Chapter 3
Date: Year 0 Month 0 Day 20
The Empire has a stronghold in the kingdom of Vale, the city of New Mistral. The naval invasion force was the largest in decades seen on the face of Remnant. The city fell quickly.
Ironwood stepped into the room seeing Roni holding a folder. She threw it at the feet at Ironwood, the picture of a hunter came out. Jet Skyler, a mid thirties hunter from Atlas. He wasn't anything that stood out as special, but that might be a part of the problem.
"I told you no hunters in Yoron. Not even an hour after I tell you that, he's off to go kill as many imperials as he could."
"I had nothing to do with him."
"He took with him three squads of atlesian troops. All dead. Public execution for Jet. This is why I told you to not get your guys involved in this. Who will answer for their deaths?"
"We will avenge their deaths. I must say I'm surprised that you're talking like that?" Roni stopped talking and shook her head.
"I'm not thinking clearly. After the Clone Wars I was…"
"War has the ability to break someone."
"But I'm not just someone, I'm a Jedi."
"Anyone can break. And since you're the brains behind the war right now, the stress is going to push you."
"I know… let's focus back on the next battle." Roni brought up a hologram if remnant and circles a small village. She moves the map up close to it.
"We should move a Jedi to this location." Roni said
"The town of Zolon" Ironwood read out
"Which one?"
"I have an idea."
"Who?"
Roni walked down the halls of the Jedi temple. Karel was beginning to be able to walk again.
"Master Roni." He said.
"It's good to see you're walking. Have you seen Ruby around here?"
"She's in the training room with Yang."
"Thank you." Roni went into the training room and saw Yang using her old master's lightsaber.
"Master Roni. I was just practicing with Ruby." Yang said
"That's fine. I actually wanted to speech to the both of you."
"What do you want from us?" Yang asked
"I have a mission for the two of you. The Town of Zolon is going to be attacked, very soon. I want you two to defend the town long enough for all the citizens to flee."
"We'd be up against the empire. We'd be killing." Ruby said.
"I know it's not the best option, but it's the only one where innocent people don't die."
"Then why do you need the two of us? Yang asked
"Because I can't be there. I must run the war here. Karel is too injured to be in a battle, and most of the other Jedi are either fighting, or are stuck here like me."
Yang looked at Ruby then she shook her head. "I'll go."
"Thank you."
"If She's going then I will too"
"Thank you."
"Master, one more thing. Our team should all be going."
"You would have to get that done. You have till tomorrow. We sent a few droids to slow down any scouts, but that won't stop them forever."
"I understand."
Ruby was the first one to enter their room. Blake was there with Bora. She was looking at a map of Remnant.
"Zolon is in the way. So are the towns of Neldor, Foret, and Vala. The Empire isn't going to get to Pare for a few months." Bora explained
"Um… about that, Blake…"
"Don't tell me they fell."
"No, not yet, but we're going to defend Zolon. We want all of Team RWBY to be there. We are strongest when we are together."
"We'd have to fight anyways. I'm in." Blake said.
"Now we just need to get Weiss to join us. Where is she Blake?"
"I don't know."
Weiss walked into the room.
"I just got off the phone with my sister. She's going back to atlas to be the leader of Defense. Politics. So why is everyone here?"
"Weiss, we're going to the frontlines. We have to defend the town of Zolon." Ruby said
"For how long?"
"Hours most likely. Just long enough to get the people out of the way of the fighting."
"So we're ready to lose."
"Yeah." Blake answered. Blake got her weapon ready. "But it's our job as huntresses to defend those who can't defend themselves. Our job calls us to go to the frontlines, so we go."
"Even in the face of danger." Ruby said
"Wither it's Grimm or anything else that threatens humanity" Yang added
"And we do it without complaint, without reward. We do what is right because it is right." Weiss ended
Day 21
The next day, Team RWBY went to the shipyards. It has been turned into a military base, and it's been moving troops back and forth. Jedi were given ships, about the size of Karel's ship. They had a small crew for each of them. Ruby and Yang went to the officer at the entrance and showed their lightsabers, and the orders they got.
"We have a ship ready for you. Are these two with you, Jedi?"
"Yes." Yang answered.
"I'll send the information to the ship crew. You have ship 09-22-28, in dock B." the officer opened the gates. Two soldiers came and escorted team RWBY to the ship.
"The code is 032630. Follow what the crew say after that." The soldiers leave
There was a keypad. Ruby put in the passcode and the door came down. Ruby went up the ramp and saw crew members moving back and forth.
One of them finally noticed the team.
"Welcome aboard Team RWBY. Go to the cockpit to talk to our captain."
Yang walked to the cockpit
"Hello, Jedi. I am the captain, and for the next day I will be the one who you talk to."
"Why are you all acting like this?" Ruby asked
"Like what?"
"Cold, demanding, cut off."
"We're soldiers. We fight and die. We have to be cut off."
The captain pulled out a scroll and punched numbers in. "I suggest that you get to your seats. We'll be at the site in two hours."
Everyone takes a seat, and the ship takes off. The ride was mostly quiet, with periodic commands coming over the comms.
"Crew enter into landing phase." The captain called out.
No words were spoken, and the crew went right to work.
"Members of Team RWBY, we are going to be dropping you off over the town. Get ready to jump."
Yang smiled, but the other girls looked at each other.
"How far is the drop?"
"Don't worry, it's about 50 feet above the trees." Ove of the crew said.
"Great." Weiss whispered.
They went to the door, and it opened. Ruby looked out.
"Don't fall to far behind." Yang said. She jumped off and started her freefall. Blake was next.
"I hate falling." Weiss said as she jumped out. Ruby was last, landing next to her sister.
They jumped right next to the gates of Zolon. Two guards pointed guns at the team.
"Identify yourselves!" The first one barked.
"We're the Jedi." Ruby yelled back
"By the Gods you're here. Get in here."
The gates were opened, and they went in the town. It wasn't anything spectacular. The town had no building over four stories tall, but it did have a marketplace visible from the entrance.
"Go to the largest building, the mayor would like to talk with you." The guard told them.
The town seemed to be built around the fountain. Many of the buildings were attached, except for the market tents. Some were empty, but others were still selling. Ruby could feel the fear in the people still here. The stonework went around the fountain. Weiss noted that the fountain split in two directions, with two small bridges.
"I think we could use those to our advantage." She whispered to Blake.
"I've already come up with seven different plans on how we could defend this place." She told Weiss.
"Let's not talk about that yet." Yang said
"And here we are." Ruby walked up to the building. Its doors were larger than average, but not too much larger. Ruby went in first and she saw people walking back and forth. One of the aids saw Ruby, and the lightsaber and greeted her.
"Hello, are you the Jedi that are going to help us?" The aid asked.
"Yes" Ruby said
"Follow me, the mayor needs to see you."
"Alright." The group go down the hall of the building. It was laid out in a long rectangle width wide. They walked to the center most room in the building. The aid opened the door and the mayor was standing with advisors, and an Alliance Captain.
"Mrs. Mayor, we have to get these people out of here. Once the Jedi arrive, we'll be able to send in a ship to collect everyone." The captain said.
The Mayor was sitting in her chair, obviously stressed.
"The Jedi are here." Yang said. The Captain turned and looked at the team.
"You're kids."
"Hey! We are huntresses in training, and half of us are Jedi!" Yang said
"Half? They sent two Jedi kids, and their friends. Are we already spread this far out?" He said. He sat down in the chair.
"Thirty! That's how many droids the alliance is sending to defend the town! We only have twenty people who are going to stay here to defend the place. That's what I'm dealing with." The mayor said.
"So including the four of us, that's fifty four people fighting against the force of the Empire." Blake said
"Yeah."
"Then we better do this evacuation soon."
"Agreed" the captain said.
The meeting finished soon after, and Ruby went to one of the hotels in the town that is being used by the military. She started to meditate, and saw a flash of red. She broke out of her meditation, but she couldn't see like normal, but she could see that red.
"What is this?" The world around her was a grayish tint except for that red. She crashed into the door. She took a second to get adjusted to this new kind of seeing and realized that it wasn't that hard to figure what everything was. She got out of the building and followed the red she saw. It was staying still in the market area. As she got closer to the red, the real world came back to her eyes. She kept walking to the red until she ran into Yang.
"Ruby, what are you doing?"
"I sense something." She said.
Ruby finally got to the red. It was a person. The red went into the person, but a vision came to Ruby. Flashes of this person. She saw something frightening about him.
Ruby used the force and grabbed the man. She threw him against a building and held him there. She walked to the man, still holding him to the wall.
"Ruby! What are you doing?" Yang asked
"He's a spy."
She walked up to him and pulled out an imperial military ID. She let the man go and threw the card to Yang. She caught it and knew immediately what it was.
A few weeks before the war, information about the empire came to the Alliance headquarters about new imperial identification that could pass off for Alliance ID, except for a few key differences.
"Where are they?" Ruby asked.
"They'll be here tomorrow." The Spy said. Police came and after an explanation, arrested the spy.
With the information given by the spy, the need to evacuate became a priority to the alliance. They sent a ship later and started to evacuate the town. The alliance dropped off ten additional soldiers.
Ruby and Yang took command of the defense and meditated through the night.
Day: 22
The morning sun was starting to come above the trees when Ruby and Yang both ended their meditation. Yang sent a signal to all the troops that it was time. They got in position and got ready. Ruby got out Crescent Rose in sniper mode. She looked thought the scope. She waited, took in a breath, then fired. She was aided by the force, and the outcome was one dead imperial.
A loud war cry was heard throughout the forest.
The imperials were getting to the very edge of the forest and started firing. Ruby and Yang jumped down from the tops of the guard posts right before they were blown to bits.
"They have rockets!" Ruby said. Just then, the gates to the town were blown off. Ruby went in one of the houses and got and fired a few more shots.
Yang jumped into battle, rushing up to the enemy. The smoke from the blast still covered the area, so Yang was able to sneak up on the first few imperials. She killed one after he was hit by a sucker punch so hard, it snapped his neck.
Weiss waited in the house with three troops.
"When they get in the town, you'll open fire at them, I'll need some time to get everything ready." Weiss said.
"Yes sir."
Weiss knew it was now or never. She had to summon it.
The smoke dissipated, leaving Yang exposed to a barrage of attacks. She still hadn't gotten her lightsaber out yet. She punched one imperial who was trying to stab her. She was shot in the back and absorbed the hit. She turned around and backhanded the attacker. She killed him.
She knew she wouldn't last long with all the imperials firing at her. She got out her lightsaber and reflected the shots back. Only one hit someone.
Blake waited for the enemy to get in the town. She saw Yang get back in the gates and hide behind cover. Yang nodded to Blake.
The first imperial got passed the gates, only to be met by a bullet between the eyes. More filed in. There were at least 30 imperials in the entrance to the town, walking right into the trap.
"Now!" Ruby called over her comm. All the troops fired at the imperials. The first wave was wiped out in seconds. The Second wave was much harder.
The imperials fired rockets and mortars at the houses. The house Weiss was in was hit, but Weiss was on the second floor. All the others in the house were dead.
"Come on! Just for once I need this to work!" The glyph was appearing. First it was a hand, then the sword, then finally, the knight came out.
"Yes!" Weiss said. She went down to the first floor and saw the dead on the ground.
"This isn't good."
Weiss' knight became the focus of attention for the imperials. They fired more rockets at it, but that didn't stop it. It swung its sword over the gates, into a line of imperials. All who were hit were killed.
Weiss went into the streets and saw what her summon was doing. It didn't stop the imperials from entering the town. Now that everyone had its eyes on the summon, more people were getting killed.
Two imperials burst into the house Ruby was in and fired at the troops. Ruby went down the stairs as fast as possible. That didn't stop the last of the troops in the house from getting slaughtered. Six troops were killed, that was one tenth of the entire defense. Ruby got out her lightsaber and powered it up.
The hilt was long, and almost looked like a baton used for twirling. The light that came out from it was a pinkish red. The hilt was made from the same materials Ruby used to make her Crescent Rose. The imperials stopped what they were doing and looked at her. That was the last thing they could see. Ruby ran quickly and cut the imperials down.
Ruby knew she needed to be out in the fight. It was more emphasized when the roof came crashing down. She rolled out of the building, in front of a squad of imperials. She didn't take a second to think before cutting them down. She turned her lightsaber off and got out her scythe.
Blake rushed an imperial and shot them. They fell to the ground with a thud. She then threw her blade into the armor of an imperial. She didn't know if that killed the imperial or not, so she tugged on the rope of her blade. The imperial fell to the ground.
"Dead." She said. One of the troops was running over to where Blake was, but was killed before they could get to her. They were holding a bag. She quickly ran over to it and grabbed the bag. In it were dust explosives. She had an idea.
The second wave of imperials were fended off, but the entrance to the town was destroyed. The surviving defenders went to the market area. Blake placed the explosives under both bridges, and in some houses.
The Imperials hadn't yet destroyed the summon, but that changed quickly. The third wave of Imperials had a Tank. It made quick work of the knight.
"They got a tank." One of the remaining town guards called out.
The tank fired at the wall, destroying part of it. In a few seconds, it did the same thing to the other wall. The Tank then drove into the town. It was a large tank. It didn't have wheels, but hover tech. It fired a shot at the fountain, blowing it up, and sending bits of concrete out. Some pieces hit the defenders. Three were killed by it. Ruby knew only her, or Yang could destroy the tank.
"Yang. I'm going to go around the town and attack the tank from the back. I need you to keep fighting back here."
"Don't get spotted. If you do you know what'll happen." Yang said
"I know." Ruby got from her hiding spot and used her semblance to quickly get to where she needed to be. The tank fired again at some of the houses. The other imperials moved forward into the town. Ruby ran into a few of them, but they didn't realize that before getting cut down.
Ruby rushed the corner and saw the tank. It fired another shot, this time hitting a small group retreating into the town hall building. Four died, with six others gravely injured. Ruby jumped on top of the tank and used her lightsaber to cut herself an opening. Droids were piloting the tank. One turned around.
"Intruder!" Was all it got to say before Ruby cut them down. Luckily, they loaded a last shot. Ruby went to the wheel and turned the tank around. The force told her which button to press, and she fired into the forest.
The shot hit another tank that was coming up. The second tank blew up, but there were still imperials coming. Ruby grabbed a dust explosive and placed it on the control panel. She got out of the tank and went into one of the bombed-out houses. The Imperials started to fire at the tank, but when it didn't fire back, they went inside the tank. Ruby pressed the detonation button she had, killing more Imperials. They weren't through yet. They spotted Ruby and fired at her. She did her best to block the bullets, but there were too many. She was getting hit, with her clothes taking most of the damage. Weiss Sent a large Ice Spike towards the Imperials, impaling four, and creating a wall to protect her and Ruby.
"Looks like your cape's going to need to be replaced, and your sleeves." Weiss looked over how much dust she had left. It wasn't much. She probably could only do something big like he ice one more time. Ruby got up, with some blood coming from where she had been shot. Her aura was low.
"We need to get you away from the front lines." Weiss said
"That's a good Idea. I can still fight from the town hall." She got to the building and got ready.
Blake stood next to Weiss. "How much longer can this thing stand?"
"Not much longer. How many are left?"
"Twenty two."
"And Yang?"
"taking on a squad that thought it could go around this."
"Do we know how many more imperials there are?"
"No. It can't be that many at this point. This is only a small town, don't need to send a whole army just to take it."
The ice barrier started to crack. A chunk fell in front of Weiss and she used it to boost herself in the air. She landed behind the imperials and stabbed one. She took her sword out of the body and fired a large bolt of fire twenty imperials were caught in the blaze. Blake started to attack the bewildered front. Ruby gave a hand attacking from a far, and they made quick work of the forth Wave.
They left some imperials alive and started to question them.
"How many more are coming to this town?" Yang asked
"We were only the beginning." The highest-ranking Imperial said.
"When will they be here?"
"They were three hours behind us. Our little fight was just a distraction."
Yang went to work immediately. She got to the Alliance and called for a ship to pick them up.
"We have an hour before a ship can get us. How long was the fight?"
"Over an hour. At least an hour and a half." Weiss said.
"We're going to be cutting it close. Get everything ready." Yang said.
The hour passed uneasily. Two ships came down from the air. One landed and was getting filled. The second couldn't touch the ground before getting shot down. The Imperials made it to the town. Ruby's aura was better, so she started to get ready to fight, but the remaining defenders stopped anyone from team RWBY from joining the fight again. Four went on the ship, and the ship lifted off. They were able to leave the area, but the others were killed in a few minutes. The empire had taken Zolon.
Team RWBY was taken back to the command station to give a report of the fight. Roni took the report
"And we were the only ones to get out of the town" Ruby said
"Did all of the residents get out of the town?"
"Yes, but the empire has the town." Yang said
"We all knew that they were going to get it eventually. We've had to spread thin defending other places from the empire."
"So what we did was pointless?"
"No, it affects the empire, they lost at least two hundred at that fight. It's something they won't forget."
"That's because we had Jedi at the battle, and they didn't" Weiss said
"Yes, that is true, but now they won't under estimate us anymore." Roni dismissed the girls.
Roni went back to her command center. Ironwood walked in with a drink.
"That's another lose. We need to pull a victory out somewhere." He handed the drink to Roni. She took a sip. Whiskey.
"Are you trying to get me drunk?"
"I think you can handle it." He takes out a flask and drinks from that.
"I think I have the idea. We have reverse engineered a squad of tie bombers."
"We would need a target. We aren't going to bomb a populated city, and we have yet to find an Imperial Base that we could safely bomb." Ironwood said
"But that is where you are wrong. My sources have found an imperial droid factory. It is on one of the many islands of Anima. It is far enough away that we are able to attack it and get out before they can get a defense for."
"That might be a good idea. How quickly can we get that squad out there?"
"I can get a team out there by the end of the week." Roni put a marker on the map of Remnant to where the factory was.
"Let's set this up."
Ruby went to Karel after reporting to Roni. They were in the Jedi temple's Library
"Karel, when I was at Zolon, I saw something. The world around me was a greyish blue, except for a red dot always in my sight. I chased the dot and found out it was a spy. What was it?"
Karel thought hard about it. He got up and went to a book.
"This journal has a section about that. I found this a week ago. The Jedi called it heart searching. A terrible name, but accurate. It can search the intentions of the person you're searching. It's rare, and sometimes it's happens on random. This journal has only six incidents of it, and it goes over a ten-year span."
"So, I may not see that again for years?"
"That is what I'm saying. Don't worry about it. It will be okay." Karel put the book back and went looking for another.
"What are you looking for now?" Ruby asked
"I'm looking for a book to work on a theory I have."
"What's the theory?"
"Why Aura exists in this world only. I've traveled to dozens of planets, studied at the Jedi temple, but I have never heard of Aura before this planet. This is going to take a while. I suggest you getting a new pair of clothes."
Karel picked up a book and opened it up. He glanced over a poem.
"Strange… This poem doesn't make sense in basic." Karel closed it and put it in a bag that he had.
Ruby left the library. She went to her room and she started to meditate. Yang walked in and grabbed Ruby.
"I need you for a few hours." Yang said. Yang grabbed Ruby and took Karel's ship.
"I think you should ask Karel before stealing his ship." Ruby said.
"I already asked. I want to take you to a special person." Yang flew to the grey Jedi temple. She took Ruby to the robemaker.
"Can you make a set of robes for my sister?" Yang asked the old robemaker.
"I shall make the robes, but I need her to have show me what she sees."
"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.
"Meditate, and then you shall see the robe that you shall wear."
Ruby started to meditate.
Author's notes: Thanks for reading, and sorry for taking so long. I'm at college now, at during the summer I had little to no time to do things. Thanks again for staying and reading. I hope that you can understand.
I hope that you'll stay and continue to read this story.
-DragonZlayerx12
