33 A.B.Y
Zonju V
"Redirect fire to sector bravo! Leehar where the hell is that air support? We have more legions on the march from the north and they are being supported by All Terrain Mega Calibers. If we don't get any bombing runs to soften them up those gorilla walkers will flatten us." Captain Halberd screamed as he manned the gatling blaster, laying waste to any First Order troops and light armor that came into his sight.
"They were diverted to sector Zulu in the south sir. The anti-air batteries were taken out and 52nd infantry was getting hammered by Tie bombers." Corporal Leehar reported peeked out from his cover and opened fire with an old DC-15 blaster rifle.
Nexus company, a detachment of the 112th infantry division, where currently stationed in the bombed out part of what used to be the capital city's northern section.
The planet of Zonju V was currently under siege from the First Order. A planet mostly covered in deep canyons, mountains, and sparse shrubbery, there wasn't much of worth on this planet in terms of minerals and resources.
But the strategic advantage it offered was more than enough for the First Order to send a fleet to conquer it.
Zonju, along with the fractured planet of Anoth, and the swampy planet of Sump, were all located near the outer rim and unknown regions. The three planets offered the perfect staging areas for the First Orders navy to begin the invasion and suppression of the outer rim when the day came to destroy the Republic.
It also helped that Zonju had a human population, ready and ripe to be indoctrinated into the Order for more manpower.
And unfortunately for the population of those planets, the Republic had no idea they were being attacked, all communication had been blocked by the order.
Not that they probably would have helped anyway. The three outer rim worlds where to unimportant and too far away from the galactic center to even be considered for membership in the Republic. There was also the fact that because of influence from corporations who were secretly making trillions from the First Orders armament, pacifist worlds, and collaborators who had been strategically placed into high positions in government, the Republic seemed to be eager to appease the growing power instead of confronting it.
The Republic labeled the invasions as policing acts and highlighting that the order was bringing stability and advancement to the worlds it absorbed.
Fools.
This cowardice now left the poorly equipped and undermanned Zonju military valiantly trying to defend and keep their capital city from falling. But unfortunately, they would be no match for the superior trained and equipped forces of the First Order.
Poorly equipped was a bit of an understatement though. Most were using old and barely refurbished blasters and riffles from the days of the clone wars, which at the current time made the weapons about 50 years old. But most troopers didn't care, after all, a bolt of plasma was a bolt of plasma.
It was their armor situation that was the bigger problem. While some had armor pieces that seemed to resembled of clone phase-I and II armor, others got by with cloth uniforms backed with ceramic and kevlar plates on parts of their body.
As the people of Earth would say, they were fucked. Majorly fucked.
For every Order stormtrooper, they killed five more would take his place. Every AT-AT they took down with mass amounts of artillery and rocket barrages seemed to be replaced by more, or even worse by the gargantuan AT-M6 walkers.
"Captain we've been ordered to pull back to the city center!" Leehar said from over their communicators.
"The hell? If we fall back now the entire northern sector will collapse, have they gone insane!" Halberd responded. "They've given up on holding the city, sir. Their loading up as many people on blockade runners and light cruisers as they can. Hoping they can at least get some of the population to Republic space." Leehar said.
"Dammit." The captain muttered, "Alright Nexus company you heard the corporal. Disengage and pack it up as fast as you can, we're pulling out! Breewar, Stannes, Robbuck, get some men and cover our backs while we...|"
Captain Halberd stopped talking as he saw what must've been at least a hundred large plasma round screaming through the sky in an arc towards them.
"Heavy artillery strike inbound! Hit the kriffing deck!" He screamed over the comms.
The troops of Nexus company hit the ground and tried to cover any exposed body parts.
The huge bolts of plasma came down on their position with almost pinpoint accuracy, obliterating the already damaged structures that had once been there.
The last thing captain Halberd saw before he blacked out from the explosions was Robbuck and Breewar being vaporized in a flash.
…
"Urrggg." Halberd groaned as he came to.
He blinked his eyes underneath his helmet trying to clear his vision. Blinking away the spots in his vision he spotted two pairs of white boots standing a couple meters away. Looking up slightly his blood ran cold.
'Dammit.' He thought.
Two stormtroopers were patrolling the area. They seemed to be walking towards the bodies of his troops.
'What are they-'
One of the storms troopers went up to the closest body and gave it a little kick.
"Doesn't seem to be alive. What do you think Slip?" The trooper asked.
The other stormtrooper, now identified as Slip, gave a shrug.
"Better dead check em' Fives, don't wanna take any chances. Especially with the Knights in the area."
"Good point," Fives said as he lazily brought his blaster up and put a round into the figures head.
The situation had just grown even worse for Halberd. It was only a matter of time before they came his way and put a bolt in him.
As quietly as possible he reached for his sidearm and grabbed the handle, pulling it out slowly as he kept an eye on the stormtroopers.
He waited until both troopers had turned around as they began checking more bodies.
Raising the sidearm he leveled it at the one called Fives and fired.
"The hell?"
Both stormtroopers turned around just in time to see a blue bolt of plasma flying at them.
But to their surprise and Halberd's, the shot stopped mid-air and hung there, only a foot away from Fives chest.
"Idiots! A complete waste of calories the both of you! What part of checking the bodies to make sure there were no survivors do you not understand?" An almost robotic voice roared at them.
Both the stormtroopers and Zonjian turned their heads towards the voice and were met with a terrifying site.
An irritated Kylo Ren.
"Lord Ren." Both stormtroopers saluted respectfully.
Well as respectfully as they could with a plasma bolt hanging in the air only a foot away from them.
Kylo snarled in irritation and snapped his fingers.
The bolt tipped skyward and then was let loose, firing into the atmosphere where it would eventually dissipate.
The stormtroopers sighed in relief.
"Thank you, sir, we-"
"If you say one more word I'll personally report your failures to captain Phasma herself." Kylo bit out, not interested in having to hear the troopers excuses.
A warning from the Force flashed through his mind as he instantly extended his hand out, absorbing another bolt with Tutaminis.
Kylo leveled a glare from behind his helmet at Zonjian.
"Kriff," Halberd muttered.
All of a sudden he felt a force freeze his body and was pulled towards the dark knight and was caught by the throat.
Halberd struggled as he tried to pry the gloved hand off his throat, but Kylos gripped was far too strong for a normal human, and he wasn't even trying.
"Arrrkkkkk." Halberd choked as he felt the grip tighten considerably.
Now he was trying.
"Tell me, soldier, when will those little ship's of yours be launching?" The dark knight questioned.
"G-g-go to h-hell." The captain choked out.
*Voom*
Everyone looked up to see a large cruiser emerge from the middle of the city and launch into the sky, charting a course to escape the planet.
Halberd painfully cracked a smile while blackness crept on the edge of his vision as the ship ascended further into the atmosphere. They'd done it. While many of his people would not escape, at least some would.
Unfortunately, Kylo had noticed the small smile.
"Tell me trooper, want to see a neat trick?" Kylo said as he used his free hand and extended it skyward.
Halberd was confused about what Ren was doing. Was he ordering an attack? Signaling for fighters to intercept the ship?
"Because I'm about to make that ship disappear."
You can imagine Halberds horror when he saw the ship begin to slow down and even stop completely despite the engines roaring in vain.
"And now you just have to add a little pressure.", Kylo said as he began making a crushing motion with his hand.
The cruiser began to shake violently and it's engines began sputtering, cracks began appearing on the ship as sections of the hull began bending.
Soon the entire ship seemed to be collapsing in on itself.
And then it blew up.
*Boom*
Halberd had little words as he watched his people's last chance at freedom vaporize in atmosphere.
"H-how-"
*Crack*
"A magician never reveals his secrets." Kylo chuckled darkly as he threw the now dead body away like the trash it was.
Fives and Slip stood stock still behind Ren and slowly looked at each other.
They then began to slowly walk backward.
Remnant
Coasts of Sanus
"Why am I building a lightsaber? I already have one and already told you I was fine with it being a hand me down of your nephews." Jaune asked as he plugged in the power core to the converter.
"Because you should know more than just how to maintain a lightsaber. You should also know how to build one in case yours is destroyed or lost. Trust me when I say it can happen." Luke responded.
"Yeah yeah," Jaune muttered closing the case and hitting the ignition button.
A quiet hum admitted from the hilt but no plasma came from the emitter.
"Well, it works at least. Guess I'll keep it as a spare just in case." Jaune shrugged.
"Seems like a waste of a perfectly good lightsaber. Why don't you pop this little gem in." Luke said, taking out the golden Kyper crystal he had found almost a week ago in the Harbinger out of his robe.
Jaune's eyes widened.
"Where the hell did you get a kyber crystal at!? I thought you said they only form on a few planets." He asked in an astounded tone.
"Found it in one of the Harbingers storage rooms. It was among other kyber crystals that were probably being shipped to one of the old Sith Academies so that their initiates could corrupt them into crimson crystals." Luke answered, "Now hold out your hand. I want to test something."
Going along with it, Jaune extended his hand and opened his palm.
Luke took the crystal and dropped it into his apprentice's palm.
Upon contact the golden crystal went from a small glow to a beacon of light, casting golden rays on the area around them before calming down. It once again returned to its barely glowing state.
Jaune stared blankly at the little crystal in confusion, not entirely sure what the hell had just happened.
But his eyes widened as one of the many lessons he had learned during his time with Luke.
"It chose me, didn't it? Like how when younglings would go to Ilum and tried to find a crystal that matched their Force attunement."
Luke nodded his head, "Seems I was correct with my assumption that the crystal hadn't been calling out for me, it was calling for you."
Jaune nodded and focused on the crystal. Sure enough, he felt a small connection in the Force to the golden mineral. Somehow it felt… good to have it in hand.
Reopening his newly constructed lightsaber, Jaune carefully placed the small gem inside the chamber and closed it back up. He moves finger back to the ignition button and activated it.
This time the hum of the lightsaber was joined by a beautiful golden beam as the plasma erupted from the sabers emitter.
"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Jaune said in excitement.
"Yes indeed. Though I must say gold is an interesting color for a saber. The closest ones I've ever seen were yellow sabers." Luke said as he observed the blade.
"Good. That means my saber is one of a kind! Speaking of sabers," Jaune said as he reached for his belt and grabbed his old one, "I guess you'll be wanting this back. It was your nephews after all right?"
Luke breath slightly hitched as he looked at Ben old lightsaber in his padawans hands. Memories of that night six years ago flooded his mind.
The old Jedi master forced a small smile, "No Jaune it's yours. You've used it for almost over six years now and I have no need for it. Besides now with two sabers on your person you can freely use Jar'Kai on your own without having to borrow mine. Force knows you'll use the style more than me at this my point. My old bones might give out even with Force enhancement with me trying to use such a fast and flexible style."
His smile still turned a little sad despite him trying to fight the incoming memories.
"Also just too many bad memories."
Jaune looked at his master and nodded.
"Alright then. Sorry if I brought any bad memories, Luke. Didn't mean to make you think of the night when your nephew died."
That stung Luke a little. The reminder of the half-truth he had given Jaune about the attack on the temple. How he had told him a student of his had rebelled and convinced some others to join him.
Knocking out Luke and killing Ben Solo in the process.
Not a complete lie, not a complete truth.
Luke may have been ripping off Obi-Wan's story of his own father and his betrayal a bit. So Jaune wouldn't hold back in their inevitable battle just because Ben was his nephew.
Because after years of meditating and thinking back at to that night. Luke had come up with one solid conclusion.
Ben had fallen into the dark years before Luke had ever raised a saber against him and he hadn't even tried to fight it. No one fell to darkness so hard that in only a night they proceed to go from being relatively normal to a murdering spree by slaughtering people who were his friends and family.
From what he had gathered from accounts of old documents and R2, even his own emotionally unstable father had only broken after years of being burned by the council and dreams of his wife dying.
Which only confused Luke further. What could have possibly have corrupted Ben?
"Luke I have a question," Jaune asked, interrupting the master's thoughts.
The older Jedi his attention back to his apprentice.
"What question is that?"
Jaune shifted slightly as he spoke, "Well I know you still need time to work on the hyperdrive and now that your working with Ozpin it will be even harder. So I thought-"
"That could attend Beacon while I busy with other stuff." Luke said with a shrug, "Go ahead, kid."
Jaune blinked in surprise, thinking that he was going to need to convince his master.
"How'd you know I was even going to ask? And really?"
"Because Ozpin already talked to me about it and I think it's a good idea. You'll actually get some socializing with people your own age, not being homeschooled by your family and training with a strange old man in a forest." Luke said.
"So you admit your old?" Jaunes replied with a smirk.
Luke rolled his eyes at that being the only thing his padawan had picked up from his explanation.
"Did I say, old man? I meant a man filled with youth, vitality, and good looks. Dashing good looks I might add."
Jaune rolled his eyes in response, "Keep telling yourself and your receding hairline that Skywalker."
"Very funny Jaune." Luke snorted, "But back to the topic we were discussing. Because if you're going to attend Beacon than you need to do two things."
"Those two things are?" Jaune asked.
"First you need to take R2 with you. I'm sure Ozpin would happily fly him in early for you. Especially if I tell him R2 has some designs for some advanced types of energy storage they could use." Luke said.
Jaune blinked in slight confusion, "Umm sure. But why, isn't R2 your droid?"
The master nodded, "He is, but there is still more you need to learn and study. While you can do it without me, you'll need the holocrons and data stored in R2 to do so. Besides, without having to train with you during the year I'll be traveling and doing missions for Ozpin. Probably be going places I can't safely take R2."
"Alright, I guess that's fair." Jaune nodded in understanding, "What the second thing?"
Luke smiled as he brought out the hilt of his lightsaber.
"Being at Beacon means you'll be on your own. Fighting your own battles and making your own decisions. You will have personal responsibility for your actions. This is not the role of a padawan and being honest, you have already surpassed the role of a padawan. You learn the ways of the Force and saber quickly and only a while ago you did something that many Jedi masters could not. You stood against a fully trained Sith Lord and lived to tell the tale. As such, get down on one knee." He said.
Jaune's eyes widened considerably as he realized what was about to happen and couldn't help the large smile that came to his face as he kneeled down on his knee. It was something he had always dreamed of happening since he had heard about it.
Igniting his emerald blade Luke brought it down on above Jaune shoulders and recited the ancient ceremony.
"We are all Jedi. The Force speaks through us. Through our actions, the Force proclaims itself and what is real. Today we are here to acknowledge what the Force has proclaimed. By the right of all past Jedi, by the will of the Force, I dub thee Jedi, Knight of the Republic." Luke recited.
Luke shut off the lightsaber and offered his hand which was accepted by Jaune. Pulling the boy up he clapped his shoulder.
"When I first crash-landed on Remnant all those years ago I never could have guessed that I would find an apprentice in the form of a small 11-year-old boy. I also never would have imagined what a fine young man and powerful Jedi that boy would become." Luke said.
"Aww c'mon Luke," Jaune muttered somewhat embarrassed while scratching the back of his head.
"While I wish I could continue to train you, it is simply not a luxury we have. You and I are the last of the Jedi. While many of the old masters might not have agreed with how fast I accelerated your training, I knew you would be up to the task." Luke said as he added a final note, "And now I believe you have a phone call to a certain headmaster to make."
Jaune nodded and reached into his pocket to grab his scroll when he froze.
"Sithspit!" Jaune cursed as the realization hit him, "Beacon begins in a week and we're nowhere near Vale or my house!"
Normally getting around the continent of Sanus was easy because of the relative ease of access to bullheads. The problem was that not all places had docks for the bullhead to land. As such many of the outlying settlements had to rely on trains for travel, which were far slower than a bullhead and could take days to travel over the entire continent.
"I'll never be able to grab my stuff from my house and make it to Beacon on time." Jaune moaned as he facepalmed.
"Well, then we go straight to Vale. You'd be perfectly on time." Luke said.
"Yeah we could, but if you didn't hear me I don't have any of my crap. Just some vacation clothes." Jaune said.
"You don't need to stop at home when we have this," Luke said as he pulled up his scroll and showed Jaune his bank account number.
The new knight's jaw dropped as he read and re-read the number.
"Is t-tha-that over a billion Lien? Jaune stuttered, "How the hell did you get that?"
Luke shrugged, "Had R2 tap into some of Remnants banks."
"Luke! You can't just take money from people bank accounts!"
"Eh eh eh, not regular peoples bank accounts. More like offshore and black bank accounts. If there was one thing I learned during my life, it's that assholes that horde money off the books are ubiquitous throughout the galaxy." Luke said.
"How'd R2 even hack into those type of accounts?" Jaune questioned.
Luke snorted, "He may look like an oversized trash can and be over 50 years old, but his hardware and operating system is still hundreds of years ahead of anything on Remnant."
Jaune still was staring at the bank account number, "Soooo does this mean that when we get to Vale…"
Luke shook his head, "Knock yourself out kid."
Vale
1 week later
"I can't believe you bought a 900 Lien jacket," Luke muttered as he stood with Jaune on the bullhead docks.
Jaune smirked as he straightened his gray leather jacket, "It was worth it."
"You only say that because it wasn't your money. Who charges 250 for waist holster, I don't care if they had to be custom made to hold both your sabers, who does that!? Even those black T-shirts were 90 a pop! And don't you get me started on those boots and blue jeans!" The master complained.
"Worth it." Jaune sang as he was currently rocking a set of the said clothes.
"You literally made me go from a billionaire to a millionaire." Luke deadpanned.
"Meh, I'm sure you'll get over it.." Jaune shrugged as he observed his many peers that littered the platform who were also waiting for the airship.
He had to admit that this was probably the most diverse group of people he had ever seen. Ranging from two snow white-haired women having a serious conversation, a blonde chick smothering what looked like little red riding hood, and even a family of redheads that crowded around a chick in bronze armor.
Seems that his year would be full of colorful people. Though he was perfectly fine with that. Probably be way more interesting than the farmers and miners that made up the settlement his home was near.
The blonde raised his head as the roar of jet engines caught his attention and he saw a massive air begin to approach the dock.
"So I guess this is it," Jaune said as he turned to Luke.
"So it is," Luke answered while giving his apprentice a once over, still not entirely believing the powerful and confident young man in front of him was the same kid that he came across all those years ago.
"You know if everything goes as planned that we may not even see each other for at least four years. With me being at Beacon and you helping Ozpin while working on the hyperdrive on the side." Jaune said.
Luke looked up and also noticed the airship as it began to dock.
"Possibly, but I doubt it. The Force works in mysterious ways, I'm sure we'll see each other sooner than you think. Besides I'm sure you get into some type of mess that I'll have to clean up." He said.
Jaune smirked, "Please. I'm a Jedi Knight now. There isn't nothing that I can't handle."
"Yeah right. You may be a knight now, but it will always be my job as your master to dig you out of mess if you get in over your head." Luke chuckled, "Now get going kid. People are starting to get on the ship."
Jaune looked over his shoulder and sure enough Luke was right. Picking up his duffle bags he began to turn around, but not before he melted his smirk into a small smile and gave the man who was like another father to him a goodbye.
"May the Force be with you Luke." He said in a final goodbye.
Luke smiled and gave him a small wink.
"See you around kid. Remember to study the holocrons on R2, meditate every so often, continue to practice your Force abilities, and of course, may the Force be with you as well."
With that, both master and former apprentice turned away from each other and headed to their respective destinations.
Both aware that they were heading on completely different journeys.