Trial of Skill

Above the glistening planet of Coruscant, home of the Galactic Empire that stood unopposed in its rule over the main galaxy, it's light could not penetrate the blinders folding down in a Venator Cruiser's bridge.

https/watch?v=-bzWSJG93P8 (Vader theme)

The now dark room only was illuminated by the glowing red eyes of a masked man's helmet; darker than the depths of space his ship floated in itself. He wanted to be alone as his crew hastily had left the room, their skins paled ghostly white as they did not dare question such an imposing man's order. This man, if some would be brave enough to question openly if he was one, Darth Vader, a cyborg warrior who commanded not just this ship with an iron grip, or a mystical energy field he used to crush the windpipe of insubordinate or foolish lackeys, but all of the Galaxy the Empire held under its grasp. It would be suicide to dare challenge him as many foolish Jedi who died under his blade, held by his belt buckle, could attest if they had actually lived a single duel with him.

But right now, even he knelt down before in respect to the bridge's communication projector as it glowed up an red light, the indication of a special secret message incoming just for him. His master was calling.

He bowed before the image of a woman, whose skin was ghostly white accompanied by black veins protruding from her red and yellow eyes. Her face was riddled with red cracks from burns, courtesy of lightning she had struck herself within at the hands of a Jedi Master who tried to fell her before her pupil saved her life. Hence, she smiled warmly as he knelt in reverence to her.

"Master." His robotic voice echoed silently through the bridge, accompanied by a machine-regulated breath, his chest plate filled with buttons glowing as he did so. He was more machine than man honestly, so his master silently amused herself with the notion they were more alike than in the darkness of the force. Both were marred by their ancient enemy the Jedi, a pain that fueled both's anger. Now she had control of the Galaxy thanks to manipulating such anger from her apprentice and she had to keep stoking it to keep him in her grasp. Fear, Anger, Desire, all fueled the dark power they grasped that allowed them to fell their enemy, the dark side. They were the Sith Lords, and they had to keep their power held tight.

"Lord Vader, you did well to respond to my summons accordingly." She sang softly, her own tone a ominous whisper. If Vader's skin were exposed, and not burned as well, he would likely have goose pumps from such a tone.

"Always. What is thy bidding, my master?" He asked.

"I've called to ask how you and your minions have been faring tracking down the remaining Jedi." She asked, hints of anger in her tone just spewing the name.

"Our progress remains as expected. We have scoured countless worlds within the Outer Rim territories they were expected to hide. We have slain 12 Jedi within the last 3 months. Our scouts and troopers continue to monitor Imperial worlds for any signs of those who can touch the force." Vader responded.

"Excellent work my apprentice. We must make sure to crush any lingering spark of the Jedi rebellion before it can catch fire. We have enough problems on our hands with the rebel alliance mucking things up for our Empire. We don't need the Jedi or their children of the force giving false hope to the citizens." Salem commanded.

"We shall double our efforts then to snuff out that spark, my Master." Vader said diligently. Salem nodded, before her tender smile gave way to a frown. The air grew chilly at that, Vader's machine-assisted breathing actually became visible as clouds of cold air radiated from his breathing mask. He could sense her displeasure.

"What is it now Master Salem?" He asked.

"Spark….it's just-" She said unsure. For once, Vader held his up high in confusion, having never felt such a feeling from his master before.

"What troubles you?" He asked concerned.

"Lately, I have been feeling a faint presence, a presence I have not felt in ten years." She said with a bit of dread in her voice, her shoulders slouching as she caressed one hand nervously.

"You sense a Jedi somewhere Master?" Vader asked. It had been 10 years since she executed Order 66, an order that compelled their clone troopers to execute the Jedi, assisted by Vader, since their "betrayal" of the Republic.

"Not a Jedi persay…but something cold, powerful. Like a snake hiding the grass waiting to bite me." She sneered angrily as she shivered.

"I have only felt that twice in my life. A dangerous and rare feeling. Lord Vader-" She began to command, making him twinge as he looked attentively at her order. "I need to be sure of something. Send to the far Outer Rim Worlds you Inquisitors, I need them to find me something special." Salem commanded.

"And what shall they be hunting down for you Master?" He asked.

Salem's frown never ceased as a certain woman flashed through her mind.

Meanwhile….

watch?v=1pg-gEQ5BXM (Battle of Christophsis theme)

Back on Remnant, four teenage girls dashed towards a giant demonic scorpion. At the forefront of the assault was Ruby, having drawn her twin bladed cartwheel Lightsaber. She sensed the feelings of Awe, greed and Confusion radiating off the young Schnee girl behind her.

"I got the feeling she wants a saber too." Ruby thought.

Truth be told she didn't blame her. A slight chuckle almost escaped her lips at the thought of herself being similar in her younger years, before she refocused her gaze on their prey. Her master always did call her a weapon's nut, having stocked her temple room with blasters and Lightsaber parts to customize her weapon. She normally would keep this weapon a secret, using only the default physical scythe blades on each end to cover herself. Lightsabers were not known to Remnant, best she could pass it off as was an advanced custom dust blade. She knew the Schnee, being heir to the dust company itself, wouldn't be pacified with such an excuse.

But she sensed it from this Grimm, her instincts and senses from the dark side it radiated that made her want to hurl.

"This things too strong to hold back on. I gotta kill it as fast as possible!" She thought to herself.

Turns out, she wasn't the only one thinking this as Blake stabbed her Katanna into the ground and pressed a trigger, shooting her gun from the hilt off to use the momentum of the recoil to propel herself over a stinger strike from the scorpion, while Ruby used her saber to repel a claw strike that sent her crashing into Weiss, sending them back up the cliff. Yang had to fire buckshot to propel herself to the right to dodge a 2nd tail aimed for her head, her eyes a mere inches from the stinger as she crashed into something hard, her eyes now flickering red as she grunted in pain.

Ruby and Weiss didn't fare much better. Ruby felt her arms and back burn as she tried to use her semblance to accelerate towards the Stalker, her intent to stab its eyes and blind it to keep it from getting any easy hits following their movements. Her body shivered as she felt her momentum from her force jump cease, her eyes widening as she realized she had failed to reactivate her semblance.

"Ugh! If you can't even charge right I'll do it you incompetent peasant!" Weiss yelled at her as she soon began staggering mid-air, her saber turning off as she crashed to the ground, and saw Weiss go past her, having not lost any momentum from a charge she gave off from her gravity glyph, aiming to do what this girl failed to do as she turned an annoyed glare at her towards the stalker as she aimed her rapier for its eyes.

But the Stalker wasn't about to let this frustration go unpunished. It focused its attention to her, soon clasping the blade with its pincer and keeping her stuck to her shock as she saw one of it's tail aimed for her body.

Blake, however was on the other tail safely, and shot at the stinger, keeping from striking Weiss just in time, but felt the tail's sudden shift in momentum make her lose her balance from the scorpion recoiling from the shot. Her eye's widened as she saw Weiss get smacked by the pincers as a result and crash into Ruby as they went flying back to the cliff.

Blake winced, feeling a bit sorry for them, but didn't want to join them so she soon took some wire and wrapped it around the tail to even herself out a bit before swinging away in an attempt to land behind it and crawl under it.

"A deathstalker's weakness is its soft underbelly, I'll gut it there." She thought to herself. But her thoughts were interrupted as she soon, from the sudden stir of the tale, was thrown off her trajectory and landed straight into Yang. The brawlers aura flickered as they crashed. She fixed the black-haired maiden an annoyed glare.

"We're fighting that thing! Not each other, watch where your going!" Yang spat, making the Faunus's bow twitch a bit as she felt her ears struggle painfully against the fabric, trying to slant to habitually express her own annoyance.

"Well excuse me Goldilocks for keeping you-" She began to admonish before the corner of her eye caught something Yang didn't, courtesy of night vision.

"LOOK OUT!" She quickly changed her sarcastic comeback to a frightening warning as she once more crashed into Yang, this time of her own accord as she pushed them away from another strike from the twin stingers of the Alpha Deathstalker.

As Yang shook off the soreness the sudden impact had, her eyes widened as she saw the two stingers lodged into deep into the ground where she and Blake once were. "That would have made a mess." She silently groaned, knowing her aura wouldn't have held, making them a bloody mess on that floor. She looked down to see lodged in her bossom, wobbling as she struggled to regain her balance, her breathing raspy as she was clearly exhausted from the effort.

With a smirk, she patted the girls hair, careful to avoid undoing the bow though, not sure if it held significant meaning to her savior.

"Thanks, if we make it outta this, I'll treat ya to my favorite bar." She sighed with appreciation. She was confident Junior's tavern would not object, lest she crash the place down again after his men tried to get frisky with her, a mistake they'd be foolish to make again.

Blake raised her head to meet Yang's gaze, throwing a playful smirk of her own as she nodded in appreciation, before both girls shot up, despite their muscles burning from exhaustion at the sound of the Stalkers screech. They saw the tails begin to rise from the crush earth.

"That is, if we make it out alive." Yang groaned as she winced at the thought of fighting those stingers again.

Blake had the same reservations. The small hairs on her neck and head nearly shot up like a cat she was based on, her instincts screaming at her to run away from this demon. But she knew they couldn't. She smelled the blood of several kids on that thing, if they left it alone it would hunt down and kill the other applicants, and any future ones in this forest. They had to take it down now, so they had to start by crippling it so they could get to the underbelly. She glanced at the cliff, seeing Ruby and the Schnee girl rising to their feet.

Her eyes narrowed on the sight of the 15-year old heiress rising. A slight bit of disappointment rising within her she survived, before Blake began shaking her head.

No, she wouldn't let a grudge against the SDC company make her so petty. She had seen pictures of her with red crosses and daggers thrown at it at bases in the White Fang. While she could empathize with wanting the Schnee's who abused their kind to suffer too, to want them dead was a line she personally never wanted to cross.

"I gotta focus! The Grimm have to go, they always have to go first." She whispered to herself.

Her eyes then soon gazed upon Ruby's "Dust Sword" as she decided to identify it as, begin to reignite. Yeah, she'd ask that later, having not seen a glowing sword in some time.

As uncomfortable a sudden shiver from an unpleasant memory striking her was, as well as the notion of trusting a Schnee in battle, Blake knew they now had a chance to kill an even more deadly enemy as she eyed the red blade. She turned to Yang, fixing her an intense glare that startled her.

"We need to hold those things down! Let those two get a shot in." Blake yelled as she took out more of Gambrol Shrouds wires and began to run around the tails as they began to pull out, throwing her Katana into the dirt to tightened their hold as she soon yanked on it, trying to keep the stingers lodged in the dirt. Yang saw her struggled, barely staying off the ground.

"She ain't got much muscle, that's for sure." Yang quipped to herself as she rushed over and tugged on the wire as well, her hands stinging from the burns the massive weight of the beast had on the wire rubbing off them. Her hair began to glow a little though, as the pain only fueled her semblance. The more pain, the more power, and that was working in their favor.

Now, it was just up to those two above the cliff, if they finished their nap soon an annoyed Yang mused to herself.

"Headmaster! You must send the faculty to the Emerald Ruins! This deathstalker is an alpha!" Glynda said, her usual strict tone now replaced by one filled with fear and concern. After all, even an experienced hunter would struggle with a regular deathstalker, to ask students to tangle with an alpha was absurd.

It was just the schools luck one had evolved from the deaths of applicants they sent to it. It was a pit that always gnawed at Goodwitch's stomach, but one she hid behind the notion that they just weren't truly ready to face the Grimm. Here she had to watch students still alive face off against a great threat….and start losing

Miss Schnee and Xiao Long were undoubtedly the most in danger in her eyes. Both were clearly exhausted from their last battles and low on aura. At best they could manage another attack or two before they fell, and that was being generous. Their reaction timing was atrocious right now due to their wear, only managing to avoid being eviscerated by the Stalkers pincers or skewered by those tail's by the save of their much faster and nimble teammates Miss Belladonna. But Miss Belladonna clearly struggled physically in the strength department, needing Miss Xiao Long to compensate. She was better for stealth and hit and run tactics, tactics which wouldn't fall such an heavily armored Grimm as Ruby's lightsaber proved. Miss Branwen (As Ozpin and her had grown accustomed to calling her to maintain her cover), was also not used to her semblance yet, having only just activated it tonight. Not to mention the fact, even if they just met tonight, none of these girls were much in sync with each other.

Miss Branwen's newfound speed and lethality with weapons would undoubtedly fit with her partner's nimble and precise fighting style, yet she chose to go with force with a booster type like Miss Schnee, whom Glynda doubted had the throat to swallow her pride to be a team player over leader. Yang Xiao Long was also a wild card, so her unpredictability was more suited for solo fighting large Grimm, but that wouldn't work here. These kids were far too in over their heads to win this fight. She had to stop this.

"I understand your concerns Glynda." Ozpin said with a heavy sigh, one that made the deputy headmistress flinch. She knew by that tone a "but" was on the way.

"However," he said, almost making her snicker she was close enough before she narrowed her gaze on her boss instantly in disapproval. "This could be a good opportunity for Miss Branwen to further hone her newly acquired abilities. She just unlocked her semblance at last and is getting accustomed to it. To master that with her force abilities she has struggled to reawaken, she needs a tremendous foe to face."

"Against an alpha!? Sir her abilities not being developed means all the more she should be assisted by experienced huntsmen, not a few rookie teenagers, two of which are injured as is" Glynda protested.

"Teenagers, Glynda, who will be her new team and face more of those dangers in their future should they prevail." He countered before taking out his scroll to her surprise

"Should Sir? You'd bet all four's lives on a what-if? This is far beyond what our initiation is intended."

"Things in life never always go as expected. They must adapt or die, it's the way the life of Huntsmen works." Ozpin said adamantly, before sighing. "Rest assured, despite thinking otherwise I know you are, I am not heartless." He said as he pressed some buttons. "I have already issued a call for bullheads and a 4th year team to evacuate the other applicants and clear out anymore Grimm in the forest. Ruby's new team won't be impeded by us, but also by any other monster. This will be their only fight to earn the right to attend Beacon"

Glynda could only sigh in defeat, seeing his tone left no room for further debate. She could only stare at Miss Branwen and Schnee's wobbly bodies as they rose, silently wishing them luck.

Emerald Forest

Ruby and Weiss shook off the soreness from their crash, the heiress giving off an annoyed whimper.

"Forget dry cleaning, you'll owe me a new dress, it's got a huge cut now thanks to you." Weiss groaned as she waved at the slash to her blouse, exposing her white undershirt.

Ruby shrugged sheepishly. "Sorry kiddo, for some reason my semblance didn't activate. I tried to do what you did, but froze I don't know why."

"Have you even checked your aura levels you dunce!" Weiss fired back against her sheepish excuse. Ruby took out her scroll and noticed her levels were indeed in the low.

"You can't use it easily if it's in the red, at best if you willed it enough you'd get one try. It's basic aura math, didn't you learn it at school!?" Weiss asked her with an angry mockery.

Ruby huffed as she shook her head, musing to herself if her master had to deal with her in such a manner when she was a little brat too.

"Look, thank you for the math lesson, but Schnee, I don't have time to talk about wardrobe we gotta a Grimm to kill." Ruby said as she pointed to the Deathstalker in question.

Their eyes narrowed as they soon eyed their target in its stuck position, held down barely by Yang and Blake struggling.

"Are they crazy!? They can't hold down a giant Grimm, they'll get tossed in the air like a pizza any moment." Weiss yelled exasperated by such recklessness.

But while Ruby couldn't sense Blake's intentions from up the cliff, something she was still annoyed with as to why, she did sense Yang's and gave off a smirk.

She now knew what Blake and Yang were going for.

"They want us to cut the tail's off to make this easier." Ruby explained as she raised her weapon up to Weiss's shock.

"Cut it? You can barely jump, how are you supposed to be strong enough to make a right cross slash or throw….whatever that dust blade is!? Also-

Weiss was cut off as Ruby pointed to her Rapier.

"Got any gravity and Ice dust left?" She asked.

"Yes why…..oh!" Weiss nodded before realizing Ruby's intent. As annoyed she was at doing so, she did allow a small smile, impressed by her plan.

They soon pointed their weapons towards the stinger, Ruby pressing a button on her hilt to make its blades twirl more maximum sharpness while Weiss inserted a blue black dust crystals into her Myretenaster. They needed to cut the stinger off, deprive this Grimm of one of its 3 main weapons. As Weiss made a gravity Glyph behind them, though a small one as her aura was low, Ruby did something unexpected that shocked her to no end.

"W-What are you-!" Weiss cried out, her cheeks flushing red as Ruby suddenly groped her behind and lifted her up.

"Sorry! Need to give ya a boost first!" Ruby cried out as she soon took a deep breath and flexed some red aura to her arms as they were propelled towards the Deathstalker. The boost allowed her to throw Weiss straight at the base of the tail as she screamed and flailed ahead of her.

"Sorry kiddo." She hummed as she saw Weiss flailing. It probably was a lot to ask the kid to remain calm after that, even Ruby felt her cheeks tint from the soft touch of Weiss's…..behind. She shook her head to get rid of the embarrassment before holding out a hand.

Weiss's eyes widened as she felt the wind blowing in her face ease up and her limp arms barely keeping hold of her rapier suddenly stiffen, before almost painfully and forcefully being pushed forward as Ruby used the force to straighten her up.

"Is this her semblance? She's controlling my body?!" Weiss thought shocked. She stiffened further as she saw the tail of the Deathstalker incoming as her rapier pointed to it. Clicking her teeth, Weiss pressed her button, the revolver on her dust slot twirling. "How dare she use me as some kind of missile! I'll get that dust blade from her as compensation, especially for the dry cleaning she still owes me!"

As Weiss's Rapier formed a white glyph, ice soon infected the stinger, lodging it further into the ground as the scorpion screeched from the freezer burns. Weiss jumped off the stinger and used another glyph she formed to soften her landing as she ducked and rolled beside the other girls.

"Alright Rose! Now's your chance!" She thought as she began to grow closer towards the scorpion, and Weiss lying down on the ground beside it panting, having been spent. Ruby felt her heartbeat pound rapidly as she saw this. Her teammates were counting on her, and would die if she faltered further. She had to finish this quickly.

Though she struggled to breath, her pounding heart making her throat burn as she fought to catch an inhale to yell her battle cry, Ruby raised her saber, pressing the ignition button to change its scythe form into its rotation form, 2 red blades protruding began to twirl rapidly, forming a cartwheel of saber energy that she used to slice through the tails, severing them as the ice shattered upon impact, making the scorpion reel its head up and squeal in pain.

Blake, Yang, were knocked off their feet at the sudden loss of the wire's target, Weiss soon crawling over to them to avoid a spike leg from piercing her, but all smiled as they saw Ruby success, now she was heading to follow through with cutting the head off this time.

"Go get em Little Red!" Yang called out as she fistpumped the air. She was amazed to see the red-hooded girl land on one of the pincers of the Scorpion Grimm, soon jumping towards its red eyes, slashing them and spurting black gunk. Now all that was left were its vitals, which she aimed for as she jumped off the head and lowered the blade to cut straight through its neck.

Or at least tried…

"Agh! What The-!?" She cried out in frustration as her shoulders ached from the sudden recoil as her Saber bumped off the scaly neck of the scorpion, the blades did no more than emit static as they were repelled. Ruby stood shocked, this had never happened to her before, she hadn't heard of armor that could repel even Lightsaber strikes aside from Beskar. The ice must have weaken the stinger's resistance, but the armor around the head had no wear, not even a scratch from her strike.

"RUBY!" Yang called out, Ruby looked at her to see her and the other girls give off looks of terror, sensing their dread and fear right now. Time seemed to slow down for her as she caught the image of a shadow off her blade's glowing light. Her blood chilled as she sensed the dark side moving to pierce her back. The pincers of the Deathstalker were aiming for her. She had to dodge but, did she have the time?

She shook her head to throw those doubts away, she couldn't hesitate for a moment, it was almost a death sentence in battle.

"Okay…okay, I need to dodge this quick. Maybe…my semblance could help." She thought. She didn't have the physical strength for a force jump, and she was a bit unnerved her last attempt at her semblance failed. She'd need to use that speed semblance she discovered to get over their fast and finish this, but she wasn't sure she could focus enough aura in time. She wasn't use to using it yet. Then a thought traversed.

"Maybe I just need to remember how I did that before." She thought to herself.

She then had the mental image of the Nevermore that grabbed her run through her mind. Her heart was racing as she willed herself to remember the feeling she had when she used her semblance, the glow of those red eyes that bore down on her as she met the bird's hateful gaze when she didn't know if she'd make it. Clones, Vader, all their faces also came to mind. It was then she realized this wasn't her first brush with death, so she pondered why she should keep letting the fear of it stunt her growth.

As she came to this reality, a fire rose within her that began spreading throughout her arms, legs and heart.

She soon saw a flash of red, she felt as if her skin burst open as she saw all around her accelerate. She knew she had recaptured the feeling; she had activated her semblance. She was now soaring through the air at high speeds, allowing her to dodge the pincer strike that instead crushed the one she was on, the Deathstalker wailing in pain as it crashed into the hill nearby, while Ruby its forgotten prey crashed into the girls.

"Phew! Glad your not a scorpion snack right now toots." Yang smirked at here after a sigh of relief. Even the normally stoic Blake smiled in relief at her partner's survival.

"Um…girls." Weiss's uneasy voice drew their gaze as she looked upon the Grimm.

"It's still not dead. How are we ALL gonna get outta this then?" She asked.

All the girls groaned at that reminder. The beast lost 1 of 4 pincers and its tails, but unlike them was still up and about with tons of energy and, as a sickened Ruby could attest as she paled, tons of anger and bloodlust.

"Even my Li—Dust Sword couldn't cut its scales. D-Do these things have any soft spots?" Ruby asked.

Weiss's eyes widened at that notion, her face brimming as Ruby felt Pride and Relief surge within Weiss.

"The belly!" she cried out.

"Weiss is right." Blake said, fighting a disgusted groan at the admittance. "Deathstalkers stomachs are a soft spot. I was trying to get under it before we….crashed and burned." She eyed Yang who's cheeks flushed at the reminder.

"Ruby was it?" Weiss asked the red-head and she nodded, forgetting she never traded her name with the brat. "You have enough aura, maybe just enough to throw one of us again with that, whatever you did?"

"She means the force huh?" Ruby fought the urge to laugh. Her force abilities weren't tied to her semblance like Weiss and Yang were. She could do it, in fact she could do one better….she hoped as her arms ached and gave doubt to that sudden confidence.

"I…might have enough in me to even lift THAT thing, just enough for you girls to cut its stomach open, then Yang can shoot into it and burn the thing alive like she did to that Snake Grimm." Ruby sighed as she sat down, trying to get her energy up by focusing again.

"AWESOME!" Yang cried out as the idea, her blood boiling in excitement. "Help me kill that thing and I'll buy the whole damn bar tonight!"

Ruby smirked as she heard that. Alcohol did help inhibit her force senses, something she sometimes begged her master to let her. She could sense a bit of flirty behavior from Yang, but she wasn't gonna pass on that after the strenuous night this has been. "I'll hold you to that….toots." She teased.

watch?v=hT3esdro4so (battle ost)

Ruby almost regretted her and Weiss's idea the minute they tried it. It felt as if she was trying to lift with her bare hands an entire Venator class space cruiser. The weight of this giant scorpion was threatening to crush her, especially as she struggled to handle the feel of its thrashing as it was slowly raised off its crab like legs.

Seeing her struggle, Weiss pulled out a black gravity crystal and inserted it into Myrentenaster's dust slot, the gear compartments twirling like a revolver as the thin blade of her rapier turned pitch Black.

"Heads up" she cried out as she stabbed her blade into the ground, a large black glyph circling under the Deathstalker, who screeched in fright as it suddenly found itself a few feet further above the ground.

Yang and Blake nodded as they saw this and the heavy breathing Ruby and Weiss gave off, they knew the two couldn't hold this for long, they needed to act fast to attack the underbelly, the scorpions usual soft spot, but they paled as they saw something frightening. A small layer of black and gold armored scaled alongside its stomach.

"Damn it! That armored shit has scales on its stomach too!? That's just cheating!" Yang cried out.

Ruby winced at the sound of the curse, always hating the foul mouth her master had around her growing up. But she couldn't deny yang had right to be frustrated. Frustration shared by Blake and Weiss.

"Great plan fearless leader! How are we supposed to cut that thing up now?!" Blake yelled at Weiss whose face reddened as she fumed from what Ruby sensed was rage, indignity and embarrassment.

"How was I supposed to *grunt* know it mutated so much?" Weiss retorted with a groan as she struggled to keep the Grimm afloat.

"Well snow princess, we just wasted a lot time and aura cause of you didn't know." Yang quipped angrily, her hair glowing a bit from her anger and frustration.

Ruby's eyes widened as she got an idea from the pressure Yang was exuding.

"Enough!" Ruby cried out starting the others before Yang narrowed her gaze.

"I don't know who the hell you think you are lady but-" Yang grumbled out before Ruby cut her off.

"I said enough!" Ruby yelled out, this time adding force (literal and metaphorical) to her tone. Her commander voice.

"If you'd get your heads out your…. keisters" Ruby stuttered careful not to curse. "Your ears could hear me when I say we can still kill it!"

"Pff oh right how? It's got armor, even your fancy red dust blade can't slice it off." Blake scoffed

"Not without a little more power. It thrives on raw power from swings to slash off metal and armor. I'm strong but I know a certain hot head here that has way more muscle." She explained as she raised an eyebrow to yang who blushed a bit as she huffed and flexed her arms.

Ruby took a deep breath and used the force to levitate her saber off her back and handed it to Yang.

"Press the button on the top to activate a single blade, Blake then use your wire to hurl yang towards the Grimms stomach, Weiss then you summon one more glyph to enhance Yangs speed, the velocity of those two actions combined with my saber and Yangs raw might should slash open its stomach and finish it off."

"Should?" Weiss asked incredulously

Ruby shrugged her shoulders almost dropping the Grimm in the process. "I never fought a Grimm like this, for all I know this could just piss it off more and kill us anyway."

"Oh, then maybe we're just better off being Grimm chow! Lets just get outta here!" Weiss yelled.

"We don't have the energy anymore. It's kill this thing or die Weiss!" Blake retorted as she soon eyed Ruby, glaring a bit. Ruby sensed her apprehension over such a risky plan, but also sense contentedness as she knew Ruby was right as well.

Yang however, showed no reservations, pumping her chest proudly. "I say we go for it!" She yelled as she pressed the buttons, igniting Ruby's saber.

With that, Blake did as she was told as well, wrapping Yang in wire and hurling her into the air, allowing Weiss to form the Glyph, this one snow white like her hair. Yang felt a surge of energy rush through her as her body flashed bright yellow, her eye's bright red as she became a flash of light that shot like a rocket at the Scorpion.

"GO YANG!" Ruby gave off a mighty yell as she summoned the last of her strength to lift up the scorpion, exposing its stomach. Yang, despite the barely comprehending all she saw with her senses overwhelmed by the light and energy, did hear her crushes cry, all she could do was press another button and allow the lightsaber to perform its cartwheel buzzsaw, the red blades mixing with her yellow aura, and soon the fire from her hair that seeped into the blades.

As they struck the stomach, Yang felt like she just punched a mountain, but quickly found the blade going straight through the hardened stomach of the Grimm, it's eyes glowing orange as fire from the blades seeped throughout its body from the wound, it breathing fire as it spasm, Yang getting blown back by a fiery explosion of black dust and yellow aura as she went flying back towards the girls.

As ashes and light began to fade from where the Alpha Grimm once was, the girls saw only left was a sizzling lightsaber and crater, followed by Yang who shakily rose to her feet, giving them a weary thumbs up as she began to stumble towards them.

All three girls rushed to her to catch her, before collapsing into one another exhausted, everyone panting as they leaned against the other.

"That….*pant* was way too reckless you, *pant* idiots." Weiss huffed an admonishment.

"It was your idea…*Pant* and Ruby's, snowflake." Blake fired back weakly.

"Who….oh! So that's your name?" Weiss asked the red-head who rolled her eyes.

"Well….I don't like Peasant" she teased, making Weiss blush at Yang's smirk and Blake's annoyed glare at her. "So how's about we introduce ourselves again?" Ruby proposed. "I'm Ruby Branwen from Vacuo."

"Weiss Schnee, not that you all didn't know that." She said flustered.

Yang weakly shot a charred arm up, waving to go next as they eyed her. "Yang Xiao-Long, Patch Island." She weakly groaned, feeling her eyelids grow heavier by the second as she weakly turned her head to Blake. "Your turn."

Blake's lip twinges a bit, something no one but Ruby notices, sensing a bit of reservation of speaking for some reason. "My name is Blake, Blake E-Eve." She said a bit forcefully.

"Great to meet ya….sweet cheeks" Yang sighed before dozing off content that everyone introduced themselves, allowing sleep to take her to Weiss's amusement.

Ruby's face scrunched as she heard Blake introduce herself to Yang and Weiss, not feeling the same humor. To some it seemed Blake had been merely shy, but Ruby knew otherwise. She had heard the truth when she mind controlled Blake into revealing it. "Eve? Didn't she say her last name was Belladonna? Why is she lying?"

Ruby tried to reach within Blake's spirit with the force, to see what she was hiding. As she closed her eyes, she reached out. But all she was met with was a thick haze. Blake's feelings were hidden, clouded from her view for some reason.

Ruby thought she might have simply been too exhausted at first, though she then remembered Blake couldn't be sensed easily for some reason. "Maybe she is strong-willed. Or perhaps her aura is full. Ozpin said it protects the soul, maybe she isn't as spent as we thought?" Ruby thought. At that theory, Ruby withdrew her sense before she exhausted herself too much. Trying to enter the mind of a strong-willed person was risky, she could have been detected if not careful, though it still lead to one issue she had.

How did it work the first time? If Blake's aura held off sensing emotions, why not her mind? Was the mind not a part of the soul?

Ruby was brought out of her thoughts as the snoring from Yang grew louder, followed by an annoyed groan from Weiss.

"*Sigh* Guess we gotta carry fire-fart to the temple to pass now." She whined. She tapped Yang's shoulders, wincing a bit as they felt hot from heat her hair had once consumed her with. Blake narrowed her gaze at Ruby at that.

"I know we had to take a risk to win, but I still don't like you had her risk it instead of you since it was your plan." Blake complained to Ruby who sighed, deciding not to press her sensing at this time, she'd have to do some digging later.

"I agree, and I'd do it myself gladly. I just wasn't strong enough right now." She sighed. "I'm never strong enough when it counts." She sadly thought as well before reaching down and throwing an arm from Yang over her shoulder, trying to life her up, followed by Weiss…at least before they all snickered at her realizing she was half her size.

"I'll carry her Snowflake. You just keep an eye on Grimm for us." Blake joked, almost tempted to be mean and say she was used to servants caring for her anyway, making Weiss's cheeks tint as she puffed them in embarrassment, reading Blake's thought like an open book.

"Oh….fine you jerks!" She squealed angrily as she went to grab her Rapier and the other's blades. She was especially interested in the charred Lightsaber in the crater of the Deathstalker. It was covered in searing smoke, the handle having hand indents from Yang's pressure, the holes on each end near the blade compartments emitting static, showing damage.

"I'll ask her how she made this later, I doubt I'd find any answers from this mess right now." Weiss thought to herself as she careful picked it up with Gambrol Shroud's wires to avoid burning or shocking herself, soon rushing over to Ruby and Blake as they carried Yang to the temple, hoping this initiation was over at last.

Back up on the cliff, the four teens didn't realize they were being watched, not by Grimm, but by 4 other people snickering sadistically at their state as they wobbled into the forest, their bodies covered by the shadows of the night.

"Pff! They thought that thing was tough? Those babies are gonna have a rough 4 years." A girl snickered.

"Don't be so mean babe. Maybe….one of them will make it to next year?" A boy with dark hair said with sarcastic hope.

"Well, if they keep piggybacking off our Grimm hunts they might just luck out." Another boy with armor laughed softly.

"Now now, don't say such things. They are all such promising….figures." A girl with red hair said seductively, licking her lips as she glanced at the girls. "Wouldn't we want to have a little "fun" with them this year before that happens?" She asked her team who sported nasty smiles as they nodded.

"Why wait?" The first boy asked curiously, his hand itching towards a pistol on his lap before she shook her head.

"Patience, we were sent to aide and observe by the top, so we don't want to risk anyone seeing us. We'll have our chance later." She said. They all nodded before retreating back into the forest.

Ruby meanwhile, felt her spine shiver as she got a terrible feeling, almost throwing up in her mouth a bit, but just chucked it up to Grimm nearby, unaware of the greater darkness approaching.

Beacon

"I must say, of all the applicants I have ever witnessed take this exam, none have impressed me as much as you 3 brave teams." Ozpin said proudly to the trio of teen quartets before him in the school auditorium, all staring back either embarrassed, exhausted, or glum from their experience.

"I understand your dread my children. This is both a proud and a sad day indeed, considering only you 12 stand before me." They all winced as they heard that.

First was naturally Ruby's team, all sporting burns and scrapes over their dirty bodies. As hurt as they were physically, some like Weiss and Yang were more hurt in terms of pride. They were actually the last team to make it to the temple, the other two having gotten their long before. One their left was the newly christened Team CVWY, lead by a brunette with shade glasses, sporting a turret in her purse she carried proudly beside her partner Velvet, a bunny faunus looking meek and shy as she had her head down nervous. Beside them were two boys, one almost giant size and another who had red hair, dark skin, and was blind to Ruby's amazement.

Beside them were Team SSSN, led by a monkey faunus named Sun who, along with his partner Neptune, a blue haired boy, gave flirty winks to Ruby and her team to their annoyance, well…..everyone but Weiss who turned away awkwardly, her cheeks flushing.

Ruby pushed down her annoyance at the boy's horniness, as sadness prevailed as the main feeling of this assembly. She herself didn't forget that of all the applicant, they were all the only ones to pass. Over 2 dozen kids had been evacuated due to the Alpha, and were therefore disqualified due to also being over halfway from the temple. Worse, 8 kids were killed by Grimm, something to Ruby's dismay Ozpin and Glynda noted were "a record low."

It brought back horrid memories of her times on the battlefield, seeing her troops cry out painfully as they were shot and died. She heard it hundreds of times as her master refused to hide her from the realities of battle despite being only 6 at the time. Her first and only year of war, thankfully, was one she couldn't forget, the scars were too ingrained in her to ever numb the pain of death she sensed. Only some whiskey could do that, so she glanced at Yang, still wobbly as she only just awoken from her nap, luckily in time for Ozpin to address her after giving the other passing applicants their team names and leadership roles. She was so taking her up on her bar offer, alcohol dulled her pain and her force senses a bit. She needed a heavy nights sleep free of nausea.

"Ruby Branwen, Blake Eve, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long. I want to say how grateful I am to you for your bravery and skills. Thanks to your teamwork against the Alpha, not only did you succeed in avenging our applicants lost to it, you've made the Emerald Forest a safer place for our school to test new initiates. Your team will surely have lots of potential to be realized as huntresses-in training." He said proudly.

Ruby felt Weiss grow hopeful and anxious at that. Feeling expectations arise within. This girl no doubt, as an heiress to a major corporation, had lots of burdens placed on her. She was probably hoping for a leadership role….or really expecting it to show off her worth. Not that Ruby would oppose to that. She'd gladly let Weiss take the reins, she had a good idea during the battle that helped them claim victory. Yang was too wild to think for herself in battle, Blake was too mysterious to get a feel for what she'd want you to do most of the time. And Ruby…she just couldn't trust anyone yet. She'd need time. It would make sense to have Weiss in charge. Ruby had been a commander in the war, but those days were long past. She couldn't be trusted to handle 3 other lives, unlike this kid who she felt Pride and ambition sour. She was no doubt ready for-

"From this day you are now Team REWX (Pronounced Rex)." Ozpin began saying. Ruby winced as she heard a familiar name, her hand gripping tightly as she fought down the voice of a clone ringing commands and advice in her and a little Togruta girls ears. Nothing nauseated her more though than by what Ozpin said next.

"Led by Ruby Branwen. Congratulations." Ozpin's announcement brought a chill to the air as he cut Ruby off from her thoughts. Weiss's eyes widened as well in equal shock, her eyes fighting back water arising.

"W-What!? Me!? B-But sir I don't think I'm really a good choice." She protested.

"Oh? Why not?" Ozpin asked with a giggle.

Ruby fixed him a death glare, silently trying to remind him she was trying to hide in plain sight as a huntress, not to be the center of attention for all to see. She was trying to hide her Jedi self from any possible spies.

"You came up with the plan to slay the Alpha Grimm, reckless it might be true but still. Your power and wisdom led your team to victory. You're a fitting choice I dare say." Ozpin replied, his tone, yet proud led no room for negotiation leading Ruby to slouch in acceptance reluctantly.

Her back soon stiffened as she paled, soon sensing a bitter anger arise from two people behind her. She spared a glance to see Weiss glaring bitterly at her, teeth clenched. Disappointment, self-loathing, fear and anger? They radiated off the girl.

Blake sported a neutral glare, but Ruby felt a slight flicker of mistrust and bitterness off the girl before if faded into the clouds of her force sense yet again to her frustration. Not helped by Yang giving her a wink and cheesy smile that made her roll her eyes. She was in charge of all 3 of these girls, one a flirt, another a spoiled brat, and lastly a mysterious former (she hoped) terrorist hiding in plain sight like a ninja, like her?

"By the force this is gonna suck." She whispered to herself.

Author Notes

Hope you enjoyed tonights chapter. Merry Christmas to all. Now, I will do my best but with work and holidays at best I will make a story a week, but not necessarily this one. Hope the battle was a good gift for you all, please leave reviews and let me know as well as ideas for future battles. Salem is sidious in this story, it just fits. Vader will be sending inquisitors after Ruby that's for sure, but whom will he send? Someone from canon star wars or a RWBY character as one? Maybe both? Are they already eyeing her? Who was that team of nasty 4 kids eyeing the girls? Answers will come soon, but for now next time we explore life at Beacon for Ruby and her new team REWX and how Ruby will struggle to adapt to life with others her age, let alone as leader again. Will Captain Rex one day appear?...we'll see, there are Grimm in this canon we may yet see, next time on Chapter 6: Trial of Insight.