A world of bloody Evolution under a shattered moon. A place full of secrets and mystery. Remnant.
Seeking a home on the lost world of Tanalorr, Cal Kestus, Merrin leave the galaxy behind to build a sanctuary on the planet. Aboard the Mantis as their friend and ally Greez searchs Koboh for additional ships to supply the florishing colony on secluded paradise world. During this trip they discover a world hidden beyond Tanalorr in a region of space cut off from every corner of the Galaxy. both from without and within the system
Sensing the dark side on the planet then fly over a forest ruin before a massive black bird attacks. The Mantis is forced to land among the ruins as students with forle like powers do battle.
Star Wars: Jedi Huntsman
Episode 1 Red Like Roses
"You take care of her Cal! I don't want to see my ship like it was last time you captained her. I'm still working the small out of the sofa." Greez said over the com link.
"Of course Greez. I'm sorry I let it get that bad." Cal said as he flipped switches, Bd-1 sitting on the dash of the Mantis's cockpit. "I was just too busy back then, and living out of the Mantis full time with a full crew."
"Excuses. Greez I'll make sure he keep it tidy. Besides it's not like we'll be separated for long." Merrin said from the second seat.
"Hrghmmm just treat her right. No going round ashowing off in her." Greez said. "Other then that, be safe, everyime we pass through the abyss I feel like something is goning to go wrong. Even more so without me there."
"Trust us Greez, we'll be fine we got to go." Cal said cutting off the transmission. "All set to get back to Tanalorr. I'm glad you were able to find more relics of your sisters on Dathomere. Place still unsttles me."
"Dathomere is a world of darkness but also of life. Many of the Night Bothers have left the planet to integrate with our Iridonian cousins Though others cling to their strongholds out of tradition. This Grimoire belonged to a Night mother centuies ago..." She said thumbing though the aincient tome.
"I'm amazed it survived all this time. I wonder what other secrets are hidden tgere, between your sisters, the Zeffo and the ancient cities between the stong holds it seems whenever we visit we find something new." Cal said reading the ship to take off into the Abyss, taking out the compass he set it down ready to take the ancient pathway through the perilous nebula.
The twisting constructs of koboh matter seemed to extend endlessly. The pinks and purples of the nebula swirled in iridescent patterns that seemed to threaten to crush the star ship. The narrow pathway to Tanalorr is a wrought with danger. The perfect defense against the empire.
"Easy goes it." Cal said softly. Navigating through the void when the ships transmitter blared to life with Static and broken words.
"Hello... bzzzt... Vale... krrst Beacon. Szszszkt Dust theft... " The transmitter spat out random words phrases in over a dozen peoples voices. Then garbles musical notes came through.
"Something isn't right. BD can you triangulate that signal." Cal said flipping some switches.
"Cal, what are you doing?" Merrin asked settting the Grimoire to the side.
"That broad cast came from somwhere in the Koboh abyss. Someone could be trapped or it could be another hidden planet." Cal replied.
"I don't know Cal, any deviation could destroy the Mantis." Merrin straightened in her seat. "But if it is another world within the Abyss... we may not need to leave the Abyss to ferry supplies as often..." She held out her hand and her shattered crystal ball shard appeared in her hand. "I'll protect the ship." She closed her eyes as green energy swirld around her. Resonating around the ship.
Cal took a breath as BD-1's chirps and beeps told him the bearing he needed to take, Weaving through the giant crystalline structures the Mantis's spinning wing dodged and weaved through the debris.
Bd let out a series of beeps. "We're almost there... the signal is getting stronger." Cal said before gliding right past a massive clustor of crystals.
"Your doing great Cal... I sense something is wrong... A great darkness pervays this part of the abyss..."
Cal nodded in agreement as redirected some more power to the engines inorder to fly a little faster.
Then everything seemed to happen at once. The debris was closing in on all sides, seemingly drawn to the ship, leading from the crystalline structures around them leapts blsck creatures with bone white spkes and plates, their face had a mask adorned with red eyes and markins. They were thin emaciated thing, akin to preserved bodies tn the vacume of space. Hunched overand clinging ro the debris with claws they threw themselves at the Mantis.
Sythe like claws glanced off the polished metal hull of the ship. One younger smaller creature launched it's self at the Mantis, going for a head on colision of the cock pit. Its wide mouth opened reveal rows of needle like teeth ready to devour its prey.
It smashed against the cockpit being turned into a thin black film. "Can't see..." Cal said as he clossed his eye reaching out with the force, feeling his way through the debris field.
"Thier mindless beasts, throwing them selves at us and flinging off into the void." Merrin said to understand these creatures.
Slowly heard more and mot of them cling the sides of the vessel as the veiw port for the cock pit cleared.
Their claws couldn't damage more than the paint. "Merrin grsb the hyper drive... on our signal." Cal said as he threw switches and instruments.
She grabbed the handel and clossed her eyes as the two of them reached out with the force, their combined strength and senses finding an opening.
"Now." They said in unison as the call braced the controls, and Merrin flung the switch. With a jolt, the ship shot forward, leaving the creatures behind to aimlessly floot and spin in the nebula aimlessly.
The two of them shout out of the debris feild, no longer in the abyss. A system of worlds circled a single star. Their orbits are wide and slow of each other. As the ship came to a stop outside, the pink and purple nebula encircled half the system, but a second nebula encircled the other half, swirls of red blues and purple dust.
"What is this place?" Merrin asked.for one couldn't truly describe the beauty of the mixing nebulas.
"Navigation is down... too much interference from the two nebulas, but the far one seems less dense, so maybe if we had an astro mech, we could navigate it. Only one planet is... It's populated."
"Out here?" Merrin asked sitting down.
"This is where we got those signals. BD-1 patch then through." Cal said as the little red bot did as asked.
"Hello citizens of Vale, Vale police are still after the criminal Roman Torchwick, responsible for a recent string of dust thefts across the city. The white fang turn another peacful protest hostile when shots were fired earlier this week. Before we go to comercial break Beacon is beginning a new school year and the four time Mystral tournament champion Pyyrah Nikos is starting her first year to become a full fleged huntress along with the other students." The transmission cut off.
"Interesting. Let us visit this world, it will let us get our berings in the system. And find out if they have any means to get through that Nebula." Merrin said.
"Navigating through Nebulas can take years, and there wouldn't be any hyper space routes on the other side... but turning back through the Abyss is a death trap. Oh Greez is gonna kill us..." Cal said tapping his hand on the controls
"It could be worse, on the bright side we found out there are creatures living in the Abyss. For now lets land on the planet and find a place to settle for the short term. Think of it like a vacation." Merrin smiled.
"Alright... I'm taking her in to land... BD and where secluded we can land?" The small droid conected to the ships systems in order to run a planet wide scan. The drod let out a series of chirps and beeps. "Secluded ruins not far from a major city... shelter, artifacts and great place to operate from. Alright im putting her down."
The Mantis flew down to the planets surface, the emerald trees flowing in the wind as the ship made its way towards a ruined temple hugging the cliff over a vast ravine.
Thats when the bird attacked. Coming up behind the Mantis it landed atop the ship shending it carening through the air. "What's going on!" Cal said as the hull shook with the impact of the creatures beak on the durasteel hull. Twisting the controls he spun the Mantis in the air throwing the creature off before. As the ship went to land they spotted a commotion at the tree line of the ruins as 8 strangly dressed in a mixture and armor, dresses and casual clothes ran towards the ruins. Behind them was a massive scorpion creature, black as night with white bone armor and red markings.
The black bird attacked again this time circling around the side of the ship before flapping its massive wings at the vessal, giant feathets with bone like point rained upon the ship. Swinging the Mantis around as Merrin got up and into the ships gunner position she returned fire with the ships laser cannons though they didn't apear to do much harm to the creature. Cal swung around flying head on to the creature. "I'm sorry Greez." Flicking a switch he activated the roating wing as he flew past the creature as the wing swung down smashing the creatures head.
Cal was almost thrown from the seat as he wrestled the controls before finally landing atop the ruins behind the teenagers running from the massive scorpion.
The ships landing dock open as it's three occupants ran out to aid in the battle. "Birds mine." Merrin said as she Vanished in a puff of green. With BD on his shoulder Cal ran behind massive creature and ignited in his two handed cross gaurd stance as he lobbed off a pincer from the creature. Standing with him was a read head with a spear and sheild, a girl with a grenade launcer, a blonde boy weilding a sword and shils and a boy with dual green pistols with blade attached.
Merrin appeared on the ruins next to the four girls watching the bird circle. "Don't mind if i help here?" She asked.
"Not at all." A bubbly girl with a red hood and a massive scythe in her hands replied. Hit it with everything you got."
The girl in all white weilded a rapier and created a glyph as she blasted with ice. The blond wore gauntlets that fired powerful rounds.
A girl with long black hair had a gun built into her sword and fired rounds with incredible accuracy.
And little red transformed her scythe as she fired from the hip. the massive bolt racking back with every shot.
Merrin Leapt off the ruins and appeared on the beast's neck drawing her knife as it turned into a slender spear she rammed between the thick bone plates. It screached in pain as the Nightsister twisted it's head up exposing soft under belly to the girls assault.
Cals blue blade hummed as the teens too advantage of the opening he hand made. The red head fired her spear with a gun shot into the creatures eye. It roared in pain as the boy in green jumped up onto it's stinger unloading a clips nearly cutting through. The blonde blocked the remain claw with his sheild as the boy leapt off the stinger. The creature went to bash him away but Cal Used the force to pull him to safety.
The Stinger hung loosely. "Pyyrha." The blonde gestured with his head.
"Got it." Pyyrha repsoned by throwing her sheild cutting through the stinger dropping it on it's own head. I bounced off a colomn back to her.
"Nora nails it!" The girl in the pink skirt smiled as Pyyrah knealt down with her sheild over her head. Her grenade launcher expanded and transformed into a massive hammer.Placing the flat face on her sheild, she pulled the trigger and used her friend as a launch pad. As she shot through the air, Cal used the force to hold the creature in place. Nora came in like a meteorite. Herhammer drives the stinger straight through the creature but also crushes the bridge under neath. Cal used the force to throw the teen to safety as he fell down. Throwing out his hand, the ascension cable shot out, pulling him up onto the ledge.
"Phew... reminds me of that time on Jedha. Hi, I'm Cal Kestus."
Merrin leaped fro. the beast as it crashed into the ruins, sending rubble tumbling to the depths of the ravine. The four girls leat from block to block. The bird came round and tried to swallow the blonde one, but she held the creatures mouth open as her free hand blasted round down its throat. "I! Hope! You're! Hungry!" She shouted before jumping free as the creature slammed into the wall.
On the ground of the ruins, Little Red looks at the black haired one swing around with her ribbon. The to the others. "I have a plan."
As blonde jumped back from the bird, she saw the others set up and understood as the girl in white rushed past her, freezing the bird to the stone.
The blonde and black haired girls stretched the ribbon between two pillars as Red launched herself onto it, creating a massive sling shot. "Think you can make the shot, Weiss?" Little red asked as weiss used her glyph to hold her in place.
"Even if she dose, I can keep you on target." Merrin appeared next to them, holding onto the ribbon with her hand. "You got this Little Red."
"Name's Ruby."
"I like mine better. Now go." Merrin said as Ruby cocked her weapon. The black glyph turned red, and the two of them were launched as the creature broke fro. from the ice. With a mighty flap of its wings, it fires more feathers at the incoming girls. Merrin grabbed ahold of Ruby and pulled her into a swirling green portal. Vanishing from sight, the two swirved around the feather as rubt reapeared, slamming her scythe into the bids nack, pinning it to the cliff. Weiss's glyphs created a path way up the cliff as the little red reaper ran up shattering stone as the monster dragged behind her, her reapted shot only driving the blade deeper into it's neck.
Hitting the top of the cliff, Ruby seemed to stop for a fraction of a second before ripping through and decapitating the beast. Landing with her scythe across her shoulder. Merrin stood waiting for her. "I'm impressed, Little Red." As the rose petals fluttered around them.
Cal and Merrin sat in an office as BD sat on the floor, looking up at the massive rotating gears above them. In the room with them was a blonde woman in a white blouse and black skirt. Her riding crop hooked on her belt at her waist.
Sitting across a desk in a green suit was a white-grey haired man with thin glasses and a mug in hand. "Your story... well, I have to say it's unique... but I sense no lies... after all, you did help my students."
"Professor Ozpin." The woman interjected.
"Glynda... it's fine. To find out there's life beyond the stars isn't surprising to me. And I'd rather like to learn from our guests. And if this empire does come... Well, let's just say I'd rather be equipped to deal with that threat."
"Of course, head master." Glynda said.
"What of us?" Cal asked.
"Well, I understand your eagerness to return home, but I think it's best you take your time. Perhaps with the aid of Atlas's scientists you'd be able to make it through the Nebula however that would be costly. But if you took the time to make the right connections and relations, particularly in the Huntmen academies like Beacon, you could have better access to those resources."
"Are you offering us a job?" Merrin asked.
"We do pay a substantial moving bonus. I think interstellar moving would qualify." Ozpin offered.
The two force weilders looked at each other. "What would we teach?" Cal asked.
"I'll leave that up you two." Ozpin smiled. "Your classes will be graded as you see fit, and the subjects your choice so long as they don't directly overlap with the current Professors. Though I'm certain that won't be a issue."
"Well... Cal?" Merrin looked to her partner.
"I think it our best option. And we should get used to teaching if were gonna start training initiates on Tanalorr. Best if we start here." The jedi responded
The two looked at each other and nodded. "We accept."
A week later after Ozpin helped the get set up with documents from the government though he didn't explain how he got them so quickly. Merrin as Cal had parked the Mantis next to small cout yard where the Professors resided in a sub section of the campus. Few small town houses built on the property. While they familiarized themselves with their chosen course materials and the student files for those that had signed up for their elective classes. When a knocking came at the open door of the Mantis.
"Ah you must be the new Professors From space Glynda told me about. Hrypmf." A portly man with a very fine mustache stood there with his colleague an rather thin man with a thermous and glasses. "I am Professor Peter Port. And this is Professor Bartholomew Oobleck."
"Nice to meet you, professors. I am Jedi Knight Cal Kestus. We were just finishing our preparation for our classes." Call walked up to shake their hands. "I'll be teaching mechanical and electrical repair and droid mechanics. I have a few dozen wiped droid processing units, so hopefully, by the end of the semester, each team will have built a droid of their own.
"I am Merrin, and I'll be teaching something that not exactly can be taught to every student. I'll be seeing if any of your students have inborn Force abilities and training them according to my peoples traditions. I don't expect many will be able to pick up the abilities." Merrin explained.
"The Jedi path starts at a much younger age due to the different aspects of the Force we draw from, so we decided it'd be better to see to that."
"And if there are none?" Oobleck asked.
"Well then, I'll be teaching the history of my people and the wider Galaxy." Merrin responded.
"And well, welcome to Beacon, and we would love to hear of your adventures at the Professors' picnic in the courtyard at the end of each week. I understand you start tomorrow afternoon Merrin and you Just after lunch Young Kestus.
"Indeed, though most of my students have already signed up. I have Teams, Rwby, Jnpr, Crdl, Cfvy, and two others."
"So far only Teams Rwby and Jnpr have signed up for mine." Merrin stated.
"Well your class is at the end of the day, so many teams have that period off so they wouldn't be willing to give up that hour of time." Port reasoned. "Though I suppose you left quite the Impression on thise two teams during the initiation."
"Indeed." Merrin tapped her fingers on the cover of the ancient tome.
"If you don't mind, i would love to sit in on your lectures of history Merrin. I find the subject fascinating." Oobleck asked.
"Of course." Merrin replied.
The next day Cal sat at the head of a workshop in beacon as students filed into the class. "Welcome to Droid mechanics." He said as each team settled in.
"Hey your that guy from the space ship." Jaune said to the laughter of the class.
"Yes, yes, I assmue the rumors have been going around the school the last week or so. My name is Cal Kestus. And this is my friend BD-1." Cal gestured to the small droid. There was some ohh and ahhs. "BD here is a fully autonomous and sentient artificial intelligence."
On the screen behind him were diagrams of the diffeent classifications of droids.
BD let out a rapid series of beeps as he walked up to each table before climbing onto Jnprs table. "He's so cute." Nora said lookind down at the droid.
"I have several freshly wiped draoid processing units, by the end of the Semester each team is to have designed and built their own droid around this central system. Now I have diffrent units for different purposes. I have navigation droids, maintenance droids, protocol droids and battle droids." The last one really got the attention of the class.
"Battle droids?" Ruby asked.
"I see we have a class favorite. I have enough advanced commado droid process units for the class though if you want do a different unit speak amongst your team and decide. Though do consider that only Protocol droids and Battle droids will speak in a way you understand without learning Binary." Cal warned.
It wasn't long before the teams came up with their answers. Rwby, Crdl and Cfvy were going to build Battle droids, the two other teams chose a protocol droid and Team Jnpr chose something else. "Can we build a droid like BD-1?" Nora asked.
"Bd-1 is a explorer type droid, though I do have more then enough spare components. Remember you have take advantage of what space you have built into the from you design. I do expect your own ideas and not a straight copy." Cal responded.
"Of course." Pyyrah smiled, "We'll do our best."
Later that afternoon, Teams Rwby and Jnpr stepped into a nearly empty, dimly lit classroom. "Welcome... I am Merrin. This class isn't exactly one that all of you can learn. While you wield your aura, semblances, and weapons. I teach something much older. The Force permeates the universe. It touches every living soul. And there is a balance between light and dark." Merrin stated as Professor Oobleck sat in the back of the class.
"Are you talking about magic?" Weiss huffed, clearly not buying into it.
"Of course, I come from the world of Dathomire, born to a coven of Witches called the Night sisters, led by a matriarch Night mother. Powers of telepathic and telekinetic. mold steal, stone, flesh, and bone to strengthen yourself and your allies, even granting life to the dead." Merrin removed a cloth off a cage. Inside was a dead frog. "Privided by your schools biology lab." She quickly stated as her shattered cyrstal ball appeared in her hand as green energy swirled around her whisps of energy entering the dead animal before it jerked back to life.
"Creating... zombies..." Jaune said, shocked.
"Though not the point of the class, but in time, yes, you will learn this. if you can learn at all. Not all are born with a powerful enough connection to the force. If you can't learn I won't expect you to waste your time though I invite you to learn the history alongside."
Weiss swallowed hard. "What of your fellow witches? Would they be alright with your secrets being shared?"
"I am the last woman of my kind. My coven and all others were wiped out when I was a child. if my traditions are to continue on, I need to train more then my own children if my tradition is to survive."
"What do you mean by last woman?" Blake asked.
"Though my gry skin may not be super obvious I am not human. At least not fully. My kind are called Dathomirian Zabrak. A sub species of the more wide spread Iridonian Zabrak species. The Nightsister covens started as human women. But then a Iridonian ship crashed on Dathomire. Zabraks are bigger and stronger the humans, two hearts, denser muscles and a crown of horns, traditional facial tattoos. So the night sisters gathered them in camps and... interbred with the strongest males. Dathomirian Zabrak makes have vibrant orange, yellow and red skin colors, larger horns. These became know as the night brothers."
"I notice a familial connection in the naming conventions of your people. Why is that?"
"There weren't more then a few thousand individuals living across the planets deadly surface. Death was everywhere." Merrin explained.
"What will happen to your people now?" Blake asked
"Those that are left are being absorbed into Iridonian worlds. Dathomire is dying a slow death. Returning to the wilds it once was." She said. "Now... to test if you're able to learn, I'll need you to drop a little bit of blood into these bowls. I grow certain herbs from my home world for the spells and charms. And a number of your worlds plants animals make great substitutes." Merrin placed a bowl infront of each student.
"Um... what happens if me or Ren turn out to have these force powers?" Jaune asked.
"If your worried, I'll sacrifice you, i won't. Human sacrifices aren't practical when channeling the Force that draws from living beings. My ancestors tried." Merrin replied. " Male force sensitive night brothers were rare but not unheard of, usually used as mercenaries or bounty hunters by the Night Mothers."
One by they pricked their finger into the bowl. "Now there is no incantation, this is mearly a simple test to see how stong your connection to the force is. Do not draw on your aura just hold the bowl, and i want to to focus on it's contents. water, Death Root, Shade flowers petals, crushed sandstone. Picture these things seperated and in neat piles, but to do so with disturbing the blood drop in the water."
Several minutes passed and Weiss threw her cup down in frustration. "Your wasting our time!"
"I did warn that not all were capable of learning." Merrin stated.
Jaune stood up. "None of us got anything. Though it was fascinating to learn about."
"I don't think ill be able to accomplish this." Blake said setting her bowl down.
"This didn't brew out." Yang said with a smile.
"Miss Merrin..." Ruby held out her bowl. Beneath the surface of the water was three distinct piles, one of the sand stone, one of one of Death Root, and one of Shade Flowers. In the center on the bowl was an untouch swirl of blood.
"Seems you Ruby Rose were born with a Gift.
Hey wanted to try out writing longer chapters. is this legnth good or should i stick to my usual 1.5 to 2 k? I would really like to know.