A/N: DISCLAIMER! I OWN NOTHING! I do not own Star Wars nor any of its movies, books, games, or affiliated properties. I wish I did, but alas, that's not the case and its owned by Disney. I merely do homage to Star Wars, honor certain aspects of it more than others, and try to respect the continuity as best I can.

Also, major props to Dylan Millwood for helping me write portions of this chapter! Thanks to him, I was able to get another chapter out quickly!

Oh and if you're looking for another good read, go check "Sith of Another Time"!

They've been a major inspiration! More power to 'em!

Now, then...

HERE WE ARE AGAIN! ANOTHER MASSIVE CHAPTER STRAIGHT FROM THE DEPTHS OF MY MIND TO PAPER! Or...text in this case, I suppose. The fight scenes were hell to write and I was plagued with being a perfectionist throughout, so I'd love to hear what you think of them! I do apologize for any cutoff sentences or paragraphs ending abruptly. I'm trying to fix that =D

But enough about that!

Now, I need your help, guys and girls! People are asking about potential Darth names for Naruto.

How does Navar sound?

Mind you, it would be pronounced Nahvar, for the record.

I was GOING to use Marr, but then I played SWTOR and realized that's been taken by another Sith. That dude is a beast! So I really need some names, or it'll end up being Navar after all. Darth Xion, perhaps? I really like Navar, though...

Suggestions, folks?

BE SURE TO READ THE REST OF THIS, because it gives some good hints as to what's coming.

Now to answer questions and fan mail!

Q: Is Naruto a Light Sith?

A: Well! In a sense, though he has yet to realize it. He doesn't really want much, but he prizes his emotions above all. He can rage with the best of him, but his mind is firmly his own and he doesn't like the idea of flying into a berserk fury unless you ABSOLUTELY push him into it or back him into a corner. So, sorry to disappoint some people but he's not an angry red rage machine quite yet, to the dismay of some and relief of others.

Q: Are Juno and Proxy going to be in this?

A: In all honesty, I'm not sure. It feels like they belong with Starkiller more than Naruto. But I can see my way to giving him a pilot other than Cody. Any suggestions?

Q: Wait a second! How does Naruto not know what the Jedi are really about?!

A: Do you honestly think Vader would allow him to know the truth? This is DARTH VADER we're talking about here, folks. Would he tell Naruto the truth? Not in a thousand years. He's been fed this lie all his life. Not to mention the Naruto WE know is stubborn to a fault. So naturally when the truth is presented to him, he's not going to believe it right away.

Q: Whose side is Cody truly on? You won't make him betray Naruto, will you?

A: Cody's will is his own. Who knows what he might do if push comes to shove? He's grappling with guilt and a bad case of stress from his actions in the Clone Wars. Who knows where this might yet lead him?

Q: Please oh please oh PLEASE let Naruto interact with the Seventh Sister and Ahsoka soon! That's your plan right? The anticipation is KILLING ME!

A: Read my mind did you?! The former will show up in this chapter and her entrance is fucking TERRIFYING. I also take a few liberties with her powers and appearance, because good lord that helmet of hers was UGLY.

Q: Will we see Bly and other clones?

A: It IS likely...

Q: Is Naruto going to take an apprentice?!

A: Possibly.

Q: What about his chakra? Surely he has it...?

A: Naruto was NEVER trained as a shinobi. He has chakra certainly, but its mostly Kurama's. An entity he isn't wholly aware of and presently, a being of pure hate. So, no, don't expect him to up and spam clones or conjure a rasengan just yet.

Q: Can we ever expect him to return home to the Elemental Nations?

A: Not anytime soon. But yes, I suppose it is possible.

Q: How in the Sith hell did Naruto learn Force Lightning at such a young age?

A: With trial and error, I suspect. Starkiller learned it as well, as did Palpatine. Naruto certainly hasn't mastered it, but with his immense reserves, he can inflict a crippling amount of damage upon anyone unfortunate to be caught in the blast range.

Oh, and do try not to laugh too much, because this is going to be a WILD ride...

So with that, I hope you all have a lovely day/evening, plug in some headphones, and get ready for a good ol' fashioned brawl.

Enjoy!

"When you feel anger in your every connection the Force...then you'll know the Dark Side as I do. Know it. Embrace it and live."

"The galaxy's an intricate place. You think you're doing the right thing, but then it has consequences you never imagined."

"I am what they made me. I don't know how to be anything else."

~a discussion with the Empire's Blade.

Peace is a Lie

The Force was alive.

It was there in every blow struck against Vader's apprentice. It shrieked at him in every parry, whispered to him with every riposte; singing a song of battle to him as he took the offensive, guiding his hands and urging him onward to an unseen conclusion. Ever in flux was the future, hampering his ability to see, much less predict his opponents. For one moment the Empire's Blade saw both women bowing to him in submission-in the next, he was speared to the ground upon the infallible blue pillar of Shaak Ti's blade. Still another showed them all death, the planet burning as Admiral Constantine's flee bombarded it from orbit.

Try as he might, Naruto couldn't see the end of it. No one had told him it would be this difficult!

Hampered by his orders to take them alive, he found himself on the defensive.

Had he been allowed to kill them, this would've been far easier!

If not for them, this battle would have ended hours ago!

Spirits, he didn't want it to come to that.

For there was no peace here on the planet of Felucia, no understanding between enemies and allies. Only violence. Brutal, uncivilized violence. No words of diplomacy here, no sounds save the spitting of sparks and the occasional grunt of exertion as the Dark Side and the Light snarled at one another. Lightsabers clashed and shrieked and strove against one another, staining the grove in wild colors as their wielders collided violently in the light of the setting sun, came apart, only to collide again in a vivid spectrum of light.

Curtains of crimson.

Sheets of azure.

Fans of jade.

Naruto would have found it all hauntingly beautiful in its own way, if he weren't fighting for his life. Every second required his utmost concentration; for he stood perched on a razor's edge and the slightest slip promised disaster. Already his armor bore scorch marks where he'd failed to block in time, his arms aching from the effort of defending from so many angles at once. Bad enough that he had to face a Jedi Master in open combat where the terrain disfavored him, but her padawan and that damnable cloak of hers was making the battle markedly more difficult. He hadn't thought it possible to use the Force in such a manner, let alone witness it firsthand.

He was beginning to both envy and hate the technique, for it allowed her to harass him with her ability to vanish from his senses at will.

Worse, Mariss had since realized that she couldn't stand up to him in combat alone, so she'd taken it upon herself to harry him at every opportunity. Even now he saw her ripple out of sight in his peripherals, leaving him to wonder where she would next reappear. But there was no more time for thought, for Shaak Ti was upon him again like a force of nature in her own right, a peerless and matchless warrior who refused to allow him time to think, much less seek a non-lethal end to their conflict.

Luckily, thinking had never been Naruto's strong suit.

Rather than maintain his blistering offense as he had thus far and risk falling to a sneak attack, the Empire's Blade gave ground willingly as the Togrutan descended on him anew, her blade a masterful flurry of strikes, harmlessly deflected or redirected by the red wall of his sabers. In her defense, Shaak Ti wasn't old per se, in fact she was quite beautiful, but she certainly wasn't at her peak these days and it showed. For all her lean physique and vaunted skill she had fallen into the same trap as so many of her brethren. After all these years in hiding she'd neglected her training. He however, was very much in his prime and had spent nearly every waking moment honing those skills under Darth Vader, not a single day was wasted.

If you weren't sleeping, you were training.

If you weren't eating, you were training.

If you weren't dead, you were training.

It made a twisted sort of sense in a way that her skills had atrophied somewhat; what Jedi would devote time to the upkeep of their skills when the entire galaxy was hunting for them?

Lighting crackled from his fingertips and arced outward, only to find itself abruptly redirected by the Jedi Master.

That...proved rather painful.

Agony spasming through him, Naruto cut the torrent of power and slumped, groaning.

"Alright, that's just not fair...

Twirling a block from his knee, the blond spun up to feint at her chest with one saber and thrust at her feet with the other, violently interposing his blade across the other. His speed must've startled her; because she shrank back again, giving ground. Naruto hesitated to follow her, though part of him longed for the chase and its inevitable conclusion. Still, why this sudden meekness on her part? Was she trying to lead him somewhere? He flung a cold volley of lightning after her and was halfway through to chasing her when the angry snap-hiss of another lightsaber filled his ears.

"Surprise." an angry voice hissed in his ear. "Now, you die."

His caution came too late as the Force roared a warning.

'It's a trap!'

A blaze of pain shot through him as Mariss pounced on him a heartbeat later, thrusting her twin lightsaber tonfas at his back with reckless abandon. Her technique was flawless, her body emerging from the Force Cloak just under his guard, her sabers sweeping upward to strike at his unprotected spine. She'd put her very life on the line, poured all of her force-enhanced speed and power into this moment. Under any other circumstance, and with any other, she might have succeeded in killing them then and there.

Not so, the Empire's Blade.

Abandoning his lightsabers entirely, the blond rounded on her faster than she thought possible, dropped to a knee, and caught the blades in his hands.

Physically.

Caught.

Them.

"What?!"

"Surprise yourself." Naruto ground out.

The shock that flashed across the padawan's visage pleased him more than words ever could. He could see it in her eyes and feel her fear; she'd expected to skewer the Sith from behind like a gundark on a spit, not for him to drop his weapons and catch the energy blades with his unarmored hands. Even now he had her blades firmly bound at his side and in his fists, preventing her from extricating her precious weapons. Despite that very same fear she still fought him, struggling to tear the weapons from his grasp and strike him down.

"Do you really want me dead that badly?"

Her only response was a growl.

He owed his survival solely to Tutaminis, a powerful energy absorption technique hammered into him by Vader with ruthless determination. He never thought he would ever be more grateful for one of the Dark Lord's teachings than he was now. The much-neglected skill had just saved his life, but it was something that required the utmost of concentration and not one he could use often. Even now, he could feel the blades trying to burn his hands, cut through his palms and render him powerless. He could only use the skill once a day without fail, but of course, Mariss didn't know that. All she knew was that the sith had just caught her weapons barehanded.

"How did you...?!"

Naruto grinned, forcing her sabers down.

"Your power is insignificant compared to that of the Dark Side!"

In this instance, he deliberately said Dark Side rather than the Force itself as he would have. Taunts had never been his forte, but like all things, Vader had drilled the importance of Dun Moch into him at a young age. It was not a technique he took pleasure in by any means; unlike most Sith, he did not relish the act of breaking his opponents, instead preferring to defeat them swiftly and soundly. If someone suffered the misfortune of being his enemy and refused to be swayed from that course, then the least he could was grant them a quick death. But in situations such as these, when he was forbidden from killing his targets, the technique proved essential.

"Make your foe doubt themselves, their beliefs, their very intentions. Such things disrupt connections to the Force - and death soon follows."

Time and time again his master had told him this, drilled it into him until it was second nature.

If this served to end the battle without any casualties, all the better.

Break an opponent, demoralize them, and the day was yours.

But as with all things, Dun Moch had its drawbacks.

Sometimes, one pushed just enough.

Sometimes you pushed too far.

"I hate you!"

Releasing her blades the young Zabrak flung up her hands and shrieked at him, the Force gathering in her palms. Alarmed by the power he felt gathering there, Naruto discarded his grasp on her weapons and raised his own hand to meet the devastating blast he felt growing there, matching her power for power. For that much, he was prepared. He was not ready for the hatehe found burning in those dark eyes. Caught between them, the Force shrieked and keened, growing strained and frayed as light and dark pushed against one another.

Shaak Ti chose that pivotal moment to enter the fray once more.

Unlike her apprentice, Naruto noticed instantly.

Lacked subtlety, this one did.

Scissoring Brood's legs out from under her, he called his blades back to him with a thought and crossed them over his shoulders in a blazing x-shape, parrying her behind his back. By contrast to the frenzied attack of her mad, invigorated apprentice, the Jedi Master's desperate assault barely registered as a blip on his radar. Truly, it was foolish of her to recklessly come within his reach without a plan, even with his attention focused focused on that of another. Once more the Force swelled around him, amplified by his emotions into solid form, blasting outward at those who thought to do him arm.

The Force Repulse slammed into both Jedi as one, ripping master and student from their feet as well as one another and flinging them to opposite ends of the grove. Again, he'd spared them. Battered and bruised, each Jedi climbed to their feet but this time they proved far more wary than before.

"And so, pride cometh before the fall." he paused, considering. "Alright, that sounded way better in my head...

"Double the pride, twice the fall." Mariss shot back with a hiss.

Naruto nearly laughed despite himself. Her hate might be unsettling, but she certainly had fire!

"We'll see how proud you are once I've beaten of you."

By way of response she vanished again and Shaak Ti launched herself at him.

"Are you enjoying yourself?!"

"I am! You read my mind, Jedi!"

Sidestepping a narrow lunge, Darth Vader's apprentice caught the Jed Master's blade on his rightmost weapon and forced it deep into the marshy ground with a sputtering hiss. The earth shuddered and he frowned in momentary confusion. Why would the earth shake? Then, even as Shaak Ti struggled against the block his head snapped forward, forehead jarring against hers in a vicious headbutt that momentarily stunned her and shattered her concentration. Then his second saber was descending, howling an angry scarlet line toward her startled face. It would be a killing blow, quick and agile and sure to take her head right off-

'No!'

Remembering Vader's strict instructions, he narrowly averted the killing blow at the last instant, cutting through the thin leather straps that bound her bountiful breasts. Naruto realized his mistake a heartbeat later as his weapon swept bast to graze the side of her neck.

Oops.

He certainly hadn't intended to be getting a look at those today!

That got a reaction out of her, but not the one he'd expected.

The flash of anger was quick and hot.

Wholly unexpected.

Shaak Ti's fist shot out in a streak of red, striking him hard in the face, sending stars shooting across his vision, and bloodying his nose. Then, while he still reeled, she cut fast and low at his knees with her blade, to which Naruto barely bound over the blazing blue line; immediately taking advantage of the momentary momentum of his leap and using it to slam both sabers down against hers in a crushing blow. The impact of the dual strike momentarily staggered the older jedi, forcing her to her a knee and turning the tide back into the apprentice's favor.

"Master Ti, you disappoint me." he scoffed, bearing down on her. "Did you really think I'd fall for that trick? Nice punch, though."

"Do you truly wish to humiliate me, sith?" she retorted over their crossed blades. "If so, I pity you."

This close her crimson visage seemed to stained itself a bright shade of sapphire upon her blade.

He imagined his own face was stained by the red of his blood just as much his own weapon.

"I don't want to, no." Naruto growled out, refusing to relent, "But I have my orders and good soldiers follow them! Surrender!"

"Never!"

"Then you leave me no choice!"

Snarling, he flicked two of his fingers away from his leftmost hilt and a current of force lightning arced out to meet a reappearing Mariss even as she tried to flank him. Caught unawares by the sudden deluge of raw energy and either unable or unwilling to slow in time, the Zabrak raised her weapons. Even in that split second Naruto saw what she intended, recognizing her last, desperate attempt to catch the oncoming storm on one of her blades. An admirable attempt to be sure, but woefully foolish and an amateur one at that. One did not simply charge into a krayt dragon's nest with that kind of plan.

She might not live to regret that foolish decision.

"Mariss, don't!"

Too late, Naruto realized with a pang of regret.

Instead of being caught by her sabers as she'd no doubt intended, the sith's, the powerful torrent tore through her meager defenses and found flesh. Mariss's entire body spasmed as every muscle clamped down at once, her mouth opening in a voiceless scream, shoulders shaking uncontrollably as the dark side took her and flung her across the clearing. She landed, sprawled out in a heap some yards away, her skin steaming, tonfas dropping from nerveless fingers. Even from here, the Empire's Blade could see the damage he'd done.

"Monster!"

Shaak Ti's gasp pained him, oddly enough, and he found himself leaning back, breaking the deadlock. He soon came to regret this act of mercy. Another flash of anger surrounded the Jedi Master in the Force, far more power than the last before being ruthlessly suppressed.

The force push that followed was anything but.

It was only the barest of instincts that prevented him from being mowed down on the spot. Some sixth sense shrieked at him to move and he flung himself aside as her hand snapped forward. Then came an great and terrible roar and next he knew an invisible column of energy cannoned outward, flattening the ground, the trees, and any wildlife unfortunate enough to still linger there for miles in that direction. Naruto barely had an instant to glimpse it before he tumbled to his feet, before he found Shaak Ti bearing down on him, lightsaber raised for a killing stroke.

Her saber blurred down and he moved to meet them, trading blows with her at a frightening pace.

Alarmingly, he found that the tempo had changed.

Left. Right. Parry, shunt, block, riposte, the sudden ferocity of her attack had him on the back foot despite his best efforts, her anger giving her surprising strength. Where was all this pent up rage coming from? Had she truly been repressing her own emotions for so long that she was actually-gah!

A glancing blow on his shoulder painfully reminded him of the here-and-now.

Forced into a retreat, he found himself slipping back into one of the more defensive lightsaber forms, Soresu, rather than his more aggressive styles. He'd had to learn this particular form himself, for Vader disdained the very mention of it for reasons he refused to disclose. He was far from a master in this art, and painfully, it showed.

"Soresu?" Shaak Ti frowned, recognizing the style instantly as she cut and parried, driving him back. "You delay the inevitable!"

Naruto didn't grace her with a reply.

He was both the storm and its eye, that raging outer walls and the serene center. Drawing power from his passions he fought fiercely in a tempered sort of restraint, refusing to allow his temper to slip its leash and lead him into a foolish trap. These weren't a pack of amateur Felucians whom he could bat aside with the flick of a wrist; these were Jedi who could easily take both life and limb from him if he wasn't careful. No matter how he might long to lash out, no matter the pull of the dark, he must not kill them. He remained determined to follow his orders. To remain calm. Calm enough to see that this back and forth was getting him nowhere.

Time to switch things up.

As luck would have it, he happened to spy the Fifth Brother's fallen lightsaber nearby, still sprawled out near his corpse.

Silently, he thanked Vader for thinking to instruct him in this particular form of combat.

The Dark Lord was nothing if not thorough in his teachings.

Yes, he decided, that would do nicely.

Launching himself into a wild arc of scarlet, he dove past Shaak Ti and repositioned his sabers, slamming both hilts of his sabers together to lock them into the form of a curved, a double-bladed saber. Before the Jedi Master could realize what he intended he reached out with the Force and pulled with all his will, latching onto the fallen Inquisitor's saber. It flew to him like an arrow knocked from a bow, slapping home in the palm of his hand with a satisfying thud. Naruto frowned at its ungainly design, but it would serve his purpose for the time being. After a moment's fumbling he thumbed it on and brought it to bear, quietly pleased.

"Now, then." he purred. "Let's try this again."

Then, wielding both double bladed sabers like twin staves, he launched himself at Shaak Ti.

The brief lull seemed to have sapped her rage somewhat for instead of attacking, the jedi wilted as he hammered at her defenses. Endless twists and circuits rained down on her from every conceivable angle divided her attention between the two staves and their electrified blades. Naruto found himself too focused on maintaining such an onslaught to speak either; controlling a single saberstaff was difficult enough with two hands alone, but with his

She must've realized it as well; because her dropped and she leaped away...

...into the very pit they'd been circling all this time.

"Are you insane?!"

Naruto reached out for her halfheartedly as she vanished from view, wondering if he should have done more. If his efforts had just prompted the Jedi to commit suicide. Had he pushed too hard? Too far, too soon? The idea that one would willingly take their life, just to get away from him...

That fear vanished when Shaak Ti rose up out of the pit, carried aloft by a towering serpentine appendage. Then another, and another still. Up they rose, higher and higher, looming over him, looking like something out of a bad horror movie. It wasn't until he felt the Jedi's controlling presence wrapped around him that he realized what he faced.

It all made sense, now.

The teeth he'd encountered, the way the ground seemed to tremble whenever he struck it.

A sarlaac pit, he realized.

They'd been fighting around a bloody sarlaac pit.

"Its over, sith!" Shaak Ti's voice rang down at him, clear and proud. "I have the high ground! Your power is useless to you, now!"

Naruto twirled his staves, gauging the distance, considering.

Surely he could make such a leap-

Then he paused.

A painful memory came to him unbidden, another harsh lesson from his master, one that had nearly cost him his life. He remembered making that foolish leap once before and nearly losing his life for his temerity. He remembered Vader telling him to never, ever be goaded into lunging at someone who'd claimed the high ground. Never to overestimate his own powers. The few times he had, he'd been thrashed within an inch of his life. And here he'd been about to make that very same mistake. He could hear his master's voice, even now. Pride, boy. That is your greatest weakness. Take care that you don't choke on it.

Inwardly, he cursed himself.

Stupid, foolish boy!

"I ain't falling for that shit again." he declared firmly, hefting his stolen weapon. "I've got a better idea. Catch."

"Catch?"

Doubtlessly, Shaak Ti had thought he would give in and leap after her, thereby struck down by his own pride. She certainly wasn't expecting him to lob Inquisitor's saber at her like a discus. By the time she realized his intention it was too late. By then the Fifth Brother's blade was already shrieking forward in a scarlet streak, intending to sever the massive feeding tentacles upon which she perched. He wasn't at all surprised when she flung her own saber to deflect it back at him.

That, of course, was exactly the distraction he'd been waiting for.

In that moment-that split second of inattention on her part-the Empire's Balde shunted his own weapons aside and raised his hands towards the heavens in silent benediction. This would be an effort like no other; even against that rancor he'd never used Force Lightning on such a scale. Fingers curled into claws, clenching as sparks danced between them, the full might of the Dark Side Naruto rushing through his veins. Stubbornly, he pushed back against it, unwilling to allow himself to be consumed by hatred. Tempered focus and anger perhaps, but not hate.

Never hate.

Shaak Ti's surprise stabbed at him through the Force like a knife and she hurriedly bid the beast to crush him, but it was already too late. She was too far away to make a difference and the Sarlaac too large and slow a target. In the very same instant that the monstrosity moved to smash him with one of its feeding tentacles, Naruto unleashed the storm. For a fleeting instant the darkness swallowed him and he experienced sheer euphoria, a strange sort of twisted awe for the primordial energies twisting and writhing within him.

Lightning coursed from his palms, to the tentacles, then the gigantic worm itself and the jedi upon it.

Gasping she tried to redirect the dark side energies but the proved too powerful, too widespread for her to return them to their master.

Naruto growled at the fresh memory of feeling his own body cook inside his armor.

"You want power?!" Blue eyes blazed an eerie molten gold-red as the storm raged through them, devouring beast and jedi alike. "I'll show you power! UNLIMITED POWER!"

Looking back, that was a horribly cliche line, spoken in the heat of the moment.

He'd never hear the end of it from Cody...


(...Meanwhile...)


"Shit, shit, shit!"

At that very moment, the Commander was swearing endless imprecations to every deity he could possibly think of. And he knew quite a few! The Fire Shadow rocked around him like a ship caught in one of Kamino's great hurricanes, flung to and fro by those outside. Honed clubs of sharpened bone beat against the ship's hull with increasing regularity and frequency-coupled by the occasional roar of a wild beast. The former he didn't fear in any large capacity, for they couldn't truly do any real damage beyond scuffing the hull and scratch the paint.

It was the rancor that worried him.

By the Force, that was one big son of a...!

"Oh, no." He growled, squeezing the trigger. "No, no, no! No you don't! Get!"

Twin arcs of green light shot outward from turret at the Shadow's underbelly, carving deep trenches into the cliffside.

One such shot grazed the beast, to which it shot him a dark glower.

Still, relentlessly, it came on, ignoring his shots until the turret could no longer turn to track the beast.

"Damnit!"

Abandoning the turret, Cody scrambled up the ladder and hastily reached into his belt.

Thumbing the comlink that had been left behind for him, he keyed up the blond's frequency.

"Uh, kid?" he whispered, keeping his voice low, "I know you're probably busy, but I could really use some help, here."

Static answered.

"Lovely."

A heavy blow shook the Fire Shadow anew, nearly throwing him to the deck.

"Now what?!"

Discarding his comm, the clone clamored back to the bridge.

What he saw there turned his blood cold.

Even from the shredded viewport he could see the great, hulking beast plodding forwards in spite of its wounds, physically pushing the ship with both claws. Slowly, inevitably, spurred on by its rider, the gargantuan beast was making progress, shoving the Fire Shadow towards the very edge he'd been so wary of parking the ship nearby. He didn't want to think of what might happen if that beast succeeded. He'd raised the shields, but if something that large started pounding on them for too long, he wasn't sure how the little vessel would hold out. Worse, it might actually succeed in pushing the ship off the cliff, and then where would they be? Well, he would be dead, that much was certain.

Really, he had no one to blame but himself for his misfortune.

Stay with the ship, Cody, the kid had said.

Be sure and lock the ramp, he'd said.

You'll be safe, he said.

More fool, he!

He'd forgotten about the kriffing natives!

Shortly after Naruto's ill-advised airdrop, Cody had been forced to ignore his first landing zone because of them, abandoning a sturdy-looking bit of fungus for a distant cliff overlooking Felucia's forests. It had seemed safe enough and out of the way...at the time.

Needless to say, he'd been duped.

Somehow, someway, the natives had managed to get the drop on him when he wasn't looking.

Sloppy, Cody. he admonished himself, You should know better...

He'd been out of the field for too long. Under any other circumstance, he would've simply taken off again, but that big bastard back there had clipped a fuel line. Now he found that amidst the press of bodies he no longer had that option. They were bold now, no longer frightened by the ships weapons either; warning shots did nothing but cause the Felucians to scatter and they'd since learned the range of them. Clever little bastards had even managed to tie the ship down with some goo-like substance, so escape, even if he could prime the engines, wasn't an option anymore, either.

Now, it seemed he was going to have to fight his way out with nothing more than his blaster rifle and a couple grenades in his belt.

He didn't envy his chances.

If Naruto didn't come back soon.

A white-purple flare of lightning from the viewport answered him. If he could see something like that from all the way up here...

"Well, that's not good."

No backup, then.

Cody sighed.

There were worse ways to go, he supposed.

Death in the line of duty was something to be admired, at any rate. He'd wanted nothing more than to be back in the field, and he'd gotten his wish. He had his youth and vigor back for one last mission, one final task to help an old friend. He just hadn't expected to go out like...well, to go out like this. It seemed too abrupt an end to what he'd envisioned as a clean slate-a fresh start from retirement with the galaxy at his feet. The kid would be sad to see him go, but he'd understand, surely.

Still, if this was to be his end, he was going to take some of those bastards with him.

Steeling himself, the Clone Commander shouldered his rifle, prepared to make for the ramp...

And the world shook.

This was a different manner of tremor than the last; the ground beneath his feet seemed to physically flinch as though someone had dealt it a mighty blow. Not a moment later, the relentless grind of the Fire Shadow's backward slide ceased. There was a commotion outside now, a chattering of voices he didn't understand. The natives, no doubt. But why had they stopped? It didn't make any sense. Had the kid come back already? A stray glance toward the rear viewport confirmed that, yes, the spectacle of lightning was still raging well below the cliff, so who-

Vzzm!

Even after all these years, Cody still recognized the telltale sound of a lightsaber's ignition.

For a fleeting instant he was back on Utapu, handing General Kenobi his lightsaber, only to fire on him and watch the man plummet to his death minutes later.

Then he shook himself and he was back in the present.

Peering down through the front viewport, marred with slime as he was, he saw something.

Someone.

From there, he could just glimpse a figure in black.

Though he couldn't seen them from this angle, he could certainly hear the commotion from without. The Felucians were openly shouting at the stranger now in their native tongue, nonsensical gibberish turning shrill-tinged with distress and fear. This had no effect on the interloper whatsoever. They simply leveled their weapon at the natives and stalked forward at them, vanishing beneath the Fire Shadow's armored underbelly. Yet again the sound of the saber rang out, once, twice, thrice, seven times in all, and their shouts were reduced to dying groans.

Their rancor roared then; its cry a sharp, plaintive note that cut off in an abrupt squeal.

The silence that followed soon proved itself suffocating. It was quiet.

Too quiet.

Cody was only just considering venturing out to see what was going on when the ship shuddered, startling him.

"Well, well, well." a woman's smug, voice echoed off the hull. "Aren't you going to let me in? Nevermind, I'll do it myself."

He was even more startled when the ramp inexplicably swung down of its own accord, granting admittance to his savior. Framed against the light, they strode up the ramp at an easy pace, pausing to take in the interior of the vessel. Revealed was a slender young woman with long, flowing dark hair, her body clad in a form-fitting black uniform, and eyes the color of darkness and poisoned honey. She was certainly beautiful if you went for crazy; although the slight, satisfied and utterly insufferable smirk etched into her sinister green face seemed to hint at knowing something more. None of these things mattered to Cody.

It was the red, double-bladed lightsaber that drew his attention.

An Inquisitor.

Sithspit.

"Hello, commander." the Seventh Sister purred with a silken smile, her manner smooth as cream. "Can Naruto come out to play?"


(...Near the Ancient Abyss...)


"FALL!"

Master and beast alike screamed anew as the powerful current took hold of them once more, countless volts crawling across their seizing bodies and rendering them insensate. Made helpless by the storm, they could only writhe. Even then, Naruto refused to relent. He felt their pain and drew strength from it, further fueling his powers and the raw currents coursing through him. He knew that to relent too soon meant death; the sarlaac would doubtlessly strike out at him in a rage the moment it was free, and after such an attack, he would be in no position to defend.

Still, Shaak Ti's cries made him feel wretched.

With the Dark Side in full sway, it would've been so easy to simply keep pummeling them thus; to continue without a second thought and char her to ash alongside her pet. To just kill them both and be done with-no. This wasn't the way. Chastising himself for that sudden slip, he lowered his hands and cut himself off from the heady power pulsing at his fingertips. Orders aside, he wasn't that sort of person and found himself mildly repulsed that he'd actually wanted to make her suffer.

With all he had, he pulled himself back from the brink and let the lightning gutter out.

Truly the Force must've truly been with Shaak Ti; because not only did she survive, but managed to catch herself as she fell. A tumbling roll and she was down, slowly climbing to her feet, hurt, but alive.

Her "pet" however, was not so fortunate.

A low, piteous warble and the sight of those drooped tentacles told him all he needed to now. In protecting Shaak Ti it had suffered the brunt of his assault. Now it paid for that with its life. A shame. He'd not considered the creature sentient until this moment, nor had he ever thought an overgrown worm could be noble. Despite all his training he took no pleasure in killing animals, no matter how mindless or grotesque they might seem. The Sarlaac had been neither of these apparently, to which a rare thorn of sorrow pricked him and held him back.

Inclining his head to the deceased creature, the Empire's Balde sketched a small bow and offered the only words he knew. They tasted stale and hollow in his mouth.

"I'm sorry." he apologized.

Then he returned his attention to Shaak Ti.

"Are you happy, now, master Jedi?" his words warped into a growl, temper slipping its leash as he stalked towards her, saber spinning. "Am I the monster you think me to be? You've made me butcher your warriors, maim your apprentice, and now, kill your pet. Pray I don't do the same to you! Surrender and end this foolishness!"

She raised her head at his approach, panting.

"I will not...yield...

Naruto snarled.

"Imbecile!"

He didn't give her time to utter anymore of her inane drivel, sweeping his double-bladed staff down at her face. Startled by the sudden ferocity of his assault and the genuine anger behind it, Shaak Ti only narrowly blocked the blow and immediately stumbled for her efforts. Naruto pounced on this fresh weakness and pushed the Torgrutan jedi back and away from the pit. Now it was Ti who found herself firmly on the defensive once more, her flagging speed barely enough to evade his wild swings. But she wasn't beaten.

Not yet.

Even in her battered state and with her strength failing, the Togrutan Jedi managed one last wild lunge, clipping the southern end of his staff and rendering its blade useless to him with a shower of sparks. Enraged, the blond discarded the powerless half of his weapon and aimed a vicious crosscut at her chest.

He realized his mistake a heartbeat later.

Weakened as she was by the onslaught of Force Lightning, Shaak Ti was too weary to resist him any longer. Their battle had dragged on for far too long, her immense reserves too taxed to maintain the strength needed to face him. Against his raging offense her guard held for but a moment longer before it broke and she made a fatal mistake, blocking high, when he struck low. Naruto instinctively hammered down against this mistake relentlessly, forcing her arm out, further and further to the left, until...

"Aaargh!"

...his blade sliced through her wrist.

For the first time since the battled had begun, Shaak Ti dropped her composure and blade both, crumpling to the ground with a choked scream. Her blade sailed up and Naruto caught it even as sank to her knees to try and clutching at the ruined remains of her severed wrist.

Scowling, he levered both sabers-red and blue-beneath her chin in a scissoring formation.

Shaak Ti went still.

A single tug would be all it took to remove her head, and she knew it.

"You are beaten!" he hissed, panting, "Its useless to-

"Master!"

Batting aside Master Ti's clumsy lunge for her hilt, the Apprentice spun and drove an armored boot into her torso, hurling her away just in time to see Mariss emerge from her force cloak. Impossibly she'd risen yet again, her fractured lightsaber tonfas blazing a murderous green circle at his face. Instinct snarled at him, and his body snapped backward just in time, nearly laying itself horizontal to the ground to avoid the blow. Instead of taking his head as their owner had doubtlessly intended, the hot sting of her jaden blades hissed across the bridge of his nose in an angry red line, scarring him, but sparing his life.

Pain.

Anger.

Hatred.

Why didn't they give up?!

Waves upon waves of wrath fueled him and he snarled, a telekinetic thrust ripping the Zabrak from her feet to cannon her into her master. They collided violently, tumbling into the dirt, and he had to forcibly restrain himself from giving chase as the Dark Side sang in his veins. He resisted it with only the greatest of efforts.

Instead the Empire's Blade climbed slowly to his feet, rubbing his newest scar ruefully.

"No more," he declared as he rose, casting Brood's weapons aside into the abyss with a thought. "You're beaten. Surrender peacefully and you'll be spared. Don't make me destroy you."

"Destroy us?" Shaak Ti ground out through clenched teeth against her own agony, "Who are you to say such things? We fight for peace!"

Naruto chuckled bitterly, Jedi, peaceful? Ha! That would be the day! What kind of a fool did she take him for?!

"Then tell me this Master Ti: how are Jedi peacekeepers if they fight in galactic wars? How can they say that emotions are forbidden, when they know that you can't stop yourself or others from having them? And how can the Jedi say that they don't form attachments, when each and every one of them know that they form attachments with either their men, friends, and even fellow Jedi? None of them could be called peacekeepers if they fight in a war and take people's lives. None of them could stop someone from having emotions, because emotions are what separates living beings from droids. And now the part that shows how the Jedi Code makes the order weak. If you don't form attachments, then what is there to fight for? If you die, what would it have been worth? If you don't have something to protect, fight for, or die for, then who would remember you? It isn't balance...might as well program lightsaber fighting forms into droids, the Jedi are so cold, unfeeling and indifferent!

The Jedi believed in utter detachment and complete emotionless as a state of being, yet without attachment, there's nothing to produce a sense of loyalty; without emotion, you have no regard for the lives of others since you lack things like compassion or guilt. Yet in spite of that, the Jedi are supposed to have morality? How? How can you expect something that lacks emotions to care for the lives of others? How can you know that something without attachments won't betray you or anyone else since they can't develop loyalties? How can you have something like that, yet expect it to possess morality and keep others safe? You can't!"

The female Togruta Jedi Master frowned at that.

This...wasn't what she expected.

A philosophical debate with a Sith assassin about the nature of the Jedi Code? Unheard of!

Seeing Mariss staring at the young Sith assassin in shock over what he'd just said did not help put the Jedi Master at ease. She sighed, hardening her features.

"You are Vader's slave. But your power is wasted with him. You could be so much more."

Naruto smirked bitterly. "I already know I'm my Master's weapon. I lay waste to all that stands in his path. All I know is the ways of the Empire, I've never been anything else. And what would there be in turning on the only thing I've ever known? And all for what? A dead order that discarded their hearts in the name of power, failed at ensuring security of their members, or allegience to the Force instead of governing bodies? After all, that's why Mace Windu tried to kill the Emperor back when he was a Chancellor and take over the Old Republic for himself as the mastermind for and during the Jedi Rebellion that made you Jedi have to be put down!"

Shaak Ti frowned at that, as much as she didn't much like him being spoken ill of, she couldn't deny that Mace Windu had possessed his faults.

Mace Windu had a unique personality for a Jedi. He was serious, noted for his grim demeanour, and very cautious, to the point of occasional reluctance, a careful chooser of his friends, being slow to trust or being mistrustful. Despite this, he was highly compassionate and extremely brave, as he willingly risked life and limb many times to protect the people of the Republic, as well as his fellow Jedi and even the clone troopers under his command. He also firmly believed in the role of the Jedi as the Republic's servants and displayed a fierce dedication to the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic alike. A staunch traditionalist, Mace was long regarded as the great champion of the Jedi Order.

However, despite these positive traits, Mace was also rather arrogant and self-righteous; he was very-perhaps even a little too-confident in his own abilities, and saw very little fault in the Jedi or the Republic, believing they were always in the right and everyone else was in the wrong. He was prideful, known to be outspoken, occasionally sarcastic, and was largely obstinate to anything that contradicted his views. However, he kept his arrogance in check for the most part; he was humble towards individuals he believed were superior to him, such as Yoda, and treated most civilians and fellow Jedi with respect. Despite this, Mace didn't always hold his arrogance in check; he was shown to be somewhat cold, arrogant and dismissive towards individuals he believed were inferior to him, most notably fellow Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn, Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano, all of whom he distrusted and treated with little respect despite them all being exceptionally powerful Force-users, skilled lightsaber duelists, strong characters and loyal members of the Jedi Order in their own rights.

As a Jedi, Mace was intelligent and wise. However he was somewhat short-sighted, as he had a habit of underestimating the younger generation of Jedi, nor did he realize that his constant mistrust, lies and deceit towards Anakin were slowly turning him against the Jedi Order. When Ahsoka was accused of treason and murder, Mace was unable to see that she had actually been framed and was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

During Ahsoka's trial, Mace took his distrusting nature too far, to the point where he openly accused Ahsoka of lying to the Jedi Council and then coldly decided to strip her of her status as a Jedi and turn her over to the Republic military, an act that (to Shaak Ti's shame) most of the other Council members agreed with. After learning of her innocence, Mace joined the Council in offering to reinstate Ahsoka into the Jedi Order, but instead of taking responsibility for his actions, he claimed that Ahsoka's traumatic experience had been nothing more than a test given to her by the Force. When Ahsoka left the Order for good, Mace, unlike the others who were very sad to see her leave, only seemed disgusted; as she walked away, he frowned and his fists clenched. That was because he was not only incapable of acknowledging or learning from his mistakes, but he was also incapable of apologizing or admitting when he was wrong.

Ultimately, Mace's true motivation for all he did was a divergence from Jedi philosophy, as his personal belief system was an extremist viewpoint of peace at all costs. In his mind, peace was created by only one thing; civilization, and he viewed the Republic as the ultimate and only true civilization in the entire galaxy, thus developing an attachment towards the institution, and leaving him with a willingness to do anything to preserve the Republic, even if it meant violating the Jedi Code.

Small wonder why the Empire would scapegoat someone like that for regicide.

Still, that didn't mean she agreed with him entirely.

"Do yo truly despite the light that much?"

Naruto offered only a frown.

"Look...nothing personal, but my mission is to capture you alive, Master Ti," Extinguishing his sabers, he returned them to his belts. "If I don't do this or if I fail, the Empire'll bombard the planet from orbit. Please, just surrender and come quietly."

Shaak Ti stared. Shocked. Both at the Empire's tactics, as well as the genuine horror and remorse at the sheer idea of such an event happening her young opponent held. She looked up, thrusting her senses upwards with the Force, alarmed when she discovered he was right.

She looked back at the boy, truly taking time to register his appearance for the first time. His wild blond hair that stood up all over like the spines of a sea urchin, those trio of pencil-thin, groove-like markings that resembled whiskers on each cheek. The fresh scar on his nose, carved into him by Marriss's last, desperate attack. His immersion in the Dark Side of the Force seemed to physically reflect through his pale skin and the luminous, sulfuric yellow of his eyes.

And yet...

When she looked deeper, she saw light.

"I see...mercy and fairness." she murmured in disbelief, unable to believe what she was sensing. "And perhaps...compassion? Your actions reflect darkness, yet...also light? You claim to be an agent of the dark side, but its a mask? What is this? Who are you?"

"That can't be!" Mariss interjected, forcing herself off her hands and knees, "Sith embody pure evil! Its a trick!" she glowered at him fiercely, uncertain. "You're lying."

"I am what I am." Naruto replied wearily, folding his arms before his battered chest. "I can't claim to be anyone or anything else. Let my actions speak for me. I had ample opportunity to kill you both multiple times-but I didn't. Despite, I might add, several sneak attacks on your part, horn head!"

Mariss balked.

"Horn head?!"

"You heard me," the blond retorted cheekily. "Now stay down, or I'll have to zap you again."

There it was again.

There was mercy in his every action; for all his goading and taunting, he'd yet to end them. Even though it was well within his power, still he held back. Nor had he tried to turn them to the Dark Side as she'd expected he might. His pleas for their surrender were heartfelt. Genuine.

Shaak Ti looked at him, realization dawning. "You're a Light Sith..."

Naruto froze.

...I'm not a Light Sith! YOU'RE a Light Sith! What the hell IS a Light Sith anyway?!"

In spite of her wounds, Shaak Ti felt herself smile.

"Must you deflect everything with humor?"

"Its how I cope with difficult shit, alright?!" The Apprentice sighed, pinching the brow of his nose. "Ow! Shit, that hurts!" he hissed, flinching as he reached down for her ruined palm, "Look, I don't know what a Light Sith is, but can we please call an end to this already?" I'd like to be able to reattach your hand while we still can, ya know."

Shaak Ti colored.

"What guarantee do we have that you won't kill us the moment we lower our guard?" Brood challenged hotly.

Naruto arched an eyebrow, mildly offended.

"Other than the fact that I could have killed you already?"

"Sith...!"

"Fine. You have my word." he swore. "No harm will come to you while you are in my custody. So do I swear by the Force."

"Not the Dark side?" Shaak Ti posited curiously.

"The Force is the Force, Jedi." Naruto snapped, refusing to fall for the jab. "Dark and Light. Now, do we have an accord?"

"How strange...I sense you are sincere."

She saw only one path out of this, only one course that didn't end with her death and the planet in ashes, its people slaughtered. Had it been her alone, she would have gone to her death willingly. But with Mariss's life, no, the life of everyone on this planet dangling in the balance the line...what other option did she have? If she yielded to him now she could change her mind-and possibly that of her captor-later, she told herself. If she survived. If the Sith held true to his word. If Vader didn't slay her on the spot. If Sidious didn't order their execution. So many ifs. So many risks, and yet...

Naruto blinked as she knelt before him.

"We submit...teach us your ways."

Awkward silence followed.

For but a moment.

And then:

...eh?!"


(...Several Long Minutes Later...)


It was a tired and ramshackle group that finally found their way back to the Fire Shadow some time afterward.

Their trek proved slow going indeed, for the Jedi's wounds had truly begun to manifest themselves as had Naruto's own; he'd sustained lightsaber wounds in dozens of areas, suffered burns from having his own Force Lightning redirected at him by Shaak Ti, fractured a few ribs, and judging by the intense pain radiating from his left leg, broken something. Likely his armor was all that held him together at the moment, even as his regeneration struggled to put him back together.

"What's taking so long, Sith?"

"My name. Is. Naruto. Not Sith." Pausing to peel back a branch for them, the blond shot his charges a dark glower. "Stop calling me that."

Shaak Ti herself had grown quite pale, and he suspected she'd pushed her own body to the breaking point against him. Perhaps he'd overdone it with the lightning. In fact, he was almost certain he had. The loss of her hand wasn't helping, and she looked as though she go into shock at any moment. But by will alone she shoulder on, politely nodding as she ducked beneath the branch he'd moved for her.

By contrast Mariss was faring far better, though she favored her right side and hissed like a cat at him whenever he came too close.

He suspected the last part had more to do with shocking her one too many times than any actual injury.

Honestly, how could he weasel that Force Cloak technique out of her when she was being so hissy?

"Brood," he groused, "More like Broody...

"I heard that!"

"Bah!"

Still, they managed to reach his ship just before the sun dipped over the horizon, its last fading rays of light lingering to guide their way. It would've proved far easier if Cody hadn't parked the ship on such a high ridge, but beggars couldn't be choosers he supposed. Judging by the dead Felucians surrounding the craft, he'd had to fight to keep it there at all. There was even a dead Rancor sprawled out near the cliff. He'd really have to ask how his old commander had managed to take down one of those by himself as he brought up the rear-

A prickling sensation in the Force was his only warning.

Not so much a shriek of danger as alerting him to the presence of another Dark Side wielder; as such he wasn't entirely surprised when a shadow detached itself from the underbelly of the ship and crept up behind him. By then, he was perfectly aware of the Seventh Sister well before she flung her arms around his neck and spooned him from behind. Naruto sighed, knowing better than to try fighting her off, and the ruckus that would undoubtedly ensue. If she wanted to make a scene, then by all means she was welcome to it later...but why did it have to be here and now?

She always did have a penchant for the worst timing.

"You're not supposed to be here." he sighed, the words a whisper as the dark curtain of her hair tickled his face. "But you know that, don't you?"

"Bad, bad boy," she cooed into his ear, ignoring him. "Going off on a hunt and not telling me, hogging all the glory for yourself, toying with your prey...

"I had my orders. C'mon, get off already."

"Ha! You'll have to make me, Blade!"

Shaak Ti and Mariss...

...not so much.

With their senses muddled by the Dark Side, the Jedi weren't aware of the Inquisitor until she revealed herself with that delighted shout. As one they spun. Well, Shaak Ti tried to turn, but managed little more than half of a revolution before her weakness got the best of her. Mariss proved herself more spry, rounding on the smug Darksider with a scowl.

"Another one?!"

"Poor Jedi, you didn't even notice me until I let you...

Had they still possessed their blades, they would've drawn them on the spot.

"It seems you've gone soft, Naruto." Stepping away from him, the Inquisitor ignited her blade. "Perhaps I should put these two out of their misery...?"

"Never, Sith!"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Sensing the oncoming conflict, Naruto flung up a hand in both directions. "Let's all calm down! No attacking! They're my prisoners! I gave my word!"

The Seventh Sister sulked.

"You're no fun."

"Neither are you, always trying to steal my prey." he sighed as she deactivated her blade. "Do I even have to ask why you're here?"

"I was in the area." she looked away, refusing to meet his gaze.

"Don't make me use your name."

"Alright, alright!" the Seventh Sister wilted under his stare with a glower. "Stupid spoilsport. I hunted you down so I could brag, really." Thus beaming, she reached behind her back and retrieved what appeared to be a slender-looking pike from her back." she seemed to take a sadistic pleasure in activating the weapon, bathing the night in blue relief. "Behold the famed weapon of Kazdan Paratus, slain on Raxus Prime by my hand!"

Mariss groaned and hid her face.

"No...!"

"Oh, yes. You should have heard him scream. It was glorious-

A withering look from Naruto silenced her boast.

"That still doesn't answer my question."

"Neither did you." the Seventh Sister replied coyly, all but batting her eyelashes at him as she extinguished her trophy and once more bound it to her back. "And if not for me, your precious ship would be a flaming ruin at the bottom of this abyss. In any case, our beloved Fifth Brother mysteriously vanished a few hours ago in this system. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you, Blade?"

Naruto swiftly mastered himself.

"Nope. Never heard of him."

"Oh?" the Seventh Sister grinned, sensing the subtle revelation in his words. "If he doesn't exist as you say it would seem a promotion is in order, for me. Hmm. Fifth Sister." she cocked her head, sounding her new title out. "Doesn't quite have the same ring to it as seventh, but it'll do."

Sneaky, clever little thing!

"Alright, that's enough. I appreciate you helping Cody, but-

"Cody?" Shaak Ti, silent and grieving until this very moment, perked up at the mention of the clone's name. "Commander Cody?"

"The one and the same."

A soft voice from the ramp caused all eyes to turn towards the Fire Shadow's ramp. Naruto wasn't surprised to find Cody there, crouched near the hatch as though he expected to be attacked at any moment. Shaak Ti pushed past him, her gentle face replete with sorrow.

"Cody...

The cloned looked away, radiating guilt.

"It's...good to see you in one piece, general." his gaze flicked to the stump of her wrist, pained. "Well, mostly." Abruptly, his visage hardened. "But that's not why I'm here." Steeling himself, the Commander stood and briskly marched past his former allies, thought not, Naruto noticed, without a supreme effort. He wasn't expecting his old friend to stop before him and press a small holoprojector into his palm.

"Cody, what is-

"Transmission coming in for you, kid. Might want to take this in private."

"Who is it?"

"Oh, no one important...just the Emperor."

Mariss hissed furiously.

Naruto bolted upright.

"Come again?!"

Before he could finish, the clone stormed away, and the Jedi were making themselves scarce inside the ship. That was one conversation Naruto was more than happy to be excluded from.

Judging by Mariss's vocal protests, it was going to be a loud one at that.

"Well," The Seventh Sister inquired, "Aren't you going to answer?"

He'd never seen the man in person before, much less spoken to him. That the great Palpatine himself would deign to speak with him was something of an honor. A privilege, really. It would allow him to meet the mighty one and make his own assumptions. From what he understood he was Vader's master and that he was responsible for the safety and upkeep of the Empire, but that was where his admittedly limited knowledge ended. It would behoove him to broaden his horizons and the rule of the galaxy for himself, he decided.

He wasn't expecting the image of a wizened old man in dark robes, more so as he found himself face to face with the small hologram.

"Ah, we meet at last." leaning on a cane as he was, he seemed surprisingly small, almost frail, even. Ancient eyes peered past him, "And I see the Seventh Sister has completed her own task as well. Good, good. Lord Vader speaks most highly of your accomplishments, my boy." He sounded most kind, like a doting grandfather. "

"He did?" That left Naruto slightly taken aback.

"Indeed. Tell me, have you completed your mission? Are the traitorous jedi dealt with?"

"They have submitted to me, yes." Naruto admitted warily, before the Seventh Sister could otherwise interject. "I plan to return to Vader on Mustafar for my next task-

"Do as you will. Afterward, I require your presence in the Lothal system. It has been rife with strife as of late and requires a steady hand to restore order. See to it that they are eliminated."

"Eliminated? But, surely we can find another way-

Palpatine frowned.

For a moment there, he thought he had seen something lurking beneath that kindly facade. As if the mere mention of his master had stirred something in the Emperor. Whatever it was, it vanished before he could read into it, replaced by that eerie, calm expression. Something inside Naruto quailed at it, instinctive obedience compelling him to obey. Fear. How long had it been since he'd felt that? That old, cold dread...

"It will be as you say." he inclined his head in subservience.

"Yes, yes, excellent." The Emperor rasped in approval. "I expect great things from you, my boy. Continue your efforts, and together, we will bring peace and stability to the Empire."

That was the problem with emotions, you blushed readily.

"I won't let you down."

Palpatine smiled.

"I'm certain you won't."

With that, the transmission ended in a stutter of blue. Naruto's smile faded and he closed his hand over the holoprojector until he felt it begin to fracture, then crack. Metal and plasteel bent beneath his grip and still he squeezed, uncaring as sparks spit between his grasp and singed his fingers He didn't release his hold on the projector until it was a mangled mess of wires and circuitry in his hands. What he saw there unnerved him. A dark, nameless dread began to take root in him. His hand...trembled. He understood that he was a weapon, a tool, a Blade, but just now, for him to actually feel fear, to be told to kill all who opposed him, innocent or not...

"Lothal, hmm?" the Seventh Sister hummed, heedless of his inner turmoil. "Excellent. This, is going to be glorious."

"Perhaps." Naruto conceded. "I'll see you there, then."

"So you shall." she grinned wickedly, retreating. "Try not to torment the Jedi too much while I'm gone."

"No promises."

One final laugh, a startling, lingering kiss, and she was gone.

The Empire's Blade muttered a halfhearted farewell and watched her make her way to her own craft, looking on as it cleared the horizon.

When he was certain she was gone, he took Shaak Ti's lightsaber from his belt and held it up in his hand, considering her words. A Light Sith. What did that mean? Regardless, it was a fine blade, and would serve as an admirable replacement for the one he'd lost. Red and blue. Dark and light. Passion and tempered morality. Was this how others saw him? As something between light and dark? He did not feel a pull to the Light in a true sense of the word, but neither did he think to shun it. For all their flaws and crimes, the Jedi were still wrong. Or so he had been led to believe. Where they right? And if so, did that make Vader-

No, he refused to dwell on that. To dwell was to think of impossible things; horrible haunting thoughts that ate at him like worms.

Whatever the case, he needed to return to Mustafar and make his report, as well as deliver the jedi to Vader.

From there, he would follow his master's will and try to take solace in the purpose it gave him.

After a moment's pause, he started towards the Fire Shadow and the voices within.

All the while, doubt gnawed at him.

A/N: THE PLOT THICKENS! Naruto's beginning to wonder if the Empire is as "good" as he has been led to believe and with doubt, the gears begin to turn...

Time will only tell if he sticks with it or joins the Rebellion.

So in the Immortal Words of the Emperor himself...

...yes, use your emotions! Give in! REVIEW!

And of course, enjoy the preview!

Its twofold!

(Preview!)

"The Force is with you, young one. But you are not a Jedi yet."

Ezra bristled warily, raising his blade to defend himself.

"Oh, this is going to end poorly...


Naruto turned his gaze to the twin suns and frowned intently.

Something about this blasted wasteland of a planet...

...something was calling to him.

But what, exactly?

=D