33 A.B.Y
The Absolution
"You will tell me where Skywalker is! Even if I have to rip it out of your damn skull." A man in dark robes and helmet demanded in a modulated voice.
"I've told you already, I don't know where Skywalker is Ren. Now. Let. Me. Go." A blue female Twi'lek snarled at the man as she continued to struggle against the metal binders that held her flat against an interrogation table.
The female's name was Hera Cozar. Once a Jedi padawan from the New Jedi order, she had now put the skills she had learned towards becoming a smuggler and small-time bounty hunter after the temple was sacked almost six years ago. Hoping that the new professions would allow her to stay anonymous enough to not be noticed.
Hera had always counted herself lucky to be one of the few that had been able to escape the attack, as she could still recall the memories of the time.
The confusion, the screaming, the temple being burned down and blasted apart as some of the older padawans and few knights tried to fight the invaders. But it had been no use. There had been seven of them, each one brandishing a crimson weapon as they cut down her fellow students.
Hera and four others had been the only ones to get away, stuffed on a transport ship that was set to autopilot to a random world.
After landing and having no idea what to do they all went their separate ways, choosing the cowards way out and not even alerting the galaxy to what had happened. Hoping that by staying quiet that whoever had attacked the temple would never find them.
How wrong she was.
"Unfortunately for you Hera, I still don't believe you. So let's try this again." Kylo Ren said as he extended his hand.
Hera's eyes widened at the gesture, "No don- ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" She screamed in agony as crimson lightning was unleashed on her.
Every cell in her body felt as if it was on fire as muscles and tendons contracted painfully. Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, the lightning subsided as the man closed his hand.
"Now, where is Skywalker." Kylo Ren demanded.
Hera cracked an eye open as she painfully breathed out, "Why?"
Ren paused before answering her question with a question, "Why what?"
"Why do want to find Skywalker?" Hera croaked.
"Because" Ren started "I wish to kill him. To end his legacy. To end the legacy of the Jedi. Permanently."
Ren assumed the girl would cower or glower at him at the end of his explanation. Instead, to his surprise and anger, she started laughing!
"What's so funny brat?" He snarled.
"What's so funny?" Hera wheezed painfully as she continued to laugh, "That you think you'll ever be able to kill Skywalker. Master Skywalker is the strongest Force-sensitive in the galaxy along with his nephew. If Luke was able to get away than Ben did too. And make no mistake Ren, they will stop you and your thugs. You may be strong … but your no Skywalker."
Now it was Kylo's turn to chuckle as he walked up and stood straight in front her, his hand going to his helmet as he took it off.
Hera's eyes widened in horror as the helmet came off. A familiar face and sulfuric yellow eyes that she had once remembered as icy blue greeted her.
"No." She whispered.
"It seems you were very much wrong Hera." Kylo said in a now unmodulated voice, "I think I have plenty enough power to take on Luke. Afterall, I am a Skywalker."
Remnant
"So Jedi, are you ready to die?" The Sith Lord once again asked.
Jaune gritted his teeth and met the Sith's gaze, this was not good. He was still a padawan while his opponent was apparently a full-fledged Sith from the Old Republic era.
There was also the fact that Jaune still had to worry about his little sister who was still cowering as she continued to try to bury herself in his hoodie. Apparently falling down into a strange ship and seeing an alien wielding a red glowstick of death could scare the shit out of a 10-year-old.
Go figure.
But nevertheless, Jaune had an idea. Was it asinine? Yes. Was it probably going to get him killed? Oh most definitely. But at this point, it was the only one he had.
"Jade listen." Jaune said as he pulled his sister away from his chest, "I need you to do something for me."
"W-what?" She asked with a sniffle.
"Take my Scroll and run back to the room where the big hole is. Hide in their and go through my contacts until you find a someone named Skywalker. Message him that I'm fighting something called a Sith Lord, he'll know what you're talking about." Jaune explained as he took his scroll out of his pocket and put it in his sister's hands.
"But…"
"No time, go!" He said as he gave his sister a shove towards where the room was.
Jaune watched his sister go for a few seconds before standing up from his kneeling position and meeting the Sith's burning stare.
"Skywalker will know what you're talking about hmm?" The Sith mused from what he had heard Jaune say, "I take it this Skywalker is you master than Jedi? Yes, he must be. You seem to be young for a Human, a teenager is what you humans call your current development stage I believe."
Jaune continued to meet the Sith's stare with silence as he took off the light windbreaker he had been wearing, tossing it to the side and grabbing his saber hilt.
"Yes, young and unrefined. Your power is great boy, I can sense the Force pouring off you like nothing I've ever felt before, yet it is raw and barely tamed. You must still be but a padawan." The Sith continued on, "My name is Lord Saes Rrogon boy, remember it well. As it will be the last name you ever he-"
"We don't have to fight." Jaune interrupted.
The Sith paused, "Excuse me?"
"We don't have to fight," Jaune repeated.
"What do you mean we don't have to fight boy? I am a Sith and you a Jedi. We are mortal enemies." Lord Rrogon snarled.
"What if I told you the Sith were gone," Jaune said.
Rrogon eyes narrowed behind his bone mask, "You lie."
"Do you know how long you have been in cryostasis for?" Jaune asked.
The Sith Lord considered it for a moment, "A couple of decades at most."
"Wrong. This ship belonged to the Sith Empire right? Well, the last Sith Empire ended thousands of years ago and the last two Sith Lords died over the moons of Endor over two decades ago. There's no reason to fight anymore, the Sith are gone. Why continue a senseless feud?" Jaune said as he tried to reason with the Sith Lord.
Luke had always told Jaune that Jedi first and foremost where peacekeepers, warriors second. A Jedi should always try the peaceful approach and avoid conflict between parties unless absolutely necessary.
Jaune figured that he might as well give it a shot.
Instead, the Sith started chuckling.
"No reason to keep fighting? My boy, if what you said was true then it's more than enough reason to fight. It means that I am the last of the Sith in the galaxy. That I am the Dark Lord of the Sith! And once you and your master are dead I can re-enter the galaxy and bring back my empire, this time, as its emperor!" Rrogan laughed in glee.
'Well there went that.' Jaune mentally sighed and ignited his lightsaber. The sapphire blade mirroring the Sith's crimson saber as Jaune slipped into a Djem So stance.
The dark lord stopped laughing and assumed an unfamiliar stance, "Let us begin."
With a burst of speed, the Rrogan launched himself as he brought his lightsaber down upon Jaune.
The young Jedi brought his blade up and deflected the strike, shifting away and firing a Force push at the Sith Lord so intense that wisps of light emitted from Jaunes hands as he unleashed it.
"Gahhh." Rrogan croaked as the Force pulse caught him in the midsection and flung him across the hanger bay.
Most Force-sensitives would have rag-dolled by such a blast, but a Dark Lord of the Sith was not the average.
Regaining his wits Rrogan was able to flip himself in midair and landed on his feet, stabbing his saber into the ground to provide some resistance to slow down as he skidded.
Coming to a stop the Sith Lord hunched over in slight pain before standing back up.
"A prodigy indeed. Few could…" The Sith trailed off as he looked around, his opponent had disappeared.
*Swish*
Rrogan barely had time to turn around and block an overhead strike as Jaune leaped from behind him.
Continuing over the Sith Lord, Jaune spun around trying to strike his midsection as he landed. Only for it to be once again intercepted by the crimson saber.
Shifting his weight Jaune tried forcing his lightsaber forward, entering a saber lock with his opponent.
A terrible cracking noise filled the hanger as crimson and sapphire clashed as the two sabers began sparking against each other where they came in contact.
"Grrrr," Jaune grunted, trying to overpower Rrogan with pure strength as he empowered his muscles with the Force.
But unfortunately for Jaune, his opponent was no slouch in the strength department. Kaleesh were known for being a warrior race that's culture centered around constant warfare. For them, strength was a must.
Rrogan pushed back hard against Jaune, the saber lock turning against the young Jedi despite his enhanced muscles.
Seeing as he was starting to lose the struggle, Jaune decided to do the one thing that always seemed to work whenever he started losing a spar against Luke.
Spam the ever living hell out of Force abilities.
As according to Luke, Jaune had quite the amount of raw Force potential. Though Jaune couldn't really tell if he did or not since his only comparison had just been Luke.
Time to find out.
"Raaaaahh." Jaune roared as he used a Force Repulse.
The saber lock between the two was broken as the Sith was once again thrown back from Jaune's power.
Landing on his feet again, Rrogan had no time to react as the young Jedi sent another Force push at him, this time slamming him into one of the rusted fighters that were still partially intact.
The Sith grunted he lifted himself up from the wreckage, his eyes burning in rage from getting manhandled by a padawan.
"STOP THAT!" The Kaleesh roared.
Jaune just smirked as he began charging another Force push.
"How about no." He said.
Beacon
"And you believe this Galactic Empire may be mounting a comeback?" Ozpin questioned.
"Perhaps." Luke answered, "I don't have any other way to explain the ship's that had attacked me that night. They could have been simply remnants that wanted to take one last shot at me for killing the emperor and dooming the empire, but their designs seemed to be variations on the original designs that I remember. The capital ship's looked bigger and sleeker than the empires and the fighters looked like newer models. I fear that-"
"It could be an entirely new faction that evolved off the remnants and are innovating and building up to retake the galaxy." Qrow finished for Luke.
"Yes." Luke sighed.
"And perhaps going after you was the first step in preparing for a galactic invasion. Removing one of the figures that were responsible for their fall the last time." Ozpin added.
Luke nodded his head.
Ozpin crossed his hands and contemplated the situation at hand. As bad as it all sounded… this resurgence of the empire wasn't particularly his problem. His first and foremost priority was saving the people of Remnant.
"Do you think anyone besides yourself will be able to find Remnant?" Ozpin asked.
"Hard to say." Luke said, "It all depends on how deep in the unknown regions Remnant is."
The Jedi master was going to continue but stopped when he felt his scroll vibrate. Taking it out of his pocket he saw that it was a message from Jaune.
"Excuse me for a moment gentlemen. I have an important message to take." Luke excused himself as he stood up and walked out of the room.
"Do you think we should tell him about the tribe?" Qrow asked Ozpin as the doors closed behind Luke.
Ozpin pondered it for a moment, "I don't see a reason to alert him. It seems that Skywalker has a lot on his plate as it stands, no reason to worry him about them if they've been peaceful for all these years."
"But you heard what he said about their kind. The S-"
"That's enough Qrow, they are wild card but at this point in time we have more pressing concerns with Salem." Ozpin said sternly, "We'll cross that bridge when we get there."
While Ozpin and Qrow were discussing matters in the office, Luke was reading the message from Jaune's scroll.
"Ummm hello? Is this Mr. Skywalker?" The message read.
Luke's eyebrows furrowed at the message. Was someone else using Jaune scroll?
"Yes, this is Luke Skywalker." Luke messaged back, "And who might this be and why are you using Jaune scroll?"
It was a few moments before he received a response.
"I'm his sister Jade. My brother gave me his scroll and told me to run. He said to message you and tell you that he is fighting something called a… Sith Lord?"
Luke froze upon reading the last sentence.
'A Sith Lord on Remnant? That's not possible, my father and Sidious were the last Sith. I swear Jaune this better not be you pranking me.' The Jedi master thought as he extended his senses out into the world.
Remnant was an interesting planet, to say the least. The world was like nothing Luke had ever sensed before. Most planets in the galaxy were either solidly influenced by one side of the force or were just a gray area. But Remnant seemed like a constant flux between the light and the dark.
It sometimes even muddled Luke's sensing abilities during his meditation sessions with Jaune, the constant fight between the two opposing forces being jarring even for him.
But this time was different. Across the continent of Vale on one of the coasts, he felt a darkness, and it was starkly different from the rest of the planet. It was darker and more refined, less wild than anything he had felt from the Grimm.
And he felt a great source of light clashing with it.
"Sith Spit." Luke cursed.
There was no way he'd ever be able to make it to Jaune in time and as much progress as his apprentice had progressed, he still wasn't fully ready to face a Sith.
Though maybe Luke didn't have to be there physically. He had been wanting to try out a Force technique he had read about in a holocron once. Hmmmm.
Sitting down Luke closed his eyes and began to clear his mind, calling out to the Force around him. Concentrating, he zeroed in on the location where he felt his padawan and the Sith clashing.
Harbinger
"Shit!" Jaune yelled as he jumped out of the way of another bolt of Force lightning.
Jaune had made the mistake earlier of trying to use only his Force abilities to fight the Sith once he figured out that he wasn't going to be able to beat him in a straight lightsaber fight.
Unfortunately, that had lead to Jaune using up a good chunk of his power as he had continually bombarded the Kaleesh with Force pushes and repulses every time he had gotten to close.
The brute force (get it?) method might have worked on a Sith Acolyte, but the ancient Sith Lord had fought in one of the galaxies biggest wars, The Great Hyperspace War, and had been a member of both the Jedi Order and the Sith.
Rrogan was no stranger to fighting those stronger in the Force and outlasting them.
"Stand still you brat! I'm going to char your ass until it's crispy brown!" The very pissed off Sith Lord screamed as he fired off more lighting.
Jaune flipped over one the fighters and landed over the other side, hunkering down as Rrogan blasted lighting at the other side.
Jaune sat on his knees and tried to catch his breath. At this rate, he was going to be completely drained without even being able to get close to the Sith again.
'I need to get in close to this bastard without getting fried by that lightning.' Jaune thought, ' But what the hell could I use to… this is gonna be epic.'
Extending his hand out Jaune began to lift the fighter that he was hiding behind until it was a meter or two off the ground, which was just enough to keep shielding him from the onslaught of Force lightning. With the rest of his energy, he threw the ancient starfighter at his opponent.
The Sith Lords eyes widened as the ship came at him. By time he stopped firing his lighting it was far too late for him to attempt to catch it. He was only able to cast a light force bubble around himself before the ship impacted.
*Boom*
Rrogan screamed in pain before, to Jaune's surprise, the fighter exploded in a huge ball of flames erupted from the fighters fuel tanks.
The only thing Jaune caught a glimpse of as the explosion light up the hangar was Rrogan lightsaber hitting the ground as it was tossed by the explosion.
'Huh, there must've still been fuel in that thing.' The thought made Jaune blink in confusion though, 'Wait. That thing still had combustible fuel in it after centuries or millennia? Talk about luck.'
With a grunt, Jaune picked himself off his knees and continued to stare at the burning wreckage. Was that really enough to put Lord Rrogan down?
"AHHHHHHHH." A primal scream came from the flaming pile as a figure clawed itself out of the wrecked and got up.
Seemed it wasn't enough to put him down.
"Arrgh, you fracking brat." The Sith snarled, "I am going to tear you limb from limb."
Jaune didn't know which was scarier, the Sith's tone of voice or his appearance.
The once fine black robes and white skull mask he had worn were now both tattered and burned in areas, the mask completely cracked in half exposing the Kaleesh's face. Which was now horribly burned and probably scarred from being in the middle of the explosion.
All in all, the new appearance backed by a flaming background was enough to give the scene a demonic feeling.
"Actually that won't be happening." A voice said from behind them.
Both padawan and Sith turned looked away from each other to see a man in dark brown robes walking towards them. The hood was drawn down revealing an older gentleman with graying blonde hair and twinkling blue eyes.
"Luke." Jaune sighed out in relief as he watched his master wink at him while walking towards the Sith.
"So you are the boy's master. Excellent, you've saved me the trouble of having to hunt you down." Rrogan said eyeing the Jedi master.
"Not quite," Luke said as he turned his head to Jaune.
"Hey kid, remember that thing I taught you right before we both left on our respective trips?"
Jaune racked his brain for a second before remembering the most recent force ability he had learned, "You mean Pyr-"
"Yep, that one." Luke cut him off quickly, "Use it on my signal."
Jaune gave him a questioning look, "What signal?"
"You'll know." Was all Luke said as he walked up to the Sith Lord.
Seeing his new opponent approaching him Rrogan called his lightsaber back to him with the Force and once again ignited the crimson blade.
"Draw your weapon Jedi." He growled.
"Nah, I'm good. I don't need it to deal with you." Luke responded in a laid-back tone.
"Oh, don't you now? I was not aware that the Jedi had grown so arrogant over the millennia." Rrogan said, pulling his lightsaber back for a strike, "Have it your way Jedi scum."
With a powerful thrust, he threw himself at Luke, burying the lightsaber in the master's chest.
Only the usual cry of pain and burning of flesh didn't occur. The red blade seemed to phase through the Jedi master.
"You know, you really should use trust your other sense besides eyesight. It might come back to burn you one day if you don't." Luke said with a slight emphasis on burn.
Understanding what Luke meant Jaune concentrated on the fire around them as he thought back to Luke's lesson.
"The ability to turn even the smallest of flames into a raging inferno."
Concentrating on the flames already present, Jaune began feeding his own energy into them and exciting the air molecules around the flames.
"What trickery is this!?" Rrogan snarled as pulled his lightsaber back and once again struck at Luke, only for the saber to once again glide through Luke like an illusion.
"What kind of trickery? Oh, my yellow-eyed friend, it's the best kind of trickery!" Luke said with a shit-eating smirk.
It was then the entire area around the Sith Lord and Jedi Master was once again enveloped in an explosion, this one far larger than the previous, the air around them self-combusted and fed the already raging flames.
For what must've been the third time today Rrogan screamed in pain as the flames burned into his body, not having been paying attention to make a shield around himself with the Force.
The flames were so intense this time that Jaune felt the heat and swore his clothes started smoking as he was thrown backward.
The inferno raged for a few more seconds until it died out, leaving a virtually untouched Luke Skywalker and a charred corpse of a Sith Lord.
Luke looked around at the carnage nodding his head, 'Not bad. Once again Jaune took a Force application he learned only a little while ago and used it to an advanced degree. Plus he's taken out his first Sith. Attaboy.'
Jaune sat up and blinked away the spots in his vision the explosion had caused and looked at the scene.
"Did I…" Jaune trailed off as he looked on speechless.
"Yeah, you did. Good job kid, you stopped your first darksider, and a Sith Lord to boot." Luke praised his apprentice.
"Yeah, I guess." Jaune said as he gave his master a questioning glance, "How are you here? Also, how did that lightsaber go through you?"
"Well, I'm not really here per say. It's more like I'm projecting myself through the Force." Luke said as he looked around, "Speaking of here, where are you?"
"Wait. You can project yourself to places with the Force! Why haven't you taught me to do that yet?"
Luke snorted, "Two reasons really. One this is the first time I've ever tried it myself. Two, we both know you'd use it to project yourself into a girls locker room."
"I would not!" Jaune said defensively.
"Yes, you would. Now start talking, where the hell are you?"
Jaune went through his explanation of looking for his sister, finding a sinkhole, jumping down said sinkhole, and then finding his sister and the Sith.
"You think you have enough energy to get you and your sister out of this joint?" Luke asked.
The young Jedi groaned in pain as fatigue started to set in, "Not particularly."
"Alright, hang tight. I just made some new friends who can help and would probably love a chance to study a starship. Meanwhile, try not to wake up anymore Sith." Luke said as he started to fade out, "Oh and you better start coming up with a way to explain what the hell just happened to your family, seeing as your little sister has been watching the entire time."
"Wait, what?" Jaune said in panic as he turned around. Sure enough Jade was peering out of the room with wide eyes and her little lion ears perked up.
"Ah, kriff. Can't you just wipe her mind?" Jaune asked.
"Nah, I'm good. It's about time you probably told your family about what you've been doing or at least a slightly altered version. Probably won't believe you've been training with a knight of the Galatic Republic in the ways of the Force, so I'd go with just telling them I'm a Hunter that decided to train you. Besides, what do you care? You turn 17 tomorrow! Doesn't matter what they think anymore." Luke said before he fully faded, "See you around kid, and happy early birthday."
And with that Luke fully disappeared, leaving behind the battle-torn hanger that was decorated with fire and wreckage.
Jaune sighed and looked at his sister, "Sooooo…what are the chances you won't tell the rest of the family about this? I'll even buy you an ice cream if you keep quiet." He called over to his sister.