Sith'ari

Korda Sinister

A/N: I take it back, Rogue One is the best Star Wars movie for me now, not TFA. I am still trying to figure a legit way to make Naruto and Darth Vader, not Anakin, fight. Not going to dillydally with this chapter cause I have become extremely lazy lately.

Beep Beep Beep

Those were the sounds of the alarm clock Naruto had set up near his bed. It was quickly silenced when the ax swung down and sliced it in half.

"I hate that noise," he murmured.

"That's the fifth one you have broken this month," the voice of Matis replied from across the room. "If you don't like alarm clocks, then just stop using them."

"Hey, it's my pay, I can do whatever I want with it," Naruto retorted.

"Just get up already!" Kan bellowed.

The loud voice of the giant caused Naruto to fully awaken. He pushed himself up, but something weighed him down. He looked and wasn't surprised to discover that it was Zedra resting atop him.

He stroked her head gently until she woke up. Their blue eyes met and Zedra received her master's message. She got up and jumped down from the bed, Horuset followed. The other three had already prepared themselves and had donned their armor.

Today was another development, and it happened to mark his anniversary here as well.

'Time sure flies by,' thought the blonde.

During the past year, his life went as he had planned for the most part. He went on tour in several campaigns; he had formed friendship with the Mandalorians; and, most importantly, he had gotten paid. But the unexpected part was how well he integrated himself into their culture.

There was something that appealed to him about the Mandalorian. He still didn't know what it was, as he did not have time to investigate his own thoughts yet.

His team remained largely the same, well most of them. PD had started acting more like a...person; Matis had become a bit less zealous with his state; Alesha had become more of a warrior; and Lanaal had finally stopped being a bitch, most of the time at least.

He was forced to hand the droid he'd rescued to the repair bay, for obvious reasons. However, not being part of the official force, he would need to pay for her repair. The amount of credit needed made him question whether it would be worth it. For the time being, his droid was an assistant to the bay to help ease the cost.

He at least decided to name her, after her product number KL239E51O9, Kleo, or KL-E-O (Kle-o).

He set off to the shower area. Once he had cleaned himself, he came back to don his armor; real armor. The standard metallic grey armor and black clothes beneath with darkish orange trim and, occasionally, on the plate.

With no other occupants in the room, he decided to take out his saber and ignite it for a check up. He gave it a few swings before deactivating it. He looked over to his ax, still stuck on the clock.

'I probably don't need this one today,' he thought.

He whistled for Zedra to follow. They both strolled down the corridor of the spacecraft toward the hanger. On the way, he passed a viewing port and caught a glimpse of the steppe world below.

Korda Six was its name. From the briefing, the defence force had a problem keeping the natives in line. Who the 'defence force' were and why they were not the natives themselves, he had no idea, probably another illegal colony.

'Oh, well.'

He moved on, thoughts clear of anything that was not about the mission. He soon arrived at the hangar where, surprisingly, he was the last of the team to arrive, not late just last.

"Not waking up early for once? You're getting sloppy," Isab jested.

"Did you know he broke another clock?" Matis informed them.

"Really? Isn't this the fifth one this month?" Silas asked.

Naruto only rolled his eyes at that and joined his team. They waited for other squads to arrive. Jango had been promoted to company leader recently and would lead twelve squads, combined into three platoons or one company, of Mandalorian down to the planet below along with other five companies. [1]

Of course, they were still Jango's personal squad, with the worst name he could ever think off.

''Jango's Grunt'...I still can't get over that blasted name,' Naruto thought.

Eventually, every squad arrived at the hanger and Jango informed his father of their status: ready. After several more minutes, they received the order to mobilize. Fett shouted his command and the company got on their transporters.

But Naruto had this very strange feeling as he stepped into the spacecraft.

'I have a bad feeling about this.'

xxxxx

"We've made a safe planetfall, over," the pilot reported from the cockpit.

"Roger that, drop the others as planned. My squad and I will go on with our mission," Fett replied.

"Roger."

The others checked on their gear one last time, but Naruto did not. He was meditating despite his open eyes.

"Something on your mind?" Fett asked, noticing the unusual quietness of the Sith.

"I...sensed some strange...presense on this world...There are...more than there should be," Naruto informed him.

The others looked at each other. Isab soon closed her eyes and joined along.

While Horuset had made it clear that Isab would not fit his criteria of apprentice and thus dropped any kind of thought of making her a Sith, he had still showed her some useful Force techniques and manipulation to increase the squad's efficiency.

"I...do feel something, but...not much," she said.

"Of course you don't, you didn't start up from the atmosphere like I did and you are not as strong with the Force," he retorted and then turned to his leader. "It would be wise to tell the others to be more cautious."

Fett nodded and started linking to other squad leaders while Naruto simply went back to meditating. Zedra rubbed her head on his leg. He stopped meditating for a few seconds to stroke her head.

"I've got a really, really bad feeling about this."

xxxxx

The planetfall had been made smoothly by his company, and Jango contacted the other companies about the clear landing. They would follow soon.

"Alright, the others will make their planetfall soon," Jango informed them. "Now come, we-"

"No," Naruto cut him off. "Now that I've gotten on the planet I can sense it more clearly. They are gathering, at a high place and other strategic points," Horuset informed them. "And there is a presence waiting for us at our destination, I could sense it from here. We're walking into an ambush, Jango, and if you don't believe me then send a scout out."

Jango stared at him, trying to determine how serious the younger teen was with his statement. Truth be told, he never really trusted the Force, and the only time he had ever seen Naruto use the Force was to slaughter his enemies. So...was he going back on his word?

Jango shook off the doubt. For a year Naruto had continued to be a good friend, loyal and steadfast; not necessary a friend you would ask for advice, but someone who had your back.

Now, on the team's anniversary, was the best time to prove their trust.

"Where is the closet gathering you could sense? I need evidence for the others to believe," he said.

"About a few miles east where the main company landed," Naruto answered.

Jango opened up the line to the one he'd put in charge of the main landing zone.

"Uvaqv send some scouts to the east, something's not right," he told the older Mandalorian.

"You found something, ada?"

"Yes, I…" He trailed off and looked at Naruto. He took a deep breath before continuing, "found something."

"Which is?"

"That doesn't matter, but I need you to send scouts to the east, pronto."

"Understood," Uvaqv replied before he cut the signal.

"I can sense distrust in you," Naruto commented. "But I expect as much, those who never doubt are fools."

"We've no time for your philosophy of the day, Naruto," Jango jested. The others, including Naruto, chuckled.

"What can I say, I am up there with the philosophy kings," Naruto jested back. [2]

"Seriously though, what's next?" Jango asked.

"I can sense a presence awaiting us at our destination, but I don't sense that they have the intention to killus, so it's likely they are just waiting for someone to fall for their trap," Naruto explained.

"It would be wise not to counter-ambush. We don't know if we can rejoin the others if we do, and we need every person we can get," Aegiria suggested. Jango nodded to that.

"Alright, then we wait here until Uvaqv confirms who the mysterious enemy is."

The others nodded.

xxxxx

"So what are we looking for again?" the Mandalorian asked his peer in yellow armor.

"Dunno, the commander just wanted us to confirm if there's anything to the east," the yellow armored warrior replied his grey armored colleague.

The two scouts moved through the leafless forest. So far they had not found anything.

"You sure there's anything around here?" the grey armored warrior asked again.

"How about you shut up and keep your eyes and ears open?" the green warrior scolded his partner.

The two moved on in silence. Then they stopped.

A sound, shouting, could be heard. Very faint, but they could make out the language. Mandalorian.

"Is another company around?" the grey warrior asked.

His friend, though, got down on the ground and beckoned his partner to do the same. They began to crawl up the nearby hill to get a good view of their surroundings. Once they were atop the hill, they could see the large gathering beyond but not clearly.

They looked through their Macrobinoculars, and what they saw made their eyes go wide.

Beyond the forest were the natives, the Kordan, preparing themselves in the trench. They were armed to the teeth with blasters, repeaters, rocket launchers and other weapons beyond their supposed level of technology.

But what really shocked them were the non-natives among them. That thick helmet, that dark armor, that claw-like emblem. There was no doubt about it.

"Death Watch," the green warrior muttered.

"I thought they were dead before I joined," the grey novice remarked.

"Ay, they're supposed to be," the green warrior replied, a hint of bitterness in his voice. He quickly brought up his wrist device. "Uvaqv, we got a problem."

xxxxx

Jango and his team were waiting, each doing their own thing, until the report of the threat was confirmed.

Jango's wrist device began beeping. He opened it.

"This is Jango."

"We confirmed the threat Jango." Uvaqv gave a pause. "It's the Death Watch."

Jango paused, his eyes widened and his face froze. The others noticed the sudden shift in their leader's expression.

"Hey, Jango, are you alright?" Silas asked.

He shook his head to wake himself from the shock. "I'm fine, just a bad memory," he told them before went back to talking to Uvaqv.

"How many are there?"

"They guessed it was probably several companies, and they didn't take in the armed natives. We are going right into their trap, ada."

Jango went silent again, but this time it was to think on the course of action. The reason they weren't attacked yet must have been because they wanted the element of surprise when the main force landed. He must warn them. He switched from Uvaqv's signal to his foster father's.

"Jaster, this is Jango." All he received was a static sound. "Jaster, do you hear me?" No reply. He tried switching to others channels, but none worked. "Dammit, they're jamming the signal." He switched back to Uvaqv's. "Uvaqv, the Death Watch are jamming the signal."

"I-n hea- that," the older warrior replied in fragmented words mixed with loud static noise.

'They're cutting ground signal as well,' Jango thought. He switched his channel again, to the direct electric signal between two people, where the wave was stronger and harder to intercept.

"Uvaqv, copy."

"Yes, I can hear you now."

"Go and reinforce Jaster's landing position and try to contact the other companies on the way. We'll be moving behind you," Jango ordered.

"Understood," Uvaqv replied before he cut the signal.

"So where to, boss?" Lanaal asked.

"You heard me, we follow the main company toward Jaster's location. Let's go," Fett ordered.

His squad marched with him toward the supposed landing location.

xxxxx

Unfortunately, things did not go as planned.

First, it began with the sound anti-spacecraft guns being fired, then the roar of artillery and then the scream of a plasma bolt in the distance.

Jaster's company was nowhere to be found at the landing site. It didn't take them long to find the reason though, when one of the five captains, Montross, requested aid and it slipped through the channel. Suffice to say, Jango could easily guess that Jaster went to help.

He ordered the rest of his company to stay at the landing site and made a forward base while trying to get the warning through the jamming to other companies.

As for the team, they followed Jango in his attempt to help Jaster, against the protests of Aegiria.

As they were advancing through the sky with jet packs, they encountered another True Mandalorian soaring through the sky who passed them.

"Hey, what is going on?!" Jango shouted at him as the rest of the squad turned to him.

"The battle is lost, Montross ordered the retreat. We're heading back to the landing point," he answered before hurrying away.

'Montross? Ordering retreat? This isn't right…' Jango thought.

Montross had always been one of the more warlike of the True Mandalorian, though in a more honorable way than the Death Watch warmorger. Like comparing a warrior to a raider or bandit, Jango would say.

In any event, Jango ordered the others to land. From now on, they would advance on foot since the sky was likely to become very crowded.

The team headed toward Jaster's location. As they went on, more and more sights of the retreat became apparent up in the sky where majority of their force used their jetpacks as means to escape, though they occasionally saw some running on foot with a partner or two.

As they neared the end of the forest, the sound of panic and blasters started filling the world, though it was nothing they had ever heard before. Several warriors ran past them to escape. Jango grabbed hold of the closest retreating warrior.

"Where's Jaster?!" He shouted to make sure his voice was heard amid the blaster sounds.

"He stayed behind to help cover our escape." The female warrior turned around and pointed behind her. "You should go too. We need to regroup so we can counterattack," she said before running off along with many others.

Jango, however, moved forward.

"Didn't you hear her?" Aegiria asked dryly.

"I don't care," he replied and moved forward. This time the others did not follow him, though three of them seemed anxious over not following.

"Fett, you're letting your emotion cloud your judgement. That woman was right, we need to regroup then counterattack," Isab said.

"I need to see to Jaster's safety, he's our leader," Jango said, though he was rather emotionless for such a passionate sentence.

"That was just your excuse to go save your father, captain," Matis said. "Look, I get what you're feeling right now, if it was my father I would go as well, but-"

"Then you don't get it," Jango retorted and moved forward. This time Kandosii joined him.

"Captain, for all we know he could be dead," PD said much to the other's dismay that she being so honest to the point that it could provoke Fett. Jango turned around, furious.

"Are you coming with me or not?!" he shouted.

There was a short silence among them which caused the sound of blasters to reign supreme in the air. But it was replaced by the scream of a familiar voice. Jango quickly moved forward to get a better view. The others were forced to follow.

In the field ahead, a lone True Mandalorian protector was squirming on the dirt ground, struggling to crawl away. Several meters from him was a tank ready to fire on him.

"Jaster!" Fett screamed and tried to run toward his foster father. The others were forced to hold him down so he would not go to meet his doom. "Jaster! Dad!" he screamed in sheer desperation and suffering as he was about to see his foster father be killed.

However, as usual in dramatic moments of the team, someone was thinking.

'Should I save him? I am fully capable of that, but should I?' Naruto thought. He looked up the hill where the tank was positioning. 'There're some other Death Watch as well, they could spot me and report me to the Jedi...then again disposing of them even from here wasn't that hard.'

He looked at Jaster, 'But still, should I? With him gone, Jango would likely become the new leader and give me better odds that Mando will follow me when I call for them. Yet at the same time, if I save Jaster, the Mandalorian would be in my debt and not just Jango, though I-' he was cut off by Kurama.

'Kid, I swear to gods. Stop thinking too much and just do it,' the fox said.

Naruto sighed. He did want to save Jaster. He was an honorable man among the warmonger culture and had gained Horuset's respect during the one year he had worked as a mercenary as a competent commander and brilliant strategist, despite his soft method.

With no time to waste, Naruto moved at high speed using the Force, passing his teammate who was confused by the sudden rush of wind. As he was closing in on his target, he took out his kunais and threw each of them at the Death Watch on the hill, including one on the tank mounted blaster.

The tank opened fire before he could reach Jaster, but Horuset did not panic, only remained at his current speed toward his supreme leader. The plasma bolts were closing in, almost reaching Jaster.

Just in that split second before the bolts hit him, Naruto dashed toward Mareel and tackled him away. As soon as they hit the ground, Naruto placed his hands on Jaster's head. He used the Force to send him into unconscious,. He didn't need another person to know he was a Sith.

He was about to dash back to his team, but rumbling echoed from behind the tank. Within a few heartbeats a full battalion of Death Watch came to reinforce the hill. They began opening fire on him and his team. Even though he could win, there was no way he was going to take them on. The question his victory would raise within the True Mandalorian and the surviving Death Watch would be enough to expose his secret.

Naruto looked at his team. The others tried to drag Jango away; Fett looked like he wanted to follow Naruto and check on his father. At that moment, Horuset stared right into Jango's eyes and vice-versa. Within that short moment, the two had spoken to each other without a word.

Jango willingly retreated with the others, and Naruto went in the opposite direction. He needed to run and then regroup.

'Might as well get rid of the last set of witnesses,' he thought.

He pushed the switch on his wrist. The sound of an explosion followed and then a scream.

'I still don't get why you made those detonating kunai, I mean, an explosive seal is much cheaper,' Kurama commented.

'Anti-tank detonating kunai. You think our world explosive seal would even scratch the futuristic steel of galactic standard? Hell no. As a replacement for regular grenade? It should be fine. But anti-tank? No way,' Naruto countered.

The two then continued to argue about the effectiveness of the demolition tactic, price consciousness of explosive devices and others topic of such a nature, while Naruto was carrying the sleeping Jaster on his back.

Meanwhile, someone was not happy.

xxxxx

He looked at the blackened steel of the destroyed tank then at the spot where Jaster Mareel used to be then at the man who commanded the battalion that was supposed to take care of the Mand'alor.

"General Marcus, I'm not pleased," Tor Vizsla, the leader of Death Watch and head of Clan Vizsla, told the Death Watch in red armor in front of him. His half-scarred skin had molded his face into an eternal frown. "I thought Clan Couteau is one of the best clans at tracking down and killing targets, but you disappoint me."

"It's Clan 'Du' Couteau," Marcus corrected him with hidden venom in his voice. [4]

"That prefix given to you by your world has weakened your clan, Marcus. It made your clan slow, self-assured, lazy and, worst of all, weak," Tor insulted. "If Jaster did not die on this world, you will. And to ensure that, I will leave someone with you to ensure your success. Now go bring me his head," Tor commanded before flying away with his bodyguards.

Marcus only looked up at the smoke trail of his commander's jetpack. He looked at his hand. He didn't know when it had clenched into a fist.

"Better get hunting, General. Our boss isn't known for having patience," a man said behind him.

Marcus slowly turned his head towards the man, a Mandalorian in black and orange armor and a one sided visor helmet with a vibro-claymore attached to his back.

"Slade," he muttered.

"It's Deathstroke in the field," Slade replied. [3]

"Don't you have a clan to restore, old man? Clan Wilson has barely existed for a few decades now," Marcus said to his unwanted associate.

"If you have time to bite me, why don't use them to chase our target instead?" Slade countered.

"Our? I thought Vizsla wanted you to look over me, not help me."

"Judging by the boss's mood today, he will have the whole battalion's head and mine as well if you, or us, fail. Not that I think he could get my head, but I have...someone else I'm worried about," Slade said. "So the plan?"

"First we need to locate Jaster; he couldn't have gone far. Sending scouts of Death Watch mixed with native would be ideal, or you have other plans?" the general asked Slade.

"Nah, that's a good plan. But I believe that if you want something done, you should do it yourself. I will go tracking him with my...partner," Slade said the last word reluctantly.

Marcus raised his eyebrow beneath his helmet. Marcus's mind ran like a computer trying to locate a memory file regarding Slade. With him being one of the more well-known Mandalorian, it didn't take him long. Soon the details of Slade's technique, personality and connections started surfacing in his mind.

'Slade Wilson. Serving as a mercenary in 107 campaigns all over the galaxy, no preference for side, just the highest bidder; though rumor says he does have his own code. Rumor also says he participated in some experiment that enchanted his body.

He's a patriarch of Clan Wilson, an almost dead clan; reason of decrease in number, unknown. Clan specialty, bounty hunting and mercenaries. Remaining members of the Clan, about 4-6 individuals all over the galaxy. Unknown matriarch, wife to Slade. Two sons of Slade, one is dead and the other abandoned the Mando way. One illegitimate daughter of Slade, still serving the clan…' There was a pause in his thoughts. 'Still serving.'

"The battlefield is no place for a kid, Slade," he called after the clan head. Deathstroke paused and looked back at the general.

"You must be mistaken, I don't have kids, well alive ones at least," Slade lied.

"Oh please, Slade. I'm one of the best assassins and the best trackers in the galaxy. You're a legendary mercenary; everyone knows about you and it didn't take much to know a bit more." This silenced Slade completely. "But whatever, if you insist on tracking down our enemy yourself, then you can do so. However, I will sent someone with you to make sure you...fulfill your task," Marcus said.

"Huh, no need for wordplay, Marcus. I know you just don't want me to steal your credit. Send your best man with me if you want, but if he can't keep up, don't expect me to babysit him," Slade warned.

"You will find that she will be quite capable on her own," the general ensured. He turned away and shouted, "Katarina! Come here!"

A few seconds later, a Death Watch in red armor, almost identical to Marcus's except for female, arrived and saluted the general.

"Sir!" she said firmly as she pumped her fist onto her chest, a Mandalorian salute.

"You will escort Slade-"

"If the kid calls me that I will shoot her between her eyes," Deathstroke said before walking off.

"You will go with Deathstroke to locate Jaster and make sure that he brings him back to us, else Tor will have our heads. Understand?" His daughter nodded.

His eyes softened a little underneath his helmet, but he said nothing and let her walked away to join Slade. Marcus sighed.

'Oh, how did it come to this?' he thought then he remembered. 'Oh yes, that bitch.'

Just the mere thought made his blood boil. He took a deep breath and tried to forget what drove him to work with these warmongers, but compared to True Mandalorian they would have a much better chance against 'her'.

He shook those thoughts off completely and moved on to his mobile base. He needed to start organizing the search party.

xxxxx

"And their main forces are over here; they shouldn't give us trouble," Myles, one of the lieutenants within Jango's company, informed him while pointing at a red dot on the blue hologram map. Jango nodded to that.

He and the others had retreated to their forward base. The survivors from Jaster's company had mostly joined him, but some were still missing or following Montross.

'That bastard,' Jango thought.

Several of the survivors told Jango that Montross had retreated with his company in the middle of the battle and left many either to be overrun or come with him. Luckily, Fett had Naruto on his side so his company was spared the fate of ambush.

He's going to make sure Montross pay for this one.

For now though, Jango focused on getting other companies to join him, including Montross. Reyes's company were on their way, but since they didn't want to be detected, they had to move quietly and slowly. They were likely to arrive before the sun went down completely, which shouldn't take more than two hours.

Montross retreated very far, likely to try get off world with his force. Unfortunately for him, the Death Watch had anti-spacecraft ready to shoot his force down. They needed to take them down first when they started their counterattack. And so Montross would arrive to his base tomorrow, though Jango hoped Death Watch would kill him on the way.

And then there was the last company. He had had absolutely no contact with them, likely because they were in the heart of the jamming area. Then again he really didn't need to be worried about them as they had 'him'.

"For now, let's keep a low profile. Reinforce the base further and keep the scouts running in the surrounding area. When Gabriel's company arrives then we will start thinking about a counterattack," Fett concluded. The other lieutenants nodded and went to perform their tasks.

'Let's hope Naruto gets Jaster back before dawn.'

xxxxx

'No, no, I told you TB-47 is a time bomb,. It's not a grenade, it needs setup.'

'It's still a bomb, it will serve its purpose.'

Naruto and Kurama had been going at it regarding the explosive device for a very long time now. Neither side was willing to back down on...whatever nonsense they were arguing about.

The argument, however, was finally interrupted when Naruto heard a groan from his back. It appeared Jaster had started to regain consciousness. So Naruto stopped whatever he was about to retort and laid Jaster down on the ground. The blonde placed his hand on Jaster's forehead and put him to sleep again.

'Alright, where were we?' he asked his fox companion.

'...you know, I think we should be focusing on this battle and less on our...stupid banter,' Kurama said.

'You think I didn't have a plan? For now we wait. Just heading straight back to base would be too...convenient. I mean the Death Watch are already swarming the area. Do you think a guy with the most high-targeted personnel will make it out without suspicion? Nah let's just...wait…' His thoughts trailed off.

'Sensing something?'

'Yes.'

'Good, I thought you were too distracted to notice those assassins.'

'Them? I didn't even need the Force to notice two of them, though have to give the third one credit, without the Force I probably wouldn't even know he's here,' Naruto complimented. 'Might be a professional, should be cautious. Anyways, that wasn't the thing that caught my attention.' He paused for a bit. 'Do you remember that idol I got a year ago?'

'The one you got beneath that insect base and locked away in the ship storage?'

'Yup that one. Well, I could sense something similar. Some darkside artifact that gave me...an unfamiliar feeling. We should investigate since we need to wait. Also it might speed up the assassins' plan to attack. I really need to…you know,and I don't want anyone to watch.'

'Piss or dump?'

'...'

'...'

'...Don't you have a concept of privacy?'

'I have been seeing through someone else's eyes for several centuries now. I threw that shit out the window a long time ago.'

'Wait, does that mean… Let's just go check on this artifact.' Naruto ended the conversation, or rather tried his best to forget about it, and moved in the direction of his treasure.

xxxxx

Slade observed his target from the tree. He could not believe it at first that a single child soldier was capable of surviving this long behind enemy lines. He supposed he had to give the True Mandalorian some credit for raising a soldier with this much quality at such young age.

More than he could anyway...

"Move it, you're blocking my voice," a girl voice rasped in the darkening forest.

"I'm the one with binoculars; you're the one who's supposed to move," another girl replied, almost too loud.

Deathstroke ignored the two girls and pulled out his own macrobinoculars to spy on the boy. After a few minutes of observation, he got a plan, but first he had to take care of a little problem.

"Children, please!" he shouted at them though it was not a loud shout. He dropped down from the tree. The two of them soon did the same and met him on the ground.

One of the two was Katarina in her red armor. The other was wearing orange and black armor that almost imitated Deathstroke.

"Rose, Katarina, if you two don't stop bickering I will leave you two tied up to the tree until I am finished with our target, got that?"

"But she was the one who-" Katarina's argument was cut off.

"Me?! You're the one who started picking a fight," Rose Wilson retorted, moving her face closer to Kat in aggression.

"I didn't stir up a fight I-" she was cut off again when she heard a cracking sound. Both of them turned to see that the sound was coming from Slade reloading his blaster.

"Don't mind me," he replied casually.

The two got the message and shifted away from each other. Seeing that the matter at hand had been resolved, he activated his jetpack and leapt into the sky, ready to make preparations. The two girls flew after him.

xxxxx

Naruto and Jaster arrived at the edge of a native village. There were a few ape-like Kordan patrolling their crude shanties. But he could feel that there was more than met the eyes. There were more people inside the huts, too many to be regular families.

'Hmm, it seems the assassin got here first,' Naruto assumed, seeing that everything looked like a trap. 'Shouldn't be a problem though.'

With that, he used the Force to shroud his presence. No one would spot him from afar, but if they were close enough they would still see him, but considering he could easily avoid the patrol, such a thing was unlikely.

He traversed the village, trying to find what he was looking for. It didn't take him long. The hut's exterior was decorated with totems and animal skulls, classic images of a shaman hut.

Naruto pushed the fur that was used as a door away.

Through the parting, he saw a very pale furred Kordan sitting on his own. On the altar in front of him was another idol. Its image and shape was very hard to determine. Was it an orb that produced fire or was it a tentacle that sprung out of the circle? His own instinct, though, told him the circle at the bottom was an eye while the extended part was features. He really did not know how to describe the idol besides that it was made out of stone and emitting a darkside mist like its cousin only in blue.

Naruto entered the tent, his shroud still up. The shaman's head peeked up.

"I knew you would be here," The shaman said in his native tongue. Naruto stopped dead in his tracks. It seemed he had underestimated this shaman; he was a Force sensitive. "Do not be afraid, my god had told me of your coming. I know what you want." He supported himself up from the ground with his staff. He turned around. The elderly Kordan didn't look like he had much life left in him. "Take the idol, boy. My god has whispered to me. You will bring change like never before to the galaxy."

Naruto became wary at that remark. The Kordan were a primitive species before the Death Watch arrived probably just a few month ago. How could a near-dead-bed Kordan understand the concept of galaxy was beyond him.

"I see that you have doubt. All will be clear in due time, but for now take it." The shaman gestured at the idol with his staff.

Naruto laid Jaster against the wall near the entry and walked to the idol. He took the nearby fur and covered the idol with it before tying the fur sheet into a sag.

"What about you? Are you going to report me to the Death Watch?" Naruto asked the pale ape.

"Those invaders will be driven back to the sky! They have done enough damage to our way that is beyond recovery at this point! But there's still hope for us yet, yes, hope and chANG-!" The shaman suddenly screamed out in pain. Naruto was half-minded whether to cut him down to silence him or run out and make his escape. But before he could do any of it, the shaman collapsed to the ground and went still.

'What just happened?!'

"Shaman, are you alright?" someone asked from outside.

Naruto readied to go for Jaster, but the door had already parted and a native already peeked in. Its reaction was as expected.

"Intrude-" he did not get to finish the sentence before a kunai pierced between his eyes.

Naruto dashed for Jaster, carrying him on his shoulder with another hand holding the sag. He went through the door and discovered that there was a patrol of five Kordans waiting for him outside.

He could slaughter them all at this point, but if there was one thing he had learned about keeping secrets, it was that you shouldn't make a scene. In times of slaughter, the darkside was at its strongest. The feeling of fear, anger, pain and many negative emotions would wash over him, giving him a kind of twisted refreshment. But in this moment of ecstasy, it would be harder to focus when he was intoxicated with emotions and 'souls' polluted the Force. This could give an opening for some Death Watch to escape and warn the others. He couldn't allow that. [5]

With that conclusion, his only option was to escape.

He boosted into the air with his jetpack before any of the Kordan had a chance to attack.

Up in the air, he scanned the village for any means of escape. He spotted a speeders parking field in the east, some tanks and their ammunition to the north, a few aircraft stationed to the west and a metallic warehouse to the south.

He took a deep breath to gather his thoughts on the possible plan. He had one.

He shifted Jaster onto his back and tied the idol bag to his unconscious superior before making a hand sign. A clone appeared with its own Jaster on its back. Naruto only nodded. The clone already knew what to do.

The blonde fired two of his wrist mini-rockets, one at the tanks and another at the warehouse. He nodded to the clone. Both of them took off in different directions, the clone went for the aircraft while the real Horuset went for the speeders.

The sound of explosion followed and he started to feel panic and fear in the Force. But just as he thought he was in the clear, the memory of his clone suddenly rushed into his head. He was confused, but not for long. [10]

He dodged a blaster shot from behind and maneuvered to look at his attacker. He only had a few seconds to see a Death Watch in orange and black armor charging at him with a claymore.

Naruto shifted to the side and let the claymore slash the air. He caught the Death Watch's wrist and forced his arm down so he couldn't swing the claymore. But before Horuset could counterstrike, Slade dropped his sword into the sky. Without extra weight, he quickly broke the grip and elbowed Naruto in the jaw.

The blonde lost his composure and dropped Jaster along with the idol. The boy flew down after them, but his enemy shot out a wire from his wrist device that stopped him from advancing downward.

"You can't choose both, ade, you either fight me or die with your commander," Deathstroke announced to him.

Horuset gazed up at the Death Watch. He closed his eyes for a moment then boosted himself back up to fight the Death Watch.

"That's more like it," Slade cheered then charged at Naruto as well.

The two got into a fist fight in mid-air. Naruto didn't manage to block every hit due to Slade's skill and his restraint on his ankle, but he had a plan to deal with that. After exchanging blows for a few minutes, Naruto finally saw the opening he needed; around the neck.

He flew in perfect position and angles, making his unaware enemy's wire wrap around its user. When Slade noticed this, Naruto flew away, dragging the choking mercenary with him.

Slade, however, had experience. He quickly took out his combat knife and cut the wire. But at this point Horuset had already maneuvered around and, with a combined speed from the Force, speared the mercenary in the gut with his head. Just to be sure this assassin would not hunt him further, Naruto used his kunai to stab the merc jetpack fuel tanks.

Deathstroke gave a final grunt before he started losing altitude. Horuset only watched the man fall from the sky for a few moments, thinking his problem was solved.

He flew below where he dropped Jaster. There he found Jaster and the idol floating, by Horuset's doing of course. He carried his superior on his back again and continued toward the speeder parking field.

Once he arrived, he was surprised that there was no guard there. They probably went off to help with the distraction. He took a look around, judging which bike would be the best. Then he froze.

After several seconds of no movement, his partner took notice.

'Kid, are you alright?' Naruto didn't reply, only kept staring. 'Kid, kid!'

'Oh, by Adas's Kyber crystal balls, she's beautiful,' Naruto replied, mesmerized.

'Who?'

'Her! Look at her! That smooth skin, that huge rear, that elegant face and that...that…'

'Wait, you mean that speeder over there?'

'Oh, yes! Just look at her, she's gorgeous!'

The speeder Naruto had fallen in love with fit his description perfectly...as far as machines went.

The front was in a perfectly geometrical smooth-edged triangle with the smooth shark-head bumper covering its head. Two blaster cannons were embedded into each side of the triangle. The underneath the front, on two lower edges of the triangle, had a long line of small vents that reduced heat. The thruster and engines were combined into one rear, giving it a huge 'rear' image, though it was perfectly covered up and helped by adding to its smooth theme. Two short half-circle handles occupied the middle space along with two half-circle comfortable footrests on each side and a tidy seat, ready for Horuset to sit on. The whole bike did not have a paint job on it, so presumably, it was recently purchased. [11]

'She's perfect! I must have her! This beauty must be mine!'

'...' Kurama was silent. Obviously he didn't want to deal with this stupid issue.

But before the Sith could claim what he desired, a dagger landed near his feet, pausing his movement.

"Not a step further!" a feminine voice shouted at him. He turned to the voice.

There were two female Death Watch, one in orange armor and one in red armor. They pointed their weapons, the orange one used a rifle while the red one held a pistol and a dagger, at him.

"How you got away from Deathstroke is beyond me," the orange one commented.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. The person he just fought was Deathstroke? THE Deathstroke, the legendary mercenary? Because from the record that guy had killed plenty of Jedi and other Force users, so how did he beat the one-eyed legend so easily?

Nah, he was probably overthinking it. He was just too good, got lucky or Deathstroke just underestimated him...likely the last one.

"It was probably because your dad is getting old. Should have just retired," the red warrior insulted.

"Oh, excuse me, what did you just say, knife juggler?" Rose replied sharply.

"I said, your old man should just retire already. Then again, with someone like you I doubt he could go to the grave with his eyes closed."

"What was that, you bitch!?" Rose bellowed and shoved Katarina.

"Get your hand off me, you di'kut!" Kat shoved her back.

Rose finally ran out of patience. She leapt at Katarina. The two got in a cat fight, leaving Naruto there, looking at them and pondering at how a Death Watch managed to win anything if this was their standard soldiers.

Oh well, back to the bike. [6]

'You know. You could try to charm those two girls instead of going for a bike; I'm sure your charisma would work here,' Kurama suggested.

'Hell no. I doubt it would work in this context even if I used every charming skill I've got or even the Force, plus I would take that bike over those two,' he gazed one last time at the two girls who had fought till their helmets came off, 'anyday. And why do you suggest this? You're the last person I would expect something like this from.'

'I don't know. I just find your obsession with that bike a bit...unsettling. So I tried to...do...something...I guess,' the fox answered, uncertain. [7]

'To each their own, Kurama. Now let's go mount that beauty!'

'...I stand corrected.'

Naruto came upon the magnificent bike. His heavy breathing showed how much he wanted to ride the speeder before him. He laid Jaster on the bike seat first then tied the bag on top of the engine. Finally, he slowly hovered his leg over the speeder and let his rear slowly touch the comfortable seat.

'Oh gods, this feel so GOOD!'

'...'

He started the engine. The sound of the back thruster surging to life and the repulsor humming the anti-gravity wave brought a big grin on his face behind his helmet.

He turned the handle once, and the roar gave him excitement like he'd never felt before to the point that he bit his lower lip.

'Oh, by Adas, I co-'

'Just go already!'

Naruto was let down that Kurama did not appreciate the speeder, but he understood. He turned to look one last time at the scene of the cat fight. He shouted.

"Hey!" This caused the two girls to stop fighting and turn toward him with anger at being interrupted. "Sayonara, suckers!"

He shouted before driving his speeder away, leaving the trail of dust and echo of excited laughter behind.

The white and scarlet haired girls' gazes were locked on the dust trail, eyes widened. They slowly turned to each other then to the trail again then to each other again then at the trail.

"After this campaign is over..." They slowly turned to meet the familiar voice. Standing there was Deathstroke and several Death Watch soldiers looking at them. "You two will be trained, harshly," Deathstroke said in the most chilling voice he could muster. The two girls gulped.

xxxxx

Naruto continued to ride his speeder into the night. He really wished he could take off his helmet to feel the wind, but he was reluctant to do so when he remembered he was behind enemy lines.

'Now what, kid?' his partner asked.

'Hmm, I need to start working on a way to get past the Death Watch blockade. They swarmed the area and blocked every way for me to get out without raising suspicion, especially if I want to take this speeder back with me.'

He thought for a moment for a solution, but found none that he had the resources to perform. Yet the answer might lie in the Force.

He stopped his bike and closed his eyelids then felt the Force. As he searched for the means to escape, he came across an anomalous spot of emotion. Instead of the determination of the Death Watch, he felt a sense of fear mixing with courage from this spot.

He opened his eyes. Maybe there were other True Mandalorian stuck behind enemy lines with him. He opened his wrist device and tried to adjust the wave to find the right signal. He tuned his device for some time, but finally got something.

"Repe, th-is-for-compan-req-aid, rep-at, t-is com- 4 reqes-a-"

He tried to tune the signal further until he finally got a clear response.

"Repeat, this is the fourth company, requesting aid," the operator said from the other side.

"Hello, can you hear me?" Naruto replied.

"Roger, we hear you. Who is speaking?"

"I'm Naruto. 5th company. I am currently protecting an unconscious Jaster Mereel, requesting aid," Naruto explained.

"Mereel? Here?! I need to get our captain," the operator said. There were a few minutes of silence before the conversation resumed with a new speaker.

"Hello, who is this?"

"I'm Naruto, 5th company. I am currently protecting an unconscious Jaster Mereel, requesting aid," Naruto repeated.

"This is Captain Revolver Ocelot of the 4th company. Negative, if we mobilize from our hidden encampment, the Death Watch will attack us. But we could give you our location; you could come here." [8]

"Negative, I'm being tracked right now. If I go to your base, the Death Watch will know your position."

There was silence Naruto could only guess that the captain was coming up with a plan. Eventually, the answer came.

"Is there a dead body around?" Ocelot asked.

"Yes," Naruto answered. There was no literal dead body, but since he could just pop up a clone and tell it to play dead, it worked all the same.

"Good, now listen carefully to what I am about to say. I want you to strip Jaster's armor then put it on the dead body," Ocelot instructed.

"Wouldn't they check if it was the real Jaster?" Naruto questioned.

"What did I just say? After that you hide the real Jaster somewhere and make sure he's in the Death Watch armor as a precaution. Then increase your signal wave to maximun, enough for both Death Watch and my men to track you. You give the fake body to the Death Watch. During the 'exchange' my company will ambush them. With how important Jaster is, almost all of them in the area would likely come to provide security; after we kill them all, the way out should be clear," Revolver finished explaining his plan, but Naruto had some questions.

"You're sure a single company could take on that many Death Watch and Kordan forces combined? I mean, I saw them. They were pretty big in number. And what would happen to me exactly?"

"My men didn't survive out here in the middle of hornet nest for granted, we know what we're doing. I think I've heard of you, Naruto. You're that kid who beat everyone in the training room in hand-to-hand combat, right? I think you will be fine," Ocelot reassured him.

'Curse my skill,' Naruto thought.

"Very well, I will begin emitting the signal in a few minutes. I need to prepare a few things."

"Understood, we will be waiting," the captain said before cutting the signal.

xxxxx

Ocelot's plan had been set into motion for a few minutes now, and it wasn't working.

Naruto had been sitting here for almost an hour now, waiting, with his clone in Jaster's armor pretending to be dead lying next to him on the ground. All he attracted were small patrols of a few men, which he killed and then threw an explosive seal at their corpses to pretend like he had set up landmines.

"Are they here yet, boss? Lying on the ground here is really hurting my stomach," his clone complained.

"Ugh, I don't know. Now I really think Revolver's plan is a bust. And where is he anyways? If he's tracking my signal as well then he should be her-"

Before Horuset got to finish his sentence, light started to peek from the night sky horizon. He closed his eyes for a brief moment then got up.

"They're here. The captain better be here, or I am gonna kill him and his men then use their death as an excuse for my escape," Naruto said.

"You do that and I do dead," his clone joked.

"Your pun is bad and you should feel bad," Naruto told his clone.

The Death Watch soon came upon Naruto's position. Their speeders circled him then their troops, both Death Watch and Kordan, and tanks surrounded him with their weapons readied to fire upon a lone True Mandalorian.

Stepping forth from the circle was four people. Three Naruto had already met, Deathstroke and the two girls. The fourth one was a Death Watch in red armor, somewhat similar to one of the girl's. They stopped in front of him.

"I would have had you shot and then taken Jaster back for torture and execution," Marcus told the boy, "but you have proven to be...something more." He gazed at Slade, whose eyes did not leave the boy. "So I will offer you an opportunity to save yourself. Give us Jaster and join the Death Watch then we will let you live."

"Join? So far your Death Watch is not very…" he directed his face at Deathstroke then at the two girls, "impressive."

Marcus chuckled before replying, "Yeah, even I am amazed. You defeated Deathstroke and avoided Death Watch's patrols in our territory. That's something. Which is why I offer you this chance to save yourself. You're just too good of a soldier to kill; you might win against the legendary mercenary, but winning against a battalion by yourself is impossible."

Naruto was about to talk further to buy more time, but then he could feel that the moment had come.

"Alright, I will hand over Jaster," Naruto said.

"Smart choice, no-" Marcus was cut off.

"Catch!"

Naruto threw his clone into the air, in the direction of the closest tank. The clone then exploded. The blast caught the Death Watch off guard and sent them into peril. Before they could regain their composure, plasma bolts and rocket started to rain down on the Death Watch. The True Mandalorian had begun their attack.

Naruto knew what to do. He didn't need the Force to know that one of the two girls behind the two men was the general's daughter. Using the dust cloud to his advantage, he rushed past the two older Death Watch and charged at the girls.

He elbowed the orange armored woman and sent her flying a short distance away, leaving him with the general's daughter. He punched her in the chin to make her lose balance then quickly locked her head with his arm and placed a kunai next to her throat.

"Try anything funny and you're gonna get it," he threatened.

"I'm prepared to die for the mission," she retorted while trying to break from the headlock. When she tried to reach for her dagger, Naruto stabbed her arm with his kunai, planting it deep into her flesh until the head came out the other side of the arm. The girl screamed out in pain.

"Katarina!" they heard the general shout in panic at his daughter's scream, trying to locate her in the dust.

"Unfortunately for you, your father doesn't look like he's ready to let his precious girl die for the cause," Naruto taunted. He twisted the kunai in her flesh. She screamed even louder, enough to guide her father toward them. "If only you weren't here, then maybe he could have come up with a plan to counterattack, and who knows, maybe he would have won."

Naruto twisted the blade again.

The cry of pain was starting to mix with a cry of guilt. It seemed his words had hit the right spot.

At this point, the dust cloud had settled, but many of the Death Watch had already been slaughtered. Naruto nodded to Ocelot's masterful work of tactical genius. A single company surrounded and ambushed a battalion from all directing even up in the air. Now this was impressive.

In any event, the general had finally caught up to his daughter and her captor. The two stared down at each other a little, but Marcus quickly broke it.

"So this was an ambush all along," he remarked.

"Yes, though you could still surrender. I would prefer to get out of here as soon as possible," replied the blonde.

'Also I really need to go to the toilet,' he thought of the real reason. He wasn't in the mood for using a leaf again like back on Korriban, though back then it was papyrus paper...

"I don't plan to do that any time soon," replied the general.

"I've got your daughter hostage," Naruto pointed out and shook the silent girl in his arms a bit.

"...what daughter."

The reply from the general confused Naruto. That was when he noticed that the girl was unnaturally still. When he realized what was going on, he took off her helmet, letting her crimson hair slide out. He opened her mouth before touching her inner most teeth. Once the finger came out, he saw a green substance on its tip.

"Self poisoning...admirable," Naruto complimented before dropping the girl's body and rubbing his stained finger on his clothes in attempt to clean it up.

"Yeah, she was, wasn't she," Marcus replied.

He threw his own dagger at Naruto, who simply deflected it with his kunai, but then he was forced to dodge as another attacker came from behind with his claymore, Deathstroke. Naruto blocked Deathstroke's strike with some difficulty; the claymore produced a more impactful hit than the kunai could take, it caused him to stagger.

Marcus soon joined the fray. Naruto took out his second kunai and tried to fight the two of them at once. The task proved too difficult with just two small blades. Marcus used his dagger to disarm Naruto's one hand, while Slade struck hard enough that the other kunai was scattered.

The two prepared to strike a final blow, while Naruto was ready to leap out of combat to reposition.

"I would stop if I were you," a voice called to the fighting trio. They paused before turning to face the one who had stopped the fight.

A True Mandalorian in grey armor and a red scarf was standing a few feet away with several of his soldiers. One of them was holding Rose at blaster point.

"Ocelot?" Marcus asked in surprise.

"Of course it's me. Didn't expect to see you here of all places, Marcus," Ocelot commented. "In any event, you'd already lost." He gestured at the battlefield. The majority of Marcus's force was dead; the rest had already been rounded up by the 4th company. "I could execute you all right now, but I've got a few questions to ask first."

Ocelot's men surrounded Marcus and Slade before knocking both of them out with their rifle butts. They dragged the two away, for interrogation no doubt.

Revolver walked up to Horuset. "Where's Jaster?" he asked with some concern in his voice.

Naruto walked a few steps from where they were. He dragged Jaster out of a hidden hole in the ground.

"Safe and sound."

A Mandalorian medic came to take Jaster from Naruto.

"Good, now let's go, won't be long before more Death Watch arrive," Ocelot ordered.

"And where will we go?" Naruto asked.

"I've got a fade signal of the rally point; we will go there," he informed Naruto. Revolver walked toward a vehicle. "You can rest on my personal transporter. You have done a good job, ada," the captain said. Naruto nodded.

Before he followed the commander, however, he looked one last time at the dead girl on the ground. He kneeled down and examined her further. Strangely, despite having no pulse or movement, he could still feel that there was a life force lingering in her...maybe.

He remembered reading on the HoloNet about some drugs that allowed people to go into a deathlike coma. Maybe this girl just trying to trick him.

'Better not risk it, I've got a reputation to...be discreet about,' he thought.

Horuset picked up the girl from the ground, carrying her on his shoulder. If anyone asked, he would just tell them he wanted to give her a proper burial; the drug couldn't affect her that long.

xxxxx

Naruto stepped out of the restroom before adjusting his pants a bit. He would not have thought a transporter could have its own toilet. He walked to the cell area of the transporter, the largest part.

The first thing that greeted him was a scream. He looked to his left. There were several cages on his left, all were occupied right now. But the first room, if one entered from the cockpit, was concealed with a wall instead of an open cage. Apparently, it was a mini-torture room.

Naruto just ignored the scream and went to sit with the guards on the right. After sitting down, though, he didn't have much to do. His clone had taken the idol and his fabulous speeder away from the battle and would rejoin this moving company, posing as a stranded True Mandalorian who was lucky enough to find Ocelot's force.

So the only thing he could do right now was learn a little about people around him, specifically Revolver Ocelot.

"So...does the commander usually torture people this long?" he asked the guard he was sitting next to.

"Hell no, normally they would break in just a few minutes, but this is Marcus we're talking about," the first guard replied to Naruto.

"Marcus?" Horuset asked back.

"Marcus Couteau, Patriarch of Clan Couteau from Wild Space. He was known as the best tracker in the galaxy and one of the best assassins," another guard who was sitting a few seats away answered.

"I've never heard of him, I mean I have heard of Deathstroke but not this guy," Naruto said.

"Yeah, that's understable. Me and my partner here only know him because we're from Wild Space as well. He's a very secretive guy."

"What about your captain, Ocelot? I barely know anything about him."

"Considering his specialty is enhanced interrogation, I doubt they would have told much about the captain to an ade, umm, no offense," the guard replied. [9]

"None taken," Horuset replied, although he was offended.

"You're really impressive though, I mean, surviving out here on your own while being hunted by Death Watch and having to take care of Jaster at the same time? That's some talent right there," the guard complimented him.

"Thanks," he replied.

He tried to steer the conversation back to the captain, but they heard a soft groan. It was from Rose's cell, which she occupied with someone else. Naruto knew exactly what this meant.

"Guess I was right, she tricked me into thinking she was dead," Naruto commented.

"Really? How did you see through the trick?" one of the guards asked, having been curious since he took the corpse up with him. Normally even if the foe was honorable, no Mando would go this far just to bury them.

"Still felt some a pulse," he lied.

Just then the door to the interrogation cell opened. Ocelot dragged the bloodied and exhausted general out of the cell. The two guards moved to take him from their captain.

"Naruto, I see you have made yourself comfortable," Revolver greeted the young teen.

"I am, Captain, though the screaming was a bit loud," Naruto commented.

"In that case go to the cockpit, it's less loud over there," the captain said before walking away and stopping in front of Deathstroke's cell. Ocelot took out his stun blaster and shot Slade a few times...several times...many times. Eventually, Deathstroke collapsed down, breathing heavily.

"Father!" Rose shouted in panic. "You're going to p-" Before she could finish threatening Ocelot, he shot her. He opened the cell's door and let his two guards drag Wilson into the interrogation cell.

Naruto focused his attention back on the two girls. Katarina had recovered a bit and watched over her bruised father in the next cell.

"Why didn't I die?" She muttered the question, though it was quiet enough that no one but the two of them could hear, she was wrong.

"I had that same question myself," Naruto interrupted her. She gazed daggers at him.

"If I were you I would save up your energy. Captain's not very picky on who he 'interrogates,' as long as they're the ememy," one of the two guards advised her.

She paid him no mind, however, and directed every bit of malice she could muster at the blonde.

"You want my guess on the matter?" Naruto asked rhetorically. "He probably gave you a fake poison. Wouldn't want to kill his daughter, not sure if that's admirable or pathetic."

Katarina lunged at Horuset but was stopped by the cage bars. The Sith just stared at her, unfazed.

"Katarina." They all turned their attention towards the general.

"Father, are you alright?"

"Fine...enough," he said between painful pants. "Remember my lesson...emotions need to be...repressed for the...sake of the...mission," he whimpered.

"I think I'd better get the medic. Captain wouldn't like his important POW to die," one of the guards said before getting up and going to the cockpit.

Naruto looked on as the daughter kept staring at her father, who was in such pitiful state. He thought for a moment that he was in her position and his father was in Marcus's position; the mere thought of it made him want to laugh. Him? Pitying his own father? Now that was laughable imagery.

The door to the interrogation cell slid open. Slade was thrown out of the cell. The impact when he hit the wall knocked him into unconsciousness.

"Fucking bastard! 'In the boot' my ass!" Ocelot stepped out of the room, his lip bleeding, likely from a punch or headbutt, Naruto guessed. "Get him back in the cell," he commanded while wiping away the blood.

The other guard had returned with the medic, and the three of them carried Deathstroke back into his cell.

"Got anything, Captain?" Naruto asked.

"Nothing you need to be concerned with, ade," Ocelot told him.

The captain went to the cockpit. Naruto sighed. Guess he would have to ask Jango later what was all about. Until then, he leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes then drifted into the dream world.

xxxxx

When Naruto opened his eyes again, he was greeted with a brutal sight. All the cells before him were filled with bruised and bloodied people. Some looked like they had just got into a small fight while some looked like they were near death's door.

The healthiest ones seemed to be Marcus and Slade, likely because they were tortured earlier than the others. Their daughters, however, had obviously gone through Ocelot's interrogation, but judging by their smaller wounds and bruises it was not as extensive a torture as their fathers or some of the other prisoners.

"Wake up already, ade? I was surprised you weren't woken up by all the screaming," one of the guards greeted him.

"Yeah, one of the Death Watch even soiled himself while being interrogated, damn pathetic," another guard remarked, almost chuckling.

"So, are we there yet?" Naruto asked while rubbing his eyes.

"In fifteen minutes," Ocelot answered as he came out of the cockpit.

Without his helmet, Naruto was surprised by the contrasting hair color and facial features of the captain. While he looked like a young adult, his grey hair and mustache gave out a false message about his age. Naruto just shrugged it off though, maybe he was a near-human or had a mutated gene, one never know in the galaxy full of millions of sentients.

"And better prepare yourself, there might be a confrontation with Montross," Ocelot added. The captain went back into the cockpit.

Taking his advice, the guards and Naruto loaded their blasters with new cartridges. The fifteen minutes went on, faster or slower by tension from the two guards Naruto couldn't tell. But when the transporter stopped, Naruto knew it was time.

"Alright, get ready," Ocelot ordered. They moved to the back where the hatch began to lower. The dim sunlight slipped through as the hatch was lowering. It was not enough to blind anyone but causing discomfort to the eyes nevertheless.

Ocelot went out first followed by Naruto. More Mandalorian went past them back into the transporter to take the prisoners to more confined spaces.

Across from them Jango, Reyes and other officers awaited. Naruto looked around him. Revolver's soldiers, who were dropped out here as well, were moving toward the base with them; they were all in grey armor, no colored trims, no clan emblems, nothing.

"Your men look all the same," Naruto commented.

"I follow a more...Neo-Crusader's view on the uniform," the captain answered, referring to the unitary dress code of the long gone Mandalorian Neo-Crusader. Naruto made no further comments.

As he got closer to the other officers, the Sith held his chest up high to create the image of being the rescuer of Jaster, and thus their savior. He could sense respect coming from some of the officers, which meant it was working. But then it all disappeared when Zedra tackled him from the side and pinned him on the ground.

"Girl! Calm, girl!" he said while trying to gently push Zedra, who was licking his face furiously, off him. Unfortunately, this time she really missed him, which caused her strength to intensify tenfold.

At this point, she licked his face so hard that his helmet was loosening.

"Stop, girl, stop!" Despite his protests, he was not really angry.

Ocelot looked at the boy on the ground for a moment. He smiled and rolled his eyes under his helmet and moved on toward the other commanders.

"Captain Ocelot," Jango greeted.

"Captain Fett, Captain Reyes," Ocelot greet back. Gabrial only nodded as a reply.

"Where's Jaster?" Jango asked.

"Follow me, he's with the medic," Revolver answered before escorting the rest of the command toward their leader, leaving Naruto to deal with his problem.

"Zedra, for gods' sake, stop!"

xxxxx

"Get up slowly," a medic helped Jaster with sitting up on his bed to meet with the others.

"Thank you, Har'lry," he thanked her. She nodded and left to tend other, more severe, patients.

"How are you, Jaster?" Jango asked his father.

"Been better," he replied dryly, obviously tired. "Anyways, our dear medic back there has already briefed me on the situation. Is Montross here yet?" Jango shook his head.

"Good, we could use this time to prepare, but I figure you people have already taken care of that, correct?" Both Jango and Reyes nodded. "I expected no less from you two. Now onto other matters," he turned to Ocelot. "What was this about Marcus and Slade joining the Deathwatch." The other two captains also turned to Revolver.

"I have been interrogating them a bit. They don't say it outright, but I believe it had something to do with the recent...shift among the Mandalorian public," Ocelot answered, obviously nervous.

"Come on, Revolver, spit it out," Jaster told him.

"It might have something to do with the New Mandalorians movement," he san, an answer that surprised everyone within hearing range.

"The peacemonger," Reyes remarked with some annoyance in his voice.

"I've...heard of them but am not that familiar," Jango said.

"Be glad you aren't," Reyes told him.

"So, you're saying that the pacifists are gaining support?" Jaster asked.

In the recent civil war, the one that they had them fooled into thinking they had destroyed the Death Watch, there was a small faction among the warring clans. They called themselves 'the New Mandalorians'.

They had intentions to reform the Mandalorian from their warrior ways to nonviolence. They existed as long as 700 hundred years ago, but had gained a much more prominent position in the past civil war. Rather than be subjugated like any other faction after the war, Jaster had decided to leave them be, not seeing them as a threat. Guess he was wrong.

"How powerful are they? If it is enough to drive someone like Marcus and Slade to work for Tor Vizsla, then they would pose a threat even to us," Jaster warned.

"I've got some time to investigate. Apparently, she's started to sway the masses on several Mandalorian worlds. She is currently aiming to move to Mandalore itself to begin the real reform from the heart," Ocelot informed them.

"She?" Jaster asked.

"Satine Kryze, Clan Kryze. Her father the 'Duke' Adonai is the current leader of the New Mandalorian, but his daughter is the one who's doing all the work and talk," Revolver answered.

"Huh, 'Duke'. No wonder they were peacemongers; they just want to fill their bank account with credit and their belly with luxury food, and act like aristocrats while at it," Reyes said.

"Calm down, Gabriel. Don't simplify your foe's way of fighting and ideas, carelessness leds to defeat in war," Jaster lectured. Reyes only grunted in reply.

'Edgy,' Fett thought.

"In any event, we have no choice but to ignore them for now. Death Watch is a much more immediate threat that must be dealt with. However, gather whatever the information regarding the New Mandalorian you can. We need to know our enemy before we take our fight to them," he ordered. The three captains nodded. "Har'lry, can I leave now?"

"You could, though I wouldn't recommend it," the medic answered.

"Good," Jaster said and hopped out of bed, much to Har'lry's dismay. "Let's go deal with Montross, but first, could you tell me where a certain someone is?"

xxxxx

Naruto was doing a check up on his new bike. No scratch, no dirt, perfection. Now he had to figure how to get a legal license for her. This was a stolen property after all...oh who cared? There were so much illegal shit in the whole Adas damned galaxy it shouldn't be a problem...then again he didn't want to kill someone over just a bike...NO, she was not just a bike.

'Oh my gods, are you really that obsessed with this bike!?" Kurama yelled from the depths of Naruto mind. There was a momentary silence before he replied.

'Yes.'

That plain single word almost turned Kurama into a suicidal fox, and he would have been too if someone didn't decide to visit Naruto.

"Naruto," someone called the blonde. He turned to the voice. It was Jaster.

He got up from his kneeling position to salute, pumping his fist to his heart.

"Relax, I just want to thank you for helping me back there," Jaster thanked him.

"It was nothing, sir. Though I am curious, what happens now? I mean we've still got Death Watch to fight," Naruto said to him, hoping he could find out more about the mysterious shaman and maybe find the license of his new speeder from its previous owner.

"Oh yes, we will fight them, but as of now there are reports of them leaving the planet; no doubt they will try to regroup and then set up another ambush on another world, damn cowards," Jaster answered.

"As soon as Montross's punishment has been carried out, we will go on a Death Watch hunt, and after we destroy them, well, let's just say there are more enemies left to fight." Jaster began to leave. "Hope that answered it all, Naruto, and again I thank you. If there's anything you would like help with just tell me."

Naruto thought about asking him for a favor regarding the speeder ownership, but after thinking a bit, he did not think that would be a good idea. Suddenly, he had another question to ask.

"What will happen to Marcus and his battalion, sir?"

"Ocelot didn't leave that many alive. They will be imprisoned until this new conflict is truly over. If they tried to escape, we would just shoot them," Jaster answered before moving on to take care of more important business.

Once he was gone, Naruto smiled. He could learn many useful things from those two, and not just skills. Contacts, critical locations, shortcuts, secret routes, underworld bosses, bribery, smuggling; those two would be useful. And if they didn't comply, he could just use their daughter as leverage.

'This ought to be good,' he thought to himself before going back to examine the bike with Zedra lying beside him.

A/N: I am half-minded whether to do an anthropology/omnibus (short stories) as a next chapter or just skip to the main story, doing the first would help with the world building, but considering my update rate, I am not very assured it would be a good idea; meh, whatever, my story my way, just let me know what you think; not that it matters much.

[1] I mistook the strength of the True Mandalorian from the 'canon/legend' a bit. They were supposed to have less man power than this, but I would not fix this one.

[2] Yup, still think I wrote too much philosophy.

[3] Deathstroke aka Slade Wilson, and his daughter Rose, is from the DC comics/universe.

[4] General Marcus and Katharina are from League of Legend. Also this idea was not mine directly, I borrowed it from another fic I read quite some time ago. I tried looking it up, but so far I don't see it.

If anyone remember that one X-over fic about Naruto got awaken by Katarina, who was Mando, at the beginning of the story before he goes on solo adventure in other fiction like Avatar:the Last Airbender, please let me know, I want to give the author credit.

[5] Same theory as to why Jedi can't sense Palpatine. Since there was a Sith temple beneath the Jedi temple they felt the darkside all the time, Palpatine is like a drop of colorless oil in the water; he is there, but can't be spotted that easily. Naruto literally has to find a needle in a haystack if so much darkside energy in surrounding him while he searches for a specific thing with the Force.

[6] They were all younger than their original selves in their own perspective franchise.

[7] Just random banter as a joke to shipping, really.

[8] Revolver Ocelot is from the Metal Gear series. His age now would be between the time he first met Big Boss/Naked Snake (MGS 3) and the events in Metal Gear: The Phantom Pain.

[9] 'Enhanced interrogation' is a modern term for governmental approved torture for information.

[10] Hologram decoys exist, Slade would mistake a clone for this even with dispel smoke.

[11] I am not a fan of being overly descriptive, but when the MC's mood kind of swings in a way, I prefer to let the writing sway a bit in the same direction.