Star Wars: Memory of Remnant
Prologue: Beacon of Hope
Cover Image: Ben Solo and Ruby Rose at the entrance of Beacon Academy as the image of the Jedi Killer looms behind them.
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….
Star Wars: Memory of Remnant
Over eighteen years have passed since the Battle of Endor and from the ashes of the Galactic Empire and the Order of the Sith Lords; a powerful new evil has risen to prominence, the First Order, led by the sinister Supreme Leader Snoke.
But the galaxy was faced with another threat, as the members of the now-defunct Inquistorius, led by the mysterious "Jedi Killer" have reorganized themselves as the self-christened Knights of the Sith on the planet Remnant.
The legendary Luke Skywalker himself arrived on Remnant to face the dark-side cult and with him, was his first and most gifted apprentice, Ben Solo, the son of Rebel Alliance heroes Han Solo and Leia Organa.
Now, both Master and Apprentice face a new challenge…
Remnant, an arboreal planet on the edges of Wild Space, only re-discovered by the greater galaxy shortly before the Clone Wars, home to so many different cultures and continents that the world was in many ways, it's own star system.
To aid in Remnant's transition into the larger Galaxy, Senator Leia Organa Solo of the New Republic was stationed there and at the behest of her twin brother, Luke Skywalker, the Grand Master of the New Jedi Order, brought her son, Ben Solo with her, so that he could attend Beacon Academy as one of his trials before he could gain the rank of Jedi Knight.
At the Headmaster's Office of Beacon Academy, Leia Organa Solo, a middle-aged woman with brown hair and brown eyes, dressed in a regal grey uniform was speaking with the Headmaster himself, Ozpin, a tall, similarly aged man with tousled grey hair and brown eyes, dressed in a black suit and green scarf.
"Thank you for accepting Ben into your school." Leia spoke with genuine gratitude in her tone. She was relieved at the fact that her son would be able to live something resembling a normal life.
"Your son is very talented, however, he has trouble controlling his anger." Ozpin spoke proudly yet warily of Ben's progress. "Are you at all concerned?"
"I'm not worried at all, since Luke's training him." Leia smiled reassuringly at Ozpin. She had complete faith in her twin brother's guidance for her son's future.
"Then Ben will be a perfect fit for Beacon." Ozpin replied as he stood up from his seat to stare outside the window of his office, a look of hopefulness on his face. "Maybe soon, the legendary Jedi Order could be rebuilt from this school."
One autumn day many years ago, a young boy with chin-length black hair dressed in a dark-brown tunic rested under a large tree. The wind blew the wilted leaves off the ground as the youth heard a voice call out to him.
"Ben." The gentle voice of a young girl in a red dress tried to wake up the sleeping boy. "Ben!" The mysterious girl raised her voice.
"Huh…?" Ben opened his brown eyes and looked up at the girl. He couldn't see her face, under the shadow of her wavy black hair, but he did see her radiant amber eyes.
"Ben!" The voice grew louder but at the same time, adopted a playful tone.
Then suddenly, the world seemed to warp and the radiant orange of autumn changed into the lush green of spring, but a now teenaged Ben Solo, dressed in a dark gray tunic was still under a tree, resting peacefully.
"Ben!" A different female voice called out to the young man, jerking him away from the dream and back to reality. "Ben, wake up!"
Ben opened his eyes to see the cheerful smile of Ruby Rose a small teenaged girl with black and red hair and pale silver eyes. She was dressed in a black and red dress with a red-hooded cape hanging down from her shoulders and on the back of her waist, rested a red-colored rifle
"Alright, alright… I'm awake." Ben let out a tired groan as he spoke, but as annoyed as he was, Ruby's innocent smile put a smile on his own face. "So… need something?"
"When are you gonna show me your weapon, huh?" Ruby placed her hands on her hips as she pouted at Ben, impatience and excitement emanating from her.
"A Jedi never draws his weapon unless he needs to." Ben gave Ruby a wry smile as he poked her forehead in a teasing manner. "Patience is a virtue, you know?"
Ruby just stood there, still pouting at Ben's teasing. She always enjoyed the time they spent together, but she always hated it when he treated her like a kid.
"You looked like you were having a good dream." Ruby suddenly remembered Ben's peaceful face before she woke him up. "What was it about? Was it weapons? Cookies?" The energetic teen asked excitedly.
"It was about a girl." Ben smiled at the memory of his dream, remembering the vague features of the mysterious little girl. "She had dark hair, a red dress and-"
"And…?" Ruby cut Ben off; her cheeks tinged a slight pink as she noted her own similarities to the mystery girl.
"Amber eyes." Ben finished describing the mystery girl to Ruby.
"Oh…." Ruby hung her head down in disappointment, slightly chagrinned to hear that the mystery girl wasn't her, she then pouted at Ben once more.
"T-That's right, I still haven't met your team!" Ben smiled awkwardly as he tried to change the subject, sensing Ruby's growing hostility.
"I'll introduce you one day." Ruby's face beamed with excitement at Ben's sudden interest in her affairs. "Well, you already know Yang, so I can't wait for you to meet everyone else!"
"Can't wait to meet them." Ben gave Ruby a sincere smile at the thought of meeting her teammates. Lately, he's felt he hasn't paid enough attention to her; so getting to know her friends would be a good place to start.
Ben and Ruby had been friends for about five years, thanks to Luke's regular visits to Remnant and they've gotten so close that they're rarely ever seen apart whenever the young Jedi came to visit.
As the unlikely pair walked to the dormitories, something caught Ben's attention, the young Jedi saw Cardin Winchester, a tall, broad-shouldered teen with short brown hair and blue eyes, clad in plate-armor was pulling on the ears of Velvet Scarlatina, a Rabbit-Faunus with brown hair and similarly colored eyes, dressed in the brown and white Beacon Academy uniform.
"That hurts!" Velvet cried out in pain as Cardin pulled up her rabbit ears forcefully. "Please stop…"
"In your dreams, freak!" Cardin laughed mockingly as he pulled harder, causing Velvet to tear up from the pain.
Ben stood there with his fists shaking in rage. He never liked playing the hero, but Cardin in particular infuriated him to no end, his cocky smirk, his annoying voice and his sadistic brutality, the young Jedi absolutely hated the bully.
Ruby noticed the rage emanating from Ben and she tried to hold him back, but it was too late, the infuriated young man was already making his way to his unfortunate target.
"Put. Her. Down!" Ben ordered Cardin to release Velvet in a cruel and commanding tone, his fists still clenched.
"Make me, you emo punk!" Cardin, still holding one of Velvet's ears, poked fun at Ben's brooding visage as he taunted the young Jedi.
Ben's fury was at its limit and with a raised hand, he used the Force to grab Cardin and lift him several inches off the ground, causing him to release Velvet's ear. With a forceful pushing gesture, the young Jedi slammed the bully against a nearby tree.
"Beg…" Ben's words were venomous and spiteful as he moved his hand forward in a forceful pushing motion, slowly crushing the frightened Cardin against the tree with such force that some splinters could be seen jutting out of the trunk.
Ben was about to finish the bully off in his blind rage, but before he could, he felt Ruby's hand on his own. She looked him straight in the eye with a pleading expression on her face.
"Ben, stop… this isn't you." Ruby's grip on her friend's hand tightened as her expression grew more concerned. "Please…"
As if drawn back to reality by the urgent concern in Ruby's voice, Ben relented and pulled his hand back suddenly, releasing Cardin. That feeling was familiar... and the cold that followed every time his anger took over was not a welcome sensation.
Cardin fell to the ground in a crumpled heap, unconscious from the shock of Ben's brutal assault on him.
"I'm sorry…" Ben gave Ruby a sincere yet guilty smile, feeling terrible for worrying her like that. "I'm still me, okay?" The young Jedi's expression grew soft and caring as he reached out to pat her head gently.
Ruby stayed silent and just hugged Ben's arm tightly, well aware of her friend's violent temper and dark impulses, but knowing that his true self was a kind and compassionate young man.
Though understandably shocked by the violent turn of events, Velvet approached Ben and bowed her head down nervously as a silent "Thank you." for his assistance before running off.
Despite saving Velvet from Cardin, Ben's "rescue" did more harm than good. The young Jedi was now facing disciplinary action for his violent handle on the situation.
Ben now sat in the office of Glynda Goodwitch, a middle-aged woman with blonde hair and green eyes wearing a white blouse, a black skirt, glasses and a tattered cape. The teacher gave the young Jedi a stern look, livid at his act of violence on campus grounds.
"You are in big trouble, young man." Glynda spoke calmly but sternly to Ben. Though this was his first offense, it was a major one that endangered the life of another student. "Standing up to bullies is one thing, but attempted murder…"
"You should have seen how he was treating her!" Ben shot back, not appreciating Glynda's accusatory tone and judgment of what he saw as a righteous deed. "You teachers always talk about standing up for others and that's what I did!"
"You are being taught to be a Huntsman… not a murderer, Ben Solo!" Glynda raised her voice as she gripped the sides of the desk. "If your master finds out about this-"
Before Glynda could finish scolding Ben, Luke Skywalker himself entered the office. He was a middle-aged man with brown hair, icy blue eyes and a mechanical arm who wore on him the tan and brown robes of a Jedi Master.
"I think I've heard enough." Luke spoke in a calm and almost gentle tone as he smiled at both Ben and Glynda. "Thank you, Miss Goodwitch, your concern for Ben warms my heart." The Jedi Master gave the teacher a courteous bow.
"I-I'm doing my best to rear Mr. Solo into a proper Huntsman." Glynda tried her hardest to keep her formal tone around Luke, but her flustered appearance and the slight presence of red on her cheeks betrayed her intentions.
"Come Ben, let's take a walk." Luke gestured towards his apprentice with a smile before excusing himself with another curt bow and a sly smile in Glynda's direction.
Ben stood up and followed Luke outside the door, relieved that he would be spared from Glynda's scolding, but worried that his master might continue.
Luke Skywalker and Ben Solo, Master and Padawan, walked the halls of Beacon Academy. Luke walked close to the windows, touched by the rays of the noontime sun while Ben walked beside him, with half of his body in the light.
The two walked silently until Luke broke it with the question Ben had been dreading since they left Glynda's office.
"Ben, why did you attack that boy?" Luke asked without anger in his tone, only calm and genuine curiosity.
"He was hurting an innocent Faunus…" Ben seethed at the memory of Cardin's unprovoked assault on Velvet, reliving the intense anger he felt at that moment. "I was giving him what he deserved!"
"Ben, your compassion is admirable, but it mustn't lead to hatred." Luke's tone became more concerned. "If you killed that boy, his friends would have come back and bullied that Faunus in his place, blaming her partly for your actions."
"I…" Ben had no reply for what Luke had told him. His master's words made so much sense, leaving him unable to argue.
"Think of the people around you, Ben, those who care about you." Luke's lips curved into a sincere smile as he led his apprentice out into the courtyard and sure enough, Ruby was out there waiting for him, wearing anxious yet relieved expression her face.
Ben was surprised to see that she was waiting for him, but it was then, Luke's words began to sink in. The young Jedi could only smile as he saw Ruby, the person that cared about him more than anyone else.
Luke gave Ben a gentle push on the back, gesturing towards Ruby with a warm smile on his face, knowing the positive effect she had on his emotional young apprentice.
Ben nodded as he walked toward Ruby, feeling the dark pull of his hatred for Cardin wash away with the sight of her smiling face.
"Sorry I took so long…" Ben smiled awkwardly at Ruby as he placed his hand on the back of his head. "You know Professor Goodwitch…"
"So… that was scary." Ruby smiled awkwardly as she forced a laugh, trying to make light of their stressful situation.
"Guess Cardin's going to the hospital." Ben smiled nervously at Ruby's comment, unable to think of anything else to say at the moment.
"I mean… it was scary thinking that you might get expelled…" Ruby looked down as her nervous expression became more somber at the thought of losing her friend.
"I'll try not to scare you like that next time." Ben smiled and placed his hand over Ruby's head, messing up her hair as a gesture of familiar affection. "Okay?"
"Promise?" Ruby's smile returned to her face, brighter than ever as her silver eyes met Ben's.
"I promise." Ben gave Ruby a reassuring smile before taking his hand off her head and walking towards the airship dock.
Ben and Ruby just smiled at each other for a few seconds, unable to find a way to continue their conversation under these awkward circumstances and both of them oblivious to the somewhat romantic undertones.
But before any of them could break the silence, a loud voice belonging to Weiss Schnee, a young girl with white hair, light-blue eyes and a crooked scar running down her right eye, wearing a white and red dress, called out angrily to Ruby.
"You!" Weiss walked briskly towards Ruby intent on scolding her team leader. "Just what do you think you're doing?! We're going to be late for practice thanks to you-" The heiress paused mid-sentence as her eyes drifted towards Ben, who was still beside her friend.
"Umm… this is Weiss." Ruby gestured awkwardly at the heiress as she wore an expression that conveyed nervousness and embarrassment, though she still tried to introduce her two friends to each other. "And this is-" The silver-eyed huntress gestured towards Ben, only to be cut off.
"Ben Solo…" Weiss' expression flared into an even angrier one as she spoke the young Jedi's name with venom in her tone. "You have some nerve showing up! You never write and you never call, it's driving me crazy!"
"Hey there, Weiss… it's been a while." Ben stepped back slightly despite attempting to greet the irate heiress, knowing what she would do next. "Yeah… about that…"
"Wait… how do you know each other?" Ruby asked as she watched the one-sidedly hostile yet oddly familiar exchange between Ben and Weiss. "Are you like... secret best buddies or something?"
"Yes, Ben… tell Ruby about our relationship." Weiss crossed her arms and glared daggers at Ben as she waited for a satisfactory answer from him.
"Do I have to…?" Ben sighed as he tried to think of a way to avoid answering the question.
Weiss glared at Ben and pulled on his ear, further forcing the young Jedi to give Ruby the answer to her earlier question.
"Okay, okay! I'll tell her." Ben rubbed his sore ear after Weiss released it from her grip. The young Jedi sighed as he gathered the strength to reveal the embarrassing truth. "Weiss and I are… engaged… kind of."
"Not kind of." Weiss was angered by Ben's lack of commitment to the word. "Our fathers arranged our marriage when we were children and I'm not letting you back out!"
The situation had gotten a lot more tense as Ben now found himself disappointed at the knowledge that he was wrapped up in one of his scoundrel of a father's deals and Ruby was at a complete loss for words at Weiss' bombshell announcement. Luke was right; there were people that cared for his hotheaded apprentice and apparently, someone that cared a little too much.
Orbiting the dark side of Remnant's cracked moon, was the fortress of the Knights of the Sith, a large crimson pyramidal space station floated ominously in space and within its central chamber, stood the Jedi Killer, a man clad in striking grey and crimson armor reminiscent of the late Darth Vader's and the visage of the Sith Stalkers and on his belt, hung ten different lightsabers.
The crimson-armored figure held out his hand to the fierce energy orb at the center of the chamber, drawing its power into him as the chamber darkened progressively the more power the Jedi Killer consumed.
After the room had completely darkened, the blast doors opened and two figures stepped in to report to the Jedi Killer. The first figure was Prince Valorum, a man in his late teens with combed black hair and similarly colored eyes, clad in black armor with a flowing dark cape, an ornate mask covering the lower half of his face and an Inquisitor lightsaber hanging from his belt. The second figure was NK-Necrosis, a dark grey battledroid reminiscent of the late General Grievous with a black and red cape, six uniform lightsabers hanging from his waist along with a shield in one arm and a blaster rifle in the other.
"Statement: Master, the scouts have reported military activity on Atlas." NK-Necrosis spoke in his booming mechanical voice as he reported the kingdom's progress. "Their droid army is being built as we speak."
"Good, leak the Imperial blueprints as planned." The Jedi Killer spoke in a menacing modulated voice that sounded like two different voices speaking in unison. "Their general cannot resist the edge they will provide."
"Affirmation: As you command, master." NK-Necrosis bowed before exiting the room, but not before gauging Valorum's reaction to the plan.
"My Lord, Luke Skywalker has arrived on Remnant." Valorum ignored NK-Necrosis as he approached the Jedi Killer, kneeling in respect to his master. "And he appears to have taken his apprentice with him."
"Skywalker might pose a threat to our ambitions… his apprentice however…" The Jedi Killer turned around to face his apprentice with a curious expression behind his sinister mask.
"A novice named Ben Solo." Valorum spoke with condescending disdain in his voice, as if to speak ill of the young man represented the new generation of Jedi. "He is of no concern to us."
"Don't be so sure, apprentice." The Jedi Killer spoke to humble Valorum. "He and you are not so different, but now's not the time to speak of such matters, I have a mission for you."
"What is it, My Lord?" Valorum listened intently for the Jedi Killer's orders, eagerly awaiting the chance to prove his worth.
"I sense a broken presence manipulating the criminal underworld and White Fang… follow the source and infiltrate their ranks and when you find them, bring them to me."
"It will be done, My Lord." Valorum bowed his head before standing up and exiting the chamber.
After the blast doors closed, the Jedi Killer waved his hand and a holorecording of Ben and Ruby appeared before him. The Dark Lord felt an odd sense of familiarity and dread when he took note of the young Jedi's visage and the power it represented, but those feelings were pushed aside when he shifted his focus shifted to the silver-eyed Huntress.
"Summer Rose's daughter lives…" The Jedi Killer reached out to the holographic image in an uncharacteristic gesture of sincerity, but he quickly pulled his hand back. "No, I won't let sentimentality destroy me…"
The Jedi Killer quickly deactivated the holograms and turned to face the center of the chamber, waiting for the energy to replenish as he plotted his next move.
Author's notes: After re-watching The Force Awakens and watching the entirety of the RWBY series, this idea was born. I figured the RWBYverse would fit extremely well into Star Wars.
Looking back at the prequel trilogy, Jedi Quest books and the Clone Wars series, I always loved how Anakin Skywalker was humanized and how we saw the moments in his life where did genuine good and cared deeply for his friends and Padme. The inevitability of him becoming Darth Vader for me made the experience all the more meaningful, especially after his appearance on Star Wars Rebels.
That's my intention for Ben Solo's characterization in this story. He's kind and compassionate towards his friends and loved ones and shows genuine sympathy, but like Anakin before him, good intentions lead him to drastic actions, as seen when he force-choked Cardin. Ben will be soft on the members of Team RWBY, but there will be moments in the story that makes you think, "Yeah, he's definitely growing up to be Kylo Ren".
This story starts at the first few episodes of RWBY Volume 2, so the team dynamics are pretty much set. Ruby and Ben have known each other for five years prior to the story and were introduced by Taiyang and Leia. They are very close and care for each other deeply, but are both too embarrassed to admit that they might be in love.
Yang might be paired with either Poe Dameron or Jaden Korr, depending on what you guys think.
As for the scene with Weiss and Ben, their relationship is meant to highlight the aristocratic side of Ben's upbringing and the next chapter will open with a flashback explaining how they met. Han Solo and Weiss' father arranged the marriage of their children and the deal is made in such a typical "Han" fashion that those raised on the original trilogy will see the callback to his scoundrel ways. Weiss' nature as a lonely rich girl will come into play and will be a big driving force for her love for Ben. All I can say now is that it will play out similarly to Jaune and Pyrrha.
The mysterious girl in Ben's dream will become a heavy influence on him and the story at large. Most of you probably know whom she is by now given the nature of Ben's future. And no, she's not Blake. There are plans for Blake I'll discuss in future chapters.
What I really want to explore in this story is the life Ben had before becoming Kylo Ren and the people who were crushed by his eventual abandonment, in many ways, the happier the times, the more love Ben receives, the sadder things are in the long-run.
Now onto the villains, the Jedi Killer is lifted from the concept art and initial drafts for Kylo, but in that draft, he was an apprentice of Vader that devoured sun energy. In this story, he is a very popular yet polarizing EU character. I'll let you guys connect the dots on his identity. His connection to Ruby and Summer will be revealed late into the story.
Valorum is a villain from The Star Wars comic based on the original draft of the original trilogy. He will be written as a "disc one final boss" but also a sympathetic character in the vein of Agent Kallus while being as menacing as the Inquisitor. His blood relation to the previous chancellor Finis Valorum is a huge part of his character. His interactions with Roman, Cinder, Emerald and Mercury will be particularly fun to write.
NK-Necrosis is a revamped version of the Star Wars Galaxies boss who used General Grievous' body and an A.I. This version of him takes speech and personality cues from HK-47 and has similar abilities to PROXY. NK can be seen as the "Anti-Penny" in terms of his role. His appearance is similar to the General Grievous shield concept art.
Many aspects of the EU will be incorporated into this story including some classic characters like Jaden Korr and in the next arc, a huge shout out to the Crimson Empire story.
As for the allusions that make RWBY so unique, here's a list of them for the characters in this story.
Ben Solo is the Black Knight/Knight in Shining Armor, the Jedi Killer is the Revenant, Valorum is the Man in the Iron Mask, NK-Necrosis is the Golem and Luke Skywalker is the Wise Man.
A prequel to this story is planned featuring Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, Ezra Bridger and Galen Marek set one generation before the events of this one and it will feature them with Team STRQ. I can already note the similar elements like Galen being in the same boat as Blake or PROXY being exactly like Penny. You can even compare Leia to Weiss and Taiyang to Jaune. The Star Wars characters form Team LLEG (League). The tentative title is "Star Wars: The First Dawn".
Now for an announcement, I'm currently re-watching/playing the source-material for my older stories, but I need your help as readers. If you have any suggestions or ideas for my older stories, shoot me a PM and let's discuss them. Naturally, if I use those ideas you will be credited for them in the author's notes.
It's a long process and I'm currently trying to find a job to provide for my wife and her nephew, so I apologize for the delays in updates. My stories do not detract focus from one another. So if you like my earlier works, please share with me your ideas. My cousin gives me a lot of ideas, so I'm thankful for him and his friends. Also, I'm looking for some co-writers, so hit me up with a PM if you're interested.
You'll be pleased to know that there's steady progress in Devil May Cry: Scarlet Bullets and Castlevania Minuet of a Cursed Fate. As for Kill the Empire's Fury, I'm currently waiting to see how Knights of the Fallen Empire plays out.
Anyways, sorry for the overly long notes and as always, keep reviews relevant to the story. Criticism and discussion are always welcome and everyone's opinions are valued. May the Force be with you all.