Chapter Start
-Rhen Var, Thanium Sector, 3653 BBY-
Rhen Var, a planet situated near the Tion Cluster in the Outer Rim Territories and the first of the Tobali system. It was once a fertile paradise brimming with vegetation and wild life, but now it was quite the opposite, a barren wasteland of frozen tundras and snowswept mountains. Entire ancient civilizations and old Jedi artifacts were cloaked under the decades of compressed ice and snow, leaving it a gold mine to historians and archaeologists.
But that was not why he was here. A dark blue visor followed the descent of a snowflake, watching the frozen precipitate dance down to his still warm weapon, the heat it gave off melting the snowflake a millisecond before it came in contact with the metal. Shifting his grip on the weapon, he gave the contraption a once-over. Weighing four-and-a-half kilograms, his weapon was commonplace among the army of the Galactic Republic, a standard-issue blaster rifle with a retractable stock. While it was much more powerful than a blaster pistol, there was a trade-off in the fact that it weighed more. The capacity for most rifles was fifty shots per cartridge with a eight-hundred round/min rate of fire, but his was modified with a selective fire rate, he could either use three-round bursts, the average automatic fire mode, or a non-lethal stun damage setting when the need arose. Along with this, his rifle had the standard targeting scope for mid-range targets.
"Naruto." a soft feminine voice called out, breaking the man from his stupor. Turning to his left, the man known as Naruto saw his commanding officer, Jedi Knight Satele Shan. A human who - despite being one of the few people to have actually been there for the beginning of the war over nearly three decades ago - had the appearance of a woman in her mid-twenties. She stood at 5'3" with brown-black hair cut short and held in two braids that framed either side of her face, blue-gray eyes and lipstick of the same tint, perky B-Cup breasts, a toned bubble butt, and fair skin. Her outfit consisted of a tight-fitting combat attire of an olive-brown color with gold trimmings. She also sported an armband on her upper left arm that had a piece of metal affixed to it, and wore brown gloves that covered most of her forearm in silver-gray armor plating. Gripped in her hand was her third lightsaber, the first two having been destroyed during the war, yet each were similar in design, a blue-bladed saberstaff.
"Satele - Commander Shan." Naruto stated, correcting himself when he saw the light glare the woman sent his way. Naruto was the exact opposite of Satele when it came to height, standing at 5'9", he was the one of the tallest humans of his generation from his planet. Unlike his fellow Republic soldier, he did not wear the standard white-and-orange armor. Instead, he wore a metallic gray-and-blue prototype armor known as MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor codename "Hunter" made from beskar, otherwise known as Mandalorian iron, consisting of a helmet, Mandalorian iron alloy outer shell armor plating that covered the majority of his body, underneath which he wore a Nanocomposite bodysuit with Hydrostatic Gel, polymerized Lithium Nibocene , a memory processor superconductor, magnetic weapon holder strips, a pressure seal, a miniature fusion reactor, force-multiplying circuits, reactive circuits, and a power supply control unit. On his back was a propulsion unit that worked similarly to that of a spaceship's engines would, though Naruto simply called it a thruster pack.
His armor was quite possibly the Republic's most advanced prototype armor, simply because of the scarcity of the resources to make it.
"It's time." Satele stated, receiving a curt nod from the armored man.
"*BOOM*!" The structure they resided in shook violently when it was struck by another explosion, which had been a common occurrence considering the circumstances they were in.
"Make sure they keep pushing forward. I'll do what I can from behind enemy lines." Naruto said, releasing the safety on his blaster rifle and walking out into the snowy lands.
"Naruto!" Satele called out, causing the armored man to pause and turn to her. "May the Force be with you."
"You as well, Satele." Naruto replied, facing her as he began to walk backwards. "And hey! Maybe when this is all over with you and I can go get a drink!" Even without seeing his face, Satele could tell he was grinning like a madman, causing her to shake her head and smirk, something that the armored man missed when he turned around and began to sprint away.
"-The Great Galactic War has dragged on for decades. Thousands of Jedi and Sith, Republic and Imperial soldiers, and civilians alike were slain. Countless star systems were ravaged..."
"We're not going to hold them off. We're going to push past them, and march to the black heart of our enemy! We fight for out homelands and for out freedom - may the Force be with us!" Satele's voice rang out through Naruto's commlink, though he paid very little attention to the inspirational speech and the collective battle cry that followed. Right now, his focus was trained on his rifle's sight and his own senses as he traversed the forest. Finally he came upon his destination, a dark, looming fortress that had Imperial Agents, battle droids, and Sith Warriors and Inquisitors all patrolling.
'Bingo.' Naruto thought, switching his rifle's fire mode to three-round burst and pulling out a Class-C thermal detonator. "Little sphere, big boom." he mumbled, running forward and activating his thruster pack, causing him to fly upward in the air. His pack's stabilizers momentarily engaged, allowing him to prime the thermal detonator in his hands and throw it towards the nearest metal object, which happened to be the looming wall of the Sith fortress. All of this occurred seconds before he shot downward towards an unsuspecting Imperial Agent, slamming his fist into the ground in a "ground pound", the very impact forming a crater nearly ten feet in diameter the same time the thermal detonator went off, creating a gaping hole in the side of the fortress.
"We of the Sith Empire agree. There have been too many loses on both sides for this conflict to continue..."
"*Szhoom*!" Naruto's propulsion pack thrust him forward, narrowly dodging a Sith Warrior's lightsaber, which strangely enough was not the usual red synthetic crystal color, but a purple colored blade instead. The blaster rifle that he had shortly ago utilized had been discarded, all four cartridges having been expended and the rifle itself chucked at an Imperial Agent.
"Hold still, Republic Swine!" the owner of said lightsaber, a male Massassi, yelled, sulfuric yellow eyes filled with anger and rage that he channeled towards the armored man. His rage made him strong, but sloppy, unable to dodge the sucker punch to the gut that Naruto gave him. The armored man then gripped the Massassi's wrist, twisting it until pain made him release his grip on his lightsaber, the plasma blade deactivating with a hiss and falling into the snow. Not wasting a second, Naruto pulled out his sidearm, a Westar-34 blaster pistol, and aimed it at the Massassi's head.
"Sasuke!" the feminine cry of another Sith Warrior, a human female with - strangely enough - pink hair, fell onto deaf ears.
"*Shtoom*!" Naruto pulled the trigger, shooting the Massassi point blank in the head. The life quickly left his eyes as his body flopped down, dead before he even hit the ground.
"NO!" the woman exclaimed, dashing towards the armored man with her red lightsaber ignited. Acting fast, Naruto swept down, grabbing the lightsaber that had fallen into the snow and ignited the blade, bringing it up just in time to block the pinkette's own blade.
-Alderaan, Alderaan Sector, Four Months Later-
"This will be the singular defining event of recent years - the unprecedented peace agreement between the Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic, the Treaty of Coruscant."
Naruto and Satele sent glares towards the Sith Empire's representatives and vice versa, though the former's glare was hidden behind his helmet.
Darth Baras and Senator Paran Am-Ris, both elected the peace treaty representatives of the Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic respectively, shook hands, signifying the consent of both parties despite the glares the majority of their guards sent to each other.
"Aaaaannnddd we're no longer live!" the labor droid exclaimed, causing the two delegates to release a collective sigh.
"Again, I apologize for the... aggressions of some of my fellow colleagues." Paran said, his eyes glancing over to Satele and one other Jedi.
"I expected such a reaction, Senator." Baras responded. "Now, if you would..."
"Guards, leave us." Paran stated, both delegates pulling out holo-transmitters and activating them, revealing the forms of both the Jedi Council, the Dark Council, and many other high-ranking officials. Naruto could even swear he saw the Sith Emperor among the holograms.
"But Senator-" "Go, this is now a classified meeting between the Galactic Republic, the Jedi Order, the Sith Empire, and the Dark Council."
"... Let's go." Naruto stated, turning and walking out the large doorway, Satele and the other guards from both parties following suit.
...
"This is complete and utter rancor shit!" one of the guards, a female human Sith Warrior with long red hair, exclaimed. "Why don't we just kill them?!"
"Umm... because we can hear you?" Naruto pointed out, causing the woman to halt in her tracks.
"I - you... shut up, fucker!" the woman yelled, unable to come up with a witty retort. The redhaired woman stood at 5'4" with pale skin, sulfuric yellow eyes, and wore a black low-cut bodyglove, a full-body, form-fitting garment that showed off her CC-cup breasts and curves, over which she wore light armoring over her shoulders and hips, her lightsaber clipped onto a belt she wore.
"Calm down, Tayuya. We're here for matters of peace, not war." one of the other guards, a human female Imperial Agent, stated, her voice monotonic. She stood a bit taller than her companion, standing at 5'7" with shoulder-length dirty blond hair held up by hairclips so that two bangs framed either side of her face and her hair did not go past her neck, one charcoal black eye and one robotic eye that glowed green, DD-cup breasts with a slim waist and a nice rear, and fair skin. Her outfit consisted of a highly modified Imperial Officer uniform, which was the form-fitting top of the regular Imperial Agent uniform with the sleeves rolled back to her elbows and the front unzipped so that a generous portion of her cleavage was visible, along with a dogtag. Under this, she wore a white bandeau bra, a black miniskirt, black fishnet stockings, black gloves, and black steel-toed boots.
All in all, Naruto was glad he had a helmet on, because he was certain that if the two women saw him checking them out, they would unleash their feminine rage on him...
"Hey, you! Iron Fucker!" the redhaired woman, Tayuya, called out. "I don't need the Force to know you just checked us out."
Shit.
"For the moment, I recognize you both as hostile. Your partner seems less hostile, however." Naruto stated, sweating bullets underneath his armor.
"He does have a point, Tayuya." the blond woman stated.
"I'm curious as to why you seem less hostile. After all, merely months ago we were all fighting." Naruto commented.
"War is war. You fought for your ideals, I fought for mine. But in the end, here we are." the blond woman retorted.
"Hmm." Naruto hummed as he slowly began to walk away.
"Where are you going?" Satele questioned, causing the armored man to pause in his tracks.
"The war's over with. I'm going to... I don't know where." Naruto replied, activating his thruster pack and leaping off.
...
"Are you certain of this?"
"At 0631 hours this morning, Captain Uzumaki was declared absent without leave. We found his armor inside his locker."
"We'll find him, sir-"
"Negative. We have more pressing matters to deal with."
-Naboo, Chommell Sector, 3638 BBY-
'Deep breaths...' Naruto mentally chanted, his eyes closed as calmed his breath, down of both knees with a familiar object in his hands - a trophy... a reminder...
"*Vrrrrmmp*!" the hiss of plasma against air brought back unpleasant memories to the forefront of his mind. The lightsaber he had taken from the Massassi Sith Warrior, Sasuke, if what the pink haired Sith exclaimed was anything to go by. His eyes traced the activated blade, from the tip of the glowing purple plasma down to the hilt, which was slightly curved and made of a durable and polished gold-bronze-colored metal with a black grip. It looked ancient, yet modern from the way it was kept in the condition it was now.
"*Varooowmm*!" Naruto was so caught up in his thoughts that he almost didn't notice the white-and-orange shuttle enter the atmosphere, the keyword being 'almost'. He quickly deactivated the lightsaber, its purple plasma blade dissipating with a sharp hissing noise, though his hands still rested on his thighs. Even as the NR2 light transport landed fifteen yards behind him, causing the grass and leaves and even some of the smaller vegetation to be whipped around by the wind and the boarding ramp opening up, Naruto barely showed any signs of acknowledgement.
"Naruto? Captain Uzumaki...?"
"..." Naruto gave no verbal reply, only standing up and turning to face the person who called out his name.
"Naruto..." Satele said. Of all the possible people that Naruto expected to see, Satele was not one of them. He honestly expected someone else, a bounty hunter or some extremely loyal soldier, to find him. Her appearance hadn't changed too much, her hair having grown a little longer and she now donned the brown cloak that many Jedi wore.
"Satele..." Naruto mumbled, flashing a small smile at the woman. "It's good to see you again."
"Yeah..." Satele replied, lowering her head slightly so that he would not see the red tinge spread across her face. Thanks to the advancements of medical techniques and technology, despite fifteen years having passed since the end of the Great Galactic War, he still retained the appearance of a young man in his early twenties, something Satele was unaware of because of the armor he once wore. But without his armor, Naruto was actually quite handsome. Golden blond, spiky hair, cerulean blue eyes, slightly tanned skin, and three whisker-like markings on his cheeks. His outfit was simply the bodyglove that all Republic soldiers wore under their armor, a black form-fitting one-piece suit that covered everything except his hands and head, leaving little to Satele's imagination. Coupled with this, he donned a simple pair of black fingerless gloves and shoes.
And his smile. Though it was curt and polite, it only accentuated his appeal. She could barely hold her gaze with his own.
"So what brings you here?" Naruto asked. The question was vague, but Satele knew what he was really asking.
"Your presence has been requested by the Galactic Republic." Satele stated. "They thought that having a familiar face approach you about this would ease any hostility you might have."
"I can understand that, but what would the Republic want from me? Why now of all times?" Naruto questioned.
"I don't know. I'm as much in the dark about this as you are." Satele replied, her eyes narrowing. "Though I have been noticing a few things that seemed... off."
"Commander Shan, Captain Uzumaki, time is of the essence." the pilot called out from the cockpit. "We have to go. Now!"
"Pilot! What could possibly be so important that we have to leave right now?!" Naruto queried, slightly ticked off that his reunion was interrupted.
"I have priority level one orders from the Supreme Chancellor himself to get you and the others." the pilot said. "Now haul ass!"
"*Sigh* Well, I guess we can catch up on the shuttle." Satele said, brushing a stray strand of hair aside and extending a hand to the blond man. Naruto grinned, grabbing her petite hand and walking into the shuttle.
"Hey pilot, you said something about 'others'?"
"Yeah! We've got three more people to pick up before proceeding!"
"Three more people? Who?"
-Utapau, Tarabba Sector-
"Oh finally! Thank the Force!"
"Come on, it wasn't that bad."
"You're used to her, umm... colorful language. We aren't."
"The fuck do you mean by that?! Shithead?!"
"We all know what it means, Sith."
"Should we remove their restraints?"
"What are you, crazy? It's a miracle in itself that they've only limited themselves to verbal spouts rather than physical action."
"I'm surprised you guys haven't tried to kill Tayuya and I yet."
"Unlike my Master, I have some form of self-restraint."
"I've been trying to retain any patience I have left after listening to these two."
"So... should I remove their restraints?"
"Yes!/NO!"
"All of you shut up! We've arrived at the landing site." the pilot stated, opening up the boarding ramp. "Now get going! One of the Admirals is waiting for you guys!"
"Fine, yeesh..." Naruto mumbled, all five passengers of the spaceship filing out one by one, starting with Naruto, Satele, Tayuya, a female Togruta, and lastly a female Chiss, not even moments after they had all gotten off did the NR2 light transport fly off.
"Welcome to Utapau, please state your name, rank, and affiliation." a familiar mop of blond hair filled Satele and Naruto's vision.
"Oh hey! You were at the Alderaan peace conference with us!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Yes, I recognized you and the Jedi. Please state your name, rank, and affiliation." the dirty blond haired woman stated.
"Latia Starkos, Sergeant, Sith Empire." the female Chiss, Latia, stated. She was quite tall for a Chiss, standing at 5'7" with light blue skin, glowing red eyes, a thin frame, DD-Cup breasts, and jet black hair held in a ponytail that ended halfway down her back, her attire consisting of the standard female Imperial Agent uniform.
"Dar'Nala, Jedi Master, Jedi Order." the female Togruta, Dar'Nala, stated, a sly grin on her face as she spoke. Like many Togruta, Dar'Nala had a smooth, rusty skin tone of red hue with white pigmentations on her face, black eyes, and greyish lips. Her head bore two curved montrals, with three head-tails with black horizontal stripes. Unlike most Jedi, she had very little covering her modesty, her outfit consisting of a brown low-cut garment that barely covered her D-cup breasts, flowing down her hourglass figure and covering the front and back of her crotch. Coupled with this, she wore multiple dark brown scaly belts, one of which holstered her lightsaber, a metal band on her upper right arm, three golden hoop-like wristbands, and bandages were wrapped around her left forearm and both her legs starting just below her knees.
"Tayuya Chinzano, Sith Warrior, Sith Empire." Tayuya grumbled.
"Satele Shan, Jedi Master, Jedi Order." Satele stated.
"Naruto Uzumaki, Captain, Galactic Republic." Naruto stated.
"Excellent. I am Admiral Natalia Eclipse. From this moment forward I will be your supervising officer." the blond woman, now identified as Natalia, stated.
"Now hold on one sec! What do you mean by 'supervising officer'? I can understand Latia and Tayuya, but we're aligned with the Galactic Republic." Naruto commented.
"Come with me, everything will be explained soon enough." Natalia said, turning around and speed-walking away, her hips swaying slightly as she left, catching her fellow blond's eyes.
"Eyes forward, blondie." Dar'Nala said, slapping Naruto's ass lightly. With a flirtatious wink and a small kiss blown, the female Togruta sauntered off, swaying her hips purposefully as she walked.
"Master!" Satele exclaimed, and with good reason too. Her Master, the woman who she fought side-by-side with during the war, the woman who she apprenticed to when her pervious - Master Kao Cen Darach - fell at Korriban, was acting like a Nekarr cat in heat.
"Lighten up, Satele. We're both Masters." Dar'Nala stated.
"But your attire... it's - umm... well..." Satele trailed off.
"Unbecoming for a Jedi?"
"Very revealing?"
"Fucking putting it out there?"
"... Yes... something like that." Satele said hesitantly.
"Satele, I've changed ever since Alderaan. The Force has guided me along my path thus far. It kept me from succumbing to the dark side in my most vulnerable hour." Dar'Nala stated. "And besides..."
"..."
"..."
"... Well?"
"Well what?"
"You - never mind. Let's just get going."
-A Few Minutes later-
"... Woah."
"I... Fucking hell..."
"Oh my Force."
"Damn..." Naruto mumbled, flabbergasted like the other members of his group at what was quite possibly the largest starship in history.
"What is that?!" Dar'Nala questioned.
"Approximately 3,000 kilometers in length, divided into twenty-four zones, and each controlled by a bridge officer. 10,000 lasers, ion, turbolaser batteries, heavy turbolasters, Class 1.5 and Backup Class 6 Hyperdrive rating, twelve stable reactors producing ten octillion (1027) Watts, twenty Executor-50.x engines, self-sufficient greenhouses, water supplies, enough food to feed an entire planet for a decade, oxygen recycling systems, and a crew of 280,000 of the Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic's finest... including us." Natalia explained.
"You mean...?" Latia started.
"That's right." the six Imperial and Republic forces turned around to find Darth Baras and Senator Paran Am-Ris approaching them.
"Lord Baras, Senator Paran." Natalia straightened and saluted the duo.
"At ease, Admiral." Baras stated.
"No need for formalities, please." Paran added before his expression morphed into seriousness. "I'll keep this brief, so save any questions for the end."
"The Great Galactic War has left a devastating impact on both sides. Entire planets and systems scarred to the point that they could be uninhabitable for decades." Baras continued. "Refuges nearing the trillions in number with no places to go, no homes to go back to. It was in the best interest of both the Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic to... expand the galaxy."
"Expand the galaxy?"
"This starship was built not for war, but for exploration and colonization." Paran explained. "Its mission is to discover habitable planets off in a nearby sister galaxy - and mind you, the closest is theoretically 150,000 light-years away."
"Stocked onboard is enough supplies to set up five self-sufficient colonies." Baras stated as both Paran and he began encircling the group. "You have each been chosen because of your service records, skills, or other miscellaneous reasons, to take part of this mission."
"And before you ask, no, this mission is not optional. Refusal will be considered an act of treason and punished by immediate execution." Paran added.
"Well that's just fan-fucking-tastic." Tayuya mumbled.
"In a few moments, you will be lead to one of the boarding ships. You have six hours before we begin to prep for the voyage. After that, say your last goodbyes to the known galaxy." Paran stated.
"But-" "Understood, sir." Satele started, only to be cut off by the resounding response from Naruto, Latia, and Natalia.
"Very well. Dismissed." Paran said before saluting the group. "Are there any questions?"
"Yeah, just one..." Naruto said. "What's the name of this starship?"
"... The Spirit of Innovation."
Chapter End
AN: Here's an interesting fact - the largest starship in the known Star Wars universe was the Executor-class Star Dreadnought, a.k.a the Super Star Destroyer, the very flagship that Darth Vader used during the Galactic Civil War. The size of the Executor and the Executor II was 19 kilometers.
The first Death Star had a diameter of 140-160 kilometers, and the Death Star II had a broader range of figures ranging from 160 to 900 kilometers.
The planet Earth - our planet - has a diameter of 7,917.5 miles, which is roughly equal to 12,741.9811 kilometers. Earth's Moon is 2,159 miles, or 3,474.574 kilometers.
The Spirit of Innovation is 3,000 kilometers in length, nearly a fourth of the length of Earth and nearly the same length as our moon.
And on another note, the armor Naruto used on Rhen Var was the MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor known as Hunter, a variant of MJOLNIR GEN2 Armor used by SPARTAN-IVs in Halo, the armor used by Jameson Locke (For those who do not know who he is, Locke is one of the playable characters in Halo 5).
Well, see you guys next time!
-CrimsonKyuubiSage out!