haven for any other signs of enemy activity. Galen using the dark side against Maul, nope. That's going to be on Trigger. Glad you are liking the story.
Monster King: Thanks.
Jack Smith 1: Please check out my previous chapters and tell me what you think about them. And again, Ahsoka is not dead.
Spartan-626: Yeah, that's the reaction I was hoping some of you would be surprised by that twist. I mean, I had it planned well in advance about who it was that trained Jaune. Ahsoka will make it through, I assure you.
54godamora: Cinder won't be making it to volume 6 and beyond, well maybe not entirely in one piece but the power she stole will be taken from her and given to someone more deserving of it.
Silverfox3456: You are right about Ahsoka not being dead and Cinder being strong in the dark side. After all, she did have Maul teach her the ways of the force and she will be stopped. Glad you like how Ilia redeemed herself for the actions she did while undercover. I will agree with you again, Optimus Prime is the best, especially when he combines with another Autobot like Jetfire or Wing Saber. By the way, if you create an account on this site and upload a few stories, I will take a look at them.
Ok, reviews are done.
Song's this chapter are 'Save Me' by Skillet, 'Clones' by Ash using them once again for some clone action and the theme from Republic Commando for the return and arrival of Delta Squad.
Disclaimers are the same as before, please enjoy.
Chapter 74: Haven's Fate: Part 2
A droid fell from a shot to the head, followed by another droid, then another, then another and another. Keeping his sights trained on the enemy, Crosshair continued to provide sniper support for his squad mates and Boba as the White Fang and their droids continued to fire at them. "Looks like Adam went all out with his assault on Haven. I'm betting that Lionheart allowed Salem to send in droid dispensers and placed them all through out the school." Crosshair stated, firing a shot that destroyed the weapon of a White Fang soldier before nailing them in the leg.
"That would be the most logical conclusion! I am picking up multiple droid dispenser signals emanating from inside Haven Academy itself. It appears that Lionheart is for all time, an ally of Salem. No doubt fearful of her power and what she will bring to the people of Mistral. It's ingenious really, take out the school, leave the city intact and blame it on the White Fang." Tech said, somewhat impressed. "Of course, that doesn't excuse Lionheart for what he did, especially since he handed Amber Autumn to Cinder on a silver platter." He added, firing back with his pistols and took down a couple of White Fang grunts.
"No point in questioning the reason now! We need to keep these guys busy while Rex and the others secure the interior of Haven. Those droids might have brought more bombs than what the White Fang has on the tower." Hunter said to his brothers, firing back with his rifle downing a few hostiles.
"Bring 'em on! I can do this all night if I have too!" Wrecker shouted, firing his trusty blaster one handed while using a droid body as a shield before he cast a glance at the doors to the building Galen and his group entered which opened. "And it looks like things have just gotten interesting now!" he exclaimed as Faye walked out of the building with Joan behind her.
"If there's one thing I've learned during my time as a bounty hunter, it's to never underestimate a Jedi." Boba smirked under his helmet, firing one of his wrist rockets at one of the spider droids on the roof across from them. The rocket impacted the droid and exploded as Joan rushed towards their position, her sword in its rifle mode and firing back at the attackers.
"I will not be foiled by a bunch of humans!" Adam snarled before the detonator for the charges was pulled from his waist and into Faye's hands. "Who the hell are you!?" he demanded as Faye tucked the detonator in her robe.
"I am a Jedi." She announced and ignited her lightsaber's yellow blade. "You will answer for all the lives you have taken in your foolish crusade against the kingdoms and those who wronged you."
"You spout the same nonsense as Blake and Sienna said. Humanity will serve the Faunus and all those who defy us will pay with their lives." Adam retorted, brandishing his own lightsaber, its blood red blade illuminated in the darkness. "I will have your head!" he roared and dashed towards Faye who didn't move an inch.
Adam was proven wrong when Faye blocked his attack and pushed him back with a blast from the force. "Your skills with a lightsaber are aggressive, unrefined, sloppy and lacking purpose. A true warrior wields their blade for a purpose worthy of their cause. Your cause is nothing more than mass murder and subjugation. I will not allow you to succeed." Faye countered, holding her saber in a Form II ready position. "I will be your opponent, unless the new leader of the White Fang is actually a coward?" she teased.
Adam roared and charged towards her with a wild swing of his saber, but Faye parried his attacks with elegance and focus. Faye then attacked with a series of jabs and chops that pushed Adam back a few feet, distracting the White Fang forces but not the droids who continued to attack the clones, Boba and Joan. Calling on the force, Faye tossed a wrecked droid to Adam who slashed it apart, leaving him open for a jab to his leg that reduced his Aura.
"That weapon belongs to the Sith and your goals are selfish and fueled only by your desires. You are much like a Sith warrior, only you know nothing of war or the force." Faye observed, switching to a Form IV style and pressed her attack.
Leaping over Adam like an acrobat, Faye slashed at the new High Leaders back only to be countered by the attack. "I haven't had a fight like this in a long time." Adam admitted, drawing his own personal sword, Wilt with his prosthetic arm. "It's too bad you weren't born a Faunus, otherwise you would make a decent soldier for our revolution."
"I would never join the likes of you even if I was born a Faunus." Faye retorted before she felt a disturbance in the force. "No." she muttered, casting a glance back at the building where Galen and the others were fighting against Cinder and her forces.
It wasn't just Faye who felt the disturbance. All across the galaxy, the Jedi that were close to Ahsoka felt her life starting to slip away. The one who took it the hardest was Plo Koon who was the very reason she became a Jedi in the first place. "Little Soka. Please hang on." He said silently to himself from the Rebel base on Yavin 4.
Back inside the building Ray yelled out Ahsoka's name in sadness while Cinder just smirked at her victory which vanished when Ray kicked her off him, ran past her and picked up Ahsoka's body. Oscar and Kara saw this and in anger, Oscar smacked Lionheart with Ozpin's cane, who fell down the stairs and into an equally shocked Hazel.
"You're letting that boy make a fool of you!" Hazel growled, picking up Lionheart by the collar and lifting him off the floor.
"That's not just a boy! It's Ozpin. He's already reincarnated!" Lionheart explained. Hazel dropped Lionheart and looked towards Oscar and Kara, the later of who stood in front of Oscar. Hazel took notice of the cane Oscar was holding and the anger inside him began to build.
However, that anger subsided when he remembered Sienna's words about his sister's death. 'You are being lied to; Ozpin is not to blame for your sister's death.' Sienna's voice echoed in his head. "Ozpin?" Hazel questioned as he moved towards Oscar who looked up. "Is it true? Was my sister killed by someone else?" he asked.
Oscar looked confused for a moment before Ozpin took control of the boy's body. "Hazel. I haven't seen you in many years. No doubt you've been told that I am not responsible for Gretchen's death." Ozpin said. "Yes, your sister died on a training mission and will admit that I should have stopped her from taking on that mission, but I did not kill her. She was killed by the Grimm, by Salem." He revealed.
Hazel looked in shock as Ozpin told him the truth about his sisters' death. The person he served, the one who pinned the blame on Ozpin was in fact the one who ordered the death of his sister, and he had been working for her. He cast a glance towards the door where he heard the sounds of battle outside, ripped his coat off and grabbed a pair of lightning Dust Crystals from the pouches on his legs. To Oscar's surprise, Hazel stabbed the crystals into his arms, his blood vessels turning yellow and popping out from his skin, having a sort of lighting coat them while his eyes glowed yellow. "We're going to have a talk when I get back." He said to Ozpin before he ran outside.
Cinder, Vernal and Raven watched as Hazel ran outside while Cinder shouted in anger. "Ozpin is here?!"
"Is that a problem?" Raven asked.
"I'm not sure, but right now we got the upper hand. Let's not waste it." Cinder responded, calming herself down. She was about to call out to Lionheart when she, Raven and Vernal were sent flying backwards by a strong blast from the force. The origin was Ray who had left Ahsoka with Jaune, Ren and Neo, an angry look in his eyes and his armor shifted into its more compact mode.
"First, my sister and now the women I love. I WON'T LET YOU KILL ANYONE ELSE! I'LL KILL YOU RIGHT HERE YOU BITCH!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, igniting his sabers and charged towards the trio.
(Save Me starts)
"Vernal, stand back. We'll deal with this pathetic waster of a human." Raven instructed the Spring Maiden who stepped away from the brawl that was about to start, drawing her new lightsaber while Cinder activated her new saber as well, revealed to be a double-bladed lightsaber that when twisted separated into two individual sabers.
"Get out of my way! Cinders the one I want!" Ray snarled, practically turning into an actual animal.
"Sorry kid, not going to happen. She get's what she wants, I get what I want. Besides, if your sister was the Fall Maiden, she was a pathetic excuse for a Maiden. The weak die, the strong live and your sister was weak." Raven said.
"Look at it this way, your sisters' powers belong to someone more deserving than she could ever have been." Cinder mocked.
That was the last thing Ray wanted to hear, especially from the murderess herself. His anger had reached its limits and he charged towards Cinder, only for Raven to get in his way. "I'LL KILL YOU ALL!" he roared. Raven just smirked but before she could even attack, Neo slammed into her with her feet, knocking her off guard.
"Hey! If you haven't forgotten our promise, let me remind you. We'll take her together!" she reminded her brother. Ray didn't acknowledge her and just kept his gaze on Cinder, attacking her with random Jar'Kai attacks, hoping that one of them would kill her.
Cinder just defended herself with flawless execution and skill reaching out with her prosthetic hand, sending the occasional lightning blast towards the Mandalorian Jedi. Any normal person would have been stunned by the lightning, but Ray wasn't an ordinary person.
"Did you enjoy killing my sister? How many lives have you taken with your quest for power!?" Ray demanded, slamming his sabers into Cinder's own blades.
"I will be the most powerful person on Remnant. I will be feared by all those who saw me as a weak and pathetic little girl. I will be the strongest women on Remnant and nothing, not even a boy who spent too much time in the cockpit will stop me." Cinder replied, landing one of her heels into Ray's gut, knocking the wind out of him for a brief moment before she slashed at his chest, causing his aura to shimmer.
"I'm more than just a pilot." Ray snarled back, raising his sabers just in time to counter an attack from Cinder who started to push him down hard. The weight of his opponent against him, Ray swung his leg out and kicked her feet out from under her, allowing him to blast her with the force and slammed her into the wall. "My sister will be avenged!" he growled and went after Cinder.
Neo with the Dark Saber in her hand, clashed with Raven. Red met black as the two repeatedly traded blows with the Bandit leader. "So, this is what you get by siding with Salem? Trying to kill your brother and your own daughter, give her the relic and you and your tribe will be spared her wrath? Roman always warned me never to trust someone from your tribe and now I see why, you're all just cold-blooded killers." Neo remarked, leaping back to avoid a slash to her legs.
"Roman Torchwick was a weak-minded fool who only cared for destruction and money. You should have protected your boss better." Raven shot back.
"Roman lied to me. He's better off dead after what he's done." Neo retorted, her grip on the Dark Saber tightening. "He and Cinder turned me against my brother, the one family I have left because of her. I may not be the one to kill her, but I will be damned if I let her kill anyone else, I care about." She finished.
Raven scoffed at this and drew her sword and slashed at Neo, seemingly killing her but what she killed was an illusion of the girl who smirked at Raven's failed attack. "I've done a lot of research about your weapon. The scabbard of yours holds multiple blades with a different type of Dust. So, you going to go double red or use another color?" Neo questioned.
"What's the point in telling you when you'll die by one of them." Raven answered, drawing her sword with its fire blade selected and swung it, colliding with the Dark Sabers blade. "I'll be taking that weapon when you die. It belongs in the hands of someone worthy."
"You are not Mandalorian and only a Mandalorian may wield the Dark Saber. It's the weapon of my family." Neo countered, countering Raven's sword with the Dark Saber's blade, kicking Raven in the gut. "You're a pathetic mother."
Raven said nothing and just pressed her attack against Neo.
As Cinder got back to her feet a bit dazed, she raised her lightsaber just in time to block Ray's twin blades, hitting her weapons blade hard. "Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. JUST DIE YOU FUCKING BITCH!" he roared in feral anger.
"You first!" Cinder countered and blasted him back with the force a few feet. "I should have killed you long ago. Now, I will make up for my mistake." Twirling her lightsabers and connecting them back together, she charged at Ray launching blasts of force energy towards him that knocked his sabers out of his hands.
Ray would have been killed if it weren't for Neo who parried the Fall Maidens saber with the Dark Saber and slashed at her legs, burning part of her dress and knocking her back where she was meet with a pair of armored feet from the two Mandalorian Jedi set her skidding backwards. "I knew you were more trouble than you were worth, Neo. I should have killed you just like your adoptive brother and sister." Cinder remarked.
"Keep dreaming, bitch. I already lost my family once; I won't lose it again." Neo shot back, calling back her brother's lightsabers to him. "Amber will be given the justice she deserves."
"Then you're even more foolish than I thought you were." Cinder commented, sensing Ray's charge at her and slammed him into the wall with the force, knocking him out. She then snapped her fingers and called for several IG-110's directing them towards Ray. "And now you have a choice. Save your brother or fight me and avenge your sister. What will it be Neo? Justice or family?"
"You're playing dirty, Cinder." Neo spat and rushed towards her brother's aid, slashing several IG-110s before they noticed her.
(End Song)
"Typical Neo. Always choosing the ones she cares about." Cinder noticed before she called for Lionheart to open the path to the vault.
Getting back to his feet, Lionheart approached the statue, took out his pocket watch and placed it in a small niche on the statue. The hands on the watch gradually spun faster as the statue lowered closer to the ground. Yang watched the situation developing in front of her while Jaune, Ren and March started to tend to Ahsoka.
Nora looked to Yang. "Stop them! We've got your team covered!" Nora shouted to a lingering Yang before she heeded Nora's advice only to be kicked by Mercury who was joined by Emerald who created multiple copies of Mercury that surrounded Yang.
Meanwhile, Jaune kept his hands on Ahsoka's wound while Ren checked for her pulse. "No, no, no, no, not again! Ahsoka, c'mon, please! Get up! We need you! Trigger needs you! You're a Jedi!" Jaune plead out loud.
Kara kept herself on the defensive as she continued to cut down droid after droid before she bumped into Ozpin who was still in control of Oscar's body. "Mind telling me what that was all about?" Kara asked Ozpin, sending several droids flying back with the force.
"Gretchen Rainart was Hazel's sister. Despite her brother's wishes, she enrolled in Beacon Academy to become a Huntress and tragically lost her life on a training mission, along with the rest of her team. Hazel… held me responsible for what happened, but I learned later on that it was the Grimm that killed Gretchen and her teammates. She knew the risks of being a Huntress, despite not being ready and she made a choice to put others before herself." Ozpin explained.
"So, Salem had the Grimm kill his sister and then manipulated him into working for her by saying it was because of you that she was killed?" Kara questioned. "Sounds like the kind of thing she would do, especially if she's working with the Sith."
Jaune and Ren continued to tend to a wounded Ahsoka who was continuing to struggle breathing before she suddenly stopped. "No, It wasn't supposed to be like this! Please!" Jaune begged with his voice starting to break. "We can't lose anyone else…" he added, closing his eyes. Suddenly, a faint shimmering sound was heard, and a white aura started to coat over Ahsoka's body.
Meanwhile, Galen and Ruby continued to engage Maul in combat, but the former Sith Lord soon started to laugh. "It appears that you believe to have thought of everything when planning for your meeting with Lionheart. How will you deal with the bombs inside the classrooms?" he asked.
"What are you talking about!?" Ruby demanded.
"Oh, I had my droids assemble bombs inside several classrooms. Bombs powerful enough to level not only the school but also a good portion of the upper city." Maul stated, leaping back to avoid a strike from Galen's blue blades.
"Rex! We've got bombs inside the school! I repeat we have bombs inside the school!" Galen shouted into his commlink.
"We know! We already disabled one of them but there are still five more bombs in the school. We got lucky to disarm the one that was lightly guarding but the rest of them aren't going to be so easy. We're making our way to the second one now!" Rex called from the other side of the commlink.
"You need any help!?" Galen asked.
"We got it under control. Hardcase and Hevy know how to disable them so it's a pretty simple task. There's just a lot of droids in the school, nothing we can't handle." Rex replied.
"Rex! Ahsoka she… she's down. I don't know if she's going to make it. Just thought you should know." Galen added. There was a long silence before Rex finally spoke.
"She'll pull through. I know she will. She's a survivor just like us. I'll…." Rex started before an explosion from the other side of the commlink was heard.
"Rex! REX!" Galen shouted. Static came over the commlink, leaving Galen distracted long enough for Maul to blast him back with a blast of the force. Galen skidded back and landed near Kara. "Kara! Rex needs support! Get yourself over to his last known position and back him up! We'll take care of things here!"
Kara nodded and made a bee line for the door. She hadn't gotten far before she sensed Hazel's presence nearby and followed him towards Rex's location. "All this time, I've been a fool and serving the women who murdered my sister. My hands are stained with the blood of Huntsmen and Huntresses who I killed on her orders. I can never wash that blood away, but I will start by making things right. Haven will not fall." Hazel told Kara running into one of the hallways of the school.
"Then let's make sure that doesn't happen. It's what your sister would want." Kara added, handing Hazel her rifle. "You might need this when you run out of crystals."
"You remind me a lot of my sister when she was your age." Hazel said with a smile but refused to take Kara's weapon. "You will need it more than I do." He told Kara before they headed in the direction of the blaster fire that echoed through the hallway.
While the two headed for where the clones were fighting, Cinder, Raven and Vernal rode the platform underneath the statue down to the vault. "Are you nervous, girl? The first Maiden in- why, I'm not sure anyone knows how many years – is about to open a vault. I would say it's quite an exciting time. Don't you feel honored?" Cinder asked Vernal.
"No, I'm not concerned with any of this. All I care about is my tribe – my family. This is a burden, not an honor." Vernal responded, result in Cinder chuckling and saying that Raven had trained her well.
The platform continued down until it reached the vault: A massive carven with a large tree that has glowing orange flowers. The platform finally reached the bottom and the gate protecting the vault was lowered to the ground. "Hm, it's certainly grander than Beacon's. I wonder what the extra effort was for?" Cinder questioned while Raven wanted to get this over with and back to her tribe.
Vernal was the first to step off the platform, followed by Cinder and then Raven, the latter of which who put her mask back on.
Back above them, Maul, Galen and Ruby continued to fight each other while Qrow deflected shots from Lionhearts gauntlet. Qrow kicked the traitorous headmaster back with his foot, knocking Leo to the ground directly near a destroyed IG-110. Spotting the droids fallen lightsaber, Lionheart picked it up and ignited the weapons blade, the synthetic crystal humming to life as Leo held it like a traditional sword. "All these years you served Ozpin. All those years you reported that the situation was normal in Mistral, it was all a lie, wasn't it! I hope you are happy with all the lives you sacrificed, Leo because their blood is on your hands." Qrow spat in disgust, picking up a fallen lightsaber himself, igniting its blade and charged at Leo.
Meanwhile, Ahsoka started to gasp and breath normally again as the white aura coating her continued to glow, much to Jaune's surprise. "Wha- what's happening? Why does Ahsoka have an aura?" Jaune questioned.
"Because I unlocked her aura a couple of weeks ago. After the Grimm attack." Ray answered, finally back on his feet. "Where's Cinder? And where's that blue skinned bastard!?" he demanded.
"She went into the vault with Raven and that Vernal woman. They're going to get the relic! I don't know where Bane went." Jaune answered. Ray looked to Ahsoka and then to Yang who was knocked back by Mercury while Emerald continued to create illusions to distract her. Arthur and Weiss continued to contend with the droids with Excalibur, Myrtenaster and lightsaber in their hands. Ray then cast a glance at the entrance to the vault below and turned back to Jaune.
"You keep her stabilized, I've got a score to settle with that murdering bitch." Ray said to Jaune angrily and dashed towards the opening to the vault below.
Galen, Ruby and Neo saw this. "Damn it, Trigger. Neo! Help Ruby with Maul. I'll go after your brother!" he shouted and dashed after Ray, leaping down the opening after Trigger.
"Ah, blinded by anger and rage. I can feel it, that boy is giving into the dark side of the Force." Maul observed, blocking Ruby's green blade and Neo's black blade. "Ah, so the Dark Saber has been reclaimed by the people of Mandalore." Maul noticed.
"Not just any Mandalorian. I am the descendant of Tarre Viszla, a true Mandalorian and the first Mandalorian Jedi." Neo corrected. "And you will pay dearly for what you did to Ahsoka." She added.
"I was not the one who attacked her, but if it makes you feel any better, I will gladly accept your challenge." Maul told her, twirling his lightsaber above his head and prepared himself for battle.
(Clones starts)
In another part of the school, one of the large amphitheaters had been turned into a battlefield as blaster fire from B1's, Super Battle Droids, Destroyer Droids and Commando Droids kept the clones pinned down behind a row of desks. Behind the droids was a large bomb filled with Liquified Tibanna gas that reminded Hevy and Echo about the Rishi moon incident. They couldn't get close to the bombs for among the guards was the massive and deadly A-DSD Advanced Dwarf Spider Droid. The droids heavy cannon glowed, firing another powerful blast at the clones. "I really wish we could use explosives right now!" Hardcase shouted aloud.
"If we used explosives, we'd end up detonating the bombs we are trying to disarm! We can't let Salem win!" Hevy replied back, raising his blaster overhead and blindly firing at the droids furthest from the bomb. "We could really use Hunter and his squad right about now."
"They've got their own objective to deal with, we've got our own." Rex reminded the Arc-Trooper, lobbing a droid popper at the droids. The grenade landed at the feet of the spider droid, but the three-meter blast radius did little to damage the droid walker. The same couldn't be said for the destroyer droids near the walker, disrupting their neural network long enough for Waxer, Boil and Kix to gun them down. "We need to take down that droid so we can disarm that bomb!" Rex shouted.
"We can't do much of anything with droids pinning us down!" Alpha reminded, taking careful aim with his M5's grenade launcher, targeting the droids near the door of the amphitheater and blowing them up. "We could really use a Jedi right about now!"
Fordo stood up from cover and fired at the droids, downing a total of eight droids before he took cover once more. Holstering his pistol, he whipped out his assault rifle, waited for a break in the blaster fire before he popped out of cover once more and opened up with his rifle. His rounds were lighting Dust based, so they had more of an effect against the droids especially the shield destroyer droids. "Use lighting Dust based ammo, conserve your power backs!" the ARC-Captain ordered, ducking back down before moving to another set of desks below them, getting closer to the spider droid.
The other clones followed suit and switched to their native weaponry, including Hevy and Hardcase who were given a Combat Rifle built by Kara's late father which featured a high rate of fire, side-mounted drum magazines with eighty-rounds and a reflex sight. As they moved up, they were surprised when bursting through the window of the amphitheater was Fives, Jesse and Gregor while Kara and Hazel bashed through the door.
"Where did you guys come from!?" Hardcase questioned as he fired back with his new favorite weapon.
"We got here earlier when we heard about the Grimm attack a couple of weeks ago. The rest of the backup is on its way." Gregor replied, firing back with his DC-17 rifle. "Never thought I would be blasting droids again so soon." He joked before he noticed the bomb. "Oh great, it's one of those situations." He drooled in annoyance.
"Focus on the battle at hand, Gregor. We need to eliminate those droids before we can disarm the bomb and we still have three more bombs to deal with!" Cody reminded the once lost commando before he threw a droid popper at the droids. "We can't keep this up any longer! But we are not going to retreat! We'll stop Salem and Maul! For Commander Tano!" Cody shouted.
"For Commander Tano!" the clones shouted in unison and kept up the fire on the droids while Kara started to block weapon fire with her saber while Hazel punched a droid with his fists, knocking its head clean off before throwing the body of a Super Battle Droid straight into several other battle droids, shrugging off blaster fire like it was nothing.
Rex nailed several droids with blasts from his pistols while Cody provided him cover fire with his rifle. The second in commands of the 501st and 212th couldn't help but feel nostalgic, remembering the battles they fought before with Generals Skywalker and Kenobi.
Waxer, Boil and Gregor unleashed a barrage of blaster fire that ripped through multiple droids. The three 212th troopers ducked down as a Super Battle Droid fired both its wrist blasters at the three, forcing them to duck down as textbooks were sent flying from the weapons fire. The three troopers looked to each other, pulled out a couple of droid poppers nodded too each other before they lobbed the grenades overhead, disrupting the neural networks of the droids long-enough for them to gun them down. "That one's for General Kenobi!" Gregor announced.
Jesse, Hardcase and Kix along with Alpha moved up to another row of desks while covering fire from the three Domino's flew towards the droids. "Keep them pinned down and give our boys a chance to keep knocking these clankers down. We need to focus on the bombs." Fives said to his brothers.
"I think you mean bomb." Echo corrected. "Tech's intercepted enemy communications and it seems that the other three bombs have already been disarmed while we've been here trying to focus on this bomb."
"Is there another squad besides us?" Hevy asked, reloading his combat rifle with a new magazine before he unloaded on the droids once more, knocking down multiple targets with accuracy. "Five's, Echo! I'll lay down covering fire while you two flank them from the right. Catch them off guard." Hevy said to his squad mates.
Both ARC's nodded and waited for Hevy reload his weapon once more before he unleashed a barrage of gunfire, keeping the droids focused on him while his two brothers flanked the droids and waited for Hevy to duck back down into cover before he shouted for his brothers to fire. Fives and Echo popped out of cover, opening up on the droids catching them off guard.
Fordo on the other hand, leapt over the desks and fired his rifle at the droids before he landed behind the bomb, grabbed a droid and used them as a shield while firing back at the droids. Most of the droids turned their attention to Fordo, only for the ARC captain to push the droid he was holding towards several droids before an EMP grenade exploded, short circuiting many of them before pulling out his pistols once again. "Come on brothers! Fight like clones!"
(End song)
"Isn't the big guy with Salem?" Hevy questioned.
"I was, with Salem." Hazel corrected before he looked at the bomb and spider droid. "One of you needs to disarm the bomb while the rest of you distract that Spider with weapon fire. Kara, you get ready to get on top of that thing. Stab it in the eye. I'll deal with the droids." He instructed, injecting more Dust Crystals into his body before he ran towards the droids who trained their blasters on him and fired.
"You heard him boys, suppressing fire!" Fordo shouted and opened up on the Spider droid. The other clones followed his lead and focused their fire on the spider droid while Kara and Hazel delt with the droids, keeping them off of Hevy as he began to disarm the bomb. "I don't like the idea of trusting Hazel, but if he says he's against Salem, I'll trust him for the moment." Fordo told a concerned Rex.
The clones and Kara watched as Hazel used only his bare hands against the droids, ripping them in half with his lighting infused muscles while shrugging off blaster fire as if his entire skin was coated in Beskar. The former follower of Salem, now full of resolve for avenging his sister injected two more crystals into his body, these ones being lightning crystals which gave his punches an extra jolt.
Blaster fire from several Destroyer Droids slammed into his aura, draining it rapidly as he continued to make work of the droids. "I'll be sending you all to the junk pile!" Hazel snarled, ripping apart a Super Battle droid in two before throwing the pieces into a few other droids. The spider droid launched several missiles at him, but Hazel shrugged off the pain, grabbing two droids and slamming them into the ground face first.
(Start Republic Commando Main Theme)
Seconds later, the skyline above them shattered sending glass fragments raining down on them. Repelling in their Katarn-class commando armor was Delta Squad, their blaster rifles roaring to life. "Take offensive formation, Deltas." Boss instructed his brothers as he fired off his blaster rifle while his brothers did what they did best, wreaking havoc on the droids.
"Now you're talking, boss!" Scorch said with enthusiasm, lobbing a couple of grenades towards the droids. Since they were in front of the bomb, he didn't have to hold back.
Fixer and Sev followed suit with their own grenades while Hazel just threw another droid towards the remaining droids, but a lucky shot hit one of the pouches on his legs causing his crystals to fall to the ground.
The commando's continued to hold their ground as more droids were turned to scrap metal. "Scorch! I want anti-armor on those droids now!" Boss ordered. Scorch was more than happy to oblige, took cover and switched to his anti-armor launcher.
"Fire in the hole!" Scorch shouted and pulled the trigger, sending a grenade flying towards some of the droids using the desks as cover, exploding in a shower of splinters and metal parts. "I love this mod!"
"We know Scorch! We know!" Sev shot back, switching to the DC-17's sniper mode and began to snipe the droids above the ones that Scorch had taken down, scoring perfect headshots on their craniums. "I prefer to snipe than fire explosives."
"Cut the chatter and focus on the battle!" Fixer said to his brothers before he turned to Kara. "Girl! Take out that spider droid now!" he shouted to Kara.
(End song)
Kara nodded after slicing through a battle droid and leapt on top of the droid, stabbing it's optical sensor with her green blade. The droid soon ceased functioning as Kara leapt off the droid, shortly before it exploded into various pieces. "Bomb's been disarmed!" Hevy called out as the last droid in the classroom fell to the ground.
Or so they thought, one droid was still online and noticed that Kara had let her guard down. Taking aim with its blaster, the droid fired at Kara who barely had enough time to ignite her saber again. Luckily for her, Hazel pushed her out of the way and took the hit instead, but by then his aura was drained and the shot went clean through. "HAZEL!" she shouted as the droid was gunned down by Fordo.
"I'm… just glad… I could… save one… life… after all… I did…" Hazel said weakly before he fell to the ground with a thud.
Back down in the vault, Vernal, Cinder and Raven walked towards the relic chamber when suddenly, a symbol on the ground glowed bright including the circle that enclosed around it. Similar circles with symbols in them also began to glow, leading up to the relic chambers doors as the tree flowers glowed even more, it's petals gently falling and floating around the vault, one of which fell into Vernals hand before it dissolved into particles.
"Having fun?" Cinder teased, resulting in a nasty glare from the Spring Maiden.
"Vernal, stay focused." Raven remined her fellow bandit. They were soon interrupted when landing in a massive shockwave of wind was Ray, followed by Galen.
"CINDER!" Ray shouted and charged towards the group, Galen following him only to be stopped when Cinder tossed several canisters of ice dust towards them, encasing them in ice up.
"That's one problem out of the way. Now, how does this work?" Vernal asked.
"Once the Spring Maiden places her hand on the door, it will open. For you – only you. Then I will walk into the vault and retrieve the Relic. No one else. Is that clear." Cinder explained.
"Yes." Vernal replied, casting a glance at the two Jedi encased in ice, noticing several cracks appearing on the ice, but said nothing. "And them?"
"Simple, we kill them." Raven answered. "Besides, the relic doesn't matter to us. Let's get this over with."
Slowly, Vernal approached the door. As she did, Raven slowly reached for the hilt of her sword, but stopped herself when Cinder spoke. "You know, I've heard so many stories about you, Raven. They say you're a cunning leader, that you're strong, that you're clever." Cinder began as Vernal hovered her fingertips close to the door. "It's a shame that they're wrong."
Suddenly, Cinder launched a blue, frost-like projectile from her hand, encasing Raven in ice. Vernal was quick to spin around and drew her weapons, but her body suddenly jolted as Cinder's elongated Grimm hand coming from Cinders left arm, its claws piercing her torso while Cinder looked back to Raven then Vernal. "It's nothing personal, dear. You're just not worthy of such power. But I am." Cinder told Vernal.
Twisting her Grimm arm, Vernal screamed in agony as she is thrown to the ground, struggling to remove the claws from her stomach as the ice encasing Raven began to crack. "So, I will take… what is mine…"
As Vernal's struggles began to weaken, the ice encasing the two Jedi shattered but they could only watch in horror as Vernal's grip on Cinders arm began to loosen. Cinder believed she had won, but the smirk she had on her face soon vanished when she realized something was wrong. "What is this? Where's the power?!" she demanded.
"Looks like you were played, Cinder." Galen said as the ice encasing Raven finally shattered as a bluish aura glow around her body.
"You won't find it, because Vernal isn't the Spring Maiden! I am!" Raven declared, removing her mask and dropped it to the ground, the telltale flames of a Maiden glowing around them.
"CINDER FALL!" Ray shouted, getting the two of them to look at Ambers brother. "You're going to die!" he snarled, getting a concerned look from Galen.
At the same time, in another plain of existence, Ahsoka awoke to a voice she never thought she would here again. "…Ahsoka. Ahsoka." Looking around for the source of the voice, Ahsoka came face to face with her former Master: Anakin Skywalker. "Get up Ahsoka, you have work to do."
And chapter is done. Two more to go before we reach the first movie.
First off, Domino Squad is back together along with Gregor and his brothers in the 212th.
Second, Hazel changed sides because it was Salem who killed his sister not Ozpin. This is largely in part to a theory I have. Ozpin said that Gretchen died on a training mission and it's possible that the training mission was interrupted by the Grimm. My theory is that Salem was keeping a close eye on people who would be useful to her cause, like Hazel, Watts and Tyrian. If the person was useful to her, she gave them a little 'push' in the form of a tragic event to make them join her cause. In the case of Hazel, she had the Grimm kill Gretchen and have Hazel redirect his anger towards Ozpin. I figured that there was more to her death, and this was what I came up with.
Third, Hevy and Hardcase have new weapons. For those of you who played the original Borderlands, the weapons are Atlas company combat rifles with the features I mentioned and made by Kara's father.
Forth, Ahsoka has an aura given to her by Ray before the festival and is now face to face with her real Master in the world between life and death.
Fifth, Maul had his droids place several bombs in the school as a means of ensuring that the school and it's CCT tower would be destroyed, along with part of Mistral, but Delta Squad has returned while the Bad Batch, Boba, Joan and Faye contend with the White Fang.
Next time, Cinder's death and the return of Blake, Rose, Sun, Sienna, Kasumi, Ryu, Ilia, Zett, Gungi, Katooni and Hanzo. Until then, please read and review. Also, try and find a way to help the refugees from Ukraine, they've been through so much and need hope.
F-bombs this series: two.