Chapter 1: The Next Move
Imperial Encampment, 13th May 16 BBY, Dawn…
Baron Malakai Maleficus slumbered.
His right arm had been severed below the elbow, and his body bore several wounds; namely three strategically placed lightsaber wounds around the Baron's left knee; a large wound where a piece of wood had been embedded deeply into Maleficus' left leg just above the knee, a diagonal strike across the Baron's back, and finally, a singular lightsaber stab wound through Maleficus' chest.
Commander Wardlow Kast sighed as he stepped back from the bacta tank that his superior was currently submerged in.
They had found the Baron in Kuroyuri; barely alive after his duel with the Jedi many had long thought killed by Maleficus during the Fall of Beacon:
Nathan Phoenix.
Who had proven the final nail in the coffin of the Battle of Haven for the Empire by single handedly cutting their defensive lines in two, allowing the rest of Haven's defenders to make one final charge that broke the Imperial lines and forced them into full retreat, though that hadn't stopped elements of the White Fang from pursuing them, cutting down any stragglers they could before regrouping with their brethren.
And now their forces were severely depleted; down eighty-five percent from their original might.
Food and ammunition was running scarce, and more often than not, violent fights over rations had grown increasingly common between the remaining Imperial Forces and the Faunus Revolutionary Army over the last two weeks following the defeat at Haven. Which was already doing more unnecessary damage to their forces, who could ill afford to lose any more men.
And that wasn't to mention the reports of a large group of the Creatures of Grimm near the camp, drawn to the overall negative morale within the remnants of the army. They had already taken several squads of Stormtroopers over the last fortnight; and had been growing increasingly bolder recently.
Wardlow was severely tempted to contact the commander of the Imperial Star Destroyer he knew was orbiting Remnant to either evacuate or send reinforcements, but he knew they were also feeling the pinch as well; such was the disadvantage of having led an invasion into the Unknown Regions.
Wardlow was so deep in thought that he failed to hear someone enter the tent with him.
"What are you doing?"
Wardlow turned to find the leader of the Faunus Revolutionary Army stood before him: Adam Taurus.
He looked healthier than most of the other remaining figments of his forces; but perhaps that was because he had been eating better than most of them due to most of them offering their rations to him out of reverence for their leader.
"To answer your questions, I was pondering our current state of affairs." Wardlow replied. "What is the problem, anyway? You never seek me out unless there is one."
"It has been two weeks since the Battle of Haven, Wardlow!" Adam said. "You and I both know that until the Atlas Military arrived; we were close to breaking the White Fang! And now the Atlas Military has left again, the White Fang are ripe for the picking! We need to launch a renewed assault, and we need to launch it soon!"
Wardlow shook his head. "Our own forces are far too depleted for such an attack to take place. If we were to attack; our forces would be completely decimated. No doubt the White Fang has also taken steps to try and rebuild their forces as well in the past fortnight. We'd be walking into a slaughter."
"A slaughter would be better for our men as opposed to sitting around like cowards waiting for the Grimm to take us!" Adam fired back. "And besides; the Baron made several promises when we agreed to this alliance that have still failed to be kept! And I refuse to be denied any longer by a coward who fancies himself a soldier!"
At the sheer mention of the word coward; Wardlow squared up to Adam. "I am a Mandalorian of the Kast Clan, you filthy mongrel! And I will not be called a coward by the likes of-"
Wilt was in Adam's hands before Wardlow could finish his sentence, and everything went red.
A burst of pain struck Wardlow like a hammer, and he found himself flying back into the glass of the Baron's bacta tank.
Fortunately, the reinforced glass held under the force, and Wardlow sank to the floor, clutching his right flank, where Adam had cut a deep wound, and blood now spilled out.
Looking up; Wardlow just about caught a glimpse of Adam striding out, and dragged himself to his feet, keying his comm: "Attention all forces; this is Commander Wardlow Kast. Adam Taurus has betrayed us. Kill him and any who support him!"
However; Wardlow's words were soon replaced by Adam:
"Brothers of the Faunus Revolutionary Army! Commence Operation: Secession."
The blood drained from Wardlow's face and joined the rest spilling onto the floor as without fail; explosions rocked certain parts of the Imperial Camp.
Staggering out of the tent; he watched as FRA soldiers now gunned down whatever Imperial soldiers they could find; before they themselves fled the camp.
An Imperial officer rushed to Wardlow's side and slapped a bacta patch over the Commander's wound. "Commander Kast; the FRA are pulling out; and killing as many of our troops as they can!" He said. "What are your orders?!"
Looking at the Imperial officer; Wardlow replied: "Gather our remaining forces and form a defensive circle around the Command Tent! We shall make our stand here against the creatures of Grimm."
The officer nodded, and began delivering Wardlow's orders as Wardlow himself took his beskar spear in one hand and his SE-14r Repeating Blaster Pistol in the other.
He was born a Mandalorian; and if today was the day, he would leave this life as one.
The House at Haven, later that day…
"We need to take the Relic to Atlas?" Ruby asked, as the rest of the gang looked up to see Qrow stood there.
"That's what Oz said." The older Huntsman replied.
Fuck, Nathan thought to himself as he held Blake close, hand held protectively over his lover's belly.
"You've got to be joking..." Weiss commented from where she was sat.
"Yeah." Nathan said. "If bad ideas were an athletic sport; this would take the gold. And this is coming from a guy with a history of bad ideas."
"I mean, bright side, we finally get out of this house!" Nora called out.
Weiss sighed as Nathan looked at Nora.
"Not really that bright when it means we're going to the one place where I'm in the most danger." Nathan replied. "Jacques Schnee has a five-hundred million lien bounty on my head for helping Weiss escape Atlas; and General Ironwood wants me dead."
Nora sadly frowned at that, before Qrow said:
"Well trust me, I'm not crazy about it either."
"But with Salem now aware of the Relic's whereabouts, and of who the Spring Maiden is; she will move heaven and hell to attain both." Raven Branwen added from where she was stood next to Qrow. "Meaning I can't just seal the Relic back into the vault. We need to take it someplace safe."
"And right now; Atlas is the safest option." Qrow added.
"Wonderful." Kanan commented from where he was sat with Yang in his lap.
Nathan frowned at the sight. He wasn't quite sure what to think of Yang and Kanan resuming their relationship when he still hadn't quite forgiven Kanan yet for his actions three weeks prior.
"First of all; how are we going to even get to Atlas?" Ren asked from where he was sat. "We have no ships save for the clones' shuttle but that won't fit all of us."
"We have one option." Qrow declared, at which he activated his scroll, showing a hologram of a highlighted portion of land in Mistral
Nathan's eyes narrowed. "Is that…"
"The city of Argus is a ways north of us and it's the primary trading port between Anima and Solitas." Qrow elaborated, confirming Nathan's suspicions. "They've got the largest Atlas military base outside the kingdom. I think there's a good chance we could convince them to escort us straight to Ironwood."
"And if we were able to stop there for a week or so; me and Jaune can get married." Pyrrha said, twisting her engagement ring over her finger.
"Not to mention my family are all there." Jaune added happily, giving Nathan an appreciative smile. "They can help us plan the wedding alongside Pyrrha's dad!"
"I guess we can convince Ozpin to go ahead with that plan." Qrow commented.
"Right… and even if that goes ahead; do you really think they'll just let us through with one of the most wanted men on Remnant?" Kanan asked, gesturing to Nathan.
"No. Unless we declare we've already arrested him and are transporting him to Atlas." Ghost suggested.
"As much as I hate that idea; it's better than having to fight our way to a ship and making a quick getaway." Nathan commented. "It'll cost less lives as well."
"Well; it does mean we can possibly collect the reward money Jacques Schnee is offering for him." Yang said.
"As long as I get a cut of that, I'm fine with it." Nathan replied. Rubbing Blake's belly, Nathan added: "We could certainly use that kind of money."
The rest of the gang smiled. Blake and Nathan had announced the former's pregnancy a day or so ago, and the joy was still rampant amongst the rest of the group.
"Or we could just sneak into Argus, stealthily steal a ship, and fly away to Atlas before any of the guards have had their morning coffee!" Nora suggested.
"Nora, that would render all of us as wanted individuals." Ren replied.
"It's certainly better than spending the entire trip with Nate in cuffs!" Nora protested. "What if the Grimm, or the Empire, or even Adam launches an attack and Nate needs to fight?!"
Nathan and Blake shared a tense look. They had heard reports earlier that morning that Adam had split from the Empire. Gods knew what he was up to now.
"Hopefully, the first option will suffice." A voice said from outside the room.
Everyone looked to see Ozpin enter the room, still in control of Oscar's body with the Relic of Knowledge in hand.
"Glad to see you're feeling better." Qrow commented, ignoring the piercing glare thrown Ozpin's way by Raven.
"Likewise, and while I'm sure we could all use more time to recover, I'm afraid time is of the essence." Ozpin said as he stepped further into the room.
"On that I agree." Nathan said, holding Blake close as she herself said:
" Right, as long as that thing's out in the open, its power could fall into the wrong hands." Gesturing to the Relic attached to Ozpin's hip.
"Speaking of, what does it do exactly?" Jaune inquired.
"Qrow never really told us." Pyrrha elaborated.
Facing them, Ozpin replied: "Of course." Taking the Relic from his belt, he held it in front of him, saying: "The Relic of Knowledge has a wonderful, and incredibly dangerous ability. Its user can ask any question, and the Lamp will provide an answer."
"Intriguing..." Ren noted, in awe of such a thing.
"That's incredible..." Blake commented.
"Oh my gods, finally!" Nathan suddenly exclaimed.
Everyone looked at Nathan as he stood up, adding:
"Finally, we can answer the questions that plague our existence… like what is the meaning of life? Why am I so lucky to have such a beautiful girlfriend?" Seeing Blake smile at that question, he added: "And finally… is cereal a soup?"
"Oh for fuck's sake…" Ghost groaned as everyone laughed around them.
Nathan gave his Mandalorian friend a knowing smirk. They'd literally been arguing about that earlier in the morning over breakfast.
Chuckling, Ozpin said: "Indeed. However, it's not without drawbacks. The Lamp cannot tell of events that have yet to happen, and it will only ever answer three questions every one hundred years."
"Oh; so I can't ask it what gender mine and Blake's baby is gonna be? Bullshit!" Nathan complained.
"Well, I guess that's not so bad." Yang said.
"Adds a lot of pressure though." Kanan commented.
"Then let's put it to a vote!" Nora called out as she zipped around the room, making Ruby jump and Qrow and Raven to spit out their respective coffees. "What should we ask first? Oh! Can we ask for more questions? CAN WE ASK FOR MORE QUESTIONS?!"
"They're not wishes..." Ren replied, face-palming.
Chuckling, Ozpin replied: "I'm afraid you won't be able to ask it anything at the moment." Hearing Nora grunt in frustration, he added: "The questions were used before I sealed it away."
Nathan looked at Ozpin and raised an eyebrow. He'd sensed the lie on Ozpin's tongue the moment Ozpin had said it.
Part of him wanted to open his mouth and expose the lie, but another part of himself stopped him from saying anything. Right now; it wasn't the time to be calling out lies.
"Well, at least now we know what it is." Ruby said from where she was sat. "And we'll be sure to keep it safe!"
Ozpin nodded, before saying: "We leave for Argus in a few days. It will not be an easy journey, so I recommend we use these few remaining days in Haven to prepare for it."
Not long later, Nathan and Blake's bedroom…
"Nathan?"
Nathan looked up to see Blake walking up to him, one hand over her belly.
"Are you okay?" Blake asked softly, sitting next to him.
"Yeah…" Nathan replied, wrapping an arm around Blake. "Just… just nervous. I just have a bad feeling about going to Atlas. Ironwood wants me dead; I've a multi-million lien bounty on my head, and none of us have heard anything from Jason or Emerald ever since they agreed to go to Atlas with Winter following the Battle of Haven." Sighing, Nathan added: "I'm just worried about what will happen to us. And our baby…" At which he moved his left hand so that it was planted gently but firmly over Blake's belly, where he knew their unborn child grew.
Blake was still only six weeks pregnant, meaning there wasn't much resembling a baby bump as of yet; but knowing that in another six weeks' time, there would be a definitive one starting to form, filled him with an unimaginable sense of love and pride.
He and Blake had done that. They had created this new life; and in less than nine months' time, that new life would be in their arms.
Nathan was so deep in thought, that he momentarily jumped when Blake's hand cupped his cheek, lifting his face to meet Blake's gaze.
"I know you're scared Nathan… so am I." Blake said softly. "But they're right. Atlas is the safest place for that Relic right now. And the same can be said for our baby."
Nathan sighed. "Yeah… but that still leaves the fact that Ironwood might still want me dead."
Blake took a deep breath. "All we can hope for is that having Jason in custody has cooled Ironwood's mood. For now though…" She then straddled Nathan, smiling. "Kiss me."
Nathan smiled before leaning in, pulling Blake into a passionate kiss.
Just in time for a knock on the door.
Sighing, Nathan gently pushed Blake off of him before walking over to the bedroom door, opening it to find Ghost stood there. "What is it; Ghost?" He asked.
"Hate to break the romantic bubble; but your teammates are in the lounge bickering over who gets to be the baby's godmother." Ghost said to Blake.
A gentle chuckle escaped Blake as she stood up, joining Nathan at the door. "Come on Nathan; I had a feeling this would happen."
Nathan nodded, kissing Blake before following her towards the lounge, partially expecting Nora and Pyrrha to also be weighing in on the debate by the time they got to the living room.
The living room…
Surprisingly enough; Pyrrha and Nora were not in the room when Nathan and Blake arrived.
However, Ruby, Weiss and Yang still were:
"I'm just saying that I'm the best suited to be godmother." Weiss was saying. "The money and resources at my disposal will be more than enough to appropriately care for the baby."
"Oh, look at me; I'm Weiss, I'm rich and can spoil the baby." Ruby retorted childishly.
"Let's be real; if anybody's gonna be that baby's godmother; it's going to be me." Yang said confidently.
"And why is that?" Weiss asked, giving Yang an incredulous look.
"Um, I'm Blake's best friend; duh." Yang responded, giving an expression that perfectly mirrored her reasoning.
"No fair; you're already going to be aunt because you're dating Kanan!" Ruby argued.
"And you're dating Weiss; so you'd both be godparents anyway if one of you gets it!" Yang countered. "Why can't I be both aunt and godmother?"
"That's not how this works, Yang!" Weiss said. "Also; me and Ruby are also close friends with Blake, meaning your argument earlier is invalid!"
"You never know; they could select Ilia." Nora commented as she finally joined the conversation. "Or Pyrrha and Jaune; since they're two of Nate's best friends. Heck; even Jason and Winter could be named the godparents!"
Nathan and Blake gave each other a look, before Nathan finally let out a loud whistle that silenced everyone.
From there; all eyes were on them as they entered the room, holding hands.
"Girls; do you really expect me to have to choose between all of you?" Blake asked gently, placing a hand over her belly.
"Well…" Weiss went to say only to be elbowed into silence by Ruby.
Blake smiled softly. "Well; I'm not going to choose. All three of you will be this baby's godmothers." She declared, running a hand over her belly.
"Oh." Ruby simply said.
"Well; I suppose that's fair." Weiss commented.
"At least we're all going to get what we want." Yang added happily.
"Still makes ya wonder though…" Nora commented, appearing again toting a lollipop. "Who'll be considered the 'cool aunt' of all of you?"
"Nora-!" Nathan said, preparing to chase his exuberant teammate across the house, only to be stopped by Blake as the argument began anew amongst the members of Team RWBY. "Oh, here we go…" He groaned.
Blake just giggled and cuddled up to Nathan. "I think our baby will have fun with them." She commented.
Nathan found himself nodding. "Yeah… really makes me realise that our baby's going to bring a lot of change with them when they're born."
"That they will." Blake said with a smile, taking Nathan's hand and pressing it to her belly.
Nathan smiled as he met Blake's gaze, pulling her into a passionate kiss.
It was true that the baby would bring about a fair few changes when they entered the world.
But neither Nathan nor Blake would change anything.
*Bursts through the door* I'M BACK!
Welcome all of you to my new story in my ongoing RWBY-Star Wars series: The Rising.
I hope you all enjoyed Christmas and New Year's, and consider this my gift to the lot of you.
I was seriously debating undoing all of my progress and restarting this story from scratch with a different member of Team RWBY as Nathan's romantic interest.
But I decided that if I was to do that; I'll publish that version on a separate website like AO3 or something like that.
And it'd be a slap across the face to all of my readers who fell in love with this story from day 1.
So; with all that said, thank you all so much for taking the time to read this story. If you liked it; y'all know what to do.
I shall see you next week with Chapter 2; which sees the gang boarding the Argus Limited and beginning their journey.
T-Rock14