Lapis and Summer were in a ship the Faunus' mother, Sapphire Lazuli, owned with Lapis' little droid, BD-2, bound for Coruscant.
Lapis turned to Summer. "I'll keep the Inquisitor busy. The second I give the signal, shoot off Riyo's cuffs." She said.
Summer nodded, attaching a scope to her weapon Sundered Rose, an axe that could change into a rifle. "Got it. By the way, thanks for bringing me in on this."
"Thanks for saying yes, Summer. With her gone..." Lapis said.
"I know it couldn't have been easy."
The Faunus nodded.
The ship soon exited hyperspace at Coruscant and Lapis piloted the ship to the planet, engaging a cloaking system to turn the ship invisible. Once they spotted the Twelfth Sister and Senator Chuchi on a nearby landing platform, Lapis set Summer in a nearby roof then flew to the two on the platform, making the ship visible before stepping off and standing in front of the two.
"You okay, Riyo?" Lapis asked.
"Been better." The Senator said.
"Enough talk. Lord Vader and the Emperor demand you surrender to them." The Twelfth Sister said.
"Then I hope the Sith Lords are used to disappointment.". The Faunus said then drew her sword.
The Inquisitor pulled out a red and black scythe and Lapis was angry.
"Where did you steal that from?!"
"Steal it?" The soldier laughed. "I made this weapon!"
"Lies! That scythe belongs to my best friend!" Lapis said. "BD, hop down and record this."
The small droid beeped in response then did as asked then the two armed women began to fight. It wasn't until the Twelfth Sister got behind Lapis in a burst of rose petals that the Faunus decided to change tactics. "Senator Chuchi, lift you cuffs up!"
The Pantoran did as requested then Summer shot the cuffs off. Riyo ran to the Faunus after Lapis backflipped over her enemy then pushed her forward with her feet. "BD, stop recording!" Lapis said.
The droid obliged then climbed onto Lapis' shoulder. Lapis threw a red crystal to the Twelfth Sister, who fired at it, causing an explosion. Lapis got Senator Chuchi into the ship then they picked up Summer and flew back to the Senator's penthouse apartment.
"How did that Inquisitor do that?" Riyo asked.
"You saw it to, right Summer?" Lapis asked.
The older woman nodded. "Only a blind person wouldn't see it."
"What's going on?" Riyo asked.
"We're getting you home then returning to ours, Riyo."
Realizing she wouldn't get much from her friend for now, the Senator nodded.
The trip soon arrived at Senator Chuchi's apartment and spoke with her security chief about increasing security around her and Lapis' other friends in the Imperial Senate, earning an agreement from the man. After promising to fill Riyo in later, the Faunus hugged her friend then left Coruscant with Summer.
Once in hyperspace, Summer contacted her husband, Taiyang Xiao Long.
"Sum? What's up?" He asked.
"Tai, how soon can you get everyone in Vale?" Summer asked. "Weiss, Blake, Yang, Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, Ren, Raven, and Qrow."
"What about Sapphire and Lapis' teams?" He asked.
"I'm contacting them." Lapis said.
"Depends. A few days max."
"What about express?" Summer asked.
"Probably half that time, a day and a half max?"
"Do it. Tell them to meet us on the docks of Beacon Academy."
"What is this about? You two are worrying me."
"Trust me, Tai. This is an in-person kind of talk."
"Okay. I'll get them to Beacon."
Lapis reached the same result with her team and her mother's team then the two focused on heading back to Remnant.
Before long, Velvet, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, Ren, Taiyang, Raven and Qrow Branwen, as well as Sapphire, Holly, Ciane, and Kha were at the docks of Beacon Academy when Lapis and Summer arrived and stepped off the ship.
"What's this about, dear?" Sapphire asked her daughter.
"An Inquisitor grabbed Riyo at the request of Vader and the Emperor specifically to draw me out. BD recorded the fight I had with this fighter but I ended up seeing a ghost." Lapis said then looked at BD-2. "Show them."
The small droid beeped then played the footage she'd recorded from beginning to end.
"No..." Taiyang said.
"It couldn't be..." Yang said.
The Twelfth Sister walked into the Palace, heading towards the middle spire to see Vader and Sidious.
"Outside of Qrow, there are few scythe wielders who can go toe to toe with me in a fight, but only one who could get behind me at that speed while leaving behind a burst of rose petals." Lapis said as the Inquisitor walked into the throne room and knelt before the two men and took off her helmet to reveal a young woman with fair skin, black hair, and silver eyes. "It had to be her..."
"You have done well, Inquisitor." Vader said.
"Everything I do is for the Empire, my masters." Ruby said.
"Now, we wait for her to make another move." Sidious said.
Yang looked like she was in disbelief the most. "It could've been Steel mimicking her Semblance. Or Emerald playing tricks with her Semblance." She said.
"Steel can mimic Semblances but not fighting styles, Yang. And Emerald's hallucinations are little more than holograms." Lapis said. "Nobody wants to deny it more than me...but I know what I saw. Ruby's still alive. And we have to bring her home."
"Should we tell Ozma?" Qrow asked.
"And risk him shooting down the idea until we 'have more definitive proof'?" Raven sneered.
"Raven's right. We can handle this ourselves." Holly said.
"This is possibly the biggest thing we've done behind him and Salem's backs. If any of you guys want to back out now, I won't hold it against you." Lapis said but nobody made a move. "Okay then. I have a safehouse in Vale we can meet in. We can put a plan together there." They all nodded then climbed into Sapphire's ship and flew to Vale.
That's chapter two
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