.
Underworld Lower City
Maze of the Pit
Allied Team Claim
.
miles down the tunnel
black and grey forms skitter toward the party, some dropping off stalagmites flying at the group
the party starts firing at the approaching swarm
"those murglak pockers found and opened up a deep cave inhabited by mynocks" hisses Nameless
as dark forms swoop from the walls flying to the attack
impressions of winged leeches or flying snakes, trying to bite and latch on ensue in the chaos
Naruto ends up knocking off any of the beasts dropping onto his allies, knifing a few of the crawlers,
are a few of the impressions of memories as the fight happens almost too fast to think,
only react
.
the cavern lair is littered with the forms of the parasitic mynock as well as their former droid victims
the party takes a breather as the fight ends
.
Nameless calls out to Leeds
"Leeds, Bo, Mack go left and hunt down any stragglers, Naruto and I will go right doing the same."
"Watch for cracks they might hide in and mark them with seal paint."
"They may also be hiding near the droid parts, do a full sweep then we will rest and collect parts and crystals"
.
finding an exit tunnel not carved by droids the duo mark the edges
"smooth and curving like there was water flowing or draining through it" Nameless mutters,
"this sand floor is the waste from whatever thay ate that had minerals in it"
.
occasional blastershot echo the cave as the two parties call out about clearing nests of eggs,
searching crystals and droid parts being fed on by adult and infant mynock
nests are cleared of crystals and parts and stored in Narutos scroll filling another pack
.
further on a pool of unknown liquid sits in the lowest point of the chamber
when he finds it dissolves metal, motioning Naruto to stay clear "probably a major acid"
Nameless marks the edge and paints a boundary to guage height in case the pool changes
.
gathering back in the entrance tunnel, the party shows off the semi-full packs of salvage, updating everyone on the chamber.
the chewed on crystals are stored in the far end of the scroll for when the team returns to the surface
entire party grinning at the thought of bypassing the robbers in authority
.
.
After resting, Nameless waves for attention to end the side chat and pull everyone together
"Now this cavern is where the corperation droids were stopped by the mynocks,"
"but there is a flow tube we can try, or we can shift to full mining of the areas we marked"
"it will take 4 hours to get the gear and we'll have 50 hours to work"
Mack and Bo look at each other "mining for us, tube's to small for us"
"We'll head up and grab a shield emitter and sensors to keep out mynocks that escaped, no way we got them all."
Nameless nods "I'm also too big, Leeds and Naruto can check after we get back, but if it narrows down to far, just come back." he orders the pair
glancing at the two "There may be more mynocks, check in every cycle, we will set up relays to stay in communication as we come down."
"When we get back I'll try to get one or more of the droids working, but I'll need you Leeds to slice and program it for us,"
"barring that I'll get one of the mining disruptors working and set up support chambers for this end of the mine."
.
"Lets go grab the gear and supplies from storage" waving too the duo the trio head up
Leeds motions naruto to stay seated
"We'll stay here, till they get back, I'm not as young as you,"
"for now unpack the droid parts so I can check their condition and repair them if possible."
"If we had been the ones to open the chamber I would be worried about more mynocks"
"but with the droids supplying the food for the mynocks most of them would have kept to the cavern till food ran low again"
"Leave the parts out, on spare paper if you have enough, they can be bait for any mynocks we missed"
"but up that tunnel, there could be anything."
"they had to feed on minerals to thrive down here, but we are well past known mines and still do not know what the corperations were after"
"keep watch while I grab a nap"
.
.
after an hour nap, Leeds wakes hearing naruto working with different items
"What are you working on Naruto" walking over to where Naruto was seated
"Playing with some of the droid parts that are not too damaged."
"Some of the parts ripped out by the mynocks had their own tool casings, the mynocks had not yet chewed through"
"Others had parts that could be swapped out on other sections for something useable."
nodding Leeds takes a seat nearby and gives pointers while working his datapad, slicing the programming control cluster from one of the droids
.
"can you sketch out a map of your home planet?"
"sure" replies naruto, pulling a flimsey out and using a scribe has a sketch of the elemental continent in short order
Leeds takes it and scans it into his datapad having it try to match it against known planets
"while that runs, any other songs from your home?"
.
homesickness crossing his face "yah a few, jiji taught me"
humming "the first one deals with the elements shinobi can use in our jitsu"
"Wind, Water, Fire, Earth and Lightning"
.
feel the wind in your breath
waters tides in your blood
fire in your heart
earth in your bones
lighning in the nerves
.
"the major villages shinobi operate out of"
"Cloud, Mist, Rock, Fire and Wind"
.
clouds move across the sky
gathering the water for mist
Rocky earth grows the crops
as the fire warms the homes
winds move beginning the clouds again
.
"and the minor villages and countries that are sometimes allied"
"Tide, Wave, Grass, Star, River, Rain, Tea and Snow"
.
tides circle the waves
grass waves to the stars
rivers move through rain
tea as the snow dances
.
"they are mostly used as nursery rhymes to teach little kids before school studies"
setting down his improvised tools
"I think I just made my first droid" Naruto calls out
looking at what just looks like a five finger hand out of metal
.
as it suddenly skitters forward on its fingertips in his direction
"what is that thing" Leeds calls out as he leaps back swearing
.
with a chipper voice it replies "I like that name, TH-NG, thanks for naming my model, meatbag" turning to face Leeds
"hnn looks like I'm a lefty" with a jolly voice
"power and sensors minimal, no armor or weapons, horrifying to be disarmed and reduced to such a state"
.
Leeds looks at it with caution "I think its core needs a memory wipe, badly"
"Naruto, was that core from one of the mining droids?" not letting it out of sight
TH-NG starts moving around checking the area "nope, it was from Nameless's junk room."
"Junk room, he does not have a junk room!" the duo watching the hand skitter around with a lifted wrist
puzzled naruto looks to Leeds "Sure he does first room just off the main."
"Just off the main..feltercarb, that was his room for battle trophies and war gear."
"It was one of the few things he said I could have that he was not attached to, said it was the smallest core he had seen."
"You grabbed an assassin or battle droid core from a couple decades ago"
feeling a tapping on his shoe, naruto looks down
"Master?" inquires the droid looking up at the two
.
"Is that normal for this area?" turning and pointing into the main cavern
turning their lights into the cavern they see something moving
flowing from the tube is a liquid like tendril, silvery in their portable lights
sweeping back and forth it flinches away in defense momentarily from the mynock remains it brushes up against
probing the animal remains it shifts position
then sweeping over the mynock's form it shifts away leaving no remains
.
moving to the pool it extends forward and visibly the pool level drops by inches
when it pulls back Leeds and Naruto notice the droid arm used by Nameless to probe the pool is also gone
.
.
echos from somewhere closer
.
thrown to a wall
shivering as a dark form advances
"so Nightsister, you wish to study under me"
"Yes"
"then nightbride, three times you must pay"
"with your blood and flesh"
moving suddenly, his new student screams to echo her pain
.
later
as the tall form moves away
"As the first grows, so begins your training"
as he leaves the room
she hears a droids quiet voice before the door slides closed
"Master, the hunter Fett is here with the bounty as you requested"
her eyes open
.
.
omake
.
A little known fact:
The First Hokage was the oriental equivalent of Jonny Appleseed in Fire
Assisted on a related note by the Acamichi Clan having hundreds of recipes for apples
.
ninja jump through trees, to avoid the rotting apples on the forest floor
konoha was chosen for the ground growth of the apple trees
chakra based tree climbing was developed to harvest the apples
.
one cousin could do more plants, but was less motivated and was married to the nara
blackberry bushes were prefered, but had to compete with the local deer
thus beginning the nara herds
.
Madara avoided eating apples as the First could make seeds sprout from inside or track them