Chapter 7
I am sorry for this, but I combined two episodes from Season Two of the Clone Wars. I did this because I couldn't really add Naruto a lot. Season two (with the exception of a few episodes) sucks as far as I'm concerned, because it's basically just a setup for Season Three which I like much more.
If you think I dropped the ball, I'm sorry, it's just hard to write something from season two. Now don't get me wrong, I love to write this story, but I just couldn't get excited for S2. I still think I did a pretty good job in the circumstances. So, please enjoy!
"Normal talk"
"Thought"
"Hologram & communicator"
THE FOX STARTS SCHEMING
A thief hunted!
In a daring assault, Anakin Skywalker
and his Padawan, Ahsoka, boarded
the warship of cunning bounty hunter CAD BANE
to recover a STOLEN HOLOCRON,
a list of the galaxy's force-sensitive
children and future Jedi knights!
After a desperate chase and duel with the villain,
Anakin and his troops defeated Bane
but were forced to evacuate
his doomed vessel without the holocron.
Anakin Skywalker and his remaining forces were just arriving aboard their flagship, departing their landing craft in the docking bay. As the tired clones headed for their post-action debriefing, Anakin was held up by Admiral Yularen.
"How many made it off this time?" asked the Admiral.
"Just us," said Anakin in a sad tone.
Not far away the remaining clones that got off the ship were having their own discussion.
One of the clones congratulated the clone Denal, whom they had just seen from a distance kill the bounty hunter Cad Bane, but who had evidently got injured in the process.
"Denal, good job frying that bounty hunter," spoke the clone as he padded the wounded man on the back and left.
Denal did not say anything, just slowly exited the ship while holding his left hand.
"Let's get some grub," said another of the troops.
A third clone looked at one of the clones that was in the back and had already taken off his helmet, asking "You hungry?"
"I'll catch up," muttered the clone while looking down at something.
The first clone shrugged his shoulders and moved on. Back with the Admiral and Skywalker who were continuing there talk.
"So what now?" Yularen asked.
"First things first. We get the injured to the medical bay," said Skywalker.
But before he could continue, he was interrupted by one of the clones, who called him over.
"General, there's something I think you should see."
Ahsoka was waiting for her Master when she saw one of the clones holding his arm and slowly walking away. She ran up behind him trying to get his attention.
"Trooper, are you all right?" she asked, but got no response in return. She rolled her eyes and sighed "Must've been hit in the head," she said sarcastically.
While this was happening Anakin was looking at the fluid that was left on the floor of there escape ship. He put two fingers in the green liquid and rubbed it in between his fingers.
"It's blood, sir," he reported.
"And it sure isn't from any of our men," said one of the clones that were standing around Anakin.
Ahsoka had at the same time caught up to the injured clone and saw the extent of his injuries.
"Wait! You're injured," she said, taking his forearm into her hands, "That might be serious." She leaned in to inspect his injury, and something was wrong, and she realized then that the blood was green instead of red. "You're no clone!"
The clone looked at her for a moment, perfectly motionless, then unexpectedly struck her with a right fist to the head, and then hit her in the stomach with his knee. The fake clone started to run while attacking anyone who got in his way. He managed to get to a star fighter that had just returned from the spacebattle, and had just started its engine when Anakin landed on the side of the fighter and punched the clone in the helmet, knocking it off and showing that it was none other then Cad Bane.
Bane knew better than to fight the Jedi Knight. It was a fight he would lose. Instead, he simply gunned the engines forward, blasting off at full speed for the forcefield that kept the hangar's atmosphere from escaping into space. Anakin had no choice, had to let go or face dying in vacuum.
When Anakin on the empty hangar floor, he immediately activated his communicator to speak to admiral Yularen.
"Admiral, lock down the hyperspace rings! Hurry!" yelled Anakin.
"What could possibly have happened since I last spoke with you?" asked the Admiral.
"It's Bane," Skywalker shouted angrily, "lock those rings now!"
On the bridge, Yularen started to panic when he saw his control panel light up. One of the hyperspace rings was being activated.
"No, lock them all down!" shouted the Admiral at the clones that were working on the bridge. "Hurry!"
"Deactivating hyperspace rings," said the one of the clones, but it was already too late as Bane had already jumped to hyperspace. When Anakin saw this, he looked down, disappointed that he was unable to stop the Bounty Hunter.
"We'll have to inform the Council," said Anakin to Ahsoka as they left for the bridge. That was not going to be fun.
[Coruscant-within the Jedi temple-Council chamber]
In the Council chambers, Anakin and his Padawan were giving their report to the Jedi Masters.
"It is most unfortunate Bane was allowed to escape again," spoke Obi-Wan Kenobi.
"With access to the names and locations of the most force-sensitive children in the Republic," added master Yoda. "Inflict devastating damage on the Jedi Order, he could."
"We've discovered Bane's working with the separatists," said Anakin seriously.
"There are thousands of children on that list," said Mace Windu, giving Master Yoda a meaningful look.
"Which will he go after first?" asked the wise old Master, seeming to gaze on some inner reality of thought. "Small chance there is, through the Force, the Council may detect them."
[Unknown location]
Cad Bane had changed into his normal Bounty Hunter clothes, which were made to blend him in with the crowd, provided that crowd consisted of old timey Wild West gunslingers. He was currently talking with the holographic projection of Darth Sidious about the job he had done.
"I have delivered what you wanted," said Bane while putting on his hat. "The Jedi were no problem. Anything else I can help you with?"
Sidious looked at the bounty hunter and intertwined his fingers while he spoke. "I need test subjects. Choose four children and bring them to Mustafar. I will take care of them."
"Kidnapping innocent children? Seems like a small-time crime for the likes of you," questioned Bane in a sarcastic voice.
"Among the children of the Jedi, there are no innocents," retorted the old Sith Lord.
"Sure, sure. As long as I get paid, it makes no difference to me," said Bane, turning off his Hologram communicator. He stood up and started to prepare for the job when he received another call from his communicator. He stopped what he was doing and moved towards the table. He sat down and pressed the button to let the call through. What he saw surprised him. He saw a young man in his early twenties, with long blond hair, wearing some strange armor. He had his hands crossed over his chest.
"Hello, Cad Bane, my name is Naruto Uzumaki, Sith apprentice to Count Dooku. I hear that you have been dealing with a certain Sith Lord."
"Yeah, and what's it to you, what would a small fish like you know about the big leagues?"
Bane was interrupted from saying more when he started to get chocked by an invisible force. He rose toward the ceiling, the tips of his boots losing contact with the floor, and his lungs started screaming out for oxygen.
"Now, now, there is no need for hostility towards someone that can make you part of the force without even breaking a sweat," said Naruto, who had not even moved his hands. The only thing that moved was his index finger.
Bane was just about pass out when he was suddenly released from the Sith apprentice's grip. He fell to the floor and was trying to get as much air as possible into his lungs. When he got himself under control he stood up and looked at the teen.
"Okay, you have my attention."
"Good. Now, I see that you are in the possession of the list of all the future younglings of the Jedi temple."
"Yeah, I've got it, but Sidious wants it, so there is no way I can help you."
"No, no, you misunderstood. I don't want the original, I want you to copy it and give the copied list to me."
"But won't the Jedi know that you- wait let me rephrase that, that I copied the data and will be looking for me even more?"
In response, he got laughter from the young Sith.
"Not at all, the thing you need to understand, Bane, is that the Jedi did not invent the holocrons. That was us. It was the Sith, as a way to preserve their knowledge of the dark side, that built them. I myself, being a dark side user, know the inner workings of the holocrons better than any Jedi, and I know how to copy the teaching, or in this case data, from them."
"That's all well and good, but you must know that nothing I do is free, so how much are you willing to offer me in return for my services?"
He was again on the receiving end of the young Sith's laughter.
"Oh, Bane, you don't understand the position you're in. You will give me this data free of charge, and you will not try to screw me over, or else," said Naruto, coldly.
"Or…else what…?" asked Bane as his red eyes narrowed.
He regretted his decision, as he was immediately being chocked by the Force again. This went on until Bane started to see black spots appear in his eyes, and was just about to pass out.
"Or else I will come for you and take it from you, as well as give you a nice session in my personal torture facilities. Oh, and if you try to hide behind Yabba, know that he will gladly give you over to me if it mean saving himself and his precious business."
"You're crazy if you think that Yaba will just let you destroy his empire! He will send his bounty hunters after you and I will be one of them. I will enjoy watching you die at my feet," said the bounty hunter with venom dripping of his every word.
"Ah, but what you do not understand, Bane, is that when you go to Yabba, it will already be too late. I will march my armies of droids on his palace as well as his fellow Hutt families. I will destroy anyone that comes in between me and my prize," Naruto said, leaking dark side energy like cold wafting off a cryo-chamber.
"Hah! You are an idiot if you believe that you could do that with those stupid droids from the Separatist Army. I've seen what they can do and I'm amazed the Separatists have ever managed to win a battle," Bane said, starting to laugh at Naruto.
In response Naruto only smiled and started to choke Cad Bane again. This time, he kept it up a little longer, so that the bounty hunter was barely holding on to the conscious world. When he released the almost limp figure, the Sith spoke:
"That would be true, if they would be normal droids, but imagine a simple battle droid being capable of processing and calculating on the level of a commando droid, and a commando droid with processing ability of a tactical droid, while still retaining all its combat abilities. Also my droids do one thing that no other has done…"
"And…what is…that," asked Bane in between gasps of air.
"They do things like a team, and they do not march in a straight line, but actually use tactics as well as take cover. So yes, you would be able to destroy some of them, but you would quiet quickly be overwhelmed and killed."
"Even if that is possible, you can't possibly have enough droids to take on the Hutts, you would need several billion droids to do that."
Naruto looked at Bane and gained a sadistic smile while Bane looked at him with wide eyes.
"No, that's not possible! No one can have that many droids, it's impossible!"
"Search your feelings or something, it's possible alright. I'm living proof of that. Also, you wouldn't have to worry about just the droids, there are also the hover tanks, the spider tanks…and of course there's also my fleet that can bombard you from above."
Cad Bane was on his knees and his arms were limp by his sides, and he was staring at the young Sith with wide eyes. Naruto saw this, so he decided to push his luck.
"Of course, you could always join me. I have very big plans for this Galaxy in the future, and you can be part of it. You could become a leading figure in this plan, and all you have to do is pledge your loyalty to me."
Bane looked even more shocked then before. His mind was racing a parsec a minute. On one hand he could try to screw over the young Sith and risk being destroyed, or he could join him and become an "important figure", as he put it, in the Sith's plan.
Bane thought it over for a few minutes more before he got on one knee and lowered his head.
"I pledge my loyalty to you my master." He spoke in a serious and, at the same time, defeated tone.
Naruto smiled at his new subordinate. He smiled because the bounty hunter would not be the last. Not by a long shot.
"Good, now, after I give you the instructions on how to copy the data, you will give it to me and then go on with your original mission, but leave a trail for the Jedi to follow and get the younglings and the holocron back. The most important thing is that you do not get captured by the Jedi; I still need you on the outside."
Bane nodded and got up, while Naruto started to show him how to copy the data of the holocron without leaving any traces behind. They worked on it for about an hour, and when it was done, Bane sent it to Naruto, who nodded and cut of the transmission.
[Quite sometime later-Naruto's flagship]
Naruto sat on the bridge of his flagship and thought about his first organic subordinate. It was quite a change, having a servant who couldn't simply be reprogrammed to do his job the way Naruto wanted him to.
Still, his plan had gone without a hitch.
Bane did a splendid job of playing the role. He'd captured two younglings and was paid by Sidious for both the holocron heist as well as the two younglings he captured. The best part was that in the end, Sidious got nothing, as he did not obtain the holocron, and the younglings were returned by Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan Ahsoka Tano.
Now Naruto was lying low and waiting for a chance to strike. As fate would have it he would be given an opportunity to strike a critical blow to the Republic.
Naruto was pulled from his thoughts when a droid tapped him on the shoulder. He looked up at the droid with a raised eyebrow.
"Sir, the spider droids that you smuggled aboard Duchess Satine's personal ship to spy on the Chancellor have intercepted a signal. They have also successfully made contact with Jedi Knight Aayla Secura, and she has the code to contact you when she wishes to talk."
"Good, it's a shame they finally found Lucky and destroyed him, he was such a good spy and he gave me the intelligence needed to secure my first subordinate," Naruto said with a smile. "Anyway, what's this message you have for me?"
The droid then looked at the data pad that he was holding, pressed some buttons on the screen, and motioned for Naruto to look forward. When Naruto did, he saw three people talking, and he knew them very well.
What surprised him was that there was another holographic image of a strange beast that had a roughly serpentine body with a long tail that trailed behind its form. It uniquely possessed a third arm protruding from its back. It also seemed to have plate-like armor. When he stopped admiring the creature he focused on the conversation that was at hand.
"How remarkable," said Palpatine as he stared at the beast: "I have never seen anything quite like it."
"I recommend that we transport it off planet as soon as it's possible," said Mace Windu with a serious tone. "We can find a place for it to live undisturbed."
"And what do the Dugs have to say on this matter?" asked Palpatine.
"They want us to help them to destroy it," said Mace Windu with a displeased look on his face.
"Then by all means help them. This creature has no importance to us…" said the Chancellor with an uncaring voice which surprised all the people present. "We cannot be alienated from the Dugs at these crucial times."
"It's not the Jedi way to take an innocent life," protested Mace Windu. "Especially if it's the last of its kind."
"Chancellor Palpatine," spoke up Dr. Sionver Boll. "I think it will be in our best interest to study this creature." She gained the attention of everyone present "Its armor seems completely impenetrable. None of our weapons could harm it."
"Even my lightsaber can't cut it," Added Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker
"If we could somehow duplicate that for our ships…" continued the Doctor.
"An impenetrable armor," finished Palpatine with a dark smirk that went unnoticed by everyone but Naruto.
"What if we let the Dugs think we killed it? Then we could have the treaty and the creature," said Anakin while taking a thoughtful pose.
This got the attention of everyone.
"Yes, Anakin," said Palpatine "Go on."
"When I was climbing the creature, I noticed there are small gaps between the armor and the scales. Maybe a shock canon or a pulse could penetrate to the scales and shock its nervous system. It would be like putting it into a deep sleep."
"He's right," conformed the doctor. "The beast would appear to be dead."
"We could transport him to a secured location before he wakes up," said Mace Windu.
"The Dugs will never know the difference," said Anakin with a smirk.
"That may be the only way we could get this treaty signed," said the Chancellor with a sigh. "And rest Master Windu's conscience at the same time."
With that, the transmission was cut off, and left Naruto to ponder the information that he had just received. He was surprised at the stupidity of the so-called Dark Lord of the Sith. He would have killed a creature with so much potential if Master Windu had not interfered. Naruto often thought how it was possible that Sidious had survived for so long, but then he remembered that the old man was a spineless coward that ran at the first signs of battle, unless there was no possibility of losing.
The droid, still standing by its master, spoke up.
"Sir, should we continue to monitor the progress that the Jedi make with the capture of the beast?"
"Yes, keep me informed. Oh, and prepare the fleet for a space battle. And I want the boarding party ready."
"It will be done, sir."
As the droid got back to work, Naruto left for the elevator to go to the hangars. He stopped just in front of the door and looked back at the droid.
"Also, put us as close to the Dugs homeworld as you can without the Republic forces noticing us." With that, he left but he heard the signature call of roger, roger as the elevator doors slammed shut.
When Naruto arrived in the wide, cavernous space of one of the hangar bays, a gigantic room with one wall simply missing, open to space with just a lightly shimmering forcefield keeping the atmosphere in, he was greeted by the sight of thousands of droids getting ready for battle. He smiled and went towards his personal ship, which was being worked on by R-3.
When he was near the ship the astromech droid turned its head towards him and made a couple of beeping noises.
"No, buddy, we are not taking another joyride, we need to prepare for a battle," said Naruto with a smile. "So is she ready to fight, or do we need to make any last minute changes?"
R-3 again made some noises to which Naruto just nodded.
"Alright, finish refilling the tank and the tibanna gas. Let's get this done, because this mission may very well be the turning point of this war. If I can get my hands on the cargo that will no doubt be transported by the Jedi…"
R-3 looked at him in a strange manner as if he was asking what his master was talking about. Naruto saw this, smirked and patted the droid on its head.
"Let's just say that if we succeed, no one will be able to defeat my army."
With that, they got back to work. They worked on it for a couple of hours before Naruto's communicator started to flash green, signaling that someone was contacting him. Naruto clicked the button that was flashing.
"Naruto here, what's the news?"
"General, we have monitored the progress of the beast and its capture, just as you said," said the droid.
"Great, so what's the state of the beast?"
"It is as you predicted, theChancellor will have the beast moved to Coruscant so that they may study it."
Naruto nodded, and then saw a holographic image appear before him. He saw nine ships in a square formation, with the ninth one being in the middle of the others.
"This is the formation they will be using to stop any attacks that may come from us," said the droid.
Naruto nodded as he analyzed the box formation the Republic would be using. After a while, he came up with a solution. He used the holographic map to show an asteroid field that was not far from the home world of the Dugs.
"Okay, we're going to use a tactic that was used by General Skywalker on Grievous. You will position spider tanks as well as boarding ships on the bottom of the asteroids, while we distract them with our own assault. They'll try to get the beast through the asteroids as they can't jump to hyperspace before they pass the belt. Skywalker will go in it head-first without thinking, and Mace will follow, because he'll be trying to make sure the beast is safe. You will then infiltrate and take this ship," he highlighted the central ship in the formation, "that has the beast. When you have it, send me the encrypted code so that we may leave, thus giving the Republic the illusion that they have won. After we leave, jump into Separatist space and then get back to the fleet."
"Roger, roger," said the droid before it cut off the link.
With that, they started to prepare for the attack. Naruto watched the droids board the boarding ships and other ships, taking them and the spider tanks towards the asteroid field.
[Aboard the Republic transport fleet-Malastare system]
The Republic soliders had just loaded the Zillo beast, a segmented nightmare a hundred meters in height, onto their transport and were preparing to move to the Republic capital. Anakin Skywalker was aboard his ship that was currently escorting the one that was transporting the Beast. He was speaking to Master Mace Windu about their current traveling course.
"I am troubled by the decision of the Chancellor to transport the beast to Coruscant. It is very risky and it can attract unwanted attention from our enemies," said Mace Windu.
"Don't worry Master, we just need to get past that asteroid field and we can jump into hyperspace, then we're home free," said Anakin with a smirk.
"That may be true, Skywalker, but I have a bad feeling about this, and that usually never ends well," said Mace with a serious tone.
With that, they both stared into the approaching asteroid field. They traveled slowly, their turbolaser turrets blasting apart the occasional rock that threatened to intersect their course, and had reached the middle of the field when they got a surprise they were not happy to receive.
Out of hyperspace came fifteen Providence-class Destroyer/Carriers and fifteen Munificent-class star frigates. The ships immediately opened fire and, because the Republic fleet was unprepared, they lost two ships to the first barrage. Anakin recovered first and started to yell out orders.
"Get shields up and get the fighters ready, now! Move all the rearguard ships to the firing line so that we can defend the beast!"
"Sir, won't leave our backs exposed?" asked one of the clones on the bridge.
Anakin was in such a rush that he could not even remember that he used the same tactic.
"No, they can't jump out of hyperspace because of the asteroid filed."
When he said this, he had already started to run toward the hangar, where he jumped into his fighter and blasted out into the fray. Once outside, he joined up with the clones that were already fighting the droids, but were having very little success. He soon found out why, as almost all of the droids evaded their shots, and even when the Republic starfighters managed to shot some down, it was thanks to multiple fighters cornering in the same droid.
"What the hell is going on with these droids? We can barely get a shot at getting close to them!" yelled an angry Anakin.
He had already lost most of his squad, and only two remained out of twenty.
"I do not know Skywalker, but it seems that these droids have better programming," said Mace Windu.
Then he remembered something, and he looked at the droid that was following him. He saw that it was painted red and black with a fox symbol.
"Skywalker, these droids belong to Naruto! He is here - if we find him, we may be able to turn this battle in our favor."
As Mace said that, the four clones that were following him were destroyed. When he looked at what had happened, he saw Naruto's starfighter and three other droid fighters following behind him. Mace quickly took evasive action to get Naruto off his tail, but it was futile, as Naruto stuck to him like a banking clan member to credits. He was able to sustain minimal damage, that his droid would be able to repair in a few minutes, but just as he was about to ask it to do so, one of Naruto's laser bolts fried the little astromech, and his cockpit was briefly full of electronic screaming.
"DAMN!" said Mace in a very un-Jedi like manner.
He thought this could not get any worse but he would soon find out that you do not count your Kaadu eggs before they hatch.
"General!" a clone aboard the bridge of Windu's ship chimed in then. "They have spider droids on the asteroids, and they have managed to destroy all of our engines except for the ones aboard the ship carrying the Zillo beast."
"What?!" shouted Mace, then calmed himself down. "Is there any good news?"
"Yes, sir, the transport that is carrying the beast is almost through and will be able to jump to hyperspace soon."
"Good, tell them to jump to hyperspace as soon as they can. With hope, when Naruto sees his prey is gone, he will withdraw from the battle, and we can have time to repair the ships," Mace Windu sent.
With that, he was able to focus his mind entirely on the battle at hand. He was able to hold out long enough, dodging and weaving and keeping asteroids between himself and the tireless droid-fighters, until he finally saw the ship carrying the beast leave for hyperspace. He sighed in relief when he saw Naruto and the other droids disengage and leave for their ships. But it was not the time to celebrate, because for every droid fighter that had shot down, they had lost ten clone fighters.
As Mace landed in the hanger he slouched down and released another sigh, as if he was happy that everything had gone well. But in his heart, he felt only a premonition of darkness.
[Coruscant High Orbit, above the glowing clouds]
The escort fleet for the beast had finally arrived when in the Coruscant system after a long trip. As they were preparing to land, they received a message from Chancellor Palpatine. Both Master Windu and Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker answered.
"Ah. Hello, gentlemen. I trust the mission was a success, and the Zillo beast has been safely delivered," began the Chancellor.
This surprised all those present. Mace and Anakin looked at each other before Mace decided to answer.
"Chancellor, the ship that was carrying the beast was supposed to arrive here before us."
"What do you mean, Master Windu? No ship had arrived before you - certainly not one carrying a giant beast. What happened out there?" asked a confused Palpatine.
"We got in a skirmish with the Red Fox Fleet, and they caught us by surprise and were able to destroy two of our ships, as well as disable our engines, but we were able to get the beast into hyperspace and after that…Naruto…left…that Son of a Hutt stole our SHIP!" said an angry Anakin.
It then dawned on them all why Naruto had disengaged as soon as the ship left. He must have had a boarding party ready and they had taken over the ship.
When Palpatine heard this he was barley restraining himself from releasing his dark side energy. He was so angry at that brat that was meddling in his affairs. He would see the brat die a painful death. He would clone the insolent little worm so he could kill him over and over, once a day, for the next year!
Later. All that was for later. Palpatine got himself under control and then decided to speak.
"It is most unfortunate that we lost the beast," he said mildly, as if the matter was already forgotten. "It would have helped tremendously, but sadly, it is out of our reach. We must win this war even faster so that we may prevent this new armor from being built."
All those present looked down before nodding. With those words, Palpatine turned off the hologram and left the Jedi to their own devices.
[Behind the closed doors of the Chancellor's office]
Palpatine, consumed by dark rake, was in his office and was destroying it with his light saber and taking his frustrations on inanimate objects.
"That damn brat ruined my plant for that beast! I would have had an army with impenetrable armor, but that brat just had to get in the way!" yelled Palpatine in anger. The table died a tragic death beneath his blows.
"Shall I notify Count Dooku to prepare a trap for him?" asked Mas Amedda.
"No. If we do that, we will prove to the brat that I am weak. Let him plot! I will strike at the right time and then destroy him, while also taking all he has obtained," said Palpatine while releasing a dark chuckle.
つづく！
TO BE CONTINUED!
R&R
Remember The Dark Side Is Always Watching