"After today's training, I've seen fit to make 1163 JNPR's demolition expert. While it was a toss-up between her and 1390, we've decided that Jaune would make a better leader, while Nora fits into the role of ordnance specialist seamlessly. She has developed a fast friendship with 2223, helping bring him out of his shell. Nora's cheerful demeanor is a notable morale boost for her fellow soldiers, and should not be underestimated. She also possesses a serious side, able to switch to a ruthless killer if necessary. She also currently holds the record for most pancakes eaten at once, which will stand for all time, as after the contest, the Kaminoans declared no more pancakes would be made. Apparently they didn't want to have to clean the mess hall again."- Qrow Branwen.

Coruscant 43 Days ABG

"Contact. Coming in through the sidewalk."

Ren snapped his scope to the place called out by Ruby. Sure enough, there were four people walking towards Qrow, who was standing out in the courtyard, Sun next to him. On three sides there were buildings, with the members of RWBY and JNPR scattered around them, all with snipers, in case things went south.

Two people stepped to the front, a woman with dark skin and mint green hair, a man with grey hair a few paces behind her. These two carried themselves like they were important, while the other two seemed like common fodder.

"You Traviss?" The woman asked Qrow, who nodded his head.

"Yeah, that's me. You Cinder?"

The lady smiled at that, as if it was some kind of funny joke.

"No, my name is Emerald. I'm sorry, but Ms. Fall is unable to join us as of now. I assure you, she will be present for the actual transfer, if this… partnership… makes it to that phase."

Qrow cocked his head to the side, a frown on his face. "I arranged the meeting with her. If she's not going to take this seriously, I could just leave."

"That won't be necessary. In the spirit of full discretion, Ms. Fall is a bit… nervous."

Qrow laughed, as Sun crossed his arms across his chest. He had died his hair black, and was wearing casual clothes, like Qrow, who was wearing civilian clothes.

"Nervous! About what? Getting pulled over on the way here?"

"We had one of our associates get found dead in her apartment. And an entire ship of people working for us went missing. So you'll understand if she's a bit hesitant to show her face."

Ren saw Sun shift slightly, the whole conversation being relayed by a wire mic underneath Qrow's jacket.

"I suppose that's understandable. But if she's not present for the actual exchange I will not sell to you. I'd like to know that I'm working with the real deal, not a few punks taking someone else's name." The man behind Emerald started forward at that, but Emerald stopped him, muttering something about Mercury.

"I understand. Now, if you don't mind, we'd like to negotiate price." Emerald said properly, but clearly tired of petty sniping.

"6 million for the load." Qrow said without hesitation.

"That is far too much." Emerald said dismissively.

"No, it's not. You're the only one who wants this grade of explosives in this quantity, it wasn't easy to acquire, and I've got a damn good idea as to what you're going to use it for, so consider the extra cost as appeasing my conscience."

"A Mandalorian with a conscience? I never thought I'd see the day." The grey haired man said mockingly, shutting up when Qrow fixed him with a deadly stare.

"4 million is our counter offer." Emerald said, ignoring her associate's antics.

Qrow paused for a second, looking up at the sky, deep in thought.

"4 and a half mil, final offer."

Emerald sighed, before extending her hand, which Qrow shook, a smile on his face.

Coruscant, 44 Days ABG

"Do we have a day for the drop?" Tai asked, his arms crossed over his chest, fingers drumming a beat on his arm.

"No, our lovely associates will be getting back to us for the drop day." Qrow said as he sat down, a glass of clear alcohol already in his hand. It was barely noon.

"We need you in top form for the raid Qrow." Tai said, staring at the glass with obvious disdain.

"I shoot better with a few drinks in me. Helps calm my nerves as well." Qrow took a swig, staring Tai down the entire time.

"Just make sure you're set." Tai called out, leaving the living room of the apartment that the entire strike force, as they jokingly called themselves, was inhabiting. Nerves were rising now that they had struck a bargain with the Grimm. The day of the raid was growing closer, and everyone could taste it in the air. No one was taking any risks on patrol, not doing anything out of the usual routine, for fear of hurting themselves before the strike. Not out of fear for personal safety, but for fear of letting down the team. The armory had already been promised to Qrow by Ozpin himself, and the team had spent some time joking about the weapons they'd bring to the raid. He hoped they were jokes at least, since Sage's obsession with a Merr-Sonn Aim Assisted Anti-Vehicle Rocket Launcher might not leave much of a city behind, especially if explosives were involved.

Qrow's comlink chirped, notifying him of an incoming call.

"Qrow, this is Cinder. There's been a slight hiccup."

Coruscant, 44 Days ABG

Sun was sitting around the dinner table, laughing as Neptune lost yet again in a round of cards. The entire table, consisting of Yang, Pyrrha, Ruby, and Jaune, Scarlet, and Sun himself, began to roar with laughter as Neptune began to yell at Scarlet, believing that his brother was rigging the deck. He was absolutely correct, but he should have known better than to let Scarlet deal out the hands.

All laughter stopped as swearing could be heard from the other room, where Tai had just walked out of. All the clones looked at the doorway as Qrow stormed through, his words a myriad of curses and expletives.

"Alright kiddos, get your shit on, we've got to move now if we want to get set up for the raid."

Coruscant Freight Sector, 44 Days ABG

Sun was afraid. He knew better than to let the fear control him, though. It was one of the first things Qrow had ever taught them, to use the fear as a tool, rather than let it shut him down. The Grimm had added a new problem to the mix, as one of their crew had been picked up by the cops and they were in a rush to move. Bad luck, but they had to adapt. The worse bit of it was that Cinder wasn't going to be there for the delivery of the shipment. That meant the strike team had been divided in half, one half here for the drop, the other half ready to be deployed once they learned where Cinder was. Sun was in charge of Team Alpha, consisting of himself, Scarlet, Ren, Pyrrha, Weiss, and Ruby. Qrow was there for the drop itself, with Sun by his side in Mandalorian armor, acting as a bodyguard, with the rest of the team in sniper positions, ready to kill everyone once given the order.

"Here they come." Scarlet said from a rooftop nearby, as a group of 6 people walked up to them, Emerald at the front.

"Lazy fuckers won't even on time to their own party." Ruby said, from a location Sun wasn't fully sure of.

"Cut the chatter." Sun said, assuming the role of squad leader fully, keeping everything focused. They couldn't afford to get distracted, not right now.

"Where were you?" Qrow said, nodding his head at Emerald.

"We got caught in traffic. You gonna bust my balls about every little thing or are we going to do this?" She said, clearly impatient.

"Explosives are in the truck." Qrow said, nodding towards the speeder truck that Scarlet had 'commandeered' earlier that day. "Has the payment gone through yet?"

"No, we need to inspect the goods." She replied, striding towards the truck, before climbing on board with another of her men. They began to tear open packages, checking that the packages were all legit.

"I'm insulted that you don't trust us." Qrow feigned boredom, but Sun noticed a twitch in Qrow's right arm, towards his blaster.

"Never trust a Mando, don't take it personally." She yelled back.

She jumped down from the truck, followed by her man. The other 4 looked around aimlessly, clearly wanting to be done with it all. Emerald pulled out a datapad, and began to press some keys on the screen.

"Alright Traviss, money's on the way. Pleasure doing business with you."

"Thanks for the business." Qrow said, as 5 rifle shots rang out, each one piercing the skull of Emerald's coworkers.

"What the fu-." She began to exclaim, before Sun tackled her, ripping the blaster from her hand, before slamming his fist into her nose.

"Where is Cinder?" Sun asked, his fist cocked back, ready to strike again.

"Kiss my ass." She replied, as an armored gauntlet struck her in the face, a sharp crack ripping breaking through the air. Sun flipped her over, a knee on her back and his arms wrapped around her neck in a chokehold.

Qrow strode over and picked the datapad up from off the ground, wiping off some dirt that had accumulated on the screen, before swiping through the various screens.

"Oh hey, a message from Cinder. 'Once you have the package, meet us at this address.' Ya know, you really should have memorized the address and deleted this message." Qrow said, turning away from her while keying in the code for Tai.

"Amateurs" Sun muttered, as he twisted his arms and felt Emerald's neck snap.

Coruscant, 45 Days ABG

Yang's fingers drummed on her ACP Array Gun. She was a part of Team Bravo, led by Jaune. Her, Nora, Jaune, and Blake were on room clearing duty, while Neptune, Tai and Sage suppressed anyone on the outside. Their target was a two story building, layout unknown, current inhabitants unknown. All they knew was that Cinder was inside, and that everyone on the premises would not be alive in a few moments. There were sentries on the roof, who Nep, Tai, and Sage would be neutralizing before the assault team moved up to the door at the front of the building.

"Assault team in position." Jaune said in his mic, the team hidden behind a corner, ready to move up.

"Taking the sentries in 3, 2, 1." Neptune said, as rifle shots rung out, toppling the figures on top of the building. Voices began shouting inside the building, before a rocket fired out and hit the front of the building, giving the assault team an entry. A second rocket went screaming into the building, giving the team some room to breathe as they ran towards the building.

"Yang, up front!" Jaune yelled as Yang sprinted into the room, ACP gun at the ready.

The inside was chaos incarnate. Smoke filled the air, voices echoing through the building, some dazed, crawling on the ground. Some were angry, and one in particular was asking to know what happened. Cinder.

Yang's ACP gun instinctively snapped to a target, someone stumbling, shell shocked after the rockets. She pulled the trigger, no hesitation or remorse as blood and gore spilled out his back, falling to the floor. She moved on to the right of the building with Blake, Jaune and Nora going left.

Blake executed one of the women crawling on the ground, a single tap to the back of the head with her DC-17. It was a slaughter, whole and pure. One man tried to fight back, but his head disappeared behind the barrel of Yang's ACP, replaced by a spray of pink mist.

"Clear!" Yang yelled as they ran into the last room on their side of the building, Blake shoulder charging a woman into a wall, before sliding her vibroblade into the man's throat as Yang pumped two rounds into someone on the other side of the room, blood spraying all over the wall.

"Right side clear!" Blake called out, as they regrouped in the main room, next to a staircase that went straight up into the second floor.

Jaune sprayed plasma into a room, stopping only as Nora entered, before the room was illuminated with blue from the inside.

"Left side clear! Regroup!" Jaune ordered, meeting Yang and Blake at the stairs, nodding at them. He had more blood on his armor, all over his chest plate.

"They're up these stairs, and they're ready for us. Stick together, move quickly, and leave no one alive." He said, before taking point up the stairs. He paused at the top, priming a flashbang in his right hand.

"Flashing!" He yelled, the three girls charging in as it went off.

Where the downstairs had been a slaughter, the second floor would be a fight. A table was flipped over, presumably with someone taking cover behind it. Several men were standing behind pillars, weapons aimed at the stairs. Thankfully they were blinded by the flashbang, allowing the commandos to also take cover, before firing on the enemies.

Nora let loose a burst of plasma, sinking them into the chest of one of the Grimm, as they fell to the floor. Yang took this opportunity to move up, flanking on the right. Cinder was nowhere in sight, so it seemed safe to assume that she was behind the big table.

As Yang was moving, a man with grey hair stepped out from behind a pillar, hitting her in the chest with a burst from his blaster. She staggered back, her trigger finger reflexively pulling, firing off a round from her gun. Unfortunately she was off balance, and her aim was lower than usual, so the round blew his legs off right at the knee, causing him to howl in pain as he dropped to the floor. Yang took cover behind a pillar, racking more rounds into her ACP, noticing that the rest of the team had moved up as well. Only one person left.

Cinder rose from behind the table, what appeared to be a tube in her hand. Yang was moving before she registered what she was looking at, as one end of the tube began to glow, and a jet of fire went across yang, covering her in a jelly like substance that seemed to be highly flammable.

The thing about burning while being in a flame proof set of armor was that you didn't feel anything. You could see the flames all over you, but you couldn't even feel the heat through the plates. Still, she began to feel fear creeping through her just at the knowledge of being on fire. She suddenly got tackled, as someone rolled her on the ground, desperately trying to put out the flames. She slowly became aware of the comms chatter, having faded out.

"Someone tell me what the fuck is going on!" Was that Tai?

"We have a commando down, repeat commando down!" Who's down? Am I down?

"Cinder has been neutralized, I repeat, Cinder has been killed"

She heard the wail of that man who had lost his legs, before a burst rang out, silencing him.

"Yang! Yang! You okay?!" She looked up to see Jaune's armor over her. He must have been the one who knocked her down, putting out the fire.

"Yeah, yeah I'm good." She said, starting to get up.

"Good, because we gotta get the fuck out of here before the cops show up!" Jaune helped her up, as they began to leave the burned out, broken building filled with Grimm.

Coruscant, 45 Days ABG

"It would appear that a devastating gang war boiled over last night, as several members of a gang were brutally murdered in two different locations. The police are currently investigating leads as to who did this, but we are unsure just how much evidence they have to go off of."

Lisa Lavender was cut off mid transmission, as Neptune turned her off.

"I was watching that!" Sun said, faking indignation.

"Curious as to who killed some gangsters?" Nep shot back mockingly.

"Yeah, I'd like to buy the courageous men who did this a drink. They sound like handsome, charming young lads."

"I'm sure they are." Neptune laughed, rolling his eyes.

Sun was relishing the time they had to relax. New orders were soon to come in, as two commando squads and an ARC squad would be in high demand for the war effort.

"Come on, we're celebrating in the bar." Neptune said, walking towards the door.

"Yeah, sounds good man." Sun walked towards the door, following his brother.

It wasn't often they would have off time during the war. It would be foolish not to take advantage of it.

A/N: CORUSCANT ARC OFFICIALLY FINISHED! I'm super excited to move on to the next arc of our story. But first, I need to address the release schedule. I've been hella depressed recently and so this dropped basically off my priority list. But I'm good now! So hopefully I'll write some of these in preparation, and I'm hoping to get back into it with a monthly release schedule. No promises that I'll stick to it though. I'm sorry for kind of dropping off the face of the earth, but I'm back, and I'm ready to keep this fic going.

Team RWBY

RC-1183 Ruby, Sergeant Rank

RC-1104 Weiss, Private

RC-1170 Blake, Private

RC-1126 Yang, Private

Team JNPR

RC-1390 Jaune, Sergeant Rank

RC-1163 Nora, Private

RC-8051 Pyrrha, Private

RC-2223 Ren, Private

Team SSSN

ARC S-11 Sun, Captain Rank

ARC S-07 Scarlet, Lieutenant Rank

ARC S-12 Sage, Sergeant Rank

ARC S-10 Neptune, Lieutenant Rank

Other

Qrow Branwen, Mandalorian Warrior. Former Training Sergeant in the GAR

Taiyang Xiao Long, Mandalorian Warrior. Former Training Sergeant

Summer Rose. Mandalorian Warrior. Former Training Sergeant

James Ironwood. Mandalorian Warrior. Former Training Sergeant

Vode An

Heil96, out.