King: It's that time of year again.

Knox: We're going back to one of the oldest versions we've had. Chapter 4... holy shit!

King: Not only that, but it's also a celebration. 8 Million views in our humble theater. You guys are seriously awesome and thank you for that. So, as Knox said, we're going back to the earliest chapters for a return to form.

Knox: That said, we hope you enjoy.

King: And may the Force be with you.

Inspiration: Star Wars

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Knox hung his legs over the side of the balcony he co-opted at his chair, "I'd think that was a bad first impression to the theater."

Maria let out a quick laugh, "Sonny, when you're as old as I am you stop caring about little things like that. Besides, if I left, what would I have to look forward to? These kids, but with all the life drained out of them? No thank you."

Yang remembered the old woman's crack about her arm, needing to ask, "What happened to us?"

"I don't know all the details, and honestly I don't care. It's not like it matters now."

Knox nodded, "Fair enough. So, what's next?"

The scene opened to a black screen with small dots scattered around the scene. In the center was blue lettering, [In war, even a moment of peace is precious].

A tone swapped the scene as a narrator voiced everything going on, in that same cheesy voice, "During the war on Kazati, the local peoples begin to celebrate their grand holiday of peace. As both Republic and Separatist forces seek an alliance with the Kazi people, they remain bound by the holiday's requirements. As a result, a ceasefire is in effect for the week on Kazati. The troops take this time to recover, prepare, and relax in this rare moment of peace."

As a Republic dropship took off again, the viewers saw Yang in a set of familiar, futuristic armor. Her hair was cut short into a pixie cut as well.

Yang lurched in emotional pain. She remembered this feeling, however.

Ruby gasped, "This is the one with the lightsabers!" Then she gasped even louder from her own realization, "This was the one were I got the lightsaber!"

Yang smirked as the ship took off before making her way back to the base. She stretched her back as the door opened automatically for her. She made her way through the halls, passing saluting soldiers. Some of these soldiers didn't have their helmets, and it revealed that they all looked the same. Each and every one was the spitting image of Cardin Winchester. That said, Cardin, an expert bounty hunter, was the genetic base so it was understandable.

Velvet shivered in disgust. One Cardin was too many if he kept acting like a jerk.

As Yang reached the mess hall, she found the Jedi apprentice sitting alone as she ate. Yang chuckled and walked up behind her, slapping her back, "Hey there Ruby."

Ruby looked up toward Yang, smiling after a moment, "Hey. Is the ship heading out?"

"Yep. Injured are heading up to a proper transport in orbit before heading to a medical ship." Yang walked off to grab a meal, if you could call it that, before returning to the table.

Nora groaned seeing the nasty looking military food, "I am so glad Beacon has actual food in the cafeteria."

Yang placed her tray down before sitting on the bench opposite Ruby. "So, how's training?"

Ruby tapped her finger on the table, "There's not much to tell, honestly. Mostly just training my connection to the Force. A lot of it is kind of confusing, at least the way he tries to explain it."

"Yeah, Jaune can be like that sometimes. The Force was second nature to him, it was always hard to explain to others."

"That reminds me, how did you meet Jaune, anyway? You must have known each other for a while. Before the war, maybe?"

Yang chuckled slightly. "Yep." She looked down toward her food, absentmindedly moving the food around as she spoke, "It was back when he was still a Padawan. He and his master paid a visit to Mandalore."

"You're a Mandalorian?!"

Yang raised an eyebrow, "Is that good?"

"Did you not know that?"

"I mean… I thought you just got custom armor or something. How was I supposed to know you're from a race of warriors." Then, Ruby remembered something important, "Wait a second! I thought Mandalorians hate Jedi!"

Yang couldn't help but laugh a little. "Yeah, most of us do. But Jaune was always a weird kid and his master was a weird guy. There was an old saying in my House that the only Jedi allowed on the mainland was Ozpin."

Ozpin finished a sip from his coffee before speaking, "So I'm the one that trained Mr. Arc."

Jaune was still a little confused, "Wait, what's going on?"

Glynda explained it as best she could, "The Jedi have a master and apprentice system. The Knight trains the Padawan, so when you were young, Professor Ozpin was the Jedi that trained you. Now, you train Ruby."

"Wow…"

Yang continued, "I'm from one of the lower Houses, so I was allowed to do whatever I wanted in a way. As long as it didn't bring dishonor or betray the family/planet. That freedom gave me the chance to get to know Jaune back in the day. When he left… it felt like a part of me left with him. So, first chance I got, I hopped a ship and chased after him. Been a team ever since."

Kali gushed at the explanation, "Aw~! That's so cute~! Pretty romantic too~"

Yang coughed, as if to remind two people sitting nearby that she wasn't in contention for Jaune's love life yet. Wait, where'd that come from?

Ruby blinked, a little surprised. "Wait, you followed him? And Master Ozpin was just… okay with that? No offense, but this kind of sounds like one of romance stories on Coruscant."

"One thing I learned early about Ozpin, and by extension Jaune, was that the Council can't really control them. It's one of the reasons I was surprised they gave him an apprentice."

Glynda couldn't help but smirk. She knew the Council in Vale couldn't really do anything against Ozpin. He was free to act as he saw fit at times. It was how Ms. Rose was allowed to skip two years without Council approval.

Ruby finished the last of her food as a pause to really take in what she heard. "Huh…"

"So, that's my story. At least the important stuff. Anything else was just travelling the galaxy with a pair of Jedi."

"Okay, but why stick around after the war started? Last I remember, Mandalore was neutral. If you're really from a noble house, even a small one, doesn't that mean you shouldn't get involved?"

Yang scoffed and waved it off, "Nah! Far as I see it, it's only a matter of time before we get dragged into the war. I mean, look at this planet. Way I see it, I'm ahead of the curve."

Maria laughed a little, "I like this version. Definitely an improvement over the one I know."

Yang wasn't sure if she should be insulted or not. She eventually settled on not after remembering her future counterpart was apparently drained of her life and cheer.

Ruby nodded in understanding. It was hard to deny that neutrality wasn't really possible in this galaxy of war. Everyone had a side they were rooting for, even if they didn't fight directly. Something, however, told her that something was wrong.

Yang didn't take that well, "I know that look. That's the look you Jedi have when something's wrong." Then she remembered an important fact about their situation. "They wouldn't…"

The mess hall shook with the sound of an explosion outside.

Yang and Ruby instantly jumped up and ran for the door. As they made it outside, another impact shook the ground. Seperatist artillery was falling down toward the camp. Thankfully, the energy shields were holding, but each strike that missed camp and hit the ground outside the shield shook the ground just as much as any other.

"Wait!" Ruby shouted, "Aren't they in a cease fire for that holiday?"

Ironwood growled, "It seems these Seperatist forces used the moment of calm for a surprise attack."

Yang ran over and grabbed her helmet and weapons. She immediately started shouting orders to get everything prepared for an assault. As the shells continued to shake the ground, she growled at the audacity of the Seperatist commander. "Damn it! We were supposed to be in Ceasefire for another three days!"

"It seems the Separatists don't care about keeping up appearances anymore." Jaune walked out from his command building, still in his full Jedi robes. "They could force an alliance if they could wipe us off the planet. That, or a new commanding officer appeared to push passed the stalemate."

"This should push the Kazi away from the Separatists, at least." Ruby reasoned.

"Perhaps. But right now, we need to focus. This is clearly a preliminary bombardment. They're going to send infantry and tanks through soon. We need to be ready."

Ironwood and Winter nodded in appreciation. It was nice to see sound tactics on the battlefield now and then.

Yang returned with her weapons ready and armor complete, "What's the plan?"

"First, we need to figure out where their advance forces will attack from. They've had four days to prepare this. They won't be coming toward us from the canyon side if they can help it." Jaune turned to his Padawan, "Now, reach out with the Force. Find their forces."

Ruby paused for a moment before nodding. This was obviously a test. She closed her eyes and reached out all her senses over the land around them. After a moment, her eyes burst open and she spun around to the northwest, "A large detachment is approaching from there, but I also sense a small force in the other direction. Can't be more than a few dozen droids to the south. The bulk of the forces are to the north."

Jaune nodded, "Then the troops we should worry about are to the south. Likely assassin droids. Captain!"

One of the cloned Cardins ran up. His armor was painted with extra red markings and designs. The longer clones survived in the war, the more likely they were to take on personal traits his 'brothers' didn't have. This, as a result, was a man known as Captain Lee, "Sir!"

This got many of them thinking. They expected the clones to be a lot like Cardin, maybe even using the same name across all of them. What's more, each one became an individual. The idea of clones wasn't necessarily unheard of on Remnant, primarily in fiction stories. However, they always saw them as exact copies. Yet, these clones all had the potential to become completely new people. It was something that would make them think.

"Take the main force and set up defenses on the North side. Keep the shield up and prepare for heavy armor. I'm taking Yang and Ruby south to deal with the smaller group. Stay strong and hold them off until we get back."

Captain Lee saluted the Jedi, "Understood General!" He immediately turned around and ran to the ramparts with his troops, "Eyes up and guns forward! Get the walkers set for defense!"

As the Clone troopers scrambled, Jaune turned back to Ruby and Yang. "Shall we?" Jaune walked off, soon followed by the other two. The Clones on Kazati had their already impressive training augmented by Yang's Mandalorian tactic classes. They were probably the best troops in all the Galactic Republic; not including the Arc Troopers, Bad Batch, or Clone Commandos. As a result, Jaune could easily trust Lee and his troops to hold the line.

Another idea Ironwood could get behind. It reminded him of the huntsmen working within his military force. However, he doubted it was a one for one comparison. It was more likely that his huntsmen were similar to that world's commandos.

The three ran across the arid desert. Kazati had no forests or grasslands to hide anyone. However, rock formations dotted the landscape. Sometimes they would create forests of stones. It also just so happened that one of these forests could be found south of the Republic base. Old stones seemed to reach into the sky like giant tree trunks. That said, there were no branches, leaves, or underbrush to hide the high tech assassin droids marching through. Twelve of the most advanced droid warriors in the galaxy.

Only for that number to be cut down to eleven by a heavy blaster bolt. Yang had taken to the skies with her jetpack and started to fire down toward the assassins. The only problem was that she got the first kill because they weren't ready for her. Once they were, they took up defensive positions behind cover. As one rounded a stone, however, it only found Ruby waiting for it, slicing it in half. Realizing they were facing Jedi now, the droids ran together as one dropped an item on the ground. A bubble shield appeared around them, blocking the incoming fire. As the droids regained their footing, they started to fire out from within the shield. The bubble was designed to block incoming fire while allowing outgoing fire.

As Ruby gushed a little, the military experts were actually paying more attention. Hardlight shields, as they are now, couldn't allow fire from one side to get through. It would be immensely helpful if they could, but the technology just didn't exist. It was something for them to look into, however.

As a result, Jaune, Yang, and Ruby had to change tactics and take cover. For a moment, Yang was looking around the battlefield. She found her target and used her pack to boost to the side and rolled across the ground. As she returned to a kneeling position, she revealed to have one of the droid's guns in hand. She unloaded this borrowed weapon, and revealed the shield could take in incoming fire as long as it was from their own weapons.

Now, the Atlas military personnel were intrigued.

As the droids realized their shield wouldn't work now, they ran in separate directions. Jaune and Ruby, meanwhile, ran forward and cut down droid after droid with a flurry of fluid swings and thrusts. Even if they were the most advanced droids in the galaxy, a swing of a lightsaber would still turn them into melting scrap. Assassin droids were a serious danger against Clones, but a Jedi and Mandalorian teamup made it a stomp. The last of the droids ran through the stone forest to try to escape, but Yang had been ready and slammed back down with her boot knocking plate into the dirt below. Three bolts later and the droid was as good as scrap metal.

"That was awesome!" Yang cheered.

Ruby jumped up shouting, "Yeah!"

Jaune, who wasn't there for the first appearance of Jedi Knight Jaune, was awestruck. This version was a master of the sword and each movement was skilled and targeted. He was on another level all together.

Ruby looked around at the scrap before turning to Yang, who was tossing the droid rifle away, "How did you know that would work?"

Yang let out a quick chuckle. "Frequency shielding. If you set your weapon to a certain frequency, you can allow it to pass through the barrier."

"But… how could you tell what kind of shield it was?! How did you know the frequency?!"

"Kid, I'm a Mandalorian. Weapons are my religion."

Yang started to laugh, though, "Sounds more like Ruby."

Said sister pushed her sister, "I'm not that bad!"

"Sure you aren't."

Jaune raised his hand back toward the two, "Keep your gaurd up. We're not done here."

Both were instantly on guard again.

The camera panned upward to show a person standing atop one of the rocks. A red light soon joined the figure to create a saber of crimson. The figure leapt down from the rock and toward Jaune. The Jedi Knight spun around to block the attack and swung the attacker off. As the assailant landed, it was revealed to be Ilia, complete with a dark body suit for full range of motion and nothing to get in the way of her red saber.

Ilia jumped at her sudden appearance. But it wasn't all that different to herself. Though, it was likely she couldn't change color. She was just human in this reality. Presumably.

Ruby grit her teeth, "Is she a real sith? Or another one of those disguise bots?"

Ilia smirked before answering, "I'm very real. And I'm here to kill you."

Jaune didn't seem affected however. He continued to look on with a calm face and saber ready. After a moment, his muscles relaxed and his saber lowered slightly, "You aren't a sith."

Ilia's grin fell. "And how would you know? Aren't Jedi supposed to be able to feel the Force in all things?"

"We can. And I feel you haven't committed yourself to the Dark Side yet. Your power is raw, unrefined, yet to be guided."

This made Ilia growl and grit her teeth before charging toward Jaune to attack again. The Jedi Knight parried the attack, but Ilia's lithe body gave her more mobility and flexibility in a fight. As she was knocked away, she jumped with a backflip to kick Jaune. Unfortunately for her, the Force was strong in Jaune and he was able to predict her attack and gain distance to avoid the incoming attack. Ruby soon joined the fight to push Ilia back, but she was able to block and avoid all of Ruby's attacks. Yang, meanwhile, knew getting involved directly would only have her in the way. Blaster bolts could be reflected and her rockets would be pushed back. Besides, she had a feeling Jaune was up to something.

Port smiled and nodded, "A true sense for her comrade and friend. To be able to tell so much about someone with so little is a sign of both trust and understanding on a level many huntsmen can only dream of."

Oobleck passed Port a small bar of chocolate, which the larger man took without even needing to look.

Ilia was getting more and more aggressive as the fight continued, but now her primary opponent was Ruby. Despite only being a Padawan, Ruby was able to push Ilia back with little effort or show of exhaustion. Ilia, meanwhile, was clearly getting tired. Her attacks were wild and wide, unfocused. Ruby, however, moved only when she needed to and barely needed to in order to keep Ilia back.

Glynda, as the combat instructor for Beacon, couldn't help but appreciate how Ms. Rose was fighting. Wild opponents like this Ilia were quick to tire and it was easy to exploit their predictable movements.

As the fight continued, Ruby found her opening and swung her weapon upward, wrenching the crimson saber from Ilia's hands. As Ilia fell backward, landing on her back, Ruby raised her weapon and prepared to deal with the sith threat before it became one.

That made the students nervous. They knew now more than ever that hard choices were going to happen one day, especially as they become huntsmen. It was just hard to image at times that they may even need to truly take a life for the rest of Remnant.

Before she could, however, a hand took hold of her wrist. Jaune had kept Ruby from finishing Ilia off.

Something that made Ilia exhale in relief.

Ruby looked up toward her Jedi master, confused, "Why did you stop me?"

Yang, however, saw the look in Jaune's eyes. "She's not too far gone, is she?"

"What?"

Jaune lowered Ruby's arm slowly before moving toward Ilia. "You have no training."

Ilia growled, "What's your point?"

"But the Force is powerful in you. You could have been a tremendous Jedi. So why wouldn't the Council have brought you in as a child?"

Ilia shook with genuine anger, "Because I didn't show it until I was too old. I had to keep it secret…"

Jaune looked down toward her, "I see. You were on Vasta'an."

Ilia jumped and looked toward her wrist. Her suit was damaged as she landed and revealed a scar on her arm. A nasty gash that could only have come from an electro-whip.

Ilia shivered in sheer pain and anger now. If it was saying what she thought it was…

Jaune continued, "You were a slave."

That made everyone pissed now. Well, most of them. Cinder didn't give a shit.

Raven was neutral on the position. Her only care was for her clan. If that meant other people owned slaves, it didn't matter to her.

Ilia balled her fists, grinding her teeth in anger.

"You escaped and found your way to the Jedi, didn't you? But you were too old to train."

Ilia's eyes went wide and she looked up toward him. He was hitting too close to home. How could he know that?

"You want to return to Vasta'an to free the other slaves, but you need the power to do so. So you fell in with the Sith who told you they would train you. How close am I?"

Ilia now understood why she would join these Sith now. The very idea of escaping slavery and some need for revenge. It was hard not to see why she'd do so.

"You… How did you…?"

Jaune sighed and finally disinganged his lightsaber.

"What's he doing?" Tai asked.

Ozpin, however, smiled. "Something many people would struggle to do."

Jaune knelt down in front of the girl to look her directly in the eye. "Your goal is noble. Don't taint it with ignoble means." He reached a hand out toward her.

This caused her only confusion. She looked up toward the man like he was speaking another language.

Yang sighed and removed her helmet. "You sure, Jaune? The Council already has you on their shit list."

Jaune shook his head. "Doesn't matter. It's my job as a Jedi to help whoever needs it." His hand remained toward Ilia, "If you're willing, I will train you in the Force and how to defend yourself. And, when this war is over, we will go to Vasta'an and free what slaves remain."

This caught everyone by surprise on some level, but they understood it. Jaune would be the kind of person to give an enemy a second chance if he could.

Ilia was a little too shocked to answer at first. But something stirred within that made her shout. "But why?! You're a Jedi! I'm too old to train, remember?! You're own Council said so!"

Yang couldn't help but laugh. "One thing you're going to learn about us, the Council can't control Jaune."

Ruby just looked between the two, "Are you sure this is a good idea, though? I don't think this is something the Council will really be able to ignore."

Yang shrugged, "They can't. Already proved it when I was hanging around. Not much they can do about it though. There's a war going on. What are they going to do?"

"She's got a point." Ren agreed. "It's likely they all have something going on that will likely take priority."

Winter nodded, "Besides, more allies are preferable whenever possible."

Ilia looked to Yang as she spoke before returning her eyes to Jaune. This deal was too good to be true. But the Force was strong within her. She knew he was being honest with his suggestion. The camera zoomed in on her lower face as a teardrop started to fall. She quickly wiped it away and stood up again. As Jaune stood as well, she stared toward him with determination. After a moment of silence, her hand moved slightly before meeting with his, accepting his deal.

All the while, the theme of the Force played out in the background. It slowly built up before the scene wiped away to black.

Ilia couldn't help but think it was a great ending. It wasn't necessarily redemption, but rather a need for focus and a new way to reach her goal. It wasn't just evil turning good. Her goal was still to free the slaves on that planet, but now she could do so by better means. It really made her think about her actions in the White Fang. It was a noble goal with ignoble means… She sighed and promised herself to be better than she had. I get it now, Blake. Why you left...