Disclaimer: I do not own either RWBY or Star Wars

It was difficult for Blake to get used to the attention she had been getting lately. It felt like the entirety of the Army of Union knew who she was. It was probably true at this point.

They all knew her relationship with Wayle. She wouldn't have been surprised if someone had spread it.

Probably Aureus and Ouka. They were constantly manipulating and spreading rumours to help further the cause.

Whether or not they consulted Wayle first was a whole different question. There had most certainly been a few occasions where Wayle had choice words for them, although he for the most part ultimately made use of the rumours, and only ever counteracted a select few of them.

As for why Ouka and Aureus would want people to know she and Wayle was in a relationship…

Well, the fact that he had a Faunus lover certainly helped push the part where he was looking to bring Human and Faunus together. Practicing what he was preaching you could say.

Of course, Blake had no idea what exactly many of these people actually thought of her.

There seemed to be some admiration, some doubt, some jealousy… All kinds of emotions that she could see, and who knows how many she can't?

She sighed softly and noted Phantasm watching her from the shadows. There was always someone, quite often it was Phantasm, as a matter of fact it wouldn't surprise her if the cloaked girl had been specifically assigned to that duty, occasionally Felis or Latune, both usually signalled by the fact that Blake couldn't find who was watching her, and sometimes one of Wayle's disciples.

It was definitely unsettling, even if it was for her safety. Well, at least they didn't watch when she was with Wayle, he'd tell them to leave whenever they tried. Felis probably took it as a challenge considering how often she'd try, and Latune was probably trying her abilities against her Master.

Even the disciples would occasionally try.

Phantasm was the only one who never tried…

She softly shook her head. She preferred not to think about Phantasm if she could.

She continued into the workshop of an old acquaintance. She wanted to talk about her new equipment, and this person had helped with her old gear.

She wasn't going to sit back and do nothing. She would help. She had a hand in starting this, on that night. So she was going to do everything in her power to help make sure that it worked out.

-Break—

"Cécile! What did you do?!" Latune practically screamed as she scrambled to regain control of her Paladin.

"I might have gotten a bit carried away with the modifications and upgrades… But both you and Lloyd told me to do as I pleased…" Cécile Croomy's voice was deceptively innocent as she responded.

"A bit?!" The petite girl exclaimed as she finally made the bloody thing stop.

The assistant merely looked sheepish.

They had agreed to let Cécile work with Latune's prototype to she how far she could push it while Lloyd worked with improving the base model and turning it into something new and specific to the Army of Union.

Unfortunately, it seemed Cécile, while outwardly giving an impression of being the more restrained and reasonable of the two, was actually if anything even more lacking in restraint and common sense and had created something that not only pushed the limits of what they could produce but was actually far beyond what was reasonable.

For example, one of their best operators, Latune, was hard-pressed to actually control the machine, which in turn meant that most people couldn't hope to ever control it.

On the upside its specs were incredible with amazing speed and agility and unmatched power, assuming you could control it in the first place.

"Should I… tone the specs down a little…?" Cécile asked.

"No need. I just need to adjust. And we could always fine-tune the controls to make it easier." Latune responded.

"You do know that we're never going to be able to produce something like that, right?" An engineer pointed out. "Not like it is now."

"We never expected anything we could produce more of to come out of this in the first place. Besides, if it's this hard to control, producing more would be stupid." The Force-user responded.

"Are you suggesting we keep it as a unique one-of-a-kind custom unit?" Another engineer chimed in, the way he said it betraying a hint of appreciation for the idea.

"Yes." Latune replied.

The first engineer sighed and shook his head. "Of all the things we don't need… I'm not responsible for the maintenance on that thing!" He then exclaimed, pointing at Cécile all the while he walked away.

"We'll deal with that. Besides, it doesn't use that many special parts." Cécile merely replied with a smile.

A sudden screeching sound drew her attention towards the prototype, only to find it's arm slightly twisted and locked into an outstretched position.

"Cécile… I think it broke itself…" Its pilot said.

"Oh dear… it might need some further finetuning. Maybe another material…" The assistant became lost in thought with her voice trailing out into an inaudible murmur, although it was clear she was continuing her train of thought.

"I think we can safely say that will be all testing for today Captain Subbota. We'll… let you know if we need you." The remaining engineer said.

"Understood." Latune responded.

-Break—

Everything was proceeding well, Atlas wouldn't touch them for now thanks to pressure from Vacuo and Mistral, both of whom for now seemed quite pleased with Vale's separation from the northern power.

Of course, that would probably only last until his ambitions became visible.

The Army of Union was already expending great effort towards improving the quality of their equipment and soldiers. It had proven itself against the White Fang, but whether it could face the Atlesian army or not was doubtful.

The Council had started looking into rebuilding the fleet, but it would take far too long before it was able to match the others. It would have to be used wisely or bolstered by allies. Both would probably be preferable.

Felis' network of agents was steadily become more and more reliable and well-informed. At this point little happened within the borders of Vale without them finding out. Felis had named it the Moonlit Fangs after being allowed to name them herself, but how many knew about the name outside of the inner circle was somewhat unclear.

Everything might be proceeding well, but that was usually when things were most prone to going spectacularly wrong.

He sighed softly and started meditating, turning his attention towards the Force, once again pondering his relation to it.

Where he stood in regard to its sides, Light and Dark.

The vision he had seen, and the most probable message it conveyed. Could he reach it?

The place that he had stood, from where he had been dominant, from where he had given his lesson.

Wayle could almost see it in his mind. That mask so tauntingly far away, in a place he had no idea how to reach.

Not to mention that man had been brought low. Defeated and killed.

He slammed a fist into the ground in frustration, his meditation broken by his own mind.

He honestly didn't know what to do. What was the right answer? None of them seemed right at the moment, and the only thing he had he didn't know how to pursue, assuming he disregarded how dubious the source actually was!

He took a deep breath. Then another.

Self-control and force of will. That was how he had proceeded until now. Things happened when he faltered. Things he couldn't predict.

Amara would have attested to that had she been present. She had become very familiar with how… unpredictable the results could be. She had been directly responsible for quite a few and involved to some extent or another in other cases.

He sighed and started to get up. He wasn-

He suddenly stopped. He sensed something that caused him to stop completely. Something he hadn't sensed for a long time. Something he had been painfully familiar with, but that had disappeared that day.

The day he had arrived on Remnant.

And now it returned. Whatever had prevented it no longer did so.

An involuntary shiver went down his spine.

He found himself hoping that it would disappear again, that this was but temporary.

It didn't.

And in that moment Wayle Tyran knew, knew that Darth Melaion, his Master, had come to Remnant.

He felt almost like his blood had turned to ice, although he knew it wasn't physically possible.

He looked down to find his hand shaking, and the effort it took to stop it seemed almost incomprehensible.

Would that monster once again take everything from him?

'No.'

Melaion had done it before. He wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

'Never again.'

His followers. His…friends.

'It cannot be allowed.'

Blake.

'NO!'

With a monumental effort the cold disappeared, and he knew he had caused the slight tremor he felt.

He rose, and the hilt of a Lightsaber flew into his hand from its resting place. He donned the outfit he had worn back then, that of a Sith, and fastened the Lightsaber on the right side, all the while making sure that he transferred back the items he would usually carry into a fight.

Well, what he had available at the moment at any rate.

He would have liked to prepare as much as possible, but the longer he prepared the more likely someone noticed.

And he'd rather no one did. Melaion couldn't hurt anyone he cared about if they weren't around.

That, and the longer it took him to go to Melaion, the more likely the Darth would come to him.

He wouldn't let that monster hurt anyone else.

This is his battle. This would be the day that he confronted his Master and put an end to that miserable chapter of his life.

Wayle strode with purpose, masking his presence to make sure no one noticed him leaving.

He wouldn't let Darth Melaion haunt him any longer. Will not let that monster harm Blake.

He exited the Headquarters and reached into the accursed connection to Melaion, identifying where he needed to go.

He almost sneered as he realised where it seemed Melaion had appeared.

A location Wayle hadn't been to for a long time.

He set out, moving under his own power.

While it would take some time, it would keep his whereabouts secret for longer.

He couldn't quite fathom the emotion that had overtaken him, but he was determined now, his course set.

At least that was what he told himself, but deep down he knew there was still fear and terror in his heart.

Author's notes: Oh, this chapter. I am so not pleased with it. But I also don't know what else I could have done really. Well, that is a lie obviously, but this was what I wanted out of this chapter, kind of. I just didn't know how to write it. Well, with that off my chest. It's been a while. I've been busy. With a project. Now to see how long it'll go before I get busy enough to prevent me from writing again. Considering how easily that becomes true, probably not anywhere near as long as I'd like.

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