King: This is coming out a little later in the day than usual, but I think you won't necessarily mind.
Knox: So... why are we putting this one out so late rather than waiting?
King: What's today?
Knox: May four... OH~! Got it.
Inspiration: Star Wars
Note: May the Force be with you. Always.
/\
And so, the next world began.
This world opened to a black background with bright blue lettering [A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…]
The next scene opened to show a Weiss and Ruby in the middle of frozen wasteland, both dressed in dark robes similar to those of a monk. It was a slow moment for the two during the war, and they were more than willing to enjoy it while they could. Weiss was looking out over the field through a set of binoculars while Ruby, who seemed more than a bit older than the Weiss on screen, was sitting by a fire, meditating.
Coco looked over the outfits before nodding, "I thought they looked familiar."
Velvet turned to her partner, "What do you mean?"
"It's the same robes we saw the first time we saw those lightsaber things. They're both Jedi."
Ruby was grinning from ear to ear, "Awesome! I get to use a lightsaber again~!"
Ruby's communicator caught both their attentions as it beeped loudly. Ruby stood and flicked the device to life. A blue hologram of the familiar form of the Jedi Master Lionheart, dressed in similar though more tattered robes. "This is Master Lionheart! We need reinforcements on Sathi!" He ran to the side, blocking laser fire with his lightsaber as he did.
Ruby watched the scene, growing more concerned as she did, "Master Lionheart?! What's going on?!"
"Some new droid general…! He's outflanked us at every turn! There's only a few of us left! Please! Send…" He was cut off as he cried out in pain.
Everyone was stunned by the suddenness of the scene. Whatever was going on, it must have been bad.
Cinder, obviously, found it intriguing. Maybe she'd find some new ideas.
The scene moved to show a hand fall against arid dirt. The sleeve made it clear this was the body of Lionheart. A round communicator fell from his hand and rolled on its side a moment before landing face up again. Ruby's hologram appeared, pleading for him to answer her. But she'd never have an answer. Instead, a mechanical foot slammed onto the device, shattering it.
Everyone jumped at the sudden stomp, but also at the shape of the foot in question. Rather than the usual human foot, it had four talons around the cylindrical form. When it was said and done, everything was summed up by Nora's next words, "I have a bad feeling about this."
Ironwood thought for a moment, "That wouldn't be very efficient as a design. At least, not for anything we have…"
The scene moved to show a sea of blue droids firing upon a downed capital starship. The mechanical force had surrounded the ship and destroyed the Republic's ground forces in near their entirety. From the angle, they saw a robotic hand raise up to stop the forces. Each came to halt, moving to standby with their blasters pointed away. The camera moved to show the general's back. More specifically, a long white and gold cape. The bits of the body they could see, the raised arm and his head, were designed to appear to be wearing armor.
Velvet sunk a bit, seeing where this was going, "So… that's going to be Jaune…"
Jaune lowered his hand, allowing the Jedi within to regroup. He was not some petty thug or a power-hungry mad man. He was a general, a soldier. But before it all, he had a point to prove. The Jedi are not warriors, yet they are considered the greatest fighters in the galaxy. Those monks had the handicap of their Force! He would prove this falsity to all! He was the mightiest warrior among the galaxy! He would fight all of the Jedi himself!
Ozpin had met many men and women like that. Willing to do whatever they had to prove they were truly the strongest or best of whatever they do. More often than not, they were blowhards that just needed a good kick in the butt to be grounded in reality again. However, now and then, there would be one that could back up their claims. Someone who was truly skilled in their field, simply seeking to prove themselves and become stronger.
Jaune clicked a device to amplify his voice through his 'helmet,' "Jedi! You are surrounded! Your armies decimated! Make peace with the Force now! For this is your final hour! But know that I, General Jaune Arc, am not without mercy! I shall grant you a warrior's death! Prepare!"
Yang couldn't make sense of what he said, "What? How is that any amount of mercy? That doesn't make any sense."
Kali, however, was versed in the principle, "It depends on how you look at things. It's clear that this version is was a warrior all of his life. He likely has a moral code that there is no greater insult than to run from a fight or to disregard your opponent. If he didn't give them at least the chance to fight back, he would be going against his ideals."
Blake turned to her mother, more than a little surprised she had just said that.
Jaune allowed them a moment before starting to walk toward the ship. His footsteps echoed through the ship and scrap. As he did, the camera pulled inside to show six people standing among the ship's interior, all in Jedi robes. In the center was Gira Belladonna, his sleeve torn and his blade unignited. Around her, they only recognized two others: Raven and Glynda.
They could place the others as students, but they didn't know their names or even what school they were from.
Jaune's footsteps echoed all around them. They couldn't even tell what direction he was coming from. One of the students was sweating nervously, not as disciplined as the older masters. The student's breathing was picking up in speed and becoming heavier. Jaune moved slowly into the doorway of broken scrap. He turned toward them, his cape remaining close to his body despite the light wind. The student, now face to face with the leader of the droids, flew off his handle. He charged forward with his lightsaber raised for a fight. Gira tried to stop him, but he was too late.
Winter sighed, "This is will not end well."
Jaune waited for the young Jedi to approach. He was no warrior, and his action proved that too well. As he approached, Jaune back handed the Jedi and pulled the blade from his hand, only to plunge the blue beam of light into its owner's spine.
Everyone jumped at how quickly he'd dealt with the young Jedi. They remembered back to the version where Ruby was the Padawan, and she was able to hold off a force of droid soldiers like they were nothing! Yet, this man was torn down with a single move.
Safe to say, Cinder was having fun.
Jaune pulled the blade back out from the flesh beneath him, swinging his arm to the side with enough force to push his cape over his shoulder. His body was finally revealed to be completely robotic, similarly designed to that of a knight's armor. Even his head resembled an armored helmet with a faceplate. Along his waist, however, was the greatest horror to the Jedi. Trophies, lightsabers taken from fallen Jedi.
A chill ran through most of the audience. The idea of taking 'trophies' from people he killed was a terrifying thought. It was better that they were just weapons and not something worse.
That said, Cinder just became more and more impressed. Not with the trophy taking, tat was just disgusting and unnecessary. Rather, she appreciated what they represented. This man was a monster that cut through anyone in his way. She had a somber moment of disappointment that this version wasn't in her reality.
One of the other students reared her saber back and flung it toward the general.
Ruby shook her head, "That's actually a really bad idea, unless you have a way to quickly get it back…" She glanced toward Pyrrha for a moment.
The blade spun in the air toward him, guided by the Force.
Ruby now had to eat her words, "Never mind…"
Jaune glanced toward the blade a moment before his eyes locked toward hers. He leapt, spinning in the air, over the flying weapon and caught it in his free hand. As he started to descend, he threw the blade at said student, running her through with her own blade.
Cinder was over the moon at this point. Damn it! Why can't we have THIS version?!
Everyone else was just getting into a state of mind… They could see there going to be a lot of that.
This left Gira, Raven, Glynda, and the remaining student. Raven and Glynda were like a well-oiled machine, their connection to the Force giving them a sixth sense to both predict danger and each other. Glynda moved along the side, deliberately catching Jaune's attention. As she swung her own green lightsaber, Raven leapt in from the other side with her blue blade.
Ruby perked up, "Wait! There are green lightsabers, too?!"
King appeared again, "Yep~ Each color has a different meaning. Blue are for combat focused Jedi, green are Force focused Jedi, one guy has purple… And red all Sith. There are more, but they're rare to actually see."
Jaune kept his eyes locked on Glynda, simply drawing a second saber from his belt and blocking Raven's attack. His augmented body gave him a mind and reflexes to match the Jedi and their Force powers. Jaune pushed the two back and jumped forward toward the last of the students. This one, however, had been trained for far longer. Jaune swung in a barrage of attacks to force the student to back away from the onslaught. As the three masters tried to rush to the student's aid, Jaune leapt over the student, grabbing his head in his talons, and throwing the young man with his foot straight into the ceiling.
Glynda reached her hand out to a massive chunk of metal, causing it to lift from the ground. While Raven and Gira kept the general busy, she moved the chunk of her ship over him. As she dropped the metal, her fellow Jedi held Jaune in place long enough to ensure he couldn't react once they moved.
As the metal fell, Jaune used his cybernetic speed to shred the metal apart into small shards of scrap.
Ruby had a mini freak out. She wondered if she could ever be fast enough to do something like that.
Jaune caught a large shard with his foot's talons and threw it straight into Glynda's shoulder. This left her open long enough for him to rush toward her slam her to the ground, ending with him standing on top of her stomach. The human body was not meant to hold back hundreds of pounds of gravitational force combined with the force from said individual's kick.
Glynda recoiled a bit. She knew how much that would hurt thanks to her work as a huntress. It was not a fun experience.
Gira tried to take a swipe Jaune, only for him to jump off Glynda (pushing her into the ground again) and onto Raven's shoulders, latching onto her with his talons.
This made everyone cringe at the painful display.
Jaune leaned around her, releasing her from his grasp and slashing at her legs. After this, he jumped away from the last still-standing Jedi. Jaune stood before as a final challenge. This was the state of the warrior. Either they would die, or he would.
Gira growled and brought his blade up again, ready to be done with the general. The two were silent. Gira was preparing his assault in his mind, but soon caught himself and took a breath. Over thinking things will only get him killed. His face was blank despite himself.
Jaune nodded, "You might actually be a worthy challenger." He lowered his blades for a moment to either side. "Then I shall treat you as such."
Glynda felt a little insulted, "He's been holding back? I find this hard to believe."
Jaune 'cracked' his neck and raised his arms to either side. After a moment, his arms snapped apart down their lengths at the elbows before following with his hands. These two new arms drew another set of blades before he adopted a fighting stance.
Glynda was quiet. This was ridiculous enough to break her for the moment. She'll be back later…
Her face did get a laugh out of her coworkers, though.
Gira slid his foot forward a moment, the tense atmosphere of the room not helping his situation. He would have to move fast, but Jaune's reflexes made truly fighting him here difficult. If he could've isolated the general in a hallway or something, some way to control his movements he could've taken him. But as it was, the general had the advantage.
Jaune's talons sunk into the ground, ready to leap toward the Jedi master. An explosion to the side ripped his attention away. A Republic gunship had torn through the ship's hull and was pointing its weapons straight at him. Jaune may be a warrior, but he was also a general. He understood that the situation was no longer salvageable. It was time to leave.
Kali thought back over the situation and nodded to herself, "I suppose that could still fit the moral code argument. He fights on their terms, but the moment the armies appear, it's no longer a duel so he can retreat."
As the ship's guns started to unload blaster charges toward him, Jaune ran along the perimeter of the ship before slicing his way back outside. Jaune looked back to the see the gunship taking off into the sky, no doubt taking the survivors off to fight another day. Jaune growled, not because they escaped, that was just the nature of war, but rather because he never got to fight Gira. He would have to rectify this in time. For now, the war continues.
Yang sighed, "I mean… it's good they got away, but I kind of wanted to see that fight…"