Chapter 2
The Devil's Order
Latest Holonet News
Supreme Chancellor Survives Jedi Assassination
It has just been reported today that the Jedi, in a despicable act, had attempted to assassinate our beloved Chancellor. Four Jedi Masters, all members of the Jedi High Council, led the assault on the Galactic Senate. The Jedi council's second chair, Mace Windu, was identified as the leader of this unprecedented attempt on the Galactic Republic leadership!
With this failed assassination attempt, new evidence has come to light that the Jedi Order were planning a coup with the Separatists against the Republic. In light of this evidence Chancellor Palpatine places executive Order 66 into effect. All Jedi are hereby considered traitors of the Galactic Republic and are to be apprehended by any means necessary.
The Beginning of a New Era
In light of the Jedi rebellion and the continued threat of the Separatists it was decided in a landslide vote that the Galactic Republic is to be reformed into the first Galactic Empire for continued stability and peace within the galaxy. Beloved leader Chancellor Dantius Palpatine was unanimously elected as the first Galactic Emperor.
"Watch out!"
Naruto moved with speed, diving through the air and colliding with the Jedi knight, sending the two of them sprawled on the forest floor in a heap. He heard several strange pangs and saw streaks of crimson light flash past the spot where Aayla stood just a moment ago. It didn't matter that those weapons didn't have blades, they were deadly.
Aayla flipped to her feet. That strange energy sword igniting in her hands just in time to block a handful of those crimson streaks, sending a few back at the men who were firing them. Naruto didn't quite get what was going on, but he knew which side of the field he was on. Quickly the blonde threw his wind imbued kunai, watching with some grim satisfaction as one pierced right into an ARC Troopers throat, sending blood spattering across the ground.
The remaining four began to spread out, their focus still on his comrade as she continued to deflect those strange energy blasts. They were going to try and catch her in a crossfire, hoping that they're weapons would overwhelm her defences. Naruto could tell that she was confused, and his suspicion was proven when she spoke.
"Captain, what is the meaning of this?"
Briggs didn't answer, instead he fired another volley at the Jedi knight, forcing her to take a step back as she continued to block with her blue energy sword. They had almost completely forgotten about Naruto, probably thought his kunai was one of their crimson bolts deflected back at the user. That would be their last mistake.
Still crouched he brought his hands together in a cross shaped sign, and taking a deep breath surged his chakra, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
There was an explosion of white smoke, and before the ARC Troopers knew it they found themselves surrounded by twenty perfect clones of him. The Shadow Clones didn't wait for the smoke to disperse, and threw themselves into the battle, katana and kunai drawn and ready to attack. These soldiers were well trained though, and with almost lightning fast reflexes spun around and fired full salvoes of crimson energy into the throng of clones, taking out five before the rest began jumping in chakra propelled leaps, rushing across the tree trunks and tossing a small cloud of kunai and shuriken.
An ARC fell back, blood gushing from a kunai imbedded in his neck. Another stumbled as several shuriken dug into his breast plate, but failed to puncture the armour. He shrugged it off and bringing his weapon up began firing again. Two more clones exploded in puffs of white smoke, the crimson lances piercing them. Naruto grit his teeth, he needed to get closer, needed to turn this fight into one of Taijutsu and Kenjutsu.
Aayla flew forward, lightsabre in hand, ducking under the Captain's weapon and neatly cut the barrel in half. The officer stumbled back, and the Jedi took full advantage, fluidly coming forward to separate his head from his shoulders. The helm flew far into the forest, vanishing from sight. Three down, two to go.
A million questions threatened to overtake her mind as she fought. Chief among them was why had her own soldiers turned against her like this. What the hell could have happened for an elite ARC team to suddenly turn on her? Then there was Naruto, who had just shown a number of abilities she had never heard off before. This man, this young man had just shown that he could kill an elite ARC Trooper with nothing more than a throwing knife and had created nearly twenty illusions of himself to combat the forces against him.
It wasn't his usage of the force, it felt like something deeper, tied to his own body like a second energy. He had called upon it, and created this mass of illusions to confront her now turncoat troopers. Only advanced masters could use the force in such a way, if he was even using the force at all. Then she watched as the last ten fell on the clones, and plunged kunai and shuriken into their bodies. Her breathe caught in her float. Those were not illusions. They were solid, deadly clones. Not even advanced Masters of the force were capable of such feats.
The ten copies stood up, leaving the ARC Troopers unmoving on the forest floor. There was an explosion of white smoke as the clones dispelled, leaving only the original Naruto standing in the middle of a circle of corpses. He approached her, sheathing his katana into the sheath at the small of his back. "What the hell was that?"
She shook her head, eyes refusing to leave Brigg's headless body. "I have no idea."
"The Captain got a message," Naruto said as he came within a few feet of the Jedi Knight, "A figure dressed in a black robe told him to execute Order 66."
"Order 66," Aayla repeated the word with a frown. She had never heard of such an order, but the words left a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Was this an isolated incident, just a squad of turncoats trying to assassinate her? Or was this happening in other places as well, what about Barriss and the three Padawans?
She exploded into motion with force propelled speed, shooting across the clearing and into the trees in a blur. Naruto starred after her, frowning, before he gathered the chakra into the soles of his feet and took off after her. He jumped high, landing on a branch and took off after her from the tree branches. Aayla was fast, and he doubted he would have been able to keep up if he was running on the ground.
She ran for ten, maybe twenty minutes through the underbrush before coming to a clearing, skidding to a halt in the last line of trees before looking over the clear expanse. She knew her fellow Knight was here. Aayla had been friends with the younger woman since they were both Padawans in the temple and had memorized her signature in the force. Naruto dropped down beside her as Aayla leaned forward, put her hands on her knees and took several breaths.
Barriss stood several meters ahead of a small line of regular Clone Troopers, the huge hulking form of an AT-RT slowly advancing through the wilderness. At the young Knights feet was the sparking wreckage of a dozen Battle Droids, her green bladed lightsabre lit and held in her right hand. She smiled. Maybe it was an isolated incident after all. Why would their own soldiers turn on them for no reason?
She raised her hand and started to wave to her friend, calling out her name to get her attention, "Barriss!"
The woman turned, dark eyes studying the expanse of forest. Barriss saw her, smiled and made to move towards her. Naruto caught a round face of tanned skin, dark markings on her cheeks and the bridge of her nose, her hair was black and shoulder length. He mused for a moment if all women in the Jedi Order were beautiful.
It happened in a blur. One moment her friend was walking towards her, closing down her lightsabre. The next she disappeared in an explosion of flame, her body encompassed by wild fire as the main gun of the AT-RT fired on her. Aayla looked on, eyes wide in horror as her friends life vanished from the force.
"No," she whispered, taking a step back and stumbling. Naruto looked on with the same horror as the Twi'lek Jedi beside him. The sound of a snap, followed by a hiss brought his attention back to the real world, and he saw Aayla with an ignited lightsabre in her hand and anger in her eyes. The line of soldiers saw them and opened fire with their weapons, pelting the tree line with a storm of crimson lances. The gun on the back of the four-legged artillery tank swivelled round in their direction.
Naruto acted on instinct, he grabbed Aayla before she charged and ran back into the forest as fast as he could, ignoring the zings of energy which soared past, leaving burn marks on the trees and rocks all around him. Aayla struggled against him at first, but eventually relented and allowed him to drag her away. He ran with chakra enhanced speed for a handful of moments, and only stopped when he no longer heard the zings and dings of weapons fire.
He turned to find himself tackled to the ground, hitting the dirt hard, the breath exploding from his lungs as he was straddled. He heard the continuous hum, felt the harsh heat and looked at the tip of the Jedi Knights lightsabre. Aayla glared menacingly down at him with clouded over eyes, breath coming and going in heated, angry pants. Her voice filtered into his hearing, harsh yet hoarse, "Why did you stop me!"
Naruto fought for breath as he spoke, azure eyes not leaving her violent chocolate. "If you ran out there then you would have been as good as dead!"
"I would have handled it!" she roared angrily.
"No you wouldn't," he shouted back, taking in a last gulp of air before continuing. "You would have been gunned down just like Barriss was!"
They heard voices coming from the direction they came, and knew that the company of troopers were giving chase through the forest. Aayla jumped up, lightsabre at the ready to fight, but Naruto jumped up with her, grabbing her shoulder and making her look into his eyes. There was a storm of emotion brewing in those dark orbs, pain, disbelief, anger and betrayal and it threatened to tear her apart.
"You can't fight them," he said, voice soft yet carrying a hint of steel behind it. "If you go against them the way you are now then you will die! You will take a fair lot of them with you, but you will die, and then who would be left who knows the truth! Do you think Barriss would want you to rush off to your own death like this!"
She glared at him for a handful of heartbeats before violently shaking her head, "She was right there." Her voice was a whisper, but when she looked at him again all the betrayal and anger was replaced with grief. Her friend had been incinerated right before her eyes. "She was right in front of me and I couldn't do a thing about it!" Her head darted to the right suddenly, "The Padawans."
Naruto knew from his discussion with her that Padawans were considered apprentices within the ranks of the Jedi, and caught her attention before she went running into the forests again. The turncoats were still a good way away from them. "Where are they?"
Her head snapped round to look at him, and taking a deep breath to calm herself Aayla spoke. "They were leading a company to a Separatist communications outpost, some five clicks to the east."
Naruto nodded, and offered a brave smile. "Let's go get them then."
She nodded and the two took off into the jungle at near superhuman speeds. Aayla gathering the force to blur through the underbrush while Naruto jumped to the treetops in a chakra propelled leap and began skipping from branch to branch to keep up with her. They left the advancing line of soldiers behind with minimal effort.
Jedi and Shinobi ran through the forest at high speed, not stopping or faltering for the entire journey to their destination. Naruto was the first to see the outpost, a large structure of dark metal reaching up through the forest, a large dish of some description rested on the flat roof, reaching up to the sky. It was imbedded in an outcropping of rock, the only entrance being a set of doors in the middle of a clearing. He came to a stop on the second last line of trees, Aayla landing beside him and together the two watched the activity below.
There were at least thirty Clone Troopers in the clearing. Twenty were scouring around, picking up the remains of Separatist battle droids and throwing them into a pile in the centre of the clearing. Another ten were standing in a line at attention before the entrance of the communications outpost. It looked like a deadly number of soldiers for only two combatants.
Aayla didn't think so. She jumped from the branch, lightsabre activating in her hands as she flew through the air. She had easily jumped twenty, maybe thirty meters across the clearing. She brought her lightsabre down as she fell and cleaved a clone in half. She then spun around, a second lightsabre igniting in her free hand as she danced and spun, striking down clone after clone with lethal accuracy.
Six of the nine guards had fallen to her blades before the other twenty realised what was going on, and the last three were taken down as they went for their weapons. It was just as the first raised them for the Jedi that a voice echoed through the air, "Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
The twenty troopers turned to the noise just in time to see a huge cloud of smoke descend on the entire northern line of trees, and exploding through the smog were hundreds of Naruto's, all running towards the surprised Clone Troopers, katana and kunai drawn like a horde of warriors from the ancient stories. Aayla barely gave it a glance, all she cared about was getting to the Padawan's before the clones did.
The Jedi Knight stood before the sealed doors and with the force forced them open with a snap as locks were broken and a mechanical whine as the blast doors were pushed aside. She walked into the main chamber of the outpost, and was immediately forced to deflect blaster bolts as a squad of nine Clone Troopers opened fire. Aayla did not hesitate. She spun her twin lightsabres, one blue the other green in a protective veil in front of her, deflecting every bolt and despatching the Clones with quick and precise strikes.
She walked calmly yet cautiously, the darkened corridors illuminated by the dim multicoloured light emitted from her lightsabres. Another squad of Clones rounded the corner, three falling on their knees and aiming their blasters while the other three stood behind them, creating two lines of blaster rifles. Aayla reached out with the force and sent the entire squad sprawling with a telekinetic push. The first line of three slammed into the second, sending all six slamming into the durasteel wall. The three behind hit the wall with a crack before they were flattened by the first line. The first line stumbled forward in a daze only to be cut down by her two lightsabres.
She broke off into a run as she rounded the corner, blades spinning as she cut down another clone, then another, and another as she ran. By the time she reached the main com chamber she had left a trail of dead and dying Clone Troopers in her wake. She entered without hesitation and looked at the carnage within. Score marks covered the walls and the intense smell of ozone was ripe in the air.
The first Padawan she saw was Ekria, lying against the main communications console, blaster burns on her back. The computer slicer must have been seated on the com console when the Clones burst in and shot her. The other two, Zondar and Barriss's own apprentice Drake Lo'gaan looked like they made a better fight of it. Zondar lay face down on the floor, the bodies of three Clones surrounding him. The Selonian was slumped against the wall, chest burned through with first degree burns, lightsabre just out of his reach.
They were dead, all three of them. Aayla stumbled back as she surveyed their bodies, suddenly wishing that this was all a bad dream. Barriss wasn't dead, the Padawans weren't dead. The world wasn't falling apart around her. This was all a nightmare she would wake up from.
She heard the stomping of footfalls and spun around to see Galle firing his blaster. She tried to move, but was too late as the crimson bolt struck her in the stomach. Aayla hissed in pain, smelling the burning of her flesh as the momentum sent her spinning around before hitting the floor hard, lightsabres flying from her grasp.
She gripped the burning flesh of her abdomen, gritting her teeth against the pain. Aayla looked up to see the Clone Commander towering over her, blaster pistol drawn and aimed for her head. She looked up at him, eyes full of a mass of emotions. She knew it was futile, but she did it anyway. Her voice was on the verge of breaking as she looked at the emotionless helmet of a man she would have trusted her life with. "Why?"
The clone spoke, voice distorted by his helmets speaker. "Nothing personal General, just orders,"
Suddenly Naruto was there, grabbing the Commanders arm and pulling him around to face him. The blonde glared at the white armoured soldier before slamming a ball of condensed, spiralling blue energy into his abdomen. Aayla looked at the energy, and besides her pain she couldn't believe her eyes. It was the force given substance, the boys own interior reserves of energy feeding the attack.
"Rasengan,"
The armour struck by the ball cracked and caved in, and an explosion of spiralling wind threw Galle back against the far wall of the chamber, slamming into it with enough force to leave a crater in the durasteel. The power behind it was enough to break bones and sever cartilage, yet the Commander was dragging himself slowly to his feet. Naruto didn't miss a beat, walking towards the Clone, drawing his katana and ending his opponent's life in a quick swing, severing Galle's head from his shoulders. The blonde flicked his blade, sending blood spattering across the pristine floor before sheathing it in a smooth motion.
He was at her side in a heartbeat, quickly wrapping his arms around her and lifting her off the floor. "We need to go now."
He knew she had lost consciousness when he rushed out the door and down the corridor, ignoring the crumpled bodies of soldiers that littered the floor. The blonde knew more would be coming. He didn't know how he knew but deep down he knew. Naruto also knew, deep down that he would not be able to outrun them at his current speed. He had used up a great deal of his chakra when he called up an army of hundreds of Kage Bunshin, add to that him travelling across nearly fifty kilometres worth of terrain, forming a Rasengan and fighting off a small army of enemy soldiers he was nearly spent.
There were two abilities in his arsenal that he could use. One was to call upon the powers of his tenant. He had fully mastered the fox's chakra thanks to his mother, god bless her soul. The other was to call upon his Sage mode, but that would tax his chakra to the point of exhaustion. "Fox's chakra it is then."
He called upon it. The warmth started in his belly, and then exploded out across his entire body. Within moments he was encompassed by his fully formed cloak of electric blue energy, black runes and seals appearing along his arms and chest. The cloak flared as he took off in a blur of speed, flying down the corridors with the only sign of his passage being a yellow flash.
He exploded from the entrance and vanished into the trees at speeds no human being could possibly match. To the assembling Clone Troopers all they saw was a blur of crimson shoot past them, followed by a mass of dust which blinded their vision.
To Naruto the trees blurred by him, becoming nothing more than an almost inconceivable mass of merging colours. He didn't know how long he kept running until he felt the life in his arms begin to dim. He looked down to see the woman terribly pale, blood dribbling from the sides of her mouth from internal bleeding.
She was dying.
He skidded to a halt, and willed the cloak of demonic energy to recede. Gently he set her down on the ground and immediately brought his hands together over the burn, ignoring her whimper of pain. He concentrated the chakra like he was taught and his hands slowly took on a soothing green glow. What he saw worried him. It wasn't just the first degree burns on her skin, but her organs, primarily her stomach and kidneys were also badly burned and bleeding, another inch and they would have been liquidised.
What kind of weapon could do such a thing? "Come on, don't you dare die on me. You promised you'd help me get back didn't you!"
He poured his healing chakra into the wounds, and found that even though they were healing it would be too little too late to save her. Naruto grit his teeth, no matter how hard he tried everyone who tried to help him died. Sakura, Hinata, Kakashi, Tsunade, Kirabi, Shikamaru, Kiba, Neji, Yamato to only name a few. The list went on. They all died and he was powerless. Now here was a woman who had found him in the middle of an alien forest, who kept him calm and promised to help him, and here she was, dying in his arms and he was powerless.
There was only one option. "Okay, concentrate my chakra, direct it to where it's needed the most!"
The warm light slowly spread across his arms, through his hands and into Aayla's wound. He watched with a grim determination as instead of harming her further it began to heal. The horrific burns on her kidneys and stomach lessened, blood vessels reattached, the bleeding stopped.
He felt the light which was her life slowly brighten again. Quickly he picked Aayla off the ground and, cradling her in his arms began running through the forest again, away from the army that wanted to kill her, and by extension him.
He rushed through the forests, trying to ignore the blaster bolts as they zoomed past him, impacting all around him. The Jedi grimaced. He had been running for hours. The Clones had turned on them, betrayed them. He had felt Master Unduli die, had felt countless Jedi across the galaxy die. He had felt his apprentice vanish through the force.
Avenge Aayla…mourn Aayla.
A blaster bolt struck the tree bark beside him, barely a few inches from his head. His pursuers had not relented. He had been able to whittle down their numbers with traps, but they continued on. He should not be surprised. These were ARC Troopers, the elite commando forces of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Now only one remained, one last ARC Trooper. If only he had more strength he could take him, but he was hurting. The blast which should have killed him didn't, instead leaving him badly burned but still alive, and still mobile. He jumped high, landing on a tree branch and fading into the shadows. Watching as his last living pursuer came within his vision. The Captain of the unit sent to eliminate him.
"Games over Jedi," he called over the silence, "Show yourself and die quick and painless, or I call in an airstrike, and not just you but the village nearby will all die. It's your call!"
He cursed, disbelieving that he had ever trusted this man. He could probably escape, but the Wookie population would be massacred. He made his decision, and withdrew his lightsabre. The Clone was within range, just one more step. With a roar he ignited his lightsabre and jumped.
The Commander looked up and, raising his blaster fired.
Aayla awoke with a start, sitting up and wincing at the pain. She was breathing heavily, exposed skin covered in sweat. The Knight placed a hand against her chest, and took several deep, calming breaths to bring herself under control. After one last breath she looked around, seeing that she was inside some kind of tent. Her abdomen had been bandaged and her lightsabres were set in a corner nearby.
She looked around in confusion, before her memories caught up with her. Barriss vanishing in a ball of fire, Ekria and her fellow Padawans massacred by their own troopers, herself turned on by the ARC Troopers sent to retrieve her. She grasped onto her knees and laid her chin against them, a single tear running down her cheek. This was not an isolated incident. Somehow she knew it in her heart.
Suddenly the galaxy felt like a darker place.
"Your awake." She looked up to see a familiar head of blonde hair and was relieved when she saw Naruto poking his head through the opening to the outside, he smiled, "Thank the Sage. You were touch and go for a while."
"Naruto," she said his name with a little relief, "Where are we?"
"Deep within the forests," the blonde replied, "I must have run for hours. Don't worry we're at least a hundred kilometres from the battle site. I doubt they'll look this far."
She realised that she was not within a tent, but a hollowed out tree, just like the one she had found him in. "How long have I been out?"
He looked her in the eyes, "About two days. You were really badly hurt Aayla. It was pure luck I remembered those silly healing Jutsu Granny and Sakura taught me, otherwise you wouldn't have survived."
"Is that what you call those abilities?" She asked. Her memory of what he did slowly returning to her. "Naruto you made over a hundred solid copies of yourself, you annihilated an entire company of battle hardened Clone Troopers, you created a solid attack of force energy without calling upon the dark side. What are you!"
He had the gall to look sheepish, "You took out a third of their number yourself, so I couldn't take all the credit. As for the clones it was more like two hundred, but hey who's counting, and that ball of energy is a pretty well known attack for people in my line of work."
"And who are people of your line of work," she asked incredulously.
He laughed without humour, "A people who were ruthlessly destroying themselves. Come out when you're ready."
He hopped through the opening then, leaving the young Jedi alone with her thoughts. She once again leaned against the bark, drawing her legs up and resting her head against her knees. This was not an isolated incident. When she was fighting against the Clones she had felt more than just Barriss' death, hers was just the closest. There were other deaths, lives of people she knew, fellow Jedi, their familiar auras winking out one at a time.
The deaths she felt, the lives that winked from existence hit her like a slap to the face, again, and again, and again. Every death of a friend, of a loved one had hit her, and when she had reached the outpost, saw the Clones, and thought of the Padawans she snapped. She had seen red when she jumped from the tree branch, lightsabre igniting.
She had roared a guttural shriek full of the burning emotions of betrayal, pain and grief. At that moment, as she hit the ground and cut down Clone Troopers left and right she had touched the dark side, gave into her emotions, and just let her lightsabres fly. She didn't stop. Every blur of white armour was mercilessly cut down as she searched through the communications building for the three teenage Padawans.
When she found them, saw their bodies lying lifelessly on the ground, burned by blaster bolts and eyes lifeless to the world. In that moment she had been ruthlessly flung back into reality, regaining her mind from the dark swirl of emotions. She had stared in horror at their bodies, and turned around to see Galle shoot her in the belly.
Questions flew through her mind, why would they do this? The Clones and Jedi had fought side by side for three years. They had fought together, bled together and died together. She had considered Bly, Galle and the other officers of the Star Corps to be her comrades, her friends, and they had all just turned and tried to kill her.
"Nothing personal General, just orders," Galle said that, just after he shot her in the stomach and towered over her, pistol pressed against her temple, ready to finish the job.
Order, what kind of order would make the Troopers turn on her? What could be happening back on Coruscant for such an order to be given? She knew the High Council was planning to confront the Chancellor to relinquish his powers if Master Kenobi defeated General Grievous on Utupau. Aayla knew the Jedi Master, and knew he was more than capable of taking the Cyborg monster down.
Slowly Aayla stood on wobbly legs and almost staggered through the opening to the outside. Naruto sat near a small campfire, cooking some kind of reptile on a makeshift spit of metal. She mused on where he got the cooking utensils, but found herself unable to ask. She staggered over, and fell into a sitting position across from him, her eyes on the ground. A wooden stake, pierced with a slab of meat was presented before her, and she eyed it for a moment before looking up.
Naruto stood over her, a worried frown on his face as he held out the food. "You need to eat something Aayla. You haven't eaten anything in two days." She nodded absently, fingers closing around the stick. She whispered thanks in a hoarse whisper before taking a small, tentative bite of her meal. Naruto sat down beside her as she finished.
"I need to check your wound." She allowed his hands to slowly unravel the bandages around her stomach, wincing in pain as the burn marks stuck against the last of the bandages. He discarded the roll, and she noticed dried blood on the white cloth. "Lie down for me."
She complied without question, and watched as he inspected the blackened skin of the blaster burn, now a couple of days old. He gently pressed his fingers against the skin, asking her where it hurt. For a second Aayla felt like a child, but she visibly relaxed under his soft voice, soothing to her. Her stomach still hurt, but not as badly as she thought.
"Hold still," Naruto ordered softly, placing his hands against her burnt skin. Aayla looked on, confused only for her eyes to widen as his hands were encompassed by a soft green glow. It felt like he had placed a warm balm on her burn, and the pain receded further. She looked at his face to see it as a mask of concentration, eyes focused with such intensity that she felt her cheeks darken. Finally he took a deep breath, and removed his hands. "I was right. You did take a bad hit. Your stomach and kidneys have been badly burned. I was able to heal most of it, but you won't be able to do anything too strenuous for a while."
He asked her to sit up, and quickly replaced the bandages around her stomach. After he was finished the two of them sat in a companionable silence. It was night, Aayla realised, and a canopy of some kind had been placed over the campfire. As the silence resumed Aayla kept remembering what had happened barely a few days before. She shouldn't feel this way. She had seen many friends and comrades die in this force awful war. What made this so different? It wasn't the first friend she saw incinerated by an artillery bolt, or the first time she witnessed her fellow Jedi lying dead on the ground. What changed?
Who killed them was what changed. They weren't killed by Sith, Dark Jedi, or the armies of the Separatist Confederacy. They were killed by their own Clone Troopers. They had turned around and stabbed them all in the back, dark emotions from before threatened to resurface, betrayal, anger, pain, sorrow, and pure unadulterated grief. She took a deep, shuddering breath, and brutally slammed it all down.
"You know you can let it out," Naruto's voice roused her, and her head darted in his direction. "It's not good for your health to keep things bottled up. Believe me I've been there quite a few times."
"I…" She was surprised by the quivering in her voice, and gritted her teeth, angry at herself. She shouldn't be breaking down like this. She was a Jedi Knight damn it. "I…don't know what…you mean."
He reached over and gently brushed his finger over the skin below her left eye, leaning back to show her the water dripping from his fingertip. Aayla reached up to her face, and found warm, salty water flowing down her checks. She was crying. It was then that she came to a realisation. This was not a bad dream. This was not an isolated incident. She knew it in her very soul. In that moment Aayla had never felt so alone in her life.
Aayla couldn't hold it in anymore. The tears fell without resistance. She was alone, all alone. Arms enveloped her and before she knew it she was brought forward into a full embrace, a chin leaning against the top of her head. She was just able to make out Naruto's voice. "It's okay, just let it out."
And she did, she buried her face into his chest and released a string of heavy, emotion filled sobs which racked her body and stained the blonde's shirt. She cried for a long time, but as time went on her cries of sorrow became mild sobs, then sniffles and whimpers, followed by the sound of light breathing. She had cried herself to sleep.
How long she was like this she didn't know, but when she woke up she found that she was still in Naruto's arms, his powerful azure eyes conveying to her his worry. "How long was I out?"
"About an hour,"
She felt her cheeks burn, and released herself from his embrace. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean…Naruto, thank you."
"You're welcome Aayla." He said with a smile before looking over at the campfire, the flames extinguished, "Hmm, meats cold."
She looked at him for a moment, before a small smile of her own curled her dark blue lips. She may have been betrayed, she may be the last Jedi alive, but she did not fear it as much as before, because this man was with her. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure."
"While we were fighting the Clones I saw you perform techniques and abilities which I have never seen before, and to be honest some of the things you did terrified me. How are you able to do it? How can you create balls of energy with your hands? How can you create a small army of copies?" She looked him in the eyes, her voice showing no fear or hesitation. He was amazed she seemed so strong only an hour after she broke down. "Naruto, what are you?"
Naruto smiled widely, "Do you want to learn how to do the things I do? I promise it will be an enlightening experience."
Aayla could not believe it. He was willing to share what he knew with her? They had only known each other for a day, and when she was in her time of need he had been there for her, protected her, and saved her life at least three times since they had met. Why did he go so out of his way for her, a total stranger? "Why would you do all of this for me?"
Naruto smiled a genuine smile. "Because when you woke me up I thought I was looking up at an angel. I still do. You're a good person Aayla. You only do what you do for the better of those around you, and you did not deserve such a fate."
She blushed at his words, how could she not. He had just said that he considered her an angel. She was unaware as he rose to his feet, and offered her his hand. "You promised me you'd help me find my way back home didn't you? Call me a chauvinist but that showed me who you are, and it makes me want to protect you. I'll teach you how I move, how I fight, and in return you help me find a way home. What do you say?"
Her blush strengthened as she took his hand.
Bly watched on as the Chancellor's form came into existence, barely twenty centimetres tall yet held with such authority that it was impossible to deny him. "Report on your progress commander."
Bly straightened as he reported. "We were able to kill Jedi Knight Barriss Offee, as well as the three Padawan learners. However the fate of Jedi Knight Aayla Secura is unknown, we know she was shot in the stomach, but were unable to determine whether she is dead or not."
The Chancellor starred at him, and even though his cowl was raised to cover his face the commander knew it was not a look of satisfaction. "Explain."
Bly complied. "Clone Commander Galle faced off against General Secura and was able to shoot her in the abdomen. Before he could finish the job he was attacked and killed by an unknown assailant. The man was able to escape with her in full view of a Company of Troopers."
The twenty centimetres tall form seemed to think for a moment, before he raised his head. "Commander Bly, you are to continue to hunt down Jedi Knight Aayla Secura until you present her body to me. I will be sending a unit of the Inquisitorius to help you in your investigation. Spare no expense, level the forest if you have to, but find her."
Bly bowed, "It will be done milord."
Author's Note 1: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto, and Star Wars is the property of Lucas Arts. I make no money from writing this story.
Author's Note 2: Thank you all for the terrific response, I must say this story is gaining more attention than I thought it would be. I've started writing it again, though it will take a while before I get back into the swing of things. Answering a few questions here; no it will not be like Bluminous8's fic; and no I will not be dampening or weakening Naruto's powers in any conceivable way, shape or form (That would take away all of the fun destruction I am planning lol). You forget no matter how strong a person is he is not infallible, a good blaster shot or lightsabre strike could probably kill Naruto if he isn't careful.
Thanks again for the response:
Darth Malleus
