The Temple : Part II

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"You can actually read this?" The lieutenant asked when he joined them and Ren finished explaining the gist of what had happened. Jaune nodded, leaned against the still and half-open door, and the man snorted a disbelieving laugh. "How? The Division's troopers are supposed to be the only ones that have studied it."

"My master taught me." Jaune explained, answering the man's question and his team's other partner pair's curiosity in one fell, and blessedly honest, stroke. Honesty with unfortunate brevity, since he needed to explained further, "I understood the words and used my Semblance, and it… Just sort of worked."

"Your Semblance?" In answer, Jaune held his saber out and let it go, spinning it in the air with a twirl of his finger. "A telekinetic Semblance? Intriguing…"

"It's… He had an old religion and used it to interpret my Semblance, when I unlocked it." He explained quietly, "It was mostly a tradition for him, I think. But meeting me he figured that it might be hereditary, and me one of their descendants. Since my Semblance is so similar to what he'd read about, I mean."

"And that let you open the door?"

"The door moved when I told it to, yeah." He nodded, pushing off the wall and giving the soldier a nod. Seeing the chance to dig a little, he smiled and went on quietly,"It's probably keyed into people that can do these sorts of things. I'd bet there's been plenty of us, in fact, we just haven't found any of these temples. You said they were rare?"

"Atlas had one, we had to dig under and founder the entry tunnel." The soldier answered, smirking at the apparent surprise on Jaune's face. "The temple's defenses and what few rooms we've gained access to are where our more advanced technology and robotic force deployment come from. Which… Technically I'm not supposed to tell you."

"Why do it, then?" Jaune asked, "If you aren't supposed to tell us about it, why bother? Couldn't you get in trouble?"

"Yeah, but, you know… It's complicated in a lot of ways I don't want to get into just now." Seeing their dislike of that answer, the man sighed and explained as best he probably could in a briefer time than he'd probably have liked, "We have one temple and in that, only a couple rooms are accessible. It's not even really secure yet, sometimes these… Robots come out of nowhere and attack us, trying to push us out."

"Security droids?" Jaune asked, "For the Temple?"

"Yeah, that's the working theory. They always hit us when we least expect it, and always when we have some kind of weakness." The soldier answered, sounding exasperated in the extreme in a way Jaune could understand. At least distantly. "A blizzard, maybe, or Grimm attacking outlying outposts and needing reinforcements. But his Semblance can interact with the mechanisms in these places, apparently. And that could save a lot of lives, at the temples and elsewhere with the new technology we could gain, and time spent there to boot."

"If Jaune agrees to help you, you mean." Ren pointed out, coming to his defense with a sudden firmness and echoing suspicion and dislike that surprised the young warrior. At least, until the young man explained further, "I'm assuming from your surety, though, that you have a reason you presume he will."

"A lot of Lien, first rights to some of the stuff in this ruin and a chance to seek contracting for similar, and friends in Atlesian command sound like good reasons to agree to you?" The man asked simply, giving the foursome a look. When no one argued with him he nodded, a small smile back on his lips, "I thought so. So, to be official, we have two options. I can inspect what I can while you protect me, and we go back to Beacon for the standard reward."

"Or we work together to search the temple and open it up, and we get a special reward." Pyrrha guessed, earning a small nod from the armored man and then sighing. Likely knowing his answer already and disliking it - the woman wanted to avoid the kind of spotlight helping Atlas would bring, of course - she asked, "It seems a good offer to me. What do you think, Jaune? You would be the one doing the heavy duty on this, after all."

"It is, yeah… What do you think, guys?" He asked instead of answering right away, "Ren? Nora? Your thoughts?"

"It would be a great opportunity to help people." Ren answered simply, always a man of few words and simple goals. "And so long as the contracting is good, a good opportunity for you and for us as a team."

"Nora?"

"I'll go wherever Renny goes." She shrugged uncaringly, lacing her fingers behind her head and leaning against the wall. With another shrug, she added a simple, no nonsense, "And he's right. This is a good way to take care of ourselves and help people, too."

"Fair points all around, yourself included, Lieutenant." Jaune nodded, having started the conversation set on what he was going to do but glad he didn't need to convince his team of anything. It was convenient if nothing else. "Fine then. Lead the way in and let's see if my Semblance can get us a few open doors, before we make any more permanent arrangements like you're talking about."

"And that's a fair request, except… Well, not to be rude or anything, you know, but..." He gestured with his off hand at the students in front of him and then grimaced, turning to look at the door with a small sigh. Jaune already knew what he was going to say before he said it, but it earned a small and knowing chuckle regardless when he finally did, "You're all more likely to be able to deal with the security this place is bound to have. And I am having you paid for my protection."

"Pyrrha, you and I go first." He ordered with a small chuckle that itself earned one from the soldier as well. Letting his saber hiss to life on one end, he took a step towards the door and took a long, deep breath to steady himself. "Lieutenant Black can walk in the middle with Nora and Ren, you take the back. We know we need to watch out for robotic defences and traps, I guess, but we don't know what's in here beyond that. Be careful, everyone."

There was a short chorus of quiet, somewhat nervous affirmations as his team and their person of interest fell into his ordered formation. But he didn't take the first step through into the temple personally, even if his heart had started to pound its excitement and he itched to be inside a temple of his youth again, in spite of it likely being a very different temple. Instead, he nodded Pyrrha forward and she stepped through, the saber-wielding young man right on her heel.

Through the door was a long hallway much like the one that Instructor had, once upon a time, saved him in. The same sorts of lights flickered to life along the ceiling and, for a moment, he felt… Nostalgic. Like he could expect Instructor to open the sealed far door at any moment and threaten to burn out one of his eyes if he didn't get to the training hall in five minutes, or to lock him in the isolation chamber if he couldn't recite an old text from memory while dodging stun-bolts from his blaster.

Not good times, per se, but there was something to be said about the power nostalgia held over things like that.

The door on the other end was automated and not locked, either by virtue of his using the Force before like the riddle - such as it had been - had wanted or simply because it had never been locked he couldn't be sure. Regardless it groaned and creaked opened, sliding into the wall to the side and admitting them through.

"Well this is kinda cool…" Nora murmured as they stepped through and spread out, leaving the soldier behind them where he was safest.

The room was circular and, oddly enough, around the same size and of the same aesthetic as his temple home. Like the temple of his youth, it was dominated by a statue, though this one lacked the pedestal the one he knew so well had beet set on. Though that didn't diminish its height, even for its kneeling position in the center of the room. Were it to stand, he was sure it would only be a few feet short of the curved, wide roof above. Unlike the room around it, the statue was oddly… Silvery, in a dull, metallic kind of way. Like it had been made of an entirely separate metal than anything else he'd seen.

One that echoed strangely through the Force, reflective and absorbant in a way he couldn't quite place.

Another difference between here and his temple home of old was that instead of three doors, there was only one. Larger than the others and wrought of some dark metal he couldn't place, it was twice as tall as he was and painted a black like midnight. In the center, in the place of any sort of button, handle or switch to open or close it, was a white circle. And painted upon it was a symbol made of blue wings flanking a one-handed saber. A symbol Jaune knew well enough from his studies and Instructor's long, albeit rare for their lack of time, lectures on galactic history.

The symbol of the Jedi.

"Jaune?" The Mistralian with him asked, eyes full of caution and question when he turned to her. When he had paced around the statue to approach the door, he wasn't sure. But now he was past the statue, close to the door further in than the one they'd come through, and the woman looked concerned. "What is that symbol on the door? Do you know it?"

"It's… A symbol from my Master's teachings. Of a teaching that ran somewhat parallel to his own creed's, albeit on a more…" He paused for a second, unsure of how to phrase the complaints that the Sith and, to a lesser extent, Revanism both held with the Order. Eventually he settled on, "Self-restricting bent to super undersell how bad it was and that we can't really get into right here and now."

"Can you give me the gist?" Black asked, joining the foursome as it approached the door in a loose mimicry of the formation Jaun had ordered.

'Loose' in that only the soldier had kept his spot, staying beside Nora at all times. Typical, Jaune supposed, for the literal soldier to display more discipline than any of his team. Though, to be fair, they did hold back a few steps, letting Jaune and Pyrrha both hold the front of their sparse formation.

"The gist is simple, though it'll leave you with more questions than answers." The soldier nodded, not seeming to mind, and Jaune sighed. Honestly, he'd hoped that the man would let it go at that… "The Sith are one side of a coin. Passion for power, pound for pound, and the more they give in the more power they could gain. Madness took them, usually, as they lost themselves to passion and power, and the need for more of both until it crushed them."

"The Jedi, on the other hand, are the opposite. Devoid of passion such as what would drive a Sith, like love, or hate, or desire, they would abdicate their humanity in search of inner peace." And in exchange, shackle themselves to a nothingness that consumed all they were, he didn't add. He didn't need to add his own personal beliefs here and draw more questions and curiosity than he already sensed. "The last is the path of Balance. Passion tempered by coolheadedness, and a search for power tempered by patience and virtue. Simply put, a path between the two sides of the coin."

"And which are you?"

"I don't…" He sighed and gave the soldier a look and and a small smile, tired and thin but comfortable still. "I'm none of them. They're just old stories, Lieutenant Black. Now, do you want me to read the inscription or tell more old stories?"

"The inscription, please." The man answered, "I was just… Curious."

"Alright, well…" He paused to sheath his saber, letting it rest on his back and looking over the old, worn sigils. "It says 'The way of the path is in service to another's cause and the finding of power in submission to that which you need not face as foe, and can not best with blow. The sacrifice of the violence of the self for the other, the epitome of Light, Life and Death.' And, below that, 'Speak unto the beginning' which…" He blinked as, behind them, steel ground and engines whine, and then sighed, "Oh shit."

"Uh… The statue's moving." Nora murmured as Jaune turned, recalling his saber and stepping forward as the great, smooth golem stood. Magnhild in her hands, she herded the soldier back with her as physical cover and asked, "Is it supposed to do that, Fearless Leader?"

The droid, that was what it had to be, whirred and chinked as it stood. Great, stubby finger sand smooth surfaced limbs made of the same silver metal. Its head, squashed and oval shaped like the kind of stone you could bounce along the surface of water, turned to him and eyes opened, glowing a dim red as three fingered hands spread and it thrummed a warning. For all its no doubt high technology, it looked to him like a golem right out of a movie, set to life by a wizard's touch.

And it was staring down at him, leering like a predator with prey in front of it.

"Ren, protect Black." He ordered quickly, his blades flickering to hissing life as the golem lumbered forth. "Pyrrha, Nora, flank to either side. I'll take the center. I doubt it understands my words, so I'll take out a knee and you two go for its eyes."

The duo didn't say anything and instead shot to either side, long strides carrying them around the room with all the speed they could muster. The machine whirred its interest and watched them but didn't attack, head turning and great, long arms drooping like an ape to scrape along the ground.

Spinning on a heel, Nora set the battle to its start, shifting her hammer to its launcher form and sending smoke grenades spindling between Jaune and the machine. Now the Golem's whirring was angry as it rounded on her, lumbering forward and bringing a hand up and back in a great, three-fingered fist. Jaune shot forward before it took its second step and its eyes swiveled to meet him in reaction. It turned, aiming to bring the fist down on him instead, but it was too slow to keep up with his Force-enhanced speed as he swept between its legs and turned, staff gripped wide in both hands, and lashed out at the back of a knee.

With a hissing recoil, the blades bounced off and he stumbled away, eyes wide in surprise. A fist followed up his shock, cudgeling him back across the room and into the closed entry door they'd come in through. He cried out as he hit, Aura barely snapping up in time to dampen the herculean force, and his saber winked out for a moment.

Blinking, he forced himself onto a knee and looked up in time to see another fist coming in for him. Then his view was obscured by pale skin, bronze armor and long, red hair. The fist slammed home and forced her back into him as he stood, crushed both of them against the wall with so much force he felt they would be mashed together. The fist snapped back then and came back in like a lightning bolt, far faster than should have been possible, forcing the Mistralian woman back against him and drawing a pained cry from her throat.

One hand gripping his saber he wrapped the other around her hip and hooked his fingers under her leather skirt, wrenching her aside faster than he could have asked her to move. She rolled to the side, knowing better than to resist him, and, leaning against the wall for support, he let his hands snap up and cried out, guttural and beastly.

The machine staggered a step and Nora launched in, swinging Maghnhild up and between the machine's legs like she hoped to ring its bells. The clang echoed around them but it didn't budge, hand snapping down and grabbing her faster than Jaune could blink. Its fingers closed around her and lifted her up, head poking out of the bottom of its fist and feet kicking while she desperately fought to keep it from closing its grip.

Holding her before its gaze like a child with something of interest, it squeezed and Nora gasped a cry as the fingers closed.

"No!" Pyrrha shouted when Jaune took a staggering step forward to help her, the woman rounding on him and wiping away the blood from a busted lip. Eyes hard and glinting, she pointed at him with her sword and ordered, "Solve the riddle. That's what we need here, right?"

"But-"

"NORA!" Ren cried, abandoning his assignment wholly and launching towards the machine with wide, feral eyes.

Whirring, and crushing Nora in its grip, it turned with its free arm oriented towards the young man as Ren charged. Leaping, he ran up a fist that cut through the air and slammed into the ground where he'd been standing, his Storm Flowers blaring fire into its apathetic face. Not a single round did anything, though, and Pyrrha moved to join the man. Instead of attacking, though, she sent her weapons home on her back and leapt, climbing a leg towards Nora and grabbing onto its fingers.

Only for it to release Nora and send them both tumbling as it turned to Ren and Black, the latter kneeling by the far door and firing heavy slugs at it from afar.

"Submission… The sacrifice of the violence of the self…" He murmured, looking down at the saber in his hands. "Service of another's cause, and that which you need not face as foe. A Jedi symbol, too… That's it. It only attacks in response to our attacks."

With a flick, he lit his saber's two ends and lumbered forward, raising his voice and bellowing, "Stop this, all of you!"

And they did, the machine lumbering to a stop with its foot pressing down against Pyrrha, who held her shield against its force desperately, holding up its titanic weight as best she could. The others, though, staggered away and looked to him, either for trust or surprise at his orders he couldn't be sure.

Cautiously but firmly, he walked forward, looking the machine in the eyes until he reached the foot bearing down on his partner. It hummed curiously as he knelt, and he whispered to his partner, "Trust me, okay, Pyr?"

Without waiting for her answer, he turned and slashed the blade of his saber across the machine's singe. It thrummed again in fury and he leapt back as it followed, releasing his partner as it refocused on its newest attacker. Raising one hand towards it like he would an animal, he took a deep breath and flicked the ends of his saber off. With all the force he could manage, he chucked it to the side and the machine came to a stop, watching the weapon roll away for several long seconds.

When it turned back to look at him he bowed his head and knelt, hands spread to either side and kneeling on the ground. Quietly, but loud enough to be heard, he spoke, letting the Force carry its meaning to the machine like a boat sent to a distant, wayward island, "I am sorry we attacked you. Please, we would like to head into the temple, if you permit us access. But please, don't hurt my friends any more."

For a long, tense moment, the golem watched him, as though it were waiting for him to attack or processing his words. Then, impossibly slowly, it turned and lumbered towards the far door, one hand stretching out to press a finger to its surface right at the base of the symbol's saber. Then it turned and returned to its spot, sitting as it once had with its arms wrapped around its legs and tucked against its chest, though now its head stayed raised, red eyes watching them curiously.

Then, with a heavy groan and the grinding of metal, the door slid open and his team blinked. Beyond was another passage like the first, with another door at its end, but the two doors had opened.

"Thank you." He called, rising and calling his blade back to him with the Force.

"Whirr-boo-thrum." It warned, eyes watching the weapon closely.

"Easy." He soothed awkwardly, unsure about how to exactly soothe a giant droid. Sliding the saber into place on his back and smiling, he added a gentle. "We won't hurt you anymore, I promise. Thank you for opening the door."

"Whiirrr." It, well, whirred, seemingly satisfied with his promise and watching him calmly.

"How did you do that? I wanna boop it!" Nora asked as he approached them, smiling excitedly and bouncing towards the robot. Reflexively, it whirred again and loosened its grips on its legs, ready to attack, but Nora only smiled and laid Magnhild aside like he'd done. Smiling, she asked, "Can I boop your nose, please and thank you?"

"Nora…"

"Just gimme a second, Jaune, come ooon." She waved him off, standing stock still at its feet and raising one hand high. Then, theatrically, she booped herself gently on the nose, bounced on her heel and smiled, leaning forward with her hips thrust back innocently and chiming, "Booop! See, doesn't hurt. It's a nice thing to do. Friendly! Here, do me, do me!"

"Whirre-thrum-whirr." The machine answered gently, unfurling a hand and, gentler than should have been possible, pressed a long and silver finger to her forehead. The girl smiled and was pushed back, shoes scraping against the floor, and the machined chimed a simple, "Whiiiirrrr."

"Oh my Dust, I got booped by a giant freaking robot! In an ancient lost ruin! It's like I'm in a t.v. show, or something, Ren!" The girl enthused, the Golem recoiling from her exuberance. Turning, the girl launched towards the grouped trio of the rest of her team, and Black behind them besides, and crowed, "Did you guys see that!? It's so cute when it isn't, you know, trying to murder us all!"

With an exhausted, collective groan, the four of them coached their fifth member towards the door further in. All the while, she bounced excitedly, turning to wave goodbye to the large machine before they left fully. With a loud whirr, it returned the gesture, head bobbing side to side happily.

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So about a hundred under the typical 4K for me, but I have excuses- I mean reasons! I designed the entire dungeon sequence and wanted the first trial to be by itself. Next chapter will start with the Weiss situation, but for this one I wanted to focus on Jaune and Co.

The other reasons are simple :

I've been sick and exhausted for a couple days, since Sunday, and Friday and Saturday I spent on Re:Programmed stuff. The first bit of which should hopefully be coming out soonishly on AO3 and a couple other locales.

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(Review Responses)

Human Dragon :

There was a slight delay due to working on original content and also the dungeon sequences I have set up for this next few chapters. Glad you're enjoying though!

Green the Ryno :

They do! And I have been seeing less and less support for this story with each chapter of their efforts. Sucks but… If a handful of people enjoy a story, that is enough for me to write it.

Also, yes, Weiss is gonna have fun dealing with all of this racket. I dare not ship WR, though, for I shall tempt the hatedom again! Lol. In all seriousness, your review made me chuckle.

Gnaoh el Nart :

I won't confirm what he will get but he, and others, will definitely get stuff from SW's canon. Time period not set on that, either, since it is never stated in-story what SW time period this is set in.

Enjoy~!