Standing Peace
Chapter 1
Year 12 Month 4 Day 13
The war is five years in the past. Peace had yet to be shaken, despite the wishes of some. The Jedi and the Sith have an uneasy peace. Karel led the Jedi in Atlas. The Jedi keep peace in the alliance. The uneasy pact is tested.
Karel was meditating and saw a vision of Alderaan. The empire has surrounded the planet. He could feel the pressure above Alderaan. Something was floating in the air. He saw a giant… space station! He couldn't comprehend how large it must have been.
"Governor Tarkin, I should have expected to find you holding Vader's leash. I recognized your foul stench when I was brought on board." A woman in white said. Tarkin, once a commander in the GAR during the Clone Wars now a governor. Age had attacked him. Whoever the woman was, she was standing up to Tarkin, and Vader.
"Charming to the last. You don't know how hard I found it signing the order to terminate your life!" Tarkin said. He glared down at the woman.
"I surprised you had the courage to take the responsibility yourself!" She bit back.
"Princess Leia, before your execution, I would like you to be my guest at a ceremony that'll make this battle station operational. No star system will dare oppose the Emperor now." Battle station? So, then this abomination had the ability to land? Or did it carry many star destroyers?
"The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers." Leia said.
"Not after we demonstrate the power of this station. In a way, you have determined the choice of the planet that'll be destroyed first. Since you are reluctant to provide us with the location of the Rebel base, I have chosen to test this station's destructive power on your home planet of Alderaan." He must have been lying. There was no way for any space station to have the power to destroy a planet. And his home planet! But it was far too important to harm. He couldn't, right?
"No! Alderaan is peaceful! We have no weapons, you can't possibly..."
"You would prefer another target, a military target? Then name the system! I grow tired of asking this so it will be the last time: Where is the rebel base?" Karel felt sweat fall down his face. He could have sworn Vader sensed him. He could feel the presence acknowledge him.
"...Dantooine. They're on Dantooine." Leia said defeated. Karel felt relief, then shame rolled over him. Alderaan was safe, but what about Dantooine?
"There. You see, Lord Vader, she can be reasonable. Continue with the operation; you may fire when ready." Karel felt his heart drop for a second time.
"WHAT?!" Leia yelled. Karel tried to yell it, but he couldn't open his mouth. He felt Vader.
"You are here to watch Jedi." Vader said. He heard Vader say it, but no one else did.
"You're far too trusting. Dantooine is too remote to make an effective demonstration - but don't worry; we will deal with your rebel friends soon enough." Tarkin said with a sadistic smile. Karel watched in horror as a laser shot to Alderaan and destroyed his home world.
His vision faded. He opened his eyes, and the power of the force slammed into him. Karel gripped his head as he let felt all the voices of the people of Alderaan vanquished in an instant. Billions killed. He saw flashes of faces in his mind's eye. He struggled to stand. He smelt the burning air as the split second of existence and nonexistence stood in his nostrils. His ears rang. He struggled to stand.
He could hear the voices crying out in pain and fear. He could hear everything going on the last moments of the once mighty Alderaan. He saw the faces laughing, cheering, crying, and finally screaming as they were vaporized. His mind tried in vain to hold onto anything in particular. It wasn't possible. This was worse than when they killed Salem. Karel tried to stand but fell as if the entire population of Alderaan was on top of him. Sweat rained down his face. He couldn't hear anything else besides the pain. It was like standing next to an engine's roar.
Hope melted into fear, wonder into terror, innocence into nothingness. Bright futures, all planned, proved the ultimate in morphability when a fundamental truth in these lives proved wrong. For these people there never had been a question of whether or not the sun would rise tomorrow, and yet in an instant they were proved wrong. The sun would be all that was left to mark a memorial of the might Alderaan. He felt pressure behind his eyes. He looked up as Weiss rushed in, holding onto Jade.
Karel reached out his hand and tried to help his daughter.
His vision started to turn black. But then the feeling washed over him. He dropped to the floor and heaved in deep breaths.
"What's going on?" Weiss asked, afraid.
"A… disturbance in the force…" Karel barely had any strength to even sit up. Once he did, he felt the pressure pass over him.
"Jade started screaming, then fainted. What happened?" Weiss asked. Karel took a few more deep breaths.
"Alderaan… was destroyed." Karel said.
Jade woke up in Karel's arms. He looked so tired.
"Dad?" Jade asked.
"Yes Jade, I'm here." Karel said. She could tell he felt the same thing.
"Something horrible happened." Jade said. She could remember feeling the pain. That was all she remembered.
"That's right." Karel said. Weiss hugged both of them. Tears rolled down her face.
"I need to check on the Jedi." Karel said.
"No." Weiss said.
"I'm a master, and I went through hell. I need to make sure no one died." Karel said.
"You almost died." Weiss said.
"That's why I have to go." Karel said. His body was weak.
Vox felt the deaths of billions all of a sudden. It hit her unexpectedly. She was almost taken off her feet by it. Something happened. Immediately after she sent out inquires to all the Sith. She needed to know if they all felt it.
Soon reports from all over the empire came back. If everyone felt it, it was something massive. The death of billions. She needed to figure out what happened.
All force users on Remnant felt the disturbance. Only the most inexperienced escaped from the grasp of the disturbance. The pain and the suffering felt.
Many Jedi padawans and Sith Acolytes fainted. Karel realized he suffered more than most probably because of his connection to Alderaan. With the destruction of his home world, he lost the final connection he had to the galaxy he had come from.
The grand inquisitor, Bariss Offee, read the report. She read about the destruction of Alderaan. She sat in her chambers thinking on that information a little more. With the destruction of Alderaan, many would fall in line. But she also knew that Alderaan would bring unwanted attention and hatred to the empire. She wondered what she should do.
"Grand Inquisitor, you are receiving a call from Jedi Master Karel Allusis." One of the officers replied. This isn't what she needed right now.
She answered the call. Karel looked at her.
"I assume you know Alderaan was destroyed." Karel said. That shocked her that he knew. But then she remembered, he was born there.
"I just found out myself. How did you do that?" She asked.
"That disturbance almost killed me. Thankfully, I was the most affected. But the order knows what happened. I saw Tarkin order the planet's destruction. Why? What did Alderaan do?" Karel said.
"What do you mean… You saw it in vision?" She asked.
"Yes." Karel sighed. "I'm sorry for bothering you. You don't have any answers."
"I do not. But we shouldn't let Tarkin destroy the peace we have." She said.
"If this gets out, you are the most affected." Karel said.
"I hope you aren't threatening the peace." Barris said.
"No. I am warning you. Figure out how to explain this." Karel said. He ended the call.
"Dammit Tarkin! You don't have to deal with these people." Barris said.
Karel got on his ship. Weiss joined him with Jade and Aqua.
"Are you sure you should have called the empire?" Weiss said.
"I don't know. But we do know they had no idea." They headed to Vale. Karel made calls to the Jedi council. The news was going down the order.
Karel started flying and saw an incoming call from Soule.
"It won't be hidden for long." Karel said. He answered the call.
"What was that disturbance?" Soule asked.
"Everyone felt it." Karel said. He let out a sigh. Facing the ones who committed the atrocity was easier than explaining what happened.
"We already know that. Do you know what it was? I know you see visions all the time." Soule said.
"The Galactic empire destroyed Alderaan." Karel said.
"Oh." He said. He took a step back.
"Yes. My home world is no more." Karel said.
"Ah, that's why you know what it was." Soule said. "Are you going to make them pay?"
"No. The imperials here had nothing to do with that!" Karel said too forcefully. Soule smirked.
"Touched a nerve." Karel shook his head.
"I'm sorry that wasn't called for." Karel said. The smirk disappeared.
"Fine." He cut off the call.
"What was he trying to make you do?" Weiss asked.
"I don't know." Karel said.
He gathered his family in his former home. Pixi and Erik were the official owners. Karel sat his family down. This is what he dreaded.
"Today, early in the morning, as I was meditating, I had a vision. The empire had created a massive space station, and it was over Alderaan. Princess Leia, or so she was called, was there with Darth Vader and Governor Tarkin. This space station had the power to destroy a world. Leia was a part of a rebel group and tried to save our home. Tarkin… Tarkin destroyed Alderaan. It was no vision. Right after Every force user on this planet felt the death and destruction." Karel said.
Jira stood up, a mix of emotions filling her all at once. Alex doesn't say anything at first. She clenches her fists. Adi sits back in her chair. Shock filled her.
Shock filled everyone. Gwen started to cry.
"Alderaan… is gone?" Alex asked. Karel shook his head. There was nothing else he could say.
"Princess Leia… she witnessed that?" Lance asked.
"Yes. I don't know who she is, but she was important." Karel said.
"She was the daughter of Bail Organa." Lance said. "And they were close friends. Did… did anyone make it off?" Lance asked.
"I'm sorry, I don't know." Karel said.
Oscar heard the news, and knew that soon, there would be protests.
Month 5 Day 7
Two weeks passed and Oscar was right. Outside of Pare, many of the citizens had found out about Alderaan. Bariss had to choose to stand with the citizens, and military who wanted to have an official decree of disownment of the empire, or to stay loyal.
"We can't keep this up. It will be easier to just condemn what the empire did." One of her advisors said.
"Why should we bow down to them!" An imperial officer said.
"We can't survive without people to create our supplies. We need them. Do you not understand that?" The advisor said.
"It will be a betrayal of the empire."
"Condemning this isn't condemning the empire whole!"
Barriss looked out at the crowd, remembering the protest at the Jedi temple all those years ago.
"Condemning the action will bring these civilians back in line. And we can call it the rouge actions of Tarkin but make no mention of this in the system. I'm sure the empire has more on its hands than keeping too close track on us." Barriss said. She sensed the imperial officer was angered with this, but he said nothing.
Barriss made the condemnation of Tarkin. Little did she know that he would be dead later that day.
Month 5 Day 22
Karel finished training for the day when he got a request. There was a group of GI citizens who protested who wanted to speak with him. That was strange. He cleaned up and went to Weiss, who had just finished her work for the day.
"What is it?" She asked as Karel entered her office.
"For some reason, GI citizens want to talk with me." Karel said. He handed Weiss the datapad. She looked over it.
"Is this about Alderaan?" She asked.
"Maybe. At the start of the month, there was a massive protest that almost turned Violent. Oscar predicted it. Maybe I should head over there. Do you have any business in Patch?" Karel asked.
"I could always find business. What about Jade and Aqua?" Weiss asked.
"Since we'd be going to patch already." Karel started. "We just need to talk to Ruby."
Month 5 Day 23
By the next day, they were flying to Patch. Karel sent the message to the temple to see if anything was wrong with the message. He also sent it to Pixi, and Blake, who had won a second term as president of New Menagerie. She promised Sun two terms was it. Her husband couldn't handle another term. They were married right after she won reelection, right after the fiasco with Tyrian, an assassin who created a poison that could kill midi-chlorians. This message came from the empire, but it didn't seem to be tampered with.
As they landed, Karel shook his head as he saw Blake and Sun there. He had no idea what she was doing here.
"Now we just need Yang." Weiss said with a smile.
They left the ship and Yang was there. She had a datapad in her hand.
"Hey Weiss." Yang yelled. Team RWBY was back together. Some of the most important, most powerful people on the planet. Karel saw the datapad. Blake and Ruby had one as well.
"What's going on?" Karel asked after everyone said hello to everyone else.
"Looks like we all got the invites." Yang said.
"Why do they want all of us." Karel asked.
"Not just us, but also the swordsmen, and a few others as well." Blake said.
"Are the swordsmen here?" Karel asked.
"No. Just us." Sun said. He read over the invite again.
"Something's going on. There should be no reason for this many to go out." Karel said.
"We know." Blake said. "I sent Jennie Celio ahead of us to scout out the area. She and some red fang scouts didn't see anything wrong there."
"Does she have a padawan?" Karel asked.
"I think so, but I haven't met them." Blake said.
"Something has to be off." Karel said.
"Maybe." Ruby said. Jade looked for Silver but didn't find him. Tai was in the room and saw Jade and Aqua.
"Hey there Jade." He entertained Jade while the adults were still talking.
"I sense something off with this." Karel said.
"This may be a trap we have to spring." Blake said.
"I almost wish I had the 122nd with me right now." Karel said.
"This may be peaceful." Sun said.
"I hope it is." They went in the house. They started talking about other things.
Scarlet was drawing with Jade.
"Scarlet, what are you drawing?" Jade asked.
"Mommy and Daddy with the roses." Scarlet said. She drew Ruby with a red crayon, and Oscar with a green crayon. Or at least the best an almost 4-year-old could.
"That's wonderful." Ruby said. She smiled at Scarlet. Karel sighed.
"We're getting old." He said. Blake and Yang started laughing.
"Come on, we still have time." They said.
"We're in our thirties now." Karel said.
"I barely feel it." Yang said.
"You barely act it." Raven said. She walked in from the garden.
"You're barely better." Yang said.
"I know." Raven smiled.
"Hey, we're not old yet, so you can't be either." Tai said.
"You are old grandpa!" Scarlet said.
"Only to you." Tai said, picking up Scarlet. Blake smiled, then checked her scroll. She sighed.
"Back to business. I got a picture of the area." Blake sent the photo to everyone. Karel looked at it. He recognized it.
"Oh, this is where we rescued my family." Karel said.
"I wonder if that's why they sent you the message first." Sun said.
"Maybe." Karel said.
Yang shook her head.
"Why is Arin there?" Yang asked.
"What?" Oscar asked.
"Arin must have gotten the message and went to scope it out. Man I wish I had Arslan for this mission." Yang said.
"Why don't you?" Oscar asked.
"She's pregnant." Yang said.
"Oh, I forgot." Oscar said.
"It's alright. She's far more worried about it than Jaune is." Yang said.
"How close is she to becoming a knight?" Karel asked.
"Just a few more years. Three or less. She's amazing as a stereotypical Jedi, but I'm trying to get her to be better at infiltration. Need to keep that alive in our line." Yang said.
"How is she?" Weiss asked.
"She's got the basics down so all she has left is the hard stuff." Yang said.
"Bell still has a lot of work. He's becoming more confident in his own ability, but he still struggles. He's great, really. He is a natural in lightsaber combat. He understands the force deeply, but he can't seem to connect it to him personally." Ruby said.
"I feel that." Karel said. He was remembering Desmond. He was one of the Jedi he trained in Atlas.
"Got any advice?" Ruby asked.
"Generally, yes, but I don't know Bell that well. I guess you have to figure out what's blocking him and take that away." Karel said.
"I knew that's what you were going to say." Ruby said.
"Are we all going." Weiss asked.
"We need to figure that out." Karel said. "I'll go."
"We'll go as well." Ruby said for her and Oscar.
"Yep." Yang raised her hand.
"Might as well all go then." Blake said.
"Well then. Looks like Team RWBY, and husbands, are going on a mission." Karel said.
"Doesn't it just roll off the tounge?" Raven said.
"I'm guessing you'd like us to watch over Jade and Aqua?"
"Yes, please. Here." Weiss handed them a large amount of Lien. She winked as she handed it over.
"Alright." Raven pocketed the money. "Always nice having rich friends."
"How much was that?" Yang asked.
"Petty cash." Weiss said. Karel smirked. Their petty cash was massive.
Raven looked at Jade and Aqua.
"The good old days. I kind of wish Summer was here to see this." Raven said.
"Peace is nice. Call me crazy, but I swear, she is here in spirit or something." Tai said.
They flew to the spot indicated. Arin was there with his padawan. A male human. He had a dark complexion and looked nervous.
"I wonder how Hunter is." Yang said. She jumped from the ship as it went over the landing area. Ruby shut the door and shook her head.
"I swear, I have no idea where she gets it." Ruby said.
"Don't even go there." Weiss said.
Arin looked up and saw Yang falling toward them. He bumped Hunter's shoulder and had him look up. The look on his face when he saw Yang falling was priceless.
"Master we have to catch her!" Hunter said.
"Go ahead." Arin said. He had grown since the end of the war. Not physically, but he had become a better him. Hunter raised his hands and reached out to catch her. Yang had slowed. She even hung there in the air.
"Good job Hunter." Yang said. "You must worry about me."
"Why were you falling?!" Hunter shouted.
"Didn't you see the ship?"
"Oh…" Hunter said.
"It's okay Hunter. She's always been like that." Arin said. Yang landed. She grabbed Arin and pulled him in for a kiss.
Hunter turned away.
"Why do you always have to do that?" Hunter asked.
"Because it bothers you." Yang ran her hand through Hunter's hair. She decided to keep her hair short after the war. She didn't miss it that much anymore.
"You are aggressive in that." Arin said.
"Aggressive? Me?" Yang said. She turned around and looked at the opening. No one was hear yet.
"They said they wanted to talk. What do you think this is about?" Arin asked. Yang wrapped an arm around his shoulder and continued to look.
"We know that someone wants to talk to us. Maybe those from Alderaan want to defect." Yang said.
"You think anything else is going to happen?" Hunter asked.
"Yeah." Yang let go of Arin and became serious. She sighed.
Hunter looked between Yang and Arin.
"So what do we do?" Hunter asked.
"Wait. The meeting should happen within the hour." Yang said, holding her scroll. The others got to site. They waited.
A few minutes later, a hovercraft came from the forest with civilians. Karel stepped forward. The hovercraft stopped halfway in the open land.
"We're here. Why did you ask us all to come here?" Karel asked.
"We are here to…" Before the imperial could say anything, the roar of tie fighters filled the air. The Jedi all turned on their lightsabers.
"Aldor Kagwath! You and your traitor friends are under arrest." A voice called from a shuttle coming down.
"You! You want to kill us!" Aldor shouted.
"Don't make us." The imperial in the shuttle said. It landed. An imperial officer left the shuttle. Karel came further.
"These people are under arrest for treason." The officer said.
"What treason? Talking to us?" Karel asked.
"Yes." The officer said.
"But they didn't." Karel said.
"You have no right to be here at all Jedi. Leave while you still can." The officer said.
"What do you mean?" Karel asked.
"This…"
"We found a bomb!" One of the stormtroopers shouted.
"What?" Ruby asked.
"Get down!" One of the imperials in the hovercraft took out another bomb. The TIE fighters flew in close. The bomb went off, destroying the hovercraft, and killing everyone onboard.
Karel used the force to stop a chunk of metal that was about to slice the officer in half.
"What?" He said. He looked at the metal, then at Karel.
"What is going on? Who were they?" Karel asked.
"You all need to leave. We don't know what's going on." The officer said.
"If this was a terrorist attack, we can help." Karel offered.
"We have no idea if it is." The officer replied.
"It sure looked like one to us." Yang said.
"We may have been the targets. They asked for us personally." Ruby said.
"Oh, you most certainly were targets. Get out of here! Are you all stupid? Someone is targeting you!" The officer said.
Before they could say anything else, an inquisitor's ship came flying in, and landed. The grand inquisitor walked up to the Jedi.
"You must leave. We found these people wanted to kill you so we would go back into war." Barriss said.
"Why are people trying to send us back into war?" Hunter asked.
"Were you even old enough to fight in it boy? Ask your master." Barriss said.
"We can help you get to the bottom of this." Karel said.
"No. You being here puts more people at risk." She pointed to the destroyed hovercraft.
Karel sighed. They had to leave.
They were back at Patch.
"There are still firebrands. Even though the people don't want the war to start again, they still want nothing but destruction." Karel said.
"I wish Ozpin could give me some advice here. How did he deal with it after the first great war?" Oscar asked.
"The Jedi are needed more than ever now to keep the peace." Arin said. "I sense plots all over to destroy the peace. We must root them out."
"We would need aid from Mistral and Pare for that." Blake said.
"Is Menagerie safe?" Weiss asked.
"It is. Most are against war. Only the most radical want to continue it." Blake said.
"We also need to make sure the second generation avoids going to war as well." Karel said.
"I don't think either empire wants to restart the war. It seemed Barriss was doing everything in her power to keep us away from her problems." Ruby said.
"Don't forget to train hunters. You're going to need more than just Jedi." Tai said. He was carrying Scarlet and Aqua. Jade was getting a piggyback ride from Raven.
"Hunters deal with a lot of the stuff Jedi can't do." Raven said. The Jedi shook their heads.
"We can't devalue that part of us." Yang said.
"You also don't need to have a plan right now. Face everything when it gets to you. You can't control the wants of the people." Raven handed Jade to Karel.
"I like Mrs. Raven." Jade said. Yang sat back and smirked.
"Careful mom, you got a fan." Yang said. Raven shook her head.
Month 7 Day 9
Karel finished training the padawans at the temple for the morning when he went to the council chamber. Since the end of the war, four more Jedi had risen to the rank of council. Mizuki Muto and Akio Jin both became council members. They were put in control of the Shadow program. Karel didn't know the tenth member well. He was a Master from Vacuo, who spent most of his time there. He was Jedi Master Thomas Brawn. The fourth Jedi was also in Vacuo, and just got to the position. She was a wolf Faunus named Mai Ginger. Karel didn't know her specialty yet.
Meg was stationed in Atlas with Karel and Gael. There were hundreds of padawans across the order now. Knights were doing their best, but the masters had to step in as well. Karel had trained over a dozen padawans, none for as long as Rouge. Gael and Meg had multiple Jedi they were training as well. The order was strict on who became knights, and who became masters. Even if Karel once doubted that everyone was ready, he could see now everyone was.
Today was a meeting. They went to the council chamber and took their seats. The temples connected to the main temple in Vale.
"We're all here." Gael said as the meeting began.
"We're here as well." Master Black said.
"Good." Grandmaster Ray said. She started the meeting. They went over all the standard business. More Jedi were being trained. The alliance was able to get to a new planet and find resources there. It was put on a list for possible habitable worlds. Standard work for these meetings. The number of active Jedi was growing, and many of the knights from the war days were ready to move up. This was the last group of knights from the war, and the rest of war Jedi would be padawans.
"We have a request for Jedi assistance in one of the Badland towns." Gael said.
"We've seen the request. We'll send Meg and Karel." Ray said.
"If I may ask, why?" Gael asked.
"We have been led to believe this is a historical site. Those two are the most capable to handle that." Ray said.
"I'm fine with that." Karel said.
"As am I." Meg said.
"Grandmaster, if I may, I think we should also send one of our two new members with them." Master Black said.
"We could take them both." Karel said.
"Then it's settled. Bring back reports of the site. I suggest going soon." The meeting ended. Gael looked at the other masters.
"I find it strange we're sending four. But with recent hostilities, I may be able to see why. Be careful." Gael said.
"Will Xar help you while we're away?" Meg asked.
"Probably." Gael said.
"Wish him well." Karel and Meg left the council chamber.
"This site was recently rediscovered." Meg said as the masters walked the hall of the temple. The temple was smaller than the temple in Vale. This temple had four floors, and they were on the fourth. There are staircases at the ends of each hallway.
"It's probably not a Jedi relic." Karel said. They started going down the stairs. The third floor had half meditation rooms, and half library. Many padawans and knights were there. Alice and her padawan were there. She smiled as Karel walked passed. Karel nodded.
Most Knights and padawans move around the three temples. A fourth was in the process of being built on Menagerie. It was going to be a larger temple than this one. They walked down the stairs to get to the second floor. Split in halves again. The one half for lightsaber combat, the other for force training. This floor was in constant use. The first floor and the two underground floors had the cafeteria, dorms, equipment, including a robe creation room for those who wanted nonstandard robes, and everything else the temple needs.
They got to the first floor.
"I'll met up with you in a few hours." Meg said.
"Thank you." Karel said.
Karel made it home to see Weiss.
"You're done early." Weiss said.
"Unfortunately no. I've got a mission in the badlands. It should be short." Karel said.
"You're always busy." Weiss said with a sigh.
"This should be a short mission. I'll make it up to you, I swear." Karel said. Weiss stood up and shook her head.
"What? Did I forget something?" Karel asked.
"Just one thing." Weiss stepped up to him.
"I'm sorry, what did I forget?" Karel asked. Weiss shook her head and sighed. Karel thought what he could have forgotten. Weiss wrapped her arms around him and kissed him.
"That." Weiss said.
"Oh, I'm sorry I forgot." Karel said. "Can I repay you now?"
"Fine."
Meg waited for Karel. He was running late. She shook her head. But she looked up again and saw him running. He stopped by his ship.
"Sorry. I forgot something at home." Karel said. He opened the door to his ship. They always took his ship on missions like this. He had upgraded it though the years and made it more comfortable.
"Your wife's lipstick?" Meg asked.
"Where?" Karel asked. Meg shook her head again.
"Seriously, where?" Karel asked. Meg walked in the ship.
"Are you not going to say?" Karel said. He rushed to the refresher's mirror. There was no lipstick. He left and saw Meg laughing.
"You won this time." Karel said.
The flight over to the badlands was uneventful but seeing the site of the final battle still made Karel remember that day. Meg understood why he didn't enjoy seeing that area. The deaths can still be felt as they flew by it.
They landed in the Alliance town, waiting for the other masters to get there. They only had to wait ten minutes. They left the ship and met up with the two new master. Thomas was taller than Mai. He was almost two meters exact. Mai was one seventy. Mai had large silver ears with silver hair. She used one lightsaber. She wore mostly traditional robes, except for the silver color. She had tattoos on her face that brought attention to her eyes and mouth. Thomas had a tan complexion, and loose-fitting robes. There was a lot of room to move with his sleeves. The color pallet of the robe matched the desert of Vacuo. The robes were designed with desert plants and animals. His robes had a hood. He wore loose-fitting clothes under his robe.
"We are here at last." Thomas said.
"Indeed." Karel said.
"It is an honor to work alongside you both." Mai said.
"You as well." Meg said.
"The person who sent the request is in town." Karel said. He led the four Jedi. Thomas stood out. Everyone knew he was from Vacuo, but that didn't stop him. Karel saw a lightsaber hooked to his belt.
The towns in the badlands were small for now. They had just started to be built. The mining companies built many of the buildings, but many also came to start a new life. There could be a number of veterans here.
They walked down the main street. Karel had his scroll out to check they were going in the right direction.
"I wish the companies built more than one type of building." Thomas said.
"No need to hold back on that front. SDC isn't here yet." Karel said.
"I didn't say anything about the SDC." Thomas said.
"Oh, you don't know? Weiss Schnee is my wife." Karel said.
"I see. Will there be issues with you being here?" Thomas said.
"I can be partial. I have nothing to do with that." Karel said.
"Nothing? Really?" Mai asked.
"I have no mind for business." Karel said.
"Back home, the SDC was hated until after your wife came into power." Mai said.
"Are you from Menagerie?" Karel asked.
"Yeah." Mai said.
They got to the building, the town hall. A man walked out with two following behind.
"You must be the Jedi. It's an honor. The site is close to the mine, which is how we found it." He said. The four followed him further. He was average-looking in every sense of the word. The mine wasn't far outside of town. This mine went the opposite direction of the town and the water supply to avoid contamination. The man stopped them as they got to the mine.
"It's over there." He moved them farther away, until they got to a cave with a seal over it. The seal was the Jedi insignia.
"Thank you." Mai said.
"You're welcome. We'll go back now." He said. He was out of ear shot.
"Let's check this out." Karel turned around. He tapped the seal.
"I have no idea what this could be." Meg said. Karel touched the seal. It was ancient. He couldn't sense when it was created. There was a small opening below the seal. Erosion had left holes in the stone seal. Karel took out a small recon droid and fit it through the hole. It sent an image to the scroll. It was dark.
"Should we open the seal?" Thomas asked.
"Maybe." Karel said. The droid hit something. It turned, and there was a ship sitting there.
"Wow… That's a relic." Karel said. Meg looked at it.
"How old is that?" She asked.
"This may be from the hundred-year darkness." Karel said. He looked at the symbol again. It was about the same period.
"We're going to open it?" Thomas asked.
"Might as well." Thomas took out his lightsaber and cut the symbol, which was the lock. Mai and Meg used the force to open the seal. They stepped in the cave. Karel took out glow rods and tossed them around.
"The stuff in this cave is thousands of years old." Meg said. Karel found the power generator and knew replaced the power with a dust battery he had on his belt. The generator spat out dust, but the lights worked.
"That's a miracle." Mai said. Meg touched the ship, and her hand was covered in dust.
"You fools couldn't resist."
Karel spun around and saw a masked man. He took out a black lightsaber.
"The war will rage once more." He said. There was a bomb at the entrance of the cave. He stabbed it, and it went off.
The Jedi all called upon the force to keep the cave from collapsing in on them. The man was dead.
"Where did he get a black lightsaber?" Karel asked. Thomas used the force to toss many of the rocks coming down on them away.
"What did he plan on doing?" Thomas asked as he helped Mai. Meg and Karel kept the artifacts safe.
"It could have worked if you two didn't join us." Karel said. "We all took an even share."
"He might not know you're both masters." Meg said.
"But the fact he knew we were here and snuck up on us is disturbing." Mai said.
Karel looked at the ground.
"Is this what I think it is?" Karel asked. The residue of the explosion came together. Four lightsabers activated. Blue, Green, Yellow, and Silver blades pointed at the creation of a Grimm. The poison failed to form. But it rushed to the nearest body, being the dead man.
"I thought the Grimm poison was all gone." Mai said.
"Bogan's domain is locked away. This may have been someone who was under Salem." Karel said
"That would explain the black blade." Thomas said. He stood up. Karel had seen this during the war.
"I thought we got all of you black fang." Karel said.
"You got most of us, but we still exist. Only the strongest survived." He said. He looked at the other two Jedi. "I though one of you would have died."
He rushed forward. Thomas blocked the strike first. Karel realized this was the man who brought them here.
"There may be two more of them!" Karel said. He was right, the other two dropped, having already taken the poison, changing. Mai and Thomas were fighting the false mayor. Karel and Meg fought the other two assassins. They both were force users.
Karel realized he hadn't been in a fight like this in years. And neither had anyone. The fake mayor was strong. But Thomas and Mai were keeping him on his toes. Karel realized the assassin he was fighting was using form IV. They didn't have much room to make wide jumps, but the cave was large enough that they could do acrobatics.
He rolled to the side and blocked the red blade going for him. The assassin ran along the ship and jumped at him. Karel turned sideways, and but away his lightsaber quickly. He used the force to grab his other lightsaber. The purple blade shot out, making the assassin stumble.
"It's been too long." Karel said. This lightsaber hadn't seen much combat recently. The blade was slightly longer. This lightsaber was all about minor comforts. But it's handling was slightly worse. So most of the time he used his blue blade.
The assassin was off balance when the purple blade slashed over his head. Karel spun around, feinting the purple blade, as he used his free hand to grab his blue blade. The assassin braced for the purple blade, but was impaled by the blue. The assassin stumbled back and dropped.
He started to fade.
"We failed…" He said.
"How many are there?" Karel asked.
"Few…" The assassin smiled as he faded. Karel turned around to see Meg finishing her assassin. The fake mayor lost an arm, but was still fighting.
"Give up. You've lost." Karel said.
"I may have lost, but there are others! We will bring the war back! You will all die!" He said. He stepped back. He dropped his lightsaber and brought his hand into a fist. Karel turned around and saw he crushed the generator. He raised his hands as Thomas ended the fake mayor after he pulled out a grenade.
Meg and Mai joined in.
The generator exploded, but the force users created a barrier where the explosions couldn't escape. The cave was saved. Karel turned to Mai and Thomas.
"It was a trap. There can't be that many black fang left. Is his body in as few pieces as possible?" Karel asked.
"It's right there." Mai said. Since he just died, his body wasn't a skeleton yet. He realized that the assassin's bodies must still exist. Karel put his hand on the body and saw the last orders Salem gave this group. He stopped the memory and took in every detail. They were in a small village. This was everyone in the village, or so the memory told him. He looked around from the fake mayor's point of view.
"Infect the survivors. Become parasites. If they somehow win, and end the war, bring about the next war. This is my commandment." Salem said. The Grimm Salem used to send the message soon faded. Karel realized that was hours later when they defeated Salem.
He stopped the memory again and looked at the people…
They all looked the same. They were clones! He saw twenty different faces. They also had faces that could fit anywhere. Karel realized the plan. Three hundred clones existed. They were created to fan the flames of war.
Karel stood up.
"This isn't the end." Karel explained everything he learned.
"We have to take the bodies with us so we can get a genetic scan." Thomas said.
"We also have to send word to the other governments. We only know the faces of two of the clones." Karel said.
"But only the leaders can know, or we might tip off the clones. Who knows what destruction they could commit before we stop them all." Mai said.
"Then to keep our standing peace, we have to destroy the last remnants of the black fang." Thomas said.
Month 7 Day 10
The Jedi revealed all they knew to the council. The council agreed to spread the information, and to keep Meg in charge of that cave until it was fully recovered. Priceless histories of the Jedi were in what survived.
"The Black Fang remnant must be destroyed, or they will bring us into another war." Grandmaster Ray said. Three hundred clones, all with force abilities, spread all over Remnant to destabilize the world. It was the duty of the Jedi to stop them.
Karel came home and found Weiss quickly. She was finishing up another day when she saw Karel. She heard the news.
"Are you off to another mission already?" Weiss asked, getting ready for another disappointing answer.
"No. Not today." Karel said. She looked up, and saw his smile.
"We can grab some champagne and…" Karel started.
"No champagne for me." Weiss said.
"Oh." Karel said.
"But I will accept the other half of what you were going to say." Weiss said.
"Oh!" Karel said. A bath it was.
"You don't have to be a Jedi to know where that offer ended." Weiss joked.
"But why no Champagne?" Karel asked.
"Karel… I'm pregnant again." Karel felt the shock. He couldn't believe it. With the gap between Jade and Aqua…
"When do we plan on telling everyone again? When did you figure out? Why not tell me yesterday?" Karel asked rapidly. Weiss showed Karel the positive test in a fancy box.
"Later." She grabbed her husband and moved him along.
Jade stood in the hallway with a shocked expression.
"Again?" She said. They didn't notice her.
Author's Notes: This is a new story about the Jedi keeping the peace in postwar Remnant. I can't believe this story has gone on long enough to overlap with the OT. It's crazy. So why did I come back to this universe? Because I always planned on writing more stories. Not another series, but you what, what the hell, why not. It's not going to be as long as SGW.
Any feedback would be well-liked. Any questions about the Lore for this series can be answered.
In case you don't remember, Meg, Gael, Xar, Mizuki and Akio were all characters that were given to me by friends, and readers alike. Most of these characters came from writers who left the platform. If you want to create a Gen 2 (Children of RWBY characters' generation), Gen 1 (RWBY age now [around 30-40]) or Gen 1.5 (Rouge, Dan. Padawans during the war for the oldest, or Beacon age currently) characters, you can.
The Badlands were never named in RWBY canon, so I named them the Badlands. This area is free real estate for any of the three factions.
Most desert lands in this world have been altered because of droids terraforming. So Menagerie is almost completely usable land, and large chunks of Vacuo have turned green.
The three factions all send ships to establish off-world bases and gather resources.
Thank you all for reading.
May the Force be With You
-DragonZlayerx12