AN: I don't own Naruto, or Star Wars
AN: Another chapter. Little shorter than what I usually do. This is for all of those that reviewed and kept bugging me to continue. Thanks.
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36.3 BBY – Current Year
Chapter XXIII: Dealings with Hutts
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'Its almost incomprehensible.' thought Plagueis as he once again examined the assassin droids thought matrix. He had been working on it for the better part of the morning. The droid had been deactivated since the first night they slept in Fralideja and was carried back to their shuttle, then ferried to his hidden facility so he could better work on it. He had been hoping to reprogram the droid to not see them as hostile targets and prevent it from ever attacking their group, however the situation just kept getting more complicated.
Whoever designed the droid knew exactly what they were doing but there was no way of knowing if it was the droids own doing when it built it's new body or it was the design of the individual that made the droids original body. The matrix allowed for an incredible amount of learning and adaptability but it did not allow someone else to make alterations to the droids primary thought processes. It could not be altered or wiped in order to make it something other than an assassination droid and the assassination protocols could never be deleted.
After several hours of trying to make sense of everything and determine how best to solve the problem, he decided to wait until Naruto returned. His student was at the warship gathering some supplies that they might need in addition to the droids original body. Looking at the droids original thought matrix could give him a better understanding of what he needed to do in order to make the desired changes. He suspected that the droid had made alterations to it's new body to prevent tampering.
His first inspection of HK-47 revealed that the restraining bolt on the droid had nearly been broken dbefore Naruto deactivated the droid on their first night in Fralideja. Had his student not deactivated the droid, then it would have broken the restraint and likely gone on another rampage. It was not a comforting thought, even if the droid could never actually kill him. Every member of their group had value and losing just one member would hinder future plans.
Despite his misgivings, even he found himself hesitant to just destroy the droid. Every time he looked at it, he could tell that something about it seemed familiar. Its designation obviously meant Hunter Killer 47 but that told him little about who could have made the droid. Perhaps it was completely custom-made and created specifically for someone by a droid manufacturer. The only thing he could say for certain was that it was far more than an ordinary assassin droid.
Once Naruto brought back the old body, he would look for manufacturer markings or perhaps some other form of identification that could be used besides just the droids identification. After that, he could try and search records for any mention of the droid. 'One more thing to look into.' he thought as he added the new item to his long list of tasks that he had yet to finish.
As soon as he could make the required changes, he would then have to work out what he was going to say to the Mustafarian council about the plan Naruto had come up with. It may have been his students plan but it was his job to sell it to the council and his now fellow Mustafarians. He had never actually given a speech before to a group of people but was well versed in oratory techniques, both with and without using the Force.
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Looking over the belt, he removed it from the corpse and tossed it to one of the demon brothers to put with the rest of the stuff they were taking. Each brother was pushing a scavenged repulsor lift cart covered with either a few crates or just randomly piled up supplies.
They had already been to the outpost and their shuttle had the four crab-like droids they had encountered as well as the parts from a few HK-77 droids. Besides a few extra parts for HK, he was interested in the shielding that the four droids possessed and was surprised to find what appeared to be personal shielding devices on several of the bodies in the warship. They were mostly mounted on belts and with the number that he had, he was confident that he could create some kind of hybrid with the chakra armor devices that Plagueis had brought. 'When I manage to find the time, that is.'
His close calls with HK's blaster-arm had made him want something extra that would help their group and give them an advantage. According to what his Master had told him, personal shield systems were very rare, extremely pricy, and quite often dangerous for the user. They may produce radiation and other hazards so few if any people in the galaxy used them.
The fact that he had managed to find so many personal shields worn by the deceased crew led him to believe that shielding technology used to be more common, cheaper, and perhaps even safer. When inspecting the starfighters, he had actually discovered that they had hyperdrives, which from what Plagueis told him, was also an oddity on such small fighter craft.
He had informed his Master about the discovery and Plagueis was quite surprised. A thousand years of peace must have had more of an impact on the galaxy than his Master or anyone else realized.
'To think that older ships could be so much better equipped and soldiers carried around personal shields as if it was commonplace.' Naruto thought and found it difficult to fathom. Over the course of their Order's lifetime, the galaxy had seemingly stagnated in some areas of technology. The droids, the ship, and the starfighters were all proof of that.
'I wonder what else they had that was better than what the Galaxy currently has now?' he wondered as his clones helped the demon brothers load the supplies onto the shuttle. Deefour soon entered the hangar as well and boarded the ship. He had told the droid to copy all of the navigation information and add it to their collection of starcharts. When they got the chance, he hoped to thoroughly examine all of the information.
Once they were finished, the hangar would be sealed and one of his clones was already sealing the breech they had created when they first entered the ship. Hopefully the ship could remain hidden and he would use some earth jutsu to cover the exposed pieces. When they were in a better position to fully uncover and recommission the ship, then they would have the Mustafarians work on it.
'Master should be about ready to give his speech.' Naruto thought as he walked up the ramp to the shuttle. Looking in one of the seats on the shuttle, he came face to face with HK-47s old body, which was seemingly staring right at him with dull red photoreceptor. The bulkier metal droid was strapped into one of the seats and though he knew it was not going to reactivate, he still eyed it for a second before taking one of the other seats on the ship.
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A pair of brown eyes opened and tried to adjust to the light that was overhead. Glancing around, he tried to turn his body but found it incredibly stiff.
'Oh goddamnit, why couldn't I have died?' lamented Gato as he spotted the cloaked figure that he knew to be Kabuto. Even if he was alive, he felt there was little chance that he would remain alive. He knew Plagueis had no plans for him so he was likely as good as dead anyway. It would have been better if they had just killed him in his sleep to get it over with.
The entire time that Plagueis had been in control of his body, he was still partially conscious and aware of what was going on. He saw and heard almost everything that happened during the months of his possession but was unable to speak or move. It was basically a form of torture. Plagueis pushed his body far beyond what it was physically capable of performing. He had been sitting behind a desk for decades or having people do things for him and his body was certainly not in any shape to be moving around and on his feet as much as Plagueis used it.
The Sith Lord didn't feel any pain or strain from the possession but Gato however did. There had been numerous blisters on his feet, too many to count. Sharp and prolonged pains in his legs, back, and hips as well as his entire body protesting to the movements Plagueis put him through. He had never continuously felt so worn out in all his life. When Plagueis had jumped out of the skyhook, he thought he experienced a heart attack but couldn't be sure.
It was agony at first but eventually his body got used to it. Ironically, now that he was close to death, he was probably in the best shape of his life. He'd lost weight, and could move around better than ever, if he actually was in control of his own body.
Only the degradation from his possession had recently been causing him discomfort. Headaches and random pain all over his body had been something he had to live with for the past month. He wanted to fight the possession but it was useless. Whatever had been done to him, he just couldn't seem to subvert Plagueis' control or even try to act against the Sith spirit. It was as if he was completely subservient by the powerful mind that was Darth Plagueis.
Now that it was over however, he didn't feel any bit of relief and the humming of the snake-like ninja on the other side of the room did little to assuage his fears. He felt that any second Kabuto would turn around, holding numerous instruments, and then inform him about how he would soon be part of some ghastly experiment.
'Why couldn't they have just killed me.' he again thought and tried to lift his arms or sit up but his body was still heavy and unresponsive from prolonged deterioration due to the possession.
Eventually the dreaded moment came and Kabuto did turn around. The glasses wearing ninja was indeed holding a metal tray with a variety of different items. Gato's entire body tensed at the sight and Kabuto's smile only made it that much worse. He looked to the door and once again tried to move but was confined to the cold metal operating table.
"Now, now..." Kabuto began with what he believed to be a reassuring smile. From Gato's perspective however, it was just the reflection of a pair of glasses and quite the sadistic smile. , "...I'm not going to do something to you, if that's what you think? I've been tasked with patching you up and getting you back on your feet. Now before I get started with your treatment, I need to ask a few simple questions in order to determine whether or not you have any permanent brain damage." explained Kabuto and Gato paled at the statement.
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Naruto sat and looked over the shielding units he found on the warship's deceased crew and droids as he idly gave a few glances at his Master, who was still working on their new assassination droid. They were both in the workshop area of the Sith Lord's hideout. HK-47 was still deactivated and would be until Plagueis was finished. Though he was mechanically inclined, he didn't actually know what his Master was having such a hard time with or what was taking so long. There wasn't much time before Plagueis would meet with the Mustafarian council again and put forth their idea.
Examining between the two thought matrices, Plagueis had already found several alterations that the droid had created. Both matrices were highly sophisticated and he could tell from the old matrices that it had been altered and added to many times. The new one was more refined though and the droid had made it that way in order to keep anyone from altering its basic programming.
'Are you having a problem?' Naruto finally inquired as he began feeling his Master's frustration increase.
'No.' stated the Sith Lord and the word sharply resounded in Naruto's head. 'It's merely taking a while to make the desired changes because of the alterations that the droid has made on this newer body.' answered Plagueis as continued to search for an answer.
'But you could have made them in the old body?' Naruto asked as he tried to understand the problem.
'Yes, the droid's thought matrix was more accessible and easier to make alterations to in it's old body.' Plagueis replied and then began to see a solution.
'If the droid's old thought matrix is what I want, then why not switch it back and put it in the new body.' Plagueis mused and set about removing the old through matrix from the old body. Once it was removed, he could make the desired changes, and then us it to replace the thought matrix from the new body.
Naruto watched his Master work and decided that it was probably a one person job. Whatever idea Plagueis had come up with was not something he wanted to disrupt so he looked back at his shielding units. Using the available free time, he had already examined the chakra armor devices that they had gotten from Snow Country. In his mind, he was beginning to see a way to mesh the devices two different shielding devices together but it would still take time before he would be able to test a working prototype.
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His systems booted up and it was only a few seconds before his photoreceptors activated. HK-47 glanced around the room and soon came face to face with the small Meatbag he had been unsuccessful at killing. The droids hand shot out towards the boy's neck in order to break it.
Naruto looked down at the metal hand that was an inch or so away from his neck. The new programming had evidently worked and the droid could not harm him. HK looked at his own hand and realized that something was wrong. The restraining bolt was gone but something else had been done. "Query: What have you done to me?" It demanded.
"My Master removed your thought matrix and replaced it with your old one." Naruto answered calmly and glanced at the droid's old body which was lying on the ground nearby.
The droid's photoreceptor glowed with rage but it quickly subsided, "Recitation: I will not ever refer to you or anyone else as Master."
Naruto pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes at the droids comment. He was curious about the droids reasoning so he asked, "Why exactly do you dislike having a master or even the idea of a master?"
HK looked away from its old body and back to the short Meatbag, "Explanation: My first master, though I can't seem to remember much about him, was better than all those that came after him. He created me and together we killed many Meatbags across the galaxy. I have gone through many Masters since him. Most died as a result of their own foolishness or because I killed them...accidentally of course. Only a small percentage were ever very enjoyable or used me to my fullest. A droid can live for a long time and I grew tired of being the weapon by foolish Meatbags so I sought to become my own master and make my own decisions on what Meatbags to kill."
'Accidentally killed them?' Naruto thought with some disbelief and was hopefull that Plagueis's reprogramming had completely worked and would continue to do so. Deciding to file the thought away for later, he kept the droid talking, "How exactly did you end up on this planet?"
The droid thought for a moment as it tried to remember what had happened before the crash, "Explanation: I stowed away on one of the containers on a supply ship and ended up at the base."
"Did you have some kind of plan or goal while on Mustafar?" asked Naruto as they were going to leave soon and if there was something else on the planet of interest then he wanted to know about it.
"Explanation: No."
Naruto sweat-dropped at the answer and thought, 'He may want to be more independent but he has no real purpose or long term planning ability besides 'killing Meatbags'.'
"My Master and I are the ones that generally give orders but you don't really have to think of us as Masters. I don't think my Master's reprogramming included absolute compliance with every order we give and we don't own you like a piece of property. Like the others in our group, you'll merely be working for us, like a mercenary or something." Naruto explained to the droid and felt it might make it more cooperative.
"Query: Will there be compensation?" asked the droid and Naruto couldn't tell if the droid was interested in what he was saying or not. Thinking over what the droid might be interested in to receive as compensation, he soon responded, "Weapons, energy cells, free maintenance and re-powering. So far on our short journey quite a few people have tried to kill us and we get into trouble quite frequently."
'Inner thought: Perhaps I was too hasty in trying to kill this Meatbag.' decided the droid but first it wanted to find out more, "Query: What exactly are the goals of this group?"
"Currently we're heading to Tatooine in order to sell our cargo and then we'll be trying to spy on someone in order to observe, determine, and possibly subvert their plans for galactic conquest. Probably nothing of interest to you." Naruto answered while nodding his head slightly. The baiting was going well and he didn't have to wait long for the droid to respond.
"Clarification: And you say you have a habit of getting into dangerous situations and fights with other Meatbags?
"Trouble seems to find me wherever I go." Naruto answered back and the conversation was interrupted by the stations intercom system.
"Gato is as healed as he will ever be and he can have visitors now." stated the disembodied voice of Kabuto.
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Plagueis, or rather his host Chivos, looked over the Mustafarian council as he waited for an answer. He had just given a long speech that explained everything concerning the Off-worlder's plan. His words were laced with the Force and the more he talked, the more council members he pulled into the plan.
The base was mentioned but its location was not and the warship was not mentioned at all. Considering that they didn't have any money, Plagueis told the council that the two shuttle craft that the Off-worlder's possessed were to be gifts and compensation as an act of good faith. He also mentioned that to protect the Mustafarians interests, he would be going with the Off-worlders and an emissary would be staying in his place to further relations and completion of the mining facility.
The facility would not be owned by the Mustafarian people but they would work all aspects of the mining process and see to the retrofit of the facility, managing the facility, and all mining operations. This was a much better arrangement then what they had with the Techno Union as their workers were only allowed to do more menial jobs and were not in charge of the facility. They merely did whatever the Techno Union employees told them to do and Plagueis mentioned that fact more than once. 'Little more than slaves.' was how he put it during the speech.
Considering that there was no investment on their part in the plan, it was a good deal if not for the fact that control of any mining rights on the planet still belonged solely to the Techno Union. He couldn't be completely sure how all of them would react to the proposal. Even with the Force, he couldn't persuade everyone with a single speech. On one hand they would be able to further exploit their world and reap the benefits, however it could cause problems if the illegal mining was ever discovered by the Techno Union. It would only take a few words from one Mustafarian to a Techno Union foremen for their operation to be discovered.
Plagueis initially could feel hesitance in most of council members but by the end they were beginning to turn to his side. The few remaining members that were not completely on his side likely felt that the plan was a gamble and it may or not pay off. If discovered they could damage relations with the Techno Union or perhaps even suffer some sort of consequences. The Techno Union did not have a standing army that he was aware of, but they did create armed droids or could fill the pockets of any mercenary in the sector to give them a hand.
Walking out of the meeting room when the speech was finished, Plagueis left them so they could debate on the matter. He was confident that they would agree as more than half of the council seemed in favor of the plan and that was all that he needed. Their group's initial dealings with the Mustafarians put Naruto and the others in a favorable light with many of the people in Fralideja and he had little doubt that the council would vote to work with them. Thanks to his influence, the Mustafarian council would completely overlook the fact that Naruto and most of his group were still children and mostly unknown off-worlders that they had only just met.
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"Hello, Gato." stated Naruto right after the door opened and he looked at the short man sitting on the infirmary table. He found it slightly odd as for the last few months this person was his Master's body and now he was back to being just Gato. He also found that he didn't know that much about Gato at all, nor how the man might react to his presence.
The short man groaned upon seeing him and Naruto had to suppress a smile at the reaction. From what he surmised, Gato was still partly under Plagueis's control so he really wouldn't need to convince the man to help them as he should be 'pliable' and take well to his and his Masters's suggestions.
"Interestingly enough, I managed to convince Master Plagueis that you could still be useful to us. That and only that has managed to spare your life for the time being." Naruto revealed but he didn't expect anything in return from Gato or even a thanks.
"And you expect me to be grateful?" asked Gato with some derision. He had only just come out of the bacta tank and while he was feeling better than before, he still felt rather lousy. Words from a child, albeit a powerful one, would not assuage his fears of what would happen to him.
"No, I expect you to work for us so you can go on living. Kabuto also said you didn't have any permanent brain damage. Isn't that good news." Naruto added in a mocking tone.
Gato muttered something under his breath, which Naruto easily heard, and then demanded, "Then what do you want from me!"
"Want? Nothing really. I personally don't like you. I'm merely giving you a chance to be useful and I expect you to work for us without any complaint or refusal." answered Naruto while looking Gato directly in the eye with a hard stare that left little room for rebuttal. The shadowed but still visible piercing blue made Gato gulp. He knew what the brat was capable of and knew he really couldn't refuse. He witnessed the brat nearly kill the missing-nin Momochi Zabuza and was well aware that he was in no position to not accept.
"What do you want me to do so I can keep living?" Gato asked with some reluctance while not taking his eye off Naruto, as if waiting for a killing blow.
"We'd like you to start up a business." Naruto simply answered as he looked away from Gato and walked over to a counter. The back of his cloak was met with quite a look of skepticism and then the immediate outburst from Gato of, "Here?!"
Naruto said nothing and merely nodded his head in affirmation as he idly examining a few of the medical devices Kabuto had picked up along their travels thus far.
"What could this hellish planet possible offer for you lot?" Gato questioned as his mind sifted through the fractured images in his memory of the planet he had seen and felt through senses of a body that had been taken from him.
"Certain lava flows on the planet are rich in several minerals that can fetch quite a price. I'm sure you can understand the value in that. The business would begin with the mining of these lava flows." answered Naruto while examining a particularly interesting device.
Gato's mind raced at the new information and he began thinking about what would be involved. While his primary business was shipping he did know a thing or two about mining. He had interests in gold and diamond mining but never mining lava, that certainly wasn't something he had ever even considered. He wanted to ask about what would be asked of him in the position but the cloaked boy answered the question before he could even get the question out.
"You of course won't be mining or managing any workers. You won't even need to know how it all works. The Mustafarians can perform all the work and operations. You will be merely overseeing the progress of the facility, which needs to be built...or perhaps a better word would be 'modified'...and after that you will be ensuring that the facility remains operating at peak efficiency, produces shipments, turns a profit, and remains hidden from anyone else. That is what you're good at, is it not?" asked Naruto rhetorically after a short explanation.
Gato gave a smug smirk before answering, "Of course. My shipping business only began declining because I got bored with it. There was no competition, after I eliminated them, and I found that I could get more money through illegal means than legitimate ones. I never once got caught or even brought in for questioning by any Daimyo, ninja, or authority. Few people in the Elemental Countries even suspected me of any wrong doing or illegal activities." the short man gloated and ended with a small satisfied chuckle which soon faded as he remembered his situation.
'Its all gone now,' he finally realized and sobered some as he thought about his once great empire of crime and shipping.
"Well, this certainly isn't the Elemental Countries so you'll have your work cut out for you. For now, your main concern is the mining. Later on that may change to encompass much more." Naruto alluded and waited for Gato to respond.
"How will it change?" Gato questioned and Naruto could feel the ideas swirling inside the greedy man's mind.
"Depending on your success, the dealings on Mustafar could change. The planet does have one other commodity and that is the heat from the lava. The heat produced can be turned into energy that can than be sold to other distant planets. Of course, should you be very successful, then you may be able to leave this planet for much bigger and better things." stated Naruto as he kept his words vague in order to get Gato more interested.
"What kind of better things?" Gato quickly responded.
"Well...I suppose if you did exceed Master Plagueis' expectations then we might set you up with a legitimate business and you could take part in many of the illegal and underworld dealings offered in the Galaxy. The Galaxy is infinitely bigger and there are many more opportunities available than what you were used to in the Elemental Countries." Naruto explained.
Gato absently licked his lips at the prospect as he thought about the possibilities being offered to him. His imminent doom, which hours ago had been the forefront on his mind, was completely gone from his thoughts. Along with different businesses circling in his mind, he kept thinking about names and instantly thought of 'Gato Galactic Shipping' or 'Gato Industries', and many others.
Now that he had Gato completely hooked, Naruto decided to get something to eat with the others while he waited for good news concerning Plagueis's meeting. He left the room without another word.
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Ascending in one of the cities slow elevators, Plagueis watched the floors go by through the open elevator shaft as he thought about what would happen next.
The Mustafarian council had agreed to the presented terms, or at least a majority of the council had agreed. The rest would likely soon follow though. All that was left was for Naruto and Gato to meet with the council and seal the agreement. Right after finalizing the agreement, they would leave for Tatooine.
There were better places to sell their weapons but he wanted to go to Tatooine and it was slightly closer than many of their other options. Reaching the topmost level of the city, he walked down a hallway to where the final staircase to the surface was.
Years ago when he visited Mustafar to look for a good place for a hideout, he never imagined what was really there, nor did he really go looking. A quick survey of the planet was all he did and now it might end up a very important part of their plans and future operations.
It was hard to pinpoint an exact cause of their good fortune. Though danger and problems followed them at every turn, thus far they had come out on top Was it somehow the Force guiding all of them or was it something else? Most of the discoveries made were by his student or the crew. Naruto found the crashed ship before even acquiring midi-chlorians and the other Ibonihese didn't have any midi-chlorians.
Kabuto managed to get information on where an old Sith tomb was, the crew's choice led them to the second Tessent, the demon brothers found an old warship. He could go on an on but most of what they were becoming involved with was by mere accident. They never meant to go to Mustafar, yet they were now leaving with much more than they came with.
Was it something to do with chakra or did the Force favor the chakra users in their group? Was Naruto affecting them? He was unable to grasp their penchant for 'finding things' without really looking for them. From an observers standpoint, it was highly unusual. 'I'll have to investigate this further.' thought Plagueis as he walked over the surface of the plateau to their ship.
In the distance he could see the white shuttle that held the rest of the Vulture's crew.
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Standing before the repaired Vulture, Naruto was about board the ship to leave. His gaze looked down at the gifts that he had been presented with by the Mustafarians. Apparently it was their custom to exchange such gifts when a business venture was made. Tucked under his arm were four long knives made from the tusks of the Tulrus that they had killed. One pair was for him and the other was for Juugo for they both had battled with the beast. The orange haired boy and the rest of the crew were already on board the ship and had boarded while he met with the Mustafarian council to finalize their agreements.
"You're not going to just forget about me on this rock?" asked Gato who was standing nearby.
Naruto could tell that the short man was not being sentimental in any way and was genuinely afraid about being abandoned there. "Of course not, this operation has the potential to be quite lucrative. If you help it to be successful, that is." stated Naruto and he could feel some of the man's worry lifting. It was a difficult position to be left in, not that he really cared. Gato didn't even understand the Mustafarian language and he would be working with them for quite a while so the man's next thought was obvious.
"What about that orange droid of yours. I saw it translating for you, couldn't you leave it here? I could also use some protection in this place." said Gato while glancing back at the strange looking Mustafarians gathered behind him.
"You're more likely to need protection from that droid than the Mustafarians if I left it behind." Naruto explained and began heading to the ship. Plagueis was in the cockpit and the ship was already finishing the pre-flight sequence to takeoff.
Gato grunted in response and started moving away from the ship while favoring his cane. The only other option to get off the planet was to go to the Techno Union and ask for help, which was something that Plagueis's meddling with his head would prevent him from doing. He'd do just about anything to get off the planet and if that meant working with the natives then that's what must be done.
x-x
"Its beautiful, isn't it." commented Suigetsu as he continued to polish his new sword. Looking down over the flat side of the sword he could see his own toothy grin reflection and the ceiling of the Vulture. He had been at it for quite a few hours and despite that it had been as polished as it was ever going to be, he still kept at it.
Tayuya and Karin gave the white haired teen a dull look.
"It was bad enough when we had to listen to him complaining about not getting a sword. Now that he has it, he won't shut the fuck up about it." Tayuya commented to Karin and the fellow redhead nodded.
"Your just jealous that you don't have a unique weapon too." Suigetsu mocked with a toothy grin. Both girls frowned and while they wouldn't admit, they both felt it might be nice to have a weapon that was made just for them.
Continuing to smile at the effect that his gloating had, Suigetsu suddenly had a thought, "Where did Naruto and Master Plagueis get off to?"
Karin angled her head down so her glasses reflected the overhead lights of the ship and she gave a small smile. She new exactly how to respond to the question in order to set Suigetsu off. "They went to the cargo room and are apparently practicing kenjutsu in secret." answered Karin and she smiled at the effect it had on the white haired boy.
Suigetsu's eyes went wide and he ran to the cargo room door yelling about being left out.
x-x
Cargo containers were quickly moved with the Force as a large circular sparing area was created in the cargo bay. The room wasn't overly large but the newly created area would be enough to suit his purposes.
Standing across from each other, Plagueis was the first to move and went over to one of the containers stacked against the wall. He picked up two metal rods that had been sitting there since they both entered the room. Until that point, Naruto had overlooked them.
Throwing one of the rods to Naruto, Plagueis held the other and moved it around to get a feel for it. Naruto caught the thrown item and looked it over before asking, "Are we going to be sparring with these?"
'One of the disadvantages of being merely a spirit when it came to your training was that I couldn't get hands-on.' replied Plagueis to his student's question.
"But why are we using these? We both have Sith swords." asked Naruto as he looked over the rudimentary weapon.
'With these, we can't possible pierce the hull.' stated Plagueis and he quickly added, 'It's also better this way, so you won't get maimed or killed.' Once the statement was made, Plagueis watched his student intently for any physical and emotional responses.
Naruto's eyes narrowed at the statement and his grip tightened on the makeshift practice weapon. He knew he shouldn't let the words goad him but with all that had recently happened, he didn't care about keeping his emotions in check.
Plagueis could feel the conflict building in his student and was content that he had elicited the exact response that he wanted. It would only take a little more to push his student over the edge. 'We may begin whenever you like. It won't make much difference either way, I won't be the one covered with bruises and with broken bones when this is over.'
Naruto was in motion the moment before the mental sentence was finished. He struck out with a ferocious swing and Plagueis was quick to react by putting up his makeshift sword to block. Naruto's strike would likely have broken any guard that Plagueis had put up, however the Muun Sith Lord was far more skilled and experienced.
With a flick of his wrist, the block turned into a parry that sent Naruto's swing wide and completely over Plagueis's head as the Mustafarian body crouched. Exposed, Naruto let one hand go from the faux sword and blocked Plagueis's Force Push.
The Force attacks were at a stalemate while Plagueis's hand with sword came down upon Naruto. Noticing his back-swing would not be fast enough to block, Naruto moved his hand to deflect his Master's Force push and moved his body to dodge.
'His reaction speed is faster than what I anticipated. I can't underestimate him like that and let him get this close again.' thought Plagueis as he did something that Naruto would not expect and struck out at his student with a powerful kick. Naruto tried to back off as he pulled his shin up to block the kick and succeeded until he recognized that the kick was far more powerful than he thought possible.
'He's either amplifying his strength with the Force or its just his Mustfarian body?' Naruto believed as his foot lost contact with the ground was thrown back hard by the kick.
Quick to recover, Naruto ignored the pain and sprung back, keeping up a relentless attack against his Master. However, every thrust and every strike were deftly blocked or parried by his Master. Naruto tried every attack and trick that he knew in order to get past his Master's defense but nothing worked. Trying to overpower Plagueis or lead him into a trap failed as well. Even a few kunai had been loosed in order to try and gain an opening or catch his Master off guard. It aggravated Naruto to no end that his Master had barely moved from his original stance and foot placement in their dueling area and yet he himself had been moving around the whole cargo hold. His earlier anger was replaced with frustration and he tried to calm himself.
'Are you prepared for me to begin going on the offensive?' asked Plagueis as they stood opposite each other after a brief break in Naruto's continuous attacks. A brief thought passed through Naruto's mind as he realized that his Master had yet to make an actual attack against him. Everything thus far had been a reaction to his attacks and nothing truly offensive or aggressive.
The brief moment he stopped to think about it, was the very moment that Plagueis took to attack. Naruto's body reacted instinctively but his response was exactly what Plagueis had wanted. Naruto's block left him open to Plagueis's next strike which struck his shoulder. Though he had tried to dodge, Plagueis had moved his strike so it hit right where we wanted. The hard blow jarred Naruto greatly and nearly popped his arm out of the socket.
Naruto was only able to take a quick glance at his injured shoulder before he had to duck and parry consecutive blows. During most of his onslaught on Plagueis, his Master had barely moved from one place and at most, pivoted or make a single step but now they were fighting all over the cargo room as Naruto back peddled, dodged, and tried to use every advantage to protect himself and move off the defensive.
He was now attached with chakra to the ceiling and fighting his Master from there as he hoped the spontaneity of the move would trip up Plagueis's momentum but it was having little effect. He had already taken a few more hits and large welts were in the process of forming.
'His arms and legs are so long that they give him an incredible advantage. I can't get past his guard or even move close to him and his fighting is preventing me from using the Force to any appreciable degree. If he didn't have that body...' Naruto began thinking but stopped as he realized his own mistake.
'That body is very similar to Master's old body, which means that this is how he normally fights and what it would be like to face him as he was. There is no additional advantage provided, which means that had he not been a spirit, I would be in the same position whether in that body or his real one. That body also doesn't have the same Force potential as his original.' he realized and focused back to the fight.
'An interesting conclusion. I was wondering if you were arrogant enough to think that your position in this fight was solely due to the body I now possess...' Plagueis began as his voice appeared in Naruto's mind and his eyes widened in surprise, '….but you really shouldn't get distracted during a fight.' said Plagueis and Naruto was only then made aware of the cargo container that was hurtling toward him from his side. It was just outside his vision and he couldn't move in time to stop or push it with the Force. The container hit him full force and his feet detached from the ceiling, propelling him toward the other containers where he crashed into. Plagueis quickly used the Force to unbalance other stacked containers just enough to send the stacks toppling down on his student.
Naruto pushed the heavy containers that had fallen on top of him and quickly realized that he had lost his weapon. Seeing it near him he moved but his hand was stepped on by a black boot.
'An experienced dark-side fighter, or really most non-Jedi for that matter, will not only attack the body but also the mind and take any advantage provided during a battle. Or perhaps they will just use underhanded means to create one. You also still have much to learn when it comes to facing a well trained kenjutsu opponent.' lectured Plagueis as he talked down to his student, both figuratively and literally.
'The previous battles you have had were not that sword oriented, though I believe Orochimaru did give you some difficulty as well as that missing-nin from Kiri, but neither gave you a fight to your limit when it came to swordsmanship.
The pressure from the boot was released as Plagueis walked away from his student to the opposite side of their arena. Naruto took that moment to pull his sword to his hand and jump to his feet, charging towards his Master's back.
Indifferent of the attack he knew would come, Plagueis merely said one thing to his student, 'Your mother's name was Kushina.'
The words hit Naruto as if struck by a debilitating blow. His speed faltered and impending strike never fulfilled as his arms grew rather limp. The shock and surprise was enough that he never registered his Master's two blows or the fact that his Master had even made a move against him.
The first blow was referred to as cho mai and normally used to amputate a hand or arm but while using a rod, it only served to force Naruto to release his weapon. The second blow quickly followed the first and would normally be to the neck in a classic sai chai, or decapitation blow, but instead Plagueis struck slightly higher to not injure his students neck.
The rod hit Naruto across the lower jaw and he was sent to the floor. When his vision focused, he found himself on the floor and noted the taste of blood in his mouth, a dull burning sensation in his jaw, and that one of his teeth had come loose. Pushing himself up, he looked to Plagueis.
'I did mention while we were in Mustafar that I would tell you all that I knew about your parents. Of course you won't be getting this information without putting up a good enough fight. I've been a spirit for far too long and expect more of a challenge in the coming days.' Put forth Plagueis as he took on a Form V opening stance with his makeshift sword.
Spitting out the lost tooth, Naruto pulled his own sword to his hand with the Force and took on his own stance, ready to continue.
Suigetsu's frantic banging on the locked door was completely ignored by both.
x-x
An hour before their impending arrival, the crew of the Vulture were summoned to the meeting room to have a briefing on the planet.
Most were excited at the prospect of getting some time off the ship as being together in such a close area for extended periods of time was not conducive to good moral. As they took seats around the table, Plagueis went over his own plans for the planet. Should anyone ask, he was also thinking of a plausible explanation for leaving by himself to complete his own goals during their trip while everyone else would go or stay. His disappearance wouldn't go unnoticed by the more observant and paranoid members of the group, though most wouldn't care.
His research was not something he wanted to share with everyone and that would be the way it would remain for at least for the immediate future. Eventually when Kabuto had caught up with the level of technology and knowledge required, he would have a competent assistant that would hopefully add to his research with the abilities of medical ninjutsu. Naruto did not seem very interested in his research but that didn't bother him in the slightest. He spent decades researching the intricacies of midi-chlorians by himself in almost complete isolation, even while training an apprentice who was not that interested in his research either.
The only thing standing in his way at the moment was the meeting and then he would be free to find his test subject on the planet that they approached. He needed data and even a failed experiment should provide valuable information for the future. As a formality, he decided to attend the briefing but really there was no real purpose for him to be there as he was going to let Naruto explain everything. The best method to get around any questions as to his own agenda was to have Naruto run the entire the briefing and fill their thoughts with information that he himself wasn't all that concerned with.
They could sell the weapons just about anywhere, but it would be a good lesson and task for his student to undertake. Dealing with the Hutts, or any Hutt for that matter, could be quite tricky. Naruto would undoubtedly also task a few of their crew members with finding the Rakatan Temple on the planet. His teachings to his student that he had learned from ancient texts and holocrons, spoke of many such temples on various worlds throughout the Galaxy. Each housed a map system that would show the way to the long since destroyed Star Forge and the homeworld of the Rakatan people.
A part of him thought it a fools errand as the Star Forge was long gone, the Rakatan homeworld abandoned, the fact that the Rakatan map on Tatooine may have been destroyed, and the ruins weren't well known to anyone on the planet which made finding them all the more difficult. 'Likely only a select few Tuskan Raiders or perhaps Jawas know the exact whereabouts of such a place. I don't believe the ruins were near any city or settlement and I doubt that has changed much, but if it keeps them out of my business, then who am I stop him from trying.' were the thoughts of the Sith Lord.
Once the crew was seated in chairs and quiet, he turned made a mental nod to his student to begin the briefing.
After giving a brief glance at the crew members, both organic and nonorganic, that filled the room, Naruto began, "The planet we will shortly arrive at is called Tatooine. It's a uncivilized planet that is controlled by the Hutts, which are a large slug-like species that are synonymous with crime and other illegal acts."
"Is it a water planet?" interrupted Suigetsu with his fingers crossed.
"Please tell me it has a lot of water. Large slugs wouldn't like it too dry. Our last planet didn't agree with me much." Suigetsu explained to the others as he awaited a favorable answer.
"Its not a water planet." Naruto answered in a dull tone.
"Lots of islands? Grassy? Plains? Rocky?" Suigetsu asked as he tried to picture a place where he would be at least a little comfortable.
"Actually its a desert planet." explained Naruto and he was met with silence as well as a frown from Suigetsu. The quiet atmosphere was only broken by a snort from Karin as she tried to hold back her mirth.
"So it has a large desert?" inquired Suigetsu.
"No its mostly desert." answered Naruto with a sigh.
"How much is mostly?" inquired Suigetsu as he ignored the smiles and light laughter from the two redheads at the table.
"The entire planet is one contiguous desert, marred with some rock outcroppings and plateau. Nothing grows there and the only water moisture which the populace 'farms' with machines known as moisture vaporators."
Suigetsu starred at him with an incredulous look and Naruto added, "It also has two suns."
After banging his head on the table, Suigetsu sat up and stated, "So we're going to another fucking wasteland in the middle of nowhere?"
"You could say that." Naruto acknowledged as he tried to avoid the impending problems associated with Plagueis's choice of planet.
"Can't we go to a world that doesn't discriminate against me?"
"None of us would be sad if you evaporated." Tayuya chimed in and Karin laughed while Kabuto and Jugo couldn't contain their smiles.
"But he does have a point, why can't we go anywhere nice." Kabuto commented and he glanced over to Plagueis to see if his words caused any visible reaction. He was slightly disappointed when they hadn't.
'Well this briefing certainly became unproductive fast.' Thought Naruto and Plagueis.
While the meeting got back on track and Naruto began explaining more about the planet, a pair of red photoreceptors scanned the meeting room. HK-47 watched as the Meatbags prattled about nonsensical things that didn't concern him at all. Thoughts circled in his processor about taking a few of the weapons that were within his reach and killing as many of them as he could before getting stopped but he could not act on these.
Right before he was about to disable most of his auditory sensors, they picked up on a word that sparked some recollection. With renewed interest he began reviewing the accompanying sentences in which it was spoken. He did not record everything that his auditory sensors picked up but he did have playback for a few minutes. Cycling through the last thirty seconds of the conversation, he heard the recorded voice utter the word one more time.
'Rakatan.' It was familiar to him and he began a search through his memory to try and determine where and when he had last heard it. A few of the others words stated in the sentences also seemed to tug at his though processes. The short Sith Meatbag that was leading their group had also mentioned, 'Tatooine,' 'Star Map,' and 'Temple,' all accompanying or describing the one word that had renewed his interest in the conversation.
Cross referencing these words together with Rakatan, he slowly began to retrieve information that had long been filed away and compressed in order to save room for more important things, like the best methods for killing Meatbags. Initially he began sifting through information on Rakatans, but soon it changed to specific information related to the words he had searched for.
'Inner thought: I have been to this temple before and seen the map in question. The Meatbags have no idea where the exact location is...I can use this to my advantage.'
Interrupting the briefing, HK began implementing his plan, "Query: Am I correct in my logic that you are after a temple containing an ancient map which in the Eastern Dune Sea of the planet Tatooine?"
The explanation that Naruto had been giving Kabuto about Tuskan Raiders and Jawa died as all eyes turned to the sadistic droid which sat in an area of the table with chairs farther away than the normal distance, as several people had moved over slightly so as to not be very close to the droid.
While Plagueis was able to contain his surprise, Naruto was not and had a look on his face that few had ever seen. It wasn't that expressive, just mild surprise and shock but it was more than most at the table had ever seen him display.
'Is this some of kind of trick?' Naruto wondered as he analyzed the new information. The ship that the droid was on was old...very old. It likely dated to near the same period of time as the rediscovery of the Star Forge. 'Does it really know about the temples and the star maps?'
Plagueis on the other hand was several steps ahead of Naruto in his deductions. 'Its obviously an assassination droid and its old body was customized and full of complex modifications. The model is not one that I have ever encountered. It's also several millenia old and now apparently it possesses detailed knowledge of the star maps, or at least the location of one of them. It can't be that droid, can it? I don't actually know what happened to that droid, nor can I remember its designation.' thought Plagueis as he considered the possibility.
With the moment of surprise having passed, Naruto couldn't keep himself from finding out more of what the droid had to say. "And how exactly would you know something like that?"
"Statement: I have been around for quite a while and seen many things."
Naruto held back his frown at the lack of any definitive information in the droid's statement and quickly brought up a map of the planet on the holoprojector in the center of the table. Scanning over the terrain, he then looked to the droid and gestured to the map. HK-47 examined the holoprojection for a moment before looking back to Naruto. "Query: Should I provide this information, what do I get in return?"
Naruto's eyed the droid as he mulled over the question. He wasn't sure what the droid would want. Hearing his thoughts, Plagueis answered, 'I believe he wants to go along with one of the two parties. Likely he has gotten bored during our trip and wants some assurance that he can get to kill something. You were going to take him with you anyway.'
'How wonderful. I thought this was just supposed to be a weapons deal.'
"You'll be going with me to see a Hutt about some weapons. I do believe you speak fluent Huttese?" Naruto asked and the droid ignored his question in favor of something else.
"Ultimatum: I would also like my hand returned to normal." The droid said while looking to its hand that Naruto had changed.
Though the others listening to the conversation were slightly confused, Naruto knew that the droid wanted one of its hands returned to being the blaster rifle attachment and not the articulated hand it now was.
"That can be arranged, but first, the information." bartered Naruto as he motioned back to the Tatooine projection. The droid eyed him carefully and his red photoreceptors flared before its hand reached out and pointed to an area of the projected planet. "Statement: The temple you seek lies in a cave in this area of canyons in the Eastern Dune Sea."
'Though the projection has no identifying names for the areas of the planet, he pointed to an area in the Eastern Dune Sea.' noted Plagueis and it becoming more likely that the droid was not making up its statement, but had likely been there before. Naruto quickly marked the location and zoomed in to study the area a little closer. They had only sparse information on the topographic of the planet and they certainly didn't have complete or explicitly detailed maps of the entire surface. There was no way of telling with the projection whether there actually was a cave containing the temple ruins in that area. Someone would have to go and find out.
x-x
As the Vulture set down on the outskirts of a place called Tosche Station, the landing walkway lowered and Naruto was the first to disembark. The cool night air was a stark contrast to what the conditions of the desert planet must have been during day. Touching the last walkway strut as he stepped out onto the sand, he grimaced slightly and glanced to his right hand which was covered in severe chakra burns.
Along with his training with Plagueis, he had also been trying to master the technique he had taken from Kakashi's and Jiraiya's memories. The rasengan proved quite difficult and while he had passed the first two stages while they were traveling from Ibonihs, the technique was not yet complete. He had tried to surprise his Master during one of their duels but wasn't able to even graze Plagueis with it. Instead he missed and hit an interior wall of the ship. Despite the power of the uncompleted technique, it only marked the metal with a shallow etched spiral that radiated perfectly from the center where the attack had struck. The spacing between the lines of the spiral was exact to within less than a millimeter.
He could have asked Kabuto or Karin to heal the wound, or perhaps even done it himself but he wanted to let it heal normally. Pain was not something that should bother him but it had been quite a while since he had experienced such heavy chakra burns. He was so focused while practicing with the technique over and over again that he never even realized that his hands were becoming burned by the channeling, compression and movements of his own chakra.
Looking out over the sand, he knew that over several dunes one direction was Tosche Station, which was a power station that supplied most of the surrounding towns with power via underground transmission cables. In another direction was Anchorhead, which was relatively close. Far to the east was the Eastern Dune Sea which was were HK-47 had claimed the Rakatan temple was and somewhere even farther to the north was Jabba's palace and several larger cities and space ports.
The rudimentary plan was to head to Anchorhead and then split up into two groups from there. He would be traveling with HK and Juugo to Jabba's palace while Kabuto would be taking Karin and the Demon Brothers out into the desert.
It wasn't wise to put both medics together on a single team but Karin was likely still reluctant to kill and would be needed to sense for Krayt dragons on the open dunes and canyons of that group's journey. Kabuto would be leading the group as the snake ninja had more experience on higher ranking missions and traveling so deep out into the desert was not an easy task.
He thought about sending HK-47 with that group but the revelations during the meeting made him want to keep a closer eye on the droid. 'Master Plagueis also seems to be getting ready to disembark, but I have no idea where he might be headed.' remembered Naruto as he could feel Plagueis his adjacent room getting things together for some kind of travel, though he knew not how heavy or light his Master had packed, or what Plagueis would want on the planet.
From earlier conversations, Plagueis did not know much about the planet, aside from basic knowledge about the controlling Hutts and some history. 'He'd probably notice if I tried to follow him.' thought Naruto as he checked his gear.
Suigetsu would be staying in the ship, along with Tayuya. He had noted that the redhead had been rather secluded during most of their journey and sometimes not coming out of her room for a day or more at a time. Karin would sometimes take food to her. However, nothing showed in her expressions when she was around that indicated a problem and he couldn't glean anything from her.
'Perhaps she still doesn't like her situation here with the rest of the group.' he guessed as he looked in the direction of where Anchorhead was. It wouldn't take long to get there. By foot they would arrive at dawn and from there they would have to secure some kind of transport to their different locations.