Chapter 8
"Normal talk"
"Thought"
"Hologram & communicator"
THE FOX ARMY BEGINS TO RISE
Separatist attack!
After the destruction of The Republic outpost
on the Rishi moon, general Grievous and Asajj Ventress
plan an attack the planet Kamino,
home of the cloning factories.
Meanwhile, aboard a Jedi Cruiser,
Jedi Knights Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi
examine an intercepted Message from general Grievous…
"We are decrypting the audio, Sir," said one of the clones that was working next to Capitan Rex, Commander Cody, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker.
When he was finished, a static-filled image of General Grievous and a cloaked Asajj Ventress, deep in an argument, appeared before the gathered warriors.
"The clone planet of Kamino will be a dangerous target," said Ventress.
"Just make sure you hold up your half of the mission,« said Grievous in his usual arrogant voice, which was accompanied by the signature coughing sound. "We must stop the production of new clones If we are to win this war."
"Kamino,« said Anakin while turning to look at his Master.
"They're going to attack our home planet,« said Rex in an even tone while looking at his superiors. Someone who hadn't fought beside him might have mistaken it for indifference.
"The separatists are taking quite the chance even considering this,« said Obi-wan as he stroked his beard.
"With all due respect, General, if someone comes to our home, they better be carrying a big blaster,« said Capitan Rex with pride clearly heard in his voice.
"I concur with Captain Rex, Sir. This is personal for us clones," said Commander Cody in support of his fellow clone.
"We'll make sure Kamino is secure. Tell your troopers in the 501st they're going home,« said Anakin.
"Yes, sir!" said Rex. He and Cody saluted and walked off.
[Korriban- surface]
The once deserted ruins of the great Sith Empire were now the farthest thing from the ruins of old. No longer were there hungry beasts running its nightmare-haunted wastes. They had been replaced by billions of bright steel droids that were working on repairing and building new facilities.
The once deserted Sith Academy was again returned to its former glory. The tombs near the Academy were being cleaned of any animals that still inhabited its tombs. Now all species that were considered pests were simply exterminated, but beasts such as the Tuk'ata were captured and caged so that they could be broken and trained.
The droids were also repairing the tombs themselves so that someone would be able to enter them. The Valley of the Dark Lords was again returned to what it once was, a symbol of power and the strength of the Sith themselves. In the distance you could see five large factories that were producing vast amounts of droids each day, making the army even larger.
Everything stopped for a monument when they heard a large roar, but they quickly got back to work.
At the epicenter of the roar, we find our favorite Sith apprentice facing off against the Zillo beast. They were both in an intense stare down, when it was broken by the beast letting loose another piercing roar at the Sith. Its breath had the force of a gale storm, and his cloak flapped as if he stood in a hurricane. Naruto however did not back down, but stood his ground.
It was a game as old as the Sith themselves. Show weakness…and die.
He ignited his lightsabers and charged the beast. The Zillo, in response, swung its tail at the Sith who jumped over it while hitting the tail with his lightsabers, which just bounced harmlessly off the beast's impenetrably hard scales. As Naruto landed on the dusty surface of the planet he looked at his opponent and smirked.
"You're quiet hard to beat, aren't you, my friend…but you have one major weakness," he said in between pants.
The beast just roared in response as it charged at the Sith. It seemed impossible that anything so large could move that fast. Naruto saw a mountain come to life and rushing at him as quickly as a swoop bike.
He stood up from his kneeling position and deactivated his weapons.
"Your weakness is that you are very vulnerable to…" he spoke in a calm voice as he outstretched his hands towards the charging Zillo, "…LIGHTNING!" he yelled as he unleashed a powerful torrent of red Sith lightning.
The beast was hit by the lightning, and it slowed its momentum as the powerful technique pasted in-between its scale-like armor and started to electrocute its muscles. It continued to push forward as Naruto added more and more power to his lightning.
The beast was less than twenty feet from him. He was sweating like a Hutt on a hot day. He could not take it anymore, and he knew that he was unable to stop the beast, so he did the only thing he could. He stopped the torrent of lightning and put his arms in the air.
"STOP!" He shouted, and the Zillo stopped in its tracks. It gave Naruto an almost curious look. "You win…" he exhaled.
And just like that, the beast relaxed and lay down on the sandy grounds of Korriban, where it laid it's head near Naruto, who started to pet it.
"Damn you, it's now 30:0 for you, my scaly friend. But mark my words, one of these days I will make my lightning strong enough to stop you in your tracks, just you wait."
He smiled at the beast he had saved from the old crone that claimed to be a Sith Lord. That idiot would have probably had the beast killed so that he could unlock the secrets that it possessed.
Now, don't get Naruto wrong, he wanted the indestructible beast's secrets just as much, and he'd already made a step in the right direction. While it was still asleep, he ordered the medical droids to examine the beast, and they found that scales could be removed only at certain times, as the beast had a shedding cycle in which it lost its old scales, after which brand new white ones would appear.
Because it was asleep for such a long time, it was very much overdo for a shedding, and thus, not even a month after Naruto had brought it to Korriban, he saw it shed its skin. Naruto thought it was one of the most beautiful things he had seen, though of course he would never admit this, even under torture. The only exception that could make him talk was a certain blue skined twi'lek woman.
Speaking of Aayla, they were on better terms than before, and by some crazy turn of events they'd even started to date. I guess that opposites attract, who knew? (everyone. Everyone knew).
They would meet on neutral planets and would talk, go to dinner and even fly their star fighters. Naruto even upgraded Aayla's fighter so that she could keep up with him, and had a decent shield on it. Naruto still remembered the last time they met on Alderaan.
[Flashback- Alderaan]
Naruto was in his personal star fighter and he was currently entering the Alderaan system, when his fighter was shaken up by the sudden high-speed near-miss of an object flying by him. When he got his starfighter back under control, he saw a Jedi starfighter with a white base color, with light and dark blue lines over that. It also had an orange astromech droid in the back. Naruto instantly recognized the fighter and smirked.
"Oh, so she wants to play. Well…let's PLAY!" he yelled as he moved his hands forward and his ship accelerated, thrusters flaring brightly, and he passed the Jedi fighter.
The other pilot quickly followed after him, and after a short while, the two starfighter were zipping trough the skies of Alderaan, cutting twin sharp lines through the cloud formations. On more than one occasion, they flew past the bigger buildings in the cities.
After a couple of hours of this, the two craft both landed on one of the hills that were just outside the city. Naruto jumped out of his starfighter, and as soon as he did, he was hit by a blue blur that sent him tumbling to the ground. After a couple of rolls on the soft grass, they stopped with Naruto lying on his back and the person who'd knocked him over on top.
"Well, hello to you too,« said Naruto with a smile, and not with an sadistic one, but a true smile that was only ever seen by two people, the first being Haku, while the second one was none other then the person that was sitting on him at this very moment.
She was a beautiful blue-skinned Twi'lek, and it was the easiest thing ever to get lost for hours in her deep brown eyes. Her luscious, dark purple lips were just inviting him for a kiss, weren't they? He was brought out of his reverie when he felt those very same lips press against his. He was at first stunned, but he quickly recovered and returned the kiss.
This went on for a while before they broke up for air.
"Hello to you as well,« said the woman as she gave him her own soft smile that exposed her natural beauty even more.
She laid her head in crook of his neck, as he was not wearing his chest armor, while he put his right arm around her waist and used his left to rub her lekku. She sighed happily and closed her eyes.
"You know, I missed you. It had been so long since I saw you last," she said.
"I know, Aayla. I missed you more than you could imagine, but the war has kept us apart," he said in a sad tone.
Aayla looked up into his eyes.
"Then why don't you join the Republic, then we could be together more, even if in secret," she said, hope in her voice.
"You know I can't, the Jedi would throw me I jail as soon as I stepped foot on Coruscant and the senate would have me killed in a heartbeat," he said as Aayla looked down. "If you tried to defend me, you would be suspected of treason and could get in lot of trouble. Besides, my own beliefs conflict with those of the Republic. They believe that they are absolute and that what they say will happen, and the people who do not follow will be destroyed. This kind of thinking has allowed the Republic senate to become greedy, and they've been lining their own pockets instead of helping their own people. That is one of the main reasons why the CIS was even created, because people were sick of the corruption."
Aayla was sadthat he could not come with her to the Republic, but she also understood why. She then decided to make the best of the time she had with him. She saw that Naruto had the same idea as he moved her off of him and went towards his ship. He got to his cockpit and took out a blanket, as well as a picnic basket. He then walked back to her and helped her up.
They then walked towards the top of the hill were they had a picnic. After they finished, Aayla leaned on Naruto's shoulder, while he pulled her a little closer.
"You know, I still can't figure out how in the name of the Force we got together,« said Aayla while looking at Naruto. "I mean, look at us we are supposed to be enemies, not lovers - not to mention that I am a Jedi. We are not supposed to form attachments, but here I am, having them with a Sith no less."
Naruto's response was to cup her face and lean closer to her so that her lips were inches away.
"Do you regret any of it?" he asked her.
"Not a thing,« said Aayla as she moved closer, and they met in a passionate kiss.
This went on for a couple of minutes, and Aayla could honestly say that she had found peace, even if it was just for a moment.
Their time together was interrupted by Aayla's communicator starting to flash. Aayla moved away from Naruto with an irritated look on her face. She stood up and walked a few feet away from Naruto, then answered her communicator. When she did, she saw that it was none other the Master Kenobi and Master Windu.
"Greetings, Knight Secura, we regret to inform you that, due to the recent developments in the war, your meditative retreat has been cut short. Return to Coruscant immediately so that you may be dispatched towards a front where you are most needed," spoke Master Windu.
"I will be there as soon as I can, masters,« said Aayla, masking her displeasure with a bow.
The two Jedi nodded and the communication was cut off. Aayla then released a frustrated sigh, which was silenced when a pair of strong arms wrapped around her in a comforting hug while she heard Naruto speak.
"Do you have to leave?" he asked in a disappointed tone.
"I don't want to, but I have to if we are to keep up appearances," she said as she turned around in his arms while giving him a small kiss.
He nodded as gave her another kiss before he watched her get in her fighter and fly off towards Republic space.
[Flashback-end]
Naruto continued to pet his titanic new friend while deep in thought. He was brought out of them when he heard the sound of a speeder engine. He turned around, and saw one of his battle droids coming towards him on a military swoop bike. When the droid arrived, it dismounted and walked towards Naruto at a brisk pace. He looked at the droid the expectantly.
"Hello, sir. I have the report that you wanted,« said the droid.
"Good! Now, let's hear it," said Naruto as he went back to petting the giant beast.
"Sir, the Academy is up and running. We are almost done with the tombs nearest to the Academy. All items found by the work teams have been stored in the library, and the holocrons have been stored in the vault and placed under constant guard, as you requested. We have also restored the Valley of the Dark Lords, just as you said," the droid reported, reading off the holopad. "Also, the beast you found and fought in the tombs is still recovering, but the surgery droids predict that it will able to move around freely in a couple of weeks."
"That's excellent, but what about the scales we got from our friend here? Any luck with those?"
"Indeed, sir. We were able to get some useful data from the samples, and we might be able to make armor from similar materials, but because we do not have any staff that is experienced in the area of genetic engineering – like, say, Kaminoans - it would come out far inferior than it could be. At the most, it would withstand three or four shots before it got pierced, and it could not block lightsabers."
"So what you are saying is that if we can get Kaminoans to work for us, then we can make armor that would stop lightsabers?" asked Naruto, now giving the droid his full attention.
"Yes, sir."
Naruto grinned the sort of grin a fox has when it knows something the chicken doesn't. Then he just walked away from both the Zillo and the droid. The droid, surprised, looked at the beast as if to ask what is he doing, before walking after its master.
"Where are you going, sir?" asked the droid when it finally caught up to its master.
Naruto aimed his grin at the droid and kept walking towards his speeder that he'd parked to the side so that wouldn't get caught in the monster of a fight that had just happened. As he sat down behind the controls, he finally spoke to the droid.
"I'm going to Kamino to get us some scientists."
With that, he sped off across the dusty Korriban soil, towards the landing platforms on the horizon that were made to house Naruto's Red Fox Army.
[Unknown location]
General Grievous was talking to Asajj Ventress aboard his flagship, the Invisible Hand.
"All is ready, general,« said Asajj Ventress.
"Good. We will attack Tipoca city first,« said Grievous.
"I have the exact locations of both the clone DNA room and the clone trooper barracks."
"Both shall be annihilated under my hand!" said Grievous in the arrogant voice.
"OUR hands, general," Ventress corrected, pointing at her self. "Count Dooku assigned us both this task."
"But of course, assassin," sneered Grievous. "I look forward to meeting you."
With that the connection broken, Asajj Ventress stared out of the window of a Trident-class assault ship.
"Are the aqua droids prepared for phase two of the plan?" she asked a droid.
"Yes, mistress," said the droid, continuing to type on the control panel.
As Ventress was about to continue with her plan, she was stopped by another droid who spoke up.
"Mistress, we are receiving a transmission from an unknown source."
"What do you mean, unknown? Check it again, and if it's not from the Republic, put it through."
"Roger, Roger."
After a while an image appeared, and Ventress was surprised at who she saw.
"Hey, Ventress! And how are you this fine day - or night, depending on where you are at the moment?" said Naruto with a cheerful smile and a friendly wave of his hand.
"Hello, Naruto. What do you need? And please don't tell me you just called to say Hi, because you come see me in person to say that, so that we can spar."
Naruto's smile changed to sheepish as he began to rub the back of his head.
"You got me…you see, I heard about Kamino and I was wondering if I could join you?"
"And why exactly would you want join us. If you had heard about Kamino as you said, then you would have known that Grievous would be there as well, and I know you two can't be in the same room for more than two minutes before you're at each others throats," she said with narrowed eyes (she was, of course, being much too generious…she doubted they could make it past 30 seconds).
"Okay, fine! You know about the Zillo I told you about last time, and how it pissed off Sidious?" he spoke in a defeated tone.
"Yes, I know, you made me swear on my honor as a Sith to not tell anyone about it. Dooku is still cross about that one."
"Yeah, well, I can't share everything with the guy whose master hates my guts more than Nute Gunray hates to lose money. Anyway, I found the key to creating the armor, but I need a Kaminoan to make it indestructible as it is with the beast."
"All fine and well for you," Asajj said, "but what do I get out of it? I am the one taking the risks here. What can you give me that will make it worth my while?" she said with smug look while crossing her arms under her breasts.
Naruto looked at her with a deadpan look. Ever since he had introduced her to Cad Bane, she had started to pick up some of his traits, such as making sure she profited from everything she was involved in if she could help it.
"I regret letting you meet my subordinate, he has rubbed off on you."
"Why, Naruto, what ever do you mean? I have not changed one bit," she said in an innocent tone, inasmuch as a Jedi killer such as Asajj Ventress could ever be innocent.
Naruto just sighed and contained his anger and irritation. When he calmed down, he spoke again. He hated giving away his toys.
"Fine, I will make you a chestplate from the armor so that you have protection, just don't think it makes you invincible, many people have died just because they thought that."
"That will do and I will remember that, also may I suggest you hack into the central database and copy everything on cloning and the Republic clone army, it may help."
"Thank you, Asajj, I will do that and I will as you suggest," he said as turned off the communication.
[Cradle of the Clone Army]
Above the dark waters of Kamino, a Republic cruiser was docking. A large platform stretched towards the landing platform, and from the ship came thousands of soldiers in their bone white armor. In the front they were led by Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker. They were approached by Jedi Master Shaak Ti and the Prime Minister of Kamino, Lama Su.
"Masters Kenobi and Skywalker, Welcome to Kamino," said Shaak Ti with a bow.
"Greetings, generals," the tall, deathly pale Kaminoan said in his melodious, calm voice.
"I wish our arrival wasn't under such circumstances. We believe Grievous is planning a separatist attack on Kamino," said Kenobi in a slightly worried tone.
"But the Republic blockade is far too strong. They would not dare," the Prime Minister said while shaking his head, still not believing it was possible to attack Kamino.
Shaak Ti looked down with a serious look on her face as she went into deep thought. Meanwhile, inside of the medical facilities, Echo and Fives were walking along and reminiscing on there time spent on Kamino.
"Ah, look around, Fives. Feels like yesterday we were here," said Echo as they passed a small group of young clones.
"Heading to target practice. Heh, remember that?" said Fives as he added his own thoughts on the matter.
"Do I ever!" answered Echo as he looked in front of him to see an older, more deformed looking clone that was carrying blaster rifles but they soon fell to the ground, as they were too heavy for the old clone.
"Hey, 99!" yelled out Echo.
As 99 looked up he saw the two clones approach him and he smiled "Ha, Echo. Fives."
"You actually remember us," said Fives.
"Oh, I remember all my Brothers," 99 said in a proud voice while looking around as if searching for someone. After a while he finally asked the question that was on his mind: "Is Heavy here? Where is he?"
Both clones of the Domino squad looked at each other before they turned back to 99.
"There was an incident on the Rishi moon outpost," said Fives in a sad tone.
"He saved our lives, but he gave up his own," continued Echo from where his brother left off.
"Oh, I see…" said 99, and slowly pulled out a golden, star-shaped medal.
Both Fives and Echo were surprised by this.
"Heavy gave you his medal?" asked a shocked Fives, to which he received a small nod.
"So why have you returned to Kamino?" asked 99
"The generals received word of an impending attack here," said Fives.
"Well, how can I help?" said 99, puffing out his chest and standing up as straight as his body would allow.
The Separatist fleet dropped out of hyperspace without warning, arriving in system to meet a massed Republic blockade. On his flagship, Grievous sat his throne, barking out orders.
"Attack formation Echo-3!" He said while he got up from his chair.
"Status," said the tactical droid while other Battle droids reported the status of the ship.
Once it was all ready, Grievous gave the order.
"Commence attack."
Just like that a fierce battle started to rage. The orbit of the planet was immediately filled with flying missiles and turbolaser barrages, some deflected by point defence cannons and deflector shields, but some exploding against the superstructure of the cruisers and sending clouds of smoke and debris floating in all directions.
On one of the Republic ships, commander Yularen stood with his arms folded behind his back, calmly leading the attack.
"The separatist fleet is pressing their attack, sir,« said a clone that walked next to the commander.
"Contact command At Tipoca City,« said Cmd. Yularen as he continuing to track the battle.
In Tipoca City, the Republic forces were working on reinforcing the forces up above. The city's hangers were abuzz with activity, and Anakin Skywalker ran towards his ship then jumped inside of it and blasted off. In the command center in the city's heart, the two Jedi Masters and the commanders were looking at the progress of the battle.
"Shore up our defenses," said commander Cody while the other clones relayed the orders given.
"The fleet is not as large as I expected," remarked Shaak Ti while looking at her fellow Jedi Master. "Begin the airstrike."
Up in space, Anakin had joined up with his squadron. One of the clones greeted him.
"Good to see you, general, ready to have some fun?" said Broadside over the comm link.
"You know me, Broadside, I'd rather be up here then be stuck in a command center," said Anakin while giving out a small chuckle.
The battle was fierce, and a lot of debris had fallen from the CSI ships, been caught in the planet's gravity well and then impacted in the ocean near the city.
"Warning! Falling Debris Detected!" the City Warning Systems blared.
"Grievous appears to be sacrificing his transports In favor of protecting his command ship," said Master Ti.
"Something's not right," said Kenobi as he stroked his beard.
Under the sea, we find Asajj Ventress in her transport ship waiting for her time to attack. As the debris fell, one of her droids spoke up.
"Reinforcements have arrived," it said.
"Send out the aqua droids to assemble the assault craft," she said in return.
While at the same time we find Anakin destroying the enemy ships.
"Focus on the cruisers," he said while they destroyed a small portion of another ship, "I'm going press the attack, Master."
"No, Anakin. Wait. It's too easy," Kenobi said, thinking on all the factors that had happened during the battle. "Not even Grievous would attack so recklessly."
"Master, the battle's up here in space, not down there," Anakin pointed out with a frown.
"The debris from the destroyed Separatist ships is the key," Kenobi replied to Anakin. He had the beginnings of an idea. He didn't know exactly where it would take him, but in his years as a Jedi Master, he'd learned to trust his instincts, and right now his instincts were telling him that something was up.
"What are you thinking?" asked Shaak Ti.
"I think I'd like to go for a swim," he said, and that was how, moments later, he was in a small underwater craft, looking trough the deep waters of Kamino for something he knew he didn't really want to find.
"Nothing as of yet," he reported on the general channel.
"Only you could be worried about the ships I already shot down," came the voice of Anakin through the comm.
"Wait a minute," Kenobi said as he saw something flash not to far from his location. When he came closer he saw droids. "Aqua droids! Looks as though they're assembling assault craft."
As he moved, a giant Trident-class assault ship came in front of him.
"Anakin, I was right. Those downed transports were hiding ships for an underwater assault.
Anakin, come in!" Kenobi said, shouting into his speaker to be heard over the interference.
A droid saw him and aimed a rifle at him.
"Hold it right there," it said as it shot toward him. "Do not move. Do not move."
Obi-Wan quickly started to sail towards the surface, but before he could get halfway there, a droid had attached itself to his transport, and it destroyed his glass windscreen and he had to eject from his cockpit. As he was about to run out of air he was saved by a native animal which carried him to the surface.
"Thanks for the lift, friend," said Kenobi as he caught his breath. When he looked around he saw dozens of Trident-class assault ship jump out of the water and latch onto the city. They then used their drills to pierce the cities' armoured domes, reaching the critical points within.
"Anakin, the city is under attack. I need you down here now!" yelled out Kenobi on his comm.
In space, Anakin heard his master and turned his ship around while he spoke "On my way." Just as he was about to enter the atmosphere, he heard his droid R-2 chirp and beep.
"What is it, R-2?" asked Anakin.
R-2 made some noises, and Anakin was surprised when the droid told him that a small ship was coming out of hyperspace. He turned towards the direction his droid said that they were coming out. Out of hyperspace came a ship that was a modified Belbullab-22 starfighter with much bigger sides where the ion engines were, the entire ship painted black and red. Behind it, a bulky transport ship followed in the fighter's wake.
The modified starfighter started to destroy any Republic ships that got in its way, clearing the path for the following transport. As this continued and the ships traveled towards the planet's surface, Anakin remembered where he'd seen that ship before.
It was the ship of the Sith apprentice Naruto Uzumaki.
"Damn, Obi-Wan! Naruto is here, I repeat Naruto is here!" he said, unable to conceal a small amount of worry in his voice.
Down in the city, Kenobi heard this and stopped, while his eyes widened: "Oh no," he said as he saw Naruto's ship enter the atmosphere, the other ship following close behind.
"Master Shaak Ti, Naruto Uzumaki has arrived. Can you see and stop what he is doing?" Asked Kenobi.
"Master Kenobi, I can not do anything at the moment, as we have a lot of aqua droids on our hands, but I will be able to see about the young Sith as soon as I've destroyed them," said Shaak Ti, flicking her lightsaber and deflecting another barrage of blaster bolts into the heads of her attackers.
"I hope it will be enough, but please, do hurry."
On one of the platforms we find the two ships landing. Out of the first ship came Naruto, who looked around for any clones, and was immediately rewarded with a squad of clones running towards him. When they came near enough, they pointed their guns at him.
"Put your hands up into air and surrender," said one of the clones.
In response, Naruto just sighed while saying: "Kids, do you even know what happened to the last couple hundred people who tried that line on me?" He then raised his right hand towards the clones and fired a stream of red lightning from his finger tips. The clones were reduced to smoking black corpses in seconds.
"Ahh, it seems my time training's increased my basic lightning attack by quite a bit. Hell, that was the lowest I can make it, and it already fried the clones wearing armor. Hmm…I wonder what would happen if I turned it up to full power - it still can't get past the armor of the Zillo, but to any other being it the universe, it should be fatal if he didn't have some serious Force defenses up and running in time, and even then, he'd be severely injured if he was anything other then a master force user," he said while completely disregarding the corpses that were smoldering at his feet.
When he finally snapped himself from his thoughts, he turned towards the transport ship and said:
"You all can come out now, and by the Force, get rid of the corpses, they're starting to smell."
On his command, ten figures appeared. They were commando droids from Naurto's fleet, but they were all wearing the armor they'd borrowed from the ships that Naruto had stolen. The armor was painted to mach the armor of the clones that were stationed on the planet Kamino. As the droids got to work, Naruto started to give them his commands.
"Okay, I want you to escort the Kaminoans to the ship and fly away. If they resist, stun them. No disintegrations," he said, and received a customary roger, roger from the droids who had changed their voices to match a clone.
With that, Naruto used his mastery of stealth to disappear into darkness. As he was traveling through the corridors he came to a sight of Asajj Ventress choking a clone ARC trooper with the Force. She then suddenly used the Force to pull the trooper towards her, and Naruto knew she was planning to impale him on her lightsaber, but Naruto had other plans.
Just as the clone was about to be impaled, Naruto used the Force to snatch the clone from Ventress's grip, then caught the ARC trooper by the back of the neck and smashed him against a wall, thus rendering him unconscious and concussed.
Ventress did not look pleased at the interruption.
"Why did you have to go and spoil my fun? I was going to give him a kiss as I impaled him," she said as she drove a finger deep between Naruto's ribs.
"Well, I need him alive for now, but I promise you can kill him as soon as I'm done with him," he said in response.
"There's no point, the moment is gone," she said, sighing and crossing her arms under her breasts. "It just wouldn't be the same."
"Look, I'm sure you find more clones to kill, I hear they make them around here. You're not going to run out, so just go have fun," he said with a smile while patting her shoulder.
With that said and done, he signaled one of his droids to come pick up the clone while he again disappeared into the shadows. He appeared again in the Genetic Records Hall, where he accessed the database and started to download everything that he could find on the Clone Army.
He was making good time, but hit a road block when he reached a particular file that just had the name order 66, and was encrypted more heavily than any he'd come across so far. The only way to get in was with the password, but it seemed that only the chancellor knew it.
Lucky for Naruto he had been spying on Palpatine and had found out the code he used.
"P-a-l-p-a-t-i-n-e-i-s-s-e-x-y," said Naruto as he typed the code into the console.
He then gained access to the file and what he saw shocked him. Apparently, he had just discovered Palpatine's end game.
The crazy Sith was planning to destroy all the Jedi by having their clone army turn on them. Even if he thought that the old wannabe Sith lord was crazy, he still couldn't help but praise the old man's moment of genius. With that, he had copied every single thing about the clone army. The only thing he needed was to get some DNA for cloning, and since he couldn't take Jango's, he decided to take some other ones.
When he reached the DNA room, he started to look for the right donor.
"Hmm, who to choose…so many choices, lets see Gungan…Hell to the no. Let's see, ahh, a Wookie…Yes, that would work, they are strong and loyal, but I don't want my army to be made from just Wookies, let's try another one…" he said to himself. He continued to search for more donors. In the end, he chose the Devaronians for snipers, Nautolan as the Aquatic foot soldiers, and he chose Karkarodons to be the underwater heavy hitters and he had a good idea who he would use to make his pilots.
The only problem was that he still needed foot soldiers for land battles, but he had none. "I guess that I'll just have to get infantry from another source."
With that done, he put the samples on the back of his belt and exited the room. As he stepped into the corridor, he couldn't help but notice that he had three blue lightsabers pointed at his neck, and a lot of blaster rifles at his head.
"Well this is a major déjà vu moment," he said, releasing a sigh.
"Surrender, Naruto. You are surrounded and your allies have left you here," said Kenobi while narrowing his eyes.
"Hah! Kenobi, have you not learned anything from our previous encounters… I always win!" Naruto said as he moved back while doing a back flip, and when he landed, he crashed his fist into the ground, where it created a force wave that knocked the Jedi and the clones back. Naruto used this opportunity to run towards his ship.
The Jedi matched his running pace, while the clones were quickly left behind, as they did not have the Force to boost their speed. Naruto was running through the many corridors, and he was almost outside when he had to dodge a lightsaber strike from Shaak Ti. He quickly activated his green blade and attacked her with an overhead strike, which she blocked.
She then countered with a slice meant to cut him in half at the waist, but he blocked it with his green blade. They then locked blades and were in a battle for dominance, but Naruto used his years as ninja to his advantage and struck the Jedi Master in the side of her knee to make her lose her balance. She fell to one knee, and he did a spin kick that sent her sailing into the glass door that led to the outside.
She made large spider cracks appear on the door, and was about to slide down, when Naruto came running towards her and shoved his knee into her stomach, sending both of them outside. As Shaak Ti was trying to get up off the ground, she saw Naruto coming towards her, his lightsaber held securely in a reverse grip of his right hand.
She was almost on her knees when she felt a strong boot press onto her back, thus pushing her flat to the ground again. As she lay there, she heard him speak.
"Now you see that the dark side is stronger, as I was able to defeat you quite easily. And do you know why I defeated you? It is because you lock away your emotions and do not acknowledge them." She found herself listening to his every word as he continued: "But know this, Jedi, I will not kill you, I will give you a chance to grow stronger or die the next time we meet. Now, if you wish to grow stronger, come to the place where passion is welcomed, where rage is encouraged and fear is conquered, and finally, all chains broken."
With those words, her world turned to black.
Naruto had knocked out the Jedi Master, and he was about walk away when he suddenly had to either dodge the blade of one Anakin Skywalker or discover all the secrets of the afterlife right there and then. The young Sith quickly went on the defensive, parrying and giving up ground as he assessed the threat that Skywalker posed.
He was very disappointed. Anakin was very talented and had a lot potential, but it was all squandered, as he did not hone his skills, just left them as they were, and did nothing to improved them. He didn't polish his forms, didn't plan his attacks just relied on the power of his connection to the force to get through every problem.
It showed. Naruto easily danced around Anakin, and frankly, he was quickly getting bored of the Jedi's unsophisticated maneouvers, so in a single swift monition, he knocked Anakin's lightsaber out of the guy's hand.
Then he activated his other lightsaber and cut off Anakin's robotic limb.
As he did this, he used his leg to Spartan kick him off the platform they were on. Anakin fell down, but was able to catch himself on a ledge, where he continued to hold on for dear life. As Kenobi finally arrived, he saw the state of his comrades, and he was seriously worried. He was assessing the situation, when he was brought from his thoughts by Naruto's voice.
"Kenobi, it seems you have a choice, save your student or stop a threat that may become even stronger than anything you have faced before…so, Master Kenobi, what will you choose?"
Naruto looked over the ledge at the hanging Anakin. Even as he watched, one of Skywalker's fingers slipped. He was only holding himself up with three, now.
"I'd choose quickly, if I were you," Naruto added.
Obi-Wan knew that the young Sith was right, and he also knew that the Sith already knew his decision. With his mind made up, Obi-Wan ran towards his student
He could just hear Naruto speak one last word as the Sith turned around and left:
"Weak."
As Naruto was leaving, he saw Anakin's lightsaber lying on the ground. He knew that Anakin himself was not worthy of the weapon, so with the Force he called it to him. He strapped it to his waist and walked to his waiting ships. Once he got there he flew off into the stars.
NEXT TIME, ON THE DARK SIDE FOX…
Who is the creature that Naruto had found in the tombs ?
Who will be the template for the pilots and the infantry of Naruto's army, and will Naruto be able to get his army together in time? Find out next time on, The Dark Side Fox, and remember…
…The Dark Side Is Always Watching