Wow, I am a real douche bag. Sorry :l
Yeah I have no clue what happened with this, one minute I was writing loads and then the next I had college and work and sleep and people to deal with and everything escaped me for a while. But worry not, I have everything all firmly tied up and caged again, so hopefully this bull won't happen again.
Also if this doesn't work and you see a wall of code then it's 'cuz I am using the COPY/PASTE way of posting, because fanfiction hates me and now doesn't accept my documents, any one got any ideas about why it did this?
Oh and if anyone wanted to know what I envision Ruby as armor wise in this story, think of original Kylo Ren concept art (but with only one lightsaber not five), or rather copy and paste this link (get rid of spaces and brackets, this never works for me so I am a little paranoid) ; h t t ps (:) / s- (media)-cache-(a) 7 36x/ 98/c1 /20/
Lets hope that worked. LOOK HERE, hopefully that got attention, basically this story gets a little... gory? I'm dead inside so it dosn't really affect me, but some people might not like how certain things are described and such, but yeah theres an M RATING for gore and swearing in this chapter.
Enough rambling. Hope you enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: If I did own it I would make a sub series of Summer, Raven, Qrow and Tai-Yang.
Yang glanced at her right shoulder yet again, staring at the red patch which lay across it for a few seconds before turning her head back up straight. She knew that Ruby had most likely forced this promotion for their plan, but it still gave her a smug sense of power when the other Troopers without the patch stood straighter in her presence.
She was also allowed on the Sith Lord's ship rather than in the lower levels on the Stormtrooper carrier, which was much more comfortable than standing in silence for who knows how long, on edge and waiting to attack. That was probably why Ruby gave her this promotion, because now she and her sister were on the same ship, which would make the plan much easier.
Currently she stood in the control room of the ship, a few meters behind Lord Reaper who was sat on the raised chair in the centre of the room. There were First Order pilots in their black uniform, all with stern expressions as commands were called back and forth between them, the Reaper watching over them with her expressionless visor.
"Lord Reaper, we are approaching the sector." A piolet announced, turning in his chair and standing with a straight back as he spoke to the Sith. Lord Reaper nodded and gestured with her hand.
"Very good. Keep to the course."
Her words were answered with a chorus of 'Yes Lord Reaper' from the other piolets gathered, the one who was standing sat with a quick grace, going back to work immediately.
While Yang might have been smug of her power, she must admit to being a little proud of Ruby for having such respect given to her.
The room fell into a rhythm of general ease, the gathered soldiers giving out and receiving orders as they navigated the ship through the galaxy, the repetitive yet slight sound of the Reaper breathing through the helmet speakers, and the tapping of key boards.
It was all shattered when a certain grey-haired Sith-wannabe decided to make his entrance. The doors were slammed open and cracked against the walls, causing the piolets to pause momentarily before returning to their rapid typing. Reaper's helmet hissed as she sighed slightly.
Mercury sauntered up to the front of the room, stopping before the Sith Lord Darth Reaper with an unenthused salute, mocking the woman with a smirk as he looked up to her from the floor.
"Your royal dark-yness, I come with upsetting news."
Reaper gestured with her hands, and immediately the Troopers lined up on the wall took a harsh resounding step forwards, those with red on their shoulders raising their blasters at the disrespect shown seconds before the other Troopers. Mercury took a step back with his arms raised, an odd grin in place as he took in the sight.
"Wow, wow, wow now! Is this how you treat all your messengers?"
Reaper put her hands on the arms of her chair, and pushed up in an exaggerated show of annoyance. Standing to her full height, hand lingering by the hilt of her saber attached to her belt.
She stared at him for a few moments before finally speaking.
"Only those deserving."
Mercury laughed and shook his head.
"Luckily you like me so much then, huh? Well, your Sithy-ness. My bad news is; Supreme Leader Fall will not be happy with you."
Reaper showed no reaction in her posture.
"And why is that."
"Your job is to teach me the ways of being a Sith, and so far all I've done is stare at four walls, so, if you want to do your job properly then- ack."
Mercury suddenly stopped talking, a pained look coming on his face. His hands rose to his throat as his eyes burned onto the Darth Reaper, who was slowly deseeding the stairs, her right hand slowly rising as the strength around his throat increased and his choking got louder.
"You want to learn, boy? Then listen well."
The vice grip around his throat was suddenly gone, and he fell to the metal floor with a hacking splutter. His hands were on his knees as he shifted onto on knee, trying in vain to get his breathing back to normal as quickly as possible.
"Respect those who have the power to destroy you. Were you not the Supreme Leader's new pet, you would already be ashes in the air lock by now."
His smirk was edging back, fighting against the unease bubbling in his stomach, and he looked up just in time for the smug look to drop as a red saber burned past his face, inches away from his cheek. He met the reflective visor of Darth Reaper, and clenched his teeth at what he saw.
He saw himself; small, lesser, unable to do anything to protect himself from whatever Lord Reaper wanted to do, with his limbs locked and his breath fleeting. He hated it.
Reaper tilted the lightsaber slightly, enough to make Mercury wince at the close proximity to his face, before the saber was retracted back into its hilt.
"Talk in such manner to myself or any of my crew again, and I will make sure your head won't be so pretty, Padawan." She spat the word, and rage burned through him at the obvious insult to his strength.
Then he was pushed back with a harsh shove from something invisible, slamming into one of the piolet's control panels with a violent crash, the piolet had dodged his impact, and Lord Reaper didn't even look as she turned away.
Mercury rubbed his shoulder and shifted onto his feet. He looked around the crowd of people, most of them trying not to look at him, one however, he caught trying to hide laughter.
His face flushed with embarrassment and rage, and the young trainee stormed out of the room as fast as he had come. The Reaper sat back in her seat and let out a gentle sigh. After a moment she gestured towards Yang with her hand, beckoning to the Trooper.
"Unit Leader Y14-X7, make sure that the boy has been contained. Detain him to his room if you must."
Yang held in her snort at her sister's command, knowing how much the younger woman despised the smart arsed kid.
"Yes Lord Reaper."
She, along with the two Troopers flanking her, saluted the dark clad woman, quickly raising their guns and marching from the room and out the doors. The two besides her were silent, no doubt because of her promotion to Unit Leader, not that she minded. If they dared speak she knew they'd be questioning the thing on everyone's minds as of late.
'So, are you shagging Sith Lord Darth Reaper?'
Honestly the thought made her sick, she was her sister for lord's sake. Alas the lie got her closer to the young woman, so she went along with it, despite the bile at the back of her throat whenever she thought about what they must assume.
Her mind was snapped back to the task at hand when the three of them rounded a corner to the corridor attached with Mercury's room. The three of them hesitated when they heard a crash from the obviously open door, but the orders from their Lord burned in their minds, and their march quickened. As Yang was in front of the other two Troopers, she got a good look at the teens room before her companions, and so had half a second more to wince in annoyance.
Mercury had obviously had a fit of rage before they arrived, throwing his desk and chair across his chambers, things which would be considered a luxury to Yang herself. He was stood in the centre of the room, chest heaving and fists clenching tight. His hearing picked up the sound of her companions and he turned to them.
He looked deranged. Eyes wide and red rimmed, teeth bared as his breath hitched, hands twitching for the need to do something, anything. Yang had seen someone in such a state before, and now that person was currently a leader in one of the largest forces in the galaxy.
She didn't want such a power to fall on such a feeble weak minded boy.
"What do you want." He snarled, spit flipping from his mouth as he spoke. Yang held her blaster tighter in her grip and tensed her back.
"Lord Reaper has demanded you to be contained in your room until we reach our destination. Either by choice or force."
Mercury's eyes twitched slightly, and he casually turned to his bed. He swept his arm down and stood straight again, tapping what he had picked up on the palm of his hand.
Yang stilled at the sight; he'd picked up his lightsaber. Her companions also stiffened, and if not for their brainwashing since birth Yang was certain they both would have bolted by now. Mercury obviously noticed their unease, and he laughed.
"What, you're scared of the lightsaber? Scared of its power, its legacy?"
He sighed and flicked the weapon on, his face and hair glowing as red blazed from the hilt. He tilted his head and hummed.
"Or maybe you're scared of what I will do? Which is ironic, because whenever I'm in a room, everyone seems to look down on me. Hell, even Emerald does now she's all 'force-y' or whatever the hell."
He leisurely turned the saber in a smooth arc, twisting his wrist and taking a step towards the three. Yang's finger moved to the trigger of her blaster, as did her companion's.
"Well, you don't need to force to use a lightsaber you know, all you need is the strength, a little decent footwork, and, well…"
He glanced to Yang's helmet and grinned.
"A good enough excuse."
Yang had a moment to react when the silver haired boy suddenly twisted, turning right and bringing his saber up into a high arc. She shifted to the side, moving and throwing herself out of the way, reacting much faster than one of her Troopers. The saber cut through his armour like paper. The Trooper crippled as it cut through his chest, his helmet making horrid chocking and spluttering sounds before he fell limp.
Yang rolled again, dodging as the silver haired youth dropped to a knee and slammed the red saber into the ground where she had been stood, grunting in annoyance when all he cut was the metal floor. Yang stood with all the grace she could muster, planted her foot and swung her fist at the side of his head.
The silver haired boy spluttered from the pain and tumbled to the side, managing to form the fall into a roll and sanding with uneasy feet, rubbing his cheek as it stung. Yang narrowed her eyes and took a slight step back.
"Trooper, go find Lord Reaper, now!"
"Yes Unit Leader!"
The Trooper sprinted as fast as he could in the armour, almost skidding around the corner from the sound of it too. Yang steadily brought the blaster before her, and lined it up with the silver boy's face. He laughed and spat a little blood out the side of his mouth.
"You know," he said, rubbing the blood from his mouth, "before I came here, I was quite acclaimed with all the mischievous things naughty kids would get up to on the streets. Emerald too, before she got so high and mighty. 'Cuz thing is, we used to be those kids, and so I can tell when someone is doing something they shouldn't."
He looked to her then, tilting his head and smirking that insufferable smirk that Yang couldn't stand.
"I can tell when someone is doing something they shouldn't, Dear little Foot Soldier, and, well, you certainly are, aren't you?"
Yang felt her blood go cold, and the grip on her blaster weakened. Did he… did he know about their plan?
Mercury laughed again, shaking his head.
"And no, I'm not talking about you allegedly fucking your sister."
The fear in Yang's stomach boiled over, quickly becoming horror induced rage at what he had somehow figured out. Her finger pulled on the trigger, and to her surprise he brought the saber back up, blocking the blast, and bouncing it right back at her. She dodged the blast, hearing it singe her shoulder, feeling her grip on her weapon loosening as he stalked towards her.
He twirled the weapon once again, causing her to duck low, and quickly jump up to dodge when he bent and aimed at her legs in a second turn. While she was still in the air, Mercury somehow sped up, landibg a harsh kick to her ribs.
Yang grunted, feeling herself be thrown against a wall from the force of the kick. She groaned and slid to the metallic floor, holding the side of her head through the protective head gear as it did almost fuck all to stop her head moving inside the helmet, thus meaning her head slammed with just as much force inside it. The sound of footsteps came closer and she had just enough brain function to kick off the wall, once again avoiding the lightsaber as it sailed towards her.
Mercury groaned in annoyance and pulled the weapon from the wall.
"When I find out what you were planning, with that bitch sister of yours, I'll finally be respected by the Supreme Leader, finally an equal to Emerald in her eyes." He growled, turning to face her with a grimaced face. Yang tried to move again, but winced and had to stop, panting as her ribs screamed at her.
A cold sweat once more started down her neck, and her breathing became erratic as panic and fear took over. She couldn't move, her weapons were useless against him, he had the upper hand, he knew they were up to something.
She wasn't able to help and protect Ruby.
As he prowled towards her, saber in hand, she internally let out a sob.
'I'm sorry mum.'
Mercury snorted and twirled the lightsaber in his grip.
"How could one sister be so powerful, and the other be so… weak? T'ch, pathetic."
He swirled the lightsaber, and Yang watched, determined to see as he attacked her, aiming for the lethal areas on her body.
Which is why, she will fondly remember how she saw him suddenly fold to the right, his body collapsing in, and then be thrown across the bedroom, crashing into his bed and snapping the metal in two.
The air felt tighter, more powerful, compressed, and she didn't even need to look at the door to know why.
Once again, in the space of a few weeks, her sister had shown up last minute to save her ass. She's gonna have to buy her some cookies or something, she vaguely remembers the younger girl loving them as a kid.
The silver haired boy moaned and rolled onto his back, coughing and running a hand over his eyes.
"That… really… friggin' hurt."
Her sister was stood in the doorway, hand falling back by her side as she strode into the trashed room. She glanced through the visor at her, narrowing at the sight of the crumpled body beneath the armour, and slowly looked back at the collapsed boy.
"Well, Supreme Leader will be most certainly displeased once she hears of this." She stated, taking steps closer, and as Yang struggled to her feet, she noticed how her hand was never far from the hilt of the saber on her belt. The woman dressed in all black paused, and nodded her head towards Yang.
"Not only have you shown disobedience, tarnishing the training of Supreme Leader Fall, but you also attacked one of my Unit Leaders, killed another Stormtrooper, and destroyed a sector of the ship."
Lord Reaper walked towards Yang, and pulled something out of her pocket which was a long cylinder shape, the size of a shotgun shell. The blonde's eyes widened when she realised what it was; a Life Pill. Designed for the higher ranking soldiers in battle.
AKA; very hard to get hold of.
"In my eyes, and most likely the eyes of Supreme Leader, you have lost all respect from my crew, and soon will have none withstanding with the rest of the Stormtroopers."
Ruby flipped the pill over and moved Yang's arm, turning it underside up to reveal a small slot that the blonde hadn't paid much attention to before. The pill slid in, and an odd cool feeling spread up Yang's arm. It moved fast, shooting to her ribs and head. She could feel it hardening around her injuries, and remarkably with the hardness her pain left her.
While this was happening, she was mildly aware of her sister taunting the boy, who was now struggling to try and stand.
"Any hope of redemption you had for yourself, any hope of leaving the shadow you have been cast in by your friend, well, they died the second you started attacking your own soldiers."
Mercury grunted and stood, heaving his breaths, and he glared at the dark clothed woman. His hand came up to his nose and he wiped away the small amount of blood he had building up on the end of it.
"I could gain some of it back by killing you." He growled.
A breathy sound came from Ruby's helmet, and they could tell she was holding back a bark of laughter. The black suited woman stepped away from Yang when the older woman was able to stand, and faced the boy sideways on.
"Very well, Unit Leader Y14-X7, go about the tasks I set for you. Everyone else, leave. I will deal with the delinquent."
Then, the Troopers who had stealthily hid themselves around the entrance of the door made themselves known, shouting a unanimous "Yes Lord Reaper!" as they marched back to their assigned posts. Yang looked between the two of the uneasily, she knew Ruby could handle herself, but that kid was becoming unhinged, and they both knew what an unhinged kid with enough power could do, Ruby especially.
Lord Reaper felt this unease, and looked at her through the eyes of her skeletal helmet.
"I will be perfectly fine, Y14-X7, you can go."
Yang hesitated a second longer, and only moved when Ruby tilted her head towards the door. The blonde nodded and walked past her shorter sibling, feeling an odd sense of foreign comfort wash over her, and she knew her sister had pushed it onto her to try and calm the blonde's crippling nerves.
Hell, wouldn't you be nervous if you were about to attempt to destroy a First Order ship?
Ruby focused completely on the silver haired youth before her, hand reaching for her lightsaber hilt as her sister walked out the door in the opposite direction to the rest of the Troopers, towards the engine rooms. She tried to ignore the worry in her stomach, and instead focused on distracting the kid before her.
He was staring at her, weird grin coming onto his face as his eye started to twitch. He was unhinging.
Mercury extended his saber and moved it in a slow circle, stepping carefully to the left, snorting when Ruby followed his actions to her left, keeping the distance between them.
"I don't know what your plan is, but I will stop you, and then Supreme Leader Fall will finally respect me."
He was rambling, doing exactly what Ruby needed him to; waste time.
"I don't know about that, how could she respect someone who can't even feel the Force."
She hissed her reply, her voice deeper due to the helmet, making the comment even more scathing. He narrowed his eyes and lunged forwards, arms up as he swung the lightsaber down in a deep arch. Lord Reaper extended her own weapon in her right hand and slashed upwards, cracking their sabers together in a flash of white red. They came to a momentary standstill, Mercury for a second being able to overpower Ruby, only for the shorter fighter to use her lower ground to push up. He lost his balance and the Sith used this to shove him backwards, using the Force to crack him into the wall.
The silver haired boy grunted and stood, rubbing the back of his head, glaring at the woman in black.
"Is that all you have going for you?! The Force! Take that away and how good of a fighter are you!" he snarled, Ruby bristled at the comment and stood a little taller.
"Please, with or without the Force I would swat you like a bug."
Mercury laughed and extended his lightsaber once more, lighting up his bloody face in a bright pale red glow.
"Prove it."
Yang was trying to keep her cool, keeping her back straight and walking with the pose of a Stormtrooper, nodding at the lower ranking Troopers on the ship and saluting those with higher ranking than herself. It was a lot harder to do now that she realised she was going to be responsible for most of their deaths, but she carried on, trying not to think of the faces under the white suits.
The blonde Stormtrooper marched down the final corridor to her destination, and was relieved when going around the corner proved that there were no guards outside the engine room. She took a steady breath, keeping her heartbeat steady, and marched to the engine room. Back when they were kids she used to play in the garage with her uncle while he fixed up vehicles, so she had a rough idea what her sister was talking about when she described what she needed to, for lack of better phrasing, sabotage.
Walking into the room she immediately stood out, her gleaming armour stark against the dark greys and blacks of the engine room. Yang grimaced but stepped further into the room, holstering her blaster as she looked around for any sign of the workers who took care of the engine room.
Seeing and hearing nothing, she started to look for the control panel Ruby had told her about. Hitting it would mean that the power supply could slowly decrease, meaning the ship would start to descend in orbit without its anti-gravity force field and the lack of engines, and eventually be pulled by the closest gravitational force.
That was only the first step however, if she wanted to get any further, she had to complete it.
Setting herself with a new layer of determination, the Stormtrooper searched faster for the control panel. She'd just walked around a corner when a sound from up above caused her to pause. It had come from the second level of the engine room; someone was walking across the railing. Yang stayed still, hoping that her lack of movement would prevent the worker from noticing her glaringly white armour.
It might work, it was well known on the Station that the mechanic workers, while geniuses in their work, weren't all that good with noticing their surroundings.
The worker walked over head with no issue, and Yang resisted the urge to sigh in relief. She watched as he entered a code for the door at the end of the railing, and was met with the sound of laughter from his co-workers as the door opened. The Stormtrooper rolled her eyes when he cheerfully yelled a greeting, and the door shut with a hiss.
Now he was gone she moved from her position, making her way back to the control panel and scanning the rest of the buttons and levers she hadn't looked at yet. After a few tense moments she finally came across what her sister had told her to look for, it was a small black button which unfortunately required a key to access.
Yang cursed and punched the desktop in anger, she needed a key, and fast.
"Hey!"
The woman yelped and ducked down, turning her head from the brightness as the blast hit the control panel in an explosion of sparks. She twisted her body, pulling her own blaster from her belt and pulling the trigger, sending the worker screeching backwards as the blast tore his chest.
Yang looked at the controls in fear, and she put her hands to her helmet with paranoia burning in her stomach as they sparked and clicked. She resisted the urge to throw the white bucket off, and instead punched at one of the machines.
"Shit!"
"Hey! That Stormtrooper killed Ken!"
She ducked behind the abused machine, covering her head as the dead man's friends started firing at her from above. Inside her head she was cursing up a storm, but through her haze of frustration something clicked.
The idiots were hitting the damn controls.
They sparked again, and Yang knew what would happen seconds before it did. She dropped and rolled to the other side of the machine and braced herself.
"What the-"
The guard was cut off by a loud crack, followed by an ominous sound of the engine powering down.
Then, the left half of the sip dipped, unable to be supported, turning the ship onto its side and being dragged by the gravitational pull of the nearby planet. The workers up above screamed as they were thrown from the railings, falling to the metal floors with hard solid cracks, some moaning, others staying still. Yang tried to steady herself as best as she could, having to roll out of the way when several items not held down slammed into the space she had been previously.
Just when she thought she was safe the machine she was lying on, a second sound of screeching metal reached her ears. She swore, and the machine she was on ripped itself from the ground, sending her crashing to the opposite side of the room.
Ruby ducked under the swing of the burning red saber, stepping to the side with a turn, bringing her own weapon behind her head to catch the second fast assault by the, surprisingly well trained, Padawan. She faced him again, leaning backwards and slightly to the right, repeating the process again but moving to the left, bringing her lightsaber sparking against Mercury's thinner one.
Mercury stepped back from the fight, running his hand across his face to wipe away some blood. His grip tightened on his saber and the blade came back out with a silent hiss. Ruby stepped back as well, taking a subtle breath.
Yang better be quick.
"It is a shame that you will die here today. You prove to be quite admiral with your weapon."
The silver haired boy scoffed and glared at her.
"And you seem much slower than the stories say. Have all these years killing mere rebels made you weak? Relying on the force too much is the reason you are lagging, Lord Reaper. For shame!"
Ruby felt the rage she tried to bury prickle at the back of her throat. Her saber shone brightly and her body tensed.
"Your death would have been quick, but due to this obvious display of disrespect to your superior, when you have been contained Supreme Leader Fall shall deal with you."
Despite himself, Mercury paled. He never liked to upset the Supreme Leader, he had the scars from the last time she had been unimpressed with him. The fear powered his adrenalin and he grit his teeth.
"Words, that's all you have. And I am going to take them away from you."
That's when he took a step forwards, Ruby about to move to meet him, when she felt a sharp spark from the other side of the ship, from her sister. It was an odd one; shock.
Ruby had a second to analyse it, before Mercury had taken another step, now just in front of her, saber blazing and about to crack onto her own, when the reason for Yang's shock became apparent.
The room suddenly tilted. Ruby was thrown off her feet and slammed against the wall, which was now the floor. She rolled out of the way of Mercury's melted furniture, and out of the way of the man himself as he too fell. She hastily tried to stand, only for the ship to creak and snap again, throwing her up onto the roof with a painful gasp, and crashing down again seconds before the silver boy did. She groaned, opening her eyes to see Mercury struggling to his feet, his lightsaber still stupidly out.
He spat and shouted.
"What the hell did you do?!"
He charged, and Ruby rolled out the way of his attack, having lost her lightsaber in the accident. He madly swung at her cutting the floor beneath him. Finally, she ran out of roll room, and when he moved for the final blow, she was only just able to summon her Lightsaber to her grip. The blades cracked. The boy raged, and quickly kicked her in the ribs. Ruby chocked, but held her arms firm.
Just when the boy's height advantage and strength were starting to lean the weapon towards her, the ship shifted again. Ruby was rocked harshly to the side, falling with him collapsing on top of her as they were smacked against the walls.
Unfortunately, the idiot still had his saber out, and her reaction time was just too slow.
Sith Lord Reaper yelled in agony when the powerful weapon carved through her armour and burned her skin.
Yang groaned, shoving a sheet of metal off of her as it had been shifted towards her from the second fall. Her right arm throbbed, and she looked to see that, unbelievably, the armour had kept her safe, bar the bruising she could feel burning her body. Yang sat up and clicked her neck, sound suddenly returning to her in a sharp burst, as though her head had come up from under water.
There were sirens blaring, a voice talking about air lock breeches, about crew now sucked into space on levels that had been closed off. There was a wailing too, from some of the people in the room who had somehow survived. Yang noticed one man was impaled through his stomach, and he was choking on his own blood.
The man looked at her, pointed an accusatory bloody hand in her direction, and fell limp. Yang felt cold brush over her, but she had to focus.
Ruby needs me.
The older girl grunted and pulled herself to her feet. While she struggled to find stable footing, her sister's voice rang in her head.
"After the ship loses the power, there will be enough time for us to get into the escape pod and escape before we are found out. The ship will crash into the nearest planet, and the First Order will simply think it was an asteroid storm or a malfunction in the ships systems."
"Isn't that a bit… hopeful? That it all goes to plan and luck is on our side?"
"We will need all the luck we can get to succeed. If anything goes wrong, if we are found out or caught, then we will be seen as traitors to the First Order, and what the Supreme Leader will do to us… well, lets say it will make everything I've ever done over the years look like child's play."
"Wow… way to fill a girl with confidence Rubes."
"I do try."
"Next time, try harder."
Yang had to scoff at how simple her sister's plan had sounded back then, but now, coughing, with sharp pains shooting up and down her sides and arms, and a secondary feeling of anger from her sister, Yang wished they had a backup plan, 'cuz she sure as hell didn't want to die after all this.
She touched her helmet, making sure it was secure, and looked around for the door. She groaned in agitation when she realised the door was currently horizontal, and she was in fact stood on the wall of the room. Suddenly the walls rattled, and a loud creaking partnered with the monotone voice of the alarm reminded Yang of the direness of the situation. She ran for the door, building up as much speed as she could, running between the scraps of metal and debris. The door had a strong looking machine on the wall by it, and if she could get the right amount of force in her leap, then she could grab onto the doorframe, and heave herself up.
Feeling her legs burn with fire, breath raspy and heart slamming against her ribcage, the blonde Stormtrooper leapt at the machine. She landed roughly, in the middle of the machinery. She kicked off it when the metal screeched and finally gave way, shoving it away as she gained just enough momentum to snatch onto the doorframe.
Her fingers slipped for a dreadful second, her other hand reaching up to slam against the frame and only just support her weight. She hung there for a second, and caught her breath. The doors sensed her presence, despite everything, and opened with a hiss. She forced herself up and rolled into the corridor, sliding against the floor onto the wall outside.
She let herself sigh in relief. Now all she needed to do was get to Ruby and-
Suddenly the ship moved again, lights flickering as metal screeching, rotating so Yang was thrown upside down with a hard crack against the ceiling now floor. She had a second to begin a groan, when her body contorted in absolute agony.
She grabbed at her helmet, a sound of boiling deep burning leaving her lips, she began clutching her face as it burned in a fiery explosion of pain. She felt tears build up that she refused to let fall, as she quickly realised what had happened; Ruby was hurt.
The cold from the Life Pill quickly numbed her injuries, but could do nothing for the agony she was receiving from her sister.
Rage seared through the Stormtrooper, powered by the pain of both Ruby's and her own, no matter how fleeting it now was. She stood and began running down the corridor, feet slamming heavily on the ceiling as she followed the feeling back to her Lord Reaper, and to whoever had hurt her.
After all, despite the circumstances, Ruby was still her little sister. And she'd loath the day she let anyone get away with hurting her.
Lord Reaper's voice faded from the scream of agony when the saber was finally returned to its closed form. Her arm shot forwards, throwing the man off of her to the opposite side of the destroyed dorm. He made a spluttering wet sound, but she cared only for the burning on her face.
For the first time in years, Lord Reaper felt pain. Real, bodily pain. And it hurt.
She clutched at her face, feeling the heat on her fingers through her gloves. They burned, her face burned, everything burned.
She hurt.
Silver flashed before her mind and she threw it aside.
Not now, she thought, please, any other time, just not now!
The blinding silver light left her vision, and it took some of her pain with it. Enough that she could open her eyes, enough that she could see the most determined boy she had ever seen stood over her, saber in a high arch.
She used The Force and threw a metal beam at the saber wielder, and he crippled under the weight. Reaper heard a snap, and he let out a guttural screech of torment, and the sound almost made Ruby shiver.
She turned her head, holding back her own storm of yells at her injuries, and felt grim satisfaction at the sight of the silver boy trapped on the floor- ceiling by the metal, pinning him by his thigh. Blood and a thick clear liquid was weeping from his wounds, but all he could do was yell in absolute pain at what had happened to his leg.
The respiratory speakers on her helmet was broken, creating a high crackle with every breath, yet Ruby dared not attempt to remove it. Even moving her face pushed her on the verge of painful tears.
Thuds against metal snapped her back from her daze, and she saw a white hand grab the top of the door to the dorm. They pulled themselves up, clambering over the doorframe and dragging their body into the room. Ruby smiled minutely at the sight, feeling something wash over her.
Relief? Probably. Yang was safe at least.
The Stormtrooper immediately ran towards her, falling to her knees besides the collapsed Sith Lord. They ripped off their Trooper helmet, revealing blonde hair, with violet eyes. They scanned over her helmet, rage burning through to her eyes which started to dimly glow red.
The helmet had a large chunk removed, from her cheek to her left eyebrow. Yang could make out some sort of bone, and what looked to be an arch of her nose, but the rest was lost in clear fluid and blood leaking from between the holes in her helmet. There was a slight bubble in her breath as she breathed in, and Yang feared for her sister's breathing as well as her mangled face.
Ruby lifted a hand and touched Yang's shoulder.
"H-holy shit, Ruby-"
"Its fine Ya-g. Ge- me to an es-ape p-d."
Yang nodded, trying to ignore the gunk leaking from the holes in Ruby's helmet, and the broken speech cracking from the armour, and tried to help Ruby stand. Ruby batted her hands away and shook her head.
"I c-n walk. J-st ke-p me saf-."
Yang nodded reluctantly. She glanced over to Mercury, who was still screaming, and gestured to Ruby's lightsaber, her face cold with rage.
"Mind if I borrow that, sis?"
Ruby felt the hatred from Yang, and knew she wouldn't take no for an answer. The lightsaber floated up to Yang's grip with a somewhat shaky hand, and the blonde snatched it from the air, taking heavy steps towards the whimpering boy.
"… Don't take this the wrong way, kid. I mean, in the end you were right, right?"
Yang examined the button on the hilt, pressing it with determination, feeling the weight as the saber extended with a weight, of burden and strength. She looked at the blade and down to the teenager glaring at her, her teeth starting to grin together as her eyes started to itch and glow.
"But sometimes that's not enough, to be right. But, it is in good practise, to play things safe. Excuse my caution, but I don't fancy you coming back for us later on."
He tried to speak but could barely manage a croak. She stared, and in a burst of motion she stomped on his leg. He wailed, the weak limb tearing with a horrid wet snap. She stomped again, and again, and again, digging her heel in the torn flesh and staining her suit red. Finally, there was a crack and another wet click, and the leg was gone. It skidded a few feet away from his body, and Yang brought the lightsaber up in a slow arch.
Mercury looked at the blonde before him, eyes ablaze, lit up with the same fury of the lightsaber in her grip. He swallowed, fighting the urge to whimper as much as he could.
But he was just a human, and he lost his leg.
Yang smirked, her expression dark and hateful. Then, in a move much like she had watched her sister do for so many years, she cut down, and cleaved away his other leg.
She turned and walked away back to her sister as he exploded in pure torture, screaming and crying and bleeding. If the crash didn't kill him, the blood loss will.
Ruby nodded at her, and took the saber from her grip. she holstered the weapon and limped towards the door. The sirens got louder and louder, Ruby knew they were running out of time.
"Ya-g. We h-ve to get t- th- esc-ape po-s. Now."
"Okay," Yang said, pulling her helmet on, "did you just… hurt your face?"
"Pret-y mu-h."
"Good."
The Trooper grabbed her sister and threw her up, giving Ruby the height she needed to let the Force guide her out of the room. Yang quickly followed, and the two sisters ran as fast as they could to the escape pods. They passed several collapsed Stormtroopers, either with their helmets dented with blood puddling around them or pieces of metal crippling them to the floor. Most of them were still, but some still moaned in agony.
The ship rocked again, and the two quickened their pace.
"We gotta hurry…" Yang muttered, more to herself, but Ruby still nodded in agreement.
They reached the docking bay and found one of the escape pods in best shape. From the bloodstains and bodies on the walls, it looks as though some other Troopers tried to escape, but were not as fortunate.
Ruby squared herself before the metal doors and spread her hands. She shoved them to each side of her body and opened the doors with a grunt. Sweat from her bow fell into her wound and she almost whimpered, but managed to keep it under with a choking gargle.
Blood was building up in her mouth, and no amount of silver light would save her from drowning in her own blood. She needed to take the helmet off, but the thought made her gag into the blood in her helmet.
The doors clicked in place and the two got straight in. Yang grabbed the piolet seat and started flicking all the right buttons, activating the small ship, while Ruby shut the door with a wince. When they clicked shut, the ship shook again, causing Ruby to collapse.
"Ruby are you-"
"It's not-ing, g-t us out -f h-re."
Yang nodded, and powered up the pod.
WARNING. GRAVITATIONAL PULL OF NEARBY PLANET IS PULLING SHIP TO IMPACT. WARNING. CANNOT LEAVE WHILE THE POD IS STILL ATTACHED TO THE SHIP.
"Yeah, no shit." Yang grumbled. She flicked buttons, and with a loud heavy clunk they detached from the ship. The engines powered up and the blonde flew the ship as fast as it could go.
MOTHER SHIP IS BEING TAKEN BY GRAVITATIONAL FORCE. IMPACT IN TEN, NINE, EIGHT, SEVEN-
"Do-s th-s go any f-ster?"
"Hold on."
FIVE, FOUR, THREE-
The engines screeched at the speeds being forced upon them, now they were about a mile out from the ship, but Yang didn't know if it was far enough.
After all, it was a big ship.
TWO, ONE.
What was said by the voice was lost by the explosion of the ship hitting the surface of the planet they were near. Yang cheered, keeping up the speed of their escape. She took off her helmet and laughed, leaning back in her chair and running her hand through her hair.
MOTHER SHIP HAS CRASH LANDED. POD IS AT SAFE DISTANCE FROM THE IMPACT SITE.
"Damn! Rubes, we- we fuckin' did it!"
So lost in her joy, she didn't sense the small amount of… upset Ruby was unintentionally displaying. Her helmet, no matter how messed up, clicked to life with information and data, almost as if it knew she would want to know, like she always did.
PLANET INHABITANTS: FOUR MILLION.
CREW ON SHIP: TWO THOUSAND.
NUMBER OF CASULTIES ON PLANET: NINEHUNDRED AND TEN THOUSAND.
Ruby sagged in her seat, looking out the window at the burning planet, her face aching with angry throbs, the pain returning now her adrenaline was dying out, the silver losing its effect. She leant back, and indulged herself in the sound of Yang's happiness, and tried to feel more of it herself, rather than the feeling of emptiness, that she felt inside.
After all, they had done it. They were free.
"So where too Ruby? A desert planet? A forest planet?"
The stars reflected in her eyes through the helmet and she shook her head.
"No, we w-ll go some-here th-y woul-n't go looking f-r us."
Yang nodded, wincing at the gasping wheeze from her sister, but stayed the course. She trusted her sister after all, and she knew what she was doing. Still, it didn't stop the feeling of heavy in her gut when she realised that, while they may have succeeded in their mission, she had still failed in keeping Ruby safe.
The two were silent for a while after that, both lost in their own thoughts.
Many thousands of miles away, across the sector of the galaxy the sisters were currently in, Supreme Leader Fall awoke from her meditation. Her eyes were dark and steel, with anger and distress in her head.
Her ship had been destroyed, and her favourite Sith just so happened to be on it. She tightened her grip on her throne, and sat up. She quickly mentally summoned Emerald, and the little hopeful girl appeared almost immediately.
"Yes, Supreme Leader Fall, you summoned me?"
"Indeed I did. I want you to lead a search party, take three Units of Troopers with you and look for Lord Reaper. Her ship went down, and I want evidence that she died with it."
The Supreme Leader felt the worry in Emerald's heart at the thought of her silver haired friend also being on the ship, and she resisted the urge to scoff at her childish feelings. Emerald nodded, and left as immediately as she had arrived when the Supreme Leader gestured with her hand.
Cinder sat back in her throne, closed her eyes, and fell back into her meditative state. Determined to find what was left of Sith Lord Reaper, and to find out what had happened to the woman.
Cinder was a very clever and cunning woman, as such she could sense when other people were being cunning and clever, and she knew that the only reason Ruby would disappear would be if she wanted to. Which lead to one possible outcome; the great and powerful Sith Lord Darth Reaper, may actually be a lying traitor.
Supreme Leader clenched her fists on her throne and forced herself into her meditative state, pushing all thoughts to the back of her mind with the confidence that she would find Ruby, dead or alive, and she would have her answers.
After all, she always gets what she wants.
Oh god I hope this works and isn't just a wall of code, that would be humiliating. Anyway! Like? Please let me know in a PM or a review :)
This one was extra long, hopefully it makes up for my... urm, absence from this site :l
I am almost done with the next chapter of Survival of the Deadliest, but things also get a little dark there too, like it has here, damn I love making lovable characters angry and horrid don't I?
Anyway, I've kept you long enough. I hope this chapter was satisfactory, I'm not a scientist by any means so if you happen to have a Triple First Degree in being Stephen Hawking or something please be kind about my bastardization of all things spacey and technical, I do try.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, thank you for reading, until next time.