*Author's Note*
Got some fun threats to put this chapter out a little faster than I usually do.
Thankfully, fun chapters are easier for me to write, so yay. *End Note*
Before giving an answer to the Chat Room, Rayleigh made his way to the ship to turn on the communicators.
Communication across the Galaxy without a Chat Room was done using Hyperspace Communication Relays that were placed on Hyperlanes and basically transmitted data through Hyperspace. There was still a delay of a second or two depending on how many relays you had to go through, but it was close enough to instant to allow two way communication across the stars and a vital piece of infrastructure for the Galaxy.
On Tatooine, the communication Relays were operated by the Gangsters who owned the planet, the Hutts. Ordinary folk couldn't even use them. You basically had to give them a large amount of money first and that would be your credit to use their network, similar to a Prepaid Cellphone plan. It worked fine as long as you were okay with the fact that they'd sell your call history and location to anyone willing to pay for it.
Tails made the call and a few moments later, Vash's voice came from the other end.
[Hey guys. Mechanic is a bit busy right now. And Swordsman. Accept that duel and make sure you win.]
Rayleigh spoke into the comms, "Obviously I'll win. But I'm guessing that there is more to this duel than that guy's ego?"
[Haha. You got that right. The Pirate Players need more resources to get their footing. Mechanic offered of course, but the Senatorial Faction led by Swordmaster is trying to poach them by claiming to be the strongest Jedi Player. I'm not sure what you've shown them, but when they heard that, Titan and All Seeing Prophet laughed directly in Swordmaster's face.]
Rayleigh smirked to himself. He could guess what happened. It was obvious that all 20 Talent Players had names where the first and last name started with the same letter. A private joke that lets them tell one another apart from those not in 'the know.'
Titan knew how strong Rayleigh was and likely guessed that he was a 20 Talent Player. If Swordmaster introduced himself using his full name, Titan would have immediately understood that Swordmaster was not a 20-Talent Player.
Of course, talent wasn't everything. You could squander your talent or traverse an incompatible path and be rewarded with worthless gains.
Forcing Rayleigh to fight Swordmaster had many benefits such as giving Titan a better gauge on Rayleigh's strength.
Rayleigh had no problem. He didn't even require a reason to accept. He only asked in case there was a reason to reject. Without one, there was only one thing to do. Rayleigh pulled up the Chat Room.
[Swordsman: Sure. But as the challenged party, I choose the area. And I choose... Coruscant. No Tavern Arena, no safety net. Not to the death of course, though accidents happen. As for where on the planet, I've never been so you can decide. I'm on my way and will be there tomorrow.]
[Lord of Madness: OOOHHH! Taking All Bets! Swordsman Vs Swordmaster! Find me on Coruscant, cred chips only, no digital transfers. To be fair to both parties the bet will be 1:1 for each fighter. Bet 100, Win 200.]
[Titan: No arena? Nice. Not all of us have spare Tavern Points to waste watching someone else's fight.]
[Blind Prophet: I'll be betting on Swordmaster of course. I can already see the outcome.]
[All Seeing Prophet: Can you now? I'll be betting on Swordsman.]
[Gambler: Damn! We need a tiebreaker. Star Prophet, see anything?]
[Star Prophet: I see Swordmaster swinging his sword and Swordsman being launched into a wall.]
[Grey Matter: Not surprising. We confirmed the same thing would happen if Swordmaster ever fought Dooku.]
[Invisible Man: I'm not the type that trusts what others see. Where are you Madness? I'm placing a bet on Swordsman.]
[Titan: Since so many are saying Swordmaster will win, you gonna change the payout Madness?]
[Lord of Madness: Ha! I'm crazy, but I'm not that crazy. Besides, asking for the duel on Coruscant instead of the Arena is actually a great idea on Swordsman's part. If Swordmaster used his full power, everything around him would be leveled. Forcing him to fight on a highly populated planet will greatly nerf him, so the betting odds stay.]
[Fire Queen: Sounds like you've seen him fight before.]
[Gambler: Most of us have. I won't spoil it for you, but if I was in the safest, strongest, most secure bunker in the Galaxy and I knew that Swordmaster was coming for me, I'd leave the bunker and run away.]
Reading through the hype that his opponent was getting, Rayleigh smiled. Winning? Losing? It didn't matter to him. What mattered was a chance to get stronger through a good fight. If he died, his Power System Progression would reset, but his skills with a sword would be unaffected, so even life and death didn't matter too much.
Rayleigh's sword style wasn't created to kill or protect. It was not built to defend or attack. Just like his Force Code, Rayleigh's sword style existed for a single reason, to make him stronger. That was his path. There were many ways to get stronger, but as long as it didn't harm him in the long run, Rayleigh would use it. Rayleigh incorporated all paths that led to strength, his Swordsmanship and his Force Code were all inclusive, accepting everything.
As for Lord of Madness's claim that Swordmaster using his full power would destroy everything around him? Rayleigh hoped that it was an exaggeration. To Rayleigh, only power that you controlled was your power. If Swordmaster couldn't control his damage at 'full power,' then he wasn't even worth fighting.
But most Players never showed their full hand to others, so Rayleigh would assume for now that Lord of Madness was incorrect and that Swordmaster could in fact control his full power and would be using it against Rayleigh in this fight. Rayleigh truly hoped that this was the case and that Swordmaster would not make him look down upon him.
The journey to Coruscant was spent mostly in the Chat Room. Once they arrived, more than half the Players in the Galaxy would all be on the same planet. The only ones that Rayleigh knew of that would not be there were Dyna Might and Captain Jack of the Pirate Players and a lot of Hunter Players that migrated here recently. Armory, Green Lantern, and Demon Hunter were doing their own things and stayed in the General Chat. Some other arrivals which lurked in the Jedi Chat but never said anything were Keymaster, Duelist, and Summoner.
Everyone else who didn't show either didn't have the Jedi Class like Dragon Chef and Enigma or didn't have the confidence to play in the Big Boy Leagues.
After leaving Hyperspace, Rayleigh took one look at Coruscant and said, "That is one ugly planet."
Tails nodded emphatically, "Yeah. There's a reason I never went to the Temple."
Although it was over a decade ago, Rayleigh still perfectly recalled when he was offered a chance to come here to train instead of staying to train on Tython. Best decision he ever made. He already considered himself fortunate that none of the Jedi on Tython had the innate sensitivity to discover how perverse Rayleigh's Force connection was which gave Rayleigh the chance and time needed to learn methods of suppressing his Force presence.
Technically, Rayleigh didn't actually mind letting everyone know that he was a freak of nature when it came to his connection to the Force, but something in the back of his head, sealed metaknowledge he suspected, told him it was better not to advertise that, for now at least.
Sure, it would come out sooner or later, but when it did, Rayleigh believed that it wasn't the Players he'd have to worry about. Rayleigh knew that he had this world's main character's cheat, and such things often came with annoying baggage.
As they circled the planet to Mechanic's company's personal parking garage, the Chat Room arguments continued.
[Lord of Madness: I'm bored. Does anyone want to burn Coruscant to the ground?]
[Grey Matter: Stop making more work for us you crazy *sshole! Some of us with functioning brains actually Work for a living!]
[Lord of Madness: Ha! Are you looking down on me because I'm crazy? Well, sorry to break it to you Brainiac, but You're Just as Crazy as I am! You all are! And I can Prove it!]
[Invisible Man: Preach Emissary of Sheogorath, Lord of Cheese!]
[Grey Matter: I have a perfectly functioning brain thank you very much.]
[Lord of Madness: It's funny that you mention Sheogorath. Sheogorath has never made a single person insane. The fact of the matter is that they were already insane, they were just in denial. Sheogorath simply knew how to make them confront their insanity in such a way that they could recognize it and accept it. And I'm gonna do the same! Right Now!]
[Gambler: Oh no! He's going Crazy! And he's taking us all with him!]
[Lord of Madness: That's right! But not in such a dramatic way. The fact is, Insanity and Madness are simply a different, unfamiliar perspective. When such a perspective is so completely different that we cannot see it ourselves, it gets a derogatory label and the one who sees things from that perspective is told that they are the problem and must conform their unfamiliar perspective to match what can be seen by others.]
[Fire Queen: I think that's the most big words I've ever seen you use.]
[Grey Matter: My perspective is normal!]
[Lord of Madness: Of course it's normal! To You! But normality is determined by the majority in the area. Tell me, if you went to Coruscant's undercity and told them your daily life, your thought processes, what you want to accomplish, and what you think about everything, would a single sentence match the perspective of a single resident of the undercity? No! It wouldn't! To them, You're CRAZY!]
[Grey Matter: I'm a Jedi Knight! Of course my perspective is different from theirs!]
[Lord of Madness: Exactly! You are different from them and they are different from you! You have a different perspective that a majority of the inhabitants in this Galaxy would not understand. Your goals and dreams are so foreign to them, they would outright reject you if you tried to enforce them upon others. You. Are. Crazy!]
[Grey Matter: The Jedi understand me and the Jedi Order is thousands of years old. Just because others don't does not mean that I am crazy.]
[Lord of Madness: Ha! Alright, one question then. If you found a non-Player Jedi and told them that you were arguing with a self-proclaimed Lord of Madness using a screen that only you could see about the nature of insanity, would that Jedi think that you are perfectly fine?]
[Gambler: I hate to say it, but he's got you there.]
[Lord of Madness: No answer? Not surprising. But don't worry. Everyone is crazy because the truth is, everyone only truly understands their own perspective. They can pretend to understand and empathize with others, but they can only see their own point of view from their own eyes. Everyone is crazy, but most of them either pretend otherwise or are in denial.]
The ship landed as Lord of Madness's rant finished. Rayleigh didn't think much of it. He wasn't sure if he was always crazy or not, but he knew after living alone on Tython for many years he certainly wasn't going to pretend to be sane.
Vash and Mechanic approached the ship and Tails went to hug Mechanic in what almost looked like a disguised assassination attempt to smother the head of Merr Sonn Robotics to death in her ample bosom.
Vash was used to it by now and said, "The Jedi Temple has a large training room and the duel will be held there."
Rayleigh asked, "Will there be a problem with me going to the Temple?"
Mechanic freed herself from Tails and said, "No. The Temple gets visitors all the time."
Tails asked Mechanic, "So how much did you bet on Swordsman?"
Mechanic answered, "Vash and I bet 10,000 Cred chips, but only because that guy honestly said he couldn't accept a larger bet because he wouldn't be able to pay it back if Swordsman won."
They headed from the space garage to a speeder port and Vash took the wheel. The city was countless times bigger than the cities of Corellia. Rayleigh was already thankful that he made a technique to reduce his need for oxygen because this planet's air was turbid with smog and filth. His heightened senses could hear tens of thousands of air filters built into the various buildings that actively reduced the pollution to a survivable range, a necessity for this planet due to the lack of greenery to naturally clean and recycle the air.
The Jedi Temple was larger than Rayleigh thought it would be. For all the Jedi's caution about avoiding pride and embracing humility, having their home being a giant one kilometer tall structure made them look like real hypocrites.
The sound of air filters surrounding the temple was the highest he'd heard, making the air cleaner. It was as if the people living there wanted to forget the grim and filth and decay just outside their walls.
If nothing else though, at least it meant that Rayleigh wouldn't have to fight Swordmaster while holding his breath.
As the group reached the Temple's entrance, Rayleigh saw the familiar figure of Pacifist running down from the inner Temple steps. Once he reached them, he said, "I'll take you to the training area. We'll need to go around the stairs to avoid-"
From absolutely nowhere, a bald black man in Jedi Master robes appeared. Whether he materialized on the spot or simply had not been noticed until he approached, they were not sure. Rayleigh had not been using Babylon or even his En or Haki, and since this man didn't appear to be there to threaten them, Rayleigh had not sensed it.
Pacifist quickly turned to the arrival and said, "Master Windu. I see you have met our guests."
Tails and Vash seemed to sigh for some reason while Mechanic retained a professional demeanor.
The Jedi Master only looked over Mechanic, Tails, and Vash once. He seemed to have recognized them all. To the unfamiliar Rayleigh though, he gave him a hard look before speaking solemnly. "Have you heard the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise?"
Before even allowing Rayleigh a moment to answer, Jedi Master Windu continued, "Darth Plagueis had an apprentice who was a little bitch and could only kill him by waiting until his master slept. It was ironic though because Plagueis was trying to learn the secrets to immortality and was like 80% of the way there. But you know what they say? A near miss is as good as fucking up so badly, you hire an army which eventually kills you and everyone you care about."
After confirming that Rayleigh heard him, Master Windu then turned to walk away. Though he did say aloud, "Or writing the sequel trilogy," before heading off to wherever he came from.
Pacifist shook his head and said, "Master Windu shares that story with everyone who steps foot inside the Jedi Temple. He has been doing so for the last few years. Even the Jedi Main Character got stopped and lectured the first time he came before even joining the Jedi."
Vash chuckled. "I heard that Master Windu somewhat regrets telling Anakin Skywalker the story though." Vashed turned to Rayleigh and said, "For some reason, Anakin made understanding that story his life's work. He's currently two years into his Doctoral on the subject and is working on his Thesis."
Rayleigh's only response was, "What the fuck? Who the hell is Darth Plagueis? And who is his apprentice?"
Pacifist shook his head, "We don't know. Apparently Master Windu had a Force Vision about it and decided that it was the Will of the Force to tell everyone who entered the Temple. We don't know who they are or when this happened."
Vash said, "Anakin knows more about it. He grilled Master Windu about all the details multiple times."
Rayleigh asked, "How are you so close to the Jedi MC?"
Mechanic answered for him. "They encounter each other infrequently and each time they do, they keep competing to see who is the best pilot in the Galaxy. Besides, Anakin is actually pretty easy to get along with. Just about every Main Character is."
Rayleigh thought back to what he knew and that seemed to be correct. Gon was very easy to be friends with. Luffy and Naruto were easy to be friends with. He didn't know about the Warrior MC, but Harry Potter also sounded easy to be friends with.
Upon entering the training room, Rayleigh heard Titan and a woman having a conversation while others seemed to be watching from the side.
The brunette woman, a Jedi with unnaturally glowing eyes said, "The YV-929 Armed Freighter is exactly what you're looking for. It's all but a pirate ship in name and yet still legal in all sectors. The cargo space is massive enough to move goods and have enough extra room for your crew to live. The front nose has dual ion turrets for taking out shields. The shoulders each have dual turbo laser cannons. The wings have three laser blasters, each. And it includes space for four missiles, two of which are backwards facing to blow up anyone who thinks that they can follow you."
Mechanic butted in, "That's the difference between being book smart and being street smart. The YV-929 has an irregular hull shape which isn't suited for shields. The armor will only last a few hits before cracking. It's fine for ambushes and running away, but it's a death trap for prolonged, sustained battles."
She then looked Titan in the eye and said, "So unless you're the type to run away, that is not the ship you need."
Titan smirked before turning to Rayleigh and giving him a small nod which Rayleigh returned.
Lord of Madness said, "The guest of honor is here! Let's get this party started!"
Rayleigh had already said his Force Code aloud a few times on the way here while under the effect of Force Muffle to hide what he was saying, so his Empty Sword of Babylon was already in hand. It only needed the Kyber Crystal to be added to change into the Sword of Babylon, Blue.
Waving it around, Rayleigh looked to the side and said, "Did you want to start off right away or have a warm up first?"
Since getting 'ambushed' by a Jedi Master, Rayleigh had deployed his Observation Haki in full to ensure that there would not be a repeat performance. Due to this, he noticed the tall, skinny, tan skinned, black-haired robe-wearing Player who was suppressing his Force presence. His hair was tied back and reached his shoulders in length. When a Padawan graduated to Jedi Knight, their 'Padawan Braid' was cut. This Player's long hair implied that he graduated many, many years ago.
Swordmaster took a look at Rayleigh's conjured sword. As this was the Empty Sword, Rayleigh was in Zetsu and cut off from the Force. Only his physique and Haki were available to him. But Swordmaster didn't know that. He couldn't be sure if Rayleigh was a master at hiding his Force presence, something that made him wary. He answered back, "If you need it, sure."
Swordmaster then took out a physical sword of his own, a Katana. It was not conjured, he had taken it out from his Inventory.
Titan asked aloud, "I knew Swordsman didn't use a Lightsaber, but what about Swordmaster?"
From the side, a player wearing a Mandalorian helmet, likely Deadshot, answered, "Swordmaster's skills work best with a physical sword."
Lord of Madness laughed, "The Sword using Players are using swords! Crazy right?!"
Grey Matter harrumphed to that.
The pair walked toward the center of the open training area. The temple had a few of them, but this one was underground, one of the largest and most fortified.
Each Player naturally took their position and raised their weapons. Without needing a sign, they both moved at the same moment. A dozen exchanges occurred in a single breath, neither putting any real strength into their swings.
Rayleigh immediately recognized Swordmaster as a user of Form VI, Niman. Each Niman is personalized from the most compatible parts of the prior forms and Swordmaster's took heavily from Form V and Form II for attacking and Form III for defending.
Naturally, Swordmaster was trying to read Rayleigh's style and was having zero luck. Sure, the circular softness of Form III was apparent in the way Rayleigh spun, the ebb and flow of combating force of Form I was distinguishable, and pinpoint targeting of Form II was obvious, but they were all merely shades that were a part of something completely and utterly alien to him.
Not that he was worried. It was clear that he was faster, stronger, and better than Rayleigh was in every way. Since he got a read on him, he decided to show Rayleigh his true strength.
Once more, the pair's swords met, but this time it was different. At the moment of contact, Rayleigh realized exactly why Star Prophet saw 'his future' being swatted into a wall.
Swordmaster had eaten a devil fruit. From the effect, Rayleigh figured it was the Ton Ton Fruit. According to the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia that Rayleigh had read in Marineford, this Devil Fruit allowed the user to increase their weight anywhere from a single ton to ten thousand tons. And Swordmaster had perfectly added this weight into his sword swing.
Rayleigh smiled. While using Zetsu, he could no more block this strike than he could stop the rotation of a planet. But he wasn't out of options.
Rayleigh stepped in, placing him to Swordmaster's side, the side of the arm holding the diagonally downward swinging sword. He tucked his own blade closer while sliding it out. All of this he did while turning his body along the direction he swung. Using this method, the unstoppable backwards force that should have shot Rayleigh into the wall behind him was converted and redirected. Rayleigh stepped past Swordmaster while taking three half-steps in a triangular formation to spin himself to the side. The force was not completely redirected, but Rayleigh had negated most of it with his spin and only needed to take three steps back to completely parry this unblockable strike.
Swordmaster said, "Not bad. But do we need to continue? If that's all you got, then the result is obvious."
Rayleigh wasn't really surprised that he was being so looked down upon. Swordmaster and the other Jedi Players knew that Rayleigh didn't have a teacher and grew up in the wilds. Without a Master-Apprentice Force bond to raise their connection to the Force or a teacher to instill the proper path to walk, they might have imagined that Rayleigh just spent years running around in circles.
Rayleigh pulled the Kyber Crystal off his wristguard and said, "So I guess the warm-ups are over then? Alright. It's time to have some fun. Don't disappoint me."
Rayleigh then placed the Kyber Crystal on the hilt of his sword and said aloud, "Split the Heavens, Sword of Babylon."
And to the Force senses of every Jedi in the room, the world whited out.
*Author's Note*
And there's another one.
I wonder how many people cackled like a mad man at Mace Windu's little tale. (Don't worry, I have it on good authority that we're all crazy here.)
Next chapter will take a bit and threats won't help (this time).
A good fight scene takes some time and I'll be busy over this 4th July weekend.