Out of the Unknown

by axellon2008

Naruto discovers a crashed starship outside his village and his life is forever changed. Under the unorthodox tutelage of a Sith Lord's spirit, he will learn the technology and history of a larger galaxy that he, and no one else from his planet, ever knew existed.

29. Chapter 29

AN: I don't own Naruto, or Star Wars

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AN: I am aware that I created an inconsistency in the previous chapter concerning the Raijin and Tessents. Thank you to those that pointed it out and let me know which chapter it was in, otherwise I would have taken me a very long time to find and correct. I have changed a few sentences in chapter 20 in order to fix this problem. With all that happened between chapters 20 and 28, I simply had too much going on to keep most of the plot arc that I had originally planned concerning the Tessents. Only one of the statues was ever analyzed on Ast Kikorie and that analysis ultimately showed nothing. The second Tessent was never properly looked over and that still remains a mystery to Plagueis and Naruto.

With the Raijin, I encountered problems because my original idea for the weapon was no longer viable and my secondary idea would have also conflicted with much earlier chapters. I thought perhaps the Raijin could have been a Rakatan weapon but that would give it Force technology and a dark-side aura that would have clearly been felt by either Naruto or Plagueis when they first got a hold of it and it also wouldn't have needed chakra to activate it. I therefore have decided that the Raijin will be like one of the many weapons in the Naruto universe that has amazing abilities but no clear explanation as to how those properties or abilities were created (Kusanagi, the Seven Swordsman Swords, and others) Not the best outcome as I worked myself into a corner with my own writing.

I apologize to those that wanted some kind of treasure quest to happen with both of the Tessents, the second Tessent still remains untouched by any testing, or the Raijin. I had too much already going on in the story to start making a side arc for a large treasure quest for both Tessents and didn't want the Raijin to be able to turn chakra into electrical energy or in some way be reproducible. Again, I apologize for my mix up and am sorry if anyone is disappointed that the Raijin won't play a larger role or that I mistakenly included both Tessents in the information on Naruto's datapad from Ast Kikorie.

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Ages of the group members after this chapters one year time skip

Naruto: 14

Suigetsu: 14

Juugo: 17

Meizu and Gozu: 26

Karin: 14

Tayuya: 15

Kabuto: 21

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One year time-skip from last chapter

35.3 BBY – Current Year

Chapter XXIX

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Somewhere in the Outer-Rim

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Piloting the Star Jewell, HK-47 disengaged the engines and activated the distress beacon. The ship continued moving through momentum, making slow progress to the planet he had come out of hyperspace near. After that was accomplished, he began fluctuating the power to various systems while temporarily turning off power others. Glancing to the cameras that showed the hangar bay, he found one of the Demon Brothers creating a fire in the venting hangar bay. As atmosphere escaped through the small open gap in the hangar doors, so did some flame and all the smoke as it moved into space and created a trail behind the ship.

Checking the sensors, the assassin droid found that their distress beacon and condition had already garnered attention. Several small ships were fast approaching their position, having taken off from a hidden base on the unnamed planet's surface. He had been actively scanning the surface and now knew the location of the base. Not concerned with the incoming fighters, the droid turned his attention to the incoming message. A familiar blonde-haired leader soon appeared and asked, "Have they taken the bait?"

"Response: The foolish Meatbags are on their way. I'm sending the coordinates for the base." Responded the droid and Naruto nodded before saying, "You can begin boarding when you see the landing ships leave the Tsukinowa. What is the timetable?"

Taking a look to the sensors, HK judged how long it would take, "Estimation: Forty-five seconds." Before anything else could be said between the two, one of the incoming ships had jammed the Star Jewel's transmissions. As the ships approached and charged weapons, HK activated the yacht's powerful deflector shields and powered up all the system. Opening up the hatches for the ship's hidden turbolasers, the droid preparing for a short battle.

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Counting down the seconds, Naruto looked to the blue marked OOM-series pilot droids in the bridge and ordered, "Take us into hyperspace."

"Roger, Roger." Came the expected deep machine voice from the droids and Naruto watched out the front viewport as the ship accelerated forward into an opened hyperspace window. They were waiting several parsecs just outside the system and it would only take them a few seconds before arriving and coming out of hyperspace. Though he had done similar actions over a dozen times before, Naruto still found himself slightly nervous entering another combat arena, especially one where he was not in charge of everything. He was much more confident in smaller engagements where he only needed his personal weapons to achieve victory.

Feeling that the moment was right, one of the pilot droids confirmed his feeling as it said, "Coordinates reached, leaving hyperspace." As the ship slowed, a planet instantly came into view and substantially enlarged as they exited the hyperspace window and returned to realspace. The stolen and modified Lucrehulk-class LH-3210 cargo freighter, renamed the Tsukinowa, came to a stop and actively started scanning the planet and surrounding space.

Naruto took a brief moment to look at the beige colored planet before getting to work, "Jam all transmissions and sensors from the battle as well as the coordinates sent to us on the planet. Tell the vessels in the cargo hold to get ready to disembark." He ordered and turned in his chair to get a look at the space battle.

Squinting at the battle occuring in the large viewport and finding it difficult to see what was happening with the Star Jewel, Naruto frowned before he turned around towards the heavy doors to the bridge and activated the advanced viewscreen. For some reason, the designers of the ship decided to have the surface of the door, double as a viewscreen for messages and to better see the events happening outside the ship. A field overlapped the surface of the door, making it appear as a rippling pool and Naruto accessed the sensors and cameras on the exterior of the ship to show him a better view of the Star Jewel.

As the puddle-like viewscreen started showing him a magnified view of the battle, he smirked at how well the plan was going. A luxury yacht adrift in space, and sending a distress call, was the perfect lure for pirates. It could get them to travel across an entire sector and even vacate their hidden base. "Status of the Star Jewel." He quickly ordered as the seconds were passing and he needed to begin his assault.

"The ship's deflector shields are holding." One of the pilot droids reported and Naruto nodded before beginning his plan. Pushing a button on his command chair, Naruto messaged the droids in the hangar to start the device and sent them coordinates of their target. "Activate the weapon, short spectrum, and fire when ready at the coordinates I have given." He ordered and received a, "Roger, Roger," in response to his command.

Watching the viewscreen, he waited anxiously until the invisible Rakatan disruptor field was activated. It didn't take long before he got results as the ships trying to take the yacht suddenly had their systems overpowered and engines damaged. The vessels all instantly lost propulsion and started drifting through space on what momentum they had left from the stalled engines. Since the Star Jewel still had it's shields up during the fields activation, the luxury yacht remained perfectly fine because of the modifications that had been made to it's deflector shields.

"Turn off the weapon but keep it prepared for use on the planet, wide spectrum." Naruto ordered to the droids in the hangar. The Rakatan weapon was so useful once he had constructed his own but he only used it for brief moments when he absolutely needed it. Eventually his privateer fleet would become large enough that he wouldn't have to rely on it for such engagements.

Giving the signal to his transports, a number of small but heavily armed vessels came out the hangar. These were followed by a small force of space tugs that held back to let the other ships work until they were needed. Once the vessels had cleared the ship and moved towards the disabled fleet for capture and boarding, Naruto turned his attention back to the planet and the pirate base. Using the ship's sensors, he got a view of the planet's surface near the coordinates that HK had given. Analyzing the terrain, he chose the best place for a landing site and transmitted the coordinates to the waiting ships.

Activating a button his chair's side console, Naruto began the second phase of the attack, "Suigetsu, begin the ground assault. I'll be down shortly." He casually said over the communications system. A few seconds went by before nothing happened and Naruto pushed the button again, "Suigetsu?"

"You're forgetting something." Commented a voice which he knew to be the white-haired teen. Pushing his head back into the headrest with a groan, Naruto took a few deep breaths before pushing the button again, "General Suigetsu, you may begin your ground assault." He announced in a more authoritative voice and the teen quickly responded in a similar authoritative voice, "At once, Admiral Rasen."

As Naruto watched out the main viewport and saw the C-9979 landing craft start coming out from one of the hangar bays, he wanted to open fire or at least do something to express the anger and frustration he was holding back. 'It's been a year and half since I asked him to join the group back at Orochimaru's hideout and since then he's only become more childish.'

Deciding to ignore the landing craft, he turned back to the viewscreen to find a shuttle coming out of the Star Jewel and knew that HK was not going to let the Smoke Demon boarding parties have all the fun on the disabled pirate ships. Once the crews were pacified, he would take half the ships back to his base on Sarafur and hopefully get the ships fixed so he could add them to his ever-growing privateer fleet. The other remaining half would be picked up by the Black Sun and added to their far larger contingent.

Seeing that everything was in order and no other ships were coming from the planet or heading to the planet, Naruto turned back to the viewport and watched the landing craft begin entering the atmosphere towards the coordinates he had chosen. "Launch two squadrons of Vulture droid starfighters and soften up the pirate's defenses." He ordered and the pilot droids went to work. Seconds later his squadrons shot out of the hangar at speeds far faster than the landing craft and went for attack runs. Once the battle started and he had activated all of the OOM battle droids, Naruto planned to head down to the planet. Black Sun engineers had helped to modify the stolen cargo ship to be able to control a legion of Baktoid Combat Automata droids which was useful for the missions in which he pretended to be the Trade Federation.

'Hopefully I don't have to remind Suigetsu again to take prisoners.' He thought and realizing that it was Suigetsu he was talking about. Of the times he had brought Suigetsu for a ground assault, the teen had carved through opponents and left them to bleed out, so he decided it was probably best to remind him again.

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Moving out of the landing craft, Suigetsu drove a Multi-Troop Transport (MTT) down the ramp and came out on the rocky terrain. Stopping the lumbering repulsorlift vehicle, he took command of his legion of troops which comprised fifty of the solid brown MTTs and numerous Single Trooper Aerial Platforms (STAP). The STAP vehicles were more for scouting and distracting while the bigger MTTs were troop transports that held over a hundred battle droids each, except for Suigetsu's which was specially modified. Bringing his convoy and aerial troops togther, he left half of the fifty MTTs to stay at the landing site and took the rest to the coordinates Naruto had given him. If he needed, he could call for the rest as a second wave.

He wished he had something with more firepower, like a tank, but none of the corporations that comprised the Trade Federation had any that they could get their hands on through piracy. Pushing forward, he kept the sensors active in order to get a better idea of what was ahead. Naruto had given him ground scans of the base and he looked through them before determining the best course of action.

"Yes!" He yelled out loud, causing the pilot droid in the cockpit to look at him. "Its a fort-style base." Celebrated Suigetsu as he took a look at the sensor readings and information that Naruto had sent. "None of that open crater base crap or hidden complex bunker shit." He explained, slightly relieved that he wouldn't have to deal with that again. The loss of the droids didn't matter to him but it was so much harder storming those bases than just a plain fort.

'And no shield generator, even better.' He thought as their obviously detected approach did not cause any protective field to go up. It was so much harder with a shield because none of the repulsorlift vehicles could penetrate it, so they had to deploy the droids in waves and send them in waves to storm the complex. A protected fort with a good old-fashioned door was the types of conflicts he liked the most. 'Especially when they put the front door at the bottom of an incline.' he thought with joy and as his vehicle started to go down the slope towards the front entrance of the facility, Suigetsu removed all limiters and let his MTT pick up as much speed as possible.

The fort he was after was built into either side of a medium width canyon with the entrance to the canyon being blocked off with a tall defensive wall and two laser cannon emplacements. What lay beyond were likely hangars for the ships that had taken off, built into the cliff face with an entire complex either on the canyon floor or built into the walls. While not a more traditional fort or stand-alone structure, the complex was just as good because it was easier to get into.

As the laser cannons started targeting his repulsorlift transport, and the other transports that were in the lead, Suigetsu ignored them until help would arrive. Though heavily armored, his vehicle did not have much in the way of offensive weapons and the STAP vehicles were more for harassment than destruction. The laser canons didn't even bother targeting them and instead focused on the larger troop transports.

As he started to get worried that his vehicles armor couldn't take such sustained fire, help arrived. 'And here's our air support.' Thought Suigetsu with a smile as several Vulture starships flew low and pummeled the bases defenses with strafing runs. Focusing back on the wall main door, Suigetsu's MTT took the lead and he pushed the vehicles to it's maximum speed while most of other MTTs slowed down in order to start unloading troops at the main gate. The MTTs that came with him would draw the primary fire of those in the base, allowing time for the other troop transports outside the gate to unload their droid payload. The transports coming with him would unload at various points inside the base and cause chaos among those trying to defend the base.

"Ramming speed!" Yelled Suigetsu as his seemingly runaway vessel plowed through the front doors of the base and kept going. The shock of the impact nearly knocked him out of his seat. He could see many pirates firing at his vessel as they apparently had rushed to the front gate in order to hold off the attack. Cruising through the middle of the canyon, Suigetsu attempted to maneuver around several obstacles and tried to run down the pirates that were on the ground. "Run'em down." said Suigetsu until he remembered he was in a repulsorlift vehicles. While he could run over them, they weren't in any danger unless he hit them with the front of the vehicle. "Oooh, got one!" Realized the exited teen as he heard a slight pink coming from the front of the speeding vehicle, right after he saw a pirate disappear in the blind spot in front of his vehicle, created from the height of the cockpit.

Taking a quick survey of the complex, Suigetsu found that the canyon was rather short and that the main part of the complex was built into the very back wall. Naruto wanted the leaders of the group captured for interrogation and wasn't concerned with the cannon fodder that likely would have moved to the front of the complex to defend. Keeping his momentum, the teen went straight to the carved rock face and aimed for the door. He didn't need space to deploy weaker battle droids and instead carried two squads of HKB-3 hunter killer droids and three Droidekas. The HKB-3s were not very similar to their groups HK, except for being more dangerous than most other droids. They were armed with a repeating blaster arm and Naruto had given them a stun netting gun in order to capture targets.

Smashing through small containers, Suigetsu reached the building and braced himself as the MTT crashed into the rock wall, smashing the front of the vehicle into the building. Slightly woozy from the impact, Suigetsu turned to find the pilot droid hadn't survived the impact but he moved right past the droid as he took a ladder down to the hold. Jumping down to the hard metal plating, he looked around the spacious lower level to find all the HKB-3s were still strapped in and ready to be deployed. Normally the vessel had a deployment rack for the OOMs but that had been removed in order to allow more rapid deployment of the better droids.

Pulling a lever to release the droids from their harnesses, Suigetsu opened the vessel's front hatch and ordered the Droidekas through first. The three legged droids could roll at much faster speeds than they could walk and upon deploying, could activate a shield unit and serve as an immobile turret with double blasters for hands. As soon as the Droidekas were in and he could hear them distracting the pirates, Suigetsu raised his sword and ordered a charge from the HKB-3s.

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As Naruto gave the order for the OOMs to activate as soon as individual MTTs had completed the deployment operation, he turned in his seat towards the door and got up to leave the bridge. The double doors opened for him and he made his way along the hallway to a lift that would take him to one side of the crescent hangar area. HK and the Demon Brothers had already completed the capture of the small pirate fleet and now the vessels were being brought back to the cargo vessel via the tugs. Though the disruptor field was powerful, ships could still use their weapons, they just didn't have their targeting computers. However, his privateer fleet had been well-equipped with ion cannons so he anticipated the capture of the entire pirate fleet with no loses to his ships or of the enemy ships.

Arriving at the hangar deck, Naruto took a small hover vehicle in order to move through the large port-side hangar. The Cargo vessel was three kilometers long with two semi-circular hangars that stretched all the way from the engines and reactor area at the back of the ship, to the front of the ship where they both ended facing each other. He was not about to waste time walking or running over three kilometers to get to his shuttle. Normally the area was for cargo containers and other shipments but at the moment he was using the stolen ship to house his Trade Federation forces and privateer fleet.

As his ships came into view, Naruto had the droid pilot slow the vehicle down and come to a stop. HK was standing with what prisoners he had managed to capture, waiting for Naruto to arrive. Naruto jumped off the vehicle and walked towards the droid. Looking over the three prisoners, he shook his head at the droid who looked unfazed at his disapproval and lack of people to interrogate. Making three clones, Naruto used Drain Knowledge on the injured prisoners. As the clones pulled out the information, Naruto took out his new datapad and began jotting down useful information that he had obtained form the prisoners.

With the information obtained, Naruto turned to head back to the vehicle before stating, "You know what to do," Towards the assassin droid. Taking out his rifle, HK turned to his prisoners. "Recollection: Terminate with extreme prejudice."

As the hover vehicle moved towards the prepared shuttle, Naruto ignored the blaster shots. Passing by his returned fleet, Naruto inspected the damage and then looked to the incoming ships that were being pulled by tug. Outwardly, the pirate ships had very little damage but that belied the amount of money it would take for him to repair the internal components. He still had quite a few ships back on Sarafur that were just sitting around, waiting until he had the money to work on them. With the Black Sun wanting it's share, Naruto inventoried the ships as he passed by and decided which he would keep and which to send out to his Vigo contact, Narees.

Their arrangement allowed him to build up his privateer fleet but he believed that the Underlord or Narees did not want him building up a fleet too fast and possibly posing a threat to the Syndicate. At present, he was just going after the smaller groups in the Outer-Rim but eventually would be able to deal with larger criminal groups that used bigger ships. Despite being pirates and criminals, many were successful enough or skilled enough to either steal or purchase larger capitol ships.

Arriving at the shuttle, Naruto walked off the hover vehicle and stepped right onto the shuttle. The short landing ramp of the Sheathipede shuttle shut behind him and the vessel was already moving before he got to the cockpit. Sitting in the co-pilot seat next to the pilot droid, Naruto played the role of passenger. The ship quickly moved past the field at the hangar opening which kept the atmosphere inside the ship. A vessel could easily pass through the field but it prevented air from escaping the hangar.

Moving towards the planet, Naruto thought about taking the controls from the droid and piloting the ship himself. He was starting to get fidgety because he liked to pilot his own ships. It was supposed to be an advantage because everything was ready for him and he didn't need to take time to start the ship up, but at the same time, something seemed to be lost with such a luxury. An incoming signal was intercepted by the ship and before the droid could inform him about it, Naruto had already taken control of the comm system and listened to the message.

"We got a runner." He heard Suigetsu's voice in the message and looking towards the planet, Naruto could just make out a ship trying to escape them and leave through the planet's atmosphere on a trajectory away from the cargo ship. "Target that ship and disable it." Naruto quickly ordered after hailing the Tsukinowa. Watching the escaping fighter as his shuttle started entering the atmosphere, Naruto noted when it lost acceleration and started to be pulled back towards the ground by the planet's gravity.

"Follow that ship. I want to land near where it crashes." He ordered to the pilot droid and stood up from his seat, heading to the back of the ship for a quick disembarking.

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The hardened, salty mud broke beneath his feet as he walked towards the only life-sign in the area. Moving around the damaged hull of the small downed craft, Naruto stepped over a few pieces of wreckage as he approached the still-living pirate. The man was attempting to crawl away from the ship with only his arm and he caught sight of Naruto after hearing his footfalls on the crusty salt-flats. Reaching for a weapon, Naruto used the Force to grab it out of his hand. He glanced at the weapon before tossing it aside and moved closer to his target.

Standing next to the man and crouching down, Naruto ignored the man's shouts as he began draining any knowledge that could be useful to them. Pirates were an untrustworthy bunch, even among each other, and though they split their take, most did not use banks. Unless they spent all of their share and didn't save any, they tended to hide their small fortunes in small boltholes, sometimes in their rooms at their base, outside the base, or even on others planets. Once in a while he encountered a pirate that had a bank account but that was rare among the small-time pirates groups they had been targeting.

Naruto was therefore surprised to find a bank account associated with the one he was standing over. Taking out his datapad to jot down the account number for use later, Naruto sifted through the other information he had gathered. The person he was crouched over was apparently the leader of the pirate group they had just destroyed. Looking to a file on his notepad, a face came up which had been given to him during the mission briefing from Narees and he confirmed that the man was the leader of the pirates.

"Who are you?" The man demanded before coughing. His eyes showed much disdain at being defeated and Naruto decided to make it quick. "Today, I'm supposed to be the Trade Federation." Naruto answered before making a swift motion with his hands on the man's head. A popping sound was heard by the only person still alive near the crash site and Naruto let the man's head drop to the ground. Since the pirate leader was the one he needed to get, Naruto took out his sword and proceeded to take the man's head and hand. The head was for needed for proof of the completion of the mission to give to the Black Sun, while the hand was to get access to the man's bank account. Taking out a small scroll, he sealed both items for later.

Standing, Naruto looked over the crash and surveyed his surroundings, looking for any witnesses. 'The smoke might draw some attention from whoever else lives on the planet.' He thought and took out his communicator to send the coordinates to the cleanup crew so they would took care of the site and sift through anything that might be of use. He knew that the dead pirate had taken a good share of money and valuables during the escape attempt, 'And hopefully they aren't destroyed.' Thought Naruto before heading back to the shuttle.

x-x

Seeing a familiar shuttle come down for a landing in the conquered base, Suigetsu looked to his prisoners, of which there were five. Fighting was still going on in certain parts of the base where the remaining pirates had barricaded themselves in against the hordes of droids but they would soon be dealt with. They were proving too difficult to take any of them as prisoners so he would let the weaker droids just finish them off.

Fishing out a datapad from his pocket, Suigetsu looked through the faces of the ones he had captured and glanced back at the screen, which showed the face of a person he was supposed to capture or make sure didn't escape. None of the faces matched and he didn't recall cutting the man down. The guy they needed was either still a part of the fighting or had taken off in the fighter.

'Damnit, I'm going to be blamed for this.' Thought Suigetsu as he tried to ignore the landing shuttle. Noting that one of his prisoners was nodding off, he quickly smacked the pirate across the face to keep him awake and alive. It was his first solo ground campaign and he really wanted it to go smoothly, lest he be delegated to cleanup crew.

Coming down the ramp of the parked shuttle, Naruto glanced around the pirates compound as he took in the details of the features for the first time since glancing over the topography using the Tsukinowa's sensors. It was a lot nicer than many of the bases he had been too recently. The steep sides of the caverns had many carved hangars for numerous ships and Naruto noted two that had not taken off. He quickly made a note of it on his datapad for Juugo and the cleanup team to look at. Shifting his focus to the front gate of the base, he found numerous MTTs were all crowded in the area of the canyon before the gate. 'Hopefully he didn't get any of them wedged together or stuck.' Naruto thought and frowned as he played through the haphazard assault in his mind.

Despite it being a repulsorlift craft and not leaving any tracks on the ground, Naruto could see or at least imagine the course that Suigetsu had taken through the facility from the broken gate. He noted the dead body on the ground, a man that had likely been struck by the out of control MTT that Suigetsu was piloting and shook his head back and forth. A path of destruction had been cut through the facility with containers, likely of stolen cargo, being struck and pushed out of the way. It all led to the lone MTT at the back of the facility. Shaking his head slightly again, Naruto noted that the fighting he could hear was not a part of his imagination and there was still a small battle going on somewhere in the southern part of the complex.

Staring at the MTT that was smashed into the rock wall at the back of the canyon, he could see all the hallmarks of Suigetsu's handiwork and knew they may not be able to get the vehicle unstuck from the rock. 'A bold, full frontal assault with little forethought. At least he thought to move a few of the other MTTs inside of the facility and not just his own. If I hadn't launched the fighters he would have been taken out by the laser turrets at the front gate.' Naruto surmised and made his way over to his group member and the prisoners.

'Five?' Naruto counted and though it was better than HK, there had probably been over thirty pirates at the base. Looking over their condition, he noted the one with no legs and extremely pale complexion. The pirate was delirious and ready to pass out or die from blood loss. "Can't you just stun them? Do you have to cut off the legs?" Naruto questioned and Suigetsu just shrugged but quickly added, "I put a tourniquet on this time." Looking to the man's stumps, Naruto did see the wire that Suigetsu had used to tie off the wound and lower the blood loss. It was a slight improvement from Suigetsu's usual methods but not by much.

"I guess that's an improvement." Naruto said out loud before creating shadow clones and going to work on getting any knowledge that could be important from them. While the clones worked and the original closed his eyes to coordinate and collate, Suigetsui decided it was as good a time as ever to give the bad news, "I still haven't found..." but before he could finish, Naruto cut him off, "I've taken care of it." The white-haired teen visibly relaxed at the revealed information and the fact that the mission had not been a failure.

Waiting for Naruto to finish writing everything down and not fazed in the least when the HKB-3 droids executed the captured pirates, Suigetsu waited until Naruto was finished before asking, "So...what's my score?" Mulling over all that he had seen and taking into consideration everything that the teen had done, Naruto plainly informed him, "Sixty."

"SIXTY!? Where did I go wrong?" Yelled Suigetsu as he demanded to know why his score for the mission was so low on the zero to one hundred grading scale.

Taking a deep breath before answering, Naruto began, "Your assault was sloppy and you nearly got your vehicle destroyed before reaching the base. You could have waited for the air support, which you forgot to call for. You failed to use any of the STAP scout vehicles and I'm not even sure where you sent the ones that you came with. I don't see them anywhere. The MTTs at the gate have completely cut off any hope of reinforcements and half of the troop transports that you came with are stuck behind that traffic jam you orchestrated at the gate. Your rush into the facility destroyed several cargo containers that have spoiled the contents and diminished our bonus pay. The primary objective nearly got away and I can still hear fighting going on somewhere in the facility. I can only hope that it's still pirates fighting for their lives and not your own droids attacking each other."

Suigetsu started to say something but stopped several times as he looked for a way to refute or at least try and increase his score. "What about that guy I ran over with the MTT. Even you have to admit that's impressive."

"I did take that into consideration and you got bonus points. Its not often that you can achieve a hit and run in such a slow repulsorlift vehicle." Naruto informed the teen and thinking over his words, he realized how terrible it all sounded. It was like some sort of demented game instead of a true evaluation of Suigetsu's performance on the mission.

Before deciding to accept the score, Suigetsu suddenly realized something, "I lost to Karin at fighting pirates!?" He continued to rant and rave as he threw his hands up in the air and started pacing around, remembering that the redhead scored a seventy-five during her first assault on a pirate base. The differently minded girl had tried to use stealth during her assault by jamming sensors and attacking at night. Though she captured a significant amount of pirates, her droid losses were also significantly high. The pirate leader had almost gotten away, if not for a direct hit to the hyperdrive with a lucky shot from one of their privateer fleet. Unannounced to Karin, the pirates she captured had all been executed as soon as she was back on the ship in orbit.

After Suigetsu had calmed down, Naruto told him to recall his forces and go and finish the remaining pirates off personally. As the MTT's started moving out of the base and removed themselves from the front gate, Naruto made a call to Juugo and told him to commence the cleanup. Looking to the sky, he soon found another C-9979 landing craft coming down to the surface. This time it was heading right for the base and touched down just outside the front gate. Instead of troop transports, a convoy of lifter droids and repulsorlift skids soon started pouring out from the landing craft. Ignoring the dead pirates and damaged battles droids, Juugo lept down from the first skiff and walked up to Naruto as the lifter droids started loading the cargo containers.

Naruto nodded to the orange-haired teen and they proceeded to take a walk-through of the facility while the remaining droids waited for further instructions. In accordance with his verbal contract with the Black Sun, specifically with Vigo Narees, Naruto was allowed to help himself to anything inside the pirate base, save for stolen cargo or contraband items. While part of the captured vessels went to the Black Sun, they received a payment for all salable cargo items they delivered to Narees, which amounted to a sum of thirty-five percent of the total value for the stolen items. The Black Sun smuggled huge amounts of anything and everything so they had no problem finding a buyer for the cargo. Since the risk was primarily their's, they kept the remaining sixty-five percent of the black market sale price. It was a sort of finder's fee for whatever cargo they brought back and extra money added to the agreed lump sum price for each mission he and his group went on.

Sending out numerous shadow clones, Naruto started to take inventory of everything that he wanted Juugo to take from the facility. Power generators, security systems, spare parts for ships, tools, and anything else that they could use on Sarafur was loaded. All of it would be useful to his expanding privateer fleet and base on the tidal-locked planet.

When everything was loaded, he would sometime further damage the pirate base, making sure to leave the droids in plain view but ensuring that the base did not get used again, by another pirate group. Other times, it was left how it was, possibly because the Black Sun intended to use it in the future. It really all depending on what Narees asked for during the mission briefing. 'It's a good thing he wanted to leave this one alone. I'd waste too much explosives trying to destroy all the hangars.' Naruto thought as he moved to his shuttle, knowing that Juugo could take care of the rest.

After they had left, he would have the Demon Brothers secretly go after any boltholes or hidden loot that he had determined was of interest from the minds of those he looked through. The two loved going on small treasure hunts and they got a portion of the haul so they would keep quiet about it. He even had them go to various banks with the account numbers he got and had them make large withdrawals in the guise of the dead pirates.

Before leaving, Naruto created more clones to help and proceeded into the shuttle to head back to the Tsukinowa and finish the mission. 'Forty-Two should be in the hangar. I'll take that and leave Juugo in charge of taking the Tsukinowa back to the hiding place in the Kuna Constellation.

x-x

Mustafar

x-x

Going to the opposite side of the planet from his hidden base and operations with the Musfarians, Naruto sent out a confirmation signal and was allowed to land at the unfinished base of his Black Sun contact. Jutting out from the unfinished building, was a single walkway over a slumbering caldera that led to multiple landing sites. Several Black Sun ships were patrolling the area and he spotted numerous construction droids working hard to finish the tall building that was constructed into the wall of the caldera.

The building was quite different from Sidious's complex, being tall and thinner. It was also mostly anchored into the rock and didn't appear to need repulsorlifts in order to keep it from falling into the glowing caldera. Making his way across the twisting path from the landing site, Naruto noted several hidden Black Sun guards on the base and knew they would start shooting if given the command. There were also gun emplacements and likely hidden weapons as well. Glancing up at the height of the facility as he reached the main door, Naruto thought the building looked more impressive every week of the construction phase and idly wondered if all subversive organizations in the galaxy liked to put secret bases on Mustafar.

Seeing several security devices, Naruto touched the control panel of the large double doors. He didn't have to wait long before a familiar voice beckoned, "You may enter." Shaking his head slightly at the theatrics of the Iktotchi Vigo, Naruto was about to start walking into the building but the doors refused to open. Feeling slightly embarrassed, he touched the panel again and the voice returned, "Is it stuck again?" The man asked and Naruto nodded towards the camera before responding, "I can manage."

He heard a loud audible sigh come through the communications device before Narees said, "I'll see you in a few minutes then." The tone was much softer than the initial greeting and Naruto held his features as he heard the disappointment in the man's voice but knew it was not directed not at him.

x-x

Coming out of the lift as it abruptly stopped from high speed, Naruto braced himself on the rail before the doors opened. Exiting the lift, he found himself in the main hall of the fortress-like building and walked forward to sit at the large main table, opposite the smiling Iktotchi. Usually Narees stood to greet him but he the temperature inside the room was abysmal and he decided not to comment on that either.

"Climate controls are on the fritz again." Narees explained with a shake of his head but though Naruto could see the man's apologetic look, he didn't feel it. The Vigo soon gestured to the seat at the opposite end of the table and Naruto sat. Two very, very scantily clad Twi'leks were on either side of the man, waving some kind of fan in order to cool him off while Naruto sat by himself and tried to ignore the obviously contrived distraction.

Before getting down to business, Narees suddenly remembering his manners and asked, "Would you care for a drink?" Normally Naruto would decline the offer because he was neither thirsty, nor did he want that kind of drink, however, he accepted. The first time they met, and he had declined, it felt as though their conversation turned slightly sour because of him declining. In the following meetings, he had accepted but made sure to use the Force in order to ensure there was no poison.

"I don't have any ice, though. Unfortunately, I only like it chilled." Narees added after Naruto accepted the offer. Conveniently, two glasses and a bottle of a dark liquid were on a small tray on Naruto's side of the table. Pouring one glass of the liquid, Naruto chilled it close to freezing with the Force and slid the glass down the length of the table before pouring himself a second glass. The actions caused Narees to smile as he stopped the glass and found it nice and cold. Right after Naruto had finished pouring the second glass, Narees downed the glass and proceeding to take the still chilled, but empty glass, and placed it on his neck for some relief from the room's heat.

As Naruto started drinking form his own glass, seeing that it was semi-safe to drink given that his host had just consumed it without hesitation, Narees inquired about his visit, "Hopefully you haven't come all this way to pour me a chilled drink or become my new bartender? I do have an opening?"

With a small smile, more out of humoring than amusement, Naruto informed the Vigo, "I have completed the newest task and have brought you proof of elimination." Naruto ended the statement with a small glance beside his chair to the item he had brought with him. It was kept in a small bag that was typically used for medical transport of organs and was opaque.

"Yes, I just heard that the Trade Federation is attacking pirates again. I can only guess that you've brought me another head?" Questioned the Vigo before shaking his head slightly in mock exasperation. "Usually my assassins bring me a finger nail, blood sample, or tooth. You're the only one that brings an entire head to confirm the success. I must say it does save me time on confirming through my sources about whether the task was completed but it gets rather messy around here with so many heads. Well, mostly I just end up throwing them into the caldera after you leave but I have been thinking about a wall of heads. You know, put them in a jar and display them. I could tell my guests that they were all my dispatched enemies and such. What do you think?" Inquired Narees with a serious expression.

The answer to the question was rather obvious. Naruto could express revulsion at the idea or just give a disgusted look, and even tell Narees why it would be a terrible idea but Naruto decided to play along, "And what would happen if one of your guests recognized one of the heads?"

"True, that would be bad. I guess I'll just have to keep tossing them into the caldera. At the present I don't have another mission for you. The Boys in the intelligence department are working on locating another target, so I'll be in touch soon on specifics. I trust that you'll leave the cargo you acquired at the normal location and notify for pickup. Your money is at the lift and it includes the extra from the previous mission. Enjoy your week of public service on Naboo." Narees informed him and Naruto nodded before standing and heading to the lift where indeed a case was sitting, waiting for him.

Normally during a business deal, Naruto would count the money or inquire as to how much the cargo he stole the last time had sold for, so he could figure out if he was being shorted, however he was dealing with the Black Sun. According to Plagueis, he should never ask about money. Bartering, demanding, or counting was also frowned upon. Money was something that the Black Sun did not mess around with and everyone was paid the amount they were owed. If he was told that the money was all there, then the money was all there and he should never try to go back on their deal. Such actions would be extremely disrespectful and the Black Sun had killed lucrative business partners, employees, criminal partners and anyone else associated with the syndicate over such infractions.

Leaving the head by his seat on the table, Naruto looked to the smiling Narees before the lift door shut and he was taken back down to the lower levels. Though he appeared calm during the meeting, he took a few breaths in order to ease his pulse and wiped the sweat off his forehead. Using the Force, he had kept himself from getting too hot inside the balmy room but he was still heated.

He only realized after the first meeting was over, the possibility that he been fooled and completely taken in by the Vigo known as Narees. The man was extremely difficult to read, to the point of feeling that perhaps Narees had been trained against mind tricks. Originally he thought that perhaps the man was joking or wasn't taking things seriously, but only after mediating concerning the first meeting did he realize how much Narees was manipulating him. Though the facility was still under construction, he wondered about the many...obstacles that he had encountered and how many were faked in order to distract, agitate, frustrate, and perhaps even test him.

The door on the way in, the lift abruptly stopping, the heat of the room, the scantily clad dancers, and most of all was the drink. That was only on his current visit. In the previous ones and at the other hideout, the Iktotchi had pitted him against a whole different host of obstacles. He would bet money that the offering of the drink was to get him into a position where it became a habit that he would accept the drink and possibly drink it before having Narees drink first. 'Eventually there may come a time where I'd become so accustomed that I'd never think that poison or some narcotic was inside.' He gathered and knew that Narees probably created friction during their first meeting so he would realize to accept the drink the next time.

'Or maybe I'm thinking too far into this.' He considered but he was still willing to wager that what he thought was completely true. Even the lighting in the room was used to great effect, putting him on the spot, and that the Iktotchi's chair was both taller and was raised up compared to his own. The distance of the table was just enough to lessen the effect and make it hard to tell. 'He didn't rise through the ranks and become a Vigo of the Black Sun by being an idiot. He likely did it through cunning, deception, and making everyone underestimate him.' Naruto concluded and wondered what his next visit would be like.

After exiting through the working front doors, Naruto slowly walked the distance to his ship and got on board. Only then did he open the case and look over the money inside. He always tried to use the Force in order to check the case for a trap but he didn't dare do it while still within Narees' sight, which included the entire facility, outside and inside. 'The best part of their rules for deals is the fact that I shouldn't open the case, until I am already outside of the building. Instead of money, it could easily be a bomb waiting to go off on a timer or when the case was opened. Dealing with the Black Sun will certainly keep me on my toes.' Naruto mused as he thoroughly checked the case for any transmitter, explosive or anything else that could be harmful.

Having only dealt with Narees, Naruto had never once spoken to or even seen the Black Sun Underlord. He also could only guess that the plan for attacking pirates and making it look like the Trade Federation was doing it, came from the Underlord but it also could have been Narees. At present, he was unsure of what the endgame was for the various missions he was sent on. A part of him thought perhaps they were merely training or one of Narees' games but after consulting with Plagueis over the matter, it seemed something different was going on.

The Muun believed that it involved creating a war between the large Republic conglomerates and the various pirate factions in the galaxy, which were primarily in the Outer-Rim. That explained the reason for him using trademark droids, vehicles, and ships from a given group while attacking a pirate hideout. Thus far, he had been on fifteen missions and attacked not only pirates but Trade Federation and even Techno Union ships. That was the reason why he had the Tsukinowa and the small droid army. It was much easier for him to take out the pirates his way, using stealth and infiltration, but Narees was specific that everyone to think that the Trade Federation was retaliating for piracy against their trade ships.

Once they were able to get their hands on military forces, droids or ships, from the other commerce giants, Naruto was willing to wager that he would also start attacking pirates in the guise of all the others. For the present, he would likely continue to use the Trade Federation as they had managed to successfully lobby the Republic Senate for he creations of small military forces in order to combat piracy against their ships. Therefore, they had a lot of forces moving around the galaxy, both for defense but also as cargo heading for a Trade Federation owned planet or other location.

Tossing the case into the co-pilot's seat, Naruto took the controls and started the ship. Looking to the dashboard, he noted that a message had been sent to him while he was gone. Curious, but wary, Naruto soon found that it was a brief message from Gato.

"I know you're here on the planet. Are you forgetting about me again? Can't even stop in to say hello?" questioned the man's voice before the message ended. Short on time, Naruto did not head for his hideout on the planet, but instead messaged Gato back while taking off.

Not putting Gato on the small holopad in the cockpit, Naruto kept the message speaker only and contacted the individual that they had left to start the mining operation. "Are you leaving the planet again without even coming to see me?" Demanded Gato and Naruto held in his sigh before stating, "I don't have time to stop in. I have public service to complete on Naboo, but you shouldn't worry, I haven't forgotten about you and our arrangement." Though it was meant to assure Gato, his statement had the opposite effect and Naruto believed it was likely because Gato detected his ship leaving the atmosphere.

"Bullshit! It's been over a year already and I've heard almost nothing from you. I've moved this operation way ahead of schedule and gotten no thanks for it. We're already getting results from mining and the first shipment will be ready shortly." Complained the irate voice of the short man.

"Gato, I can't help the fact that I'm currently busy but I was about to message you..." and Naruto ignored the scoffing sound on the other line before continuing, "..though I have to get back to Naboo right now, I will be sending you information in a day or so. It concerns a meeting that I have tentatively scheduled for two weeks from now. You will need to look everything over and make sure to memorize everything."

"A business meeting?" Inquired the man in a much kinder tone. "Yes, you've done well here on Mustafar so it's time to expand off-world. It won't happen right away, probably over the next year, but that is entirely dependent on the success of the meting." Naruto informed him as he plotted hypserspace coordinates.

"Then I eagerly await the information." Stated Gato in an even tone and Naruto gave a farewell before entering the forming hyperspace window.

x-x

Naboo

Rudshar Estate

x-x

Landing in the estate's hangar, Naruto exited the ship and looked to the night sky. There were few lights in Theed at night and therefore he had an amazing view of the stars and two of Naboo's moons from the landing pad beside his castle. Checking his watch, he found that it was about 1:00 in the morning on Naboo. Two days of travel back from Mustafar had been annoying but unavoidable.

'I have to be up in less than five hours.' Naruto realized with a groan and swiftly walked to his castle. He noted the Vulture was not parked in the hangar, which meant that everyone else that went with him on the mission was likely still in transit from Sarafur. Moving around the galaxy in a weeks time-frame was difficult but he really couldn't avoid it unless he made special arrangements or started using someone to fill in for him.

Traveling up the lift, Naruto went past the floor his bedroom was on and straight to his workshop on level ten. Walking through the opened door, he glanced around the dark room and his various projects in different levels of completion. Since moving in, he had started getting organized and dividing up the areas with large workbenches placed all over the room. Projects had their own bench or multiple benches and he had storage for all the tools he used. Hidden in the back of the room, and separated by a partition, was all of his computers and digital storage. Only instead of a regular computer, he was using the Rakatan computer for most of his needs and it was hooked up to his Star Map. The decoy computer was clearly visible while the Rakatan computer was better hidden.

It was a poor hiding place but with both devices next to each other, he doubted even Plagueis would be able to tell their dark-side presence apart or suspect that it wasn't just the Star Map that was being felt. 'Speaking of my Master...' Naruto thought as he felt above him and found Plagueis was still up, working on something. 'Or perhaps he's sleeping in his lab again.' Naruto mused but even he did as such once in a while.

"Lights." Naruto commanded and the newly illuminated room allowed him to get a better look over one of the most prized projects he had recently completed. It was his very own lightsaber. Picking up the heavy weapon, Naruto looked over the weapon, remembering all the choices he had made and design changes to the standard lightsaber template. The lightsabers he had found on Lehon turned out to actually be able to connect to each other, end to end, and make a dual-blade weapon. While it was interesting, he had chosen the standard design but with a slightly longer handle to better use two hands.

Unlike other lightsaber examples that Plagueis had told him about and given him mental images of, Naruto's did not possess any controls on the handle. It was just a straight cylindrical handle but featured a small sphere at the bottom with studs to use as a skull-crusher. The handle length was wrapped with simple ninja tape and it ended just a few inches below the blade emitter where he had cut and carved out the symbol of his clan in two thin slices of synthetic lightsaber crystal; placing them as decoration. Above that were four small fins, evenly spaced around the cylinder that acted as a guard and above those was the crude phobium emitter.

Jutting out from the sides of the emitter were two knife-like pieces. When the blade was activated, they seemed as though they touched the side of the lightsaber blade but actually didn't. The blades stood nearly five inches long and were modified from two force pikes. They contained the same technology as the tip of the force pike, which was a vibration tip and also a stun emitter. This meant that they could be used to cut with the power of a vibroblade and also deliver a powerful shock, similar to a taser and knock out most beings.

With the modifications to the standard lightsaber template, Naruto's version was a powerful and useful tool no matter if the lightsaber blade was activated or not. The cylinder, force pike extensions, fins, and pummel of the weapon were all created through Sith Alchemy and could survive being struck by another lightsaber. Naruto had mixed a small amount of chakra metal in with the metal he used so it was very easy to channel chakra into the handle. These modifications gave the lightsaber a similar red coloring, letting it match his sword. It also significantly added weight, which is actually what Naruto wanted as he strove to give the handle more weight than a normal lighstaber so it was similar to wielding his sword.

Inside the longer handle were all of the mechanisms found in other lightsabers, as well as internal controls to activate and manipulate the blade. Should someone get a hold of Naruto's weapon, they would be likely be confused by the lack of any external controls and may not even be able to activate the lightsaber. The internal dials and activator for the blade were made out of chakra metal, so Naruto could actually activate and modulate his lightsaber with chakra alone or even the Force if he was concentrating enough. Without ever having to touch anything on the exterior, it meant that he could make modifications to the blade length and power under scrutiny from an opponent and be able to surprise them.

Near the controls was the main assembly, containing the focusing crystals that Naruto had procured or created. He was using three crystals and a focusing lens. The largest and main crystal was a synthetic lightsaber crystal that Plagueis had instructed him on creating through the use of a furnace and Sith Alchemy. Beneath that red crystal were two similar crystals that he had managed to procure at great difficulty because they were only found in one location in the galaxy. The first was Opila crystal which helped to generate a more intense blade and was milky white in color. Below the Opila was a Jenruax crystal that gave the projected blade more agility for both fighting and blaster deflection. Interestingly enough, Jenraux was merely a refined Opila crystal. It was a completely clear crystal having all impurities removed through extensive meditation and use of the Force to remove the cloudiness that the Opila crystal had.

Just above the dual diatium power cells, one for the lightsaber and the other for the vibrating blades and shock emitter at the top, were multiple synthetic crystals that Naruto had created and shaped into a focusing lenses for the weapon. Through the use of the lenses and energizers, the energy from the high-output battery was converted to plasma.

There were numerous crystals throughout the Galaxy that could be used in a lightsaber. The majority of which were controlled by the Jedi but they could not control or monitor the sale or mining of the others. Even a piece of the Krayt Dragon Pearls that Suigetsu had pulled from the gullet of the beast on Tatooine could be refined and implemented in a lightsaber. Naruto had chosen the Opila because of the special properties that it and it's refined form provided. Having been shot at numerous times, he knew the need for blaster deflection and he greatly liked the idea of being able to cut through materials faster. The only problem with the weapon was the synthetic lightsaber crystal.

With both the other crystals being white or off-white, the color of the blade was directly created by the red synthetic crystal that he had created. The two similar crystals were unable to create a stable white blade by themselves and needed another crystal. While the lightsaber was powerful, he refrained from using it until he could come with an alternative crystal in order to change the color. If someone saw him using it, they may not remember his face but unless they were color blind, they would remember the red blade. While that didn't necessarily mean that he was a Sith, it would certainly attract the attention of the Jedi and Sidious.

It was possible to create a synthetic lightsaber crystal in different colors, however he had yet to be able to accomplish anything other than slightly different shades of red. One such brighter shade he ended up using as the Uzumaki symbol decoration. The process required the dark-side of the Force as well as Sith Alchemy in order to grow and shape the crystal, which always resulted in a red crystal, 'Unless you know how to change the color.' he thought with frustration as though Plagueis told him it was possible, even the Sith Lord didn't know how to change the color. It was apparently not something the Muun ever needed to know. Plaguies was a Sith and they primarily used red because that was what color synthetic crystals typically grew as, so up until the point when he had inquired about it, his Master had never attempted to create other colors.

The Rakata used slightly different means for growing crystals and predating the Jedi or Sith, they were also the first developed their version of the lightsaber. The aptly named Forcesaber, was powered by the dark-side of the Force and it would be thousands of years before either Force group determined exactly how to create an equivalent. Their initial copies lacked a small enough power source and had a cord coming from the handle which was attached to a heavy battery pack on the users belt. They were known as protosabers and only hundreds of years later would a battery be developed to fit inside the handle.

'When I have the time, I'd like to make a Forcesaber or perhaps modify my weapon into a Forcesaber to see what the differences are and how much it draws on the dark-side of the Force. It also couldn't hurt to grow a crystal using their methods as well.' Naruto thought before gently setting the weapon back down. He only had the chance to use it while practicing with small spherical seeker droids on his blaster deflection. Most of his current missions for the Black Sun did not require his fighting skills, so he had left the blade in his workshop, thinking that if he took it, he would be tempted to use it on any enemies he crossed paths with.

Plagueis planned to get several specially made droids that he could practice against or pit him against Suigetsu so both could get more experience. These plans were still in the works though as they didn't have much space or enough privacy yet to start dueling with lightsabers. Such a room was currently in the works as Naruto had plans for expanding into one of the nearby mountains, creating numerous hangars for future ships and to hide the Star Jewel. The last thing he wanted was to leave scorch marks or damage his Estate with a lightsaber or an out of control duel with Suigetsu.

Despite needing to get his sleep, Naruto still had to come to his workshop level and look again at his creation. Hopefully he would be able to use it soon, for more than just practice with seekers. "Lights off." Naruto said before moving back towards the turbolift.

"Goodnight." Came a male voice speaking Rakatan. Naruto turned in the direction of the hidden Rakatan computer and smiled slightly before replying back in Rakatan and Ibonihese, "Goodnight, Tanmatsu. We'll be working on the project after I get back."

Given that the computer was very intelligent, Naruto decided to stop calling it computer or the Rakatan equivalent. He asked if there was anything that it wanted to be called but the device said it did not mind, so Naruto had chosen a name for it, 'Tanmatsu.' It basically meant computer terminal, which was not much better but at least it was something. Sometimes he called it by the nickname, 'Tan-san.' With how much he had been accessing the computer's extensive archive, he had inevitably started to learn Rakatan and stopped calling on HK to translate for him or working on a vocabulary and translation program to add to Tanmatsu.

x-x

Suddenly awaking with a start, Naruto looked around his bedroom before realizing where he was. Trying to calm his heavy breathing, he tried to remember the dream that had had caused him to wake. 'It was those creepy slitted yellow eyes again.' He realized and fell back on the pillow. His stomach was hurting again, which he knew meant that the seal was starting to weaken. He had replaced, more than once, the additional protective seal which kept him from accessing any of the Kyuubi's chakra. He was currently on his third such seal as they kept failing. 'And each time I put on a new one, it fails at a faster rate than the previous one.' he recalled, before noticing the first rays of sun coming up.

'What time..." he thought, ooking to the clock in the room and eyes widening upon seeing that he had overslept. Throwing off the covers, he jumped out of bed and started getting ready because he had to be in Theed by six-thirty and it was already five after. After going to the bathroom and grabbing his uniform from the closet, Naruto ran out of his bedroom still in his boxers and went to the lift. It only took a few seconds after pushing the button he wanted for the lift to arrive at the main living floor.

Swiftly exiting the lift, he tossed the newly laundered uniform over a couch and headed for the kitchen to make himself something to eat. The last time he had not eaten before duty, it made everything worse. Nearly burning the hotcakes, Naruto added bantha butter and carbosyrup before digging in. Checking his watch every thirty seconds, he endeavored to chew faster and downed his juice.

With the last pieces of breakfast still being chewed, Naruto started putting on his uniform. He got the blue pants on and the matching blue tunic shirt that came down a few inches above his knees. Both items were made of armor-weave but would provide little protection should he take a direct hit. Before putting on the rest, he went to the lift so he could go up and brush his teeth.

The lift opened to reveal a very tired Karin in her nightgown. The redhead aimlessly walked out of the lift and Naruto greeted her with, "Morning," before moving past her for the lift. He received a mumbled response as she followed the smell of food and would find a stimulating drink to help her become more awake.

Checking his watch once again, Naruto frowned at the fact that Karin did not have to be in until almost an hour after he did. 'We did choose different paths for our public service.' He acknowledged before the lift opened again and he quickly moved to his bathroom.

x-x

Coming back to the main living floor, Naruto quickly put on his tall leather boots before attaching his belt, putting on his leather bracers and then searching for his cap. He found it on the floor and he put it on before turning to look at Karin. The girl looked over his appearance while she poured herself a cup of stimcaf and shrugged. She wasn't awake yet to notice if everything on his uniform was aligned and proper for inspection.

Before he left, she asked, "Lunch?" to which he responded, "Sure. I'll meet you at the hospital around noon." The lift door closed and he headed towards the ground floor to take a speeder. He knew the request was mostly because Karin had only just started her work as an assistant nurse in Theed Medical Center and she still didn't know many of the other nurses. However he really didn't mind as he didn't know many in his group either and no one ever invited him to lunch.

It was while looking for a way to help Tayuya, that Kabuto had discovered that they were cousins and not just distantly related but actual cousins. After such a discovery, Naruto had gotten Karin an identity as well and she had become Karin Rudshar, his cousin, and subsequently also inherited a portion of the estate.

As Naruto sprinted out of the estate and headed for the parked speeder bikes, he still thought it was rather strange having actual, living family. Being that the discovery had happened only a few months prior, he hadn't noted any real differences between how he treated Karin before the discovery and how he treated her after. But there was the distinct possibly that his perspective on the matter did not allow him to see such changes. Regardless, he had found the first few weeks rather awkward because he didn't know how to act her around her or if he should act differently or not. Eventually he had stopped worrying about it as it didn't seem to faze Karin all that much and he had felt the same should be true for himself.

Checking his watch once again, Naruto frowned at the short amount of time he had left and activated the speeder, only to lunge back and grab his cap as it flew off. Putting the cap partly beneath his thigh in order to keep it from flying off again, he activated a small hidden switch on the console and quickly more than doubled his rate of speed.

He needed to reach Theed in a few minutes and cover quite a distance, so he broke the law. Speeder bikes on Naboo were all speed-limited in order to keep people safe and avoid accidents. While he had a licensed official make the modification to his licensed speeder bike, he later added the hidden switch in order to turn off the limiter and allow the speeder bike to achieve it's maximum acceleration and reach it's maximum velocity.

Cutting across the water, and through a path that was well known to him, Naruto avoided all obstacles while he pushed the bike to the limit. Despite taking a meandering course, he could be at Theed in four minutes. 'But I only have seven to get to the headquarters building,' He realized and headed straight for one of the speeder parking zones.

Theed did not allow speeder traffic within city limits so he had to park his vehicle and proceed on foot to the Royal Naboo Security Forces Headquarters building which was near the palace. Slowing as he neared the city, Naruto re-engaged the limiter and his speed significantly dropped as he headed for one of the open spots in the provided land speeder parking zone. Jumping off the vehicle and sliding his identity card through the reader, a parking fee was waived on account of his affiliation and he took off toward the building he was after.

Moving in and out of pedestrians, Naruto found that he was the only person running while everyone else walked at a sedate pace towards their destination. Checking his watch as the u-shaped building came into view, he noted that he only had less than a minute before being declared late. 'Shit, I'm gonna be late.' he thought and aimed not for the main entrance but instead for a side door so he could possibly get into the assembly room without anyone noticing that he was late.

The headquarters building was quite large, being several hundred feet long and about the same distance wide. It had three stories above ground and at least one sublevel that he knew about. Unlike most other building in Theed, it was flat roofed and had a long unadorned courtyard in the opening of the u-shape.

Slowing as he stealthily moved through the corridors, Naruto tried to act natural as he moved through the halls. Passing by other security officers and personnel he tried not to look out of place. Despite his pace and serious expression, he noted that a few of the ranked security members knew that he was late again and tried to hide a slight amusement. Monday assembly was terribly annoying and cumbersome because he always had to be there at the given time and running around for the Black Sun, then coming back to Naboo on time was difficult. Ignoring the looks, and remembering the layout of the building, Naruto chose to room near the large assembly and training room so he could make use of the vents and gain access without the large double doors opening and announcing the fact that he was late.

Ducking into the small maintenance room, Naruto latched onto the wall with chakra and began removing the vent cover. Whoever had designed the ventilation system for the building, had made the ducts just large enough for a person to crawl into, 'Not sure if that was by design or not. Seems kinda silly for the security headquarters to have such an unsecured exploit, but then this is Naboo.' He thought while pulling himself into the duct and closing the vent door behind him. Knowing where he was going, he headed for an area of the large assembly room that was used for storage, or at least storage containers were usually stacked there.

As he crawled closer to the room, he could hear a single female voice addressing the gathered Junior Palace Guard, whose life-signs he could soon feel. 'At least with everyone focused on Captain Magneta, I can try and slip in without being noticed.' He concluded and finally arrived at the vent door he was after. Looking through the thin openings in the vent, he finally could see what was going on in the room and knew that the routine was still in progress for the cadets that were planning on joining one of the branches of the Royal Naboo Security Forces.

The security chief herself, Captain Magneta liked to address the cadets early every Monday and go over any special events or jobs required for the upcoming week. She walked down the center of the group, with half standing on either side of her. The cadets were all facing her and lined up in multiple rows. Usually it was just routine and she spoke for a few minutes, inspected the Junior Palace Guard members and then they were dismissed to get their assignments.

The first few months of their enrollment in the program consisted of training and education in just about every aspect that they would need or should encounter during their assignments. They learned about blaster safety, practiced shooting, were educated on upholding the laws of Naboo, dealing with traffic accidents, trained to handle the speeders utilized by the security forces, and much more. Despite it being exciting stuff for the cadets, it was far from thrilling for Naruto, who spent most of the training sessions completely bored.

With the training faze over, they were now on limited duty service, which mostly involved filling in where needed and accompanying ranked security forces on patrols, traffic control, guard duty, or many of the lesser jobs of the Royal Security Forces. This included a minimum of seventeen hours each week of volunteer service towards completion of the two year program and promotion to part-time or active volunteers in the ranked security forces. It wasn't until they were old enough and eclipsed the mandatory public service period for all Nabooans that they could become full-time security guards or officers and get paid.

Quietly getting the vent door open, Naruto kept hold of the door while he slowly crawled out of the vent and tried to keep himself hidden. Looking around, he found a nearby storage container and stretched out his foot to make contact so he could close the vent door. Normally he would just drop to the ground but his almost knee high boots were not meant for sneaking and he found it difficult to dampen the sound from them. The last thing he wanted was someone to see him using chakra or using the Force to close the vent door that was almost six feet off the ground.

When he had gotten his feet on the crate, he pushed off from the wall and stabilized himself before leaning back and replacing the vent door. The door went back on with a soft click and Naruto crouched before carefully letting himself down to the floor while bracing himself on the crate lid. On the ground, he moved through the lined crates and stopped as he neared the end. The captain was still talking and starting to look through the lines of cadets standing at attention. Seeing that the inspection was still going on and looking around to make sure no one could see him, Naruto quietly moved towards the group nearest him. Their backs were facing him and because the group of nearly one hundred were lined up so close together, the opposite side had a difficult time seeing him.

What he didn't see was a taller figure spot movement through the shorter crowd of teens. Lieutenant Panaka spotted someone sneaking into the line of cadets and knew exactly who it was. As Captain Magneta walked down the next line of cadets and came to face him, he made a few hand gestures and she nodded. It wasn't hard for her either to guess who it was that had decided to join the group late.

"If it isn't Cadet Rudshar, making his late appearance." Sated the Captain to a confused group of cadets. As heads started turning and the cadets looked around for the person that the captain was referring to, almost everyone had trouble spotting him as they were all dressed in the same outfit, with their cadet insignia engraved upon the small emblem on the front of their military caps. The only difference between their outfits and the captain's as well as lieutenant's was the different marking on the cap and the addition of a leather jerkin or vest for the higher ranked officers in the room.

Walking down the line of cadets, Captain Magneta reached the line that Naruto was at the end of and waited for him to step forward for a more personalized inspection.

'Damn you, Panaka! I almost made it.' Thought an aggravated Naruto as he ignored all the eyes that were on him and moved to the head of the line to stand at attention. The Captain was soon joined by the Lieutanat at her side and all eyes were on Naruto. All the cadets that had been in the same section as him were all wondering how he had managed to appear but quickly silenced down as the captain began speaking.

"Three minutes late this time. I suppose that's an improvement to last weeks five minutes. What's the excuse this week?" asked the Captain and Naruto quickly responded, "I got back late this morning from fighting pirates in the Outer-Rim."

"Oh really? Moonlighting as a privateer again?" Commented the white-haired captain as she tried to determine if he was lying or not. She didn't expect much of an answer or a detailed account but she did wonder about his excuses. Deciding again that she couldn't tell, she started inspecting his uniform and spotted several problems. Straightening his hat, she stopped before removing the hat and inspecting the interior. During one of her previous personalized inspections, she noted something amiss with the hat and found a hidden guard-less combat knife hidden inside it. She remembered that he had claimed it was to weigh the hat down so it wouldn't fly off his head again. She would have demanded a better excuse save for the week before, when he had shown up in a soaking wet hat, claiming that it had flown off his head and landed in a river. She still confiscated the weapon though and told him to find another solution that was legal.

Checking the hat, she was relieved to not find anything in it and placed it back on his head. Looking over his belt, she found several additional pouches from the standard single pouch that the other Junior Palace Guards wore. 'Do I even want to look inside those?' She wondered until her gaze came upon the holster for his S-5 heavy blaster. The weapon was purchased by the cadet himself as he apparently thought the normal ELG-3A which, if she remembered correctly, he stated that the weapon looked pathetic and he would rather wield nothing at all than be seen carrying it.

Her current interest however was on the holster, which was different from every other around him. "It seems you've seen fit to change your holster." She noted out loud, expecting an explanation. "This holster is made for quick-draw firing, Sir." Responded the young teen in a loud voice.

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Captain Magneta thought perhaps she didn't want to know but decided to ask anyway, "Cadet Rudshar, when will you ever need to quickly-draw your weapon?"

"In a lightfight, Sir." Was the quick response and it was obvious that the majority of the cadets were not sure what he was referring to. 'Lightfight? I don't know if I've ever heard someone from Naboo use such a term for a blaster fight. It's more at home on a less civilized planet.' She concluded and decided not to get into it. "You will replace your holster with the original and I expect to see no further deviations from the provided uniform and ordinance. Is this clear?" She demanded and Naruto answered, "Sir, yes Sir."

Noting the cobwebs on his uniform, she dreaded asking but decided to ask anyway, "Your uniform is also covered with cobwebs, Cadet Rudshar. Is there a reason you decided to come in through the air ducts instead of the main door?"

"I've heard that air vents should be cleaned periodically, Sir." Responded Naruto seriously as he decided to make the best of the situation and the reply garnered several coughs and suppressed chuckles round the room. "You seem to be in a comedic mood this morning. Perhaps spending the rest of the day cleaning out the air ducts, for the entire building, would give you time to think about coming up with a better answer when I ask you a question. How does that sound?"

"It's a dream job, Sir. I'll get right on it after the assembly is over." Responded Naruto with a less than straight face which instantly returned to serious when he received a stern look from the captain. The look from the captain also drown out the louder suppressed laughter from his response and she said in a loud voice to the entire assembly, "Seems everyone in here is feeling a bit comedic. You've just earned yourselves fifty pushups. Starting now."

Groans filled the room as everyone created some space and started performing the exercises while Lieutenant Panaka counted off.

x-x

Ever the consummate professional, Lieutenant Quarsh Panaka followed Captain Magneta one step behind as they moved through the security headquarters. It wasn't until the captain specifically slowed herself down that he finally started walking side-by-side with her. His dedication was only one of the reason why she had recommend him for promotion to her second in command but sometimes she wished he could actually be at ease or relaxed and not serious all the time.

"How do you think this years batch are measuring up?" The silver haired woman inquired and the Lieutenant took a moment before answering, "Aside from a notable exception, they seem to be doing quite well and I expect the majority to join part of the RSF."

"And what about the notable exception. He's applied for Security Officer when he finishes the program. You don't think he'll join?" She inquired with a small smirk as she knew well how much the Lieutenant did not like Cadet Rudshar. The dark-skinned man beside her inhaled sharply which she knew was attributed as a great discontentment at the tidbit of information, before answering, "He puts in only the minimum amount of service time, like many of the volunteers but seems to pile all of his assignments together, freeing up the rest of the week. Aside from tardiness and uniform infractions, he seems to always be full of sharp responses or making up terrible lies, and his overall attitude is unbecoming of an RSF member. Speaking frankly, Captain, I don't know why you continue to put up with him."

"While you've done quiet well listing all his problems, you've also skipped over the other items that also make him stand out from the rest. He scored the highest of any other cadet in history on the firing range, on both moving and stationary targets. I didn't hear or see him move across the floor to get in line and neither did most of the other cadets. He nearly succeeded and probably would have if you hadn't spotted him." She noted and the Panaka looked slightly away when she mentioned the last part.

"Aside from being in top physical condition, even for his age and size, he is well trained in something far better than the standard martial training we teach the Security Forces. I'm sure he could bring down a person twice his size. He seems to have high mechanical aptitude and I'm told that he scored extremely high in the piloting simulator. Captain Olie was disappointed when he didn't apply towards admission into the Starfighter Corps." Stated the Captain and Panaka nodded as he had reviewed the information she was mentioning when going over records on the new recruits.

"Even if he does have such raw talent, does that really make up for the problems?" Questioned the Lieutenant and Captain Maris Magneta thought about the question. "Not completely, no. However I would like to see what happens after he completes the full two years of the program. It has only been eight months so far." She commented and Panaka nodded that she was correct but still wanted to press his concerns.

"But that was after being kicked out of the Youth Legislative Program." He commented and it was Magneta's turn to nod as she remembered the events surrounding that decision and admitted, "Not everyone does well in the Youth Legislative Program, though to my knowledge, no one from Naboo or the other participating planets in the program has ever been kicked out after less than three months."

"I heard he made the Governors granddaughter break down in tears during a debate. Not to mention his stark views on weapons proliferation, defense fleets, and the Republic Senate as well as government. Though I heard it was rousing speech he made during one of the classes, he was calling for the Republic to cease being a democracy and become an autocracy." Stated Panaka as he recalled from memory the different rumors that had circled concerning the removal of Menma Rudshar from the Youth Legislative Program.

"If anything, it just shows that he wasn't born and raised on Naboo. If I recall, he's only been on Naboo for a year and was born somewhere in the far Outer-Rim. He doesn't even have any living parents. It's just himself and his cousin with someone helping to manage his Estate." Captain Magneta commented in explanation of the boy's actions more than in defense of them. "You can't expect him to immediately change himself to fit in perfectly with everyone that was born on Naboo, especially not in a single year." She added.

"I still think that's suspicious." Declared Panaka on the matter but the Captain quickly mentioned, "If you knew the man that his late grandfather was, you wouldn't think it impossible that he'd have an illegitimate child somewhere. I'm just surprised that only two heirs have turned up in the decades since the last Rudshar on Naboo passed." Panaka was slightly surprised to hear the information but hid it well. He didn't know much about the Rudshar family but he was only in his late twenties. Captain Magneta had served as the chief of security for a handful of different monarchs and been a member of the Royal Security Forces, volunteer and full-time, for just over five decades.

"So you'll give him until the two year mark to show improvement?" Panaka questioned in an even tone, not showing disapproval or agreement with what he gathered to be her decision.

"Yes, unless you can bring me some evidence showing a disregard for public safety or dereliction of duty. Despite his tart comments and poor behavior, I've also never seen him shirk a punishment. By the end of the day I expect that all the ventilation shafts will be spotless. Which reminds me, we really need to put some motion sensors or something in those vents. It's entirely too easy for someone to move unseen through the building using those vents." Stated the Captain.

"I'll get right on that." Said Lieutenant Panaka as they reached the main operations room. The pair stopped as Captain Magneta waited to see if there was anything else. Thinking everything over, Panaka did have one more thing he wanted her opinion on, "What do you make of his excuses? Complete lies?"

"I'm not sure what to make of those." said Magneta honestly before adding, "I've spoken with a good share of liars and spacers claiming tall tales but he's very difficult to read."

"Then you think he spent last week in the Outer-Rim fighting pirates?" asked Panaka, to which the Captain replied, "I wouldn't go that far but I doubt that he developed the abilities that he has by leading a safe and quiet life. Planetary security has monitored his ship coming and going many times from Naboo. I can't say what his travels concern but he hasn't broken any laws and we aren't able to track where he goes after he leaves the system. Are you really concerned that he'll bring down the entire junior division with his behavior or perhaps you're more worried about him influencing Cadet Typho?"

"There are a hundred cadets in this years group to be concerned about his conduct influencing." Reasoned Panaka but Magneta quickly added before walking through the door, "True, but I'd like to think that you consider your nephew of more concern than the rest." Before the Lieutenant could response, the door closed behind her and he thought about her statement with an unchanging expression before realizing that he had his own assignment to work on.

x-x

Moving through the vents, Naruto let the cleaning droids do the majority of the work. He was sure that the Captain didn't mean for him to clean all the vents by hand. He didn't really want to mouth off so much but he also couldn't say that his stay in the Junior Palace Guards was all that interesting. There was also a reason behind his comments as he had taken advantage of the situation in order to complete another one of the tasks on his list.

Normally if he was caught moving through the ducts, he would be taken to the Captain but since he now had the entire day to spend in the ducts and an excuse to be in certain areas, he could finally take care of placing the transmitters and devices he had brought with him in his extra belt pockets. They were hidden under extra power paks, dart ammunition, cable launcher paks, aquata breather, fibercord launcher, and various other items that he kept in his utility belt that he thought looked useful from his travels.

The standard equipment for Junior Palace Guards and even their full-time counterparts including almost nothing besides the assigned blaster. Despite not wanting to rely on a blaster, he did find the S-5 rather useful because of the other functions it possessed. Taking out the special items he had stashed, Naruto entered the maintenance and access rooms for several of the buildings systems. Removing an access panel for the headquarters communications array, he began installing one of the extra devices.

With all the devices in place, not only would he have access to planetary security feeds and notifications but also have remote access to their system and database. It would definitely help prevent Sidious from ever getting such a drop on them as the arrival of the Senator Palpatine would no doubt be of concern for planet security. The access could also be useful for other purposes as well. Looking down at his watch, Naruto noted that lunch was approaching and so he hurried to finish up his work.

x-x

Slowly starting to nod off, Plagueis paused the holocam recording he was examining and decided to let his Mustafarian host get some sleep. He had been spying on Sidious and reviewing every message, incoming and outgoing, from the hideout and Senate office, in addition to all holocam conversations. It was a dizzying amount of information with very little results to show. Sidious actually spent a good portion of his time on Senatorial matters and most of the information he watched was tedious and pointless.

However, the one recurring theme that kept coming up, and which annoyed him to a surprising degree, was the shear arrogance and overconfidence that his Apprentice displayed. Not only did Sidious appear before the entire Senate and meet with officials on a daily basis, 'But he is even friends with several Jedi.' Plagueis raged, as his Apprentice managed to stay completely in plain sight and no one suspected a thing. Though the Muun Sith Lord was loath to admit it, Sidious' use of the Sith Mask was the most advanced that he had ever heard of and he didn't remember anyone in history that could so pull of such a masquerade and for such an extended length of time. It didn't make sense. Had the Jedi completely become incompetent since his death or had his Apprentice managed to enact some kind of confusion curse or spell on them. True, he had met with Jedi before and managed to keep his real identity and his dark-side affiliation as well as Force ability hidden but those had been brief encounters, not conversations that lasted for several hours.

Plagueis was currently watching his Apprentice have drinks with a Jedi Master named Jorus C'Baoth in his Senate office and discussing various topics as if it happened regularly. Actually, based upon previous recording that he had, he knew that it indeed was a regular occurrence. It was amazing how looking at the recording infuriated him. At first he suspected that the Jedi Master was involved in Sidious' master plan or that his Apprentice was influencing the man in order to gain access or put some sort of devious plot into action but after much digging and viewing, he had inevitably arrived at the truth. They were simply enjoying a drink and having philosophical discussions.

He nearly threw the viewing monitor out the nearest window after realizing how much time he had wasted on frivolous nonsense. It was clear from his first few weeks of viewing that Sidious intended to get himself elected as Supreme Chancellor of the Republic but he did not know how his Apprentice intended to gain, and keep such a position or deal with the Jedi. Sidious did not keep a manifesto or even mention his broader schemes and plan to his own apprentice. Only tidbits of information, mostly general statements or vague mentions were made and they got him no closer to figuring anything out.

With so much information coming concerning Sidious, he had found himself going for long periods without sleep and missing a great deal happening with the group. The information he was spending all his time on didn't even include all the monitoring that was coming from the Senate Executive Offices.

He simply didn't have the means to look through it all and it was difficult to train droids to perform such a task. They had problems analyzing complex humanoid dialogs and didn't really understand the concepts of bribery, corruption, or subtle conversations with hidden meanings. The nuances were lost to them. It took a long time spent among organics before droids were able to understand the importance of such conversations and actions. The droids he was trying to train simply weren't cutting it.

Standing up from his console, Plagueis left the room on slightly unsteady feet and headed to the cot that he had placed in his laboratory level. The only good news he had recently was the initial activation of a certain droid on Tatooine. The droids brief activation, showed him the excitement on his experiments face before running out of the room to tell his mother that he had successfully activated the droid. 'It will only be a matter of weeks before the droid remains active permanently and I receive constant updates concerning my experiment.' He thought and it certainly had been the best news that he had received by way of transmitted information in a long time.

Despite wanting to know what Sidious was up too, Plagueis realized that he was starting to become obsessed and losing touch with everything else that was happening. Earlier that morning, he had seen a familiar ship returning to the hangar and it was only at that moment that he realized Naruto had left the planet, likely for mission given to him by the Black Sun.

It was disconcerting to be the leader of a group and yet suddenly realize that he didn't know what the group had been up too for a significant chunk of time. 'I don't even remember when they left, it could have been days or even a week since they were last here.' He realized and after checking the date, he found that several days had passed without him even realizing it.

'Perhaps taking a break is in order, or at least getting some help looking through all the recording.' he thought but wasn't sure how that would work out. Only Naruto really knew what to look for concerning Sidious and he couldn't very well fill up both their schedules with spying on his Apprentice.

Despite the possibility of missing something important, the Sith Lord decided that taking a break was definitely something that he should consider. 'I need to start making arrangements for Telerath in order to secure investors and I have a good idea where to start.' Thought the Muun before removing himself from the Mustafarians head so the host body could sleep and not be kept up by his restless pondering.

His student working for the Black Sun was also definitely something that he should start focusing more on too. The temporary arrangement between a Black Sun Vigo and their group had both benefits and risks for them. They received a generous payment for each mission and as far as he knew, all of the mission had been successful. This unfortunately would not last as failure was inevitable at some point and he wondered what would happen then. The criminal syndicate had a fair amount of damning information about them. They knew about Jabba and they had created false identities for most of the group but he was confident that they knew nothing about his real identity.

It would be problematic for all of them if Naruto should fail, 'But his continued success will get us closer to knowing the location and identity of the Underlord.' Surmised Plagueis. 'At some point, we will have to do something about the Black Sun in order to make sure that they do not turn on us. I was wary of working for the Vigo Narees but Naruto seems to be handling everything well on his own.' He thought and it was all something to consider, so he decided to meditate on those thought as well as the many others that were spiraling around in his mind.

x-x

Normally it would take several days in order to complete his seventeen hours of service, but Naruto was very gifted at convincing others to switch duty assignments with him so he managed to put in one nine hour day and another eight hour days consecutively. This freed up the rest of his week and meant that he could continue with his secret projects.

Collecting all of the pertinent information that he had on the Ayrou species, the Moddell sector, his own data and information on someone he had contracted to design for him, Naruto sent it all to Gato via encrypted transmission. He also included the blurb in the transmission that Gato should delete the information after he was finished memorizing or at least going over it. It wouldn't do for such information to be seen by anyone else.

Moving to one area of the room, Naruto looked through a large group of cases before coming to the one that he wanted. Setting the case on one of his empty workbenches, he gently opened it and looked once again upon the Ayrou Tessent. It was the better looking of the two idols and he had recently completed several tests on the item. It was similar in material and construction to the more ordinary looking Alsakan Tessent, and didn't seem to have any of the secrets mentioned in the rumors. There was however one aspect to the item that he couldn't completely write off as not being important. Looking at the intricately carved sculpture, Naruto wasn't able to see the small pattern of similar imperfections that he had already dismissed as being any kind of tool marks. They were not visible to the naked eye and not random but no matter what he tried, he could not seem to discover or determine what they were or what they indicated.

'I'd like to walk into the meeting knowing about what secret it has and not have to bluff.' He thought but had been unable to make any headway and couldn't spend any further time on it, despite knowing through the Force that the markings meant something. Carefully putting the chalcedony item back into he protective case, he got up and went to check on the progress of his clones. On the opposite side of the room, a spot on the floor had been cleared and a small cylindrical stand had been placed. Around the stand, two of his clones were painstakingly drawing fuinjutsu.

The seal on his arm had been near the top of his list but it took a while to figure out how best to go about fixing it. Most times, if a storage seal was damaged, the item was just considered lost. It wasn't as simple as just filling in the blank area with more ink. It was like a jigsaw puzzle missing a piece. If he tried to replace the damaged areas with more ink and draw in the missing area, it would be the equivalent of fitting in a piece into the jigsaw that was identical but from a different puzzle. It simply would never be complete.

The simple storage seal was linked to a created pocket dimension, one created at a specific moment in time and space where the item he had sealed was stored. Only the original storage seal could recall his item from that pocket dimension. He therefore had to almost regenerate the seal, repairing and filling in the mission section with the complex fuinjutsu that his clones were working on.

Looking over their progress, he could see that they still had a while to go and he would then need to inspect it. Despite having significant knowledge concerning fuinjutsu, he was not a true master of the art as it still involved great complexity and training that he had only glimpsed through Jiraiya's mind. A single problem in the drawing and the endeavor would be ruined. He had already practiced multiple times on other purposefully damaged storage seals before finally getting it work.

Moving on to sit down in front of the hidden Rakatan computer, Naruto stared at the rendering of the new design for a scaled-down version of the Star Forge that he just referred to as the 'Protoype.' It would have taken a groups of designers months to work out such a design and himself probably a few years with all of the other things he had going on in order to complete such work. However, it had only taken the Tanmatsu about a month to finish. The computer was apparently quite capable of examining the original plans and then scaling down the design for the Prototype. It was one-tenth the size of the original, measuring at just over nineteen kilometers long. His reasoning for the scaled-down design was due to the length of time it would require to build a full-sized Star Forge. The requirements in terms of cost and logistics would be astronomical for him.

The theory of using a different energy source had already been tested by numerous models that predicted how much power would be required by a standard reactor instead of using the Force but there were still missing pieces concerning the Prototype. He knew what kind of power output he needed and though the could get by with hypermatter annihilation reactors that were already in existence, he was more interested in the another type. Hypermatter, though powerful and efficient in terms of power to cost ratio, would require very large amounts of the fuel. Unless he built his own hypermatter production facility, it seemed best to try something else so as to not get noticed purchasing such high quantities of fuel.

Solar ionization reactors revolved around creating a miniature sun in order to harness it's power for whatever the reactor would be needed for. These were run off fuel that was easy to acquire, especially since the Prototype would already be taking matter and energy from a real sun. The problem was the size of the reactors needed because no company currently made a large reactors of that type. Most were used on small capitol ships or frigates and nowhere near the size of what he required.

Redesigning for one large reactor was out of the question as the size would be enormous and there wasn't really a place to put it. It would completely stick out from the ship or be an attachment. The Rakatan's did not need much room at all for the device that harnessed the power of the dark-side. In fact they spread such devices all over the Star Forge and each system had it's own independent power instead of all leaching from a single reactor. With the idea for a single reactor unworkable, the next eventually thought was the use of two smaller reactors but they would still be too large. His solution was therefore six even smaller reactors. Two of the smaller reactors could be placed on each fin and not cause problems with the rest of the design. Despite being labeled as 'small', the six were still larger than any reactor on the market or possibly in design for future applications.

At least, that was the plan. He could even start building the Prototype but it could never be completed without someone designing large enough reactors. Besides the power concerns, the Prototype also needed some form of propulsion. The original Star Forge did not have the ability to move far or fast and didn't even have sublight engines. It had been built in orbit of Lehon and then slowly moved into place close to the Lehon System star. Naruto however had other plans concerning propulsion and hoped to eventually have those concerns solved.

Looking over the almost finished Prototype design, Naruto smiled as he thought about how much time he would save with his plan. Instead of spending likely decades trying to build the full-sized Star Forge, he would instead build the smaller Prototype in about a single decade. Then he would use it's powerful production abilities to create the larger Star Forge, piece by piece, and use legions of droid workers to fit it all together. The end result would be the completion of two production facilities in a fraction of the time it took the slaves of the Rakata to build the original. That was years into the future though and he hadn't even asked Tanmatsu to look into modifying the Star Forge design at it's full size. If the Prototypes power requirements were anything to go by, he would need reactors larger and more powerful than anything else currently on the market, no matter what fuel he was considering.

Taking out his datapad, Naruto checked off the partial completion of the Prototype and looked to his next order of business, which was an upcoming meeting with a designer he had contracted and then the following week, a business meeting with Gato in the Moddell Sector. Despite taking a long time to prepare and gather information, he was still worried over the business meeting. There was the opportunity for great gains but also the possibility that everything could go south, not only for him but for the entire group. It all depended on the one aspect that he really couldn't anticipate, which were the reactions and outlook of the Ayrou he was planning to meet with.

Having never met one of the bird-like humanoids, it was difficult to predict what their wants and needs were as well as how they would respond to what he was planning to present. He only had limited information on the species as it seemed that they liked their privacy. He knew general information about them but couldn't say for certain if all the Aryou acted the same way. According to his data, they hoarded objects but not out of greed but more for the possibility of needing the items in the future. It seemed that they were peaceful and looked down upon violence but they also seemed to be in charge of the entire sector which, to him, made it seem like they were controlling. Other information he collected stated that they enjoyed information gathering and not about specific subjects but about everything they could get their hands on.

The only other useful bits of information he had were from spacers that had been questioned on Sarafur. According to them, the Ayrou liked to haggle but had voices that could possibly break transparasteel or curdle bantha milk. Many shied away from dealing with them because of these reasons. To counteract these traits, he had brought along Gato in order to help haggle, and had come up with some ear implants, similar to ear plugs, that would remain hidden but also dampen sounds that exceeded certain thresholds.

Naruto's musing and plans were soon cut short as he heard a familiar sound come from his communicator. Removing the beeping device from his pocket, he activated the hologram to accept the incoming message. A blue image of Narees greeted him and before he could respond, the image said, "You have fifteen hours to get to Utapau in order to complete the next mission. I'll fill you in along the way." After the brief order, the image vanished as the connection was terminated and Naruto got to his feet, heading towards the turbolift.

It was a planet he had been to before but it had been a few months. The first time he had met Narees in person was on Utapau in the then Iktochi's former hidden fortress. After a few other meetings, Narees had suddenly moved to Mustafar a few weeks before his latest mission. Remembering how long it would take to arrive, Naruto groaned at the fact he would be cutting it extremely close given it's distance from Naboo. The Outer-Rim planet was closer than Mustafar but still far enough to be concerned that he may not make it in that time frame.

Using his communicator, he selected the individuals he wanted to go with him and said, "You have five minutes to get to Forty-Two for a mission."

x-x

Sitting at the small table in the galley of Forty-two, Naruto activated the tables projector and Narees again appeared. The Iktochi smiled before saying, "Your mission is going to be a little different this time, Menma. As I speak, a small group of Black Sun operatives are heading to my former fortress on Utapau. They have been bought by someone or are acting on their own and intend to capture or kill me; believing that I am still operating there. This..." and pausing to change the projected image to that of an individual Naruto had never seen before, Narees' voice continued, "..is the ringleader of the group and this is his personal transport. I need him alive and brought to my new hideout for interrogation. Getting a few of his subordinates also couldn't hurt but if he dies, you get no payment. Like your previous missions, I want you make it look like the Trade Federation is involved, but I understand the difficulty in accomplishing that, so I will pay extra if you can make it happen. The bodies of the traitors will serve as the Black Sun forces that would normally be guarding the fortress. When you arrive, you'll find two old Gonzati Cruisers waiting. Use them for a mock defense. I'm also sending you a detailed schematic of the base to use."

With the briefing given, Narees ended the transmission and Naruto looked around to the two individuals and one droid that he had brought with him. The Demon Brothers would jump at the chance for combat to escape the boredom of Naboo and he knew that HK was always ready to fight. He chose them because they were the most reliable in the group in a fight. Suigetsu had a tendency to get carried away, Juugo as well as Karin simply weren't ruthless enough, and Kabuto was currently enrolled in a medical academy so he obviously couldn't help them at all.

The Demon Brothers both looked to Naruto as the teen sat and contemplated with his eyes shut. It seemed that they didn't have time to call for the Tsukinowa but he wanted...needed the extra pay so he considered how to incorporate the OOM droids in the fight. 'I'll use clones as a feint on the outside of the facility and inside the ships. I'll leave the Meizu and Gozu outside to take control of the enemy ships while HK and I take care of the enemy coming inside. I have a few extra droids, Rakatan and droideka, with me in my scroll that will be useful but I don't want to waste them. I don't have any of the throwaway OOM-series and I don't have anything that can generate the droid control computer signal.' Thought Naruto as he sifted through his knowledge of the fortress and what he had available for the coming trap.

'I could summon an MTT from the Kuna Constellation. I did add seals to a few of the vehicles in case something happened without time to prepare and one of them does have an OOM command droid, but I still won't be able to generate the needed signal and commands to activate and control the droids. The Tsukinowa was outfitted with the proper signal array and computer control systems so it could do just that. Without it, even the command droid, that can think independently, would only be functional for a few minutes before automatically powering down because of how it was designed to need the signals of the control computer.' Concluded Naruto and he thought about what he knew concerning the droids and the signals that they required.

'However, it is a signal. Just because the the emitter is not here and can't reach, does not meant that I can't transmit it through something else.' He theorized and went for his communicator. Instead of broadcasting the signal through the Tsukinowa's rectenna and signal array, he could instead broadcast through the communications array, sending the signal through to his communicator and then rebroadcasting with the fortress' signal array. 'It would lose most of it's signal strength and range but I only need it to work inside the fortress.' Naruto realized and contacted his Smoke Demons forces on Sarafur.

x-x

Entering the Utapau system and heading for the fourth planet, the familiar arid surface was revealed as they entered the atmosphere. The planet was quite unique among the ones that Naruto had visited. Water comprised less than one percent of it's surface, making it part dust bowl and part flat, scrubby plains. This however was not the unique aspect of the planet. Underneath the surface of Utapau were countless caverns that contained almost all the planets water in various underground rivers, lakes and even oceans. The large calcareous deposits in the crust above these areas led to the formation of gigantic sink holes, which covered the landscape of the planet.

It was in these sink holes that the population had built it's cities, which lined the circular walls. The holes could be upwards of hundreds of meters across and more than a thousand deep, ending in watery bottoms or connecting to larger underground water sources. In addition to their use as housing and also allowing a thriving mineral mining industry, the planet was also used by various factions to hide. With thousands of sink holes, there were numerous vacancies for anyone that had the means to construct something or just use natural caverns inside the sink hole walls.

It was in one of the sink holes that Narees' previous fortress was housed. It was much better hidden than the current fortress on Mustafar, but the volcanic planet was also not frequently a stopping point for anyone but Techno Union cargo ships. Sending a signal ahead, just in case, a clone piloted the ship inside the correct sink hole and they steadily dropped by three or four hundred meters before arriving at the hidden fortress.

Narees or the man's predecessor, had made use of a cavern in the side of the wall and the clone soon spotted the two cruisers parked on the landing sites just inside the wide but thin cavern. There was just enough height for the cruisers to maneuver in and out of the cavern and two gun emplacements were also hidden just inside the lip. Farther back in the cavern was the fortress and it's clever location prevented it from being attacked by any orbital bombardment. Only the mouth of the cavern could be attacked from orbit and a ship would have to cut through forty to fifty meters of solid rock in order to expose the fortress from an angle and five to six hundred meters of solid rock in order to blast through it from above. The only way to really attack it, was to either enter the sink hole and fire straight at the fortress through the cavern or to land and take it by force.

Actively scanning, the clone did not find any signs of someone arriving before them or life-signs from a possible trap, so it parked the ship long enough for the group to disembark before taking off and finding a place to hide. The clone was good for a few hours before dispersing and that was enough time for them. Looking over the area, Naruto created numerous clones to man the base defenses, the ships, and several to keep lookout with the Demon Brothers.

Sending HK ahead to activate the bases systems Naruto waited for the two cruisers to leave the confines of the cavern and remain stationed in the sink hole until he summoned an MTT. His clones were telling him that the vehicles didn't even have hyperdrives, with many other systems being removed, so there was little point in trying to save them to take and there was no point keeping them inside the cavern as the individuals coming likely knew where the fortress was. The forty-two meter long vessels were more suited for the moniker of 'light cruiser' given their length but he ignored the observation. He did however find it ironic that the Black Sun used such light cruisers, considering that they were designed for an anti-piracy application but he kept the musings to himself and pushed such thoughts aside to focus on getting everything ready.

As smoke cleared and the MTT came into view, Naruto created more clones to enter the facility and see what was inside to use. 'A hundred OOMs should be enough for this, I just hope that my signal idea works.' He thought with a deep breath to calm his nerves. Narees had only given him a basic timetable and the rebel Black Sun group could arrive at any minutes. 'I also don't know their numbers, what ships they have, or why they even want to kidnap or kill Narees.' He thought before HK contacted him, "Notification: The base sensors and signal array is online. Ready to receive and broadcast."

Using his communicator, Naruto ordered a Smoke Demon on the Tsukinowa to send the signal. As he waited, Naruto crossed his arms and absently looked around as well as felt that his clones were ready. Getting the extra money hinged on the droids all working. It would also help to have extra forces. Finished with looking at his clones, Naruto chose instead to stare at the large MTT. As if trying to will the droids in the cockpit and the vehicle itself to come to life, Naruto continued until he heard the the start-up of the repulsor craft's system.

As the repulsorlifts came to life and allowed the troop transport to hover about two feet above the landing pad floor, Naruto stepped back as the front of the vehicle started opening. Once the two pieces of the front were open all the way, the deployment rack then started coming out. Finished extending, the racks of OOM droids began to lower, before then moving out sideways away from the center of the rack. As the slow machinations continued, Naruto wanted to tap his foot or get the Demon Brothers to help with the deployment as they really didn't have much time.

When the rack had finally stopped all one hundred and twelve battle droids were released and it retracted. Naruto waited for it complete before he used his communicator to tell those on the Tsukinowa to send the activation signal. Twitching to life, the battle droids all began to stand in unison before taking out their weapons and turned to face him. The sounds of movement from the MTT told him that the droid commander which had been in the cockpit with the pilot droids, had come down to take command of the troops. Moving through the perfect lines of standing droids, the yellow marked command droid stopped in front of Naruto and gave a short salute before stating in a masculine machine voice, "Awaiting your orders."

"Commander, quickly take your droids inside the base and place them in the locations that the others who that look like me specify." Said Naruto impatiently as he waited for compliance. "Roger. Roger." stated the yellow marked droid and with a motion of his hand, and signal to the other droids from the antenna positioned on his right shoulder, the other droids all began marching towards the main door of the facility. Relieved that they were leaving, Naruto unsummoned the troop transport and turned towards the base just as he heard HK's voice come over the speakers, "Notification: There are incoming ships."

x-x

Twelve starfighters, six supporting transports and one Gozanti cruiser at the back of the group, broke through the outer atmosphere of Utapau and headed straight for the hidden Black Sun fortress. The clones in the cruisers let the enemy battle group take them slightly by surprise, with the enemy making the first shots, however they had their shields raised before the laser fire hit. The light cruisers tilted themselves to make better use of their side quad laser cannon batteries and opened fire, ripping apart several of the fighters.

Coordinating the movements of the cruisers, Naruto had them take evasive action, moving to different altitudes and circling the sink hole in order to make them harder targets. His opponents were unable to implement more evasive maneuvers because of their number and the possibility of running into each other, making them easier targets in the tall sink hole. The burning hulks of several more starfighters rained down to the shallow water at the bottom of the shaft before the transports began their assault. Unable to use their proton torpedoes in the conflict because the launchers were forward facing, Naruto's cruisers were at a disadvantage to the transports which started firing the blue shrouded explosives, however the clones targeted several and destroyed them before impact.

By the time the enemy cruiser arrived, the battle was leaning towards the opposing side, that is, until Naruto had his cruisers reduce their altitude and bring the enemy in range of the two laser cannon emplacements of the base. Activating a single pane protective energy shield at the very edge of the cavern, the laser cannons remained relatively safe and could fire upon the enemy, unabated by the shield. Concentrated fire from his ships and guns had taken out a transport and it smashed into the curved wall before scrapping against the surface until coming loose and falling below. Since the clones did not see the ship indicated by Narees in the holoprojection, they did not hold back. It was shortly after the second transport was destroyed that the original realized that he was actually starting to win the battle or at least would take out most of the enemies forces, so he cut back on his efforts in order to bring the ship in for deployment of troops. Otherwise, he would never be able to lure in his target.

When one of the cruisers was directly hit through the shields and started to lose power, the clones began a spinning but controlled descent into the shallow water below and Naruto thought, 'If anything, I can have a salvage crew recover most of those quad laser cannons.' He was quite impressed with their power, and the prowess of the cruiser. 'It now makes sense why the Black Sun use them for defense.' He realized, remembering that at least two of the ships were patrolling around Narees unfinished fortress on Mustafar.

A combination of fire from the enemy cruiser and missiles from the remaining transport, broke through his second cruisers shields and the rear of the ship exploded before it dropped straight to the bottom of the sink hole. Turning to the base defenses, all remaining enemy ships began firing against the energy shield. Though it held against the lasers, a few well placed torpedoes destroyed the two guns and the remaining ships moved in. Thinking that such forces would not be able to storm the base, Naruto's concerns were abated when one of his spotter clones saw two shuttles coming down.

'They must have a larger ship in orbit.' The original realized and he got up from his sitting position to look over the monitors in the security and control room of the fortress. Turning to HK, he didn't have to ask anything as he saw that the droid was already trying to use the sensors to identify what was in orbit, but he was unable to as the bases sensors were being jammed and so were outgoing transmissions.

Not seeing the target's ship coming down, Naruto wondered if the man would make a late appearance or was waiting in orbit for good news. 'It's also possible that he was in the group and my cruisers killed him.' Naruto quickly realized and did not like the thought. "We need to watch for the target but I'll also need someone alive for questioning." He told the droid and HK nodded before standing and picking up his two rifles. 'Hopefully one of those has a stun setting.' Naruto idly thought as he watched the droid leave before he returned to the small invasion happening in the landing area.

x-x

As the ships entered through the energy shield, a defensive dual blaster cannon started firing. The turret was mounted on the front of the fortress on one side of the door. The weapon disabled one of the three transports before being destroyed by return fire. Turning a cannon to the front door of the base, two shots were fired from a transport, which were powerful enough to blow a hole through the fortress entrance door. The two shuttle soon arrived and all the transports began unloading heavily armed combatants in two styles of uniform.

Looking through base cameras, Naruto noted the uniforms. One happened to be the uniform of standard Black Sun soldiers, while the other was a different uniform with insignia that he did not recognize. It was a large letter 'T' obviously standing for some word or name beginning with the letter but he had no idea what that was. Most of the invaders were composed of the unknown group with only a small portion being from the Black Sun. Contacting a group of his clones, he had them verify if the target was among the group.

On the outside of the base's front, a small, curved rectangular viewport area began opening to expose the hidden weapon inside. The pillbox was manned by four clones: one spotter, two manning an E-web heavy repeating blaster, and a fourth that was supervising. "Spotter." said the clone in charge and one of his fellow clones quickly looked over the cavern through a pair of macrobinoculars, taken from the command droid. Scanning through the rushing group he did not find the target they were after. "Unless he's behind the mask of one of those foot soldiers, he's not there." Concluded the leader before ordering, "Give me a count."

The spotter roughly estimated the group size while Naruto himself stretched out his senses to determine how many they were dealing with, "Around eighty."

"Wow, they don't mess around." Responded the leader and he mentally received his orders before turning to the two controlling the mounted weapon. "Gunmen, open fire at your discretion. Remember not to overload the power..." but the leading clone was cut off as the pair began shooting short but rapid bursts of blaster fire upon the advancing group. The shots ripped through the unprepared ranks of the soldiers and they were forced to take cover behind the rock formations located between the landing area and the base front.

The armored pillbox shook from the close impact of a dumb-fire rocket but the armored structure held and the clones inside, knowing they would not last long, unleashed the full power of the weapon by maximizing the power setting to fire single-shot, high powered blaster bolts. Several of these individual shots ripped through the rock and exposed targets, whereby the clone manning the weapon's power output, lowered the power and the gunner unleashed low powered, rapid-fire shots into them.

"GRENADES!" Yelled the spotter upon noticing the incoming explosives and though the gunner tried to target them, several got past. A telltale 'tinking' sound was heard before the blast. The resulting explosion, caved in the pillbox's exterior and disabled the gun. Looking around, the leader of the group removed himself from the cover he had taken just outside the interior door. Finding the gunner clone was still around and not dispelled, he moved to help but found shrapnel imbedded in the clones chest.

"Avenge me." The clone said with a cough before dispelling and the leader of the former group was left shaking his head at his comrade's behavior. Taking the binoculars, the clone activated the Toton Jutsu and disappeared into the surroundings. Carefully moving out from the damaged pillbox, he slowly crept along the wall and watched the soldiers advance on the base. He noted that the Demon Brothers had started moving to take the shuttles and transports before looking around the rest of the cavern. A few soldiers were standing guard at the door to the fortress while the rest had gone inside. Scanning over the destruction his group had created in order to estimated the number of bodies to see how many were storming the base.

x-x

'Forty-five.' Naruto felt as he activated several of the bases interior defenses and jammed all transmission going into or out of the base. He wanted the soldiers to reach the inner sanctum, or really just the meeting room of the base before the battle droids came out of their hiding places and kept anyone from escaping. Checking with his clone in the meeting room, Naruto found that the two Rakatan droids had been set up and were ready. He had thought that the target would want to lead the assault or at least come and capture or kill Narees himself but that apparently was not the case.

'I thought the Black Sun soldiers would have known the bases outer defenses better. I guess that just means that they really don't know the layout or that this base is just very unique. Though I can't complain about the outcome. I'm not sure the battle droids could have dealt with eighty soldiers.' He thought as he monitored the progress of the soldiers into the base. Activating a hologram of the base layout, Naruto looked through the areas and added the locations of each soldier from the holocams and found that they must have had a general idea of the layout. Once inside the base, they had split up into several small groups and one large group. The projection showed that all but the larger group was headed in the correct direction with the smaller groups fanning out throughout the building. Naruto quickly sent the positions of the smaller groups to HK in order to not have any surprises later; confident that the droid could take care of the outliers. He also noted that one of the groups was heading directly for his location.

Hearing a noise coming from a different area of the room, Naruto walked into the nearby communications room to find a message had arrived. It wasn't someone waiting to talk face-to-face but merely a sent message. Opening the file, Naruto saw the target he was after and then focused on what the man was saying. "...Narees. I've brought help and there's no way your forces can handle a hundred combined soldiers. Surrender yourself before we drag you out of there by your horns." The message then ended and Naruto considered how to respond. It seemed that capture was the primary objective for the group, which was very good for him. Creating a henge of Narees, he opened a channel and sent a message back, hoping that the jamming signal from earlier would still let him at least send something to the ships on the landing area, if not the ship or ships that were in orbit.

"The men you've sent all unfortunately met my base defenses and are fighting my garrisoned troops as I send this. It looks like I'll be walking away from this attack on my own, and probably taking one of those parked ships on my doorstep before leaving. Why don't you just come down here and we'll settle things ourselves." Naruto offered in Narees' voice and wondered if the ploy would work.

'Otherwise I'll have to try something a bit more dangerous to myself.' He thought and looked back at the monitors to find that the large group had managed to make it passed most of the locked doors and were nearing the meeting room. According to the schematics he had, that room was connected to both the private suite as well as an escape route, though the plans did not show where the hidden doorway led. It also showed several secret doors along the sides of the room where normally Black Sun Elite would be positioned, ready to come out at a moments notice or fire a hidden weapon.

Naruto had filled the suite and hidden alcoves with the OOM-series battle droids and a large group of the droids following the group as they moved through the facility. 'They won't have anywhere to run.' He concluded as the trap was set. Seeing that the group was about to breach the last door, Naruto took image captures of the individuals that seemed to be leading the group and sent them to his clone inside the meeting room.

x-x

Receiving information from the original on the datapad he had been given, the clone took the images and downloaded them into two Rakatan droids. The droids were stationed on either side of the table that was the main centerpiece of the room. The droids were not powered down but in a stationary mode, ready to be fully activated. They looked similar to two large metal vases and could actually pass as decoration in their undeployed state. With a simple push of a button on the datapad, the droids would deploy and implement something that the original wanted to test out.

Laying in the chair, with his back on the seat cushion and head near the lower part of the back rest, the clone absently swiveled in the chair as it waited for the door to be breached. He didn't want to sit up in the chair for fear that one of the soldiers would take a shot at the back of the seat as he had rotated the chair to face away from the door. Hearing a dulled sound of something magnetized being stuck to the door, the clone set the datapad on it's chest and covered it's ears for fear of being dispelled by the loud sound.

A few second later, after a fusion torch was worked around the door in order to weaken it's structure, a loud explosion tore through the center, creating a hole through which soldiers started pouring in. Half of the group that had made it through the base moved in while the rest stayed outside, likely to make sure the escape route was clear for the extraction of the Vigo. Uncovering his ears, the clone could tell that they were being cautious and rightly so considering the trap that was set.

Deciding to distract them until the right moment, the clone prepared it's throat and started speaking in a voice that did not belong to it, "I'm surprised any of you made it this far, but I suppose some of you are former members of the Black Sun. Would you care for a drink?" The clone asked and ignored the comments as the group's attention was drawn completely to the chair at the end of the table. Approaching, the clone started moving the chair in order to do a cliched slow turn-and-reveal but given the height of the table, when the chair finally reached the point where Narees should have been seen, the soldiers saw no one in the chair.

'Messing with them is so much fun.' the clone thought as it heard the confusion and shouts as they started to realize that they had walked into a trap. The original acted a moment later as four hidden doors were opened around the room and Trade Federation droids began gushing into the room. Those droids were just the distraction, though as they weren't even programmed to kill anyone. The real bulk of the small droids army began making their move on the group guarding the outside of the room and others came in from the back of the meeting room. With the group thoroughly confused and shooting at everything that was seemingly attacking them, the clone activated the Rakatan droids.

The middle of the tall vase-like droids popped up several inches, as did a portion higher up. The legs unfolded from the middle and and quickly the droids stood on the four spider-leg appendages. The photoreceptor higher up started targeting the soldiers it had been given. Before any of the enemy could react to the new threat, an energy shield enveloped the units and a small compartment on the front opened, revealing a blaster-looking barrel. Finding their targets, a stream of carbonite shot from the barrel.

The stream solidified upon contact with the targets, spreading and completely encasing them in the gray alloy before the droids selected the next target. Waiting patiently for the fighting to die down, the clone remained hidden partially under the table. When the last blaster shots rang out, the clone pushed the chair back and cautiously sat up, inspecting the area. The first thing it saw was the carbonite frozen figures of several soldiers. Curious to know more about the process and weapon, he got up and walked to the statues.

It was the first time he had tried out the weapon that was on both the droids but it appeared to work. If the effect lasted long enough to get to Mustafar, then he could just pack them and ship them in their current state. No sooner had he thought that, then the effect starting fading. 'It only works for less than thirty seconds!' Raged the clone as he jumped back to hide under the table. As the carbonite quickly sublimated and the four men soon recovered, they were unable to do much else before the Rakatan droids shot them again. With the enemy frozen once again, the clone wondered what he should do. The original wanted those men trapped but apparently the carbonite gun's effect was extremely temporary, unlike the carbonite freezing process which could last for centuries if done right.

'Guess I just knock them out one by one.' Ge thought and was very disappointed by the lack of success with the weapon. It was still powerful but he could tell through it's connection that even the original wished that it lasted longer. Walking up to the first one that was frozen, the clone waited for the process to undo so he could disarm and knockout each one of them.

x-x

With no response to his message and his clones not spotting any other ships coming down, Naruto went to gather the others. He had a few plans forming in his head but the end result he wanted, involved the taking of whatever craft was in orbit. The target he was after was waiting for his men to return or for a message indicating that Narees was captured, so he just needed to give them what they wanted. Coming across HK making sure that all the Meatbags were dead, Naruto led the droid to the landing area so meet up with the Demon Brothers. Looking over the ships, Naruto made a number of clones and first had them take some of the weapons of the downed men Making forty clones, they took some of the weapons from the dead soldiers and then boarded the four working ships in the landing bay and took off.

Leaving the surface, the sensor and communications jammer soon ceased and communications were resumed. With the ability to use their ships scanners, Naruto and his clones quickly determined that only one ship was in orbit. As the small dot of a ship started to get larger, Naruto used a henge to change himself into one of the captured men and opened a channel, hailing the ship. His contact was soon answered and the viewscreen in his cockpit showed the bridge of the ship they were heading too.

Naruto identified the target but also discovered that the man he was after, was not the captain of the ship they were headed towards. "Were you successful?" Demanded the target and Naruto altered his voice to match that the man he was impersonating, replying that they had captured Narees alive. His answer was greeted with smiles forming on those in the bridge and he was told to have his ship and the shuttles come straight to the hangar. Before he could end the transmission, the captain of the ship asked, "Where are the rest of the ships?" to which Naruto quickly replied, "This is everyone that survived."

The signal was terminated as the captain frowned at the answer but Naruto ignored it as they approached the ship. Checking the transport's computer, Naruto tried to determine what kind of ship it was that they were approaching. 'I have no idea where the hangar is.' He quickly realized and began passive scanning in order to determine where he was supposed to go. Approaching the ship from above, he didn't see a hangar anywhere. The ship's computer soon got back with him and indicated that the ship's make and model was a Republic Sienar Systems, Marauder-class corvette.

That was about all the information he had concerning the craft but judging from the sensor readings, it appeared that the hangar was not on the top or sides. 'Must be on the bottom.' Guessed Naruto but he didn't like being unsure on such a matter. If the hangar was not on the bottom, then it would be very obvious to the enemy that something was wrong. Calming himself, Naruto felt that the hangar was indeed underneath and trusted that feeling as he led the group of four ships underneath the corvette.

The ship was about two hundred meters long, making it thirty percent smaller than the warship they had found on Mustafar but it appeared to be a modern equivalent. It was flat with wings at the back and a long fuselage with a widening front. Coming under the ship, the ventral hangar near the back of the ship finally came into view and Naruto idly noted that the ship was marked on the wings with the same symbol on half of the transports. Entering the cramped hangar, he maneuvered the ship next to familiar looking vessel that Narees had shown in the mission briefing.

Not knowing what color Iktotchi blood was, the shadow clone henge of Narees showed no physical harm but was secured with binders. Stepping down the landing ramp, a henged group led the fake Narees with a henged Naruto in front. Finding his target was waiting, Naruto did not initiate conversation but waited to be addressed until something else caught everyone's attention. Coming out from one of the access ways into the hangar, was the captain of the ship and a sizable armed escort. The uniformed man had the 'T' emblem emblazoned on his left shoulder and was holding a small case.

"As promised, a Black Sun Vigo. I told you he would be here. I hope that's my payment." Commented the Black Sun leader and his smile was not met by the captain of the corvette.

"I hardly think it's 'as promised.' You claimed this would be easy but I've lost twelve starfighters, three transports and probably forty of my men. You on the other hand only lost a single transport and handful of men." Replied the captain, not knowing that almost all of his men were dead and the ones he could see, were all clones.

Seeing that the situation was becoming more tense, Naruto sent a mental message to the Demon Brothers and one of his clones still in the ship told the same to HK. As the two men began to argue concerning the payment, Naruto decided to settle things. Using both hands, he grabbed each man and yanked them towards each other. The leaders of their respective groups smashed into each other. Taking advantage of the distraction, HK and the Demon Brothers rushed out from a ship while Naruto's clones opened fire on the men in the hangar.

Giving instruction for a group of clones to stay in the hangar and secure it, Naruto and HK led another group towards the front of the ship to secure the bridge while the Demon Brothers had free reign of the rest of the vessel.

x-x

Mustafar

x-x

"You know..." Narees began before chuckling, "...I didn't know what to think when you showed up in orbit in that corvette." Sitting at the opposite end of the table, Naruto smiled before saying, "I like to make an arrival." Setting a case on the table, he slid it to the opposite side to the curious Iktotchi. The man gave him a look before opening the small case.

"It's apparently the payment for your whereabouts and capture." Explained Naruto as Narees took out a small pouch from the case and poured it's contents onto the table. Also curious as to what was in the case, Naruto leaned forward in his seat to get a better look. He had decided that since Narees would be interrogating the prisoners he brought back, it would be best not to keep the case for himself. Such an action would cause problems if it was discovered. That isn't to say that he didn't desperately want to know and keep it's contents though.

Looking up at the teen sitting across from him, Narees set one of the ingots on the pouch and slid it back down the table. He normally didn't give such extravagant bonuses but this was a special case. Not only was the mission a success, but he also discovered the identity of the group that had payed one of his operatives in order to capture him. When he gave the mission out to Menma, he had no idea that they were involved or would make such a move.

Naruto caught the sliding pouch and examined the small shiny ingot. It did not have a specific color to it, but merely continuously shined in multiple colors. Having not encountered such a material before, he decided to be honest, "I'm not familiar with this item." Narees laughed in response but explained, "You're likely familiar with it's name but it's not that surprising that this is your first time seeing Aurodium. Though your payment is waiting at the door, this little bonus is worth ten times the amount you normally get for a mission. Don't think this will become a regular occurrence." Though most of the response was given in an amused tone, the last bit was given with a much darker tone.

Naruto nodded before asking something that he had been curious about, "The other group that facilitated the attack, who are they with?"

"The Tenloss Syndicate has been a growing rival for quite some time but even I admit that their involvement was a surprise. I didn't expect them to act so bold. You will be adding their ship to your forces. We may have plans for it in the near future as a...response...to the recent events." Narees answered and taking the hint that the meeting was over, Naruto bowed slightly before putting the precious currency in the pouch and taking his mission payment before leaving through the lift.

After he was sure that they couldn't be heard, given the boy's excellent talents, Narees activated the controls for the holoprojector and it instantly displayed Alexi Garyn, Underlord of the Black Sun. The leader of the syndicate had been listening to the meeting. "You gave away about ten million in a single bonus, Narees." Commented the Underlord and the Iktotchi merely smiled before justifying, "And he could have easily kept the case for himself, besides, he completely turned the tables on a high ranking enforcer for the Tenloss Syndicate and brought him here alive. I felt that went far beyond the mission that I assigned."

"True, the information we can obtain from him would be worth at least that much if we were to try and gain it through more deceptive means." Admitted the leader of the Black Sun but he also added, "This makes a large number of consecutive mission that have all been successful. Do you think he can be trusted and is ready for more...hands-on assignments?"

"He has proven himself to be not only skilled but also professional, far more than his age would normally suggest. He doesn't ask too many questions or complain and has no problem with the missions or the pay. Sixteen successful mission is quite the record for any Black Sun agent. Do you plan for him to help with the Tenloss problem?" Inquired Narees as he wondered what his leader's wanted to do.

Alexi waited for a moment before giving his reply, "This attack will be met with a greater response but we must plan this out to make the best of it. The Tenloss have many ships and men, and many more profitable, but legitimate fronts for their criminal operations. They may only operate out of the Bajic Sector but they are quite entrenched. I don't want to lose out on any of that. Not only that, but I want you to spread that it was Trade Federation in conjunction with the Tenloss. I don't want it known that we had a traitor. Make sure he disappears after the interrogation."

x-x

End

AN: I wanted to keep going but I had to stop and get what I had written submitted. Added to my profile is a link to a drawing of Naruto's lightsaber and a link to information on the corvette, Utapau, and MTTs.

Just to clarify, the OOM-series of droid is the precursor to the B1 battle droids. They appear exactly the same save for a few internal differences. The OOM has a different voice, is more intelligent but also operates via the droid control signal that are received by the command droid and relayed to the rest. The B1 is cheaper, dumber, but is more independent in it's operation. Sorry if anyone was confused by this but the B1 isn't introduced in the Star Wars Universe until later on and this is what the Trade Federation currently uses. The tank featured in the first movie, the Autmated Assasult Tank, has not been created yet either.