Chapter 2: Second Wave

Undisclosed Location...

The figure of Count Dooku hovered before a cloaked individual, who was surrounded by several Super Battle Droids at attention.

"I have brought Jabba's son to the abandoned monastery per your request, Master." the figure spoke, "He will be...safe...here."

Dooku's holoimage nodded. "Good, good. Everything is going as planned."

The lighting in the room brightened slightly, and the pale face of Asajj Ventress smiled softly. "Yes, my lord."

Without hesitation, a second holoimage joined the two, causing Ventress to kneel before it instantly.

"Soon, the Jedi will not only be at war with YOU, Count, but the Hutt clan, as well. As you so splendidly illustrated, everything is going according to plan."

Christophsis...

"What's the status report, Rex?" Obi-Wan asked, walking up the last few steps and greeting his clone commander with a warm handshake.

"All's quiet for now, sir. It seems the droids are gearing up for yet another assault." he replied, before looking over at Ahsoka. "...Who's the youngling?"

Ahsoka huffed indignantly. "I'm Master Kenobi's new Padawan. The name's Ahsoka Tano."

Rex simply stared with a vacant expression on his face, before turning to Obi-Wan. "...You said you would never take a Padawan...EVER."

Obi-Wan blushed slightly at being caught out in the open like that. "I didn't say NEVER, Rex. Just that I didn't think I was capable of training one during this war."

Rex leveled him a deadpan look. "To be frank, sir, your exact words were: 'I wouldn't be caught dead having a Padawan. Naruto would never let me hear the end of it, and Revan would make up cute pet names for the poor sap.'"

Obi-Wan groaned and palmed his face, while Ahsoka giggled like a schoolgirl. "THAT IS SOOO CUTE!"

Rubbing his eyes, he shook his head. "Not now, Ahsoka. Just...not now."

She shrugged. "Fine." He sighed, then she spoke again. "Later, then."

Obi-Wan felt like crying while Rex let out a boisterous laugh. "Ahh, I like her. She'll be just the thing you need to get you away from all the poise and self-inflicted dignity that you torture yourself with. Well, not as much as Naruto, but it'll still help."

Obi-Wan looked at Rex. "Kindly shut it."

Rex shrugged. "Whatever you say, Master."

Obi-Wan idly considered tossing Rex off a cliff, but thought better of it. He didn't want to have to train a new Padawan AND a new commander. One was plenty, thank you.

"Regardless, we're getting off-topic. What is-" Obi-Wan stopped when a mechanical whir echoed through the air.

"What was that?" asked Ahsoka.

Rex looked around for a second, and paled when he spotted the origin of the sound. "General...we're in some SERIOUS trouble."

Obi-Wan turned his head, and could only nod in agreement as a red energy shield began slowly expanding over the bridge dividing the Republic and Separatist encampments.

Rex turned to Ahsoka. "I don't have time for the full speech, so listen carefully. On the battlefield, rank and authority mean nothing. Experience trumps rank in my book, and the battlefield always agrees with that. So, if you're looking to prove yourself and get some experience, with THAT energy shield coming our way, it's going to make things damn near impossible. So, I hope you're ready, young one. Because you're about to get a HELL of a lot of experience."

Ahsoka could only nod as Rex began shouting orders to his troops, clones scrambling left and right to set up perimeter defenses and find some way to counteract that energy shield. Obi-Wan motioned for her to follow, and she did so.

"Can Rex handle things here himself?" she asked.

Obi-Wan nodded. "He's one of the best we have, and probably second only to Cody. I'd dare say they're evenly matched. He'll be fine."

Ahsoka shook her head. "No one is going to be fine if we can't get that energy shield down."

As they leapt over fallen buildings and debris, Obi-Wan could only agree with her.

Upon reaching the command center, Obi-Wan immediately relayed the report, and Revan grimmaced.

"It looks like they're slowly increasing the diameter, and keeping it just ahead of their troops."

Naruto shook his head. "Heavy cannons will be useless against that."

Obi-Wan looked at the holomap of the city. "We could try and draw them into the buildings. Level the playing field a bit."

Revan nodded. "That still leaves us without any cannons, though, and we have limited detpacks to deal with their tanks."

Ahsoka turned to Naruto. "If that shield is such a problem, why not get rid of it?"

Silence permeated the table, and Naruto grinned. "Ben, you've got yourself one HELL of a Padawan."

Ahsoka blushed deeply at the praise, but Rex put a damper on that. "It's easier said than done. We're talking about a heavily guarded and heavily fortified area. There are going to be multitudes of battle droids, and more than a few tanks guarding it."

Obi-Wan nodded. "It's too risky."

Revan put her hands on her hips. "But what other choice do we have? Wait for them to get close enough? They'll tear our cannons apart the second they get in range."

Naruto sighed. "Jeez, do I have to do everything? How about I go take care of it? I AM a one-man army, after all."

Revan shook her head. "An army means jack against artillery fire. You'll be torn to shreds."

Naruto threw his hands up. "Fine, then I take someone with me."

Rex shook his head. "I have to lead my troops. I can't go anywhere."

Revan and Obi-Wan also shook their heads. "We need to stay here and guard the cannons. It's going to take all we have just to slow them down."

Naruto turned to Ahsoka. "Well, I guess you're coming with me, little one."

She blinked. "M-me?"

Naruto patted her on the head. "First mission, and you get to blow something up. Lucky you." He turned to Obi-Wan. "You're okay with this?"

Obi-Wan nodded. "She's the only one we can spare."

Naruto grinned. "Right. Well, let's get a move on, Snips."

Ahsoka smirked. "Right behind you, Skyguy."

As the shield steadily enveloped the landscape, the droid army continued it's daunting advance, undeterred by the continuous fire of the Republic's cannons. The heavy artillery struck the shield, and harmlessly dispersed across its' breadth.

As the droids neared the halfway mark on the bridge, the tanks swerved slightly to avoid a large chunk of debris, and the droids parted like a river with a boulder to go around it.

Suddenly, the debris began to shift slightly. No one took notice, figuring the passing army was causing the bridge to shake slightly, thus moving it. Wave after wave of battle droids and AAT's diverted their course slightly to avoid the debris, until the last tank swerved right and avoided the metal box, continuing on its' mission.

Several seconds passed before the box began to move, scuttling quietly across the ground as the army continued its' advance.

Inside the box, Ahsoka was getting twitchy. "This is a STUPID plan! We should be fighting these guys instead of sneaking around like a bug on the kitchen floor."

Naruto grinned at her. "Shinobi Lesson #1: Stealth is a ninja's greatest asset. If used correctly, it can defeat entire armies with ease. Art of Warfare Lesson #4: Don't go to the enemy, when you can let the enemy come to you. We may not be able to cross their lines, but if we let their lines cross us..."

Realization dawned in Ahsoka's eyes, and she immediately had a newfound respect for Naruto. "Tell me why you aren't a Master, again?"

Naruto shrugged. "Something about me not having much patience."

Ahsoka blinked. "Really? Well, I don't see-"

She cut herself off when he stood and flipped the box off of them, grabbing her wrist and flinging a tri-pronged kunai in the direction of their target. "Less talk, more action. Let's do this!"

She nearly puked as she felt gravity distort around her, and suddenly she was in front of the generator, Naruto pocketing the strange weapon as she fell to her knees and dry-heaved.

Naruto grinned sheepishly. "Sorry about that. I should have given you advanced warning."

Ahsoka could only nod as she stood up. "Yeah, well...at least we're here."

"Yep. Now, let's do something about this generator of theirs."

"This is bad...this is REALLY bad."

Obi-Wan scoffed. "The great Jedi General Revan Namikaze...afraid of a little energy shield? I don't believe it."

"Were I not busy fighting for my life, I'd smack you one."

"Jubilant Statement: This unit think this is rather fu-"

"Can it, HK!"

The shield had finally reached their encampment, and no sooner had it passed over them had each side opened fire, the clones doing their best against the droid's superior firepower and numbers. Revan had to watch a good many clones die as she fell back with the rest of them, her lightsabers deflecting blaster bolts left and right.

"We can't hold this up forever, Ben. Naruto needs to get that shield down now, or we're cooked."

Obi-Wan couldn't disagree with her. They were slowly being pushed back to their cannon line, and if they managed to destroy them, it was game over for them.

Obi-Wan turned to Rex. "We've GOT to protect those cannons at all costs. Tell all of your men to fall back, and tell Cody's to do the same. HOLD THE LINE!"

"But sir-"

"THAT'S AN ORDER, CAPTAIN!"

Hesistating for a brief second, Rex nodded and relayed the message to Cody, as both commanders ordered their troops back to the cannon line.

Revan looked at Obi-Wan. "Really know how to put the fear of Kami in your troops, huh?"

Obi-Wan nodded. "It's necessary. We're in for a rough fight, as is."

She nodded, and all three of them bum-rushed the line of battle droids, HK providing cover fire against the tanks as Obi-Wan and Revan carved a swath through the battle droids, blades whirling as metal and sparks flew through the air.

One tank turned and aimed it's cannon directly at Obi-Wan, who crushed the end of it with the Force. The tank operator didn't notice, and proceeded to let loose a shell at Obi-Wan, which promptly caused the whole thing to tear itself apart in a ghastly explosion, wiping out several dozen droids standing nearby.

Revan threw one of her sabers through the line of droids, carving a good many in half as she continued her acrobatic dance of death, mechanical wails following each new attack. Carving off the head of one droid, she backflipped and landed on an SBD, then promptly buried her saber in its' head, causing it to groan before falling to the ground.

Yet despite all their efforts, the droids eventually surrounded them, and AAT's leveled their barrels at the three.

One tank opened its' hatch, and the Separatist General poked his stout frame out from within. "I believe that this is game over, Generals Kenobi and Namikaze."

Revan was about to retort, but Obi-Wan beat her. "You're right." She looked at him like he'd proposed a threesome with HK. "We surrender."

The general nodded. "Take their weapons." Revan growled, but let the Super Battle Droid take her two sabers from her hands, another doing the same with HK and Obi-Wan.

"Now, Generals, order your troops to stand down." The general began, but finished his sentence with an odd look, on that was reciprocated by Revan. Obi-Wan levitated several pieces of debris and set them down in front of them, forming a table with three chairs.

"General, please have a seat."

The general scratched his head. "Have you gone mad?" Revan was finding it hard to disagree with the man.

"We've conceded the battle. Now all that is left to do is simply negotiate the terms of surrender."

A lightbulb went off in Revan's head, but she kept this realization to herself, as the Separatist General nodded. "Very well. I suppose this is appropriate, but don't try any of your tricks, Jedi."

Obi-Wan shook his head. "Surely there isn't any reason we cannot be civilized about this, right?"

The rear hatch opening was his answer, and Obi-Wan held back a shitfaced grin as the general got out of his tank and walked over, sitting down at the table as Revan and Obi-Wan did the same.

"Tis a rare honor to meet one's opponent. Face to face, no less." He began. "You're a legend throughout the Inner Core."

Revan nodded. "Indeed, it is a great honor to meet you, General..."

"Whorm Loathsom. And please, the honor is all mine. I'm so GLAD you decided to surrender."

Revan nodded. "Well, as much as I am loathe to admit, sometimes one must accept the reality of the situation."

Obi-Wan agreed. "Yes, now onto the matter of care for our troops. I'm sure this shouldn't take too long."

In orbit above Christophsis...

Out of hyperspace, 4 Acclamator-I class Assault Ships, surrounded by 3 Venator-class Republic Cruisers entered orbit, staring down at 3 Lucrehulk-class Droid Control Ships and 4 Banking Clan Comm Ships. For all intents and purposes, the Republic attack force and the Separatist blockade were evenly matched.

On board the lead ship, the Admiral turned to his commander. "Report."

"We've reached Christophsis, sir, but the Separatist blockade is holding."

"Deploy the fleet. Have the frigates protect the transports, and have the cruisers provide covering fire for both."

"Yes, sir."

Jedi Master Yoda entered the command center, and the Admiral turned to face him.

"Admiral. Hurry, we must, if we are to aid General Kenobi and General Namikaze."

"It will not be easy to breach the blockade, Master Yoda. It's what destroyed our relief ships before."

"Last time, not as many ships you had. Get past it, we must. Get past it...we WILL."

Christophsis...

"Okay, now all we have to do is-"

"Hold it." Naruto interrupted, holding his hand out to stop Ahsoka from leaping forward. "Something off about this. Like Rex said, there should be a small army guarding this place, but there isn't."

Ahsoka turned to him. "Isn't that a good thing?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, it's not. The Seps KNOW they're fucked if we take this thing out, so why aren't they guarding it. It's definitely a trap."

Before Ahsoka could reply, Naruto created a clone and pulled her down. The clone cautiously leapt over the debris, and walked forward. It hadn't gotten but ten meters before it tripped a sensor, causing the ground beneath it to crumble and a scrap battle droid to erupt from beneath its' feet. It backflipped out of the way, but in doing so, tripped several more sensors, each releasing a droid from beneath the ground.

"I knew it. They had droids lie here in wait for any unsuspecting passerby's. Good thing I'm a cl-"

A cloud of smoke erupted from the clone, signaling its' untimely death as a laser bolt screamed through its' chest. Behind the rubble, Naruto formed a cross seal. Several hundred clones burst into existence around the area, most triggering the remaining underground droids upon appearance.

While the clones battle the droids, Naruto and Ahsoka snuck past the fighting to the generator.

"Okay, plant the charges."

Ahsoka nodded, and did as she was told, placing one charge on each of the legs of the tripod support structure.

Noticing his clones were almost finished with the droids, Naruto turned to Ahsoka. "All finished?"

She nodded, then her eyes widened as she saw a battle droid sneak up on Naruto. Before she could warn him of the impending danger, he pushed her to the side and backflipped over it, red blaster bolts screaming through the area where he previously stood. A blue orb the size of his fist appeared in Naruto's hand, and he drove it into the droid with a cry of, "Rasengan!" The machine stood no chance as the chakra ball tore through it like a knife through wet paper, and he landed on the ground with a huff.

"Scrap heaps, the lot of them." he muttered, and turned to his remaining clones, 15 in total.

"Got the last of them?"

"Yes, boss.", came the chorused reply.

"Good job, guys. Dispel yourselves."

With a nod from each of them, the area briefly filled with smoke. When it cleared, the copies of Naruto were gone, and Ahsoka was left standing there in stunned disbelief.

He put a hand on her shoulder, getting her attention. "Didn't take me literally when I said I can be a one-man army, did you?"

She merely shook her head.

"Surprised?"

She nodded.

"Get used to it."

As the shield continued to advance, the remaining clones fell back further and further, taking heavy losses as they established a final defensive line to protect the heavy cannons.

A clone trooper ran over, dodging several blaster bolts and skidding to a stop behind the rubble Rex was taking cover at.

"Sir, grave news. Generals Namikaze and Kenobi have been captured. My unit has been wiped out. There's no one else left."

"Son of a Hutt!" Rex swore, slamming his hand against the rock. He turned to his companion, Commander Cody, who merely nodded. He knew exactly what his partner was thinking, and he agreed wholeheartedly.

"We've GOT to hold out. We can't let those droids reach the cannons. If we have any hope of repelling them, it will be dead once those cannons are gone. KEEP FIGHTING!"

Leaping over the debris, Rex lead the charge, Cody in hot pursuit as several clones meshed together and, with a battle roar, surged forward into the advancing army, spraying hot blaster fire left and right as they met the droids at the line, both sides fighting hard as the shield continued to advance.

"Don't give in, take them down!" yelled Cody, smashing his blaster rifle into the head of a B1, then kicking an SBD in the chest, forcing it to back up into several more before Cody turned them into scrap. His blaster rifle clicked a few times, and he hurled the empty and useless weapon at a droid, taking it down as it ripped its' head off. He pulled out a blaster pistol and began pegging droids in the head, making each shot count.

Rex was in the thick of it, his dual blaster pistols searing circuits and melting metal. A spinning roundhouse kick to a droid caused it to snap its' head to the side, severing connections to the rest of its' body as it slumped to the ground.

Palming a thermal detonator, he slapped it on the back of an SBD, then kicked the droid hard into a group of them, the droid steadying itself only to realize it was a ticking time bomb. The droid exploded, taking 5 more SBD's with it.

Looking around, Rex could see his troops fighting hard, but they were taking too many losses. If that shield didn't come down soon, they were done for. As it is, he had to order a retreat so the could regroup.

He sounded the order, and Cody followed his lead, the clones pulling back to the debris line where they set up defenses again, fewer in number this time, but having bought a little more time for their efforts.

"And of course, once you take custody of my men, arrangements will have to be made in further detail for their food and shelter. Tell me, do you believe you have the accommodations necessary to-"

"ENOUGH OF THIS!" roared General Whorm, cutting Obi-Wan off. Revan merely continued to gaze impassionately at the general, while Obi-Wan had a pleasant smile on his face.

"You're stalling, Kenobi. For what, I don't know, but whatever it is, you're stalling."

"Nonsense, General. You should know that there are numerous details to be discussed, and there are many things we have yet to-"

With a roar, Whorm flipped the table, and pointed a finger at the two. "Seize them!"

Unceremoniously, both Obi-Wan and Revan were hoisted into the air by their arms. "If you don't call off your troops RIGHT NOW, I will have NO CHOICE but to destroy you!"

Obi-Wan sighed, and looked at Revan. She sighed as well, and turned to the general. "Truthfully, I was hoping your shield would be knocked out right about-"

Naruto blinked. "Oh, I almost forgot something."

Ahsoka looked at him. "What's that."

He grinned, and with a push of a button, the whole generator exploded in a shower of fire, metal and sparks.

"That."

"-now." With that, even as the realization dawned on General Whorm's face, the red energy of the shield began to retract and dissipate, a grin reaching both Jedi's faces as the tide once again turned in their favor.

Turning to Obi-Wan, Revan jerked her head in their 'captors' direction. "Shall we?"

Obi-Wan shrugged. "If we must."

Both Jedi swung their legs up, fully inverting themselves before ripping their arms out of the battle droids' grasp, using the Force to reclaim their lightsabers. The droids they stood atop had no chance as they carved a nice little hole in their neural processors, simultaneous groans coming from both before they leapt off of them to avoid blaster fire from the nearby SBD's.

As Whorm watched in abstract horror, Obi-Wan and Revan danced around the battlefield, effortlessly dispatching his soldiers seemingly without a care. Within a minute, his troops lay in heaps around him, and a red lightsaber was pointed at his neck.

"Hmm, something seems to have happened to your shield, General. Now, I wonder how your tanks will fair against our cannons?" growled Revan.

Obi-Wan chuckled. "Naruto sure does know how to take his time. I just hope he brings my apprentice back in one piece."

Revan smiled at him reassuringly. "Don't worry. My husband would NEVER jeopardize your Padawan's safety."

Obi-Wan nodded. "Of course."

Behind the line, Cody and Rex were racking their brains as to how to stop the droids' advance, when the shield suddenly stopped advancing. So, too, did the army. The shield wavered, flickered, then began to dissipate, the droids looking around in confusion.

Rex wasted no time. He turned to the cannon operators, and gave the order. "FIRE ON THOSE TANKS!"

The cannons took a second to aim, loaded their shells, and rained hot energy down on the droid army, their confusion quickly replaced with panic as tank after tank exploded in a shower of hot molten metal and flame. While the droids continued to advance, their forces were quickly being wiped out, as the shield had left them exposed with no cover to speak of.

Obi-Wan and Revan were headed back over to their encampment, with the captured General Whorm in tow, when Obi-Wan's comm beeped. Flicking it on, the holoimage of Admiral Wullf Yularen greeted him.

"General Kenobi, if you can here me, we've finally made it through the blockade. The Separatist armada is in full retreat, and your reinforcements should be arriving there shortly."

Even as he said this, scores of Republic Gunships began flying overhead, prompting smiles to appear on their faces. Cheers could be heard from the remaining clones as the LAAT's did a low fly-by, boosting morale to its' highest in months.

A dropship landed next to the two, and it opened its' atmospheric doors to reveal Master Yoda.

"Impeccable timing as always, Master Yoda." greeted Obi-Wan. Revan merely pushed Whorm forward.

"We went ahead and got you a present, Master." she said grinning. "Hope you like it."

Another dropship landed, and Naruto and Ahsoka climbed out of it, before Naruto signaled for them to take off. "So, did you get the bad guy, Rev?"

She nodded, and embraced him with a smile. "I see you played your part well."

She shrugged. "Sometimes letting others do the talking is much easier."

Naruto blinked. "Ben pulled that off?" He shot a look at said man. "Bravo, myboy. Bravo, indeed."

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. "Oh, you're too kind."

Naruto shrugged. "Well, if you say so. No more compliments for you."

Obi-Wan was by his side in an instant. "I never said that."

Naruto cupped his ear. "I'm sorry, what was that? I couldn't hear you over the sound of your desperation."

Obi-Wan grabbed Naruto, and began to shake him. "Why. Must. You. Be. So. Annoying?"

Naruto's head bobbed back and forth, but he managed a response. "...part...of the...job...description...Ben..."

Obi-Wan tossed him to the floor, and Naruto's indignant yell was ignored. He turned to Ahsoka. "Do NOT take after that man. Ever."

Ahsoka nodded, even though she had her fingers crossed behind her back. "Yes, Master~"

Chapter 2 is finished, and it's...well, it's coming along. I don't exactly have all the time in the world, right now, but I'm making do with what I DO have, and am trying to find time to write. I'd also like to point out why I kept Ahsoka's nickname for Naruto 'Skyguy':

1. Because by my logic, Sky = Air, Air = Wind, Kaze is Japanese for Wind, and Namikaze is part of Naruto's name. Ta-da.

2. I spent a good 30 minutes thinking of, and looking for, any trait that would fit Naruto AND rhyme with something. Needless to say, I found nothing.

So in the end, I'll stick with Skyguy. Feel free to suggest other names, but remember, they have to fit two criteria: It has to have a character trait that Naruto possesses,(ex: Hair color, Kyuubi, Attitude, etc.) and it has to rhyme (good luck getting 'orange' to rhyme with anything).

-Sgt. Assassin