Chapter 20
After talking to Roman Torchwick, Rosa Reidan finally made the choice to leave the Sith. The Third and Fourth Alliance fleets were heading to Mistral ahead of the Battle of Haven. The group arrived at Haven Academy. Ozpin, though Oscar crippled Darth Vanus by activating an attack planted at the Battle of Beacon. Rose Reidan ended Vanus's life and became the Fall maiden.
Emerald took out her lightsaber and rushed at Ozpin. Tears filled her eyes as she watched Vanus's back be completely destroyed. Emerald knew that she wouldn't be able to survive that attack. No one could. Umbra killed Vanus to keep the Maiden power with the Sith. Emerald went to kill Ozpin when he took out his own lightsaber. The dark green light shown. He blocked Valum's attack.
Kaelor and Ravik were jumping down to start fighting the Jedi.
"Go on! Kill them!" Leo turned to Raven.
"I don't take orders from you." Raven said. She took out her lightsaber. The purple light hummed at Leo. He took a step back.
"You don't want to do that." Lilith said.
Rosa felt the power come over her. There was something to it burned. She felt as if her body was going to burn to a crisp. She let out a scream, and fire came out of her mouth. She started to float in the air. The wind circled the fire, causing the fire to take shape. It took the shape of a rose.
She had no idea what she was doing. The Rose burst, sending petals everywhere. Vox turned to Rosa.
"Control it!" Vox said.
"How?!" Rosa asked.
"Don't let it dominate you!" Vox said. He wished there were others here now. The three apprentices were doing a fine job holding the Jedi off, but they couldn't keep it up forever. Lilith took out her lightwhip and went to strike at Rosa. Rosa raised her hand and created a shield out of nothing. She was beginning to understand.
"Keep your emotions in check." Raven said.
Rosa closed her eyes and went over those early Jedi calming techniques. She touched the ground. She let out a breath.
"Now, kill them." Vox said. Rosa looked at her friends. She raised her hand. She gathered energy in it. At the last second, she brought her hand to Vox's direction. Vox opened his eyes wide as he was hit with a blast full force of the Maiden fire. He was tossed out of the entrance hall.
"What?" Lilith said.
"Men! Kill the Sith." Raven said. Qrow looked at Raven. He smiled. He blocked a strike from Ravik.
"Traitors!" Ravik said. His red blade broke Qrow's fake lightsaber. The blade bounced on the ground and Ravik raised his hand. He destroyed the lightsaber with the force. Qrow smiled. He took out his true lightsaber and turned it on. A Blue blade came out of it.
"That's Master Quinn's Kyber crystal!" Raven said.
"It is." Qrow kicked Ravik.
He raised his head.
"Oz, We need to take care of Hazel. He's still alive." Qrow said.
"Yes, we do." Oscar said. They left the entrance hall.
"The Sith are everywhere outside." Rosa said. Emerald launched at her. Rosa brought her hand up, slamming Valum into the ceiling. Lilith brought out her lightsaber and whipped at Rosa. Rosa took out both her lightsabers. Rosa felt the tattoo on her back begin to break apart. She imagined wings on her back, and soon, that's what appeared. The darkness of the Tattoos was on the wings.
Ruby used her semblance to rush up to Rosa and smiled.
"It's good to have your back." Ruby said. Rose petals floated behind Ruby. Valum landed and looked at the two.
"You fucking bitch! I should have known you betrayed us!" Valum gathered the darkness around them into her.
Raven was fighting Lilith. Lilith was using her lightwhip in remarkably effective ways. She brought it back and quickly sliced the throat of one of Raven's men. Raven changed into a Raven and flew behind Lilith. Vernal was keeping Leo busy.
A portal opened up, and more Sith began to flood the building.
"Vernal, stop playing with him and focus on the newcomers." Raven said. She opened a portal and grabbed one of her men.
"You, go back to the basecamp and get everyone out. Plan Hawkbat." Raven said. He nodded. The plan would eventually have them move to Vacuo or Vale. It looked like Vacuo would have less Jedi which would fit her people nicely. This only happened because the Sith found them.
Raven jumped back and landed by Ruby. She looked at her.
"You gonna stay calm this time?" Raven asked.
"Yeah." Ruby said.
"Your mother warned me last night that Vanus was going to betray me." Raven said. She rushed forward. Valum rushed Ruby.
"This is all your fault!" Valum said. Ruby smirked. After fighting the darkness of Ira, this would be easy.
Weiss was battling against Ravik. They both used form II. They were giving it everything they had. More Sith arrived on the scene. But Ravik and Weiss weren't focused on them.
"You Jedi know how to ruin everything." Ravik said. Weiss didn't speak. Ravik smirked as he brought his free hand back and started gathering. He brought his hand forward. Weiss felt the dark wave hit her. She was flung back. She opened her eyes and saw Jacques Schnee, her father, walking toward her as a mangled, burnt corpse. She saw Willow and Whitley there as well. Then Klein. Weiss closed her eyes. She took a deep breath.
"They are dead." Weiss said to herself.
"You could have saved us." Whitley said.
"You failed us." Willow said.
"I would expect nothing less from a disappointment." Jacques said. Weiss raised her head.
"Once I feared you father. No more. You are not real." Weiss rushed forward. She brought her lightsaber up for a plunge. The illusions disappeared when Weiss hit Ravik on the shoulder. He grabbed it and gritted his teeth. She got a glancing blow on him, but it was too close for comfort.
Arslan brought her team outside of the main hall. The Sith troops were everywhere, and they were firing. Many of the students went outside and saw the attack. Arslan looked up and saw Third Fleet dropships landing in the courtyard. Alliance troops, clones, and Jedi left the ships. Red lightsabers started to turn all over the campus. The battle for Haven had begun. Arslan felt explosions ripple throughout the city.
"The White Fang have engaged the Fourth Fleet forces!" Arslan heard called out over the Jedi comms.
"We've got to get as many students out of here as possible." Arslan said. Sun left the main building, being tossed by a Sith. He slammed hard against a pillar. The Sith tried to kill Sun, but he rolled out of the way. He brought his lightsaber up and hit the Sith.
"This is insane!" Neptune yelled as he went to get Sun.
Kaiser was getting his forces ready for the final attack on Haven. He was in the middle of the debrief, showing his troops the layout of the school when his scroll was hacked.
Kaiser turned around and saw Ilia there.
"I see you, Kaiser. Thought you could get rid of me that easy?" Ilia said.
"You will regret betraying us." Kaiser said.
"You would try to kill me to save yourself." Ilia said. "You almost locked me out completely. But you forgot one thing at Menagerie. You forgot to change my credentials."
"That's not possible." Kaiser said. He checked it himself. So did Umbra and Memores. How could something like that slip by all of them? How could it slip by Memores?
"Where are you now Ilia?" Yuma asked.
"Right outside." Ilia said.
"This is your last chance, Adam. Surrender or be destroyed." Winter Schnee's voice rang out over the speakers from her ship.
"They found us!" Trifa said.
"We're not going to let you slaughter us here. Men! Forget the plan. We're going to kill every single one of them!" Kaiser said. They grabbed their weapons and began to leave the hideout.
"I tried to help you, Adam. Believe me, I tried. But you were determined to throw everything away. You have left us with no other option. I'm sorry it's come to this. In a different life, maybe you could have become something good." Ghira said.
"Don't you lecture me now." Kaiser could hear the sounds of battle outside.
"Boss! The Third and Fourth fleets are outside! Along with the Red Guard and a Clone cruiser!" Yuma said.
"We were sold out by the Sith!" Kaiser said. He swore revenge on Sith. He should have realized they would toss him aside like this!
He went to the streets of Mistral. He was going to kill something.
Roman saw the battle starting.
"You know, battles are always the best thing for getting us out of places." Roman said. He got to the airbus that was left behind. In the dead of the night, the people fighting each other wouldn't bother trying to stop a single ship like this.
Neo smirked.
"Yes, we're going to Atlas now. I do know how to drive these things" Roman said. Neo rolled her eyes.
They flew toward Atlas. He always wanted to go to where all the rich were.
Pyrrha saw two Sith stop when they saw her in the powerchair. She smirked. She jumped up and landed. She took out her lightsaber and rushed forward. She spun and slashed down at the first Sith. She cut through the first Sith, then spun around to the second. He blocked the strike.
"We were told you lost your legs!" The Sith said.
"I did. But I got them back." Pyrrha brought her arms up and broke the lock. She brought her lightsaber down on the Sith, killing him.
Ren blocked the strike from a Sith.
"I am Lord Tohl. Prepare to die Jedi." Tohl said. Ren jumped back and blocked the strike. He stepped back and continued to block the strikes from the Sith. Tohl was using an aggressive form.
"You Sith always had an arrogance to you. You never noticed when you overreached." Ren said. Nora brought her lightsaber down. Tohl stepped back. He brought his hand up and sent a blast of force lightning. Nora raised her hand and started to absorb the energy. What she didn't with Tutaminis she absorbed with her semblance. Tohl opened his eyes wide. Nora jumped forward releasing all the energy and slashed at him. Tohl rolled out of the way, avoiding most of the strike, but Nora landed a strike on his leg. He gripped it.
Ren rushed forward. He jumped up and landed on the shoulders of Tohl. He brought his hand down and gripped the mask Tohl was wearing. He ripped the mask off. Tohl stumbled back. His skin was covered in scales. He was a Faunus.
"I won't forget that." Tohl said. He rushed forward and brought his lightsaber in an arc. Nora blocked it, having to take a step back. Ren rushed over and brought his lightsaber up. Tohl broke the lock with Nora and made a wide strike to block Ren. Nora brought her lightsaber up and plunged it into Tohl's heart. He opened his eyes wide. Nora was faster than he thought.
Qrow and Oscar had their lightsabers on. They saw Vox in the courtyard. He stood up and ripped his shirt off. There was a massive burn on his chest. He took out one of his lightsabers, a crossguard lightsaber. The red illuminated him. The second was also a crossguard lightsaber. It had a black blade.
"Once I'm done with you, I will rip Umbra limb from limb." Vox said.
Vox rushed forward faster than a regular human would have been able to see. Oscar brought his lightsaber up and felt Vox bring his black lightsaber up. Oscar blocked the strike. He also felt his feet leave the ground and realized he was in the air a second later. He slammed into the wall. Oscar dropped to the ground. Qrow held his ground, barely.
"You are a monster." Oscar said.
"You should be talking." Vox said.
Oscar stood back up. He rushed forward and slid under a strike from Vox. Oscar got back up when Vox kicked him in the chest. Oscar went flying back, rolling on the ground. His back slammed into another building.
"I'm sorry Oscar. I'm taking over." Ozpin said.
"No!" Oscar shouted. But he lost control. He was forced into his mind. Ozpin stood up and took out his cane. He held it like a lightsaber.
"Finally came out Ozpin?" Vox asked.
"You won't kill this boy." Ozpin said.
Jaune was blocking the attacks of three Sith at once, while using Battle Meditation. There were thousands of combatants all throughout the city at this point. Jaune felt every one of them. He also felt other Jedi using Battle Meditation. Jaune was using what he learned from Shii-Cho and Soresu. He had nothing to fear from these Sith. They may have outnumbered him, but they were quantity over quality. They were hopelessly outmatched. He quickly deflected the strike of one of them and created an opening. Jaune flicked his lightsaber in a Shii-Cho maneuver and made a quick slash across the Sith's chest. He dropped.
"Return to Salem now or die." Jaune said.
"Not going to happen." The Second Sith said. Jaune blocked a strike after that and made the Sith's lightsaber bounce up in the air. Jaune spun around and cut off the Sith's head. The last Sith took a step back before a sword came out of his chest. Scarlet brought his sword out of the Sith and nodded at Jaune.
"We're going to go outside." Sage said.
"Good. They need you there." Jaune said.
In the courtyard, the Jedi who were discovered were gathered. They and their teams were now fighting for their lives. Desmond Duke was trying to block the attacks coming for him, but he couldn't keep it up forever. The attack was brutal. The roof was completely covered in Sith troops, and the courtyard was quickly filled with Sith. The Jedi quickly turned their lightsabers up and started fighting back.
Desmond had his lightsaber out, but also his hunter weapon. He was doing his best to keep those around him safe, but slowly they were being killed. He was defending against three Sith when he saw the lights of the Third Fleet overtake Haven.
"What? How?" A Sith asked. Desmond smiled as took out a Sith. They could still make it through this!
A rocket was fired near his feet. Desmond went flying back. He tried to stand up, but he felt his legs were gone. He looked up and saw A Sith warrior there. Desmond didn't make it out of the battle.
Kaiser was making his way through the enemy. He was stopped by four Jedi. Kaiser held out his lightsaber and rushed forward. He started using his drain ability as he started the fight. The Jedi were feeling it. Kaiser made swift work of them. Two he killed in the same strike. He turned around and grabbed the neck of an alliance troop.
"How did you know about the attack?" Kaiser said.
"I don't know." He said. Kaiser snapped his neck. He dropped the dead troop to the ground.
Yuma was fighting with his task force. They were trying to seize the heavy weaponry they had smuggled into the city. They were in different warehouses throughout the lower levels of Mistral. They were moving to one of them. He and his men had their blasters firing back at the enemy. Some of them were coming in from the dark. Bullets and blaster bolts were flying everywhere. He and his men had to dive behind anything that would keep them safe. He grabbed a flare he had on his vest and lit it. He tossed it out into the darkness. Some of the troops were exposed. They started firing back. Yuma made a hand signal to his men and got them moving. One of his men started running when a bullet hit him in the head. His body hit the ground.
"We need those guns!" Yuma shouted. But they were hopelessly outnumbered.
Trifa used her spider webs to bring a soldier right to her. She took out her knife and started stabbing him. His aura was able to withstand the first few strikes, but soon she broke it. Once she did, she brought the knife up to his throat and slit it. She grabbed his gun and started firing at the enemy troops coming in. She was trying to buy time for the runners to get to the inner Mistral troops they had. She saw a massive open road and brought both her hands out, creating a massive spider web. It would stop troops from coming this way for now. Long enough for her to collapse the train line overhead. She raised her hands to the archway and started moving up to it. She grabbed a set of charges and turned them on. She knew she was spotted after the first few bullets were coming at her.
She dropped, using her webs to keep her safe. She ordered her men to move back. She handed one of them the detonator and ordered him to stay behind.
"As soon as they start moving in, use this. You know how." Trifa handed him the detonator. She ordered her men back. Kaiser got on the line.
"Trifa, Yuma, and his men are trying to reach the warehouses. He needs your help. If we can get those guns we can start turning the tide of this battle." Kaiser said.
"Understood." Trifa said. She ordered her men to their new destination.
The battles raged at every layer of the city. The non-Sith allied guards and hunters were fighting those who were. Asha stood at her command deck and saw everything that was happening.
"Damn the Sith for corrupting my city." Asha said. She had sent a message to her father, telling him about the situation.
"Don't worry about me, Asha. I won't die." Old Kael said.
"Please be safe. The battle is happening everywhere." Asha said.
"I know." Kael was standing over the body of a Sith. He may have been old, but he still had life in him.
"We can't let the Sith steal the Holocrons. Do you need more Jedi?" Asha asked.
"It may come to that. Don't send too many." Old Kael said.
"I won't." Asha said. More drop ships left the hangers. She looked down at the school and could see all the lightsabers activated. There were so many Jedi and Sith here. She made sure she had Typhoon's Edge with her, her weapon. It was resting as a glaive for now. She was getting concerned that she would have to go down there herself.
Winter began to summon her fallen enemies. She had improved enough in her skills with this ability to be able to create them on the ground even from this high in the air. Many didn't last long, but they were doing their job.
"General, the train line over the south entrance was just collapsed." One of her officers reported. She looked at the damage.
"Keep an eye on that. We can't have them blocking us from every entrance." Winter said. She sent in four Clone Commando teams to keep the western entrance, the one that had the easiest access to the school, open.
She felt the Jedi begin to use battle meditation. She needed to keep them safe. The Sith would be feeling the presence too.
"We have confirmed the presence of Adam Taurus in the lower levels." One of her officers said. Winter turned to Jedi Master Fir, One of the Jedi Masters who trained her.
"He needs to be defeated. But we also need a leader." Master Fir said. He closed his eyes and went into deep thought.
"I sense that a battle here would leave us… weakened greatly. He is most likely to flee." Master Yew, one of the Jedi masters who joined the alliance in Atlas, said. She hadn't been one of the masters to train as a padawan, but she was helping refine Winter's abilities.
"I do not know if you have the ability to resist that force drain ability of his yet. Fighting him will be a major risk. Right now, is not the time to fight him." Master Cypress said. She was a Faunus Jedi master who joined Winter after the battle of Menagerie.
"I see. I don't know if we will get a chance this good again to take out the leader of the White Fang." Winter said.
"We are protecting the innocent civilians of Mistral tonight." Master Fir said.
Winter didn't like it, but if the three masters agreed on this, that didn't bode well for her if she ignored them. It killed her inside, but she would have to let him get away.
"Track him for as long as possible." Winter said.
Ruby and Rosa were fighting Valum. She stumbled back at the power they both now had.
"How?! How is that possible? You were weaklings at Beacon?" Valum asked.
"We're nothing like the girls you knew." Ruby said.
"Fine. I can let everything out!" Emerald shouted. The three armbands on her right arm broke. Massive balls of darkness entered into her. Her skin completely changed. She looked almost like Salem now. She brought one hand down to the ground. Her gloves were destroyed and more darkness entered into Valum. Each ring she wore began to break as well.
Rosa turned to Ruby.
"I've never seen her like this. Are you ready?" Rosa asked.
"Yes, I am." Ruby said. She turned on both of her lightsabers. Rosa had both on as well. Rosa was slightly floating in the air. The wings on her back were still there.
Emerald rushed in first. Ruby felt her darkness and began the mental process of entering Vaapad. Rosa rushed in front and blocked the opening strike with her lightsabers. Rosa's eyes began to glow, and she started using the new power she had. She saw the pure rage on Valum's face.
"Why did Salem name you Valum?" Rosa asked. Valum jumped up quickly and kicked Rosa back. Ruby rushed in and began fighting. She would have been a blur to the normal eye. Even as trained as Rosa was, she was beginning to struggle to keep up with the speed Rosa had. But Valum kept up. She blocked each strike, using Soresu. Rosa had no idea that Valum knew Soresu. Valum blocked a strike and quickly jumped back. She raised her hand and used the force to grab Vanus's lightsaber. She turned on the red blade and rushed back in.
Rosa held her hand out and a ball of fire was created. She hit the ball, and it broke. The shards of the fire looked like fall leaves. Rosa smirked at that.
"I wonder what else I can do." Rosa said. Valum brought her hand up and used the force to block the fire leaves coming at her. Ruby rushed in and continued her battle with Valum. Valum was able to block the attacks, keeping up with Ruby, but she wasn't able to overtake her.
In the blink of an eye Valum brought her lightsaber up, blocking two strikes from Ruby, took a step back about brought Vanus's lightsaber up, which was blocked by one of Ruby's lightsabers, and brought her lightsabers up in a V shape to block another of Ruby's strikes. Rosa was behind Valum and brought her knee up, hitting Valum. Valum was picked up by the kick and flung backward into a wall. Valum quickly got back up. She gathered the dark energy and created dark tendrils. Two of them for now. That was all she could handle.
"Ruby! Look out!" Rosa went up front and brought her hands up. She created fire hands that held onto the dark tendrils. Valum brought her hands up and gathered dark energy into her hand.
"Kill the traitor." Valum said. She released the ball of Sith magic. Rosa had to drop the fire hands and touched the wooden floors. The wood quickly shot up.
"I didn't think that would work." Rosa said. The Sith magic hit the newly formed tree and killed it. Ruby used her semblance to get behind Valum. She was in the air. Valum turned around and felt a kick to the face. She stumbled back. Her foot hit Vanus's body.
"Master." Valum said.
"Salem betrayed me, Vanus. She promised me that I would never be manipulated like I was with Maku. She lied to me. She told me that I had agency over my body. She forced me to go through that 'treatment' so she could get what she wanted. She told me I owed her everything. That was the most blatant lie of all. I owe her nothing. She ruined my life!" Rosa said.
"You don't stand a chance against her. And now you will have a kill-on-sight order against you. Nowhere left to run. You'll die just like Maku wanted you to. On the run and broken." Valum said.
"Is that so?" Rosa asked.
"Who do you think it will be? Me? Kaiser? Vox? I hope it's Vox. There'll be nothing left of you after he's done." Valum said.
Blake and Yang were fighting the Sith that Weiss was. He was stronger than the average Sith. He was fighting the three of them back pretty well. He was a master of Form II, like Weiss. He had been keeping Yang on the defensive, and moving in between Weiss and Blake, taking away Weiss' ability to get a hit in. He had a sadistic smile on his face.
"I wonder why you three are down here while your leader is fighting Valum. Would you just get in the way?" Ravik said.
"She has Rosa with her." Weiss said. She ran and slid behind Ravik. He took a few steps back, before turning around and slashing at Yang. She brought her lightsaber up, blocking the strike. Blake jumped in the air over Ravik. Ravik brought his hand up and sent out a force repulse. Blake went flying, slamming through the ceiling. She spun in the air and sent a force blast to create a wider hole.
Ravik stepped aside and blocked a series of strikes from Weiss. He saw the falling debris hit the ground. Yang came back with a powerful rush. Ravik blocked, but his lightsaber left his grasp. He jumped back and used his Hunter Weapon. It was in the form of a bow. He fired three arrows. Yang brought her hand down and swiped the three shots at her. Ravik used the force to get his lightsaber back.
He put the bow back on his back. He turned his lightsaber back on and saw Blake use the force to land. She turned to Ravik. Ravik looked at the three Jedi. He was beginning to wonder if he could handle this.
Kaelor was blocking the attacks from all the members of Team JNPR. He had to avoid Pyrrha who was the strongest fighter out of all of them. He was hoping she would still be crippled to avoid fighting her, but that wasn't the case. Nora was putting pressure on him. Ren fired at him, forcing him to focus on that.
Kaelor knew Jaune wasn't an option. He knew his defenses were strong, but he also knew that Pyrrha wouldn't let him get to Jaune. Kaelor really didn't need this right now. But they were determined to push him. His Djem So allowed him to stay ahead of the worst of the attacks. He really wished Memores was still around right about now. His apprentices would have been able to even out the numbers. But they didn't have that. They were the ones surprised.
He opened his eyes wide. That was battle meditation talking to him.
"That cheeky bastard." Kaelor said, looking at Jaune. He ducked under a strike and brought a kick up to Nora. She stumbled back. Kaelor felt the darkness being unleashed above them. Valum must have destroyed the artifacts she was wearing. He needed some of those. Valum said it was key to Umbra joining their side, but it must have worn off after a while not being in the dark realm.
Kaelor rolled to the side and brought his hand up, sending a force push. Jaune brought up his force shield and the push just rolled over him. Kaelor was impressed by the Jedi.
"He's going to be a problem." Kaelor said.
"What do you mean going to? He's already defeated a lot of your Sith." Pyrrha said.
"Those Sith were nothing but fodder. You already know that. There's probably only a few hundred of us that are worth anything." Kaelor said. They saw Raven flying over the railing. The Sith assassin Lilith was following her. Raven changed for a moment and righted herself before turning back into a human. She blocked the strike from Lilith and grabbed her. They went back to the top of the railing.
Kaelor turned back to the Jedi. He smiled. He could feel the death all along the mountain. He was gathering that energy in, like all the strong Sith.
Raven was pushing Lilith back, but it was slow work. Raven was struggling with her lightwhip. That weapon would have been easier to deal with if she had another lightsaber, but she only had one. The Lightwhip was able to keep her lightsaber locked down. She had to turn into a Raven to get out of the lock. Lilith was trained well. Raven was constantly on the back foot. Lilith was taking them further inside Haven. Raven didn't like it.
Vernal rushed in behind Raven. She had her lightsaber out as well.
"We can take her together master." Vernal said.
"I thought I told you to take care of those Sith." Raven said.
"Our people are doing a good enough job at that." Vernal said. Lilith brought her lightwhip toward Vernal. She rolled out of the way. She brought her hand out and Vernal was using force lightning.
"Spring Maiden, why not use your powers?" Lilith said. She blocked the force lighting with her regular lightsaber.
"I don't need it against you." Vernal said. Lilith brought her lightwhip back and turned it off. She pressed the pommel into her thigh twice. Out of the emitter sprung metallic lines sprang out with sharp pieces of metal sticking along. She turned the lightwhip back on it the once singular blade fractured along the entire blade. What once was an unorthodox, but still beatable weapon, had become a unique weapon. Raven looked at Vernal. She knew they would need the maiden powers now. Lilith put away her lightsaber and smiled.
"Let's see if this changes your opinion." Lilith brought her lightwhip up with a snap. Raven and Vernal had to jump back but still felt the power behind the whip. It let out a crack. Vernal brought up her hands and a massive gust of wind rushed toward Lilith. Lilith was flung back but grabbed hold of a doorway. Raven grabbed a fire and water dust shard and threw them at Lilith. The activated dust created a mist around Lilith. She brought up her hands to block the attack and created a bubble around herself. All the mist instantly froze and created massive shards of ice. Lilith saw Vernal moving her hands and watched as the shards started coming down. She rolled out of the way of some of them and brought her lightwhip up to destroy a few more shards.
Lilith ran forward bringing her lightwhip up she spun around and cracked her whip. Raven had her lightsaber up and blocked the first strike. But one of the metallic lines smacked her in her mask. The mask broke and fell to the ground. Vernal had her lightsaber up as well and blocked some of the strikes. The lightwhip used fine metals that were lightsaber resistant. Vernal had no hope of cutting through them. She had to avoid them as much as possible. She had to turn her lightsaber off to get out of the grasp of the whips. She jumped back.
"Master, have you ever seen this before?" Vernal asked.
"No. I haven't." Raven said. Lilith brought her whip back and cracked it at them again. Vernal went to Raven's side and blocked part of the attack. Lilith watched the two. She quickly looked down and saw the ground start to glow. Raven and Vernal were keeping her in the blast range of whatever this attack was. She jumped back as the hallway exploded and tiny shards of wood went flying everywhere. Lilith brought up a force shield to protect herself. The shards went all around her. She felt the two get out of the grip she had them in. She brought her whip back to herself.
Vernal jumped at her. Lilith brought the whip up to defend herself. The lightsaber got caught up. Vernal used the force to rip the whip out of Lilith's hand. She smirked until Lilith's Sith lightsaber ripped through her heart.
"We have the Spring Maiden power now." Lilith said.
Vernal looked back at Raven.
"Master… I'm sorry." Lilith brought her lightsaber out of Vernal. Vernal fell to the ground. Lilith's smile faded as she felt no different.
"She wasn't the maiden! I AM!" Raven shouted. She used the force to grab Vernal's lightsaber. Lilith grabbed her whip.
"You finally reveal yourself." Lilith said.
Leo made it back to his office. The seer Grimm was there.
"Mistress Salem, everything's gone wrong! Umbra betrayed us and killed Vanus! Raven betrayed us! The third and fourth fleets are here!" Leo said.
The room around him started to crack.
"Please, Mistress! Send us more Darths! We only have Lilith and Vox left!" Leo said.
"You fool! You were meant to discover where Umbra's loyalties lay!" Salem said.
"What? How was I supposed to do that?" Leo asked.
"You were meant to always watch her. But you got caught up with Lilith! You let her leak the details of the battle. You were supposed to support her and keep her with us." Salem said.
The room began to get a lot colder. Leo could see his breath in the air. A portal opened and Darth Memores stepped out. He shook his head.
"I was wrong about you Leo. I thought you could keep everything safe for a few days. When I last saw Umbra, she was learning Sith Alchemy. How did she join our enemy so quickly? Did you push her towards them?" Memores asked. Leo started to move back.
"She had teammates that were meant to keep an eye on her." Leo said.
Memores slammed his fist down on the desk and broke it. He brought his hand up and found a small crystal ball.
"This was a gift from Lady Salem herself. She gave this to you so that you could watch her while her teammates couldn't. But it doesn't look like this was used." Memores said. He walked closer to Leo. Leo's back hit a wall. The fear on his face was evident for all to see.
"You know what must be done, don't you?" Darth Memores said.
"I can make this up to you! I swear!" Leo said.
"How? We lost two maidens tonight." Salem asked.
"Ozpin is back! He's in the body of a Jedi boy! Vox is fighting him now!" Leo said. Memores turned around and looked at Salem.
"Do you know the boy's name?" Salem asked.
"…I" Leo said. The Seer rushed at him and wrapped a tentacle around his throat.
"You disappoint me, Leo." The Seer Grimm let go of Leo's neck. It wrapped itself around Leo's arm and crushed it. Leo let out a scream.
"Lady Salem, once I take care of Leo, I believe we should retreat for now." Memores said.
"We can still track Umbra. Soon, we will take back our power. Perhaps this happened because she hasn't been given any more of the darkness." Salem said.
"If that's the case, we can bring our plans back on track." Memores said. Leo was trying to get away. Memores brought his hand down and crushed his leg.
"We haven't forgotten about you." Memores said.
"I think it may be time to expand the council." Salem said.
"Kaiser, Lilith, Ignis, Nocte, Luctus, Nihil, and Vespera. Those sorts are the ones you'll look for, right?" Memores said.
"They are some of the candidates." Salem said.
"What shall we do to Lionheart?" Memores asked.
"Deal with him." Salem said. Memores turned back to the cowering man. He smiled and took out a vial.
"Let's do some quick experiments."
Kaiser was rushing to get to his troops. He cut down any alliance troops that got in his way. He got to the end of the street he ran down and stopped. A massive explosion went off. Kaiser brought up a force bubble to keep himself safe. He looked out and saw one of the hideouts explode. It was a direct hit from the flagship. Kaiser looked up at it and turned back to the hideout. It was gone. Anyone who was in there was dead.
"Yuma!" Kaiser shouted into his comms. There was no response.
"Yuma! Respond!" Kaiser said. Kaiser knew that Yuma was in the hideout.
"Trifa, Yuma's dead." Kaiser said.
"Understood. We're getting pushed back. The alliance forces have found the hideouts. They're all gone." Trifa said. Kaiser heard her firing back at the enemy.
"What's your status?" Kaiser asked.
"They're hitting us hard. I don't know if we're going to make it." Trifa said.
"Get to safety." Kaiser said.
"I don't think that's possible anymore. They're determined." Trifa said. She grunted and continued to fire.
Kaiser went out to call the other leaders. Many of them were already dead. He turned a corner and saw a Jedi take out the last of an elite squad. Kaiser turned his lightsaber on. He rushed forward and brought all his fury out on the Jedi.
The Jedi folded quickly. Kaiser decapitated him and continued to move up. He needed to get the survivors out of the city.
Ilia was in the main headquarters of the White Fang in Mistral. She was going through the computers to find anything they would need. She had a team with her of hackers, and a few teams to watch their back. She had to fight her way to the command center, but the skeleton crew that was left behind was easy enough to take out.
"I'm in." Ilia said. She was sending the data directly to Winter's ship.
"We're getting closer to wiping out the White Fang." Winter said.
"Found some documents from Adam. He's written about the Sith and Salem. Sending you everything." Ilia said. The other hackers were looking for everything they could. It was no shock to find out that Adam, or Kaiser as the Sith called him, was under the direction of Salem. What was surprising was finding out how much control she had.
Salem had been giving them troops and funds for quite a while. The White Fang had been changed into the outward front of the Sith army. She continued to look at the documents. She was trying to find something about other bases.
"General Schnee, I think I found something about other bases." One of the other hackers said. They sent the information.
"We have a bounty list for the White Fang. All the Alliance leaders are on their hit list." Another hacker found.
More and more data was being sent. Ilia found everything she could from this terminal. She took out an explosive and placed it on the bottom of the Terminal. She turned around to the others.
"Can one of you set up a camera that looks at the terminals?" Ilia asked. The troops that were there to guard them shook their heads. They quickly set up the cameras and set them to activate for movement. Ilia waited for all the other hackers to finish and placed the same explosives on the terminals.
"We've got everything. We've set up the room to explode. If anyone comes here looking to delete the terminals, detonate the charges." Ilia said.
"We see it. Get out of there." Winter ordered.
Sage was ducked behind a wall, trying to avoid being shot. He found a dead Sith troop and grabbed his gun. He didn't like using them, but at this point, the Sith troops were too far for him to get to. He saw more of the troops enter from buildings and engage with the Third Fleet troops. The Jedi in the courtyard were all gone. Those who survived had left. They were still in the fight, but not in the kill box.
Scarlet slid next to him and tossed one of his grenades at the enemy.
"See you got yourself something new." Scarlet said.
"You watch my back, I watch yours." Sage said.
"That was part of the deal." Scarlet said. Sage stood up and fired out at the Sith. He moved along the walkway, ducking behind a pillar. He was drawing the Sith's fire. Scarlet got up and fired at two of them. They both fell off the roof.
Scarlet turned around and swiped with his sword, blocking a Sith with a sword as well. Sage aimed at the Sith and fired. The Sith backed up, and Scarlet brought his sword down. The Sith was dead.
"Where's Sun?" Scarlet asked.
"Up here." Sun said from the roof. He kicked a Sith troop down from the roof. Neptune aimed at a troop and fired.
"Got them." Neptune said. A Sith took out his lightsaber and came rushing toward Team SSSN. Until Reese floated on by and kicked him in the face. Nadir was firing at the Sith while Bolin grabbed Desmond Duke's staff. He held both out and rushed at the Sith. Nadir turned his attention to the new batch of Sith that had just left the nearest building to them. Arslan jumped from one of the tall trees in the courtyard, using one of her rope darts to hang a Sith troop. She slammed the end of the dart into the ground.
"Keep them away from the main building." Arslan commanded.
"Got it." Sun said. Arslan looked up to him and saw his smile. She nodded and turned her attention back to her allies. Bolin was handling himself well against the Sith. Reese was using her boots to move into blind spots and fired at him. Arslan ran to Nadir and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Yes, boss?" Nadir asked.
"Take this and focus on the group that's going to come out from there." Arslan handed him a dust grenade. He tossed the grenade and a second later, another group of troops left the building, only to get hit by the explosion of dust.
Sage and Scarlet moved over to the exit and started fighting the troops that made it out. Nadir moved from his position and helped them out.
The clones were landing in the middle of the city. They found the middle had turned into a warzone. A large number of the guards had turned against Mistral and were corrupted by the Sith. The remaining guards were doing their best to keep whatever they could.
"Take out the insurgents' men." The clone, Boil said. He found a few loyal guards ducking behind a wall. Boil slid down. They turned to him and realized he was one of the clones.
"We're here to help." Boil said.
"Thanks. I have no idea why they decided to do this. They were good men." The loyal guard said.
"The Sith have taken over the city. They've been corrupted." Boil said. His men were firing at the insurgents.
"Remember, minimal damage!" Boil said. He wished Waxer was here. They saw a ship flying towards them. Atlesian Knights were dropped in the middle of the fighting.
"Why are they here?" Boil called to Winter.
"They're here to give cover while you get civilians out of the city." Winter said back.
"Are you sure they aren't hacked?" Boil asked.
"These are the older units. They haven't been hacked." Winter said. They were firing back at the insurgents.
"You heard the General, get the civis out of here." Boil said. More LAATs were dropping clones off, and more drop ships were dropping the older droids.
Boil knew they were just buying time. They were taken down in a few shots. They had to work fast.
Vox blocked the attacks from Qrow and Ozpin. He knew they were taking heavy losses. He knew now that they were going to have to retreat. But he wanted to kill Ozpin so badly. The boy was excellent for his age, but he was the host of that monster. Qrow was taking on most of the brunt of the fight.
Qrow was using a different lightsaber than he had for the last few battles. Vox needed to learn more about him. His fighting style was a mix of Shien and Ataru. Vox was surprised at how much acrobatics Qrow added to his style. It became a risk with his semblance.
Vox blocked an attack from Ozpin, only for him to spin and hit him with his cane. It wasn't a lightsaber, but he was still getting small hits in on him. Vox knew the cane was made from Cortosis. He didn't know exactly where he got that rare metal, but he knew what it was.
He found out when Ozpin blocked a strike that would have melted through any other Remnant weapon. But his lightsaber turned off. Vox saw Qrow rushing him, so he brought his leg back and kicked Qrow in the chest. Qrow slammed into the wall of the school. Ozpin flinched as he saw that.
"You already lost tonight, Hazel. You should just give up." Ozpin said.
"I can still kill you." Vox said. He rushed forward. Ozpin used the force to create a bubble. Vox slammed his fist into the bubble. Qrow came flying in and kicked Vox in the face. He spun around and took out Harbinger, slashing at him with it in Tonfa mode. He switched it to the sword and slashed at Vox again. He brought the blade up, but it dropped at the last second, and Qrow fired twice into Vox. He stumbled back and looked at Qrow.
"That isn't enough to kill me." Vox said.
"You are one tough son of a bitch." Qrow said.
"Once I get to Rosa, I'm going to tear her apart. Just like I will to you two." Vox said.
Rosa brought her arms up and the wood around them grabbed a hold of Valum. She glared at Rosa.
"This isn't enough to stop me." She said. She gathered the force into her and sent out a force repulse. The wood was broken. Valum rushed forward, but Ruby jumped in and started fighting again. Valum was starting to get tired of this. Ruby and Rosa were working so well together. Better than she ever did with Umbra.
Valum brought her lightsaber down and felt it flying from her grip. She jumped back, avoiding the many holes in the floor, and used the force to grab her lightsaber. Sweat came dripping from her face. She couldn't keep this up forever.
She felt a burning on her back. She knew what that meant. Salem was calling them back. She smirked. She knew Rosa was feeling the burning on her back too.
"Don't let them escape!" Rosa said. She unleashed a massive ball of fire toward Valum. She opened the portal and jumped in before the fire could hit her. The fire slammed into the wall and started to catch the wall on fire.
"I got it." Weiss said. She raised her hand, and water came flowing from her closed lightsaber. The water dust put out the fire.
"The other two are gone now." Jaune said. Rosa saw her friends and stood at the top of the railing. She smiled and fell down. Pyrrha jumped and caught her.
"Got you." Pyrrha said. Ruby rushed down the stairs. Rosa smiled at them all.
"I can't feel anything right now except pain." Rosa said.
Raven stood at the top of the staircase. She raised her hand, and the statue, which was left untouched, began to descend. The teams looked at Raven as she stood atop the statue. She took out Leo's stopwatch. Given to her before the battle so after everyone was dead, she could open that vault.
"The Sith have left." Raven said.
"What are you doing?" Yang asked.
"Getting rid of a problem." Raven said. The platform dropped below them. Yang jumped forward. Ruby was about to, but they heard more Sith troops arriving. Qrow and Oscar stepped through the main doors.
"He just left. Something's going on." Oscar said. He had blood coming down his face. Qrow was holding onto his arm.
"What happened?" Ruby asked.
"Right before Vox left, he made sure we would remember him." Qrow said. He saw the statue was missing and he tried to move, but his arm was in too much pain.
"He broke Qrow's arm." Oscar said. Jaune went to Qrow and put him down on the floor.
"I'll watch over him. Someone needs to go get Yang." Jaune said. They heard the Sith troops moving toward them. Team SSSN got back into the main hall first.
"The Sith have pushed the Third Fleet troops to the dorms." Sun said. Team ABRN got back next. Nadir and Reese were firing at the oncoming Sith troops.
"I should go help Yang." Rosa said.
"Rosa, you can't move right now." Pyrrha said. She was right. Rosa had used everything in her fight with Valum.
"I still have some strength." Ruby said.
"I have more." Blake said. Ruby looked at her and nodded.
"I'll come down in a few minutes." Ruby said. Blake nodded and jumped into the hole.
Raven turned to see Yang standing there. She glared at Raven.
"Mother." Yang said.
"Yang." Raven said.
"What are you doing here?" Yang asked. Yang saw the wide-open space of the vault and the golden door in the middle. She had no idea what to expect, but it wasn't this.
"Salem wants the relic. I'm going to stop that from happening." Raven said. Raven jumped back and turned into a Raven.
"Dammit." Yang said. She had to wait for the elevator to stop. Raven flew to the door and dropped. She gathered the Spring maiden energy and stood next to the door. She closed her eyes and summoned the energy. The ground started to shake. The door had blue lights glow and start to open. The elevator stopped and Yang ran out. She turned her lightsaber on.
"Step back from the relic." Yang said.
"Do you even know what this is? What it truly is?" Raven asked.
"I know it's exactly what Salem wants, and because you just opened this vault thing, she's closer than ever to getting it." Yang said.
"This is a relic of the Light God. This is needed to bring him back. Did Ozpin ever tell you what will happen once Salem gets all of these?" Raven asked.
"Salem will use them to leave this world." Yang said.
"That's only part of it." Raven said. Blake landed behind Yang. Yang turned around and smiled to see her partner was with her.
"Ruby's going to come down in a few minutes." Blake said. She turned on her lightsaber as well.
"Nice having you by my side for this." Yang said.
"So, this is the bitch of a mother you have." Blake said. Raven turned her attention to Blake.
"Is that how she's been describing me?" Raven asked. Almost hurt.
"I've said far worse." Yang said.
"You have no idea what I've done. What I've seen. Who are you to judge me?" Raven asked.
"We've seen things too. We've done things too. But we never stooped so low as to work with the Sith." Yang said.
"I was only working with them to keep the clan safe. Including you." Raven said.
"Don't pretend to care now Mother." Yang said.
"I can't let you take the relic. You can't handle it." Raven took out her lightsaber. She looked at her daughter.
"We can. And we'll show you." Yang said.
Kaiser fought his way through another group of enemies. He was fighting with everything he had in him the call of Salem. His back was almost on fire. He screamed as it became too much. He opened a portal.
"Trifa, get to the HQ and delete the files." Kaiser ordered.
"Understood." Trifa said.
Kaiser stepped through the portal and found himself in front of Salem. She looked down at him. He looked up at her.
"Umbra has betrayed us. She returned to her Jedi friends." Salem said. Kaiser's eyes were hidden, but Salem could feel the betrayal enter him. Anger filled Kaiser.
"Let me kill her." Kaiser said.
"Later. Now, I need you to prepare a surprise attack on them. I've sacrificed a lot of troops today, but that will be a simple price to pay. Once we get Umbra back, she will feel my Wrath." Salem said.
"She is to be captured alive?" Kaiser asked.
"Yes. She is, so we can force her to return the maiden power she has stolen." Salem said. Salem smiled at Kaiser.
"Once we capture her, you will be able to get your revenge on her personally." Salem said.
"Yes, my master." Kaiser said.
"I believe you have done enough to be considered Darth Kaiser now." Salem said. Kaiser raised his head in surprise.
"Thank you." Kaiser said.
"Soon, Kaiser, everything will be made right."
Author's Notes: I have moved back out to College now. That's why this chapter took me so long to finish.
We are splitting this into two parts, because it is an end of Volume fight basically. We have Rosa taking control of the Maiden powers and using them. So, since we know so little about what maidens can actually do, I believe that the Fall and Spring maidens have power over plants. Fall is seen to have power with fire. I believe that the imagination of the user of the powers does affect what they can do.
I name-dropped some Sith names that we haven't seen yet. Who are they? I don't know yet. I haven't really decided on all of them
Chapter 21 will have Raven v Yang. It's a fight to see if Team RRWBY is strong enough to be responsible for the relics.
We're going to switch soon from White Fang to straight Sith troops. The White Fang have been losing a lot of people, and with this surprise attack, there will be very few left.
We had a review last time from Atomicboo131. Thank you for the review. I hope you keep reading and reviewing this story. Rosa has finally returned to her friends.
Please leave a review and all the rest
May the Force be With You
-DragonZlayerx12