Blood upon the Risers

I don't own Star wars or Naruto.

"Person talking"

'Person thinking'

A/N Hope you all have a happy new year. Please leave a review tell me what you think, thank you guys for reading and for the Favs/Follow. makes my day when I check my Email and I see your kind words. Oh and before I forget someone questioned on why there would be a female clone, the answer is that when fetus's start out they are female in the beginning so a "defective" clone slipped through and Rav shielded her from the immoral Kaminoians. Enjoy

Chapter 9

General Tarant, formerly of the royal Harch army now general of the Confederacy sat in his shuttle that was in route to Aargonar, a harsh rocky desert world. The droid pilot that was flying the craft toned to him "Our estimated time of arrival will be in one hour General." Tarant nodded near absentmindedly, his focus was on the fate of his wife and children. The general was concerned for their safety, had Dooku not placed him in this situation he wouldn't be here. The count hadn't directly threatened any of his loved ones but the general didn't need a threat in verb, he'd seen it in Dooku's posture the human practically screamed of menace. Tarant decided to comply with the count's demands, for the last time. 'Exactly the way he planned it.' The Harch thought bitterly as he refocused on the battle strategy in his head. There would be exactly twenty two thousand sixty troops on the world waiting for him. He had made sure of it as count Dooku himself ordered the with-drawl of all vulture droids on the ground. The move left him without an air force, but it wouldn't matter much anyway he fought better when the stakes were high. Tarant closed his eyes and let out a breath, the stakes were really high on this one. If he didn't stop the Republic advance at Aargonar he wouldn't get off world, either he would be gunned down by the clone troopers or his own battle droids. Neither was a pleasant thought but one had to be a realist in these situations. Tarant proceeded to take a nap while on the way to his last post.

The Harch woke when the craft was in the desert world's atmosphere when the ship jumped in turbulence. Within moments the shuttle set down on a sandy plain. Tarant exited the shuttle and saluted the officers that stood at attention and saluted him when he was in sight. A Nemoidian stood at the ramp and extended his hand and shook one of the Harchs. "I hope your trip was comfortable General, I am admiral Goros." Tarant decided to skip pleasantries and ask "How long have you been waiting for me?" the Nemoidian was stunned for a moment before replying "about three hours sir." Tarant growled and proceeded to storm towards the digger droids that were doing what they were designed to do. The Nemoidian followed the annoyed Harch and said "We are digging trenches sir, so that the enemy will be stalled." Tarant cut him off and said "Order them to stop this madness, Aargonar is a rocky world with few dune seas. We'll use them to our advantage." Goros raised an eye ridge at the General and asked "But sir, how are we to slow the enemy?" Tarant regarded the question with a cold gaze and said nothing before he set off again with the Nemoidian admiral and a few lieutenants tailing him.

The Harch pulled a holomap and studied the cliffs in front of him. Tarant then called over his shoulder "Goros, how long have you been here?" the Nemoidian answered "Two weeks." A fiery look got into the harch's eyes and without a word he and two magna guards took off towards the cliffs with the Nemoidian sputtering behind them. Once on the top of the cliff Tarant faced the massive sand sea and checked his holomap. "The enemy must land here." He said to himself as the wind kicked up. The Harch looked down the thirty degree angle that the cliffs made. He turned to the admiral, and as useless as he was he was about to attribute to the defense of the planet in a crucial way. Tarant spoke to Goros and said "Begin to have the mining droids start on a tunnel network, start from the inner most part of the ridge's and work your way into the cliff face, give me minute by minute updates." Goros nodded then asked "What about trench's sir?" Tarant raised his brows and replied "what of them?" the Nemoidian felt small under the calculating gaze of the Harch. "That is, what will they be used for?" he said in a near whisper. Tarant spoke slowly "they will not be used. Now carry out your orders." The Nemoidian scurried off to do the task that was delegated to them, as for Tarant himself he expanded on his need for a shield generator, it was crucial to the defense. An energy shield could be place anywhere on a planet, underground for instance and be used to halt the ability of the air force to support its troops. High level bombers would be useless as would orbital bombardment. Thus it made the game into a ground campaign, and a costly one. Tarant decided in that moment that if this would be his last battle he would make the republic work to end him, and unlike his brother he wouldn't let over confidence get to him.

On Coruscant

Naruto hated posh ceremonies, simply because they were in his opinion a waste of time. He would have preferred that they just sign a paper but sadly that wasn't to be. The blonde mandalorian came back to himself as the Chancellor's voice filled the air. "We have here a young man that has proven his valor and mettle. Naruto Brelor, your ongoing determination and bravery is commended by us all, may you have a long and happy career, congratulations." Naruto saluted the commander in chief as the elder spoke again. Naruto used his peripheral vision to scan the room. He spotted several senators and military officers, they had all gathered here for a party that Admiral Yularin called a dining out, the blonde was dressed in a dark green dress uniform. It was snug and restricting but it did the job of making him look presentable. The chancellor had just motioned for Naruto to sit and enjoy the meal that was presented to the guests. Naruto took his seat by senator Padme and Bail Organa who sat next to his wife Breha. Naruto looked at the eating utensils in confusion, thankfully Padme came to his rescue. She whispered in his ear "Start from the outside, work your way in." Naruto nodded and replied "Thank you senator." Then the blonde dug into his meal slowly. Naruto heard his name being called, he turned his attention to Breha who spoke to him. "Naruto? May I call you that?" Naruto gave the nervous woman a small smile as he nodded and replied "Yes Milady?" Breha smiled back and asked "Naruto, how do you feel about the proposed reinforcement bill that would add more clones to the conflict?" all eyes shifted to him. Both senator and officer alike, Naruto took a sip of the tea that was in front of him as he mulled over his answer. He took a breath and said "Are you asking if I think we need more troops, or if we can end this war with the one's we have?" Breha replied "Both, I wish to know your thoughts on this war." Bail leaned back in his seat as Naruto geared up his answer. "This war will hopefully end soon, the sooner the better I think. But before that happens…" Naruto paused and Breha urged him on with a cocked eyebrow. Padme looked down in remorse as she had a feeling of what her blonde friend was going to say, while Bail gained a grim look. Naruto resumed speaking "But before that happens many clones will be killed. So we will need more clones, or maybe we could raise a non-clone army, build military bases and the like." Breha nodded as she processed the answer.

Wilhuf Tarkin sat a few chairs across from the newly promoted commander. His icy gaze seared into the blonde as he spoke in regards to his answer. "Why must the war end soon? We could use this leverage to put the corporations in their place." Naruto turned to his fellow officer and asked "And where is their place captain Tarkin?" Tarkin smiled slyly and replied "Why, under the direction of the government of course." Naruto thought about this for a moment before replying "So, what you suggest is a socialistic form of society. As much as I agree with the republic on many matters it isn't good to place too much power in one spot." Tarkin scoffed and asked "What do you mean?" Naruto expanded his thought "Well, under a dictatorship one could use the power over the corporations to tighten an information noose around our necks. Think about it, if everything was censored and controlled how would we know what is true and false? The galaxy could be enslaved very easily if that were to happen." Tarkin rolled his eyes and said "Then it's the military's job to filter truth." The conversation went on for about thirty more minutes before the chancellor excused himself and informed the guests that the dance was about to begin. The area was cleared of the tables and food and a band set up on a stage. They began to play slow music called swing. The music started and Naruto placed himself away from the tangle of politicians and officers. He watched as Bail offered his hand to Breha who took it and the senator led the two of them to the middle of the dance floor. Naruto smiled as he watched to couple dance slowly to the horns and cymbal. The blonde couldn't think of a happier pair, he would bet money that the galaxy could end in front of them and they'd be happy that they were together.

Naruto was brought out of his musing by Padme who snuck up on him and made him jump when she spoke. "Why don't you dance Naruto?" Blood rushed to his face as the mandalorian looked down bashfully, he wouldn't dare reveal his inability to dance to her. Padme coaxed him "Naruto, what's wrong?" the blonde mumbled out just enough that she could hear "I can't dance." Naruto expected her to laugh or chuckle, maybe even nod her head in understanding and leave him be, but he didn't expect her to do what she did next. Padme lightly grasped his hand and asked him "Do you trust me?" Naruto looked her in the eye and answered "Yes." What she did after nearly made Naruto have a heart attack, she was now leading them to the dance floor. He wanted to protest, to pull away. As far as he was concerned this was the farthest thing outside of his comfort zone. Yet he continued until they were on the dance floor, Padme saw the look of panic and soothed the blonde with a smile as she intertwined her delicate right hand's fingers with Naruto's calloused ones. Padme guided Naruto's other hand to the small of her back then place her left hand on his arm. Naruto looked past her to Bail who mouthed "Sway." Naruto nodded and started to sway with Padme following his lead.

Naruto looked into Padme's brown eyes as she smiled up at him and pressed herself closer Naruto smiled back and held her to him not to tightly as that would be creepy Naruto decided. Padme whispered to him in his ear as she rested her head on his shoulder "See, you can dance." The woman felt laughter in the blonde's chest as he chuckled and replied "Never had too much time to learn, was busy training." Padme hummed as she smelled the cologne that Naruto had applied at the behest of the admiral in addition to the regulation deodorant which he applied daily. The dance ended and the senator led them outside to a balcony where they stared at the glowing city. Padme turned and leaned lightly on the railing. She looked nervous for a moment before asking "Naruto, when you were fighting the bounty hunter you had a red glow around you. If it's ok to ask what was it?" Naruto leaned on the railing and looked at her with a conflicted expression. He had pondered how this would go down if Padme had asked him this question, the blonde had spoken with his tenant on how to explain the situation to her. The Fox replied with "Be honest and tell her strait." Naruto planned to do just that.

The blonde sighed then turned so that his back was on the railing Padme looked at his face which was scrunched up in conflict, planning wasn't the same as carrying it out. "Eighteen years ago I was born in Konoha, My birth mother Kushina Uzumaki and was known as something called a Jinchuriki. Literally Power of human sacrifice, a term that was used when an entity known as a tailed beast was sealed inside of someone, and normally that someone is made into a living breathing weapon. What happened that night was that someone attacked my parents when my mother was in labor. The tail beast she carried was the nine tailed fox, or Kyuubi. The Kyuubi was extracted from the seal and it went on a rampage throughout the hidden leaf village, my mother was giving birth to me when my father fought the man. When I was born the man snatched me and threatened to kill me if my father didn't let him reseal the kyuubi and take my mother." Naruto finished the first part of the explanation as Padme covered her mouth with a gloved hand. Her voice was nearly inaudible as she spoke "Wha-What happened?" Naruto looked to the ground and finished the story. "My mother was more resilient that the attacker gave her credit for, she got me away while my father attacked. In the end just defeating the man wasn't enough and the two had to use what is called the grim reaper death seal to seal the Kyuubi away again, costing them my mother's life and my father to cease his Shinobi career." Naruto watched Padme for a moment as tears streamed down her face, she hugged the blonde tightly and cried into his shoulder. The news that her… friend could have been an unfeeling weapon was nearly too much for her to take. Naruto wrapped his arms around her and lifted her head so that she would look at him. The blonde then used his thumb to wipe the tears from her face as he continued. "I get like that when I'm in a blind rage, I'm sorry that you saw me like that. It isn't me." Padme smiled at the mandalorian sadly and said "It's ok, you were protecting me. Thank you Naruto." Naruto now looked sad as he whispered "I could have hurt you." Now it was Padme's turn to comfort him and she cupped his face and said "No, you wouldn't have. You're to caring to do that, Naruto if you hadn't done that I wouldn't be here." Naruto smiled at her with that infectious grin of his which made her smile in return. The blonde looked back to the dance floor and led her to it. The night was young, and he wanted to make the most of it.

Back on Aargonar

Tarant sat in a large tent as dinner was served, a dish from his home planet that his wife made for him. The Harch was about to dig in but was interrupted by the sound of foot steps behind him. The general swiveled his head and eyes to look at the being who got in the way of one of his wife's dishes. 'If that sniveling worm has come to bother me again I swear…' he thought in anger as Goros had been bugging him nonstop with complaints and gripes. The insult that he was going to bellow out didn't make it to his throat as he spied a human whose company was much appreciated now. "Vlad Bonteri, as I live and breathe." He said with a smile as the Onderon colonel saluted him and said "Heard you were taking up the defense of this world, our mutual friend sent me here." Vlad Bonteri sat on the other side of the table as Tarant spoke "So, Dooku sent you here as well. What's going on in his head I wonder?" the rhetorical question made the human shake his head and inform "I brought all the artillery that I could, their unloading it now. I know that you love cannon defense." This made Tarant chuckle and soon he began to eat when Vlad produced a bottle of wine from a pocket on his coat. Then he went to a cupboard and placed two cups onto the table then filled both. The two officers toasted one another and drank. Tarant broke the silence "How is Mina and Lux?" Vlad smiled and nearly gushed over his family on Onderon "Mina is doing well, trying to maneuver past Gunray and the rest of the whiners to get Onderon's voice through. Lux has his studies, though I wish he got out more." Tarant nodded, typical Mina and Lux always staying in routine. Then Vlad returned the question "What about you? How's the family? The wife hasn't eaten you yet." The Harch chuckled and replied "Yes, I must be good for something other than a meal after mating. Wido is doing better than expected after I told her the news, threatened to string count Dooku up but the threats were just that. My children are busy getting educations and the like." The two drank some more before retiring for the night, as the days ahead were going to be long. 'The mining droids should be done in a day's time, then we'll start putting all the pieces in place.' Thought Tarant as he fell asleep on a cot.

Back on Coruscant

Naruto had danced with Padme the entire evening and now he was escorting her to five hundred republica, the apartments of the Senate. Naruto parked the speeder that Padme had used to get her to the dinner outside of the large building's turbo lift. The blonde got out and went to the other side of the vehicle then he opened the door to let her out. The two walked to the lift and the two exchanged goodbyes. Naruto was going to turn to leave when Padme reached up and kissed his cheek then handed him a slip of paper and said "I had a good time tonight, here's my holonumber. In case you want to talk or something." The senator mentally kicked herself as she thought 'What's wrong with me? I'm acting like a nervous school girl.' Naruto took her number and smiled as he replied nervously "T-Thank you Sen-." He was stopped when she said "Just call me Padme." Naruto smiled and corrected himself "Thank you Padme I'll call you when I can." The two parted ways as Naruto called a taxi and the Senator went up to her apartment. She arrived at the top floor to see that her temporary room mates were in bed all save for one. Padme offered to share her apartment with Karura and her three children until the Senate had placed her into her own. They were nice to talk to, all of them, and they were respectful enough to not pry as to why Anakin had taken his things out of the home one day.

Sea green eyes tracked her movement before a gravelly voice asked "Did you enjoy the party?" Padme smiled at Gaara and answered "Yes, yes I did. Can't sleep again Gaara?" she remembered when she came home late to Gaara being awake and staring at the horizon. The boy looked nervous as he replied "No Senator, it's not that I'm uncomfortable to sleep. It's just…" Padme took off her heels and regarded Gaara with a quizzical glance. Gaara sat down and said "When I was still in mother, my father wanted a weapon…" Padme's eyes widened as she whispered "You're a Jinchuriki, aren't you…" Gaara was caught flat footed for a moment and noticed that she didn't get angry or even scared. Instead she went over to the couch and put her hand on his. "Gaara, I admire your courage to carry on with your burden. Not many can do that, but why can't you sleep?" Gaara mumbled "The sealing went wrong and I can't sleep, the Ichibi will take over if I do. I don't want that." Tears threatened to spill from her eyes as she asked "Is there any way to help?" Gaara shook his head and said "I don't know." Padme smiled and said "Well I know that Naruto has friends on your planet, maybe he can get them to help." Gaara gained a hopeful look and consider it before hearing the clock chime signaling that it was midnight. The red head turned to her "Go to bed Senator, I'll think on this." Padme nodded and patted the boy's hand then went to bed.

In the Military quarters

Naruto got to the barracks and breathed a sigh of relief that no one had seen him enter, the blonde entered his shared dorm and Rex saluted him. Naruto waved him off and said "Don't do that." Rex smiled as he found a way to annoy his brother "So, Commander, how was the party?" Naruto shot Rex a mock-annoyed look and said "The first part was stuffy, and really dull but as soon as the dancing started it was awesome." Rex raised an eyebrow and he said "You don't know how to dance." Naruto smiled and said "I learned." Rex then grinned from ear to ear as he asked "Who did you dance with?" Naruto's smile lit up the room "Padme Amidala." The clone whistled and said "Nice, must have had jealous looks all around." The two shared a laugh then Naruto directed questions at Rex "Did you see Karura again?" he asked teasingly. A blush crept onto the clone's features and he scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, yeah I did. Showed the kids around the base, unrestricted parts of course. Then took them to Dex's diner. Nearly wiped out my account, was worth it though. An amazing woman Karura." Naruto nodded in understanding as it took a lot to impress rex, to have the man head over heels was unheard of. "Her kids doing ok?" asked Naruto after a moment of silence. Rex nodded and said "they enrolled in school yesterday, but it won't get back in session until summer is over." Naruto nodded and accepted the answer and added a complement. "I'm impressed that you're willing to date a woman who has three kids." Rex responded "Their good kids, coiled up like a spring due to the new environment but their all sane. Speaking of kids how is Hinata and Neji?" The question made Naruto lean back in the chair that he was sitting on. The blonde smiled "Neji is shaping up to be a mandalorian, they are both in school. Hinata is still spunky, Neji has eased up and relaxed. And ma's started to date Cal." Both Mandalorians shared a laugh as the two elder mando's were finally getting together. After a few more minutes of banter the two got some rack and slept for the rest of the night.

The next morning on Aargonar

Tarant stared at the tunnels that were dug, the blueprints of them anyway. He considered himself lucky that an architect was with the Nemoidians, one that didn't complain to boot. He had taken the liberty o oversee the construction personally, and he planned it out well. All of the tunnels that started in the rocks about a mile behind the cliff and were situated far enough underground where a laser blast could only shake up dirt if the shield went down. The nemoidian then with Tarant's permission expanded the tunnels to add a command center to the left and behind the main force where the battle would take place. A tactical droid spoke to the Harch "General, commandant Hakto is reporting that the tunnels will be complete by noon." Tarant nodded then pointed to the AAT's that were in a group at ground level and said "Tell Admiral Goros to move the tanks into the low hills around the cliff camouflage them so as to not be noticed until the last second, and inform the Commandant that I'm well pleased with his progress." Vlad stood next to him as he went over the lay out. Tarant pointed to blaster cannon nests on his map as he calculated how many droids to put on one nest. "Tarant, let's move the main force of droids to the rock behind the line, that way they'll be over confidant when they advance." Tarant pondered this for a moment before asking "How many commando droids do we have?" Vlad looked over the numbers and answered "One company."

Tarant nodded and said "We'll keep them in reserve and use the rest of the droids to slow the main advance. The commando droids with the bombs and blaster cannon's will be the stopping force to the advance." Then not five minutes later Admiral Goros strode up to them with a trandoshan behind him "General, count Dooku has sent this bounty hunter here at the behest of Nute Gunray, his assignment is to kill a captain Brelor." Tarant stared at the lizard in cold fury. 'How dare Gunray send an assassin to fill in for a soldier?' He thought angrily, but nodded none the less. In the afterlife he would shove the lizard's failure into Gunrays face when the slug kicked the bucket. Tarant got back to the task at hand and decided on a single droid pre cannon. The tunnels would be patrolled by super battle droids and droideka's. The artillery would be divided in half with some aimed for the landing zone and the rest in the interior of the rocky hills behind the cliff. Tarant's thoughts were gleeful as all of the pieces were being put in their places. Then a human officer motioned to the shield generator and asked "Where will this go sir?" the Harch eyed the device and smiled as only a Harch could which to humans was the scariest look that any species could pull off. "Put it and the power generator in my bunker, I won't risk it being flanked." The human nodded and went about his task.

On Ninjato

Madara Uchiha stared at the rest of the members of the Akatsuki, the eye of the moon plan had gotten much more complicated with the ninja joining the republic. Two of the Jinchuriki were now off world and protected by strange species. Who knew what abilities they possessed? One of the last Uchiha turned to Itachi and Kisame, the pair hadn't failed on any assignment thus far and hopefully this wouldn't be an exception. "Itachi, Kisame, the two of you are to board a ship to… Coruscant and find the Kyuubi. You are not to engage, understand?" the two Akatsuki members bowed and exited the cave to a Shuttle port in Ame. When the nations signed the treaty they had people in the month thus far build shuttle ports. Thus interstellar travel wasn't fantasy. As Itachi exited the cave his thoughts were on his blonde friend. 'We'll meet again soon Naruto-san.' Kisame meanwhile was excited to see if any worlds were composed of mostly water, and if there were any strong opponents around. 'Now that would be fun.' The shark man decided in his head.

On Taris

Exar Kun looked at the first of many Rakghouls, the specimen was a middle aged male who had been working at the military base when he drunkenly came upon the undead sith. The transformation took hours, far too long. In time he would get better at applying the plague, time he thought he didn't have. "It seems the Jedi haven't noticed my return yet. Fine, let them be in the dark for a while longer. It gives me more time to play anyway." He said in amusement as he watched his two servants. Pekt was at his side cackling and hissing all day. He had done his job well, getting the ship schedule and handing it to his master. The sith looked over the list, it was made with docking plans for ships days in advance. He knew that from the drunk human's memories after injecting him with the plague. Soon he would make this galaxy into a mass grave, fill it with horrors worse that any nightmare that any could think of and in the end, only the strong would rule and think. The weak would be rendered mindless little servants. "Now and forever more." He said to himself.