Alright...so I may have a bad habit of jumping around on projects whenever something catches my fancy...In all fairness I actually wrote the majority of this first chapter a long time ago (heh get it?) Anyway yeah, back before I ever began posting anything on , however having read Twilight of the Galaxy Episode I - Rebels by 312. (Which is a great start of a story and I would love to read more like it.) I couldn't help myself from going back and redoing this story to get it actually breathing. Doesn't help I have been on a starwars kick for a long while and wrapped up in it. Even going back and actually watching Rebels which I actually find myself enjoying to a decent degree. Not as much as clone wars mind you, but definitely not a bad series.

Anyway on with the actual story, a few story related notes at the end for those that care about it. Enjoy please.

Jedha

07 BBY

Ahsoka was confused, she kept moving from place to place, kept reaching out with the force. She kept trying to feel the reason she was drawn to this place. Her first ideas were to slip into the various former Jedi locations to try and see if perhaps they were what drew her. The answer had been a resounding no. The small voice in the back of her head whispering to her was getting louder, but not any clearer in those places. Showing that even now the old temples and shrines were strongly connected to the force.

Five weeks. That's how long she had spent scouring this dusty old rock in search of whatever it was that practically pulled at her there, like a magnet. It was in those five weeks she noticed the staggering amount of Imperial forces being deployed here for some reason. She could only assume they too were searching for the same thing. It wasn't until then that she knew what exactly.

Apparently four weeks prior, a full week after she had arrived, some prisoner transport had crashed into the deserts while making its way to land in the Holy City. She was certain now that a prisoner on that ship was her mysterious pull in the force. That sadly didn't help much. It was a lead though.

With that lead she was able to narrow down her snooping after breaking into an Imperial Checkpoint. It didn't take long before she found precisely what she was looking for. Some poor kid it looked like, from some backwater just beyond the edge of the Unknown Regions supposed to be enroute to Mustafar to be broken by Vader himself. She released an unexpected shiver at that thought.

The Empire wanted this kid bad, and they wanted him as nothing more than a tool for Vader to wield alongside his legion or his lightsaber. Another force powered dog like their inquisitors. Too bad for them she wasn't about to let this one get taken by the Imps.

All told, it took another two weeks to find the boy even after knowing what he looked like. His features were striking as well so it should have been easy to track him down. Either way when she had found him he was barely conscious and moments from being snagged by Stormtroopers, after the people who he believed to be hiding him had drugged him and planned to turn him in.

She had been a bit surprised by how quickly his body fought off the drugs used on him. The former jedi had initially been worried he might even overdose from the massive amount they had injected him with, yet instead he had quickly fought off it's effects and already only a few hours after she picked him up he was waking all on his own.

The blond spent only a brief moment scanning the room before locking onto her briefly. It only lasted a moment but Ahsoka recognized the look in the boy's eyes. In that moment he had analyzed everything he could about her before forming a basic plan of action. Thankfully for both of them he simply raised his hands in a surrender motion and smiled faintly at her. Smiling reassuringly at the kid she offered him some water which he sucked down eagerly. Who knows when the last time he had fresh water to drink after all. Despite going at his drink like a dehydrated animal he kept Ahsoka in his line of sight, obviously not trusting her.

While Ahsoka continued to watch him and tried to figure him out Naruto watched her right back. However, his mind drifted to thinking about how he had gotten here.

In the time since coming to know of the greater galaxy Naruto had been hit by shock after shock. The first was that aliens existed. Kaguya's attempt to quite literally devour his people's life energy had sort of given him a bad impression of people from other planets though, even if her people had originally structured his own world's society, in the end they were nothing but cattle to the Ootsutsuki and that left a bad taste in his mouth to people from other parts of the galaxy.

Then only shortly after the last of the Otsutsuki were destroyed and his people were beginning to reach to the stars the 'oh so friendly' Empire arrived and began offering things like an over zealous pawn shop owner. Naruto wasn't stupid, he knew how much their technology and aid could help his people, especially after two devastating wars had ravaged the world of Ninsu. Still though he had voiced caution and spoke against the moves to make them a true part of the Galactic Empire.

People had even listened. Sure some of his closest friends disagreed for their own reasons, but the people as a whole had followed him in his beliefs. Like usual though, just when things were looking up, everything came crashing down. He had no idea the true extent of the Imperial Inquisitor's power. Had he expected it he would have tapped into the nature chakra of Ninsu, which he learned was apparently an aspect of the force, but he never had the chance. Instead his chakra and connection to whatever this force was was locked away and he had been beaten brutally. One of the worst beatings in his life honestly, which was saying something as he had been impaled multiple times in his life, twice in one afternoon even. He often liked to use that specific event as a joke about starting puberty being a rough experience for everyone.

Then came the darkness. Hours upon hours, maybe even days of darkness. Hardly any sound, nothing to feel but cold hard metal, and only the smell of his own sweat and blood. As if he was plunged into a void. When they had finally pulled him out of it the light was blinding. If only it had actually blinded him. There before him were at least four shinobi aiding the imperials as they loaded him and a select few others aboard a transport ship. Thankfully it wasn't anyone he personally knew, he wasn't sure he could take that slap in the face. He had no real idea what was going on. With Kurama having been lost in the wars with the Ootsutsuki, and his own chakra somehow suppressed his advanced healing ability was slowed terribly. He almost felt like a normal person. A normal person with a severe concussion of course. By the time he had fully come to his senses the ship was setting down for fuel on a different world than his own. That's when it all finally struck him.

He had been betrayed. He didn't know specifically by who, but there were shinobi who had sold him out to the empire. His own people had simply thrown him away. That's when it came to him. The anger and rage buried over a lifetime of mistreatment and being used as a pawn in other people's games. Rage at being betrayed and used by those he called comrades or even family when he had finally earned the respect of his home.

He thought he had come to accept his anger and buried hatred and let it go at the Waterfall of Truth back on Ninsu, but now he realized that while he had accepted it, he would probably never let that resentment truly go.

How many times had they done this to him. How many times had he been betrayed and used, and made into just a tool. He had fought against that, his entire life. Not just for himself but all his people who were treated the same way, and in the end, when he had finally come to be dubbed the Second Sage, come to be regarded as a hero both in the war and simply for his pacifist ideals someone turned on him again!

The anger and rage had been so palpable that he had blacked out again only to wake up in the desert. For a while he had thought perhaps he had suffered some kind of heat induced hallucination and was actually back home on Ninsu somewhere in Kaze. That didn't last long though as he felt himself naturally reach out to try and find life with his senses. However it wasn't like he used to do it. It wasn't with the chakra he had stored in his body. That he found was still largely suppressed only a trickle of his original reserves escaping. No, he was using something else, it felt almost like a deeper form of Nature Chakra. That was his first true connection with the force. Then and there. It was also when he realized he was now a fugitive on a foreign world being hunted by the empire. At least he could commune with the force. He had to think of silver linings, had to keep his own hope alive somehow.

The next weeks passed like a whirlwind. He barely remembered anything. He encountered new languages, new races, new cultures. He found himself in some city known as Ni Jedha, or simply the Holy City. It definitely had its own appeal, but he would take Konoha over anyplace this rock produced anyday. Nothing beat the sea of green forests that made up his homeland.

The last few days came back to him finally. Hiding out with a young couple who seemed alright by his reckoning. Again he was fooled by trusting the wrong people. It seemed there was not a single trustworthy person in the galaxy by this point. Not even those he had fought and bled with could be trusted so why would these random bottom feeders be any different. Still they had caught him off guard. Maybe it was the shock of his recent experiences, maybe they were simply better prepared for this than he was. Still he managed a swing at the man through reflexes alone when he injected Naruto with whatever it was. Naruto barely touched him, but his people were literally bred for warfare and the man's jaw was shattered by the backhand. The woman's screaming at him believing him to be a Jedi was the last thing he remembered before blacking out.

The biggest shock at the moment was simply that he was not back in another black void laying in a pool of his own blood. He had to count his blessings he supposed. Whoever this woman was, perhaps she was actually trustworthy. He squashed that line of thought ruthlessly. No he would be wary of her. Kind and friendly but still wary. He trusted no-one now. With Kurama gone, he was well and truly alone in the galaxy and that meant he had to watch his own back even among those that seemed friendly.

All these thoughts raced through Naruto's mind as he emptied the bottle of it's contents before looking back at the woman before him. He believed she was what was called a Togruta. His shadow clones had largely helped him when the Empire first made contact with their people. He could learn basic and other languages, as well as Galactic history, politics, formalities, and the like in hours where it would take others days or weeks. Togruta were one of the many, many races of people spread across the stars according to his memory. Sadly he didn't know much in the way of specifics about them, or the woman in front of him.

What he did know was that he definitely recognized those items on her belt. Those weapons used by the Inquisitor who had led the group that ambushed him in his own home. It was also used by another group, a group that he knew to be an enemy of the Empire, and therefore a possible ally.

"Jedi?" Naruto asked quietly, his eyes scanning over her waiting for any move to attack or any other movement that required him to react. Instead all he got was a slight widening of her eyes before a faint smile crossed her face. One that he had seen on only two other people, neither of which meant anything good for him. Nothing truly bad either but he couldn't help but swallow slightly at the look she was giving him suddenly. She suddenly reminded him of Tsunade and Sakura with that smile.

One Month Later

"You know they really did not do a good job searching you when they captured you did they?" Ahsoka laughed out as she watched Naruto sort the literal arsenal of weapons he had previously sealed away on his body.

Glancing back at her Naruto smirked before going back to organizing his things. "Yeah well neither did you." He joked, getting a half hearted scoff from the woman as she looked down at the items before them.

The kid had an entire spare set of gear as well as scrolls, letters, pictures, clothes, and a pair of swords that he seemed particularly fond of. His gear would be odd for most cultures but from what he had told her of his, not that he had told her much sadly, his people were warriors. Dozens of various menacing looking knives, wire that was somehow too thin to really see when unraveled, but sturdy enough to bind a full grown man, and sharp enough to lose a finger if mishandled, odds and ends like blank paper and writing supplies that seemed archaic but gave off an odd feeling as if they were imbued with energy.

"A shinobi tool kit." Naruto said smirking back at her when he caught her eyes scanning his stuff. "Never leave home without it."

"You know how to use all this junk to fight?" She asked with a bit of humor. Naruto, despite being awfully wary of others was easy to get along with. He practically glowed with a kind aura despite his rather bloody line of work.

"Yes I know how to use this 'junk' to fight!" He bit out, a little offended his skills and culture was doubted. Then his head sagged slightly.

"Well most of it. The swords I was supposed to get more training with but things became too chaotic. First the fourth shinobi war, then the Ootsutsuki Invasion, then the damn Empire shows up. Pity really, those two are really special to me." He picked up the swords and smiled at them slightly.

The first was a gift from his teacher when he learned that Naruto had an interest in kenjutsu. It was shortened, really just an elongated tanto but it was made to bear similarities to Kakashi's family blade the White Light Chakra Saber, made famous by his teacher's father Sakumo Hatake, Konoha's White Fang. Naruto's lacked the white energy when channeling chakra, instead giving off a slight gold look from his own chakra color.

The second was even more special. It wasn't until he was made a chunin that he was given the blade. His mother's blade, the one that had changed her title from the Red Hot Habanero of Konoha, to the Red Death. It wasn't really an Uzumaki heirloom, but it was an extremely fine blade and it was his mother's. He had hoped to learn to use the Katana in combat in her memory but never really got the opportunity to train in the use of a blade.

Ahsoka nodded at his statement. She could see it in the way he stared at the swords. They were no mere blades. While she didn't know the history behind those specific swords, she had seen items like that before. Back before the fall of the Jedi. Force Blades were ancient and rare, mostly kept in museums. They were superior to vibro blades in practically every fashion except cost efficiency and there was the fact they had to be very well maintained to remain in fighting condition. It was no doubt much cheaper and easier to produce vibro blades than force blades, force blades need to be made by hand and imbued with the craftsman's energy during their forging. That was as far as her knowledge on the items went.

"And the letters and scrolls? You fight with them too?" Ahsoka jibed slightly at the boy.

"A habit I picked up a long time ago. Always kept all my most important things hidden on me, where only I could get it. That way people have to steal me to steal my stuff." He joked back getting a slight grin from her.

"You know, I have been meaning to ask. What is it exactly you plan to do now kid?" She asked. She half expected him to spout off how he was going to rush back to Ninsu and rally his people to throw out the empire. It would be a waste. Someone among his own people had already sold his world to the devil, that is the Emperor. It didn't matter anymore if he rallied people to his cause, a world with large amounts of force sensitives with morally grey ideals and a history of warfare was not about to be simply released from Imperial control. Imagine her surprise when Naruto sighed and clamped his eyes shut tilting his head back with a frown.

"You know." He began. "Part of me, a really REALLY big part of me wants to just go home. To see the forest surrounding Konoha and try and convince my people that they are making a mistake by trusting Palpatine and his Empire. A year ago, I probably would do just that. I'd be dead too, and my people would still be plodding along to slavery without a care in the world." He turned his head and opened his eyes surprising Ahsoka with the expression he had on his usually smiling face. His eyes were cold and nearly glowed in intensity form the look of determination he shot her.

"I figure there are other people who have their own issues with the Empire. I don't mean to brag or anything but I am pretty skilled with these knives, I also know how to use a blaster now thanks to time spent running through some of the Ootsutsuki simulations on Tsuki." He shot her a cocky grin getting her to smile back at the teen.

It was a bit surreal for her with this kid. He was almost like a jedi in so many ways. His peaceful ideals, and belief in freedom. His skill in combat and not to mention his surprisingly new, yet still strong connection to the force. It had been some time, but suddenly Ahsoka felt like she actually knew why it was the force had drawn her to Naruto Uzumaki.

She wasn't going to train him to be a jedi. No matter how similar he was to one, he would never be a jedi. The Jedi she knew shunned attachments and emotions, they chose a hypocritical path of mixing compassion with apathy. Naruto was practically the antithesis of that ideology. His attachments and bonds had given him strength. Made him capable of feats most couldn't dream of when he was still practically a child. No, she would not teach him to be a jedi, but she would teach him to use the force, and if he wished, to use those blades of his.

"Well, Naruto…" She started catching his attention as he began putting his items away. "What if I told you I might know someone who needs an apprentice?" She gave him a sly grin as he scoffed in amusement.

"Oh, and would this person be an enemy of the Empire?" He shot back sending her his own amused smile.

"They just might, then again they aren't big on freeloaders so you might just owe them already." She joked causing his eyes to widen slightly as she walked off into the ship.

"Hey wait a minute, I never asked for your help, I would have busted out again eventually you know." Naruto began, though internally he was a bit relieved. He hated owing others, but he had already felt like he owed Ahsoka so much for simply pulling him off Jedha. If being her apprentice paid her back through his work, and taught him to use his full range of abilities then honestly he welcomed it.

Turning back to his gear to put it away as he heard Ahsoka simply laugh him off and he couldn't hold back the massive grin spreading onto his face.

One more time. He would trust someone, one more time. Luckily for him the Force seemed to think that was exactly what was in order as his decision would eventually set a chain of events into effect much to his benefit and many others.

Two Years Later

Aboard the Phantom

05 BBY

Having just left the Ghost, Hera and Sabine continued their argument that had filled most of their day already. The Mandalorian was still angered by the fact she felt cut out of the loop with intel and her combination of trust issues and generally stubborn nature fueled the problem even more.

"So what's the deal, is Fulcrum just another smuggler like Vizago? Why all the secrecy?" Sabine began again trying to weasel any kind of information about Fulcrum as she could.

"Oh, It's no secret we're fighting against the empire. We need as many allies as we can get." Hera responded in a manner as if she was teaching her something valuable with those words.

"How do you find a way of answering questions without giving any answers?" Sabine was more exasperated than truly angry at the moment.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Hera asked with a slight smile causing Sabine to nod at her with actual hope.

Before their conversation could continue the comlink activated and through a distorted voice called out to their ship.

"Phantom this is Fulcrum, come in."

"This is Specter-2, Fulcrum." Hera said while Sabine reached for the commlink.

"Why don't I talk to him." Sabine asked with a cocky voice only to get Hera's finger pointed in her face while the Twi'lek scowled.

"Don't you dare."

"Already at the rendezvous supplies are unloaded and ready, should I wait?" Fulcrum cut in unknowingly interrupting their argument.

Sabine reacted too quickly for Hera to stop. "Yeah stick around, Specter-2 and I would love to talk to you."

Fulcrum hesitated a moment. "Specter-2 whats the problem?"

"No problem, Fulcrum. Specter-5 decided to help with the supply run." Hera responded while shooting a glare at Sabine.

"Understood. Wait one." Fulcrum responded, surprising Hera.

"Well seems like we might just meet Fulcrum after all." Sabine said with a smug grin. Only to get another glare shot her way by Hera.

"Phantom, this is Maelstrom, Fulcrum is unable to remain at the rendezvous, however I will remain to help load cargo and speak with you." A second distorted voice came over the commlink. This one was deeper and had an obvious accent to it though beyond that it was too distorted to really glean anything from.

Sabine frowned slightly and Hera sighed tiredly. Already plans were being changed on what was supposed to be a simple grab and go mission for supplies.

"Understood Maelstrom." Hera replied.

"Wait who is Maelstrom?" Sabine asked ignoring both Fulcrum and Maelstrom terminating the connection.

"Maelstrom is Fulcrum's partner, or maybe second in command I'm not sure on their relationship, but they work together." Hera replied. She knew less about Maelstrom than Fulcrum and in all honesty she was worried about what the interaction would be like once they arrived. She didn't need Sabine doing something to piss either of the two off enough that they broke ties. Connections between her various contacts and the like were tenuous enough as it was. Throwing attitude in just made it a disaster waiting to happen. Everyone was too jumpy to keep ties with people they had issues with unless absolutely necessary.

Eventually the ship made it's landing at the abandoned Fort Anaxes. The fort was rather small, though the majority lay hidden within the asteroid where it was carved out.

"So where's the mystery man?" Sabine asked.

"I dunno, maybe they didn't like your attitude, I know I didn't." Hera replied, though she was also wondering. Maelstrom had said he would be there.

"Let's just get the cargo." Hera said as they moved toward the obvious stack of containers.

As they approached the containers however a figure stepped out from one of the towers nearby lifting a hand in greeting. It became obvious Maelstrom was a he. He wore a dark set of rugged clothing largely hidden behind a worn brown cloak that concealed much of his form. He looked to be in his late teens or early twenties which somewhat surprised the girls as they had expected someone older. Further analyzing him bore a few more details for the Specters. He had a somewhat heart-shaped face, however his actual features were rather aristocratic in appearance. He had wild blonde hair that just reached his neck with bright blue eyes and oddly enough whiskers on his cheeks. He wore a unique pair of plates on either bicep that seemed to be carved with some symbol causing Sabine to wonder if they were similar to the various Mandalorian clan markings typically painted on their armor. The most notable features however were the blaster on his hip and what they assumed to be a vibroblade across his back.

"Specter-2 and Specter-5 I assume?" Naruto asked with a friendly smile, squeezing his eyes shut and grinning broadly, looking much like a fox.

"That's us, so you must be Maelstrom then." Naruto nodded to Hera when asked.

"Let me help load up your cargo then we can talk about whatever it was that was bothering you." Naruto shot them another smile before activating the grav-lift on the nearest container and motioning for the girls to lead the way.

As they walked Sabine shot Naruto another studying glance before sidling up beside him getting a raised eyebrow from him.

"Maelstrom huh? Seems a bit arrogant of a name to choose." Sabine said with a cocky grin while ignoring the glare from Hera.

"Well, a name is a name, most of us don't choose our names Specter." Naruto replied with a warm smile.

"Wait so your actual name is Maelstrom?" Sabine asked.

"Something like that." Naruto returned. "What was it you wanted me out here for anyway? You can load these all yourselves pretty easily."

"Well, I wanted to know what exactly is going on. I feel like we can't take down the empire on our own so there must be others. I need to know this isn't all for nothing, I need to know I'm not walking into a nightmare here. I've already been down that path." Shooting a glance at Hera with the last comment making so she understood what precisely she was talking about.

Hera chewed her lip. She could understand why Sabine was upset, why she wanted more information. Her past had led her to the point of not being so free with her trust as she once was. However Hera was more concerned over what Maelstrom would say. If he just freely gave out information to Sabine that could lead to him becoming a dangerous leak in their operations. However if he simply ignored her questions it could damage her own crew as they started dividing over more and more issues.

Naruto stopped and looked at Sabine dead in the eyes for a moment. His friendly almost glowing demeanor from earlier disappeared. His blue eyes became like chips of ice and he seemed to stare directly back into the girl's own hazel orbs. He analyzed every feature about her, not that he hadn't already done so when the pair of women set down with their ship. She was athletic and obviously Mandalorian, which intrigued him as their people sounded much like his own. Her orange highlights amused him as well as the large amount of orange on her armor and clothes. He always loved brighter and more vivid colors. Still, he kept the cold look in his eyes as he spoke.

"You aren't the only cell of people rebelling, but I am not about to give you anything on the others. Why would I, for all I know you are an imperial spy. So not a chance Cyar'ika." His tone was cold but not rude. It was more like he was simply speaking with finality to put the discussion to rest.

For her part Sabine was a little surprised by the fact that he seemed to speak some Mando'a. She was also a little confused or perhaps flustered by his choice of name for her. Cyar'ika essentially meaning sweetheart. She wasn't sure if she should be offended by that or not. Luckily for both of them Hera cut in by grabbing Sabine by her shoulders.

"You need faith Sabine. Faith that there is a long term plan that's bigger than you or me, bigger than Lothal, even bigger than the entire Outer Rim." She made sure to lock eyes with Sabine. "Have faith in that and in us. We know what we're doing." She turned and left Sabine alone in the cargo hold for a moment to allow the girl a second to think.

Once back outside she met with Maelstrom who seemed to be waiting for her. He held out a data disk and nodded conspiratorially when handing it to her. The boy shot a glance back toward the ship before turning back to Hera with his grin back in place.

"You know, you make one hell of a motivational speaker there Specter. Your group must be something else." He smiled at her as they turned back toward the ship.

"Thanks. You know you didn't actually have to stay behind, we could have gotten this loaded up and the intel could have been dropped like normal." Hera said as they began walking back toward the containers Sabine catching up.

"Eh? Well Fulcrum actually would have had no real issue staying behind to settle this little disagreement but you Specters aren't the only ones we have to give supply drops to. Fulcrum isn't one to typically expose themself to such things but you Specters have done good work out here. Anyway Fulcrum took the supply ship to head to the next location I should be able to catch up before then though." Pointing at what Hera had originally assumed to be an old clone wars fighter. Looking again she noticed the ship was obviously altered heavily. Honestly the basic hull of the vessel was almost all that remained visibly the standard.

"I usually run as the escort for the supply ship when we do drop offs, but the next stop on the list is close enough and usually secure enough I'm not needed terribly." He smiled at his ship, the usual reaction for pilots that modified and maintained their own 'babies'.

Reaching the containers Naruto froze, though this went unnoticed by both girls for the moment.

"Hera, I…" Sabine began. Part of her feeling a need to apologize for being so obsessive about this whole thing. Sure she still had her doubts but she was sated for now and honestly the argument was a rather small point of conflict.

"Look." Hera pointed out to obvious scratch marks near the remaining containers.

"There was one more container just a bit ago." Naruto growled drawing his blaster and scanning for threats around them. Internally he was kicking himself for snooping through the old barracks and supply buildings rather than watching over the cargo while waiting for the Specters to show up.

"Who else is here?" Hera asked.

"Noone, at least no one that was with me or Fulcrum." Naruto responded. "Why would they drag them, all of these containers have anti-grav lifts. It doesn't make sense."

Sabine and Hera drew their own blasters and slowly followed Naruto into the abandoned fort's hangar bay. Both Naruto and Hera flicked on lights in their free hand while Sabine followed nearby with a blaster in each hand.

Eventually the trio came across the container but stopped. It was a mess, literally torn open, several spots sheared right through the thick metal used as the container's outer covering.

"Whoever did this was pretty eager to get at what was inside." Sabine said as she glanced around warily.

"Too eager to just flip the latch and open it?" Hera replied, causing Naruto's eyes to narrow.

"We're not dealing with who so much as what. We should finish loading the rest of the supplies quickly." Naruto said while beginning to lead the others back to the entrance after glancing at the wrecked transport shuttle ahead of them.

"Why was this base abandoned exactly?" Sabine asked to no-one in particular.

"Infestation." Naruto replied as he backed away slowly alongside the others.

Suddenly Naruto turned and blasted a creature in the face behind the trio dropping the beast as it screeched in pain. Around them dozens more began scuttling through the debris hopping from cover to cover moving in on their prey.

"Frynocks, spectacular. Specters make a run for it!" Naruto bellowed as he blasted another beast before Discarding his flashlight and drawing out his blade in his free hand and joining them as the dashed for the exit.

The Specters were surprised by the sword as it began to faintly glow before it easily sliced its way through one of the creatures mid leap. The trio continued to run killing a handful more of the beasts before making it out of the hangar and back into the sunlight. Taking more defensive positions once they were back outside the trio waited for the creatures to continue. For a moment neither side made a move until a shadow fell over the area and the beasts made their charge another pair falling to the combined blaster fire of the three rebels.

"Those creatures can't take the sun." Hera commented as the three took a breather.

"That's good except, do you see the size of that asteroid, that's going to block out the sun for a long time." Sabine pointed above them causing Naruto to grimace at the size. She was right, when that asteroid passed over them they would be in the dark an awfully long time.

"How long?" Hera asked causing Sabine to scowl at her.

"I dunno! Long enough to become lunch!" She snapped.

"Luckily ladies, we aren't planning on staying, let's finish loading the containers and get off this rock." Naruto cut in.

As the trio loaded up the last of the containers Naruto turned to Hera. "You should prep for launch I'll help Specter-5 finish loading the last two containers, we'll be cutting it close enough as is." Hera nodded and started prepping the shuttle before realizing an issue.

As Naruto and Sabine returned with the last of the cargo they noticed Hera's scowl. Simply pointing down at the pooling fluid Naruto slapped his palm onto his face and grumbled something in his native tongue neither girl could understand.

"Specters 3,4, and 6 were supposed to run a diagnostic before we left for the run but they evidently got distracted. I just got off comms with the Ghost, they're on the way but…" Hera trailed off and glanced at the asteroid that neared to where it would be blocking the sun.

"No way that they get here before that asteroid puts us in shadow. What about your ship, we could use it to bug out till the Ghost gets here and we can fix the Phantom." Sabine said causing Naruto to sigh.

"No good. My ship barely has room for the pilot with all it's mods. No space for all three of us and before you ask, using the guns I have on her would kill us right along with the Frynocks. The cannons are made for ship to ship fighting only. With the amount of rhydonium around here, not to mention the fuel leakage means we would all be joining our monstrous friends." Naruto explained.

"Wait a minute! Actually the rhydonium can help us. We don't know how many creatures are in there so we could set up groups of canisters and take them out a wave at a time in controlled explosions." Sabine suggested.

"That's a good plan but how do we get them close enough to the cannisters to be effective." Hera asked.

"We can't risk blowing all the canisters at once it will be too large of an explosion otherwise we could just shove them all into the entrance of the Hangar and blow it sky high." Naruto pointed out.

"We'll need bait." Sabine said.

"Where are we going to get bait." Hera asked, causing Naruto's eyes to widen before he let out a loud sigh.

"We're the bait aren't we?" Naruto asked and Sabine nodded with a smile causing him to pinch the bridge of his nose. Was this karma for his reckless actions when he was younger? Probably. Damned force always getting the last laugh.

By the time the trio had set up their traps, the asteroid was beginning to drift into position. Pulling a pair of blaster rifles from the underbelly supply stash on his fighter Naruto armed himself and Hera with slightly more powerful weapons while Sabine stuck to her pair of pistols.

As the shadow drifted over the first set of Rhydonium containers the Frynocks began to charge. Blasting the first set of containers killed a hand full but more seemed to simply take their place. Opening fire the three rebels blasted beast after beast and still they kept coming. Falling back the Specters rushed to their next level of defences while Naruto moved at a slightly slower pace taking more precise shots than he would be able to while rushing. As more of the creatures joined the fray his mind rushed to try and calculate if they had enough explosives for their plan to work.

"Fall back for wave two!" Hera shouted causing Naruto to finally break out in a sprint, surprising the girls by how easily he caught up to them.

"Wait for it!" Naruto hollered as he took down a pair of the creatures with Hera and Sabine making their own kills.

"Now!" He shouted and the three blasted the containers as the main body of the pack passed by them, killing or injuring several.

Getting a chance to breathe both women took a second to tease one another while Naruto stepped forward to try and see what was left to fight. Suddenly a shrill screech from the creatures and dozens of glowing eyes showed the beasts on the hunt once again making him realize something.

"We don't have enough explosives." He whispered to himself in worry.

"Maelstrom wave three! Come on!" Sabine yelled to him snapping him out of his thoughts.

Diving behind the next layer of cannisters Sabine and Hera opened fire on the cannisters killing yet more of the beasts and still it wasn't enough.

"Wave four incoming! We have to keep moving!" Hera said as the two girls continued to pick off the charging creatures and fall back to the Phantom now with only a single layer of cannisters blocking their path.

Joining them Naruto glanced back and forth he grimaced at the advancing pack. Sabine and Hera blasting the last line of rhydonium canisters to take the next large group buying them a little breathing room but not much.

"We didn't plan for a wave five." Hera scowled.

"There's even more than we thought. Phantom?" Sabine questioned while motioning toward the ship.

"Not inside, those things will tear it open like a tin can. Go up top to use the vantage point." Naruto said while blasting another Frynock that got too close for comfort. The girls helped one another up and reached out for Naruto to lift him when one beast lept from the right surprising them and slashing deeply across his back sending both himself and the creature tumbling past the ship.

"Haar'chak!" Sabine shouted. "Hold on!"

"No stay up there!" Naruto shouted back as he drew his blaster pistol and killed the creature that had tackled him. Drawing the blade off his back with his other hand.

Looking at the circling pack he grimaced. He was cut off from the specters by a good distance and a lot of the beasts. Glancing up at Hera she followed his sight when he turned it toward the gun tower nearby.

"Go we'll try to cover you!" Hera responded getting a nod from Naruto as he blasted one creature before driving his blade into a second.

The fight continued, Naruto having disappeared into the darkness within the gun tower followed by several of the creatures. At first the occasional flash of blaster fire showed he was still alive somewhere in there, but by now the flashes had stopped for a time, leaving the Specters to assume the worst.

"They just keep coming!" Sabine cried out as she and Hera fought back to back against the seemingly endless swarm of beasts.

"Tell me something I don't know!" Hera snapped back.

"We're going to die!"

"That's no secret!"

As if on cue the Ghost appeared above them lights shining down on them with Zeb and Ezra on the ramp. At first the Frynocks seemed to fall back from the light before they realized that it didn't hurt them like natural light. It didn't take but a second before the beasts began their charge again. Now though with added support from Ezra and Zeb the beasts were kept back slightly more.

"Sabine, I got your back!" Ezra shouted as he hopped down to the roof of the Phantom alongside the two women, his crush for the elder girl getting the better of him as he tried to show off.

As Sabine and Hera climbed aboard the Ghost, Ezra turned around with a cocky laugh.

"These guys aren't so tough." He said with a smile.

Sabine's eyes widened in horror though as behind him another Frynock reared back to slash him with its claws, however before it could the arm it reached back with was sliced off cleanly before the creature could slash at him and was kicked off of the Phantom.

"Stop showboating brat and get on board!" Naruto shouted as he knocked Ezra out of the way of yet another Frynock before slashing it across the face.

Ezra stared up at the man for a moment before Sabine hopped down and joined them.

"Kid come on!" Sabine said as she hoisted Ezra aboard.

"Maelstrom come on!" Hera shouted, she noted the clothing he had been wearing earlier was in pretty rough shape and a large bloody bandage covered his back where he had been slashed earlier.

"No, I have been here too long as is, I have my own ship and I have to rejoin Fulcrum. Another time Specters!" Naruto shouted back with a smile before jumping off the top of the Phantom and slashing his way past a few Frynocks and sprinting to his ship faster than any human could normally travel before gearing his ship up for take off. With both ships lifting off, Hera ran to the cockpit and took over for Kanan as she knew far more about the Ghost than he did. Rerouting the power to the hull she shocked the straggling Frynocks clambering across the vessel. She then engaged the magnetic lock for the Phantom to pick it up with the Ghost and lifted off. Circling the Ghost aboard his own ship, Naruto waited till the lines of sight were clear and the Ghost was out of harm's way and he began blasting the surface of the rock to kingdom come.

"Next time we drop here, I'm bringing one of those old rotary blasters from the clone wars." Naruto chuckled.

The two ships jumped into hyperspace and drifted beside one another before he came over the commlink of the ghost.

"Well, not that it wasn't fun, but I think next time I might have to turn you and Specter-5 down for the whole meet and greet thing Specter-2. Until next time Maelstrom out." With that his ship turned and jumped away toward Ahsoka's location. Luckily it wasn't far as the fighter really couldn't handle much in the way of Hyperspace travel, just enough to get where he was going really.

Back in the Ghost things had finally settled down after the action and the crew was meeting in the cargo hold as the last of the supplies were being put away.

"Look Hera, we're sorry about the diagnostic thing. It won't happen again." Zeb began.

"Yeah, and don't worry about the fuel line we'll have it fixed up in no time." Ezra said with an awkward chuckle.

"Oh, worry? Why would I be worried about that?" Hera asked in a sarcastic voice only to be joined by Sabine as she stepped in.

"Maybe because the last time they said not to worry we nearly got killed and Maelstrom got sliced up like deli meat." Hera was a little surprised by her complaint about Maelstrom's injury but then again the boy had been very friendly and open with them as much as he could be in his position anyway.

"Hey wait, who was that Maelstrom guy anyway?" Ezra asked, his crush for Sabine once again causing him to jump the gun.

"Maelstrom is one of our informants and he probably saved our lives by helping us down there." Sabine snapped at Ezra causing the boy to frown deeper.

"Well I don't like him, we don't know him, he's not trustworthy." Ezra stated nodding to his own words as if it would make them more true. Sabine and Hera rolled their eyes and left.

"Yeah badmouth the guy who saved your life kid, that's a way to look good in a mandaloiran's eyes." Zeb joked laughing at the angry face the boy made at him.

In another part of the ship Sabine stopped as Kanan and Hera motioned for her to talk with them.

"Look Sabine I know you have questions, and wonder if what we are doing is making a difference, but I need you to trust me, and trust Kanan and the others, Fulcrum and Maelstrom too." Hera said with Kanan nodding beside her.

"I know, I know you guys do." She responded.

"We won't always be fighting alone, just like down there we are fighting with other rebels across the galaxy, soon we'll be actually able to see them too. Do you think you can trust us knowing that?" Kanan added into the conversation.

"I think I can try." Sabine smiled slightly at the two before her until they turned and left allowing her to enter her quarters with no problem.

As they walked down the hallway Kanan stopped Hera and glanced around so they wouldn't be heard. She was a bit surprised by his actions but waited for him to speak his mind.

"Hera that person with you on the planet. I could feel them. They were strong with the force, surprisingly so. Can you tell me if it was a Jedi?" Kanan asked. He hoped meeting another Jedi could possibly help him when it came to Ezra. At the moment all things considered, Kanan had a few gaps in his own training due to never finishing his time as a padawan not to mention the years of avoiding anything and everything that had to do with the force or jedi.

"I...I don't know, he could have been. He didn't have a lightsaber though he had some kind of sword that glowed slightly when he used it." Hera answered.

That surprised Kanan. 'An actual sword? Maybe like the force blades of old? If so that weapon would be ancient. The person was young too. Only a little older than Sabine, any training he got was probably after the slaughter of the Jedi, meaning he would have a teacher more than likely. Unless maybe he also had a holocron of some kind along with his force blade.'

"I have to meditate on this. This could be big." Kanan said as he walked off to his room to try and organize his thoughts leaving a surprised and a bit confused Hera in his wake.

Ah, alright now, yeah the first chapter was pretty much a prologue I mean our boy didn't even join up with the crew of the Ghost. Fear not, I mean the title is a Maelstrom among Specters for a reason. It's a comin. Anyway First important note! Ages, they be different!

Naruto: when meeting Ahsoka is sixteen, not even a full year passed between the war and the empire showing up it's horrible no rest for the pure hearted. Also his age will seem off to those of you who are more here for the Naruto than the Rebels (Which is all of you) This will be explained shortly! Anyway so he is 18 when he meets the specters in the writings up above.

Ahsoka: She is 29 when she finds our guy, and 32 by the end of the chapter mmm timeskips.

Sabine: She is sixteen when she meets Naru, you honestly think this story isn't going to have a romantic subplot by the only available female within his age range and your dude Naru? Come on we all should accept by now that Naruto simply can't stop himself from getting feels for every other girl he meets/saves/fights with. Drama is what people want.

Ezra: He is suddenly only 13 how cruel it's as if he is only supposed to fill the annoying younger brother role usually meant for Konohamaru, and his awkward flirting with Sabine is going to be even worse with an odd unnecessary love triangle. Delicious.

The other ages not any different than canon and unnecessary to look into at the moment.

The second and arguably far more important note is that the history and canon timeline of Naruto are...tweaked. Yeah we'll just call it tweaked. Simply because A. Star wars galaxy needs to be tied together someway, and B. I like when my characters suffer even more than is necessary as pain builds character! So yes there will be a bit of angst and emotional stuff but dammit angst and feels can be fun too, believe me.

Hmm probably forgetting a note, probably something to do with my other unfinished stories or something but you didn't come here for that did you. If you did...well I'm sorry I'm bad at remaining focused and they are in the works, just the slower works.