Part 8 – Road to Yavin 4

Coruscant, Jedi Temple…

Jedi Master Asuma Sarutobi waited in the Temple's Hanger, awaiting the arrival of his Padawan, Den'em who was just arriving on Coruscant from Nar Shaddaa.

Master Asuma, the six-foot-four light-blue skinned Togruta, red and white-striped montrals and head tails had been in the Jedi Order since he was an infant, his master/adopted father had been making his rounds in the Temple one night, stepped outside to see the rain, noticed a bundle of cloths on the bottom steps of the Temple, picked it up, and found a baby swaddled in the various fabrics wrapped around him. He was adopted, raised, and trained by that master since his birth, and when it came time for him to forge a saber, his master gave him a special green crystal that had been in his possession since he crafted his saber.

As the transport that was carrying Den'em set down in the hanger, and the door opened, the young Padawan stepped out of the transport, his eyes heavy with sleep from lack of sleep being in a smuggler's ship for two days, and then another ship for the last few.

"Den'em," Asuma said as he walked up to his Padawan.

"Master," Den'em said as he walked up, and embraced his Master.

"Welcome home," Asuma said, "Now come, the Council is waiting to hear what had happened."

Upon arriving in the Temple Chambers, Den'em could see the Council was sitting there, waiting for him.

"Den'em," Master Jiraiya, the head of the Council said as he walked up to the Master and his Padawan, "Welcome home."

Master Jiraiya was a large six-foot-two human-male with long-white hair, and pale, Caucasian skin, he kept the double-bladed purple Lightsaber swinging from a special ring inside his outer-robes.

"Thank you Master," Den'em said, "I have much to tell."

As the Council members sat, Master Jiraiya spoke up, "Begin, young Padawan."

For the next half hour, Den'em told the Council everything that had happened, his capture, the days of torture, sleep deprivation, escaping, being recaptured, and the Sith that saved him.

"And he sent me with a message," Den'em said as he was finishing up his story, "He said, 'The cold war between our governments has cost the lives of many good people, and it nearly cost me my family's. This cannot continue'."

"That's some story," Jiraiya said, "A Sith with a conscious?"

"Yes, Master," Den'em said, "He was different. I didn't even have to sense it, I could feel it the second I talked to him. I wish I could explain it further, but I can't find the words, not properly at least."

"Then make them improper." Master Jiraiya said.

"Ok," Den'em said, he thought for a little while, and then spoke, "Alright. When I was in captivity, the other Sith on Korriban, when they took notice of me, it was if I could smell their hatred like a repulsive stink. But when I met him, when we talked, as we escaped, it was as if he was the only one that was clean. I didn't sense hatred for me at all, it was as if I could smell respect."

"Respect?" Asuma asked.

"Yes, Master," Den'em said, "It was if I was talking to someone who had learned of our ways."

"Interesting," Master Jiraiya said, "Is there anything else?"

"As a matter a fact," Den'em said, "There is," he reached into his satchel, and produced something wrapped in a thin cloth, "I stayed up awake throughout my entire trip home to keep this safe."

He unwrapped the cloth to reveal the rare and unique saber crystal the Sith had given him, "A saber crystal?" Jiraiya asked.

"A very rare one," Den'em said, "Blue with a black center."

Jiraiya reached out with the force, took the crystal from Den'em's hand, and observed it for a second.

"Interesting," Jiraiya said, "This is something we have yet encountered," he then levitated the crystal back into Den'em's hand, "Keep it safe, that kind of gift would make an excellent prize."

"I know Master," Den'em said, "I will keep it close."

"Your travels have left you weary I'm sure," Jiraiya said, "Go rest, you have done well."

Den'em bowed in front of the Council and left the chambers as Jiraiya sat back in his seat.

As Den'em reached his room in the Temple, someone he hadn't seen in weeks was there, his Master's second apprentice, Shikamaru Nara was waiting for him.

Shikamaru was a five-foot-nine Cathar Male that had gold-colored fur with Bengal Tiger-pattern stripes, brown eyes, and always wore his hair up in a spiked pony-tail.

"Thought you were dead," Shikamaru said, "Where've you been keeping yourself?"

"You know where," Den'em said as he approached his brother-in-arms, and hugged him.

"Hey brother," Shikamaru said, "Boy am I glad to see you alive."

"Back at you," Den'em said before exhaustion sent him collapsing in his friend's arms.

Shikamaru carried his friend into his room, and after he laid him down on his cot, he placed Den'em's belongings next to his bed and walked out of the room.

Aboard Sasuke's ship…

Hinata placed her things down in the main recreational area, "So this is home?" She asked.

"Yea," Sasuke said, "It's not much, but it's home."

"I don't know," Hinata said, "It has charm," she then sat down on the couch she put her things on, "And yet with a fortune like the one your family controls, you should be able to spruce the place up a little."

"I'd be lying if I said that thought hadn't crossed my mind at least once," Sasuke said, "Or twice before."

"So, where should I stay?" Hinata asked.

"Anywhere you want," Sasuke said, "Save for that room," he pointed to a room off in the corner of the ship, "That's mine."

"Ok," Hinata said, "So, what's next?"

"We're heading to Yavin 4," Sasuke said, "My ancestor's first apprentice etched a copy of his teachings, and brought it with him to one of the moon's many temples. Over the last few years, the moon has become a hotbed of increasing anti-Sith activity over the last few years, hence the reason there are several Imperial Garrisons stationed on the planet."

"Does your father control one?" Naruto asked.

"Yes," Sasuke said, "That's where we're landing."

"I don't know about you guys, but I need a shower," Naruto said as he walked toward the quarters.

"I'm going to get set up," Hinata said as she picked up her things, "I'll take the armory."

That just left Sasuke and Sakura standing there, in awkward silence, "So, Yavin." Sakura said.

"Yea," Sasuke said, "I'm gonna go program the Navi Computer."

"Can I join you?" she asked.

"Yea, sure," Sasuke said, "Come on."

As they walked up to the bridge, Sakura took her place in the pilot's seat while Sasuke walked over to the Navi computer, "You know, you surprise me." She said.

"What makes you say that?" Sasuke asked.

"You seem to have almost a split personality," Sakura said, "Your father nailed into you the morals of honor, and yet when you face your enemies in battle, you're merciless."

"Honor has no place on the field of battle," Sasuke said, "When it comes to combat I mean. Your opponent is not going to fight you honorably when they face you in the field."

"Yet the Sith Code dictates that you should not act peacefully," Sakura said.

"The Sith Code was taught to me very early on," Sasuke said, "Through my studies and experience I have learned that the code has numerous flaws."

"Such as?" Sakura asked.

"The code states that 'Peace is a lie, there is only passion'," Sasuke said, "If peace were a lie then you can never be at peace with yourself, or be satisfied with victory when it presents itself."

"What else?" Sakura asked.

"The final line states that 'And through victory, my chains are broken, the force shall set me free'," Sasuke said, "If that were true, then every time one of the slaves in Darth Saber's rule completes a task, then they should earn their freedom."

"You don't like slavery do you?" Sakura asked.

"No, I don't," Sasuke said as he looked down at his hand, "My people were considered the lowest form of creation for thousands of years. That's the reason many of us were slaves during the First Empire. If the empire should treat members of my species as slaves, why should I like the idea of slavery?"

"There are also plenty of Twi'leks who were considered that way," Sakura said as she turned around in the chair, "Most of us were born with the ability to do this," as Sasuke faced her, Sakura lifted her right leg behind her arm, and over her shoulder, "Which is why most of us are sold as sex slaves."

"Wow," Sasuke said, "That was pretty kriffing impressive."

"I'd imagine," Sakura said as she turned around, "Coordinates for Yavin 4 set," Sakura grabbed hold of the hyperdrive control, and gently nudged it forward, "Away we go."

As the ship jumped into hyperspace, Naruto had finished his shower and began working on his lightsaber, when a young acolyte is given his first lightsaber it is often a training saber first, and is usually very basic, low power, and couldn't really harm anyone very seriously.

When Naruto forged his actual saber, Sasuke's father had given him the crystal, but required him to gather the parts for the saber himself.

While owning a lightsaber was illegal in the Sith Empire if you were a non-Sith, with were some exceptions to war-trophies, the parts are readily available for other use.

It took Naruto a little while to find a chamber that would snuggly fit around his saber crystal, but he eventually found one in the hands of a band of Jawas on Tatooine, luckily for Naruto, they didn't know what they had so Naruto got it at a low price.

The other parts were harder to come by, and he actually reused some the parts of his old training saber so it was sometimes low power, hence the reason that during the fight with House Thul's guards, most of the shots Naruto blocked were absorbed by the saber, and not deflected.

After Sasuke claimed Kakuzu's lightsabers, Naruto decided to use some of the parts Kakuzu used in his lightsaber to improve his own.

Taking apart a lightsaber, and putting it back together is a serious feat, it's not like a blaster you can disassemble and reassemble to clean it and have it working. While a lightsaber can be used by non-force users, what ultimately creates a lightsaber is the force, when a Jedi or Sith is constructing their lightsabers, they always use the force to put them together.

As Naruto disassembled his saber, the first things that came off were the ends, then the power matrix, circuits, the crystal chamber, the crystal, the power field conductor, and then the power cell.

Kakuzu's lightsabers were of a different design, being curved, but inside the parts were still, basically the same.

As Naruto replaced the field conductor which he had recycled from his training saber with Kakuzu's, and as he was bending the power cell straight, he heard footsteps, and turned around to see Hinata walking into his room.

"Hey," she said as she entered.

"Hello," Naruto said, "What's up?"

"I just wanted to see what you're doing." Hinata said.

"Just trying to fix my saber," Naruto said, "When I first made it, I didn't have all the parts, so I recycled pieces from my training saber."

"So you decided to reuse some parts from one of Kakuzu's lightsabers?" Hinata asked.

"Yep," Naruto said, "The looks differ from lightsaber to lightsaber, but fundamentally, they're the same inside," as Naruto placed the power cell down next to the conductor, he knelt in front of the parts, "Here comes the good part, putting it together."

"How do you do that?" Hinata asked.

"Watch," Naruto said as he closed his eyes, and the pieces suddenly levitated.

Hinata watched as the pieces began to join together, the crystal first, the crystal matrix, the power cell, the conductor, then the casing, and finally the ends.

When he stood up, the saber floated into Naruto's hand, when he activated it, he could feel the power behind the saber itself, the hilt was cool to the touch, and not getting any warmer.

Naruto smiled, and swung his saber around in his hand a few times, "Still needs a bit of work with the balance," he said, "But aside from that, it's almost perfect."

Naruto then heard a sharp 'whuzz' from behind him to see Hinata had picked up the second of Kakuzu's lightsabers, and swung it around herself a few times, "I always wanted to hold one of these." She said.

"Now you are," Naruto said, "How does it feel?"

"It's heavier than I was expecting." Hinata said.

"You know what that weight signifies?" Naruto asked.

"The power this weapon holds?" Hinata asked.

"The responsibility," Naruto said, "Holding that weapon is hold the power to take a life, used incorrectly you could kill an ally, or even yourself."

"That why you guys train religiously with these blades?" Hinata asked.

"More or less," Naruto said, "It help keeps us sharp. What keeps us alive."

As Hinata put the lightsaber down, she and Naruto walked up the stairs into the main room to see Sasuke and Sakura had broken out a bottle of Corellian Whiskey.

"What's the occasion boss?" Naruto asked.

"New member Naruto," Sasuke said as he poured four glasses, "The best way to get to know someone is to get blackout drunk with them."

"I can drink to that." Naruto said.

Naruto sat next to Hinata, the four of them picked up their glasses, and Sasuke spoke, "We began this journey as three, and now there are four," he said, "So here's to taking on the galaxy, as a team."

"Team," Sakura, Naruto, and Hinata said at the same time as they tapped their glasses together.

After swigging down their drinks, Naruto gasped, "Wow," he said, "That is smooth."

"Yea," Hinata said as she put her glass down, "Hit me again."

"Me too." Naruto said.

Sasuke poured another round of drinks, and then another, and after a while, he couldn't even keep track of how many he had poured.

He awoke on the couch later with the feeling that his head had been bashed open by a rock, as he sat up, T-0B4 walked up to him carrying a tray with some hangover pills, and a glass of water, "That's T0," Sasuke said as he took the pills, and down the entire glass in one swig.

"Anytime master," T-0B4 said, "By the way, the ship should arrive at Yavin 4 in eight hours."

"How long have I been out?" Sasuke asked.

"You passed out about four hours ago master." T-0B4 said.

"And the rest of the crew?" Sasuke asked.

"Master Naruto and Mistress Hinata went to the conference room," T-0B4 said, "And Mistress Sakura went that way," T-0B4 pointed towards his room.

"Thanks," Sasuke said, "Keep monitoring the situation."

Sasuke first walked into the conference room to see that Naruto had fallen asleep on the conference table, a river of drool was flowing from his mouth onto table, and then onto the floor.

Hinata however had fallen asleep in the chair at the head of the conference table.

Sasuke walked up to Naruto, and nudged him on the shoulder, "Hey," he said, he nudged him again, "Hey, get up."

Naruto awoke, and as he tried to stand up, his hand instantly went to his head, "Ouch," he said, "I must have had one too many."

"And then about three more," Sasuke said, "Go get some sleep, we arrive in eight hours."

"Yea," Naruto said as he slid off the table, and onto the floor.

Hinata stood up herself, and walked over to Sasuke, "Gar liser taylir gar liquor, Cathar," she said as she playfully punched his chest, near his shoulder.

"Gar don't disappoint ebin, Mando," Sasuke said as he gripped Hinata's shoulder, and gave it a small shake.

As Hinata walked towards the Armory, Sasuke walked into his bedroom to find that Sakura was fast asleep on top of his bed.

She had removed her boots and jacket because they were just lying there on top of her rifle in a crumpled mess at the foot of his bed.

It was obvious she staggered into his room drunk, dropped everything, and face-planted into the mattress.

Sasuke pulled his blanket over the sleeping Twi'lek, and left her to sleep.

Guess what happens next…

Translation:

Gar liser taylir gar liquor, Cathar – You can hold your liquor, Cathar.

Gar don't disappoint ebin Mando – You don't disappoint either, Mandalorian.