Ruby flew through the inferno that the graveyard had become. Spiralling through wreckage she spared the Glatteis glances when she could, horrified to see its hull being burnt black. Chunks of debris tore through sections of he hull, leaving gaping wounds all over the ship. The Grand Moff's star destroyer fared only a little better, its hull appearing to be ever so slightly, less shredded.

"What are we doing Ruby?" Sun asked, strain clearly present in his voice as he too tried not to be hit or to hit by anything.

"Just hold on Ace two, uh, we're going to attack the enemy star destroyer!" Ruby said with sudden conviction.

"Attack it? Shouldn't we be defending the Glatteis?"

"There's," Ruby paused, dreading saying the words, "Nothing we can do for her… I mean them." The comms fell silent, but all the fighters began making their way towards the damaged Imperial star destroyer.

"Fire everything! We have to destroy him before he can destroy us!" Weiss cried as she desperately held onto one of the nearby consoles, the ship shaking violently. The lights had dimmed, replaced by a sinister red glow emanating from hundreds of warnings. The few guns that still could, fired, many shots being intercepted by the chaotically drifting shrapnel. Any shot that got through burned through the enemy hull, searing the thick bulkhead into a red hot liquid. Sadly her fathers guns still fired as well, his guns also tearing away the remnants of her hull. "Weiss! The reactor is beginning to malfunction, if we keep pouring power into the guns it could overload," Ren warned, clearly out of breath as he raced around the engineering room. Weiss tightened her grip on the console, knuckles growing white. "Stop firing! Ren, do we have any engine capabilities?"

"The engines took some hits but I should be able to safely power them, but we are not going to be very fast." Weiss sighed,

"Do what you can. Helm take us as far away from that ship as possible,"

"Ma'am we can't take too many more hits, I don't think we will be able to get out in time," The officer said as nervous sweat rolled down his face.

"Do what you can, we can only hope we get lucky now. Comms, contact Ace squadron, tell them to leave,"

"Sorry captain but we have lost communications, and I can't pick up Ace squadrons signatures, though," the ship quaked violently as another turbolaster bolt hit it, "that might be because our sensors are also down."

Weiss stared at her fathers ship, on the verge of tears as she faced defeat. Ruby had to be alive, she was too good a pilot to be taken down by a lucky bit of debris. Though, Weiss, ever the rationalist, accepted the possibility that the woman she loved had just died. Her eye twitched, lips curving into a menacing frown. "Ren, put all the energy into out weapons,"

"But-"

"Ren, just do it, running isn't and option. At least this way my father goes down with his ship as well."

Cinder started moving, twin sabers falling into her hands. Blake and Yang backed up, both desperate to find another exit, only to find that they were trapped. "We are going to have to fight her," Yang said as she shrugged off Blake's supporting arm, standing shakily and reigniting her lightsaber. "Yang, she is strong we have to be careful-" Yang rushed Cinder, swinging her blade down with all her strength. Cinder caught the yellow blade with both her sabers as Blake leapt into the fray beside Yang, quickly joining her friend. Cinder pushed Yang back and clashed blades with Blake, staying on the defensive, seizing up her opponent. Yang interjected with another heavy strike, Cinder ducking under this one and moving to avoid Blake's attacks. Still standing between the two and the exit, Cinder grinned. She moved to attack, pushing Yang away with the force, sending the already wounded Yang into the wall of the training room. Free to focus on Blake, Cinder stuck hard and fast.

Blake, used to fighting with two weapons, managed to predict most of Cinders attacks, but that didn't make it any less tiring to fend of the flurry of strikes. She found herself constantly throwing her weight left and right to block the next attack, her balance quickly failing.

Yang picked herself up and went to spear Cinder through the back, only to have the dark clad Inquisitor turn to swat her blade away and push her back into the wall. This time Yang collapsed, her head striking the metal wall. "Yang!" Blake cried as she pushed Cinder back with a newfound determination. "Your slipping Blake, if all it takes is a little push for you to return to your apparently, 'dark ways', have you really changed at all?"

"I changed enough to recognise how foolish you are for thinking you could ever control the Empire," Blake said as she twirled her lightsaber, Cinder throwing her head back to avoid the tip of the purple blade.

"So Adam told you of my plans, yet another reason why you can't be allowed to leave this facility," Cinder attacked now, using both her blades to attack at once. Blake gripped her Blade in both hands, feet planted firmly this time to weather the assault. "You have maintained your skill with the blade it seems, but if you rely so heavily upon it, you will fall," Cinder leapt into he air, bouncing off one of the columns and slashing down at Blake.

"If you rely so heavily on lecturing me you will run out of breath," Blake said as she held Cinders blades at bay. She spared a glance at Yang, still sitting with eyes closed against the wall.

"You have feelings for that girl, they are distracting you, just like how Adam used to distract you. You truly are hopeless," Cinder chuckled as she kicked Blake in the stomach. Blake grunted and stumbled back, raising her lightsaber just in time to block Cinder's next blow. "You have so much fear, you fear for your friend, you even fear for Adam. Yet you refuse to turn that fear into strength. It is the same with all your kind, even Adam. You are weak, worthless creatures who, even given the knowledge of the universes ultimate power, still deny it,"

"Adam didn't deny it, and he didn't fare any better than you will," Blake said, now slightly out of breath. Cinder grinned, pacing carefully as she prepared to attack,

"You are mistaken, I told him to destroy you. Yet I know he offered you a chance to return, his blind devotion to you is what has driven him, given him purpose. It has also stopped him from truly becoming one of the Sith."

"You are no Sith Cinder, just a puppet like I was, like Adam was to you."

"Adam was nothing to me, but he was something to you once," Cinder smiled again, lowering her weapons. "You remember those times don't you, the years spent training, suffering so that you could become stronger. Adam protected you, but in the same instance would hurt you. Even still, you stuck by his side."

"I don't care about that anymore, he did it because you and Palpatine made him a monster, made me into one as well."

"Do you believe you can outgrow what you are? What if you hurt your friend?" Cinder said as she nodded over to Yang, "What if she hurts you? There is much anger in her, she could have become a power inquisitor, perhaps she still will." Blake lunged, teeth bared in defiance, anger and doubt clouding her mind. Cinder blocked the attack easily, feeling out Blake's mind with the force, forcing forward the surge of memories. Blake felt a blinding pain in her head, memories forcibly flashing before her eyes, memories of her torment. Visions of her trials, of her kills, even false visions of the future. She watched Yang turn to the darkside, she watched herself suffer at her lovers hands again. Blake dropped to the ground, crying out in pain as she clutched her head, Cinder standing dominantly over her quivering body.

"Stop it. Now." Yang said as she slowly stood. Cinder turned, eyebrow raised in surprise. Blake fell silent, though still lay clutching her head, sobbing. "Impressive. You are very tenacious,"

"Most folk just call me stubborn," Yang said, eyes still staring daggers at the inquisitor. Yang made no move to attack, her lightsaber still sitting inactive in her hand.

"You really think you stand a chance?" Cinder asked curiously. Yang shook her head,

"You would probably kill me, but Blake is leaving this place alive."

"Let's say I have my doubts about that," Cinder said as she moved a step closer to Blake. Yang took a step forward in response, heading to stand in between the two.

"Are you really going to let her die?" Yang asked,

"No, I am going to purposefully kill her," Cinder said in confusion.

"After all you have been through, after all you did to her, are you not going to at least try to make amends. Prove you're not a monster,"

"I have nothing to prove to anyone," Cinder growled. Yang smiled, looking past the angry inquisitor. Cinder turned her head to see a familiar red visor glaring back at her. Leant against one of the rooms columns, one hand clutching the wound in his stomach, the other, clutching his lightsaber. "Adam, good, I will let you deal with her," Cinder said as she pointed a saber at Yang, "Then you can take Blake to do with whatever you wish."

"You won't let her go, you just want her dead," he replied in a husky voice, his face a mask of pain.

"Does it matter? She is a traitor, she betrayed you,"

"She did what she had too," Yang interjected, Adam nodding solemnly.

"You are the betrayer, you made it your speciality, I doubt I would have even survived a week before you got rid of me," Adam said softly. Cinder only glared in response, not bothering to respond. "At least this way, I get.. I get to give her the life she wants," Adam looked down at Blake, pain slowly draining from his face. Yang lent down to pick her up, causing Cinder to return her stare to them. Adam ignited his lightsaber, drawing her attention back to him. Taking his last look at Blake's face, Adam tore off his visor, revealing his blinded eyes. "Take care of her, better care than I did," Adam said before charging Cinder, any discomfort from his previous wound disappearing as he engaged Cinder with incredible ferocity.

Yang held Blake in her arms, quickly rushing past the pair of inquisitors as they fought, making a hasty exit from the training room. "Adam…" Blake whispered, tears still streaming from her eyes as she recovered from the forcibly afflicted pain and visions. "It's okay Blake, shhh, he's saving us, saving you." Yang rushed them through the facility, heading back towards the surface. She stopped quickly as she heard the sounds of boots hurrying down an adjacent hallway. Ducking into the shadows Yang hoped that they weren't stormtroopers and that they hadn't seen her.

"Yang!" Velvet cried as she rounded the corner and saw the poorly concealed Yang.

"Velvet, thank the stars you're here,"

"What happened?" Velvet asked as she stared wide eyed at Blake bundled in Yang's arms.

"Ran into some old friends of Blake's, did you manage to rescue everyone?" Velvet didn't need to answer as a group of prisoners ran past her, followed by the remaining Faunus soldiers. The soldiers stopped beside Velvet and fired their blasters back down the hallway. "We need to keep moving!" One of the soldiers called to Velvet as red blaster bolts slammed into the walls around him. Velvet pushed Yang and Blake towards the exit,

"Go, we will hold them back,"

"Get back to the ship as soon as you can, I'll start the engines," Yang replied as she raced towards the exit.

"My lord we have sustained significant damage, if we prolong this engagement the ship will likely be destroyed."

"Then let us end it, fire at will, destroy that ship." The Grand Moff replied, a grim look on his face. Weiss wasn't running, she was coming directly at him, remaining guns blazing. It was a suicidal move, like his destruction of the graveyard had been. It was all too likely that they would both end up as additions to the now depleted field of derelict craft. He had expected cowardice, his move had cost them, the extensive damage meant that both of the craft were hanging precariously onto life. Too much hesitation, too much inaction, too much doubt would destroy either of them. Yet Weiss appeared to push forward,

"Target their remaining guns, we can't take much more of a beating," Weiss said as she pointed towards the rows of missile bays she new sat on either side of the star destroyer. "And move towards their port side, Ace squadrons bombing run took out most of their guns on that side, my fathers own attack likely destroyed the rest." The officers nodded, and the ship began drifting slowly.

"Weiss we have maybe ten minutes before the reactor overloads," Ren warned.

"It will have to be enough," Weiss whispered to herself, not wanting to confirm the crews likely fear that this would end up as a suicide run. She had no doubt they knew deep in their hearts that this attack would be their last, this is after all what they had agreed to do, the sacrifice they had been willing to make. It was however, best not to say these things out loud.

"Captain! Look over there!" One of the officers cried excitedly. Weiss spun to look at whatever the officer was pointing at, "It's Ace squadron!" Weiss stood slack jawed, relived that they had survived.

Ruby fired indiscriminately at the hull of the Imperial star destroyer. Chunks of superheated metal flew away as each shot landed. Her laser cannons ability to injure the destroyer were limited, but with the damage it had already sustained she had a few more weak points to explore. "Ace six, target those holes with whatever ordinance you have left, Ace two and three focus on those missile bays. Then follow me" Ruby received the affirmative from each of her squamates before breaking off her attack run, darting up towards the command tower.

"Sir, the enemy fighters are attacking! One is making for the command tower!"

"Focus forward firepower, I don't want it getting through, make sure the bridge defectors are at full capacity," Grand Moff Schnee commanded. He spied the fighter on his tactical display, the tiny wedge shaped ship managing to move through the blaster fire with ease. Even if the fighter still had missiles, they wouldn't be enough to take down the fully power bridge deflectors, the last operational defectors of the entire ship. It appeared to be nothing more than a distraction. "Status report on the enemy capital ship," Schnee commanded, a readout appearing on his screen.

"Their reactor is on the verge of overloading, and their weapon systems are nearly completely offline. Their communications are offline as well, "

"It appears she will be unable to beg forgiveness after all. It matters not, she had her chance to surrender."

Ruby made another pass of the command tower, blasting away at the shields. Behind her the rest of Ace squadron did the same, sending bolt after bolt of red laser into the tower. Switching over to her last set of cluster missiles Ruby targeted the bridge directly, she couldn't destroy the shields with one blast, but she could weaken it. Sending a stream of missiles into the tower, the defectors glowed a soft pink, a sign of great strain. Ruby noticed more guns immediately targeting her ships, streams of green blaster fire now arcing up towards her fighter. "I think we got their attention now," Sun commented as he spun his fighter through a series of shots. Ruby glanced down at her power levels, noticing the dangerously low amount she had left. "How much juice do you guys have left?" Ruby asked,

"I'm nearly empty," Neptune replied

"I have had to power down my turret, don't have much left in me," Nora said in a sad tone.

"Running on fumes over here," Sun said nervously as he was forced into another roll. Ruby girt her teeth, eyes darting over the numerous wounds on the Glatteis.

"Go, all of you, make the jump to the Rendezvous. No arguments, it's not worth you guys dying here,"

"Not leaving you behind again Ruby," Sun said firmly.

"I'll see you back at the fleet, I still have plenty of power," Ruby said as she glanced down at the power levels, confirming her lie. "I just need to give Weiss an opening. Now go," Ruby commanded, swinging her fighter back around for her final pass.

"If you don't come back Ruby, so help me," Sun said in frustration, already moving out of the debris field. "I will, see you on the other side," Ruby said assuringly.

Free of the worry she had for her squadmates, Ruby charged the star destroyer. As before several guns focused on her, breaking away from firing at the Glatteis. She grinned as she diverted the last of her power into her engines, feeling the thrill of the intense speed of her interceptor. Aiming for the bridge Ruby's hand drifted towards the ejection lever. "I'm sorry to do this sweetheart, but it's for Weiss." Ruby quickly strapped the breather onto her face and pulled the level, the canopy flying open and Ruby shooting out into space. The A-wing flew like an arrow, hitting the bullseye of the bridge with deadly accuracy. In an instant the fighter disintegrated against the deflector shield, though now the pinkish glow returned, only this time it reached a crescendo and burst like a bubble. Ruby drifted off, away from the fight and strapped to her chair, hoping that Weiss would take the shot that her beautiful fighter had sacrificed to make.

Weiss felt a chill run through her as she watched Ruby's A-wing explode against her fathers bridge defector shields. "R-ruby…" Weiss whimpered, hands quivering as she saw her worst fears confirmed.

"Weiss, the reactor is about to overload, you have maybe two minutes now, I'm evacuating everyone down here."

"O-ok," Weiss whispered, the dread and fear compounding, freezing her in place. Just as quickly as the fear came, it left, the cold replaced by a burning anger. The waver in her voice disappeared, "All crew make for the escape pods, except main gunnery team, you have one last task before leaving." Weiss shooed away the last of the bridge crew, going to stand by the main turbo laser control panel. "Gunnery team one, switch fire to target the enemies bridge, but redirect the controls back to the bridge for the final shot." Weiss waited until the controls confirmed that her orders had been followed. A deafening crack broke the silence of the abandoned bridge, and Weiss looked out to see a large chunk of her ship floating away. "Goodbye father," Weiss said bitterly pressing down hard on the fire controls.

"Damn fool rebel!" Schnee cursed as the debris of the fighter drifted out of the way of his view.

"Sir the bridge defectors are gone!" An officer said as he subconsciously backed out of the room.

"Re-power those shields now!" The Grand Moff shouted as he stood from his chair eyes wide as he watched the last turbolaser batterie on the Glatteis swivel towards his bridge. "Where are my shields!"

"S-sir the explosions, t-the detonation of the other ships that is, extensively damaged our generators, we c-can't get power back to the shields without more time." The officer ran off as soon as he finished, leaving the Grand Moff standing alone in the exposed bridge.

"Well played Weiss, I guess we both go down with our ships."

Grand Moff Schnee watched with a tired, irritated expression as the blue turbolaser bolt slammed through the bridge.

Adam slowed quickly, his burst of ferocity fading as the pain returned to his wound. It didn't matter though, Blake was safe for now. Cinder attacked, her twin, blazing red blades quickly pushing Adam back against the wall. "You think this matters? You think this makes you a better person? You are still weak and pathetic,"

"Nothing matters anymore, and strength doesn't make me a good person."

Cinder scowled, giving up on the pathetically dedicated fool. With a quick flick of her wrist Cinder managed to knock Adam's blade to the side, giving her other blade easy access to his hand. With a slash Adam's hand came free. Collapsing to the ground, Adam felt all energy drain from him, the pain finally overwhelming his senses. "You could have had so much, yet you sacrificed it all for a traitor. How disappointing," Cinder swung her blade through Adam, his face set in a defiant smile as he died.

Yang watched as Velvet raced out of the bunker. The Faunus with her fired back at the stormtroopers who were beginning to emerge behind them. Yang wished that the transport had weapon systems so she could blast the infernal prison into nothingness. As the last Faunus stepped aboard the transport Yang lifted it off the ground, the stormtroopers below taking pointless shots at the ships underside. Yang glanced to her side to see Blake still huddled in her seat, her eyes blank and glassy. "It's okay Blake, we made it out, we rescued everyone,"

"There was good in him Yang," Blake said ignoring Yang's statement, "I should have tried harder to bring him back. We could have all escaped."

"All that matters is that in the end he did what was right, maybe its not enough to redeem him for all he did, but he gave you the chance to do it for him."

Blake sat silently, taking in Yang's words. She had felt him die, but instead of guilt or sadness, she felt a great relief. Adam was in a better place, and at the end he had proved that deep down, he wasn't a monster. "Now let's get these people off this rock, I'm sure Weiss and Ruby are already preparing the victory celebration."

Weiss raced down the empty hallways, sparks flying from almost every console and light on the ship. By this point everyone else had abandoned ship, safely flying away in their escape pods. That left only Weiss aboard her crumbling ship. Every corner, every intersection was slowly being littered with collapsing walls and ceilings. It became quickly apparent that Weiss wouldn't be able to make it to the escape pods in time. So she changed direction, now making for the main hangar bay.

Running into the open hangar Weiss heard the sirens blare, signalling the reactors imminent explosion. Weiss scanned the hangar quickly, eyes landing on the Yang's freighter. Dashing up the ramp and into the cockpit, Weiss started the ships engines.

Trying to push the ship out of the hangar Weiss encountered her first problem, an apparent mass of ceiling having apparently collapsed on top of the back half of the ship. With a groan and the scraping of metal on metal, the freighter inched forward. Warnings started flaring up on the Ember's control panels as the ship scanned high levels of leaking radiation from the reactor. "Blast it! Move you piece of junk!" Weiss shouted as she slammed a fist against the controls, the ship suddenly shooting forward, breaking free of the collapsed ceiling.

Flying free Weiss encountered her second problem, the ventral hangars doors were shut. Quickly she switched the turrets control over to the cockpit, firing a quick burst into the hangar bay doors. The already heavily damaged hull broke away with ease and Weiss shot out of the Glatteis.

The ships sensors flared up again as the reactor exploded, cracking the Venator class cruiser in two. In front of her sat her fathers ship, blackened, cracked and as lifeless as her own ship. She watched as several escaped pods jettisoned from the now derelict craft. It seemed that the graveyard was already being replenished with two new ships. Scanning her fathers ship to make sure it was lifeless Weiss picked up a destress signal. Her eyes widened as she realised that it was coming from an ejected Rebel pilot, designation; Ace one. Weiss flew the ship towards the solitary, floating figure, excitedly opening the ramp and closing the airlock doors. Manoeuvring the freighter carefully, Weiss managed to catch Ruby. The ramp shut and the airlock opened. Weiss didn't dare leave the controls until they were safely out of the graveyard, but unconsciously she spun her chair slightly, hoping Ruby would run in any second.

"Weiss!" Ruby shouted as she raced towards the cockpit,

"Ruby!" Weiss replied finally taking her focus away from flying. Ruby slammed into Weiss, enveloping her in a desperate hug. In a second the two found themselves with lips locked, tears of joy and relief rolling down their cheeks. "We did it," Ruby said with a sigh of relief

"It's finally over, he's gone."

"Sorry about you ship," Ruby said sympathetically.

"Sorry about yours, your sacrifice won us the battle. I know you cared a lot about that fighter,"

"It was worth it." Ruby kissed Weiss again, coming to rest her head against the white haired girls shoulder. Weiss quickly initiated the hyperspace jump, arm reaching out behind Ruby to push the lever forward.

Yang pulled the ship out of hyperspace. Blake slowly opened her eyes, having slept through most of the jump. The Rendezvous area was populated by several escape pods and the fighters of Ace squadron. Yang noticed immediately that Ruby's fighter was missing. "This is Yang, we made it back with the Faunus, where's Weiss' battleship? Where's Ruby?" Yang said in a panic, eyes desperately trying to find the small red fighter.

"Yang, it's Ren here. The Glatteis was destroyed, we don't know if Weiss got off in time."

"What about Ruby, where is she!?"

"She ordered us to leave," Sun said glumly,

"The sensors were down at the time, but we are confident that…" Ren paused, sadness creeping into his usually emotionless tone.

"What Ren, tell me," Yang said forcefully,

"She is believed to have crashed her fighter into the bridge deflectors of the enemy ship, to allow us to fire on them and disable the star destroyer."

Yang sank down in her seat. Blake rested an arm on her shoulder, "Search your feelings Yang, you would have felt it if she had died." Yang pondered the point for a moment, closing her eyes and reaching out as her father had taught her. "She's out there, I can feel her… She's close?" Yang said with confusion. A second later the Ember materialised off to the transports starboard side.

"Captain Schnee and Commander Rose reporting in," Weiss' said uncharacteristically cheerfully. The comms erupted into a series of cheers, Yang being one of the louder voices.

"You guys made it! And you brought my ship back!"

"I decided that we had left enough ships behind in that scrap heap. Your's just happened to be the closest at the time."

"Sure, sure, if you're trying to impress me then you have succeeded, sadly I'm not interested, Ruby would be too jealous," Yang teased. Weiss' face turned a bright red and Ruby laughed before leaning over to the comms.

"Yang, did you manage to find General Ozpin down on the planet? They sent him down there rather than keep him on the star destroyer."

"I'll check," Blake said quickly, climbing down the thin ladder to the main cargo area of the transport. Sitting beside Velvet, engaged in what appeared to be a cheerful conversation, looking more haggard that Blake had seen him before, sat General Ozpin. It was also the first time she had seen him without his glasses. "General," Blake said as she moved through the incredibly crowded hold of the ship, the crowds parting respectfully for their saviour.

"Ms Belladonna, I hear it is you and Ms Xiao Long that led this rescue attempt. Ms Scarletina here has told it was you that proposed the rescue, I owe you my thanks."

"Not at all sir, we were only doing what was right."

"Be that as it may, it took incredible cunning, sacrafice and daring in order to attempt this mission. Captain Schnee, Commander Rose and you and Ms Xiao Long are a truly remarkable team," Ozpin stood and shook Velvet's hand, "Let us not forget the bravery of your people as well, I'm certain the Alliance would be proud to fight beside such dedicated warriors." Velvet blushed, the confidence she had found in battle disappearing and being replaced by her usual quiet timidness. "If you wouldn't mind taking me to the bridge of this ship," Ozpin said addressing Blake, "I would very much like to thank everyone personally."

Weiss and Ruby were busy picking up what crew they could carry on the Ember from the group of escape pods when Ozpin's voice came through the speakers. "This is General Ozpin. I wish to thank each and every one of you for your incredible bravery in attempting this mission."

"It was nothing, pretty standard stuff for me at least," Yang said non-chalantly, putting her feet up on the dashboard of the transport.

"She's right sir," Ruby said quickly, "We are used to this kind of thing, it's not the first fighter I have lost,"

"It's not the first star destroyer that I have lost either," Weiss said humorously. The General smiled,

"Well in that case I believe a celebration and reward are not needed, this being standard fare for you." Yang sat up immediately,

"Reward?"

Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang stood proudly at the front of the main hangar of the Mon Calamari battlecruiser Vale. Instead of the usual parade of ships, there was a large assembly of personnel. In front of the group stood General Ozpin, once again dressed in his officers uniform, spectacles sitting comfortably on the bridge of his nose. Beside him stood his second in command, Captain Glynda Goodwitch. Like on the Glatteis when Weiss had addressed the crew, Ozpin stood on a makeshift podium. "Soldiers of the Alliance, we are here today to honour the bravery of those who came to my rescue, and that of the enslaved Faunus. Captain Weiss Schnee," Ozpin said as he regarded Weiss with a wave of his hand. "For your excellent command of the mission to defeat Grand Moff Schnee, we thank you." Glynda stepped forward and placed a medal upon Weiss' uniform. "Commander Ruby Rose and the rest of Ace squadron, for their truly daring piloting in the face of insurmountable odds." Once again a medal was placed on Ruby's flight suit, a small box filled with identical medals was also given, to be handed out to the rest of Ace squadron. "Finally, Yang Xiao Long and Blake Belladonna. While not officially part of the Alliance, you have proved to be great allies many times over. Leading the assault on the prison in which I and the Faunus were held was something no one could have asked you to do. Yet you volunteered to help those in need, despite the great risk to yourselves. You may not be Rebels, but you embody everything that we strive to be."

As the last medal was attached to Yang's jacket the group turned, looking out over the small crowd which had assembled. Ruby smiled at her squadron, now back at full strength with Pyrrha and Jaune. Weiss regarded those who had served as her crew with a firm, encouraging nod. Yang gave a mock salute to Ren and Penny. Blake smiled proudly at the assembly of the now official Faunus commando team, lead by Velvet.

The crowd broke into thunderous applause. Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang all shared knowing looks, smiles and laughs as they were soon engulfed by their friends for a series of hugs, handshakes and cheers.

Ruby ended up standing alone in the hangar. The procession and small celebration had ended, and most people had retired to bed. "Thought I would find you here," Weiss said, startling the daydreaming Ruby.

"Oh, hey there, yeah just thought I would watch the stars for a bit."

"Mind if I join?" Weiss asked, only to have Ruby wrap an arm around her and bring her closer. The two looked out over the full Rebel fleet, and magnificent backdrop of the stars behind them.

"Are they giving you a new command?"

"Yes, it's a smaller ship, but it's better than nothing."

"Try not to lose this one to mutiny, or explosions," Ruby teased. Weiss rolled her eyes,

"Only if you manage to not fly your fighter into another Imperial bridge or crash it in a terribly hot desert,"

"Deal."

Blake fell back onto her bunk, the datapad landing beside her. It felt surprisingly good to be back aboard the Ember. "Blake? Blake you in here?" Yang called as she walked onboard.

"In here Yang," Blake replied, slowly rising to a sitting position. Yang entered the room, head held high and medal still emblazoned on her jacket. "Are you ever going to take that thing off?"

"Nope, never had a medal before. Dunno how the Rebels got such a pretty one too, can't believe they expect everyone to just put them away somewhere not to be seen." Blake smiled at Yang's roundabout logic. "What have you got there?" Yang said as she nodded towards the datapad.

"Orders from Ozpin," Blake said purposefully not making a big deal out of it.

"Uh, what? I don't think he can give us orders, on account of us not being apart of this whole Rebellion thing."

"I'm staying Yang," Blake said, hints of nervousness in her voice. Yang froze, staring at Blake, who didn't dare meet Yang's eyes.

"I thought we were staying away to keep everyone safe, from the Inquisitors tracking us,"

"I don't think that will be an issue anymore. With Adam and Neo gone, Cinder will probably have to face Vader and he is not one to simply accept failure. With them all gone, there aren't many Inquisitors left, let alone competent ones. Now my people are here, and I think it's best if I stay and help them." Yang sat down on the bed beside Blake, resting her head against the wall. "I understand if you want to go, you have never been one for rules and regulations but," Blake paused, embarrassed to say anymore. Yang smirked, "But you want me to stay, that's it isn't it?"

"Well, yes, I mean you are a very capable warrior and-"

"And a very capable lover, definitely someone you don't want to let out of your sight."

"Yang, please, what I am trying to say is-"

"That you love me." The room fell into silence, Blake unable to find any words to either dispute the accusation or agree. Yang turned her head to look at Blake, the cocky smile infuriatingly still there, "Well, guess that settles it. You make a very convincing argument, so I'll stay," Yang crept closer, inching across the bed. "Just for you, maybe Ruby as well, but mostly for you," Yang kissed her lightly on the lips, the light touch drawing Blake in, forcing herself forward for more. "Guess you could say I love you too." With that the two embraced each other strongly, sharing a deep and desperate kiss.

Several Months later…

"Take evasive action, Green group stick close to holding section MV-Seven!"

"Admiral! We have enemy ships in sector forty seven!"

" It's a trap!"

Weiss cursed under her breath, "Bank left as hard as possible, do not let us hit that shield!" Weiss dashed over to the communications console, "Ace squadron move to intercept enemy fighters in sector forty seven."

"Copy that Whiterose, moving to attack position," Ruby replied.

"Why can't anything every go according to plan!" Sun said in frustration,

"Because if it did we wouldn't have any eyeballs to practice on and would probably be pretty average pilots," Ruby replied sarcastically.

"Stay focused," Weiss interjected, "We won't get another shot at this, and if we fail then the Rebellion falls, and any hope of peace or freedom with it."

Ruby took a deep breath, nodding along to Weiss' words. "For the Rebellion," she said calmly,

"For the Rebellion," Weiss replied. Clasping her hands behind her back and raising her chin, "Here we go again."

BOOM! Episode 2 down. Managed to smash this one out while moving this week, turned out to be a welcome relief to lifting furniture up three flights of stairs. Thanks for sticking around and reading, as I say constantly I absolutely love this story. Thus, fear not wonderful people, Episode 3 is coming. Until that time however, may the force be with you.