Chapter 39
Year 6 Month 10 Day 12
After some time has passed, the call for the peace summit was answered. The Alliance called to both empires for a peace summit to commence.
Karel finally called for the summit to commence. He did hear a lot of people call him a traitor. If he was still the commander, he would have lost that position after the day he had. The more war hawkish side of the media was calling him an imperial sympathizer, pointing to his traitor major. He had to go out and explain why he called for the summit.
"We're at a point where the mysterious enemy who call themselves the Black Fang have become so powerful that only the combined efforts of all three powers are able to take them down for good." He told the world. He wished he didn't have to deal with those who had no idea what they were talking about, but as with most people who are on TV, half the people know less than a tenth of the actual story.
He left the interview and had to immediately go to a council meeting. Bora picked him up with Yang and Weiss flying. Jade was in Karel's meditation chamber.
"I can barely get a damn word in with all those talking heads." He said.
"They need someone to be the bad guy. And you're thinking with your head." Bora said.
"It's going to be a lot of meetings from now on, isn't it?" He asked exhausted.
"Weiss knows a lot about that." Bora joked. Ruby left the cockpit with an empty Holocron in her hands.
"I was asked to get this to you by Grandmaster Ray." Ruby said. Karel knew that he should make one sooner or later, but he wondered why he was going to have to make it now. He took it and put in his side pouch. He went to the cockpit and watched Yang flying the ship. She was an expert now. Weiss was getting good too.
"Blue, we're going to be about ten minutes to get to Vale." Weiss said.
"Thanks White. Where's Jade?"
"In the meditation chamber." Yang said.
"After the meeting, I'm going to have a lesson at Beacon in lightsaber combat. Can the two of you make it?" Karel asked.
"Just like we said before, yes." She said. Karel apologized; a lot was going through his head recently.
"Maybe you need some time to get everything ready." Weiss said.
"But we don't have time like that, and now I got to look perfect with the media breathing down my neck for suggesting we not let everyone die for petty reasons." He grumbled. He found Jade meditating, or what was acceptable for someone her age. She had such a strong connection to the light side of the force that he had to spend more time with her than before. He sat down next to her, and she opened her eye, looking at him.
"Papa!" She said, jumping up and hugging his arm. He smiled and patted her head.
"You know why this room is special?" He asked.
"Special?" Jade asked. She was curious.
"Yeah, special."
"Why's it special?" She asked.
"I'll tell you later." He said. She probably wouldn't understand yet. But he still thought often of the woman he named his daughter after.
"No fair papa." Jade said.
"This is a special place to me." Karel said as he sighed. "This was my master's ship."
"Master?" Jade asked.
"Jedi Master. Like what I was with your big sis Rouge." Jade smiled.
"Who's your master?" Jade asked.
"Her name was Jade. Jade Yadder." Jade gasped.
"That's my name!"
"Yeah, it is." He smiled thinking of his master. What would she have thought of all this? No amount of training could have prepared him for this. But he was going to see this through. Nothing could stop him from protecting his home and family.
Month 10 Day 15
Weiss and Winter went with Karel, along with Rouge, Ruby, Yang, Blake, Jaune, Pyrrha, Jade and Silver to the Peace Summit. Master Roni, Vuren, and a few other Jedi and hunters would be going to the peace summit at different times. Weiss wondered why they brought Silver and Jade, but she enjoyed watching over them.
"Jade, Silver, be careful." She said. Jade was patting Silver's head. She was petting his hair, which matched her own color.
"Mama does this when I wake up." She said to Weiss. Weiss loved Jade and couldn't help but smile.
"We're going to be about an hour till we get there." Bora announced.
"An hour?" Yang asked looking at the controls.
"We're not going for speed. We're an official diplomat party. We have to act the part." Bora said.
"Yeah, yeah."
"Also, my child is on this ship." Bora added.
"And ours." Pyrrha said.
"Fine, fine. An hour it is." Yang said.
Karel tapped on doorway overhead.
"Yang, we're going to the meditation chamber. Weiss is taking over as co-pilot." Karel said. As the force sensitives all entered the meditation chamber, they started to meditate, with Pyrrha leading them. Even Jade meditated with them. Pyrrha started to glow a bright light.
"You have summoned us. We cannot stay long, but we can advise." The voice of Satele Shan said.
"We are going to a peace summit with the Sith. We are going to fight against the Dark Lady, the Witch Salem." Pyrrha said.
"A temporary peace like this had been brokered in my time more than once. There is wisdom in learning to put aside your own pride to seek after a greater peace. But you must be careful of some roads you must not go down, even in the name of peace."
Another familiar Jedi Woman appeared from the nether realm of the force.
"In my time, the Sith were a long-forgotten enemy. The dark Jedi named Freedon Nadd corrupted an entire planet's population and set down one of the greatest Jedi I had ever met down the Dark path. He did this so that he could stop a dark side cult that had killed his master. He was unable to resist the dark side." Nomi Sunrider said.
A third Jedi appeared. One who was alive not so long ago.
"I fought against Salem in order to destroy her body, trying to deny her the ability to take over another person's body, and I almost succeeded. With the damage I did against her, she has suffered the longevity of this body. But what I never expected that while I was in that Dark realm how much it would affect me. I was not prepared to deal with the effects of her Sith magics and her powers of darkness." Summer Rose said.
"Mom?" Ruby said. Yang couldn't even say anything. She turned to them and smiled.
The Last spirit came to them, Qui-Gon
"This Salem has in her realm a font of power, a dark side pool of energy in her realm that is an exact copy of that on Mortis. As You have the water of Life in the realm of Light, exactly like that of Mortis. I have been on that force Planet recently and have seen the beings that you are linked to. There were three immortals who imbodied the parts of the Force who's power you are now charged with. Ashla and Bogan will have this final confrontation soon. I cannot see how it will end, but we all sense that there will be many who won't make it. Your training will be the only thing that will save you."
The meditation of the Jedi started to waver, and the spirits all disappeared. Pyrrha stopped glowing.
After everyone caught their breath, as the whole process was exhausting, Karel was the first to speak.
"How did that happen? I've always been told that we lose our consciences when we join the force. How were we able to see those legendary Masters?" Karel looked around.
"I've seen two of them before. My mom, and Qui-Gon. Haven't you said before that you've seen the spirits before?" Ruby asked.
"I don't remember ever seeing spirits. Except for when I found the kyber crystal for the purple lightsaber. But those were force visions, that was no vision."
"We're starting the landing sequence." Bora announced.
The Jedi got up and left the room. Winter watched them leave and didn't realize that Jaune just beat her in chess. She turned back and sighed. She thought it was going to be easy to beat him.
They landed in New Mistral. It was the first time anyone from the alliance came here in almost seven years. It changed a lot. Even more than when Yang and Arin were here. It was one of the most modern cities on the planet. Only the Capital had anywhere near as much modern tech in all the empire. The docking area was covered in stormtroopers, imperial guards, and alliance troops. Many Sith and Jedi were keeping the forces from starting a war here. Jaune held Silver close. They brought the children only because they were guaranteed they would be under tight security, which would include Rouge. She along with the alliance forces brought the few children to them to the large city hall. It would be the place that the summit would start. Karel had to say bye to Jade, which was harder than he thought. He was worried about her, but he needed to focus on the summit, especially since he called for it.
He was told that Jade and Silver would be going in the same room as the Royal children. It calmed him a bit after that.
He met up with Master Roni, who was directing her staff to bring the files and everything else they would need.
"Today's the day. Are you ready?" Roni asked
"We only have this one chance. Even if we're not ready, what other choice do we got? If we fail, it's all over. We'd might as well make the most of this while we can." He said.
"All this is happening because of you. Officially of course." Darth Soule said.
"But we both know the truth." Karel said.
"I've honored my end of this bargain. I guess I should congratulate you on being a Jedi Master, but that'll have to wait. We're going to need to do the finishing touches, then we're going to start this." A dark ship landed, most of the force users looked back to see a G.I landing craft.
"And there's the grand inquisitor. I hear she wants to speak to the three of you." Vuren walked up to Roni.
"Why's that?" Karel asked.
"I don't know. Be ready soon." Soule left them.
The grand inquisitor left the shuttle with her royal guard and quickly found the three Jedi she wanted to see more than any other.
"You three. I want to know how you escaped Order 66." She asked. The Grand Inquisitor stood in front of them with her helmet on, hiding her face.
"We don't need to tell you. Why do you even want to know?" Vuren said.
"I too escaped it, but as you can see, I became stronger after abandoning the worthless order. I learned power through pain. And now I see three beings who escaped from pain, three beings who have made themselves weak because they have never experienced pain before." She said
"Who are you?" Karel asked.
The grand inquisitor laughed.
"Perhaps if I was taken as your padawan when I was younger, than I too would have escaped pain. Let me share with you some of the pain that I have borne." She took off her helmet. The grand Inquisitor was a Mirialan like Roni. Her dark black hair hid some of the scars on her face, but enough of her face was shown that the three Jedi knew immediately who she was. The light green skin, turning whiter because of the dark side, the tattoos, scarred but forever on her face. Her yellow eyes revealed her devotion to the dark side.
"Barris Offee" The traitor who bombed the Jedi temple in the closing days of the Clone Wars was alive, standing in front of the Jedi.
"That is who I was, but pain murdered her. I was born with only one want. To bring about pain to all who have not felt it." She said.
"I heard they executed you." Karel said.
"Oh, they tried, and Emperor Palpatine was there. I killed all the others and watched him smile as he showed me pain." She put her helmet back on.
At the peace summit, Weiss took her seat next to Pyrrha. She was here to represent the Schnee Dust Company. Winter was here for a different reason, one which she wasn't told about. There were many Jedi and Sith at the table, including the Royal family. Ruby and Yang were stationed outside as guards, and Blake was just on the other side of Winter. After all the important imperials joined them in the conference hall, they started.
"I welcome you all for coming together for this peace summit. As we start, I will say that I hope that we are able to be civil about this." Karel said.
"We have come here for one purpose. We all know that. We have a common enemy." Darth Soule said.
"The Dark Lady Salem." Barris Offee said.
"Yes. So that we all understand the situation we're in, and why we have no other option but to form this alliance against Salem, we have created multiple charts, slides, etc. etc." Karel said.
"This is not a business meeting." Zia said.
"No, and we understand that, but this is more for those who know less or nothing about Salem here. These reports will become available after the meeting."
Prince Cedric was with his young cousin, and two other younger people. He was the oldest in the group, and just as well because he was the leader. Mother expected quite a lot out of him, and he was going to live up to her expectations. But he had to admit, being the leader of the four of them was a bit weird. Especially with the second oldest being three years younger than him.
That almost half his life!
He wondered what he would be able to do. His cousin was even younger than her, and then the youngest wasn't even two! If he was going to be the leader for them, he would have to protect them. His force powers were good for his age, but he knew he needed to get them stronger. The older ladies placed them in here and were outside the door. He knew he could get Lord Sno to help him if he wanted, but he just wanted to get snacks for himself and the others. But he wanted to get the snacks himself. Plus, if he was ever going to surpass his mother, he was going to have to use the force to get the snacks.
"I am prince Cedric. This is my cousin Elisa. It is our pleasure to meet you." He said. Elise said "Hello" And went back to whatever she was doing before.
"I'm Jade Lone! My papa and mama are here. My papa's a Jedi" she said, struggling with the last word.
"Can you use the force?" Cedric asked.
"Like this?" She put her hands out and lifted Cedric an inch off the floor. It freaked him out, but he didn't show it.
"Yeah, like that. Can you put me down?"
Lavi used the portal and entered New Mistral with Dr. Watts.
"I can't believe they're making me do this with you." He said.
"It's Lady Salem's orders. She wants us to find out what's going on here remember?" Lavi said, taking a count of her tattoos.
"I was there when she said that. I don't need you to tell me that." Watts said.
"Got three hundred and four now. How many do you think I'm going to add this time?"
"This is a reconnaissance mission. That is the least of your concerns." He said. He took out a scroll and walked up to a wall. It showed what was on the other side of the wall.
"Not this one."
Watts was annoyed when Lavi walked into the bar. He grumbled and waited for her to get out.
It took a while, but she came out with a smile on her face, and a beer in hand.
"Why in the bloody hell are you getting drunk on the job?!" Watts yelled.
"Because it makes men talk. This one was staring right at my chest, so he would be the easiest to get info out of. I got news."
"And what would that be?" Watts said.
"That both empires and the alliance are here." Lavi said.
"Oh." Watts said.
"So, looks like Lady Salem had a reason to be worried." Lavi said.
"So then let's get going. Did you learn where they're at?"
"He was too drunk to tell me that." Lavi said.
"Then we're just one step from where we started. Just fantastic." He walked down a road leading to the center of the city. He realized that there were more guards than there had ever been. He went down an ally and waited for Lavi to follow him.
Karel continued the speech. Weiss watched the screen as they put the reports on, wondering when they were going to ask questions. She wondered when she was going to be accused of something evil from the Sith. The poison dust was just brought up to be not effective against the Black Fang.
"Questions?" Karel asked.
"When are we going to get into the talks?"
"If no one else has any questions, that's the end of my portion. If everyone understands what's at stake, then we can move on. But looking around the room it seems that everyone wants to move on."
"Actually, before we move on, I just have one question. How did Salem get the second relic?" Barris asked.
"It was safe in the royal palace until it was attacked by four alliance members. One of them being across the table." Sym said.
"We didn't have it when we left. You did. While we gave you the relic, we didn't lose it." Oscar said.
"We were tricked to the true loyalties of the assassin order. We have just recently found out that they are one of Salem's puppets." Empress Vox said.
It seems that Echo had his hands in more pockets than one. Ironwood shook his head.
"Those assassins aren't trustworthy." Ironwood said.
"But yet we both have used them." Zia said. Ironwood's face didn't change.
"We had Mandalorians who were meant to be our assassins, but they left us. If I'm not mistaken, they went to your two groups." The admiral said.
"They left while we weren't looking at them. They hated us for some reason I can't fathom." Barris added.
Karel looked around the room, and saw the egos were going to start becoming problems.
"Before this summit fails to do anything, we should go onto the talks. I have been given a list of negotiables and non-negotiables. I am ready to start the negotiations." Karel said.
"We have our first, and most important item on the table. Official recognition as a kingdom." Barris said.
"And we have proposed borders." Her admiral added.
"You will need a different name. Instead of the empire, perhaps you take the name of Kingdom of Pare." Roni said.
"Official recognition!?" Ironwood rose in his chair. "You took that land from us. Why would we recognize you!?"
"Because you need our technology. Our cannons can destroy large quantities of Grimm, making a landing in the badlands possible." The second brother said.
"The empire is willing to recognize you." Sym said.
"Ironwood, we have no power to take back the land they are on. It is the greatest deal we can get." Oscar said.
"After all that…" Ironwood said.
"It's not your fault. They were just too strong." Oscar said.
"The council may not like it, but right now I say damn them all to Hell for all I care. That was one of the items on the negotiable list. We will recognize you." Karel said.
"We ask for any Jedi investigations, and interference to cease effective immediately in Imperial territory."
"Accepted." Roni said.
"We will go over our first non-negotiable. The war will end after Salem is defeated. None of us will be able to do anything else once she's gone." Karel said.
"Who wins?" Vox asked.
"Let history decide who wins, we need this fighting to end. We have already suffered over twenty million casualties." Karel said.
"The combined total. But the point still stands. We need to retreat and lick our wounds. The battle of Pare was the largest battle with the most lost for our sides." Soule said.
"We were sent here to build a civilization. That is what we must focus on now. Pare is becoming too small for so many people." The Admiral said.
"It seems that we're all agreed on ending the war. None of us would be able to continue it for any longer anyway. I even prepared another chart to show you that." Karel joked.
"I also have a demand. As the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, we have ended production on poison dust. I would like to make an amendment to the Vytal codes. Poison dust will become a banned weapon of war." Weiss said. Amendments to the Vytal codes were rare, but Karel agreed. The effects of poison dust on a person were a horrible sight.
"Agreed." Both sides said.
Cedric used the force to open the door, and along with Jade left the room quietly. They snuck passed Sno and Rouge, who were talking. It seemed odd the fact that they seemed to be friends, but Cedric just cared about getting passed them. He grabbed Jade's hand and got passed them, going down to a table with treats on them.
"Use the force to take them." Cedric whispered. He did the same and grabbed all he could. They got passed Rouge and Sno again.
"That was fun." Jade said.
"But we can do more. That was a test. We can get passed them, but those two can't." Cedric said.
"Then let's go bring them back something." Jade said.
"Like what?"
"Scrolls?" While they were watching children's programs, they wanted more stuff.
"Alright. Do you where to get them?" Jade asked.
"No." Cedric said.
They left the room, looking for some scrolls. They snuck passed Sno and Rouge again, and Cedric lead the two of them to go find some scrolls.
Watts noticed that there were a lot of people going to the center of the city. He assumed that this is where everyone was meeting up. He just needed to get a bit closer to find out what was going on. Lavi followed him, which while he enjoyed not having to keep an eye on her, really pissed him off that she was so close. She just knew how to annoy him. He felt her breathing down his neck.
"Do you mind?" He asked.
"Not at all."
"If you weren't needed in this, I'd kill you here. Your as bad as Cinder." He grumbled to himself. The city hall came into view, which seemed to be the building because of just how many guards were outside of it. The plan just got a lot harder. There were too many Jedi and Sith for them to just waltz in. His scroll wouldn't look in the building unless it was right up against it, but he barely had a chance to get over there.
"I think I can handle anyone who comes from the side. We just need to figure out what they're doing right?"
"Hiding a body takes too long. Even reviving them leaves us open if they find us. We don't kill until after we find out what they're doing." Watts said.
"I know!" She said.
"You're sounding like a child."
"And that's what you're treating me." Lavi said.
They snuck to the other side of the road and went to the side of the city hall. Watts took out a clocking device he made and cast it. It would allow them to hide once the troops rotated to this side, but it would be easy to determine it's there. He took out his scroll and looked inside. He was shocked to see most of the highest-ranking individuals across all the major powers of Remnant. Something was happening. A red-haired Jedi turned the corner with a blonde-haired Jedi, and a few troops from all the factions.
"I sense a threat over here." Ruby said. She took out her red lightsaber and inched forward. Yang followed behind her with the troops behind moving carefully. Watts knew he would have to get out of there soon, or the mission was going to be a failure.
"You need to get back to Salem." Lavi said. She opened the portal and shoved Watts in. The cloaking device broke when he stepped on it revealing Lavi. Behind her a second group of enemy targets surrounded her. She laughed and activated her Semblance. All the three hundred and four tattooed strikes on her body left and floated in the air. She thrust her hand down tossing a large group of the needle like marks at her attackers. Ruby and Yang were able to block all of them, but two alliance troops died. She turned around and tossed more, taking out four imperial troops. She brought the remaining marks down to her, surrounding her to avoid the shots fired at her. She took a few seconds before she broke off her offensive. Ruby rushed forward and slashed several the needles away. She stepped back and to throw the needles at Ruby who used tutaminis to deflect them. Lavi cursed and threw several needles behind her, getting an alliance soldier. She looked for the blonde woman but didn't see her. She looked in the air and saw her plummeting towards her. She brought her needles up to defend from the attack, leaving her open to attack from the front. Ruby rushed and used crescent rose to take away her aura. She dropped to the ground and felt Yang break the rest of her defense. She dropped her semblance, taking in the few remaining needles, only ten remained. She started breathing heavily and brought out her pistols, shooting passed the Jedi killing two stormtroopers. Yang quickly brought down her lightsaber on her, killing Lavi.
After the gunshots rang out, the guards quickly made a search of the area before the negotiations could continue.
Vox left with Roni to see what was going on. When they left the negotiation room, the body of the attacker was brought in to be put in an examination room. Vox stopped them and looked at the assailant.
"I thought she was dead years ago. I guess it can't be helped, but why's Salem sending people here?" Vox said.
"Does she know what this is?"
"Maybe. But the fact that she was the only one does raise some questions."
"Do you think she knows what's going on?" Roni asked.
"No, but we can't be too careful. Lord Kaldor's going to lead the investigation on the incident. I think we're needed back in the meeting." Vox said. She just wanted to make sure that the security was increased before going back to the talks.
Watts barely made it back, and he knew that Lavi was dead. But he made it.
"What happened Doctor?" Salem asked.
"Lavi is no more. We were found because she jumped the gun and started attacking the enemy. What I did find out is that all the heads of the enemy factions have gathered for some reason. But I couldn't find out why. She paid the price of being sloppy. I don't know if she killed anyone, but I know she died. That Silver eyes Jedi and Uriel's apprentice were both there." He said.
"That is odd. Could they be ending the war? No, don't sense that. They must have learned I have the spear and the lantern. Maybe they are coming together against me. But is that enough?"
"My lady, shall we attack them?"
"If they have all the heads together, we can guarantee it is highly defended. If we were to attack, we would suffer high casualties. And we don't know if they have Ashla's priestess. If she were there, she'll be able to destroy the Grimm in an instant. I don't know many of her powers, but she'd be able to destroy whatever we throw at her." Salem said. Normally she would send her forces and destroy the city, but if she was there, she couldn't win. It would be better to be safe, even though she hated it.
"I am sorry my lady." Watts said. He left the room and the Sith spirits came to her again.
"Weakling."
"Coward"
"Pathetic"
And more insults that she heard so many times. She rose her hand and black force lightning came out of them, slamming into where the ghosts were. They screamed. She learned that they could feel her power, and she enjoyed making them feel her wrath every so often.
She would have to make her forces stronger before whatever they were doing happened. She had to be ready.
Cedric finally found the scrolls he'd been looking for. He knew that sooner or later he'd find them, but he had a lot of fun with Jade. He could feel a connection with her and hoped that they might become good friends. But then he remembered that she was going to be a Jedi, and he was going to be a Sith. But he kept thinking that just maybe he would still be able to be friends with her.
He unlocked the scrolls and handed Jade the other one.
"Looks like we got to go back." Cedric said.
"Alright." Jade said. She followed him back to the room, avoiding the guards again until they saw that Jade and Sno weren't where they were supposed to be. Cedric opened the door and saw the two force users freaking out.
"We lost them." Rouge said, in a voice that was anything but calm.
"How could you let them just leave this room. That's our one mission." Sno said.
"We lost them." She said, almost not hearing Sno. Sno and Rouge didn't notice Cedric and Jade walk to the gated off section of the room, but they did notice when they tried to open the door.
"Thank gods." Rouge said.
"Where the hell did you go?" Sno held back to not scream. The last thing she wanted was for others to find out that they lost any of the children. They were just glad that the royal family wasn't here, or Karel.
"Maybe we should stay in the room." Rouge said.
"We're never going to tell anyone else about this." Sno said.
"Agreed."
"We were moments away from an international situation." Rouge whispered.
"Where did they get the scrolls from?" Sno whispered back.
At the end of the first day of talks, they decided most of what they were going to do. They were going to bring together all their greatest fire power, every naval ship, air ship, destroyer, snub fighter, and landing craft they had. In the major population centers, they would still have troops stationed there. It was what they needed to do to keep from the Grimm from destroying them while they were fighting Salem.
"We have just one more item on today's schedule. When will we launch this attack?" Karel asked.
"We're going to need the next six weeks to gather what we need to do this." Sym said.
"Same here." Barris said.
Karel knew what day that would land on. The seven-year anniversary of the death of Whitley. His greatest failure.
"We have gathered most of our materiel early, and so we will launch whenever your troops are ready." Ironwood said.
"Then on June first. That will be the day we take down Salem." Roni said.
Weiss, Winter and Karel clenched their teeth and fists when that day was mentioned.
"Until then we should all prepare to die in a blaze of glory." Barris said. "At least then, everyone will know the true power of pain."
"June 1st will be the day we finish this war." Karel finished the meetings after that. He had so much work to do.
Author's notes: We're here. This is the finish line. The next chapter starts the fight against Salem. The peace summit is ending and with it the war.
I wonder if I should write a one shot about Bora's origins on after coming to Remnant. Just a little something that I think would be nice to add.
I don't have much else to say. Thanks for reading.
May the Force be With You
-DragonZlayerX12
