RECAP:
Index | Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | Epilogue

Legends

"Lord Nihilus, you escaped death by containing your consciousness within your armor. How?!"

— Darth Krayt

The chapter opens with a familiar scene from Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. Meetra Surik has just defeated Darth Nihilus aboard the Ravager with the help of Visas Marr and Canderous Ordo. Before she leaves to confront Kreia, Meetra allows Visas to get some closure and takes Nihilus's mask with her as a trophy. Unbeknownst to the trio, Nihilus lives on as a spirit bound to his mask. In order to heal from the damage inflicted upon his soul by the Exile, Nihilus enters a comatose state.

300 Years Later...

During the Cold War between the Old Republic and the True Sith Empire, Jedi Knight Nariel Pridence and the Voidhound recover a holocron containing the Mask of Darth Nihilus following a skirmish with the Sith. After giving the Voidhound an abridged explanation of who Darth Nihilus was, Nariel bids the smuggler farewell and departs for the Unknown Regions to hide the mask from the Sith. While her ship is traveling through hyperspace, Nariel is attacked by Nihilus's spirit, who kills her and sets her ship off course. However, the act has depleted Nihilus of nearly all his power and he returns to a deep sleep.

Years Later...

A pair of smugglers working for the Wavelength Gale come across Nariel's ship and take the mask back to their hideout on Volik, a remote planet within the Unknown Regions. Not long afterwards, the Wavelength Gale's base is raided by the Republic Navy and all the smugglers perish while attempting to escape. With their mission accomplished, the Republic's military departs Volik, leaving Nihilus's mask alone and isolated.

Over 3000 Years Later...

The Mask of Darth Nihilus is found by a team of adventure-seeking droids named Church, Tex, Delta, and Omega. They are interrupted by the arrival of two rival groups: Sando's Boys, a gang of pirates led by the eponymous Rodian; and the Apex Society, an aristocratic cult led by Sith wannabe Collan Eislo. The three factions immediately enter a standoff which gets broken up by the sudden appearance of Nihilus's ghost, who awoke after detecting Collan's meager Force-sensitivity. Nihilus easily kills all the pirates and cultists present and uses their life force to refuel his power. Believing the droids are of no threat to him, Nihilus returns to slumber in order to conserve his strength.

Freaked out by the massacre they just witnessed, Tex suggests forgetting their mission and getting the hell out of there. However, Church refuses, pointing out the risk of letting someone like Darth Vader find the mask. Church decides to hide the dark artifact somewhere where no one will never find it.

Aboard their starship, the Mother of Invention, the droids scour uncharted space for the perfect hiding spot. Eventually, they come across a unique star system outside the Galactic Empire's reach. The system contains only a single planet, a primitive world with a shattered moon: Remnant. After some debate, Church dumps the mask into the planet's atmosphere. When Delta objects and points out that Remnant is inhabited, Church dismissively states that Nihilus is now Remnant's problem. With their mission complete, the team fly off into hyperspace for their next adventure.

Down below on Remnant, a young monk by the name of Petros Krizoz investigates the crash site of a "star" he saw falling from the sky the previous night. Inside a crater, he discovers a strange white mask that calls out to him. Convinced the mask must be a gift from the Brother Gods, Petros takes the mask back to his monastery and shows it to the other monks.

Many Decades Later...

It's the height of the Great War and business is booming for the assassins of the Temple of Shadows cult. The cult's leader, a now elderly Petros, thinks back to how his life changed the day he found the mask. While he was initially scared when the Mask first spoke to him, his fear turned to worship after the Mask claimed to be the God of Darkness in physical form. Under the Mask's orders, Petros transformed his church into an assassin cult that sacrificed innocent travelers to the dark god. Over time, their cult became known as the Temple of Shadows and gained infamy for their ruthlessness and cruelty. Before he can reminisce any further, Petros is snapped out of his daydreaming by one of his disciples, who informs him that Vale's army has laid siege to their monastery. Determined to go down fighting, Petros orders his followers to ready for battle.

Outside the monastery, Alixandre Arc, the leading general of Vale's army, prepares to assault the Temple of Shadows on behalf of King Osmund. After giving a rousing speech to his soldiers, Alixandre leads the charge into the assassins' fortress. Following a long and grueling battle, Alixandre's army makes their way into the heart of the citadel, where General Arc comes face-to-face with Grand Master Petros Krizoz, the leader of the cultists. Declaring that his time has come, Alixandre attacks Krizoz.

In the immediate aftermath of the battle, General Arc has the Temple of Shadows burnt to the ground and destroys all their artifacts with the exception of a white mask which he keeps as a souvenir.

After the Great War ended...

Alixandre (now just "Alix") retires to a simple life as a farmer. On his way home, he hears the Mask speak to him for the first time. Taking advantage on Alix's disgruntlement at the military's disbandment, the Mask convinces Alix to use its power to conquer Vale. Enthralled by the Mask, Alix nearly succumbs to its control before the memory of Petros Krizoz's death snaps him out of it. Determined to not end up a corrupt monster like Krizoz, Alix successfully resists the Mask's influence and attempts to destroy it. After the mask proves to be indestructible, Alix locks it inside a strongbox and hides it inside a cave before sealing the entrance. Despite this setback, Nihilus isn't worried and returns to slumber while patiently awaiting the day when his mask is once again found.

Nearly 80 Years Later...

A boy stumbles into the cave while fleeing from a Beowolf. Nihilus immediately recognizes the boy as Alix's descendant, Jaune Arc. Sensing that the boy is a latent Force-sensitive, Nihilus channels ancient Sith magick to rapidly increase the number of midi-chlorians in Jaune's body. Having finally found the perfect host, Nihilus subtly influences Jaune into taking possession of the mask and bids his time for the perfect moment to take control of Jaune's body.

Tropes in this chapter include:

Alas, Poor Villain: Meetra Surik feels this way about Nihilus's death because she sees him as ultimately just another victim of Darth Traya's manipulations.
As You Know: When Collan Eislo and his men intrude on Alpha and Sando's Mexican Standoff, Sando addresses Collan by his full name and refers to him as a "pampered noble and wannabe Sith", giving the reader an abridged explanation on who Collan is and why he wants Nihilus's mask.
Battering Ram: Alixandre's army uses a battering ram to break down the door of the Temple of Shadows.
Big "NO!": When Alix snaps out of the Mask's influence at the last second, he screams "NO!" before throwing the mask away from him.
Bilingual Dialogue: While conversing with each other, Sando speaks in Rodese while Church's team and Collan speak in Basic. Both can still understand each other despite speaking different languages. Justified as Sando likely knows multiple languages from her experience as a smuggler and Church's squad are droids, so they probably have translator programs which allow them to interpret alien languages.
Black-and-Gray Morality: The conflict in the segment starring the Red vs. Blue-inserts boils down to this. Alpha's squad consists of mercenaries who associate with the galaxy's criminals and their leader is a snarky Jerkass who has no qualms about endangering the inhabitants of a primitive planet if it means fulfilling his goals. That being said, the people who oppose them include a Sith cult and a planet-devouring Eldritch Abomination. Compared to the latter, the former are practically saints.
Call to Agriculture: General Arc retires as a simple farmer after the Great War ends.
Came from the Sky: After Church drops the Mask into Remnant's atmosphere, the mask's container crash lands near a monastery in Vale and forms an impact crater.
The Cameo: Various Legends characters appear here. Meetra Surik, Visas Marr, the Voidhound, and Nariel Pridence.
Captain Obvious: After seeing Nihilus's ghost No-Sell blaster bolts and wipe out Sando's Boys and the Apex Society in a matter of seconds, Delta tells his team that he calculates that their blasters have a 0.01% of being effective on the Force ghost.
Delta: (After seeing blaster bolts phase through Nihilus's spirit) Warning. I calculate a 0.01% chance that our weapons will be effective against this adversary.
Alpha: (sarcastically) Yeah, thanks D, I got that.
Charge-into-Combat Cut: Used when Alixandre and Petros start their battle. Just as they both charge into each other, the scene cuts away and shows the immediate aftermath of the battle.
Collapsing Lair: The Ravager starts to fall apart shortly after Nihilus is killed. Justified since the vessel was a literal shipwreck that was only being held together by Nihilus's sheer force of will.
Continuity Nod:
- Unlike previous chapters, the epigraph for this chapter isn't a quote from a character in Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. Rather it feature a quote by Darth Krayt, the main antagonist of Star Wars: Legacy.
- While listing several Force-sensitive species which he compares Remnant's people with, Nihilus thinks of the Mirialukans, referencing how his former apprentice Visas Marr was a Mirialukan.
- The Rakatans, a precursor race who first appeared in Knights of the Old Republic, are mentioned by Nihilus when he compares Remnant's humans to several Force-sensitive alien species that he knows of.
- Nihilus also recounts how Revan had been searching for the Rakata during the Jedi Civil War.
Connected All Along: Those Valean assassin monks mentioned by the clothing store clerk when Jaune bought his new Huntsman outfit in "Dance" turn out to have been a Cargo Cult that worshipped the Mask of Nihilus. Jaune's ancestor, Alixandre Arc, wiped out the cult during the Great War and was responsible for sealing Nihilus's mask inside the cavern from the prologue.
Continuity Porn: The chapter contains various nods and references to the various Legends works in Star Wars's expanded universe.
Crossover: With Red vs. Blue of all things. Church, Tex, Delta, and O'Malley all appear as the POV characters in one of the flashback segments.
Curb-Stomp Battle:
- Darth Nihilus's spirit vs Nariel Pridence. The ensuing fight is completely one-sided as Nihilus drains Nariel of her life force before she can even get close to him.
- Also Nihilus's ghost easily slaughters every member of Sando's Boys. Their blasters shoot harmlessly through Nihilus and he drains them of all their life in mere seconds.
Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Nihilus considers artificially strengthening Jaune Force-sensitivity to be this. The method itself was learned by reading the teachings of Marka Ragnos and Nihilus himself refers to the technique as vile. He only uses it as a method of last resort after waiting for centuries.
Dashed Plot Line: The chapter follows the Mask of Nihilus over the entirety of Star Wars Legends and takes place over a period of four thousand years. The first time skip is set 300 years after Nihilus's defeat, during the Galactic Cold War. The second major time skip jumps ahead 3600 years during the reign of the Galactic Empire. The third major time skip takes place many decades later on the planet Remnant, around the time that the Great War had ended. The final time skip is set in the present day, approximately eight decades after the end of the Great War.
Death Glare: Nihilus's spirit gives his former apprentice Visas a spiteful glare before entering his Deep Sleep from within his mask.
Disapproving Look: Tex gives Church a blank stare of disapproval in response to his Comedic Sociopathy towards Remnant's natives.
Do Wrong, Right: Beta disapproves of Alpha's plan to dump the Mask of Nihilus on Remnant, not because his plan endangers everyone on the planet, but because he didn't check to see whether the planet had spacefaring technology.
Double-Meaning Title: Chapter 17 is titled "Legends", which, aside from referencing the chapter being a Flashback Episode, is also a nod to the first half of the chapter that covers Nihilus's history in the Legends continuity. Additionally, the title serves as a Call-Back to the very first word spoken by the narrator at the start of RWBY.
Earthquakes Cause Fissures: During Nihilus's period of imprisonment, a small earthquake created a crack on the cliffside housing Nihilus's cave. This was the same crack used by Jaune to enter the cavern in "Chance".
Eat the Summoner: Happens to Collan Eislo when his Force-sensitivity awakens Nihilus's Force ghost from its slumber. Upon being awoken, Nihilus almost immediately kills Collan and his followers and absorbs their Life Energy.
Enemy Rising Behind:
- Darth Nihilus's ghost materializes behind Nariel's back while she's busy piloting her ship through hyperspace.
- Thousands of years later, Nihilus's ghost once again slowly materializes behind Alpha's team of droids right before attacking Sando's Boys and the Apex Society.
Everyone Has Standards: The droids are horrified after seeing Nihilus's spirit massacre Sando's pirates and the Apex Society to the point where they decide that no one can ever find the mask.
Eviler than Thou: Both Collan Eislo and Sando get subjected to this by Darth Nihilus. The Sith spirit kills both in seconds.
The Final Temptation: An interesting inversion happens between Alixandre and Nihilus. Instead of the villain offering the hero a chance to return to normal life, he's offering the hero the opportunity to continue his adventure. Alix is at the Return phase of The Hero's Journey, traveling back home to retire as a farmer after spending a lifetime fighting for the Kingdom of Vale as its top military general. While on the road, Nihilus's spirit reveals himself to the former general and — sensing that Alix prefers being a soldier over a farmer — offers him the chance to abandon normalcy and resume life as a formidable warrior-general. In exchange, all Alix has to do is put on Nihilus's mask and allow his spirit to possess his body. Due to Nihilus's ability to subtly influence minds combined with having caught Alix in a Moment of Weakness, this nearly works until Alix realizes that the mask was responsible for corrupting Petros Krizoz. Refusing to end up as an evil monster like Krizoz, Alix musters up the willpower to break free of Nihilus's influence and rejects his offer.
For Want Of A Nail: It turns out that this whole mess started because Meetra took Nihilus's mask as a Battle Trophy after killing him aboard the Ravager. Had she decided to leave the mask to burn on the Ravager or simply forgotten about it, Nihilus's spirit would have likely perished along with his ship and would have never made his way to Remnant.
Formula-Breaking Episode: This chapter takes a break from the main story and the first half is spent on an the story of Nihilus's mask over the course of various time periods in Star Wars Legends. Even when the story's focus shifts back to Remnant, it shows events on Remnant which took place more than a hundred years prior to the main story.
Fusion Fic: The AI units from Red vs. Blue are reimagined as droid mercenaries in the Star Wars universe.
Heroic Willpower: Alix is able to snap out of the Mask's control through his willpower and resists long enough to lock the Mask inside a storage box and hide the box in a cave.
Hope Spot: There's a moment where when Alpha announces his plan to dump the Mask of Nihilus on Remnant regardless of the natives, Beta gives him a Disapproving Look that makes it seem like he's about to reconsider. However, he just asks Delta for clarification on whether Remnant has space technology and when told no, he moves right on ahead with his original plan with Beta's approval.
If My Calculations Are Correct: Delta tells Alpha that his calculations show that his plan to hide the mask in the Unknown Regions has a high chance of success.
Delta: While I do not have enough data on the Unknown Regions to project a threat rating should anything find it there, I can calculate that this plan has a high chance of success for hiding the mask from the Empire.
I'll Take That as a Compliment: When Nariel tells the Voidhound that he would make a fine Jedi if he was a bit more serious-minded, the smuggler responds by saying that he'll take that statement as a compliment.
Killed Midsentence: Nihilus kills Collan while he's in the middle of asking Nihilus to grant him Force powers.
Collan: Please, grant me the power of the Forc— [Nihilus drains Collan of his life]
Last Stand: When Vale's army assaults their monastery, the Temple of Shadows makes their final stand, defending their home to their deaths.
Let's Get Out of Here: Alpha says "Good. Now let's get the Hell out of here" after Delta confirms that the container holding the mask has been dumped out of their ship's airlock and into Remnant's atmosphere.
Let Us Never Speak of This Again: Alpha makes it clear that he wants to forget this whole mess with the mask ever happened and intends to wipe his own memory for good measure once his team's mission is done.
Logical Weakness: Darth Nihilus's mind-control and Life Drain, while fearsome for any organic beings, are completely ineffective on droids as they are soulless, inorganic machines.
Ludicrous Precision: Delta projects that his team has a 37.20% chance of defeating both the Apex Society and Sando's Boys at once. He later projects that their blasters have a 0.01% chance of working on Nihilus's Force ghost after seeing him No-Sell blaster bolts.
Mass "Oh, Crap!": Both Alpha's team and Sando's Boys react in horror when they see the mask summons the ghost of Darth Nihilus and realize that Collan's delusions were actually true.
Meaningless Villain Victory:
- To stop Nariel from hiding his mask on a remote world in the Unknown Regions, Nihilus kills her and sets her ship adrift with the expectation that his mask will be recovered once the ship is found. The ship is later discovered by smugglers who bring his mask to their hideout...a remote world in the Unknown Regions.
- Thousands of years later, Nihilus's mask is given the chance to return to the galaxy when it's found by several competing factions. Nihilus's spirit reveals itself to all the treasure hunters present and wipes out everyone except for four droids. This freaks out the droids, who decide the mask is too dangerous and, rather than take it back to galactic society, they dump it on an even more remote planet in the Unknown Regions.
Mêlée à Trois: During the flashback on Volik, we see Alpha's team, Sando's pirates, and the Apex Society battle over possession of Nihilus's mask.
Mexican Standoff: A three-way standoff happens between Church's team, Sando's pirates, and Eislo's pirates. Omega calls their situation a "Tatooine standoff".
Moment of Weakness: General Alixandre Arc served the Kingdom of Vale with distinction and loyalty during the Great War. When King Osmund disbanded the military after the war ended, the general retired as a simple farmer. However, the Mask of Nihilus sensed that a small part of him was resentful at Osmund for this change. Taking advantage of this, Nihilus's ghost tells the general that he deserves better and nearly brainwashes him into starting a military coup. Thankfully, Alix is able to break free from Nihilus's control through his Heroic Willpower. Nevertheless, he's horrified that he even considered overthrowing the king and never tells anyone about his encounter with the Mask out of shame.
Never Tell Me the Odds!: Said verbatim by Tex when Delta explains that there is a 37.20% chance their team is going to make it out of a three-way shootout with Sando's pirates and Collan's cutists unharmed.
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Church's team was unaware of the Mask of Nihilus's supernatural properties and presumably intended to sell the dark artifact to a wealthy collector, giving Nihilus both an escape off Volik and access to a new host. By killing Sando's pirates and Collan's cultists, Nihilus plays his hand too early and convinces Church's team that the mask is too dangerous for anyone to possess, leading them to maroon it on Remnant.
No Man Should Have This Power: After personally witnessing the Mask of Darth Nihilus drain the life out of every organic in close proximity, Church and his team decide that the mask is too dangerous for anyone to possess and set out to hide it somewhere where no one will ever find it.
No-Sell: For obvious reasons, blasters don't work on Nihilus's ghost. When Sando's pirates try shooting him, their blaster bolts pass through his projection harmlessly.
Noodle Incident:
- Given how familiar Alixandre and Petros are with each other, it's hinted that the two met some time before Vale's purge of the Temple of Shadows.
- Based on their exchange, it's implied that Church had previously worked on another job with Sando before the latter betrayed him.
- During their standoff, Sando mocks Collan and quips how her pirates were able to easily drive his followers away the last time they fought.
- Apparently, Church had a run-in with Darth Vader sometime in the past. While the specifics are not known, Vader left such an impression on Church that he decides letting the Mask of Darth Nihilus fall into Vader's hands would be catastrophic for the whole galaxy.
- Nihilus briefly recalls speaking with Revan during the Jedi Civil War. Given that the war happens years after Nihilus's transformation into a Force wound, this would mean that at some point, Nihilus reunited with his former mentor. The exact details of their meeting are unknown aside from Revan telling Nihilus about the Rakata.
Offscreen Moment of Awesome:
- In order for Nariel and the Voidhound to retrieve Nihilus's holocron, they first had to defeat a Sith named Zare. Because Nihilus only wakes up after Zare is killed and Nariel has acquired the holocron, the reader isn't given much information about the fight between Nariel, the Voidhound, and Zare. The only detail known about that fight comes from the dialogue between Nariel and the Voidhound where she praises the smuggler for having fought a Sith Lord and survived despite not being Force-sensitive.
- We don't get to see Meetra Surik's fight with Darth Nihilus and only see the moment after Nihilus dies.
- The actual battle between Alixandre and Petros is never shown, as the scene skips over that part and only shows the aftermath of their confrontation. Though, the battle was likely fierce considering that at the end of it, a hundred of Alixandre's men were dead with only a dozen of Krizoz's assassins being killed in exchange.
Oh, Crap!: Nariel has this reaction when she realizes that the Mask of Nihilus is still alive.
One Degree of Separation: Between Darth Nihilus and one of Ozpin's previous incarnations. It turns out that the Valean general who shut down Nihilus's cult did so on Osmund's orders.
Perspective Flip: The final segment of the chapter retells the events of the prologue "Chance", but from the perspective of Nihilus's spirit from within its mask.
Pose of Supplication: When Nihilus's spectral form reveals itself, Collan Eislo falls to his feet and adopts this pose in reverence. Unfortunately for him, Nihilus doesn't care and kills him anyway.
Pretender Diss: Nihilus is unimpressed by the Sith wannabe Collan Eislo and sees him as not even worthy of becoming a Sith neophyte, much less his apprentice.
Quizzical Tilt: When Church explains his plan to dump Nihilus's mask on Remnant, Tex tilts her head before asking him what happens if one of Remnant's natives come across the mask.
The Reveal:
- It's finally shown how the Mask of Darth Nihilus winded up on Remnant. Additionally, it's revealed that the fanfic takes place around the same time as Star Wars: Legacy.
- Jaune didn't receive his Force-sensitivity from the mask. He was always Force-sensitive and all Nihilus did was artificially enhance his connection to the Force.
Rousing Speech: General Alixandre Arc gives one to his soldiers right before they are to storm the Temple of Shadows' monastery stronghold:
Alixandre Arc: Men and women of Vale! Brace yourselves for a battle the likes of which none of you have ever seen! King Osmund has tasked us with the unenviable duty of removing these blighted cultists from this world. For too long these murderers and marauders have lived under the guise of holy men and women, killing any and all for their blasphemous rituals. But no more! We of Vale are here now to stop this evil! And though it will be a grim task, one that will claim the lives of many here, know that what we do today we do not just because it was ordered, but because it is what's right! What's just! [raises sword] Now come! For death and glory! For Vale and the King!
Screaming Warrior: Nihilus's spirit lets out a roar while blasting Sando's pirates and Collan's cultists with Force Drain lightning.
Switching P.O.V.: The chapter's POV shifts from Meetra Surik, to the Mask of Nihilus, to Nariel Pridence, to Church, to Petros Krizoz, and finally to Alixandre Arc.
Sword Plant: Alixandre Arc plants Crocea Mors on the ground and uses it as a crutch due to being exhausted from his fight with Petros Krizoz.
Translation Convention: Despite Nihilus identifying Sando as speaking Rodian, she speaks in English in the text for the reader's convenience.
Understatement: After watching the mask summon a homicidal ghost which violently kills almost everyone in the cave, Alpha has this to say.
Alpha: Well… that just happened. Any suggestions on what to do with this thing?
Ungrateful Bastard: When Collan and his cultists bow before Nihilus's ghost and inform him that they have come to rescue him, Nihilus callously kills them all without much thought.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Meetra Surik. By choosing to take Nihilus's mask with her as a trophy rather than leaving it to be destroyed along with his ship, she ensures Nihilus's survival and is indirectly responsible for the entire story.
Wham Line:
- Church says one when he explains why the Mask is too dangerous to leave behind.
  Church: We can't let this thing get back to the Empire. Trust me, Vader is the last type of person who should get something like this.
- When the reader meets the general leading Vale's army against the Temple, the general's name is revealed to be Alixandre Arc.
When She Smiles: The narration describes Tex as smiling (despite her lack of a face) when Church tells her that she can shoot Omega if he suggests any more Stupid Evil ideas.
Whole Episode Flashback: The entire chapter contains various flashback segments to different eras of history in the Star Wars galaxy.
Yellow Lightning, Blue Lightning:
- After Meetra kills Nihilus aboard the Ravager, a storm of red lightning appears around his corpse and destroys the body as it becomes one with the Force.
- When Nihilus's projection uses Force drain on the pirates and cultists, he shoots out orange lightning from his fingertips.
You Monster!: Alixandre describes all of the Temple's monks as monsters and expresses satisfaction and relief upon their deaths.