Disclaimer: I do not own either RWBY or Star Wars

"I suppose congratulations are in order."

Such were the dry words that greeted Wayle.

"My, I was not expecting to see you when Ruby called for a meeting, Qrow." He responded, seating himself opposite of the rugged Huntsman, and beside Blake.

At least the man seemed somewhat sober for once. He didn't even reek of alcohol at the moment.

"Wait, congratulations? What happened?" Weiss asked from the chair she was sharing with Ruby.

I seemed it had taken her a few moments to process Qrow's comment. Probably because Ruby had been distracting her.

"The Vale council just decided to take in the Army of Union as its military arm. That guy Aureus and two capable Faunus from his administrative branch has also temporarily joined the council to bolster its decision-making ability." Qrow informed.

"Hang on. Doesn't that mean the council basically works for Wayle now?" Yang queried from her own seat.

"I suppose that is one way to look at it. I have no intention to use my influence over Aureus and the other two to dictate the council's actions, but I have little doubt they will be working to further my cause without any input from my end." Wayle responded.

"Right…" The rugged Huntsman didn't seem particularly convinced.

"You may choose to doubt me Qrow, but you might be surprised to know how little input I have had in some of my subordinates' actions." The young lord said with a small smile.

The man shrugged. "I hope you realise I don't give all that much of a damn."

"True, you do seem more interested in Ozpin's secret war." Wayle replied. "Speaking of which, have you found anything about Ozpin's whereabouts?"

"Nothing quite yet. But I think he might show up in Haven." Qrow supplied with a shrug.

"Ah. I am starting to have a suspicion as to where this is going."

Ruby took this as her cue to speak up. "Well… yea… You know we've been thinking about going to Haven..."

"And if we go with Qrow we'll be safer, and we'll have an easier time finding what we're looking for." Yang added.

"Sound reasoning. I know I have expressed… displeasure, towards the idea of you girls going to Haven, but, ultimately, I have every intention of letting you do as you wish." Wayle responded.

"Heh, you'd rather they don't stick their noses into danger, but you also don't want them mixed up in your own business, right?" Qrow said. "I can't promise they'll be safe, but I don't think I need to tell you that nowhere is entirely safe."

"Certainly, I understand that. Will all of you be going?" While Wayle's question was directed to everyone in the room, it wasn't hard to guess who he was actually asking.

The only person who was actually torn on the matter.

Blake.

Yang's ever so slightly off smile and subtle gesture towards said raven-haired girl, who until now had remained silent, was quite telling.

Blake took a small breath and spoke up without waver. "I'm staying with you Wayle. I think I can help you. I want to help you."

Wayle sighed, perhaps in relief, perhaps in resignation, then smiled. "I see. I cannot imagine how painful making this choice was, but I am glad you finally made it."

"And yet you don't seem entirely happy with my choice." The cat Faunus retorted with a straight face.

"I am unable to deny that. Part of me is overjoyed that your choice is to stay with me, but another part is uneasy, reluctant to let you be drawn into this." The young lord replied.

"You do remember that I used to be part of the extremist White Fang? I'm not new to questionable actions." Blake's facial expression did not change, although there was a clear twitch at the corner of her mouth, and her tone carried an undercurrent of good humour.

Wayle shook his head with a small smile. "I suppose that is part of the reason why. I do not want you to partake in 'questionable actions' again."

"Well, the question then is, how likely is that?"

"Perhaps not the most likely, but I would rather be safe than sorry."

Suddenly Qrow clearing his throat interrupted the two, perhaps as it looked like they were getting carried away.

"We're not quite done yet, and I couldn't help but feel worried the two of you were going to carry that banter all the way to the bedroom." The rugged Huntsman said once everyone was looking at him.

Blake seemed quite taken aback by the comment, and there was most certainly a blush on her cheeks, while Wayle simply seemed quite speechless.

"I think the worst part is that he kind of said what I was thinking." Yang said.

This prompted Wayle to sigh, smile and shake his head. "Ignoring the potential veracity of the Qrow's statement, I suppose we are not quite yet finished. So Ruby, Weiss and Yang will accompany Qrow to Haven."

"Team JNPR said they'd also go." Ruby added.

"I see. That is quite the bit of potential on the move. Be careful, there is no telling what the situation at Haven is."

"And here I thought you had agents all over the place." Qrow said.

"With the current communications problems, combined with a difficulty to looking into the Academies, I have little useful information. All I can say for sure is that there might be something wrong." A serious expression covered Wayle's features.

It was hard to tell if Qrow's disgruntled expression was because he didn't quite believe Wayle, or if the implications of his words caused it. "You think there's a traitor in Haven, don't you?"

"Someone provided Cinder and her puppets with Haven Academy student records. Combined with the information I have on the Academy itself and that becomes the most likely possibility. If I were you I would not trust even the headmaster himself, even if he is a member of Ozpin's trusted circle."

The rugged Huntsman had no retort, simply nodding with a troubled expression. It seemed he understood perfectly that even the Headmaster couldn't be trusted until they were certain he hadn't been turned through some means.

Of course, it seems this realisation shook team RWBY, mostly Ruby, but even Weiss and Yang seemed to have been slightly shaken. Only Blake remained mostly unshaken, although it was clear that she was just hiding it.

After a few moments of silence passed with no one willing to speak up, Blake finally took a breath and asked: "Wayle, what about the White Fang presence that used to be in Mistral? What about Sienna Khan?"

The others perked up at this question, while Wayle seemed to become thoughtful.

"Sienna Khan… Sienna Khan…" It was almost as if he had trouble remembering who that was, which immediately made Blake quite concerned.

There was no way Wayle didn't know about the High Leader of the White Fang.

Right?

"Sienna Khan, the High Leader of the White Fang." She said.

The young lord's features hardened. "Ah, yes. No wonder it was familiar. Sienna Khan died shortly before the confrontation in Atlas."

"What?!" This was clearly news to Blake, judging by her shock.

"Adam Taurus took her position. Apparently, she was killed by a Human Hunter, in the middle of her throne room." Wayle's tone spoke volumes of how much he believed that.

"That… doesn't seem very likely." Weiss said.

"Of course not. Adam killed her himself in a coup when he brought Cinder there for negotiations. I have a rather reliable source on the matter."

Qrow raised an eyebrow but didn't comment. "And what about the other question? What happened to the White Fang's Mistral cell?" He instead queried, as that could be relevant information.

"I thought we had proclaimed this before. The White Fang is no more. What major components that survived the last confrontation has since either been absorbed by the Army of Union or crushed. The only place where they might still exist would be Menagerie." Wayle declared with absolute certainty.

"Just so you know, most people aren't quite certain what that proclamation meant." Qrow quipped.

"I'm a bit surprised you didn't know that yet Blake…" Ruby said.

The raven-haired girl shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "I… was hesitant to talk to most of the former White Fang members here… On some level I might have suspected it but… I never asked anyone about it."

"Not even me." Wayle added before sighing softly. "Regardless, we will provide at least some level of support, but the Army of Union will be unable to act in Mistral."

"That's fine as long as you can give us some supplies." Qrow responded, with Ruby, Weiss and Yang nodding in agreement.

"That will not be any problem."

-Break—

"As per your instructions two of the Knights have been dispatched to monitor the situation at Haven."

"Excellent."

"Are you sure they are ready for this Master?"

"That is why we are sending them. In order to find out."

-Break—

"Hello! It is a pleasure to finally meet you Wayle Tyran!" The man who said this stood leaned forward to an uncomfortable degree. "I am Lloyd Asplund! I used to work for Atlas but, well… working for you sounded much more interesting!"

Behind the bespectacled man stood three others, his assistant, a young woman who seemed quite distressed over his behaviour, and two men who seemed like they would prefer not to be grouped together with him.

"Welcome Professor Asplund. I am happy to have such a fine mind." Wayle responded, shaking the man's hand before turning his attention to the woman behind him. "And you are?"

"Ah, I am Cécile Croomy, Lloyd's assistant." She replied, bowing.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance." He replied before turning towards the last two.

They were the most prominent scientists and engineers that Ouka had recruited. Lloyd Asplund, while eccentric, was one of the developers of the Paladin and a skilled Robotics expert. Of the other two scientists was one who had worked on the CCT network and one who had garnered fame for his work on the weapons used by the Atlas military.

It wasn't much, but it was a start.

-Break—

"Hey, have you seen Felis' new kid?" A man said.

"You mean the one with the cloak and mask?" A woman responded. "Sheesh, how much of a fan of Felis' do you think that person is?"

"Yeah, that one. Any idea who that is?"

"Who knows? It's none of the Felis fans I know."

"It's a girl. I managed to catch a glimpse when the cloak fluttered. Sadly she's covered all her skin as well." Another woman interjected.

"Yeah, I also heard it was a chick. Also heard that she hasn't said a word since she was introduced." Some other man said.

"Oh yeah, you know some of those guys. What do they call her?"

"Phantasm apparently. That's what Felis said to call her. Also heard that she came from Lord Tyran."

"Really? That sure makes you wonder. Think it's one of 'them'?"

"Nah, I don't think so. Well, it could be, but if so, why?"

"Hmm… Yeah, you're probably right. Besides, I'm pretty sure I saw all of them just yesterday."

Author's notes: Well, I guess everything decided to go back to normal, and then straight past that. The previous chapter went really smoothly to write, so obviously this one took atrociously long to finish. I had wanted to put this up last week, but well... As you can see.

Hopefully I didn't write anything all too atrocious. Feel free to leave feedback or point out mistakes I made.

I hope you enjoyed, and that you have a nice day.