Chapter 36
Breakout Part 3
The Tie fighter doing a flyby had been all that was required to get the five up from wherever they had crashed in the models beach house. They made their way to the sitting area rapidly. Coco took one look at them and pointed in the direction they had come.
"Showers first, you need to make yourselves look more presentable. Food will be done once you are cleaned up. Right now, with you lot looking like you do you are likely to get us busted" Coco said firmly
"I guess you are right." Jaune replied touching his sweat and sea water matted hair.
"Go on, just don't get distracted in the showers." Coco said
They came back within fifteen minutes. The girls had raided the clothing cupboard and Jaune returned dressed in the stolen stormtrooper bodysuit. Fox dumped all the food on a serving platter and laid a pile of knives and forks next to it.
"Help yourselves." He said
"Where is SSSN?" Jaune asked spearing a fried egg
"Next door at the SDC place." Yatsu replied
Jaune closed his eyes and concentrated, he reached out beyond the cluster of life he sensed beside him and extended the range, a frown appeared on his face as he extended further than anticipated. His eyes snapped open moments later
"No they are not there, I can not sense them anywhere close to here." He said
"Let me try, I do have a bit more experience in sensing." Hina said
She too closed her eyes and concentrated. Moments passed before she opened her eyes
"No, you are right they are not within a block range. I dared not go deeper or stay longer in the Force less I betray our position." She said
"Well we did not hear any disturbance or felt anything close by in the force so can assume their absence is voluntary." Keira said
"They ran off? What the fuck?" Coco exclaimed
"Do you know them well?" Amelia asked
"No they are more friends of RWBY. Well more Sun and Neptune." Katya replied
"Would you say knowing what you do that they are reliable?" Amelia persisted
"Can not really say, though thinking about it, that Sun guy did get to Vale as a stowaway leaving his team in Mistral and then Neptune showed up without the other two." Katya replied thoughtfully
"So unreliable in other words." Amelia pointed out
"Looks that way. I would have thought they would have realised we are safer as a group than splitting up. Considering we do not really know what is going on in Vale" Katya replied
"All the more reason to hurry up and get away from here. They are likely to get themselves caught and they will bring the Empire straight back here." Keira said
"Keira is right, we overstayed our welcome here. As much as we all need rest we have to move." Jaune added
"Is there some form of transport we can use?" Amelia asked
"Not here, Tiffany uses taxi services to get around. Well she had a car but she lost her licence after a DUI in which she totalled the car." Coco replied
"And we are too large a group to call a taxi, it will draw attention for sure." April remarked
"Plus no cash." Nora spoke for the first time
Yatsu moved to the window and looked out
"The SDC house has a garage attached to the side of the building, I think we might as well check if there is a vehicle there.
"I will go with you." Fox said
"Leaving us to do the dishes, all accidently of course." April said rising an eyebrow
"Can you hotwire a car?" Fox replied
"No." April conceded with a sigh
The two left by a side door and hopped over the fence. The garage had a back door but predictably it was locked. Yatsu noted a blinking diode in the corner of the doorframe
"Alarm system." He said
"Not that it will be of any use, with the CCT network down the signal has nowhere to go. Plus we do need transport, I don't think Vel and the others will last much longer on foot." Fox replied
"You are right, they need rest food and some form of medical attention. None of which we have." Yatsu replied somberly
Yatsu too two steps back and brought his Aura up fully. The teel reinforced door did not stand a chance against his charge and was almost ripped out of its frame by the impact of Yatsu charging it. They entered the garage and found a few vehicle in the garage two were luxury sedans under dustcovers. The third was a staff transporter with the Schnee snowflake emblem liberally applied to it. A display case against the wall held several keyfobs. Yatsu climbed behind the wheel of the transporter and turned the key in the ignition. A click came for all his effort
"Pop the bonnet." Fox ordered.
Yatsu pulled the bonnet release and Fox opened it up. He fiddled for a few moments.
"Try it again." He ordered
"I have a few dim pilot lights." Yatsu replied
"Battery cable was loose, but I think we have a low battery as well. We need to check if they have an emergency jumper pack." Fox said thoughtfully
"How would that look like?" Yatsu asked
"A tall case with jumper cables attached, almost like an old defibrillator." Fox explained
Yatsu climbed out and started searching. He found what Fox had described as well a few first aid kits in a cupboard against the wall. He made his way back to Fox and they connected the device. This time the transporter started. Fox disconnected the starter and walked around the vehicle and kicked the tires
"A bit flat but we can top that up at a garage. How much fuel do we have?" He asked
"Full tank. It will get us into the city but I do not think it wise to use this transport for long?" Yatsu replied
"I agree but beggars can not be choosers." Fox shrugged
"I am curious. Do you know how to hotwire a car?" Yatsu asked
"No. But I sure as hell was not going to stay around to do the dishes." Fox grinned
"And when they figure that out? What then?" Yatsu raised an eyebrow
"Then I will say they fit closer to the sink due to smaller feet." Fox laughed
"How you are still alive I do not know." Yatsu shook his head, a small grin on his face.
"Because it is bad manners to beat up a blind guy, that's how." Fox replied
"And now that you have your cybereyes what excuse will you use since you know you are no longer blind, not withstanding your semblance."
"Freeze!" A voice called
The two looked to where a rent a cop stood in the doorway with a pistol pointed towards them held in shaking hands. The two looked at each other and shrugged casually walking closer to the guard
"I said freeze!" The guard called again
"You did, but what you do not realise is that we don't care." Fox replied
"I will shoot!" The guard cried out
"No you wont, the safety catch is on." Fox countered
The guard involuntarily looked at his pistol. Fox Blurred forward and grabbed his hand in a vicelike grip and twisted the barrel away from him. The guard retched as Fox's fist hammered into his stomach and he lost his breath from the blow. Fox wrestled the pistol away from the guard before another lmost off hand blow rendered the guard unconscious. Yatsu reached out and caught the crumbling figure. He placed his hand on the man's head and aura flashed in his hand as he employed his semblance to wipe recent events from the guards memory.
"Definitely time to go." Yatsu rumbled softly
Fox stripped the guard down. He stood up with an exclamation of disgust as he pulled the guards pants down,
"Damn it man, underwear is not a luxury, you dirty bugger." He said.
Constantly grumbling Fox pulled on the uniform and made a quick trip to the guards vehicle, pulling the pants constantly as if to make space between his skin and the pant material. He pulled it out of the driveway and parked it on the sidewalk. Searching the boot he found a shotgun and a packet of riot shells. A search of the interior revealed a couple of spare magazines for the pistol in the glove compartment, he ignored the dispatcher calling for a unit over the radio. He suspected it was calling for the disabled guard. For a moment he contemplated answering the radio but discarded the idea immediately. For one he could not be certain it was for this guard, two he would not know the codes the company used in their communications, answering was more risky than ignoring the radio.
As he returned to the garage he was met by s tream of people jumping the fence and entering the garage. He moved to the controls and opened the garage doors and Yatsu drove the now filled transporter through. He pressed the button again and ducked underneath the lowering door and climbed into the front passenger seat. He passed the shotgun and the riot shells to the rear and Coco quickly grabbed them. The sounds of rounds being loaded followed shortly as Coco started chambering rounds
"Where to Jaune?" Yatsu asked from the front
"Dock area where we originally stored the Bantha." Jaune replied
"Lower business area first. We need new clothes and some way to hide as much of our features as possible first. We are likely to have our photos flashed over all the news channels the first thing when they get the networks up and running." Coco countered
"You want to go to Raul and Dennis?" Velvet asked
"I do." Coco replied
"Who are Raul and Dennis?" Keira asked
"A cameraman and makeup artist I know from my modelling agency. Between the two of them no one will recognise us once they are done. They have a little loft over Raul's shop. I trust them completely." Coco replied "More importantly we need a place to ditch this vehicle, at the docks they will know we are around there somewhere. Inner Vale, we can be anywhere."
With Coco directing they quickly made their way from the shore into the mainVale business sector and through there to the lower business sector, The are was known for its more artistic appearance, in its earlier years it had been a low industrial area with low cost housing attached to it. And with industry moving closer to the outer wall the area had become a popular place for artists that found adequate space for studios at a low cost. And with the artists moving in so did the business that catered to them and those that wanted to be seen as artistic and for those who earned a decent salary but could not afford more expensive places in the suburbs and in the high density residential areas. Being adjacent to the Faunus slums also made the area either undesirable or more attractive depending on your view point or political leanings.
They jumped out of the transporter in alley behind the shop and Fox climbed behind the steering wheel and drove the transporter away to dump it on the edge of the slums. He was elected for the task as he was currently the most inconspicuous of the group. Either it will be stolen in short time and converted to spare parts in a chop shop or be burned once they saw the Schnee emblems on the vehicle.
A little girl was drawing with chalk on a wall painted with blackboard paint as Coco opened the latch to the gate to the small garden after punching a code into the gate lock. She spun around and ran closer to the open door behind her before looking to see who was entering the yard
"Aunt Coco! Antie Vel!" She cried out happily, before rushing forward
Velvet dropped to her knees and grabbed the little racoon faunus in a tight hug with Coco joining in. A male racoon faunus appeared at the back door after hearing the disturbance.
"Coco, Velvet. It is good to see you." He said
"Hi Dennis. Can we come in? We need some help." Coco replied
"That has to be the biggest understatement of the year. Come on in before someone sees you." Dennis said clearing the doorway
Coco frowned as she spotted that almost all of the surface in the kitchen and sitting room was covered by boxes. Some sealed, some still half packed
"Dennis, what is going on? Are you guys moving?" She asked
"We will have to. Both of us got fired and blacklisted by the agencies for speaking up for you." Dennis replied
"What do you mean?" Coco asked
" What Dennis means is since you got grabbed at the opening ceremony of the festival you have been slandered in every tabloid and every fashion social media account." A new voice spoke
The man stepping down the stairs nearly matched Yatsu in size, his head nearly brushing the sealing as he descended to their level
"We got blacklisted for pointing out what was being said about you was a bunch of bullshit. Your mother was the first to sever our contract and the rest quickly followed. Someone actually went so far as to report as to child welfare claiming Katie was in an unstable environment. We are getting ready to move out as our realtor has decided to jack up the rent." Raul said
"And before you say we should have kept quiet don't. We chose to defend a friend. You are one of the few decent people in the industry." Dennis forestalled her response.
Dennis looked over the group that had now assembled in the small space available. The last one in had closed the door behind them. He sat down on a lounge chair and the little girl scrambled into his lap.
"What do you know of what has been happening in Vale?" He asked
"Nothing, we escaped, I guess this morning. Did not really have a clue as to what time it was. Before that we were kept in isolation." Velvet admitted
"Okay so let me start with what everyone one saw on the television. What we saw was a massive ship coming into Vales airspace, one so large it made the Atlas airships look like childrens toys. We also saw three hunter in training teams book it once they saw the ship coming in, they did not get far and was shortly thereafter cuffed and led onto a ship in the same way Atlas transported faunus prisoners. Then we were told we are not alone in the galaxy and two days later we were being told that all of you were criminals conspiring against the Empire and Remnant. Not Vale Remnant, Beacon has not been heard from since they showed up." Raul started off
"Barely an hour after the first statement Adel fashions publicly distanced themselves from Coco and I a sorry honey stated that you are not considered family any longer, anyone saying good about Coco got the axe. And it did not stop with Adel fashions, anyone known to be friendly with you and not staying silent or turning on you suddenly lost contracts." Dennis added
"That is not the only thing, as you know both of us came here from Mantle. We still have friends and family there. There has been an upturn in Atlas patrol in "trouble" areas of Mantle and a lot of Faunus got grabbed. If the families go the army points or police stations they get told they are being held under emergency regulations, yet there had been no riots. A common theme among those taken was that they had family in the Fang or had been outspoken against the council and Atlas army. All of the councils are calling for unification and cooperating with the Empire. Ironwood has been seen constantly in the press calling for unification and cooperation. There might not have been arrests here yet, but some of our more outspoken people had been harassed by the Atlas soldiers here, they are now also patrolling the streets with these empire soldiers and our police units." Raul said
And nobody is protesting this?" Coco asked
"Official permission for protests are being withheld and they move in quick to break up anything that may start, not that they have been having it there way entirely. Gloria says they have been seeing a lot more off duty Atlas soldiers in the ER. A lot have been drugged and robbed by the working girls and a lot more had been found beaten up by persons unknown" Dennis replied
"Speaking of? Where is Gloria?" Coco asked
"Asleep upstairs. She had been doing nightshifts and the hospital has been extending their hours past regular shifts." Dennis replied pointing to the floor above
Raul cleared his throat
"I am guessing you are here looking for some form of disguise to move about." He said
"That and some clothes we can move about in freely, we are guessing that as soon as the CCT is working our faces will be all over the networks." Jaune replied
"We can do that, but there is a price." Raul replied
"And that is?" Pyrrha asked
"We are guessing you have a way to get off planet. All we want is a chance to start somewhere new. And before we say anything I know it is not just as easy as getting to a new planet, we will need to learn a lot and quickly but we want to get out if here before things turn really bad and it will." Dennis answered
"Just the two of you, Katie and Gloria?" Coco asked for confirmation
" Another twenty of us, all of them people you know. And for us to disguise you properly you will need them, also another one you don't know, but she will be the most useful of us all." Raul answered
"Who is she and why?" Coco asked
" Adriana Summers, she owns the travel bureau a few buildings down, the thing is the business is a front, she deals with identities for a price. Need a drivers licence, easy, residency certificates and identity cards, no better place. She wants out badly." Dennis supplied the information
"Someone like that would have some heavy protection if she belonged to a group." Keira spoke up
"She is an independent, not linked to a group. Since the Families have been putting the squeeze on all non Vale groups she had been pressured by the Families and her sideline had been exposed to Atlas. She is one of those constantly being harassed either by Atlas or the wise guys."
"Forced recruitment." Keira nodded as she understood
Jaune caught the eyes of his sisters and shared a quick conversation in Yuki with them. Pyrrha, Velvet and Keira was able to follow the conversation as the force translated for them but said nothing as they understanding what was said did not make it possible to speak. They got a consensus quickly. Jaune turned to face the two men
" We agree we will get you out, however we will not drop you at the most friendly planet, we have another option."
"That being what?" Raul asked
"How would you feel about starting the first space colony of Remnant?" Katya asked
"If it gives us a place to raise our children safely we have no problem with that." Dennis spoke for them all.
Four hours later Keira stood with her back against a blank wall as a petite white eared bunny faunus was taking a photo, her once brunette hair now bleached snow white with purple and red highlights after having received a new hairstyle courtesy of a hairdresser Raul got in to deal with the group. Her eyes itched from the coloured contact lenses. She was dressed in a skirt and shirt that looked closely like the school uniforms that Vales children wore. Though she would be lectured endlessly if they wore it like she did. The shirt was tied underneath her breasts and the buttons were straining to contain her assets, her stomach was in clear view and when she turned around a tattoo adorned the small of her back. The skirt was tight enough to have been painted on
"Pinch yourself." The bunny faunus said
"Why?"
" Every one that has their photos taken for documentation either looks angry as hell or irritated along with being mentally tired for having taken hours to get to that point. A neutral or happy expression on an id is usually the first thing telling cops something is wrong with the id." Adriana explained
"So you want me to look as if I had more than enough of all of this?" Keira asked for clarity
"That is the idea."
Her photos taken and scanned she was shown to a chair as Adriana started the process of cropping the pictures and starting a set of documents for her. A group of cars came to a stop in front of the building and several men stepped out before one opened the door of the middle car and an older and fatter man stepped out
"Shit." Adriana muttered
"Problem?" Keira asked
" Toni Lavelle, he is the capo for this area, I think they will probably try and force me to join." Adriana said
Keira got to her feet and went to the front. The back door opened and Jaune, Pyrrha and Velvet entered. Pyrrha was now a brunette with a paige boy hair cut and Velvet was now a ginger with similar haircut, both were now blue eyed thanks to their contact lenses. Both were dressed in brand name jeans and hoodies. Jaune was now a brunette too, his eyes were still blue, He was dressed in formal pants, a green shirt and a formal jacket and tie
"How much time do you need to finish?" Keira asked
"Several hours for all of you. Then I need to pack up my gear adding a few more. The stuff I have is not something you easily pick up." Adriana replied
"We will get you your time." Jaune promised her.
The four stepped out into the street and stood in front of the store. Keira took the centre and looked straight at the older wise guy
"Who are you?" The wise guy demanded
"Summers new employers." Keira answered
" I do not know who you think you are, she belongs to the Rosen family. So this is a one time offer, walk away while you are still able to." He said threateningly
"Uhm, no. She is under our protection, so here is our offer. Leave and we will be out of your area in a few hours." Keira replied
"Now before you decide to do something stupid, all of us have Aura and combat experience, trying to fight us would result in your boys getting hurt badly." Jaune spoke up
"You claiming to be Hunters?" A mook snorted
"Ex Beacon, got expelled." Velvet replied
"This is a fight you do not want." Keira addressed the group
Several of the mooks stepped back immediately. A few more hesitantly. The capo shook his head after he stepped back
"The fuck…" He muttered
He glared at the four before him before pulling a pistol from behind his back
"Get them." He ordered
The four were moving before they even registered the order to attack. Not one of them managed to get a shot off before being overwhelmed. Velvet looked around the suddenly empty street before looking down at the sprawled and moaning and whimpering gangers.
"Okay so what is our plan for dealing with this lot?" She asked
"We move the cars and keep this lot tied up in the attic till we leave, but first grab all cash weapons and scrolls they carry." Jaune shrugged
"Do they have some way of marking what businesses belong to them?" Keira asked
"Not that I know off. I see what you want to do. Place a mark and whoever they send to check will assume they were here and had moved on to the next target for extortion." Jaune replied.
"What was that voice thing you did? I could hear the force in it?" Velvet asked
"A technique called force persuade. The weaker the mind the easier it works. Obviously groups and the strong minded makes its harder." Keira replied
"We have so much more to learn." Pyrrha remarked
"That is one massive understatement." Keira stated
The wise guys were secured, the cars moved, the group now better armed and with more cash available for general use, the capo had a large suitcase stacked with lien in the boot. Newly printed id cards were distributed and They were busy disassembling Adriana's equipment and packing it into a van Dennis used for his camera equipment. Several ringtones went off signal was restored to the pile of scrolls they had confiscated. Coco flicked on the television and the first image was of the Vale central News agency logo being displayed. Lisa Lavender was show seated behind the news anchor desk.
"Coco. Watch the news, everyone else finish up and get ready to move of all this. Dennis get your people to make their way to the docks." Jaune ordered
Jaune grabbed the home telephone and started dialling a number he had memorised
Derrick pulled his scroll out as it delivered a message notification. Dialling the number he retrieved the message that had been left. He moved to the corner of the room to return the call to the number that had been left. Only a few people paid attention to his movement as most were now looking to the screen Lisa Lavender was preparing to deliver the news, next to her Brian Greendale was co anchor
" Good afternoon and welcome to the restored access to the CCT network. First up in the news is why the network has been unavailable. Early this morning the CCT tower had been the site of a terrorist attack. The attack had resulted in the CCT network becoming unavailable to all of Vale. As of yet now group has claimed responsibility for this senseless attack."
"Nor does the authorities know about a possible motive for the attack. What has been revealed is that a cyber terrorist has been identified. Terra Cotta Arc has been confirmed to have been part of the group."
Terra's image appeared on the screen as well as several images of her and Sapphron
" As per the police it is unknown if she belongs to a known extremist group or is merely a terrorist for hire. She is closely linked to the Arc family, a family that has now been revealed to be not as benign as we had been led to believe."
"Thank you Brian, this ties in with our next news report. We have been informed that another Arc is wanted by the authorities. Jaune Arc had been arrested at the opening ceremony of the Vytal festival. We have received word that he and those arrested with him had escaped from custody and is at large. He and his associates had left several dead in their escape and is to be considered armed and dangerous. Citizens are urged not to approach them if seen but to rather inform their nearest police precinct." Lavender continued
"In other news several fires had been started in the central business district and several lives lost in these incidents. An unconfirmed source has stated that the locations can be linked to organised crime. Vale Police department spokesman has declined to answer on the speculation and that the matter is both sensitive and under investigation." Brian spoke
"Moving on, the source of the four explosions had been revealed to be warehouses that had been storing dust and fireworks for the delayed Vytal festival. Several millions lien worth of damages had been incurred due to these explosion. Vale Fire department spokesman has stated that investigations will commence all of the sites had been secured, as up to now three fires in the immediate vicinities of the explosions have yet to be contained." Lisa took her turn
"We have been informed that we will soon be switching over to a press conference being set up and the Councill will address the citizens. In the meantime we are switching to our sponsors and will restart the broadcast once we have confirmation that the Council is ready to proceed…"
Derrick stepped from the room and moved to a wall safe where he retrieved a secure scroll handset. Both Tabbycat and Sparrowhawk had followed him into the secure room. The director answered within moments and her image appeared on the monitor in the office once Derrick wirelessly connected to it
"Nightingale, Tabbycat, Sparrowhawk." She acknowledged them
"Mam, I have just received word from my nephew on my burner scroll contact number. He believes his ship is accessible and he wants to exfiltrate the planet asap. He states that according to information he has obtained the Emperor is on his way to Remnant. He believes staying in hiding on the planet is not feasible." Derrick reported
"Did he provide a timeframe for this arrival?" The director replied
"Within several days." Derrick replied
"I assume he wants to take his family off world with him?" The Director asked
"Yes, mam. I asked whether he would be able to take more people of world and he agreed." Derrick replied
" I assume you are referring to the Beacon escapees and their families. Or are you referring to the faunus refugees from Menagerie and the other Kingdoms." She asked for clarity
"The first, mam. I would only consider taking the Fang's refugees after careful vetting, and even then I would keep them at arms length. Not even mentioning that we have no idea of the numbers they are proposing for people to hide." Derrick stated
"We do have one liability in this group." Daphne spoke up
"The Belladona girl. She is demanding to get in contact with her parents." Derrick clarified
"On the surface a reasonable request. But her history counts against her, she was an active member of a terrorist organization and had taken part in their operations." The Director replied
"Not in Vale, she has been acting against them and has been acting in Vale's interest since joining Beacon. Of course it can be a deep infiltration attempt but I consider it unlikely, my impression is that she is a idealist." Derrick said
"I believe she should be removed from Remnant. She is aware of the ships that Arc has in possession. Letting her on planet is a security risk. As Nightingale has stated she is an idealist and sooner or later she will attempt action against our invaders, and as we all know idealist love monolouging. She will reveal what we do not want known . Returning her to her parents is an even greater risk as that is information we do not want the Fang to have either." Andrew pointed out.
The Director leaned back in contemplation
"Agreed, she is a risk. On to other matters. How many of those escapees will be willing to fight the invaders?" She asked
"I believe Jaune and his adopted sisters will. They know they will be hunted relentlessly and at some point they will have to fight. Nikos and Scarlatina, will eventually fight as will their teams. Those we have freed from Beacon. I don't know." Derrick replied honestly
"At this point they would be more likely to want to start a colony or go into hiding assuming they are willing to leave the planet in the first place." Andrew stated
"Even if they are willing to fight right now it would be suicide. None of them have the right training and mindset for a covert war or rebellion." Daphne pointed out
The Director tapped her fingers on her desk as she thought.
"Has your nephew left one of their communicators in your possession or that of your brother?" She asked Derrick
"He has given both my brother and myself comlinks." Derrick replied
"Leave one with the Manager. He will be taking over as your liason with the agency. We are as an Agency going into deep cover and I am activating our doomsday protocols." She said
"What are our orders?" Derrick asked
"The three of you are hereby ordered to go with them in exile. Your mission will be exceedingly difficult and will consist of many facets, and I am sorry to say nearly impossible to complete. One you are to gather intelligence on any allies or enemies to Remnant and Vale in particular. Two you are to court any potential allies and obtain resources for us to use in freeing ourselves. Three you are to start an off world resistance for Vale. All of this is long term, in short term establishing a safe haven takes preference. A colony would be beneficial especially if we find a way to smuggle essential people and their families to it. To make it worse we are unable to provide you with resources." The Director replied
"We will do our best. Vale Forever." Daphne spoke up
"Vale Forever." Derrick and Andrew copied
" Good luck agents. I hope to see you on the other end. The Manager will be with you shortly to establish contact protocols." The Director said before cutting the link
Nora looked around the empty Fort Freedom warehouse. The doors still showing the damage that the stormtroopers had inflicted on them when they had backtracked the tachyon traces that the Bantha had left from its movement.
"So where is the ship, fearless leader?" She asked
"Close by. But we will need to go for a swim." Jaune replied
He opened the door leading to the water access and pushed it fully open. The dark polluted water of the docks looked especially uninviting. April gasped as she realised where the ship was
"You had it submerge in the basin." She said
"We did. For some reason this are of the docks is extremely deep, which is rather odd considering that we do not have ocean access here. Deep enough to hide the Bantha and with the polluted water she would be well hidden." Jaune replied
"There is actually a good reason for that." April replied
"Go on." Yara encouraged her
"This was the old docks and was in use up till the colour war. They decided to create a deeper and more secure harbour after the war. As well as make it more accessible for the larger ships coming into use. A Mistrali buccaneer is actually the main reason for that. He managed to get past the harbour defences at the time and had stolen several merchant vessels, but by sabotaging the defences a Fei Long had managed to get into the harbour sinking several ships. The new spot was chosen as it would be easier to build defensive positions at the new site to secure the harbour than to try to upgrade the old harbour. They simply dumped the stone they dug out at the mouth of the old harbour blocking ocean access to it." April explained
"Seems wasteful to leave this area unused." Yara pointed out.
"The plan at the time had been to fill in the access to the harbour completely and seal it off behind a wall, drain this area completely and turn it residential property for workers to the docks. But the money for that part of the project went missing, so they just decided to keep using this area as it was still connected to the barge delivery system from the interior, they also saved themselves from having to dig through the shore residential area to create the inland access the new harbour needed. Of course this area would have been for the lowest paid workers." April lectured
"And the shore area would have been owned by the more wealthy and influential citizens, I am guessing." Hina said
"Yes, they were nor very eager to give up their property for the development." Aprils stated
Jaune looked at the water before shuddering a bit. He started stripping down
"I have a good idea where SCD would have submerged the bantha. I will swim out and collect a few rebreathers and come back. Derrick will be along with my family and a few others soon. Dennis, Raul call in your people and ask them to be as discrete as possible. We do not want to draw attention to us here." Jaune said
"I will go with you and start prepping the engines." Yara said, also stripping
"I don't know how to swim. Coruscant does not have swimming areas in the lower towers and it was not a skill taught in the Imperial Academy." Amelia spoke up
"Neither do I." Raul admitted
"We have enough strong swimmers to be able to pull you along. All you would need to do is stay limp as we do all the work" Yara comforted them
"If everyone is going to have to strip to swim out to your ship, I hope you have a lot of clothes on board or it is likely to get real embarresing quickly." Keira remarked
"I will bring a few bags with me for clothing when I come back, everyone will have to strip to basics to swim out. We can not take a chance of someone being pulled down by wet clothing, no matter how good they think they can swim. Right now I am more worried about getting everyone safely of this rock than worrying about seeing naked people on my ship." Jaune said.
Bracing himself and taking several deep breaths he dove into the water, thankful that setting sun was till giving him some sort of light in th water. He would not have wanted to do this in the dark of the night. He felt the displacement of the water as Yara dove in after him.
They found the ship deeper in and well submerged. They headed to the surface and started breathing heavily filling their lungs before jackknifing in the water and heading for the upper hatch. Yara reached the control panel first and punched her code in, unlocking the top hatch. She closed the hatch behind them before opening the inner hatch. Water splashed onto the clean floor and the two of them breathed deeply and coughed harshly as they regained their breath. Yara pointed to the mess they had made
"La1D is going to blow a circuit once it sees this mess." She said with a final cough
"It is more likely to bitch about the carbon scoring we are going to pick up getting off planet." Jaune replied
"I guess it is a good thing we refilled the tibana on all the turrets then, we are likely to be up to eyeballs in Tie fighters the moment we lift off." Yara said
"We will have to put those most comfortable with the turrets in the most central turrets and put those that shoot straight in the others after a quick crash course." Jaune said rubbing his neck
"Jaune, can we really trust the Imp and the Mando?" Yara asked
"I believe so, Keira was worked over as hard as me and the others were and sense no deception from Amelia. Honestly I am more worried about the people Derrick said he is bringing and Coco's friends friends." Jaune replied
"I believe I see an accident in the future for the bags of clothing." Yara remarked
"When did you get force sensitive? What else do you see happening in the future." Jaune joked back
"Hina doing a lot of deep body scans while doing complete physicals." Yara replied
"Starting with all of us. I am almost certain we were all tagged with trackers while up there." Jaune said somberly
"If we were we would have been caught by now." Yara countered
"Unless they wanted to see where we were going. Maybe I am being paranoid about it, but…"
"There is no being to paranoid if you are being hunted. I will grab one of Hina's hand scanners and convert it for EMP pulses " Yara completed with a sigh
"Now I better go find those rebreathers and change the cartridges on them before heading back." Jaune said
"They should be in the blue crate underneath the spacesuits. The spare air cartridges will be there with them." Yara said
They heard a clanking noise and the door to the interior opened. SCD stood there a Blastech in its hands. The droid slowly lowered the weapon
"You have returned." SCD stated
"We have. And you are going to like the next order. Prep the ship for a combat mission" Jaune said
"Roger. Roger." The droid sounded eager
Ironwood sighed deeply and straightened his uniform as the lift arrived at the top floor. Schooling his expression to neutral he stepped into Ozpin's office as the doors opened. Ozpin was seated at his desk, looking up at the clock gears that was turning around over his his head seemingly lost in thought
"Can I help you, General." Ozpin asked, not looking away from the gears
"General? Are we being formal now? I thought we were friends." Ironwood remarked
"Or should that be planetary Governer?" Ozpin ignored the remark
"Someone had to do it. Would you have preferred Winchester or even Jacques Schnee. They were considered should I have refused. Damn it Oz, I chose the lesser of multiple evils. Me taking the post ensured the best hope for Remnant" Ironwood snapped
Both men looked to the window as the sound of battle erupted over Vale. A large shape was exchanging red bolts with several more agile shapes. Ozpin recognised the Bantha as it drew closer as it was breaking for open airspace and away from Vale. Several blue flashes running along the ship as red bolts impacted it. Tellingly no fire was returned from the bottom of the ship, that was till they were well clear of Vale. Several fireballs marked the end of Tie fighters as the freighter started fighting back fully
"No James, you are wrong. There goes the best hope for Remnant." Ozpin said pointing to the freighter
The Bantha broke through atmosphere and was running hard for deeper space. Several Tie fighter still hard on their rear and more haring towards them from the Executor. The tactical monitor screen was a near solid red from all the all the craft converging on the Bantha. Katya had her hand on the activation lever of the hyperdrive and keeping a very close eye on the distance from planet. She pulled the lever down, several warnings came instead of the blue lines of hyperdrive
"Shit incoming ships on our path." She reported
"Go to secondary jump plot." Jaune ordered before turning the Bantha around on a new course
"Replotting. Uploading new coordinates." Katya said, her hands flashing over the terminal.
The air in space was distorted as several mega flashes marked a fleet of craft exiting Hyperspace. Both Jaune and Hina started shaking and shivering as they felt a presence colder than a Hoth glacier filling the Force.
"The Emperor. He is here." Jaune said
"And we are gone." Katya said pulling the lever down
The Bantha shuddered for a moment before jumping into the welcoming blue light of hyperspace.