The Royal Imperial Academy was fancier than Yang had thought it would be, which was something that she honestly should've expected. It was named the Royal Imperial Academy, after all. Still, at least her new room was spacious, the same size as her quarters back at Beacon, just with fewer bunks which freed up plenty of space. A similar room at Beacon would've had six bunk beds instead of three, while also not being half as fancy. She was pretty sure those rumors of one of the cadets discovering the mattresses were just slabs of duracrete were just that, but…. Still, it was amazing how simply adding a few extra bunks made everything look cramped. The others back home were never going to believe her! They were going to be so jealous.
Velvet led Yang and her new friend, Blake, to the bunk at the far side of the room. Yang allowed her eyes to roam, taking in everything and everyone at once, even though she'd be living here for a year. The walls were plain imperial drab gray, but she could see some spots where contraband posters were hung, once upon a time, as well as some carvings into the bedframe, which was against regulation.
"Like Coco said, welcome to the Royal Imperial Academy." Velvet spoke up, her Deep-Core accent light. She stopped in front of the empty bunk and raised one of her arms, motioning towards it. "This will be your bunk for the rest of the school year, or at least until you drop out or are expelled." She said that last part a bit too cheerfully for Yang's taste. Seriously, how often did people drop out that you welcome it? And how annoying did they have to be in that case?
"Thanks!" Yang gave her a large grin. She wasn't an idiot, the blonde was pretty sure that being a third-year transfer from some 'backwater' Academy was going to paint a large target on her back, and if she was going to ensure that she'd graduate with Ruby, Yang was going to have to make friends. Even if they were snooty rich kids of high-ranking politicians and military officers whose sole qualification was their parents owning credits or marrying into the upper classes. "I'll do my best to make it to graduation."
Blake, who stood to Yang's left, looked indifferent but nodded after a few seconds. "Thank you." A woman of few words, it seemed. Of course, it was a question of if she was shy, or just didn't like talking to her 'lessers.' She did give off a rich girl aura.
Velvet smiled, her long furry ears twitching ever so slightly. "Of course, and if you have any questions, please don't be afraid to ask me. We all are future Stormtroopers, after all, comrade-in-arms in the service of our Emperor." She was looking in Blake's direction as she spoke. Yang swore for a second as she saw Blake's hat twitch.
Yang immediately saluted. "Security in strength, order in obedience." The words of the Stormtrooper Corps, ones that Yang had memorized since she first saw the soldiers that drove off the pirates that wanted to claim Patch for their own all those years ago. They were so cool, one of them even claimed to have fought on Felucia with General Securla, before the Jedi had betrayed them. He sounded really choked up about it, no doubt awash in the memories she'd brought back.
Before that, Yang had only thought of them as myths or legends, but meeting a soldier who claimed to have served with one only made them feel real. Too bad they were all dead or in hiding from their righteous fate by now, traitorous scum.
"Security in strength, order in obedience," Velvet repeated. Stormtroopers were the peacekeepers of the galaxy, Yang would give it her all to be the best out of all of them. Summer would expect nothing less of her, 'defend the innocent' had been her motto until the end of her life.
"Security in strength, order in obedience." Blake followed suit after a few seconds, her voice bored, but Yang detected a hint of awkwardness. It was a skill, one that Yang had developed over the years after living with Ruby her entire life. Evidently, someone hadn't been the best at following orders.
"You two can finish unpacking, Coco would like to take both of you on a tour of campus." Velvet's eyes looked past them for a few moments before they refocused. "Anyways, we will leave in about an hour, so please be ready by then."
"You got it." Yang relaxed her shoulder as Velvet walked away back to her side of the room, leaving her alone with Blake. "I call dibs on the top bunk!"
Blake stared at Yang with her amber eyes and shrugged. "Whatever." She really wasn't really excited to be here, was she?
"Yes!" Yang grinned as she moved to place her bag in her trunk at the foot of the bed. She was going to have so much fun, training to become the finest Stormtrooper in the entire Corp. Blake followed her example, opening her own trunk. "Looks like we're roomies."
Blake gave her a side glance as her free hand went up to her cadet cap. "It looks that way." She hesitated for a moment, until she removed it, revealing a pair of furry ears on top of her head. Guess she did see that hat twitch after all.
They were smaller than Velvet's, much smaller in a triangular shape, like a cat. Yang blinked a couple of times until she noticed she was being glared at. Oops.
"Do you have a problem with me?" Blake asked, her voice holding just a smidge of aggression. Yang held her hands up in defense, shaking her head. She had no issues with non-humans, her first girlfriend had been a twi'lek.
"Nah." Yang shrugged, closing her trunk. "I was just thinking about how such good friends we're going to be." She formed an easygoing grin that always worked back at Beacon.
Near and non-humans weren't exactly popular in the Empire, since most of the planets that formed the Separatist movement came from their worlds. Yang didn't care, everyone had feelings and were their own persons, and plenty of near and non-humans had sided with the Republic during the Clone Wars. Everyone deserved to be treated equally.
"I doubt that." Blake ended the conversation by placing her cap back onto her head and turning her attention back to her belongings. Yang sighed internally and stretched her back.
She hoped Ruby was getting along with her roommates at least.
The best part of the Stormtrooper track, in Yang's opinion at least, was the training sessions. Being able to bash in the head of her fellow cadets with permission always felt euphoric. She was a decent shot with a blaster, but Yang always felt at home with her fists. There was something satisfying about feeling the blow travel up her hand into her arm that made it worthwhile.
Yang raised her right arm to block a strike from Roy's haymaker, and used her left to punch him in the abdomen. He staggered back, gasping for breath. She resisted the urge to make a joke about taking his breath away, but only just.
"You left yourself open, Cadet." Their instructor, an older man wearing the black officer uniform of the Stormtrooper Corp with a white beard, yelled. By the end of the week, classes would begin in full force. The rest of the training room was filled with rows of Stormtrooper cadets sparring against each other in hand-to-hand combat. Their Instructor was a few feet away, observing another pair of cadets. "I've seen B-1 battle droids hit harder than you!"
Roy grunted and pushed past the pain. He swung his leg, smashing it against Yang's own. Grimacing in pain, Yang hardened her stance and grabbed him by the shoulders. Roy's eyes widened slightly as Yang flashed him a pearly white grin, swiping his feet with her now bruised leg. With that, she slammed him onto the ground, her elbow at his throat, pinning Roy to the training mat.
"Not bad, Cadet." Their Instructor said as he strode towards them, his cold eyes analyzing the two of them. Roy groaned softly as Yang quickly shot to her feet, giving their superior officer a salute.
"Thank you, Commander Bly, sir!" Yang's training uniform was drenched in sweat, her body bruised, but ego intact. Commander Bly was a harsh instructor, but fair, he claimed to hold them to the same standard as his fellow clones from a bygone era. According to Coco, in all the years that Commander Bly had been a combat instructor, not one cadet lived up to his expectations. He was a veteran of the Clone Wars, and one of the last clones to still be of service in the Empire.
Yang was going to make sure that changed by graduation and make Academy history.
"That grab was against regulation," Roy complained from his totally comfortable position on the ground, in between a few deep breaths.
"I doubt pirates and rebels are going to care if you punch them in the throat against regulation." Bly scoffed, shaking his head slightly. "When you're on the battlefield, you do whatever you have to do to survive. Is that understood?"
"Sir, yes, sir!" Yang saluted as she spoke in unison with Roy. It was hard to keep her grin off of her lips, but she managed..
It was an honor to be trained by a soldier like him. Let some of the other academies use other instructors, but the clones were the best instructors around, bar none.
"Don't get cocky Xiao-Long, and wipe that smirk off your mouth." Commander Bly snarked. "I counted at least two dozen mistakes during that match. In a real fight, you'd be dead before you even draw your blaster."
"I'll do my best to improve, sir," Yang said loudly. Normally she'd say something sarcastic, but this wasn't Beacon, where she could annoy Commander Port to no end. She had to be respectful here to otherwise she'd be placed on cleaning duty, or expelled.
"That won't be enough," Bly said dryly. He adjusted his black cap, straightening it out. "My brothers did their best, now look at them, their blood spilled on countless systems." He stared off into nothing, his eyes appearing to glaze over slightly before refocusing once again. "Dismissed. Hit the showers before target practice."
Commander Bly stomped away, yelling at another pair of cadets who were wrestling on the ground. Judging by the furry ears, it was Blake who was pummeling a shorter girl with rose-colored hair. Guess Blake was settling in just fine.
"Stupid clone," Roy mumbled under his breath, low enough for Yang to barely catch. Relaxing her stance with one of her hands balled into a tight fist, she aimed her gaze toward the fallen cadet.
"Good match." Yang's smile only seemed to make him even more mad, earning her a glare. She extended her free hand to help him up.
"Whatever." Roy scoffed, slapping her hand away and forcing himself to his knees. It was sad to see that his personality was the opposite of his looks, he was kinda cute. Yang had been going to ask him if he wanted to shower together since they'd finished before everyone else.
Oh well, it was his loss.
The mess hall was one of the larger rooms in the Academy filled to the brim with bustling cadets trying to get their nutritious slop before they had to run off to their next class. It also happened to be the main area where one could observe the internal politics amongst the cadets, or at least that's what Coco explained on Yang's first day here. Yang was in the middle of eating her gray slop (Which somehow had exactly the same taste as back at Beacon) when Ruby slammed her tray onto the table.
"Woah there, you're going to hurt the table's feelings." Yang gave her baby sister a wink. Ruby nearly dunked her face into her food, but stopped when her nose hovered an inch away from her food. That was probably a wise idea, nobody knew what was in that stuff, or how it'd react with skin contact. "What's up Rubes? Still having trouble with your bunkmates?'
Ruby had been complaining about one girl the entire week, some Moff's daughter named Weiss Schnee. Yang could even spot her from their table, with Senior Cadet Schnee sitting at her own a few rows down with other cadets of a similar background, Coco and Velvet among them. Weiss was pretty easy to observe, with her white hair that made her look half Echani or Arkanian.
"She's still acting like I don't even exist! And when she does, all Weiss does is look at me like she stepped in something really, really nasty." Ruby sighed and silenced herself by stuffing her mouth with a spoonful of gray slop. Her eyes lit up. "It tastes amazing!"
"I think that's the concussion you're tasting," Yang smirked. "And being ignored is better than being bullied. Just give it some time, I'm sure she'll warm up to you soon."
"Yeah right," Ruby said, her voice muffled by the amount of gray slop she stuffed in her cheeks. "She hates my guts 'cause we're from a 'dirty Outer Rim planet', that's right, I heard all the whispers."
Yang's mask of a smile nearly cracked, but she managed to keep it together for Ruby's sake. Deep down, she knew that it was going to get worse, especially once classes were in full swing. She'd have to work faster to build friendships, ones that would allow her to take better care of Ruby, and stop some whispering while she was at it. If nothing else, it would give her some cover for certain people to walk into the wrong hallway and fall down some stairs.
"Point them my way, and I'll make sure they regret saying that." Yang's feral grin caused Ruby to scoot an inch away to her right.
"I'd rather not get any more attention," Ruby mumbled, turning her gaze back to the table full of rich kids. "I want to graduate and serve on a Star Destroyer, not some supply depot, which would happen if I made one of them mad if they don't try to have me expelled!"
"They'd have you expelled for fun." Another voice spoke up, earning their attention. Blake sat across from them, picking at her own serving of slop. She was wearing her black cap again, hiding her cute ears, not that Yang would ever say that out loud.
That would probably be speciesist.
"They would?!" Ruby's head shot up with wide eyes.
"Probably." Blake shrugged, turning her attention back to her slop. When did she even sit down? Ruby and Yang had been alone for the past five minutes.
"Oh no!" Ruby dumped her spoon in her bowl of gray slop and grabbed the sides of her head. "I can't go back to Beacon! I already trash-talked Commander Oobleck on my holovlog, and Commandant Ozpin shared it with the staff!" Yang was in the middle of a drink of water, when that nearly made her spit it out.
Never change Ruby, never change.
A/N
Another fun chapter to write with the help of Night_Stalker and MambaKingGhidorah. They really help me capture the voice of the other RWBY characters instead of just Weiss.
Anyways, I really wasn't expecting to have to say this, but I might as well.
The political opinions of the characters in-story do not reflect those of the writers.
Thank you, we hope the chapter was fun.