Chapter 3
I own nothing but I will once I find Walt Disney's cryogenically frozen body and trade it fore the rights for Star wars.
"Normal talk"
"Thought"
"Hologram & communicator"
CLOAK OF DARKNESS
"Viceroy Gunray captured!
Senator Padme Amidala has scored a
victory against the Separatist Alliance
on the remote world of Rodia, securing
the arrest of the diabolical Confederate
leader, Nute Gunray.
The Jedi Council has dispatched Master
Luminara Unduli and Anikn Skywalker's Padawan
Ahsoka to escort the Viceroy to Coruscant
under heavy guard. Once there, he will
face trial for his many war crimes…."
At this time, Count Dooku was on his flagship, talking to his master about the capture of the Viceroy.
"Gunray's capture could be a serious threat to us, my friend. The Viceroy will not last long under Jedi interrogation," said the cowled figure of Darth Sidious.
"I have already put a plan into action, my Lord," Count Dooku said. "One of my best agents, Asajj Ventress. She will infiltrate the Jedi ship and either free Gunray or silence him."
His master looked at Dooku and spoke:
"Ventress? You are putting a great deal of faith in an operative who has failed us in the past.
Dooku came to the defense of his apprentice.
"She is a gifted Assassin. You have my word, she will compete her mission to the letter."
"Very well." The Dark Lord regarded his apprentice for some time, then continued. "You may proceed on one condition - you have to get your other apprentice to go with her and he will be the diversion, as he is almost as skilled with a lightsaber as you are. He may bring as many droids as he wants, but he must be in the front to get the Jedi's attention."
With that, the hologram switched off. As the Count stood up, the doors to the bridge opened and in walked Asajj Ventress herself.
"Master," she announced her presence.
"There is no margin for error this time, child," Count Dooku warned her. "You must prove yourself worthy of being my apprentice."
Ventress narrowed her eyes and spoke calmly.
"I am worthy, as you shall see."
Before she could leave Dooku spoke again.
"You shall not be doing this alone. Darth Sidious wishes for me to send someone to give you some assistance in the form of a distraction, so that you may pass undetected and complete the mission more effectively."
Ventress narrowed her eyes even more.
"Who is this person?"
Dooku gained a small smile. "I believe you know him quite well."
With that he went to his console and clicked a button. The hologram came to life. When the signal cleared, they both saw our favorite blond Sith, currently working on a golden R3 astromech droid that seemed pretty beat up and was just barely holding together. Then, without looking, up he spoke.
"Hello, master. If you are calling me just to save Grievous again, you can forget it. I'm not helping him, he totaled R3 and he even painted him gold - SERIOUSLY?! That's the last time I'm helping him with his stupid attacks on the Republic. Not to mention most of his plans fail in the end."
After Naruto's rant was over Dooku spoke up.
"No, Naruto. You shall not be working with Grievous, but with someone that you are well acquainted."
At that statement Naruto looked up and saw Ventress standing there. He smiled and waved at the holographic camera.
"Why hello, my darling witch! How is it going, have you killed any Jedi recently or caused any more chaos?"
Ventress gained a wicked smile of her own and replied, "You well know that I always cause chaos wherever I go."
She and Naruto had trained together before he left for Korriban, but they had lost touch afterwards.
"Well then, you're still the same woman I trained before I left for Korriban."
After that, he got a serious look on his face, showing that it was time to talk about the plan.
"So what do you need me to do? And is this an Assassination, or a frontal assault?"
Count Dooku cut them both off with the serious tone of his voice.
"For you, it's a frontal assault, but you need to take the attention of the Jedi off Ventress and on to you, so that she can save Gunray and get away on the transport ship. You may take as many droids as you need."
Naruto took on a thoughtful expression.
"I think I'll take four of my commando droids. Also, master, I would like to make a deal with you…or a bet, to be more accurate."
Dooku knew that his apprentice had a thing for gambling, but was intrigued as to what they would be betting.
"And what, pray tell, are the stakes, and on what will we be betting?"
"If I can get out of this with all four of my droids intact, then you give me another 2 cruisers full of non-programmed droids, and if I lose, then I have to help Grievous on the next five missions."
Dooku considered this offer and replied, "That is acceptable, but why would you want all the droids to not be programmed, isn't it harder for you to use them then?"
Naruto looked at his master as he started to explain.
"No, actually it's a lot easier to program them so that they are better, and as you know only obey me. If they are programmed already,y then I have to take the first program apart for any unwanted surprises, and I have to then change my new one so that it can go with the old one, thus wasting a lot of time which could have been used for other things. Also, have the people of the Ghost Nebula send their technology, so that I can finally build my fighter and help in the space battles."
Dooku looked at his apprentice.
"Well, first thank you for explaining you choice in droids, and as for the people of Ghost Nebula, they said that it should arrive at the end of the month at the capital, but it should take another week to reach you. They also sent schematics for their Umbaran Crawler tank as compensation for the long wait. I think it should be a good addition to your forces."
Naruto smiled and with that he closed the link.
###
[Republic cruiser]
On the Republic cruiser, the Jedi were interrogating the Viceroy, but it was proving to be harder then expected.
Jedi Master Luminara Unduli was interrogating Gunray while Padawan Ahsoka Tano watched from the sidelines.
"I can sense your concern, the fear that you will lose the wealth and the power that the war has given you."
The Viceroy looked away.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
Luminara spoke again.
"You hide a great many things: the names of your secret allies, the locations of their bases."
Gunray started to crack just a little and started to panic.
"I am an innocent pawn in all of this!"
The master Jedi used this to find out more.
"If you're merely a pawn, then who are you protecting?"
Gunray started panic even more as he spoke with a stutter.
"I-I-I, I know nothing."
Then suddenly Ahsoka exploded.
"Liar! Liar! I'm tired of all this whining!" she yelled, activating her lightsaber and putting it at the Viceroy's throat, pushing him against the wall of the cell.
"Tell us what we want to know right now, or I will gut you like a Rokarian dirt fish."
Luminara pulled the angry Padawan off the trembling, fat Neimoidian.
"Padawan, terror is not a weapon the Jedi use."
Ahsoka looked at the Jedi master and spoke in a hushed tone.
"I wasn't serious, but the only way he'll talk is if he's scared enough."
Gunray climbed off the floor and got on his feet again. "Perhaps…perhaps I was too hasty. Let us negotiate," he said.
Just as he spoke those words, a small squad of droid fighters fell out of hyperspace, followed by two boarding ships. After the droid fighters distracted the cannons, the boarding ship crashed into the hull of the Republic cruiser and went straight through.
On the prison floor, they felt the explosion as the walls around them rung like a bell. The two looked at the clone commander CC-1004 AKA Gree, who activated his communicator.
"Captain, status report."
The captain on the bridge came through on everyone's communicators.
"We got two boarding ship in the hangars."
Gree switched channels on his communicator from the main channel to the one used by his squad.
"Green company, prepare to repel the enemy."
[Republic ship-hangar]
When Green Company reached the hangars, they saw one of the ships open, and from it came a figure. He appeared to be in his early twenties. He wore a skin tight, long sleeved black shirt that shoved off his well developed body, and over that, he wore a blood red chest piece that extended to the back of his neck and stopped a little above his head. He also had shoulder guards that were a mixture of red and black, in a style the Adept-Sorcerers had worn during the almost forgotten age of the Old Republic. His lower body was covered by a black robe with blood red markings, and around his waist was a belt that held his double bladed lightsaber.
The lightsaber was of a slick design, and was silver metal with red lines running down it.
His face was devoid of any baby fat; on his face there were three whiskers like marks on each cheek, while he also had a tattoo on his left side that extended to two lines that went from the corner of the lips to the chin, and the other half went up to his forehead and then circled his left eye.
Asajj Ventress had once joked that she didn't know if he was impersonating her or Ziro the Hutt.
He had long blond hair, kept in a pony tail that reached to the small of his back. One bang that reached his chin was kept on the right side of his face and was braided. His eyes were closed, hidden from all observers.
One of the clones gave a warning to the intruder.
"Put your hands up and behind your head or else we will open fire."
As the solider said that, the man looked at him and spoke.
"Ok, I'll put them up, if you do one thing for me."
The same clone that spoke before asked.
"And what do you want us to do?"
Naruto's smiled turned wicked and his eyes snapped open, showing the bright yellow eyes of the Sith for the clones to see.
"You can DIE!"
As he yelled, he raised both his arms, and all fifty clones that were in the hanger started to choke and were lifted off the ground by an invisible force. When Naruto saw them all in the air, he made a quick motion with his hand and all fifty clone necks snapped like twigs. After that he let them fall to the ground, and said:
"It's all clear, you can come out now."
With that, five figures dropped out of the ships. Without turning, Naruto spoke.
"Commandos, get four clone armors and change into them, then get rid off the bodies and check for any good weapons. Whatever you find, take it to the escape ship and leave the message behind."
With that, the four droids got to work. The final figure stepped next to Naruto and said, "Why do you have to do this every time? Your fleet has grown larger in every battle you've been in, yet you still want more! I think you're becoming a hoarder."
Naruto gave out a small chuckle. "Instead of criticizing my tactics, how about you go have fun," he said.
Ventress smiled and was just about to leave, when he spoke again.
"Oh and Ventress, do not kill that agent that we are paying. I want to do it myself."
Still smiling, she said, "Well, since you asked so nicely how can I say no? But you have to share."
With that, she jumped up to the air vent and disappeared. Naruto looked after her and sighed - now he had to wait for the Jedi to come to him.
He sat down and started to meditate. He was not disappointed when after a while, he felt the presence of a Jedi Master and what appeared to be a Padawan. When he opened his eyes, he saw them with a squad of clone troopers. The master spoke.
"Surrender, Sith you are surrounded. There is nowhere you can escape."
To that Naruto just started to laugh and it was not the pleasant one.
"AH Jedi! I would like to thank you for making laugh, and as a reward, I will make you death quick and painless."
His right hand started to glow a menacing red and black. He extended it towards the clones and suddenly the area around them started to decay. At first, it didn't seem like much, that is, until they started to fall dead on to the ground, and their life-force started to travel towards Naruto himself, whose eyes started to glow even more.
When Luminara and Ahsoka saw this, they grew wide-eyed as almost their whole backup was wiped out before their very eyes. Then, their attention was brought back to the caster of the deadly attack when they heard the signature sound of a lightsaber being activated.
What they saw both intrigued and frightened them. They saw a double bladed lightsaber that was black with a white inner glow.
When Naruto saw that he had there attention he spoke.
"Before we start to try to kill each other, let's introduce ourselves first. My name is Naruto Uzumaki, Sith apprentice to Count Dooku."
Luminara then got out of her shocked state and spoke.
"My name is Luminara Unduli, Jedi Master, and this is Ahsoka Tano, the Padawan of Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker."
Naruto smiled.
"Well that's nice. Now I know who I will be killing today."
He charged the both of them. As he drew close, he went for an overhead strike at Luminara, who blocked it if just barely.
Ahsoka saw that the Master was in trouble, so she decided to strike at the Sith's legs. Naruto saw it coming and disengaged from Luminara, jumping over the Padawan's lightsaber. He used the momentum of the jump to kick the Padawan in the face and sent her flying, while again engaging the Master.
Luminara was having a very hard time defending against the unpredictable attacks that the Sith was making use of. Suddenly, Naruto moved both their locked lightsabers a bit to the right and used a head butt to get her off-balance and, when she moved back, he would have struck her down had it not been for Ahsoka, who blocked his lightsaber, thus allowing Luminara to catch her breath.
Naruto saw that Ahsoka's footing was off and used his right foot to take her feet from under her, then delivered a powerful spin kick that sent the young Padawan flying for a second time. Both Jedi regrouped and were now staring down the young Sith apprentice. As they were about to start the battle anew, the communicator on Naruto's left hand started to flash.
Naruto jumped back and said, "It's been fun, Jedi. I'm sorry that we can't finish this, but if I don't leave now, then my ride will leave without me. So thanks again, Jedi, and I will kill you next time…have a good day."
With that, he was surrounded by black smoke and disappeared.
The two Jedi looked at each other. Luminara spoke first.
"This is not good. He was very strong if he could take out that many clones and still take on the two of us. It seems that Dooku has quite the apprentice."
Ahsoka then took on a thoughtful expression when she remembered something.
"Wait, he said that his name was Naruto Uzumaki! That was the guy that came to help Grievous with the Malevolence ship, but back then, he didn't even fight, he just surrounded us and took the medical station hostage."
"The Sith seem to be getting stronger and more cunning," Luminara said. "We must report this to the Jedi Council."
With that both, Jedi made their way to the bridge to contact the other Jedi and inform them of the threat. As they came to the communication room they were greeted by the sight of the holograms of the Jedi Master Yoda and Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker. Ahsoka was the first to speak.
"I'm sorry that despicable wealth-worm Gunray got away."
Anakin looked at his Padawan and spoke.
"Its okay, snips, you did your best, and you had to fight a powerful Sith that could do massive murder in a couple of minutes and could fight two Jedi at the same time."
Ahsoka smiled and looked at Master Luminara who spoke next.
"It seems that there were two more factors that we couldn't even think of at the time. There was another assassin by the name of Asajj Ventress, as well as a traitor in the form of the senate guard.Capitan Argyus killed two of his fellow guards, and then fled with the help of Ventress herself."
Master Yoda was about to speak when one clones ran up to them and spoke.
"Generals, we seem to be missing some crates that were full of rocket launchers, thermal detonators as well as a couple of crates of our blaster rifles. We also found this note on one of the holo-pads."
When he said this he handed her the pad and she read it out loud.
"Thank you for the new toys. I will be sure to use them to blow up some
Stuff in your name.
Many thanks again!
Your favorite blond Sith apprentice
Naruto Uzumaki"
The whole room went quiet. After a while master Yoda spoke.
"Troubling is the treachery of the Senate guard Capitan Argyus. Revealed all around us, our enemies are. Also trouble, the Sith apprentice may become. Stop him, we must."
"I'm not sure all is lost," Master Luminara said. "Gunray and his accomplices stole a Republic ship to make their getaway."
Anakin got the idea.
"It could be tracked."
Luminara smiled.
"Indeed."
Yoda then spoke.
"A coward Viceroy Gunray is, but powerful allies he has.Swiftly we must move if we are to recapture him."
"Master Fisto's fleet was near Gunray's position. I have already contacted him to follow the signal," Luminara said.
When she finished speaking, Anakin spoke to his padawan.
"Ahsoka, I'll meet you at the rendezvous point."
Ahsoka smiled.
"Yes, Master." Then, when the connection was cut of she spoke again, "Master Luminara, I guess this is good-bye for now."
Luminara looked at the Padawan.
"I owe you my life, Ahsoka."
Ahsoka smiled.
"Protecting a Jedi Master is the role of the Padawan."
Luminara then looked at her seriously.
"And teaching is usually the role of the Master."
Ahsoka looked down, but when she looked at the Master again, she saw her smiling softly.
"Master Skywalker should be proud," Luminara said.
[Somewhere in deep space]
On the ship that had escaped the republic ship, the now ex-Council guard spoke.
"You see, Assassins? Our plan went off without a hitch."
As Ventress and Naruto stood behind him they both spoke in unison.
"Our plan?"
Argyus ignored it and still continued to act smug.
"And I will of course, make sure your contributions are noted in my report to Count Dooku."
Naruto and Ventress looked at each other nodded and put there lightsaber at the back of the guards chair and spoke.
"We'll tell him ourselves."
With that they activated their lightsabers and killed him. Naruto then used the Force to throw the body off the chair and sat in it while Ventress talked to the Viceroy.
As Naruto looked forward into space, he activated the hyperdrive and the ship despaired into the unknown.
To be continued
Hope you liked it
R&R
May the force be with you.