Stardust of Remnant Chapter 7 Preview

Yeah, it's me you piranhas. I am not posting a HAV preview this time. I am on a roll with Star Wars and have an addiction to lightsaber combat recently. Something away from the Power Scale of OPM and stuff as a break.

I hope you guys like what I have here, assuming you're also following my Stardust of Remnant fic. Damn, it really took me a while to continue it... Honestly, writer's block is a pain. 

Here you go.

The tomb was somewhere in the mountainous wasteland, within the miles of desolate mountains, deep within hostile Grimm territory.

It was within the center of the largest Ravager swarm ever recorded.

The land was too hazardous and dry for anyone to settle, too dangerous for anyone to explore to find anything of value.

Which was why no one knew that there was a vast underground cave system.

The obstacles could not be moved easily unless someone was strong with the Force, someone with the skills to hide themselves  from the eyes and ears of the Grimm.

Jaune had practice in using the force to hide his presence, his Aura from the Grimm. For some reason, when Jaune hid his Aura signature completely from the Grimm, he found that he could walk amongst them.

For most of them, all he had to do was to hide his face with his mask and cover himself with a cloak.

For the older Grimm, the ones with more bone covering their bodies and of greater size, Jaune had to hide among the lesser variants.

He could sense their thoughts, or at least abstract notions of thoughts, the faintest notion of complex intent.

Those things Jaune could kill with his current weapons, Stella Mors, or his unique golden, dark-yellow lightsaber.

However, Jaune preferred not to waste energy.

He traveled through the cave, dark and cool.

He did not need night vision or sight, for he could see through the Force like Rahm Kota could when he was blind.

Navigating through the cave was not easy as Grimm also swarmed the tunnels, King Taijitu, Creeper, and the rare Sulfur Fish.

The Sulfur Fish, the silverfish Grimm, black body with spikes, six legs, and an armored abdomen leading into three fiery tails.

Its head was like a fusion of a jackal and feline skull, with horns or tentacles rising out of its eye sockets, its  singular eye where the skull's nose would be, and a spider-like marking on its forehead.

Huntsmen avoid these things when they gather in large numbers.

In large swarms, the creatures would attach to each other and form into amalgamations.

They could form into a humanoid golem with incredible strength and durability.

The other was a large, dragon-like serpent with ‘fangs,’ the inside of the mouth fiery orange, comprised of the tails.

Blunt force damage was useless as it would only knock the creatures into returning to their combat form, the damage gone.

Jaune preferred to exterminate these things with Force Lightning when traveling in caves.

It was impossible to bypass a Sulfur Fish herd. Stepping on one apparently triggered the swarm into a frenzy.

In his travel, he encountered an underground river to his surprise. He wondered where the channel leads, but decided to explore after he encountered the tomb.

Within the cave systems, there were rich Dust veins untapped, raw metal ores and gems abound along with the underground Grimm.

He encountered even mole-like Grimm underground, white-skulled creatures with sharp fangs and vicious claws that looked like it could tear even an AT-walker to shreds.

He could use this place to gather resources for crafting. He learned much about the smelting of ores, the processing of metal, and the refining of Dust in Atlas.

The Force guiding his hand, Jaune followed the flow of water until he ended up at an underground pond.

Glowing crystals banished the darkness to Jaune’s surprise as he looked around, seeing an oasis within the heart of dangerous territory.

There was something here, the presence of the Light Side strong in the air, a light within the darkness. Jaune suspected that the light side presence was repelling the Grimm from invading this place, a good choice of location.

And there it was, the tomb of Avrin. It was just a large stone door at the other side of the pond.

Jaune wondered if there was a mythical beast guarding the place like in the fairy tales his mother read to him… one way to find out. He slowly traveled around the calm, sparkling waters. He saw some fish there, a source of food.

This must be how Revan could sustain himself in the Underground for days.

Once he approached the door, Jaune noticed something.

“Isn't that…”

He had some knowledge of history before the Republic era. This was the old republic insignia carved into the wall.

It was nostalgic seeing something from his galaxy ending up here.

The stone door did not have a handle.

Jaune hummed as he pressed his hand to the door and closed his eyes, sensing the structure through the force.

He could just blow it open, honestly.

But it lacked finesse, and he needed the door to keep things out.

He slowly reached out with the Force and experimented with the door.

He marveled that the door was reinforced with the Force and Dust. He could sense the internal structure to be similar to the bone swords of Felucia but more refined, force-rich crystals inside the stone. Jaune wondered if he could augment the weapons using this method, though he didn't know how to make these crystals without grinding a Khyber crystal to fine powder.

As for how to open the door…

“...Really?” Jaune couldn't believe it.

There was no intricate mechanism or fancy lock or secret button.

To move it, one just had to lift the indestructible slab of stone with either incredible strength or great power in the Force.

Crude, but effective, he guessed.

Jaune sighed as he recalled Kota's remark, 'Size means nothing to a Jedi.'

He didn't consider himself a Jedi since he never formally trained to be one, though he did defeat several Jedi masters.

His palm aimed at the stone obstruction, Jaune lifted the door, stone grating against stone as he walked under it.

As he dropped the thing behind him, the stone slammed down heavily, he walked forward through the hidden passageway.

The deeper he went, the greater the light side presence, the passageway lit by glowing crystals.

He arrived at a massive clearing…

He did not expect to see a corpse on an altar of stone, a shriveled, gray, skeleton holding something to his chest.

There was another holocron lying on the corpse’s stomach.

Around the altar was a medieval workshop, items Jaune could not describe made from Dust scattered around, though one item bore the striking resemblance to a circuit board and engine, another one was the design for fuel refinery.

There were stone passages leading to other rooms, but Jaune was more focused on the corpse lying on the altar.

“To think he died like this…” Jaune muttered.

Seeing this made him wonder how he should die when he reached a certain age.

Jaune approached the corpse on the altar, his senses on high alert. He prayed that this Revan didn't leave booby traps on his corpse.

There was a strong Force presence on the corpse, however. It reminded him of the time he encountered the spirit of his original father on Kashyyyk and the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.

Jaune… no, Galen braced himself for the force visions as his hand gingerly touched the Holocron.

His mind blanked for a moment, a period of vertigo washing over him.

His surroundings were different.

He was standing on a metal platform, futuristic like the world of Coruscant. On his left side, he saw the beautiful radiance of the planet… the landmass reminded him of Remnant based on the map.

“So you are my successor.”

Jaune immediately drew his black eclipse blade, Stella Mors, from the sheathe on his back as he turned to the voice.

It was a man in Jedi robes, wearing a similar mask, mandalorian make.

It was a gray mask with a visor, nothing more, a black lens drawn from left to right, around where his eyes should be.

Jaune immediately assumed his stance. He had been practicing in Makashi, Shien, Nimaan, Djem So, and Ataru. Soresu was still a work in progress since he didn't need to defend against blaster fire that much due to most of his time fighting against hordes of dark side creatures.

“You are strong in the Force. The Force chose well.” The man said as he ignited his purple lightsaber.

The lightsaber had a black core inside, not purple coating the white.

Jaune assumed this man to be Revan giving the pictures depicting his past.

“If you wish to learn and inherit everything I left behind, defend yourself.”

Jaune knew that this was a test.

A clever test to make sure that whoever entered the tomb was worthy of his legacy.

Jaune twirled Stella Mors.

Revan ran towards him with his lightsaber and Jaune ran towards him as they blades engaged.

Metal and light clashed as the two showed their sequences, their experiences reflected in their exchange as they danced around the metal platform.

Jaune noted that this one was more experienced than him in lightsaber combat, but he knew how to fight against experienced masters.

His strength in Force Augmentation was strong enough to rival even Vader’s might with the acrobatics of his former self.

Ataru and Makashi mixed, Revan probed his form for any weaknesses he could exploit, purple clashing with his eclipse-gold blade as Jaune returned with his own hybrid form.

“Your application of Shien is remarkable.” Revan complimented as he switched to Djem So, a form Jaune was familiar with very well.

Jaune switched to Makashi and Shien, aiming at Revan’s lightsaber hand with precision as they orbited each other in pirouettes, both maintaining their sword-length distance.

“Only Sith that rely on warblades focus on Shien and Juuyo. I had to refine Form I to rely on the weapons here.”

Jaune knew as he implemented Nimaan and Ataru.

He surprised Revan when he jumped forward with a swift, heavy strike before he transitioned into a sequence of sword strikes, twirling his blade as he aimed at his shoulder, side, and neck.

There was no weakness Revan could exploit, Jaune’s offense fluid and strong as he pushed Revan back.

“You have been through much.” Revan said. “I can feel it in your weapon, your struggles. But.”

Force Lightning crackled from Revan’s free hand, tendrils of plasma connecting to Stella Mors.

Revan noticed that the weapon attracted the lightning to it and grounded it into the wielder’s body before Jaune fired the lightning back at Revan, forcing him to block it with his black-purple lightsaber.

“You made your sword to counter Force Lightning?” Revan asked.

“I was killed by the most powerful Force Lightning practitioner I knew. Also, it is not meant to channel other Force Lightning.” Jaune said as his Force Lightning crackled between his fingers.

“...You were trained in the Dark Side.” Revan sensed as he raised his guard.

“...I was raised by the Sith.” Jaune admitted.

“But I sense the Light Side is strong within you.”

“I turned away from the Dark Side.”

“Yet you wield the ways of the Dark Side… without giving yourself into it? Incredible. Only a small number of Jedi would wield Force lightning sparingly.”

Revan fired his Force Lightning at Jaune while Jaune returned fire in response, two respective chains of lightning colliding and pushing each other for dominance.

“Your proficiency in Force Lightning is astounding. You have mastered it so much you no longer need the Dark Side to use it.”

Jaune struggled to push back against Revan’s power but he was slowly being dominated. Jaune recalled the lightning of the Emperor, the raw power from him, like a star exploding within. He wanted to surpass that kind of power, but on his own terms.

He would not rely on the Dark Side like before to do what must be done as he recalled his last moment, the moment he embraced the Force in its entirety as he slowly pushed back, his plasma gaining ground against Revan’s lightning.

Then the clash of energy between the two exploded, nullifying the conflicting lightning.

“Your skills in the lightsaber exceeded expectations. Now, let's see how you do in the Force.”

Revan raised up his hand.

Galen sensed something from the sky as he looked up.

“Oh, are you serious?”

From the night of the cosmos, he saw stone clusters of asteroids coming down on him from above.

He did not know it was possible to pull down meteors from space, yet this Revan brought down the fiery rocks from above.

Meteors hammered the metal platform, Jaune avoiding the impact zone and burning shockwaves in his sprint. With both hands during the assault, Jaune fired Force Lightning at Revan.

The predecessor blocked his lightning with Tutaminus, absorbing it and firing it back while still calling more meteors upon him.

Jaune could only evade and defend, avoiding the shrapnels of space rocks that fell with difficulty while blocking the Force lightning with Stella Mors.

If this was a test of Force prowess, Jaune shall show his experience as he stabbed Stella Mors into the platform as he used the Force

Their arena trembled as the air shuddered, prompting Revan to cease his assault.

Revan expected Jaune to use the force on the meteors.

He did not expect him to use it on the platform and… tipped it down towards the planet below.

Revan tumbled and fell down the tilting slope that was the arena as he stabbed his purple blade lightsaber into the metal hull.

However, unlike Jaune, Revan was losing ground as the blade was melting the metal extremely well, melting Revan’s anchor as he slid down moderately towards Remnant.

He looked at his opponent, seeing him comfortably holding on with his hand stretched into the sky.

Revan aimed his fingers at Jaune, ready to zap him with Force Lightning, but stopped to track Jaune’s line of sight.

He caught one of the meteors falling down from the stars hurling towards him. The boy redirected one of the meteors towards him while he was busy trying not to fall.

Revan could only block the meteor with a Force Barrier, the impact launching him towards the skies of Remnant as Jaune leapt off the platform, following the older Force User as they gained atmospheric entry.

This reminded him of the time he first fought Rahm Kota in his ship, the vessel falling into atmospheric entry while they dueled to the death.

Both Force users were like fiery comets from the sky, falling like meteors.

As they fell, Jaune was above Revan, both hands forward, one holding Stella Mors, as he fired arcs of plasma at the stunned Revan.

Revan was caught off guard.

To survive a landing from great heights, only must use the Force to disperse the kinetic impact of the landing to the surroundings from which great concentration was required.

They had already nullified the burning friction of the atmosphere with the force upon entering the stratosphere.

However, the boy was a mad daredevil in Revan’s eyes, risking his life just to defeat him, even when they were falling towards a planet.

Jaune noticed that they were falling towards Menagerie. He was not sure if he would survive a landing from this height, but he would have better chances landing in the waters.

He just need to make sure Revan flew towards solid land for maximum damage.

And Jaune had something that Revan most likely didn't have.

Huntsman gear and training.

Jaune whipped his hand at Revan, a hardlight rope elongating and grabbing Revan’s lightsaber hand to his surprise as Jaune, augmented with the Force, corkscrew spun and pulled Revan in his centrifuge, twirling in full rotation before he threw Revan towards the landmass of Menagerie while he landed into the ocean.

As the ocean blue headed towards him in a face to face collision, Jaune thrusted his palm forward and blasted the water with a mighty Force Push as he splashed into the depths while Revan crashed into the sandy shores of Menagerie in a spectacular landing that uprooted a mushroom cloud of sand and dust.

Jaune’s breath held in his cheeks and lungs, he looked around.

The damage was minimal. He swam towards Revan’s presence.

Somehow, the ancient Force User was still alive, alive being vague, since he was still in this Force-induced simulation.

Through the salty waters, Jaune’s feet eventually stood on the moist, damp sand as he walked out of the now-shallow waters, water dripping from his clothes and weapon as he approached the landing site.

Picking himself out of the crater of sand, Revan coughed as he looked at Jaune with his mandalorian visor.

“It seems… I have failed to take into account your Huntsman training. I must admit, it has been a while for me.” Revan complimented, staggering off balance a little.

Jaune did some damage to Revan, though he could sense that Revan wasn't using his full power.

“Yeah. Technology has progressed since your time. Have I passed your test yet?” Jaune asked, flicking the salt water off Stella Mors to the sand as he took off his robes, throwing them to the side, leaving him half naked.

Revan did not do the same since he landed on dry land.

“You are skilled in both the blade and the Force.” Revan coughed as reignited his black-purple lightsaber.

“What is your name?”

“Galen Marek. My Remnant name is Jaune Arc.”

“Galen Marek. Your final test. Show me how well you can use both.”

Jaune immediately entered the reverse Shien stance when Revan threw out two lightsabers.

A blue and a red lightsaber hovered beside Revan as if held by a warrior.

Jaune grimaced as he switched to Nimaan. He could see that Revan wouldn't be holding back this time.

He hoped Revan couldn't call upon meteors from here.

Jaune sheathed Stella Mors as he took out his lightsabers, one in each hand.

Each of the cylindrical hilts ignited a thin, golden blade, not flat.

It was one of the functions of Jaune’s lightsabers using Remnant technology. The flat blade form was to help him cut through materials and Grimm better and to help him practice incorporating Form I into his current style.

Revan twirled his lightsaber with fluid grace.

Jaune’s eyes could barely trace his sequences, switching to reverse grip and fro.

He suspected Revan to be a practitioner of Nimaan, though the Force User could have mastered all seven lightsaber forms given his age.

Even so, he had defeated those with greater experience before and he would do it again.

Jaune ran across the sand, his boots kicking up the dry grains as he twirled his golden blades of light as he engaged Revan once last time.

Golden blades of light clashed against red, blue, and black-purple, though the initial exchange overwhelmed Jaune this time.

It was like fighting against three different master lightsaber duelists at the same time, and he couldn't kill the other two.

He made the right choice resorting to Jar’kai dual wielding.

He would be overwhelmed if he resorted to a single blade.

The floating red and blue lightsabers attacked him as if they were held by lightsaber duelists because when he tried to knock one away, it held firm.

Jaune was already losing ground against Revan, retreating step by step as he fell into Soresu.

Jaune blocked Revan’s powerful single strikes while the other two swiped at his openings.

This man was definitely stronger than Vader in skill and experience.

Then Revan unleashed his force lightning, the tendrils taking a purple hue at Jaune as he barely blocked it with his lightsabers.

The intensity of the lightning felt similar to the Emperor’s, no, it might be even stronger as he was pushed back.

He was open to the two lightsabers ready to strike at his sides..

Jaune had no other choice as he inhaled and crossed his arms, his golden blades blocking the red and blue while Revan’s lightning dug into his skin.

The pain was even similar to the Emperor’s Force Lightning, or was it stronger?

Jaune inhaled as he embraced the Force like in his final moments as he channeled the Force into him, swirled around him condensed, while enduring Revan’s Force Lightning.

Revan intensified the output twofold, the pain magnifying.

Feeling the agony of a star exploding in his chest and his nerves seared by the very same star, Jaune swallowed the scream trying to tear out his throat as he unleashed his power.

Sensing the surge of power, Revan ceased his lightning assault as Jaune exploded with force energy, Force Repulse.

The two lightsaber hilts were destroyed, disintegrated while the explosion of raw, destructive Force energy launched Revan back into the trees adjacent to the shores, crashing through the trunk of a coconut tree and caromed against the second one behind.

It was one of his most favored skills, mostly because he used it most against the numberless hordes of Grimm. He still remembered Qrow’s face when he disintegrated a pack of Grimm with this technique.

With momentum tipping into his favor, Jaune sprinted towards Revan, his lightsabers held in reverse grip, force lightning crackling around the golden blades.

However, without warning, his Force Wall shattered, his defense against force attacks such as telekinesis.

He was suddenly lifted into the air, Revan in the distance reaching out as if holding him.

Jaune struggled to break free from the telekinesis, but it was too strong.

“Enough.” Revan said as he released Jaune from his hold, letting him land back into the sand.

Then the world went blank as Jaune found himself back into the tomb with the holocron in his hands.

He looked around and checked his body. His clothes were still on, dry.

He exhaled with relief that it was all just a vision.

[You have exceeded expectations.]

Jaune jumped when he heard Revan’s voice again.

On the other side of the altar, Jaune did not expect to see a spectral apparition phasing into existence.

It was like a hologram, but without the digital flickers and lines making up the image.

“...Is this a hologram?” Jaune asked as he looked around, wondering if there was a hologram projector.

[Hahahahaha. No, no. I am not a hologram. Nor am I an artificial intelligence. We do not have the tools to construct one in my time. Allow me to formally introduce myself. My name is Revan. I was once the King of Vacuo, the last King, known as Avrin.]

Revan greeted Jaune with a friendly smile.

[To answer your curiosity as to how I am here, those that achieved enlightenment in the Light Side of the Force can maintain their individuality when they become one with the Force itself. I am what is called a Force Ghost. Although, I admit, I might have resorted to some Dark Side techniques to bind a piece of myself into the Holocron you are now holding. To summon me when someone tries to activate it.]

That answered most of his questions.

“...What now? Why did you leave a tomb here as if expecting me?” Jaune asked.

[You have many questions. Unfortunately, not even I can answer the question as to why the Force brought us here.]

Jaune sighed with disappointment.

[However, it is refreshing to live a second life away from the Sith. Away from war and concerns of the wider Galaxy… in a way, I wonder if this is the afterlife the Force gifted to us. But in any case, I have much to tell you. To teach you your current role.]

“...What is this role you want me to take?” Jaune asked.

[This world has many secrets that not even I have uncovered. However, all will be revealed in due time. But enough about me… tell me about yourself.]