Well, here's the second chapter, so I hope y'all enjoy it.
Since I didn't really introduce the rest of the squad last chapter, I should probably give a little bit of info about them.
Manrica is a human, born on a ship during a trip from Nar Shadaa to Coruscant. He joined the Imperial Academy one year ahead of most of his friends, and joined the Stormtrooper Corps soon after graduation. Despite his seemingly clean background, he is deceptively skilled in less tasteful activities such as picking locks, hacking, and stealing. This got him considered for spy-work, but he deserted from the Empire before he could be transferred.
Soltrev was born on Alderaan before its destruction, but was led to believe that a miscommunication in the chain of command was the cause of Alderaan's destruction. The moment that he discovered the truth behind the destruction of his home, he deserted from the Empire, along with the rest of the Equinox's crew.
Brenver is a rather recent clone from the Fett template. Like Boba Fett, he has no genetic tampering. In an effort to conceal his background, he underwent extensive facial reconstruction and cybernetic enhancement. Unfortunately, this put him in more debt than he had calculated. When a good friend of his found out about Brenver's enhancements, he ensured that he would start out with an officer's pay, despite being a soldier in the Stormtrooper corps. Despite his debt, he deserted from the Empire, hoping to begin anew.
Renbra was born on a space colony, and lived his life believing that he would be a miner his whole life. When the Empire began to undergo more intense conscription, Renbra was forced into the Imperial Army, only to be transferred to the Stormtrooper Corps when his mechanical and combat skills were noticed by an officer. Even though he felt some gratitude to the Empire for freeing him from a life of spice-mining, he felt just as convinced to leave the Empire behind when the Equinox defected.
Katlin is a medic that used to be a part of the Imperial Army. Unlike the rest of the survey team's soldiers, she was never a part of the Stormtrooper Corps, but her medical knowledge has saved the life of many soldiers, both on and off the field. Due to her almost uncanny medical skills, some of her peers in medical school would joke that she is a gift from a deity from Naboo, to which she would reply, Foolish and childish." A very serious woman, she has devoted her life to helping people and to the study of medicine.
I don't own Star Wars or RWBY. Star Wars belongs to Disney, and RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth.
Chapter 2: Grimm Introductions
The squad of ex-Imperials all looked around the source of the sound and voice, but couldn't find anyone. "We know you're out there! Only a coward hides!" Trio yelled.
Even though they could not see who was speaking, they felt as if their mysterious visitor was smirking at them. "Perhaps. However, there's not much that one can do against the 'might of the Empire.'"
"We're not with the Empire anymore," Tray stated. "We've deserted."
"Yes, yes, and I'm a Hutt in human form," the voice snarked. "If you truly turned your back on the Empire, why wear the uniform?"
Tray slowly holstered his blaster, motioning to his squad to at least lower their weapons. "Our desertion was a choice made in the spur of the moment."
"And what 'moment' would that be?" the voice said, clearly not believing Tray's words.
"The Empire is dying, with some stubborn members trying to keep it alive."
"Pfft. I highly doubt that. Last I heard, it would 'last for ten-thousand years.'"
"No. The Emperor is dead, along with Lord Vader and a large number of the command staff." Tray replied.
The voice was silent for a tense few seconds. "Hmm…I sense the truth in your words, yet I cannot simply trust anyone from the Empire."
"How do the people of this world even know of the Empire? I thought you were a pre-space civilization?" Trio blurted out.
"I'm like you in that I don't belong here."
Trio growled. He was getting tired of not knowing where this person was and felt his breath quicken. Calm down, Trio. This coward will show himself sooner or later. When that happens… he thought, forcing himself to relax.
"Could you please tell us who you are?" Tray asked.
The voice chuckled and a figure fell down from the trees above, landing right in front of Tray. Before any of them could make a move toward the stranger, he held his hands out and the squad went flying in different directions.
"No more talking! Leave, or suffer the consequences!" the voice yelled, seemingly having the very earth agree with his words.
Trio was the first to recover and drew his electro staff. "Oh, you're gonna pay for that one!" He rushed at the cloaked stranger, the ends of his staff crackling with electricity.
"So be it." the stranger said darkly.
Just as Trio's electro staff was about to hit the stranger, a strange snap-hiss sound went off, and his attack stopped. His eyes widened underneath his helmet when he saw what was keeping him from hitting his squad's attacker. A bright yellow laser was between the staff and the stranger. Trio stole a glance to the man's hand to see a small piece of metal which was emitting the yellow laser. "You're a Jedi!" he exclaimed.
"Yes I am…And you will not leave this place alive!" the Jedi yelled, breaking away from Trio and using the force to push him away.
Soltrev and Brenver, seeing that Trio was now out of the way, opened fire on the Jedi from behind. To their dismay, their attacker turned around at inhuman speeds and deflected all of the away from him.
The Jedi scoffed on seeing his handiwork. Blast, I'm getting rusty. Those bolts were supposed to go back to them. Oh well… he thought.
Before the Jedi could make a move toward Soltrev and Brenver, Renbra and Taddrei fired at the Jedi from the other side. Just as with Soltrev and Brenver, the Jedi deflected their shots, only for the blasts to not hit them back.
Trio stood up and reactivated his electro staff, charging at the Jedi. Jedi powers or not, he's going down! he thought, feeling the adrenaline rush through him. He had never seen, let alone fought a Jedi before. This will be a true test of if he was worthy of becoming a Mandalorian someday.
The Jedi jumped high into the sky, making the squad aim upward in an attempt to find him. "Where'd he go?" Manrica exclaimed, a hint of fear in his voice.
The squad looked all around their surroundings, looking for any sign of movement. Just when it seemed that the Jedi had disappeared, Tray heard a light thud behind him. He whirled around and aimed his blaster at the Jedi, only to find that the barrel of his weapon was now missing. The Jedi pulled back his lightsaber, ready to end Tray's life, but he froze.
Tray dared to look at the Jedi's face to see a look of utter confusion and…fear?
"M…Master?! But…You died! I saw you die!" the Jedi exclaimed, deactivating his weapon and slowly backing away from Tray.
The rest of the squad aimed at the surrounded Jedi, waiting for Tray's orders. "Sir?" Katlin asked, not risking even looking away from the Jedi.
The Jedi seemingly collapsed, clearly in shock at seeing Tray for some reason. "You died…At the Temple all those years ago. Y-you can't possibly be him."
The soldiers all exchanged glances with each other. "This guy is nuts." Soltrev muttered, sneaking a glance at his blaster setting.
"Pfft. No kidding. I say we blast him and move along." Trio growled.
"I'm with Trio. He appears to be mentally unstable, and will be unpredictable if you spare him. I say we neutralize him and get on with our survey mission." Katlin stated.
"I don't know if we should do anything. I say we just leave him to…whatever's out here." Brenver said.
"Yeah. That big bird thing might be getting hungry, and I don't want to be around when it does." Renbra added.
"Tray, you clearly remind this Jedi of someone from his past. Perhaps you could use that to have a more civilized conversation with him?" Taddrei suggested.
"What if we took him in for questioning? We have a 'stun' setting for just this kind of thing." Manrica piped in.
"Shut up and let me think!" Tray yelled before the squad could begin to argue.
With that, the clearing was all but silent except for the small whimpering of the Jedi. After weighing his options, Tray walked toward the Jedi and held out a hand to him. "It's like I said. We're not with the Empire anymore. Let us help you."
The Jedi seemed to gain some clarity of mind on hearing Tray's words and looked up at him. "Why?…Why would you help me? A Jedi?"
"Because we aren't with the Empire anymore. Helping a member of the Jedi order will put us one step closer to turning our back on the Empire and what it stands for."
The Jedi seemed to hesitate, but slowly reached his hand toward Tray's and let the ex-Imperial lift him up. "I…I sense the truth and sincerity in your words. Not many people can lie with such conviction and fool the Force…Thank you."
Tray offered a small smile to the Jedi. "I know that we could never undo the damage that the Empire was done to your life, but I intend on helping you rebuild."
He looked at his squad and said, "Stand down. That's an order."
Taddrei and Manrica nodded to Tray in thanks and understanding respectively, while Katlin and Trio shook their heads in disappointment and disgust respectively. The others in the squad just shrugged. It was their leader's decision after all.
The Jedi let go of Tray's hand and looked around him. "It's not safe here. Those blaster shots will surely attract the Grimm."
"Grimm? Is that what that big bird is called?" Renbra asked.
"That 'big bird' is one of many different kinds of Grimm. We have to move, or else the Grimm will find us, and I can't guarantee your lives after that."
"Are these…Grimm dangerous?"
"Very. The people of this world have not been able to expand further than four kingdoms and a few outside settlements because of them."
"I bet they don't have blasters or ships." Trio scoffed.
"They have similar versions, and I get the feeling that their weapons are better suited to fighting the creatures of this world," the Jedi said, beginning to move. "Follow me. I know a place where we'll be safe."
The squad looked Katlin and Trio. "Yeah. Yeah. We were wrong, Tray and Taddrei were right. Ha. Ha. Ha." Trio said.
The Jedi was already leaving the clearing, with the survey team close behind him. "Now listen, if we do run into any Grimm, let me do the work. You can shoot at them if you must, but I am unsure of how effective a blaster will be against them."
"You still haven't told us what they are." Katlin pointed out. Even though she was all for killing the Jedi just moments ago, her curiosity was getting the better of her.
"Now is not a good time to explain. We have to get to safety first."
Katlin frowned under her helmet, but listened to the Jedi. If he had truly been living on this planet, than he was the closest thing to an expert in the group.
"What did you call this planet again? Remain?" Taddrei asked.
The Jedi seemed to quietly laugh, with the air coming out of his nose. "Close. The name that the natives use is 'Remnant.'"
"That's got to have some meaning behind it." Taddrei mused.
"Perhaps, but we still need to get to safety."
As the group made their way through the forest, the same howl from before the squad met the Jedi was heard in the distance.
"Beowulves." the Jedi muttered.
"I'm sorry?" Tray asked.
"That's one of the kinds of Grimm, and they're following us. We have to hurry."
The group ran faster through the forest, ignoring the howls that were steadily getting louder, accompanied with a few low growls. To the squad's dismay, the Jedi seemingly led them to the bottom of a cliff.
"Oh, you little back-stabber!" Trio yelled, activating his staff. "You led us to a dead-end!"
"Not quite." the Jedi said, putting his hand on the cliff and pushing against it.
To the squad's relief, a small, human-sized hole slid open next to the Jedi. "Go! Get in there!" the Jedi yelled, pulling out his lightsaber.
The squad hurried into the hidden door, with the Jedi being the last one to enter. Just as the door started to close, a large, black creature barreled out of some bushes. Taddrei quickly raised his blaster to shoot at the creature, but the hidden door closed, preventing him from doing so.
Seconds, after the door closed, the angry growls of the creature could barely be heard through the thick, stone walls.
"Don't worry. The only way they're getting in is if they could get a human hand to push on the right spot." the Jedi said with confidence.
"And if they do?" Brenver asked, instantly dreading the answer.
"They'd have to throw up the hand."
"They eat people?" Brenver asked, paling under his helmet.
"…Yes."
"What kind of creatures are they?!" Brenver asked.
"Creatures that have to eat to live. I'm really not the person you should be asking these questions. I haven't been in any of the four kingdoms for some time, and I usually just get what I need and then leave."
"Wait. You've been to these kingdoms? How were you not detected?"
"The natives here look exactly humans."
"What?!"
While Brenver was speaking with the Jedi, Tray took a quick look around the hidden shelter that the Jedi led them to. "Is this place yours, master Jedi?" he asked, interrupting Brenver's conversation with the Jedi.
"Not at first, but no one has come along to kick me out, so I've taken it as my own." the Jedi replied.
"I see. So how did you find this place?" Tray asked.
"I found it on accident. I fell off this cliff and my lightsaber stuck to the switch somehow…I have yet to figure out how that happened."
"That's quite a nice story you got there, but I want to leave this place. It's too cramped for my tastes." Soltrev complained.
"Soltrev, you should be thankful that…uh…What's your name?" Tray said, intending to scold Soltrev, but ended up looking back at the Jedi.
"That depends on what name you're asking for." the Jedi replied with a mischievous smirk.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Trio asked impatiently.
"The people of Remnant have a…unique way of naming themselves. Apparently, some war that ended nearly eighty of their years ago threatened to destroy all forms of self-expression, such as art and music." the Jedi explained.
The squad exchanged bewildered glances. A life with no art of music of any kind was almost unthinkable.
"The side that wanted to destroy art lost of course, but the biggest effect of this war is that it changed how everyone named their children. People on Remnant are named after colors, the fundamental component of art. They are either directly named after a color, a color name in another language, or a word that simply makes one think of a color."
"So to blend in, you gave yourself a color-based name." Tray finished.
"Precisely. If you're asking for my galactic name, it's Ral Thiste. If you want to know my Remnant name, it's Jonquil Citron."
"Hmm…Considering your 'Remnant name' and your lightsaber color, I can only assume that you like the color yellow."
Before Ral could reply, a voice rang out over what sounded like an intercom. "Mr. Jonquil, is that you?"
"Yes, Seladon, it's me. Go tell the others that we have…guests."
"Okay."
The survey team looked at Ral in confusion and Katlin voiced their thoughts. "Who was that?"
"That is Seladon. He may not sound like it, but he's an AI that's always been in this hidden place."
"He sounded more like a little kid, to be honest." Trio scoffed.
"Apparently, the original owner of this place based the AI's personality off of his only son's." Ral answered.
"Who were these 'others' that you mentioned?" Tray asked.
"You'll find out soon enough." Ral said cryptically.
…Or not! See ya!