Somberflight: Jaune isn't even the MC or had a harem here. Everyone gets their chapter on who would be the MC as seen in previous chapters. And besides, if you're so sick of it, don't bother reading this fic at all.
Fortitude501: I am planning to update my Gundam Seed fic one day, maybe after a few more chapters. Yes, I may do Resident Evil as soon as I play it
Chapter 14: Battle of Geonosis, Part 2
"We will not become hostages for you to use as barter, Cinder," Leonardo said without the slightest hesitation.
"Then I'm sorry, old friend," Countess Cinder said in a remorseful tone. The battle droids readied their weapons as the Jedi stood still, prepared to fight till the very end if necessary. That is until Summer looked up and cried out.
"Look!"All eyes turned up to see half a dozen LAAT/ti gunships fast descending upon the arena, screaming down in a dusty cloud about the Jedi, clone troopers rushing out their open sides as they touched down.
The Audience were marveled at the Republic's technology, with Ironwood's eyes glued with fascination and wanting to know its schematics.
"The Cavalry is here!", Nora cheered on the screen, relieved that the army has arrived.
"Incredible", Ironwood gasped at the gunships and trooper's appearances. "If I ever found their designer, I'd hire him effective immediatley"
"About time!", Yang called out in relief at the sight of them reinforcing the Jedi.
A hailstorm of laserfire blasted the new arrivals, but the gunships had their shields up, covering the debarkation of their warriors. The gunships's weapons and troops returned fire, scoring dozens of droids in the process. One of the gunship's doors opened, and revealed a small green creature with a cane, silver hair, and a pair of glasses. It was Jedi Grand Master Ozpin who offered a salute to Lionheart and the others.
The audience were laughing loudly at Ozpin's appearance, who merely sipped at his coffee while grumbling the fact that not once he was reincarnated into a small green creature.
"Oh my god, Oz!", Qrow called out while holding his insides. "What are you, an alien?"
Peter Port was laughing loudly as he saw his superior. "Among all things, a small goblin, Headmaster?"
Ironwood and Glynda were trying to suppress laughter, their faces red at their attempts.
Team RWBY, JNPR, and CVFY were taking it too far, with Yang and Ruby holding their insides. Mercury and Emerald were laughing as well at Ozpin's look while Salem and Cinder gave an amused expression.
"Around the survivors, a perimeter we create", Ozpin ordered the clone troopers from the gunships.
Ironwood and Glynda couldn't take it anymore and they burst out laughing at the Headmaster.
"Really, Glynda?", Ozpin deadpanned, usually seeing her as a dead-serious type.
"I'm sorry, Headmaster!", Glynda apologized as she took off her glasses and wiped her tears from laughter. "Your look was tolerable enough, but your speech pattern was just too much!"
"Among all things considered, I'd never thought Ozma would look this way", Salem remarked as she managed to hold off her laughter.
The Jedi continued to resist as Clone troopers managed to provide covering fire, and the survivors rushed to the nearest gunships, scrambling aboard. Lionheart climbed in right beside Ozpin, and their ship lifted away immediately, cannons blaring, shattering and scattering battle droids as it soared up out of the arena. Lionheart could hardly believe the incredible sight unfolding before him, as thousands of Republic ships rushed down on the assembled fleet of the Trade Federation, dropping tens of thousands of clone troopers to the surface of the planet.
"Those are Torchwick's clones?", Phyrra questioned.
"Yep. Bred for war as the main force of the Republic. Now, the Battle of Geonosis has begun", Flit announced to the audience.
"One Roman Torchwick is already a pain. Millions would be the end of us...", Weiss mumbled at the thought.
"But to what Flit and Aeralyn had said, these troopers are specifically bred for war, so I highly doubt they had any of Torchwick's mannerisms", Blake pointed out.
"Come on, it's not like they rigged the cloning process or anything", Qrow joked.
Sweat dropped at the heads of Mako and Aeralyn upon hearing those words.
Behind him, Ozpin continued to orchestrate the battle. "More battalions to the left," he instructed his signaler, who relayed it out to the field commanders. "Encircle them, we must, then divide."
After many minutes of a glow so bright that it hurt Klein's eyes, P3-N1 retracted his welding arm and tootled that the job was finished-Klein's head was back where it belonged.
"Oh, Penny, you've put me back together!" Klein cried, and with some effort, he managed to stand upright. He realized then, from the hailstorm of fire outside the arena tunnel, and with many of those bolts ricocheting inside, that he was far from safe, and so he turned and began to amble away. Unfortunately for him, though, P3-N1 had not yet disengaged the sucker projectile from his forehead.
The cord went taut, and Klein tumbled backward to the ground. P3-N1 gave an apologetic whistle as he rolled by, disengaging and retracting the sucker as he went. "I won't forget this!" C-3PO cried indignantly, and he scrambled up again and shuffled off after his infuriating friend.
"These two quite make the duo", Ruby snickered at the two droids.
"Actually, whenever Klein is in trouble, Penny would come and rescue him", Aeralyn pointed out.
With the gunships flying off and the battle droids in pursuit, Adam Fett finally found the opportunity to slip down onto the arena floor. He called for his father repeatedly, rushing from pile of carnage to pile of carnage. He passed the dead acklay, and then the reek, calling for Roman, but knowing what had happened, simply because his father, who was always there, wasn't there. And then he saw the helmet. "Dad...", he muttered as he mourned the loss.
Blake felt bad for Adam at this one. Though in another reality, losing a father can be devastating and she could not imagine what's it like to lose her father.
Mercury, scoffed at this, remembering the beatings given to him by his father that cost him greatly.
Archduke Poggle the Lesser, led Cinder and the others into the Geonosian command center, a huge room with a large circular viewscreen in its center and many other monitors about the walls, where Geonosian soldiers could monitor and direct the widening battle. Poggle rushed to the side to confer with an army commander, then came back to Cinder and Jacques Gunray, his expression fierce. "All of our communications have been jammed!" he informed them. "We are under attack, on land and from above!" "The Jedi have amassed a huge army!" Jacques Gunray cried.
"Where did they get them?" Cinder asked, sounding perplexed. "That doesn't seem possible. How did the Jedi come up with an army so quickly?"
"Prepared enough to woop your asses", Nora sassed at them.
"We must send all available droids into battle," Jacques Gunray demanded. But Cinder, staring at the myriad of scenes, at the many battles and explosions all about the region, was shaking her head before the Neimoidian could begin to argue his reasoning.
"There are too many," the Countess said, her voice full of resignation. "They will soon have us surrounded." Even as he spoke, the three winced as the central screen flashed, showing the explosive destruction of a major Geonosian defensive position.
"This is not going well at all," Jacques Gunray admitted. "Order a retreat," said Poggle, and he was trembling so forcefully that it seemed as if he might just fall over. "I am sending all my warriors deep into the catacombs to hide!" He nodded to several of his commanders as he finished, and they turned back to their comlinks, relaying the orders.
"We must get the cores of our ships back into space!" one of Jacques Gunray's associates cried, and Gunray was nodding as he considered the words and the devastating scenes of battle flashing across the viewscreens.
"I'm going to Coruscant," Cinder announced. "My Mistress will not let the Republic get away with this treachery." Poggle the Lesser rushed across the room to a console and punched in some codes, bringing up a holographic schematic of a planet-sized weapon. With a few keystrokes, he downloaded the schematic onto a cartridge and pulled it from the drive, turning to Cinder.
"What kind of weapon they are creating?", Ironwood questioned, not thinking a moon-like space station would be possible.
"One that is enough to destroy an entire world with one shot", Flit replied as the audience gasped in shock of such possibility. Not even Cinder or Salem could handle that kind of weapon.
Watts, however, expressed interest if it was ever possible.
"The Jedi must not find our designs," the Archduke insisted. "If they have any idea of what we are planning to create, we are doomed."
Cinder took the cartridge. "I will take the designs with me," she agreed. "The plans will be much safer with my Mistress." With a curt bow, the Count swept from the room.
Qrow, Taiyang, and Summer crouched in the open side of a gunship as it sped across the expanding battlefield outside the arena, its laser cannons blaring, its shields turning back the responding fire from the droids. Below them, clone troopers rushed across the battlefield on speeder bikes, weaving their way and firing all the while.
"They're good," Qrow remarked, and Taiyang nodded. Their attention went right back to their own situation, then, as the gunship approached a huge Techno Union starship and opened fire. Its laser cannons slammed away at the giant, but seemed to be having little effect.
"That is one large metal globe..", Yang remarked at the size.
"Whatever it is, I can tell it packs quite an arsenal", Winter said as she assesed the posibilities.
"Aim right above the fuel cells!" Taiyang cried to the gunner. With a slight adjustment, the gunner let fly his next burst. Huge explosions rocked the starship and it began to tilt ominously to the side. The gunship, and others rushing in nearby, swerved aside as the great craft toppled.
"It seems you are knowledgeable in such technology, Mr. Xiao-Long", Ozpin remarked.
"It seems so. But I'm not really a fan of those in real life.", Taiyang said.
"Good call, my young Padawan!" Qrow congratulated his Padawan, then he shouted to the crew, "Those Trade Federation starships are taking off! Target them quickly!"
"They're too big, Master," Taiyang replied.
"The ground-troopers will have to take them out." The gunship roared across the widening battlefield, lasers blasting away, explosions erupting all about it, a scene of spectacular destruction and frenzy. Lionheart shook his head and looked to Ozpin.
"Capture Cinder, we must," Ozpin said, his calm and steady voice as strong an anchor as Lionheart could have asked for in that momentous moment. "If escape she does, she will rally more systems to her cause."
Lionheart looked to the diminutive Master and nodded grimly. "Captain, land at that assembly point ahead," he ordered the lone driving his gunship, and the obedient pilot fast settled the craft. Lionheart, Port, and a host of clone troopers jumped out, but Ozpin did not follow.
"To the forward command center, take me," he instructed, and the gunship lifted away. As soon as they put down at the relative safety of the position that had been secured as the command center, the clone commander rushed to the open gunship dropdoor.
"Master Ozpin, all forward positions are advancing.", Clone Commander Ponds said to him.
"Very good, very good," Ozpin said. "Concentrate all your fire on the nearest starship."
"Yes, sir!" The clone commander ran off, organizing his leaders as he went. Soon after, the forward groups began picking their targets in a more coordinated manner, and the concentrated fire succeeded where sporadic bursts could not, taking down one starship after another. The gunship slowed and banked suddenly, circling a droid gun emplacement, coming too fast around the back for the stationary system to swivel. A furious barrage destroyed the defensive position completely, but it did manage a single shot the gunship's way, rocking the craft hard.
"Hold on!" Qrow cried, grabbing the edge of the open dropdoor.
"Can't think of a better choice!" Summer yelled back at him. Qrow turned a smirk her way, or started to, but then he saw a Geonosian speeder soaring away, an unmistakable figure in the open cockpit. Two fighters flanked the speeder, the trio heading fast away from the main fighting.
"Look! Over there!", Qrow pointed out.
"It's Cinder!" Taiyang cried. "Shoot her down!"
"We're out of rockets, sir," the clone captain replied. "Follow her!" Taiyang ordered.
"You have two side turrets and nose guns, what do you mean you can't shoot her down?!", Ruby questioned in disbelief. The audience also took note of this.
"Two words Ruby", Weiss answered her.
"What is it?"
"Plot Armor", the Heiress replied.
The pilot put the ship up on its side, banking fast to turn into a straight run for the fleeing Countess. "We're going to need some help," Summer remarked.
"No, there's no time," said Qrow. "Taiyang and I can handle this."
As the gunship began to close, the fighters flanking Cinder banked away suddenly, veering off left and right, turning to engage. The clone pilot of the gunship was up to the task, weaving his way through their fire, but then another blast rocked the ship, and with the vehicle up on edge, Qrow and Taiyang had to hold on tight and scramble to stay in.
Sunmer wasn't so fortunate. One moment, she was beside Taiyang, and then she was gone, tumbling out the open dropdoor along with another Clone Trooper.
"Summer!" Taiyang screamed. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion, and he couldn't catch her, couldn't reach out fast enough. She tumbled down and hit the ground hard, and lay very still.
"Mom!", Ruby cried out for her mother while Summer simply held her.
"I don't know Ruby, Mrs. Rose was okay up until the sixth screening, so I think she'll be fine", Blake pointed out to calm her leader.
"Summer!" Taiyang cried again, and then he yelled to the clone pilot, "Put the ship down!"
Qrow stood before him, his hands on Taiyang's shoulders, holding him steady and firm. "Don't let your personal feelings get in the way," he reminded his Padawan. He turned to the pilot. "Follow that speeder."
"I have to agree with Qrow at this. You must not let whatever personal emotion stood in the way in a mission, otherwise it would only end at death", Raven pointed out.
Taiyang pushed to the side, peering over his Master's shoulder, and growled, "Lower the ship!"
Qrow turned to face him again, and this time, his look was not so sympathetic.
"Taiyang," he said flatly, showing that there was no room for debate. "I can't take Cinder alone. If we catch her, we can end this war right now. We have a job to do."
"I don't care!" Taiyang yelled at him. He pushed out to the side again and yelled at the pilot, "Put the ship down!"
"You'll be expelled from the Jedi Order," Qrow said, his grim look showing no room for any argument. The blunt statement hit Taiyang hard.
"Really? Is having relationships in the Jedi Order restricted?", Phyrra questioned.
"Apparently yes. Personal attachments are discouraged within the order, saying that losing them may turn a Jedi to the Dark Side, something they cannot allow. And also, they restrict relationships within the order, doing so will result expulsion", Aeralyn explained to them as the students were is disbelief at this occurrence.
"Now I can see why Dad didn't turned to the Jedi for help when he saw those nightmares", Ruby finally pieced out.
"I can't leave her," he said, his voice suddenly little more than a whisper.
"Come to your senses," said the uncompromising Qrow. "What do you think Summer would do if she were in your position?" Taiyang's shoulders slumped.
"She would do her duty," he admitted. He turned and looked back toward where Summer had fallen, but they were now too far off, and there was too much dust
Summer could not help but agree to this. She would do her duty no matter what as a Huntsman, even if it would cost her life in the process.
Gunships screamed left and right, trading fire with laser cannon emplacements. On the ground, thousands of clone troopers battled the droids, and it was already becoming apparent that these new soldiers were indeed superior. One against one, a battle droid was nearly a match for a clone trooper, and a super battle droid even more than a match. But in groups and formations, the improvisation of the clone troopers, reacting to the fast-changing battleground and following the relayed orders of their Jedi commander, was quickly giving them all of the best vantage points, all the high ground and the most defensible positions.
The battle soon extended far overhead, as well, as Republic warships engaged those Trade Federation ships that had managed to get offplanet, and those that had not yet landed. Most of those Trade Federation ships inside the asteroid belt and immediately within the perimeter of the battle were troop carriers rather than battleships, and so the Republic was fast gaining the upper hand there, as well
Over at the command center, an exhausted and dirty Leonardo Lionheart joined Master Ozpin, the two sharing looks that combined hope for the present and fear for the future.
"You decided to bring them," Lionheart stated. "Troubling, it is," Ozpin replied, his large eyes slowly blinking.
"Two paths were there open, and this one alone offered the return of so many Jedi." Lionheart nodded his approval of that choice, but Ozpin only looked at the turmoil and destruction raging about him and blinked his large eyes once more.
Qrow pushed past Taiyang, moving toward the pilot. "Follow that speeder!" The gunship did just that, zooming low. They found the speeder soon enough, parked outside a large tower. The gunship skimmed to a stop, moving a bit lower, and Taiyang and Qrow leapt out, rushing to the tower door. The ship that escorted was then shot down by the two gunships.
"Well...let's just say that Summer falling off was a blessing in disguise", Qrow commented at this.
Hardly pausing, Taiyang burst through, lightsaber in hand, entering a huge hangar, with cranes and control panels, tug-ships and workbenches. They found Countess Cinder inside, standing at a control panel, working some instruments. A small interstellar sail ship sat nearby, a graceful, shining craft with a circular pod set on two lander legs, the retracted sails sweeping out to narrowing points behind it, like folded wings.
"You're going to pay for all the Jedi you killed today, Cinder!" Taiyang yelled at her, moving in determinedly.
Again he felt the tug of a determined Qrow, holding him back. "We move in together," Qrow explained. "You slowly on the-"
"No! I'm taking her now!"
"This isn't going to end well", Glynda said.
"I agree, Ms. Goodwitch", Ozpin agreed.
And Taiyang pulled away and charged ahead. "Taiyang, no!" Like a charging reek, the young Jedi came on, his green lightsaber ready to cut Cinder in half. The Countess looked at him out of the corner of her eye, smiling as if truly amused.
"Yeah...this won't end well", Sun finally noticed.
Taiyang didn't catch the cue. His rage moved him along, as it had with the Tusken Raiders.
But this was no simple warrior enemy. Cinder's hand shot out toward the charging Jedi, sending forth a Force push as solid as any stone wall, and a burst of blue Force lightning, unknown to Jedi, charged all about the trapped and lifted Jedi Padawan. Taiyang managed to hold onto his lightsaber as he went up into the air, held there by the power of the Count. With a wave of her hand, Cinder sent Taiyang flying across the room, to crash into a distant wall, where he slumped down, dazed.
"So this is me with the Force. Very impressive", Cinder remarked with a wicked smile.
"But from what I see, this is the power of the Dark Side", Salem added, clearly impressed by the display of power.
Meanwhile, Ruby, Yang, and Summer winced at Taiyang being hurt that way.
"Well...that was a shocking experience. Ouch!", Jaune joked before he was punched in the arm by Yang.
"Only I make the puns here!", she angrily declared.
Phyrra sighed. "Honestly, you deserve that Jaune".
"As you can see, my Jedi powers are far beyond yours," Cinder said with complete confidence and calm.
"I don't think so," Qrow countered, moving toward him in a more measured and defensive manner, his borrowed blue lightsaber held across his body diagonally, up over one shoulder. Cinder smiled and ignited a red-glowing blade.
"Let's see what I can do with the power of the Dark Side", Cinder eagerly said.
"Cinder with a lightsaber is the last thing I'd want to see", Ruby said ,rolling her eyes.
Qrow stepped slowly at first, then came on in a sudden rush, his blue blade coming in hard, right to left. But with only a slight movement, the red blade stabbed under the blue, then lifted up, and Qrow's blade went flying harmlessly high of the mark.
With a slight reversal of her wrist, Cinder stabbed straight ahead, and Qrow had to throw himself backward. He brought his lightsaber across as he did, trying to parry, but Cinder had already retracted her blade by then and had settled back into perfect defensive posture.
"So she's my master's master in this universe..", Qrow muttered.
"She has her way at her skill. Considering her experience, she is not to be taken lightly, Branwen", Ironwood said to him.
"You said it, Jimmy".
Against that posture, Qrow's sudden flurry of attacks seemed exaggerated and inefficient, for Cinder defeated each, one after another, with a slight parry or dodge, seeming barely to move. For while Qrow and most of the Jedi were sword fighters, Countess Cinder was a fencer, following an older fighting style, one more effective against weapons like lightsabers than against projectile weapons like blasters. The Jedi on the whole had abandoned that old fighting style, considering it almost irrelevant against the enemies of the present galaxy, but Cinder had always held stubbornly to it, considering it among the highest of fighting disciplines. Now, as the battle played out between the Countess and Qrow, the older way showed its brilliance.
"Wow, Cinder. You keep it elegant in your combat style", Emerald praised.
Qrow leapt and spun, slashing side to side, chopping and thrusting, but all of Cinder's movements seemed far more efficient. She followed a single line, front and back, her feet shifting to keep him constantly in perfect balance as she retreated and came on suddenly with devastating thrusts that had Qrow stumbling backward.
"Master Branwen, you disappoint me," the Countess taunted. "Ozpin holds you in such high esteem."
His words spurred Qrow forward with another series of slashes and chops, but Cinder's red blade angled left and then right, then up just enough to send Qrow's descending blade slipping off to the side.
Qrow had to retreat soon after, gasping for breath. "Come, come, Master Branwen," Cinder said, her lips curled in a wicked smile. "Put me out of my misery."
"This version of you is more confident and optimistic at whatever outcome, Cinder.", Salem said to her.
"Charming but deadly", Cinder said to herself.
"You're getting quite beat, Qrow", Taiyang commented on his alternate self. "She makes you look like a novice"
"At least I don't charge around without a plan and got shocked because of it", Qrow shot back.
Qrow steadied himself and shifted his lightsaber from hand to hand, getting a better grip on it. Then he exploded into motion, coming on again fiercely, his blue lightsaber flashing all about. He kept a better measure of his cuts this time, though, reversing his angle often, turning a wide slash into a sudden thrust, and he soon Cinder backing, the red blade working furiously to keep Qrow at bay.
Qrow pressed forward more forcefully, but Cinder continued to fend off the strikes, and then her momentum played out. He was too far forward, while Cinder remained in perfect balance, ready for a counterstrike. And then it was Cinder suddenly pressing the attack, her red blade stabbing and retracting so quickly that most of Qrow's cutting parries hit nothing but air.
Qrow had to jump back, and then back again, and again, as those thrusts moved ever closer to hitting home. Cinrer stepped forward suddenly, stabbing low for Qrow's thigh. Down went the blue blade to intercept, but to Qrow's horror, Cinder retracted her weapon and thrust it right back out, up high and across the other way. Qrow couldn't get his weapon back to block, nor could he slide back fast enough. Cinder's red blade stabbed hard into his left shoulder, and as he lurched back, Cinder retracted the blade and stabbed along its original course, digging into Qrow's right thigh.
The Jedi Master stumbled backward, tripping and crashing hard against the wall, but even as he fell, Cinder was there, her red blade rolling over and inside Qrow's blade, and with a sudden jerk, she sent Qrow's lightsaber bouncing across the floor.
"And so it ends," Cinder said to the helpless Qrow.
"Indeed it is", Cinder remarked to her alternate self. Now she would want to wish that she held the powers of the Dark Side of the Force.
"Uncle Qrow!", Ruby and Yang fearfully cried out fot their father.
With a shrug, the elegant Countess lifted her red blade up high, then brought it down hard at Qrow's head.
A green blade cut in under it, stopping it with a shower of sparks. The Countess reacted immediately, backpedaling and turning to face Taiyang. "That's brave of you, boy, but foolish. I would've thought you'd have learned your lesson."
"Dad to the rescue!", Ruby cheered out while Yang and Summer sighed in relief.
"I'm a slow learner," Taiyang replied coolly, and he came on then, so suddenly, so powerfully, his green blade whirling with such speed that he seemed almost encased in green light.
For the first time, Countess Cinder lost her little confident smile. She had to work furiously to keep Taiyang's blade at bay, dodging more than parrying. She tried to step out to the side, but stopped as if he had hit a wall, and her eyes widened a bit when she realized that this young Padawan, in the midst of that assault, had used the Force to block her exit.
"You have unusual powers, young Padawan," she sincerely congratulated. Her little grin returned, and gradually Cinder put herself back on even footing with Taiyang, trading thrust for slash and forcing Taiyang to dodge and parry as often as he tried to strike.
"Unusual," Cinder said again. "But not enough to save you this time!" She came on hard, thinking to drive Taiyang back and off balance as he had driven Qrow back.
But Taiyang held his ground stubbornly, his green blade flashing left, right, and down so forcefully and precisely that none of Cinder's attacks got through. Off to the side, Qrow understood that it couldn't hold.
Taiyang was expending many times the energy of the efficient Cinder, and as soon as he tired . . . Qrow knew that he had to do something. He tried to come forward, but winced and fell back, in too much pain. As he collected his thoughts, he reached out with the Force instead, grabbing at his lightsaber and pulling it in to his grasp.
"Taiyang!" he called, and he tossed the young Padawan the blade. Taiyang caught it without ever breaking the flow of his fighting, turning it under and igniting it immediately, putting it into the swirling flow. Qrow watched in admiration as Taiyang worked the two blades in perfect harmony, spinning them over and about with blinding speed and precision. And he watched with similar feelings the working of Countess Cinder's red lightsaber, flashing ahead and back with equal precision, picking off attack after attack and even countering once or twice to interrupt the flow of Taiyang's barrage.
"Go get'em dad!", Yang cheered for her father.
"For an apprentice, Qrow taught Mr. Xiao-Long well", Glynda assessed.
"But the Countess had more experience considering her Jedi past, and Taiyang had to give it all he had if he is to win this", Ozpin grimly stated.
Qrow's heart leapt in hope as Taiyang charged forward suddenly, bringing his green blade over his shoulder and across, down at the Countess. Qrow understood immediately, even before he noted Taiyang's blue blade coming up and over the other way-the green blade would push the Countess's lightsaber out of the way, clearing the path for the victorious strike!
Cinder continued to smirk, knowing she would still best Xiao-Long at this one.
But Cinder retracted impossibly fast, and Taiyang's down-cutting green blade hit nothing but air. Cinder stabbed straight ahead, intercepting the green blade. The Countess's hand worked up inside and over, then back around with a sudden twist, launching the blue lightsaber from Taiyang's grasp. Cinrer went on the offensive immediately, driving the surprised and off-balance Taiyang back. Taiyang fought hard to regain his fighting posture, but Cinder was relentless, thrusting repeatedly, keeping the young Padawan stumbling backward. And then she stopped, suddenly, and almost on reflex, Taiyang turned back on her, roaring and slashing hard. "No!", Qrow cried.
"Oh no...", Ruby fearfully muttered out for her father. She knew that Cinder had the upper hand at this one.
Cinder stabbed ahead and slashed out suddenly, intercepting not Taiyang's blue blade, but the Padawan's arm, at the elbow. Half of Taiyant's arm flew to the side, his hand still gripping the lightsaber. Taiyang dropped to the ground, grabbing his severed arm in agony.
"No!", Ruby and Yang called out to their father losing his arm while Taiyang winced at seeing himself in that position.
"Well at least we both went down together, Tai", Qrow said in an attempt to calm the situation.
Cinder gave another of her resigned shrugs. "And so it ends," she said for the second time. Even as whe spoke, though, the great hangar doors of the tower slid open, smoke from the battle outside pouring in. And through that smoke came a diminutive figure, but one seeming taller than all of them at that moment. "Master Ozpin," Cinder breathed.
"Countess Cinder," said Ozpin.
"Come on, mini-Ozpin. Kick her ass this time!", Yang called out, wanting her father and uncle get payback for what has happened to them.
Cinder's eyes widened and whe stepped back, turning to face Ozpin directly. She brought her lightsaber up to her face, shut down the blade, then snapped it to the side in formal salute. "You have interfered with our plans for the last time."
A wave of Cinder's free hand sent a piece of machinery flying at the diminutive Jedi Master, seeming as if it would surely crush him. But Ozpin was ready, waving his own hand, Force-pushing the flying machinery harmlessly aside.
"It seems you're gonna give her a run of her money, Oz", Qrow said to the headmaster, who eagerly assessed himself. He may be a small green creature at this one, but many know that size does not matter.
Cinder clutched up at the ceiling, breaking free great blocks that tumbled down at Ozpin. But small hands waved and the boulders dropped to the sides, bouncing across the floor all about the untouched Master Ozpin.
Cinder gave a little growl and thrust forth her hand, loosing a line of blue lightning at the diminutive Master. Ozpin caught it in his own hand and turned it aside, but far from easily.
"Powerful you have become, Cinder," Ozpin admitted, and the Countess grinned-but Ozpin promptly took that grin away by adding, "The dark side I sense in you."
"I have become more powerful than any Jedi," Cinder countered. "Even you!" More lightning poured forth from her hand, but Ozpin continued to catch it and turn it, and seemed to become even more settled in his defensive posture.
Cinder eyed their alternate selves, knowing that her duel with the Jedi Grand Master will not be an easy one.
Team RWBY, JNPR and the others cheered on the Headmaster.
"Much to learn you still have," Ozpin remarked. Cinder disengaged the futile lightning assault. "It is obvious this contest will not be decided by our knowledge of the Force, but by our skills with a lightsaber."
"You just can't beat him in that category!", Sun called out to the screen.
"Oh, it's on now!", Yang called out as the students cheered the Headmaster against the Dark Lady.
Ozpin reverently drew out his lightsaber, its green blade humming to life. Cinder gave a crisp salute, igniting her own red blade, but then, formalities over, she leapt at Ozpin, a sudden and devastating thrust. But one that never got close to hitting. With hardly a movement, Ozpin turned the blade aside. Cinder went into a wild flurry then, the likes of which he had not shown against Qrow or Taiyang, raining blows at the diminutive Master. But Ozpin didn't even seem to move. He didn't step back or to the side, yet his subtle dodges and precision parries kept Cinder's blade slashing and stabbing harmlessly wide.
Everyone gasped at the excellent combat style that the Sith Lady and the Jedi Grand Master displayed. The students cheered on Ozpin as his alternate self was beginning to take the upper hand so easily.
Cinder, meanwhile, silently growled at Ozpin's interference, seeing her alternate self being outmatched by the green little creature.
It went on and on for many moments, but eventually Cinder's flurry began to slow, and the Countess, recognizing the Futility of this attempt to overwhelm, stepped back fast. Not fast enough. With a sudden burst of sheer power, Master Ozpin flew forward, his blade working so mightily that its residual glow outshone even those of both of Taiyang's lightsabers when he was at the peak of his dance.
"Who would've thought a little green creature would be able to best her at combat?", Ozpin sassily asked.
"Shut up...", Qrow and Taiyang both said at the same time.
Cinder held strong, though, her red blade parrying brilliantly, each block backed by the power of the Force, or else Ozpin's strikes would have driven right through. Just as she was about to launch a counter, though, Ozpin was gone, leaping high and turning a somersault to land right behind Cinder, in perfect balance, striking hard.Cinder reversed her grip and stabbed out behind her, intercepting the blow. She let go of his weapon altogether, tossing it just a bit, and spun about, catching it before it had even disengaged from Ozpin's blade. With a growl of rage, Cinder reached more deeply into the Force, letting it flow through her as if her physical form was a mere conduit for its power. her tempo increased suddenly and dramatically, three steps forward, two back, perfectly balanced all the while.
Her fighting style was one based on balance, on the back-and-forth charges, thrusts and sudden retreats, and now she came at Ozpin with a series of cunning stabs, angled left and right. Never could she strike low, though, for never did Ozpin seem to be on the ground, leaping and spinning, flying all about, parrying each blow and offering cunning counters that had Cinder skipping backward desperately.
Cinder stabbed up high, turning the angle of her lightsaber in anticipation that Ozpin would dodge left.
But Ozpin, as if in complete anticipation of the movement, veered neither left nor right, but rather, dropped to the ground. The Countess had already retracted the missed thrust, and began a second stab, this time down low, but Ozpin had anticipated that, too, and went right back up behind the stabbing blade.
A sudden stab by Ozpin had Cinder quick-stepping back even more off-balance, for the first time, and then Ozpin flew away, up and back.
"His small size gave him a great advantage with his agility and speed. Not to mention, his quick-reading of movements made him a formidable opponent.", Glynda gasped out.
The furious Cinder pursued, thrusting hard for Ozpin's head. And in her rage when her stab missed yet again, she reverted to a slashing attack. Ozpin's green blade caught the blow, holding the red lightsaber at bay, locking the two in a contest of strength, physical and of the Force.
"Fought well, you have, my old Padawan," Ozpin congratulated, and his lightsaber began to move out, just a bit, forcing Cinder back.
"The battle is far from over!" Cinder stubbornly argued. "This is just the beginning!"
Reaching into the Force, she took hold of one of the huge cranes within the hangar and threw it down at Qrow and Taiyang. "Taiyang!" Qrow cried. He grabbed at the plummeting crane with the Force, and Taiyang, startled awake, did so, as well. Even working together, they hadn't the strength left to stop its crushing descent.
"Coward!", Yang called out. "Face him like a man!"
But Ozpin did. Ozpin grabbed the crane and held it fast, but in doing so, he had to release Cinder. The Countess wasted no time, sprinting away, leaping up the ramp to her sail ship. As Ozpin began to move the fallen crane harmlessly aside, the sail ship's engine roared to life, and all three Jedi watched helplessly as Countess Cinder blasted away.
"Damn it", Nora muttered.
"She got away", Ren said.
"With her escape, the war would begin", Weiss said.
"Looks like I would have to fight another day", Cinder remarked. Though she internally cursed herself at becoming weak to Ozpin, she would have her revenge.
As Taiyang and Qrow walked over to the exhausted Ozpin, Summer rushed in along with a platoon of Clone Troopers, running to Taiyang and wrapping the sorely wounded young man in a tight, desperate hug. "A dark day, it is," Ozpin said quietly. The screen fades to black right after.