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.

30. Chapter 30

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35.1 BBY – Current Year

Chapter XXX

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Naboo

Rudshar Estate

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Looking down upon what was once his body, Plagueis prepared for another sampling. Taking out the cold instruments, he looked over the skeleton. All of the tissue had been removed and stored separately while his charred bones remained on the table. A slight odor of burning always lingered whenever he took out his body from storage. Examining the skeleton, the fingers of his host passed over the areas that he had already sampled. Numerous small holes were a reminder of how many times he had sampled and how many times he had failed to find a good genetic sample.

Despite being deceased for so many years and undergoing decomposition, the real damage to his body had been the destructive Force Lightning used by his Apprentice. The power of Force Lightning varied with the user and Sidious' was one of the more powerful that he had read about. Though not nearly as powerful as an excerpt he had once read concerning Darth Bane, claiming that the Sith Lord could actually disintegrate bodies with his powerful dark-side lightning.

"Sampling number fifty seven on my former body." Plagueis said aloud to a recording device situated nearby. He always like to record his work for later storage in his holocron and so he wouldn't have to remember every detail of his experiments.

"I suppose I should be grateful that my Apprentice did not have such power that was reputed to be possessed by Lord Bane, but that is not the case." The Muun said as he voiced his thoughts for the recording. Despite it being therapeutic, he still felt his anger built before finding a new, untouched area of bone through which to sample. His body did not possess hair and he remainder of his tissue was too far degraded. That left only the bones and teeth to chose from for a DNA sample large enough for cloning purposes.

Although a single cell was normally all that was needed, "It will be best to have multiple cells to choose from in case I need to make more than one clone. Thus far I do not have a good enough sample to begin cloning. The primary failing of cloning-based immortality for dark-side users is the fact that the body is new and unaccustomed to handing the dark-side of the Force for the first time. The dark-side of the Force is akin to a person ingesting increasing amounts of poison for a prolonged period and their body developing an immunity.

Grow a clone and then providing the same poison to it, in a highly concentrated amount, will only lead to a quick death of the clone body because it is not accustomed too, nor possesses any built-up immunity to the poison. The dark-side can be exceedingly damaging to clones bodies in multiple ways. Through my research on the topic, I have found that the effect of adding a strong dark-side presence to an empty clone body typically manifests in sudden and exponential aging of the body.

Though a healthy clone in the beginning and aged to it's prime, using such a method may only provide a year of use out of the clone until it dies and the process must be repeated." Said the Muun for the recording and he started up the drill which produced a faint whine before he moved it to the bone and drilled partly through to collect a bone marrow sample.

Carefully completing the process and extracting the material, he quickly put it in it's container before recording, "Sample fifty seven has been successfully extracted and I will perform the previously recorded panel of testing to determine it's viability. The initial outlook is low but there is always a chance. Extensive scans of my corpse revealed no undamaged cells and I have taken to saving the least damaged cells and dutifully recording where they resided within the body.

The purpose of these measures is two fold. I hope to determining an area of my former body that may yield the best possible cells and also save up enough cells for multiple clone bodies. Even so, I do not believe that the clone produced would be healthy or last, regardless of the inclusion of my spirit. Living tissue is the best cloning material and dead tissue can still produce a viable clone but damaged cells are far from ideal. Thus far, the best samples have been taken from the lower spine near the pelvis. I am currently unsure why that is the case."

Putting his bones back into the preservation chamber, Plagueis took the sample to another part of the room for testing. As he was walked, a small alarm went off and he realized that it was time for one of the periodic meetings. 'I shouldn't forget about or be late to one of the meetings that I myself called for, not again.' he thought before quickly storing the sample and then heading to the lift so he could go to the top floor.

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Exiting the lift, Naruto squinted slightly as the bright evening sun bathed into the top level of his estate. The top floor had many windows facing nearly every direction but the design put the exit for the lift facing the setting sun. The level was several stories tall and featured multiple rooms which were all joined to the very tall entry way.

Moving across the open area, he looked to one of the meeting rooms that he was heading too and could feel that almost everyone else was already there. Moving up the circular staircase, the door opened automatically and his appearance went mostly unnoticed as discussions continued among the group.

"Why haven't I heard anything about your evaluation?" Was the question that Karin posed to Suigetsu with a smile that seemed to already know the answer, "Just a success that's all. I don't need to boast about my impressive leadership abilities." Suigetsu lied and Juugo shook his head slightly while the Demon Brothers chuckled.

Turning see that Naruto had entered, Karin exuberantly asked, "Did he fuck up? He fucked up didn't he?" Stopping on his way to his seat, Naruto looked back and forth between Suigetsu and Karin. Mulling over the implications remaining silent, he decided to side with family and admitted, "His rating was lower than yours." Before he had the words completely out of his mouth, Karin was already standing and doing a victory dance. "But both were still lower than Juugo's." Naruto added however it fell mostly on deaf ears for the arguing pair and he took his seat.

"Is there a chance that I will get to participate in one of these missions and receive a rating as well?" Kabuto asked and Naruto turned to the holoprojection of the teen that was seemingly seated next to him to consider the question, "I suppose if you have some time off and a mission is requested," he said and Kabuto nodded with a smile.

The snake-like man was currently enrolled in the Lunis-Medix Medical Academy in the Outer-rim. It was possibly one of the best academies in the region but nowhere near as prestigious as other academies closer to the core such as the Rhinnal Medical Academy and First Republic Medical Academy of Coruscant. It was however willing to accept a large donation in order to waive the required prior education and coursework, allowing Kabuto to matriculate into their program.

"You think he's gonna show up this time?" questioned Suigetsu while looking too Naruto and the blonde gave a shrug as his response before he checked his watch. 'I'll give him a few more minutes before taking over and leading the meeting,' he thought and took out his datapad to review what he wanted to discuss and updates he wanted to hear about at their mandatory monthly meeting.

Extending his senses, he could feel Plagueis coming up through the lift and would wait for the Sith Lord to was the only one to hear the Mustafarian's footfalls on the circular stairs and remained unfazed by the entrance of the Sith Lord into the room. However, the groups conversation soon died down and they waited for Plagueis to sit and start the meeting.

"To start off the meeting, as is typical, I'd like to go around the table and have everyone provide an update on what they are working on or towards." Stated the Sith Lord through his vocabulator and he turned to give the hint towards Karin that she could begin. Clearing her throat, the redhead began, "I am progressing well through the nursing program and have already become an assistant nurse. I am also currently putting in about thirty hours each week at the Theed Medical Center, much more than the other assistant nurses."

No one made any comment about her efforts as they all knew that her goal of volunteering as a nurse for her public service was to later be able to go to a medical academy like Kabuto was doing. It the most that she could do in order to possibly help Tayuya and she was well exceeding the normal minimum volunteer requirement. In addition to the volunteering, she was also taking holonet medical classes. In a few years she could even apply for enrollment at the same academy as Kabuto, without the need for a large donation.

Skipping over Suigetsu, Juugo began to speak before he was interrupted, "Hey, what about me? I was supposed to be next." Commented the white-haired teen to the group but Karin quickly explained, "You haven't done or accomplished anything worth mentioning."

Crossing his arms, Suigetsu ignored the comment before announcing, "I've spent the last week continuing to map out the underground passageways that end or start at the bottom of our lake." The statement was met with slight interest as Suigetsu had told them before that at the very bottom of their lake, existed several tunnels that went much deeper into the planet's crust. Seemingly they had no end to them and Suigetsu had taken up exploring them in his spare time, often hunting a few of the creatures that dwelt in the labyrinth of tunnels.

Most of the group was unaware of the plasmic nature of Naboo. Instead of having a molten magma layer close to the core, Naboo had a unique plasmic magma that created something akin to lava tubes through the many layers of the planet's crust as it moved close to the surface. The pathways created by the plasma were filled with water from underground oceans and created what some Nabooans termed the 'Abyss'.

Interested in what Suigetsu had found, Naruto urged for him to continue. Not having Suigetsu's unique ability, no one else, save for perhaps the Demon Brothers, could travel inside the tunnels at such depths without the use of a special vehicle or suit. Even the Naboo didn't go into those areas of their own planet and it was primarily where the Gungan's, Naboo's other sentient species, lived.

"Going on a twisting path from our lake, I can head to Theed and come up in one of their rivers." Suigetsu explained and his statement garnered interest from the whole table. "I did however have to keep from being eaten by several of the larger creatures. Though on a different note, I killed another sea killer." Added Suigetsu and the group nodded, knowing that the large carnivorous crustacean would be on the dinner menu for a while.

'If we can get some kind of submersible, we can travel to the city undetected. Though I really don't want to run into those Opee sea killers or any of the other creatures that Suigetsu claims to have seen, especially while that deep under the water.' Considered Naruto as he thought about what kind of vessel to look into and added a few notes to his datapad.

Nodding to the orange-haired teen next to him, Suigetsu turned the meeting over to Juugo who quickly went over what he had been up to in the past month, "I've been monitoring the vines and preparing for the upcoming harvest. The production facility in the cellar is nearly completed thanks to the clones of Naruto and we are nearly ready for wine production. I've also been looking into various other types of grapes and am growing samples in the greenhouse." Looking up from his notepad, Juugo ended his short update and several members nodded to acknowledge his efforts. The teen had been shown to have a green thumb in addition to his connection with animals and had thus been put in charge of the estate grounds, including wine production.

It was the Demon Brothers turn next and both glanced at each other before Meizu started talking first about both of their efforts, "The privateer fleet on Sarafur numbers ten working ships of transport size and there are nine others that are waiting to be repaired. The crews number thirty five Smoke Demons." Meizu's statement was quickly added too by Gozu, "The Black Sun sent engineers to modify the newly procured corvette with a better sensor system. They've already finished and the skeleton crew is scheduled to arrive soon from the Black Sun."

Naruto idly nodded at the information provided by the two before explaining the reasoning for the modifications, "Using information gained from the interrogation of the Tenloss Syndicate men we captured, the Vigo Narees has come up with a scheme to spy on them using their own ship. The corvette is primarily used for patrol as well as independent operation and Black Sun agents as well as a few of our Smoke Demons will masquerade as the crew. Feigning a failure of their attack, Narees intends to make the leaders of the Tenloss believe that their ship and it's crew are still very much alive. He aims to use the newly installed sensor package to actively monitor their operations and get an idea of their defenses."

Taking a short breath, Naruto continued with the next item on the list, "Gato has been in touch with me and claims that his first shipment of mined minerals is expected to be ready within the month. I've already procured a freighter, a slightly older ship from Borvo, for use in transporting the cargo. I've also hired a captain for the freighter to pilot the ship to and from Mustafar."

"The former weapons smuggler?" Inquired Plagueis and Naruto turned towards his Master and nodded, confirming that the man named Doro would be in charge of smuggling shipments out of Mustafar and trying to stay off the Black Sun's and Techno Union's radar. "He's spent quite a bit of time on Sarafur working to repair our ships since I rescued him. After spending almost sixteen years stranded on a planet, I think he is quite happy to be flying again and have steady work, especially considering he lost everything when he lost his ship." Explained Naruto and Plagueis decided to make sure the decision was sound, asking, "And his mental state?"

"He seems well enough to fly and trips between Mustafar to Naboo aren't on a difficult route. Unless we want to make him a Smoke Demon and hope he retains his experience and skill, find someone else that's trustworthy, or pilot the ship ourselves, then he isn't a bad choice for the job." Elaborated Naruto and he didn't wait for Plagueis to agree with him before looking to the next item on his list.

"Here on Naboo, I've helped set up a business for Ann and Tann in Keren, close to the Kwilaan Starport. They're now renting a building in the industrial district. Both are currently off-world, meeting with prospective buyers for the minerals. Doro is being employed by them and the ship is licensed to them as well as registered with the Naboo Commerce Department.

By the time the first shipment is ready, they should have a buyer lined up." Naruto informed the group and ignored the pleased look that Juugo had, not wanting to know what the teen was thinking about. Seemingly finished, Naruto was about to let Kabuto begin when Plagueis asked, "And what about your positions?"

Knowing exactly what his Master was referring too, Naruto took a few seconds to think over what to say before answering the question, "I've managed to install the provided spying devices into the Royal Security Forces Headquarters and am progressing through the program into duty assignments with active security personnel. As for the Black Sun, I've recently completed another successful mission." Plagueis nodded at the statements and Naruto decided it was a good time to ask something that had been on his mind.

"How long must I continue being on-call for the Black Sun?" He calmly asked but it was something that he was very interested in hearing the answer to.

"At least until an opportunity presents itself. Your involvement appears to be long-term and it's best to remain cautious but successful on the requested missions. Unless you think that you can capture and drain Narees of his knowledge concerning the Underlord? We would then have to travel to where the Underlord is and get past all of his guards before he escapes or learns of your treachery. If he gets away, he'll have every resource of the Black Sun hunting us down." Posed Plagueis and he awaited a response.

Naruto thought over multiple scenarios in which he either stormed or used stealth to get at Narees, even imagining jumping right across the table at the end of a future mission. Despite knowing that he could probably succeed, there were a few variables that he couldn't be sure about. "Several times I have felt that our meeting was being broadcast, to whom I don't know, but it's entirely probable that the Underlord is closely monitoring my missions. I also believe that Narees has multiple hideouts and the fortress on Mustafar is a location that he only frequents after messaging me about a mission. By the time I'm finished, he's already arrived from a safer location and is waiting me." Determined Naruto and though he didn't outright say the answer, Plagueis could easily determine what it was.

"Then it is simply too risky right now. We currently have a good relationship with the syndicate. You don't know how rare that is, especially considering that you're dealing directly with a Vigo who claimed that his offer came directly from the Underlord. Normally it would take years of moving up the ranks before even meeting or seeing a single Vigo and he personally invited you to neutral meeting at Borvo's hideout.

I'm well aware that it clashes with your public service and running around the galaxy like an errand boy is not desirable but their entire spy network and agents are helping to watch out for us and make sure we stay off everyone's radar. The more success we have on these missions, the more access and resources will be available to us. The Black Sun will also be very useful for our plans on Telerath. I couldn't possibly see the Black Sun passing up on such an opportunity. Therefore, we will remain patient and bide our time." Concluded the Sith Lord and after a brief moment, Naruto turned to the holoprojection of Kabuto.

"My turn already?" The snake-like man joked and he quickly began with his progress, "I have been advancing at an accelerated pace through my courses and estimate completion of the medical program within the next four years depending on my chosen residency. I'm going for a more generalized education instead of focusing on a single field and there are upcoming summer opportunities for internships and such. And before you ask," he said while turning to Naruto, indicating that it was possibly something that Naruto frequently inquired about whenever they spoke, "..there has been no change in the condition of my patient." Once Kabuto had finished with his update, it was Plagueis' turn next.

"I have spent the last year monitoring my former Apprentice after our trip to Coruscant.." the Sith Lord began and looked around to make sure that everyone was listening, "..though this monitoring has not born substantial fruit, I do know with certainty what he is after. By becoming a Senator of the Republic, he aims to eventually become Chancellor and likely gather as much power as possible for his position before taking over completely. I do not, however, know the specifics of his plans and can only guess based upon what I do know.

He is extremely engrained into life on Corsucant. Friends with Jedi and with the current Chancellor, Finis Valorum, while his true self and intentions remain completely hidden from everyone. His image is incredibly clean in terms of corruption or scandal and he has good credibility. He does stand out in the Senate but his power and prestige were built up over time. The slow buildup was to remain off everyone's radar until his plans moved to fruition and he actually passed over many opportunities along the way to make sure he remained unnoticed in his early senatorial years.

I suspect his plans will not truly start for several years and my reasoning is based upon the re-election of the current Chancellor a year ago. Sidius was not popular enough and Valorum was still popular so he remained favorable and continued into his second term. Terms last for four years and a Senator can only become Chancellor for two terms despite them being able to serve as many terms in the Senate as their constituents allow. This means that Sidious will likely wait for three years until Valorum's second term comes to an end. At that point, he will either run against those that wish to take Valorum's place or engineer a situation that will allow him better odds to become Chancellor. I believe he will do the latter."

Plagueis took a small break in the explanation of his finding and Naruto took the opportunity to ask, "I'm guessing you aim to stop him from becoming Chancellor, in which case we either need to discredit him or promote those he will run against?"

The Sith Lord nodded as his student's words. He was more concerned with hindering Sidiuos directly but helping another to prevent his Apprentice from succeeding was also a viable alternative. "That is correct. With his clean image and friendship with the Jedi, it will be all but impossible to oust him by exposing his Sith nature. We would need definitive proof and Sidious does not discuss anything openly with any of his entourage or even his own apprentice.

I'm not even sure that a holorecording would be enough for the Jedi, especially not when he can converse with a Jedi Master for hours and not even rouse suspicion. He always makes sure to cover his face when in the LiMerge Power building and I cannot even be sure if those close to him even know his true intentions. Therefore I don't currently have anything to discredit him with but I do believe that he has illicit dealings with the current King of Naboo, Ars Veruna. Specifically concerning the plasma reserves of the planet."

"I doubt my surveillance devices in the security headquarters will provide much help for something like that." Commented Naruto and Plagueis nodded but added, "We would need to bug the Palace communications array for that but at the moment, it will be best for you to keep yourself in the program. There will be chances to investigate the King if you become an officer."

It was Naruto's turn to nod in agreement right before asking, "Who would be his competition for the Chancellorship in the Senate?"

"The ones that would likely run against him are Bail Antilles from Alderaan, currently the chairperson of the Internal Activities Committee, and Ainlee Teem a Gran from Malastare. Based upon the information that we are recording concerning the many Senators of the Republic, it would be the most beneficial to help out the Senator form Alderaan. His position as leader of the committee is primarily geared towards removing corruption from the Senate and it wouldn't be that difficult to give him a few names to look into from time to time. This would of course only work if we had the means to go through all of the Senate recordings." Responded Plagueis to the question as he was very interested at the prospect of once again being able to manipulate Galactic politics and prominent individuals.

Breaking from his musings, the Sith Lord went to the next item on his list, which was a planet that Naruto had discovered, "Concerning Telerath, I trust that you have started the paperwork for claiming the planet?" He posed to Naruto and the blonde nodded, "I have filled out all the paperwork and am just waiting to turn it in."

"We should wait slightly longer before claiming." Plagueis informed him and elaborated, "If we claim the rediscovered planet now, before we have investors and means to protect the claim, we'll have to worry about others learning of the discovery and going there. Scavengers, pilferers, and others will no doubt be interested. Finding a lost planet in the Inner-Rim that was once populated by millions of people, wealthy people, then promptly abandoned was not an every day occurrence.

"Aside from the claim, I have also been determining a list of investors that would be interested in such a planet and enterprise. The list is long but I believe it can be made easier if we are able to gain the trust and influence of a certain business person. Namely Popara Anjiliac Diresto." Explained the Muun and he waited for the inevitable outburst.

"A Hutt?" Naruto questioned and it was obvious that a few of the others shared his concerns. The had quite a few problem dealings in the past with the slug-like species.

"Popara owns a very large, financial and not criminal, empire. He has a great deal of wealth and is also the most trustworthy of the Hutts, though he is extremely distrustful of others. It will therefore be difficult to get a meeting with him and likely even more difficult to get him to hear us out. I plan to use Borvo for that as he knows Popara and can get us an audience. By securing his investment into the project and using his name, others will undoubtedly become interested and he will attract and provide both financial backing and legitimacy for the project." Elaborated the Sith Lord.

"What leads you to believe that he will be interested?" Asked Naruto.

"Though a large part of his wealth comes from his shipping company, he has many other businesses and dealings. Popara is also nearing the end of his life, being nearly nine hundred years old, and as with all Hutts, will likely want to leave a legacy. Despite having his companies and wealth, there is something that he doesn't have and I feel, would likely be interested in." Stated the Sith Lord and he left the statement open for Naruto to finish.

"A bank?" Naruto stated out loud and Plagueis nodded before adding, "Hutts don't even use banks in their territory, preferring to keep their wealth in assets or liquidated and hidden. Also no one would trust a Hutt-operated bank but Popara is different and we will be using him in addition to many others. Such an endeavor will leave a lasting legacy of his accomplishments and I believe it will interest him to try something that no Hutt has ever done before.

His primary inclusion into the project, however, is simply for stability and to get more investors interested. I have a feeling that the Banking Guild would be greatly interested. They wouldn't let another bank operate without at least owning a portion of it or being involved. Our other possible investors are a variety of individuals from across the Galaxy, many being Senators of the Republic. However, our initial success hinges on gaining Popara's interest."

When no one objected or asked any further questions, the Sith Lord concluded with, "I will be scheduling a meeting with Popara, through Borvo, as soon as possible." Despite not actually coming out and saying it, Naruto knew that it was implied for him to be there at the meeting. The only thing that could get him out of it would be a mission for the Black Sun. Seeing Plagueis completely silent and given that they had gone around the whole table, most of the group proceeded to leave the meeting room, presumably to go back down to the lower levels for dinner.

Unperturbed by the exodus, Naruto turned to the projection of Kabuto, "Have any of your recent experiments produced results?" The cloaked projection gave a look before confirming what Naruto read from the body language, "I'm afraid that nothing I've done recently has produced any positive results. Bacta, as you know, has only a limited effect and it's isn't lasting. We started long-term treatment..." and Kabuto stopped his sentence but Naruto finished it, "...and the treatments showed signs of diminishing results after each time she was put in a Bacta tank."

Holding in a sigh of frustration that he had seemingly been holding for months, Naruto voiced his thoughts to Kabuto and also Plagueis who had stayed in the room, "I told her that I would do anything I could and not give up."

"Well, despite being busy with other things, you haven't forgotten about her. Especially given how many times you've asked me about her." Kabuto told him, trying to keep Naruto from getting disenfranchised with his efforts to help their other red-haired group member.

"Yes but I'm not cut out for this type of work. I'm not a scientist and I don't have the patience for tests after tests. I've been looking into every alchemy text that we brought back from the fallen tower but I haven't found anything particularly useful. Turning Tayuya into a Sithspawn in order to save her life does not seem like something she would agree with. I also can't be sure it would even work and I don't exactly have anyone to test it out on first." Naruto admitted as he had looked into using a ritual or application of the dark-side in order to prevent her degradation.

"True, she really wouldn't be happy about it, but if it worked, then she would be alive." Commented Kabuto as he indirectly mentioned his own condition. Though he really didn't mind too much, save for the looks he sometimes got from others as he passed, he had undergone something similar. It wasn't to cure an ailment but ultimately it did ensure that his life was spared after his betrayal of the group.

"All I really need is a healthy cell. A single, healthy cell. If we can completely heal one cell then we can beat the illness." Naruto said as he slouched in the chair and absently looked out one of the windows.

"You're speaking of cloning?" Inquired a curious Kabuto and Naruto turned to him to nod in affirmation. Though silent at the table, Plagueis' interest was also piqued by where the conversation was going.

"With just one healthy cell I could pay one of several species that use cloning technology and have a clone created." said Naruto and Kabuto looked slightly puzzled so he asked, "I'm afraid I'm not following your train of thought, how exactly would that help Tayuya?"

"I can teach her to use Orochimaru's kinjutsu and her soul can vacate her damaged body, transferring to the healthy clone body. We would no longer have to find a cure for her because her new body would be healthy and the cursed seal as well as Orochimaru's chakra and soul fragment would not transfer with her soul. She also wouldn't have to fight and dominate the soul of the clone body because it would be a shell with no consciousness. It's the best solution that I have been able to come up with that doesn't involve the need to remove the seal or completely cure her. I only need a healthy cell." Naruto reiterated and Kabuto was left to think about what he had said.

"What about Orochimaru's problem with having to take new hosts?" Asked Kabuto for clarification but felt that perhaps he already knew the answer.

"Because it's her own body, her soul would not be rejected like Orochimaru's was whenever he took a new host body. The only problem is the cell. If it isn't completely cured of the ailment then she will have to keep switching to new bodies when the clone degenerates. I have a feeling that she'd rather die than become like Orochimaru and if she has to transfer back to her original body then I won't have accomplished anything at all." Admitted Naruto and Kabuto nodded.

While the two were conversing, the Sith Lord's thoughts had taken a turn down very different track and were heading away from the current conversation at the table. The words that Naruto had used were resonating in his head, ' A single, healthy cell.' It was something similar to what he had been struggling with but his student's use of the words had revealed a completely new path for him to try, one that he had apparently been completely blind or ignorant to.

'Instead of trying to find the healthiest cell that I can from my damaged body, I should be trying to heal one of the cells that I have.' Realized the Sith Lord as he thought over the possibilities. He had dabbled in the use of midi-chlorian manipulation in order to bring the dead back to life. Granted it was a recently deceased person but he had managed to do it, reviving a single individual, multiple times before they finally letting them expire.

'If I could bring back one of the cells and heal it, then I wouldn't need to find the best damaged cell that I could. I would be able to bring a good genetic sample to a cloner and have my original body recreated.' he thought and completely ignored the other two sitting at the table as he got up and left for the turbolift.

Watching him go, Naruto and Kabuto turned back to each other and exchanged a look before Naruto commented, "Apparently he has something more important to do." The statement was not seething but definitely spoken with derision. Kabuto did not say anything to defend or accuse Plagueis but once he was sure that the Sith Lord was gone, he asked, "Did you find anything more about what I told you concerning Tatooine?"

"Until recently I wasn't able to find much. I've tried to look through records but all of the houses in that area were the same and your description didn't help me narrow anything down. Not too long ago, we received a mysterious signal that I have been able to trace to the sector that Tatooine is in. It was short but I think that I finally have a name, Skywalker." Naruto informed the snake-like man and Kabuto seemed quite interested in hearing anything further.

"I don't know or understand what his interest is in the family. The boy is years younger than I am and born while Plagueis was on Ibonihs so I can only assume that mother and child are of equal interest or the mother is of more interest. It seems that he intends to monitor them but for what purpose or goal, I still don't know. Until you mentioned what your summoned snake saw, I had no knowledge that anyone of interest to him existed on Tatooine." Naruto elaborated with an unamused face. Kabuto nodded warily as he refrained from saying anything further on the newly named 'Skywalkers.' As he went over the information in his mind, he also couldn't make any inferences about what importance the boy or mother had.

"I take it that he simply didn't mention anything about the signal." Guessed Kabuto and he was surprised when Naruto informed him, "Not only did he not mention it but he erased it from the logs and apparently has set up the communication system so that future messages are not logged and are sent directly to his lab."

Slight surprise was evident on Kabuto's face and after a brief silence, Naruto changed the subject, "What were your findings concerning the unique water samples that I sent you?" Now that Plagueis had left, and was completely distracted by something, he could finally ask about one of his side projects that he had been meaning to inquire about.

Kabuto's slight worry and unease was lifted at the question and he smiled before he started to go into detail, "Very interesting. The two samples you sent are identical in every way, save for their potency."

"So I take it that the Kolto taken from the warship on Mustafar is more potent than the sample that was recently purchased from Manaan?" Naruto interrupted in order to get his question answered before he said anything further to Kabuto concerning what he knew of Kolto.

"Indeed it is, and by a significant margin. I'm not sure how much you know about Kolto but I have done some research if you're interested." Offered the holoprojection. Though Naruto felt he already knew most of what Kabuto was going to say or for that matter much more than Kabuto knew, he refrained from saying anything and motioned for Kabuto to continue.

"As you may or may not know, before the use of Bacta became prolific, several thousand years ago the Galaxy used Kolto, which is a special form of water only found on the planet Manaan. It is almost indistinguishable from normal water and seemingly occurs naturally there. Kolto has similar healing abilities to Bacta while also sharing the same property of being unable to synthesize in any known laboratory experiments. It is believed by researchers that Kolto fell out of favor because Bacta was more powerful but I also found information, which I was able to prove thanks to the second sample you sent, that Kolto was much more powerful in the past and has since lost it's potency." Explained Kabuto in a very enthusiastic voice.

Naruto smirked slightly at how interested Kabuto was in the substance and decided to elaborate a little further upon what Kabuto had said, "The water is 'mined' by the native Selkath for sale but for far less than the price of Bacta and to a significantly smaller market. This is primarily due to it's lower effectiveness, as you said. Most aren't even aware that Kolto exists or can be purchased from certain dealers with good relations to the isolated Selkath. What people, and also the Selkath, don't know is that I think I have determined the source of the Kolto's creation and it is not a natural occurrence."

The statements elicited a response from Kabuto as he smirked as well lowered his gaze slightly. It was obvious that he wanted to hear more, so Naruto obliged, "I know for a fact that thousands of years ago, Kolto did not exist on Manaan. When the Rakata conquered the planet, they did not find anything like Kolto in the ocean's depths. I believe it's creation came about over the course of many thousands of years and I think I know why the potency has declined." When Naruto stopped for a second, he could see Kabuto sitting on the edge of a seat that was invisible to him given that the projection only showed Kabuto's body.

Deciding not to keep him in suspense, Naruto explained, "When the Rakata fled the Known Galaxy, they had already created the Star Maps, one of which you found and recovered. These devices are able to completely regenerate themselves over time, even recovering their original data. In order to escape reprisals from the beings that they enslaved for many thousands of years, the Rakata destroyed or at least damaged the Star Maps to keep their homeworld from being found. Despite their success, the Rakata still died out but over time, their Star Maps repaired themselves.

Unlike other worlds, Manaan is unique because it is entirely covered with water and the Selkath are an aquatic race that live in the ocean. I believe that over time, the water's contact with the regenerating Star Map caused it to take on the properties of the device. Kolto is denser that normal water and thus the liquid stayed on the bottom of the ocean and pooled in a rift where it is still mined. The actions of the ocean currents caused the Kolto to circulate and perhaps even concentrate with the healing effect becoming more pronounced and a large amount of the healing water being produced.

At some point, the Star Map on Manaan finished repairing itself or began to slow down repairs as the outer device was complete and the memory repaired itself. It is these events that I believe marked the downturn of Kolto. Without the Star Map regenerating as much as it was, the water surrounding the device no longer was imparted with such a powerful regenerative effect. Thus the Kolto that was recently procured, is far less potent than that which was taken from the old warship on Mustafar."

Kabuto took almost a minute to gather his thoughts and take in everything Naruto had told him. It had taken him a fair amount of time to perform his research but he had been completely eclipsed, "How exactly did you come by this information?" Kabuto's tone was not that of someone who was snooping but more of genuine curiosity. He really wanted to know how Naruto had managed to come up with such a theory and gotten information that he simply could not.

Not prepared for Kabuto's question, Naruto quickly came up with an explanation that would hopefully sate the man's curiosity, "The Star Map you helped recover from Tatooine contains some information about each planet that the Rakata conquered and added to their Infinite Empire. It made no mention of Kolto and if it existed during their time, I would think it would be something worth noting. As for the creation of Kolto from Rakatan technology, there are a few similar examples in the Galaxy of incredible occurrences."

Kabuto seemed to accept the answer but Naruto could tell that the man was not completely satisfied with the answers. Deciding it best to change the subject, Naruto inquired, "What are the result of Kolto tests on Tayuya's cells?"

"The healing affect of the older sample was as good as Bacta but actually showed better healing results because it had a longer lasting effect on the cell samples from Tayuya that I exposed it to." Kabuto notified him and Naruto then posed, "So if I was able to create a more potent Kolto..."

"It's possible that it could heal Tayuya better than anything else I've tried. I cannot be certain about the seal and the effect coming back but there is the possibility that it could completely cure a sample of her cells. However, if your theory is true, how exactly do we use this information? If we damaged the Star Map on Manaan, it would presumably take thousands of years for the Kolto to become more potent." Said Kabuto as he completed the teen's sentence and inquired about the application of such knowledge and technology.

"What we need is not the Star Maps but simply the mechanical regeneration technology of the devices. If I am correct in my belief, then it means that we don't need Manaan at all. Any water source could be used and a combination of a greater amount of repairing technology and the dark-side with water, could yield substantially faster results." Explained Naruto and Kabuto smiled as he found that Naruto already seemed a step or two ahead.

"So you already have somewhere in mind and are able to create or at least copy this technology?" Stated Kabuto as he believed he already knew the answer. "A planet near to where you are that is covered in water and has no inhabitants. The technology will be a little bit more difficult to come by but I should be able to manage." Admitted Naruto and Kabuto shook his head and wondered why he wasn't that surprised at what he had just been told.

"Then please let me know when you get to the point of small-scale testing. I would definitely like to be included." Stated Kabuto before he ended the transmission and Naruto nodded in goodbye. Sitting quietly in his chair, Naruto went to the controls of the holoprojector and quickly activated the transmission that was waiting.

"Gato." Naruto said in greeting as the short man appeared via the hologram and was seemingly present in the room, sitting in the chair that Kabuto's projection had just vacated. "I waited quite a while on hold." Commented the former shipping magnate and Naruto gave him a dull look in response.

"Anyway...is the meeting still on schedule?" asked Gato and Naruto inhaled and exhaled before saying, "Postponed, unfortunately." Gato's face darkened as Naruto could feel his anger and frustration growing.

"I feel the same way you do and if you're expecting an apology, then you may as well throw yourself into a lava flow." Stated Naruto as he sat up and straightened his posture in the chair.

"Then what exactly is your excuse." asked the short man.

"My excuse takes the familiar form of a person, known well to you, given your brief but likely memorable history." responded Naruto as he alluded to his Master but did not say his name. "He claimed that he was going to schedule a meeting with a Hutt rather soon. However he left the meeting suddenly and in such a distracted state that I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't see or hear from him again for at least a week or more."

Gato groaned in response and Naruto shared his feelings, though in a much quieter manner. "Postponed." Repeated Gato and Naruto nodded before speaking about something else that needed addressing, "Besides the coming business meeting, we have other things to discuss." This caught Gato's attention and he listened as Naruto continued, "I believe you should start preparing for a visit. I'm not sure as to the current state of the hidden facility but I'd like it to be presentable in a few days time."

"An inspection?" questioned Gato with a curious look but Naruto clarified, "A visit by myself and guest."

"And who should I prepare accommodations for?" Joked Gato as they both knew that it would be a short visit and no one would be staying overnight. "From the information I sent, there was a small portion that provided a bio about a Dr. Shilaea Motacc. She has been working on a design for me and has finished but I suspect there will be problems when I go to collect my finished design. She is very suspicious about me, my unnamed company, and my intentions. I will likely need her to see our business in order to be more at ease with participating before she works on designing or examining anything else for me. I need our operation to look as professional as possible and...very busy as well as productive." Naruto revealed.

"Why is it that you have time for such a visit but not for the business meeting?" Gato questioned of the teen. "This will be a quick trip. Going to Maya Kovel and back would take at least ten days for me, just in travel time alone. Not to mention that I would have to pick you up as well. Unless you can think of a way to minimize that, I won't have enough time before something else comes up." Naruto explained.

"Are you absolutely sure that you need her?" asked Gato as he wondered why the Doctor was so important to him. The brief bit of information he received did not provide him significant details except that she was a leading expert in the field of planetary and large-scale propulsion systems. Whatever that meant, because it was gibberish to him.

"These projects are important and I'd rather contract with a suspicious expert in her field than someone compliant but merely qualified." Commented Naruto and Gato smirked slightly at how similar their minds were. He refrained from saying anything else concerning the blonde's choice.

"Then that shouldn't be a problem. The facility has changed a great deal since you were last here. We should have no problem impressing and convincing." explained Gato as he played with his mustache and gave off a sense of accomplishment over the work that he had done.

"Good. Unless something comes up concerning the Black Sun, I'll be heading to Byblos immediately. From there, I'll hopefully be going directly to Mustafar. I anticipate three days before arriving, if everything goes well on Byblos." Naruto informed him and Gato nodded before ending the transmission, hopefully going straight to work on preparations.

Heading out of the meeting room, Naruto took the lift down to his level and went over the things that he needed to do in order to prepare for his trip.

x-x

Byblos

Colonies Region

x-x

Only a portion of the surface of Byblos wasn't covered with urban sprawl. What wasn't dominated by large multi-kilometer towers comprised large starports used for the transportation of technology. Some of the largest companies in the Galaxy had corporate offices and some even owned entire corporate towers. It was in such a setting that Naruto found himself as he looked out the window of the shuttle that was ferrying him from one of the smaller public starport to a major city.

Though it wasn't his first time on Byblos, he still had trouble taking his eyes away from the window. There were over a hundred billion people and though he could only see a fraction of that population through the window, it was still rather overwhelming for him. 'And I've still never been to Coruscant.' he mused as no one could be exactly sure how many people the capital planet of the Republic had at any given time. It was estimated at almost a trillion or even over a trillion. Looking out at his view of Byblos, Naruto had a hard time imagining a similar planet with between six and ten times the population.

Exiting the shuttle once it had landed, Naruto went to the nearest tram and headed to the stopping point nearest his final destination. He would have to walk from the hovertram but it was much cheaper and easier than taking a taxi or flagging one down for that matter.

x-x

Sitting at her desk and going over a list of items to pack, Shilaea Motacc looked up from her work as the signal at her front door alerted her to a guest. Adjusting one of the many monitors around her worktable, she switched the view to the front of her large combination apartment and workspace. Standing patiently outside was a familiar face and she unlocked the door for him while messaging over the intercom system that he could come in.

Naruto knew the way to Dr. Motacc workspace and walked through the living area to the open door that led to the large workroom she was in. The room had numerous stacks of datapads as well as small holopads projecting various designs that the Doctor had worked on after finishing her degrees. Taking one of the few seats in the room, Naruto sat across from Shilaea and waited for her to finish what she was working on.

The raven-haired woman was over ten years older than him and what most would describe as being very attractive, with an athletic figure. She was on the shorter side, being just barely over five feet tall and he found that she became annoyed whenever they both stood and she met him eye to eye, despite their age difference. A recognized expert in her field, Naruto found her credentials to be better than anyone else that he looked into but the few meetings they had were always a bit tense.

Dr. Motacc was not the type of person to design something without first knowing who it was going to be used by and for what purpose. Though he had given her answers, it was obvious that she had not been completely convinced. It may also had have something to do with his age. At fourteen, it must have seemed rather suspicious for him to come to her with such a design request. If Tanmatsu was able to create the designs that he wanted then he wouldn't have needed to contract with her but the Rakatan computer was only currently knowledgeable about the Rakata and their technology.

Clearing off space on her desk and revealing a holoprojector at the center, Dr. Motacc looked up and acknowledged his presence, "I see you've finally returned for the designs you requested. I seem to remember contacting you over a week ago...maybe two weeks, notifying you that I was done. Been busy, Mr. Rudshar?"

Naruto was unfazed by her slightly miffed tone as he knew that punctuality was important to her, as were her designs. Being late and not returning her message swiftly implied disinterest in her work. She had poked fun at his age and immaturity during previous meetings but he ignored her feelings on the matter. "I assure you that I have been quite busy and could only just now schedule to meet with you and see the finalized designs." Naruto said while not breaking eye contact.

"I didn't hear an apology in there. Well I suppose its alright, considering that you payed upfront and in full. Here are the designs that you requested and I'd like to go through them before turning it over." She stated and Naruto nodded as she put a datachip into a slot on her desk and the designs were displayed on the holoprojector.

As the lights dimmed slightly, displayed images emerged that were ring shaped and of various sizes. The smallest being ten or more meters, with the second largest being a few hundred meters and the largest being about five kilometers. Going over the request, Dr. Motacc began, "When you came to me, you wanted designs for large hyperspace transport rings, most of these being the larger than any produced by the various shipyards and smaller companies in the galaxy. The largest of the requested designs being monumental in scale and likely bigger that any previous design in galactic history."

She took a slight break in order to give him a look of confusion and questioning, similar too but lessened than the one she gave when he had first met with her and requested the design. Naruto merely gave her a large smile and when the moment was over, she returned to the explanation, "I have incorporated the solar ionization reactors in the larger rings and I've also added the tractor beam projectors to the smaller designs. The largest ring incorporates your providing plans for a docking system while the smaller rings make use of a more universal system to accommodate a variety of different ships."

Though the explanation was over, and she was about to hand over the datachip, Shilaea stopped the motion and asked, "Just for the sake of hearing the explanation once more before handing this over, what exactly do you intend to use these designs for?"

To the best of her knowledge and imagination, the designs couldn't really be used for anything morally reprehensible. The tractor beams on the larger rings could possibly be used to capture and move a ship but that may or may not have been feasible. Her main concerns really were with the largest of the designs and with the given plans for the docking clamps.

The teen clearly wanted it made to pair with something existing or that would eventually exist. That struck her as very odd because she couldn't come up with an idea of what object it might attach to. She considered a space station or large habitation sphere or platform but ultimately what she really wanted to know was what a fourteen year old from Naboo would need with a giant hyperspace ring.

Giving an audible and visible sigh, Naruto pretended to remain calm while he suppressed his annoyance at having to explain himself, again. He originally considered using a henge or making himself appear older but from what he found concerning Dr. Motacc, she was exceedingly intelligent and would likely look into whatever name or face he presented. It was therefore best to stick with his identity on Naboo.

"As I stated during our previous meeting, the rings will be used for a variety of applications. I intend to start a recycling and salvage company as well as a mining company. The smaller rings will be used to move salvageable debris to the recycling facility and the larger rings will be slated for use on mining platform that I am in the process of building." Naruto explained and Shilaea gave him a scrutinizing look before asking, "And what exactly are you mining from there platform that would require hyperdrive capabilities."

"Asteroids." Naruto answered, being not too quick with the response but also not showing any hesitation. The statement wasn't completely true as the mining facility he was talking about did not require a hyperdrive ring. The largest of the hyperdrive ring designs would fit perfectly on his Prototype and allow it to move across the galaxy, if he so wished.

"Asteroids?" she said rhetorically. It was a new bit of information that the teen sitting across from her had failed to mention during the previous visit, or just conveniently left it out. A few of the larger designs that she provided, did have engines and not simply a hyperdrive and maneuvering thrusters, "Would it not be more efficient to just install engines and a hyperdrive on the platform?"

Naruto smiled in response, making it seem as though he was happy to answer, "I am unfortunately dealing with some space constraints and despite the requested designs seeming grandiose and inefficient, it will be necessary and required for my applications."

Not thrilled with the answer, but still unable to see any harm in handing over the designs, Shilaea slid the datachip across the table. Naruto took the small device and took out a protective case from his pocket, storing the chip with a few others.

"You actually intend to build that thing?" she commented and Naruto smirked, "Most likely, yes." Debating over whether or not the teen in front of her could actually get such a project off the ground and to completion, Shilaea added, "If and when you do, I'd like to see it."

Having the largest hyperdrive ring in the galaxy as an item in her portfolio would be an impressive addition to her list of built designs. "If and when I do." Replied Naruto and putting the case away he began to inquired about the next design that he wanted her to look into, "On another note, I was hoping to contract with you again on another project that..." But he was cut off before he could finish.

"I'm afraid someone has already inquired about my design services and I am just about to accept the offer." She interrupted and motioned to nearby bags that she had been packing.

Naruto tensed slightly at the term she had used, 'offer.' It implied a more long-term position that would likely consume all of her available time. From what he had found out about her, she was working and researching independently, taking contracts for design work and not being attached to any one company or group. It seemed that was no longer the case.

"And this offer..?" Naruto inquired as he wanted to find out as much as he could. Though his needs weren't all time sensitive, the sooner he had the next project completed, the better.

"A company out of the Cularin System has asked me to help design, oversee construction, installation, and also test a propulsion system for a new orbiting city on the gas giant Genarius. I'll be needed for anywhere between six to ten months and am being provided with pay and accommodations." She informed him and Naruto quickly thought about what he should do.

'That's a very long time and I don't have anyone else set up to work on the next project.' he thought and wanted to curse out loud as he had originally thought to push back the hyperdrive rings design and move up the other one but knew how suspicious she was. They needed a bit more trust before he could propose the design to her. Deciding that he could possible still persuade her to continue with his next project or convince the company to find someone else, he asked, "And the company?"

About to answer, Dr. Motacc stopped for a moment and seemed a little embarrassed. Searching around her desk, she quickly found a nearby datapad and read off the name, "The company is the Usable Resource, Location, Recover, and Development Corporation."

"Is that so?" Was Naruto's response as he suppressed a laugh at the needlessly complicated name that didn't even produce a good acronym. "Must be a rather important offer, especially since you quickly forgot who you were going to be working for?" he quipped.

"It's a long name!" Shilaea retorted back in defense and quickly tried to push aside her embarrassment and calm down. She hadn't forgotten the name of the handsome and charming owner who had personally come to visit her and give the offer, but the excessive name was a bit harder for her to recall.

.

"I would have described it as overly complicated and suspicious; not just long." Naruto commented as he tried to use her current mental state to his advantage and gain any further information that he could.

"He was not suspicious in the least..." The doctor started to say before realizing that she may have said too much. Naruto inwardly frowned at the fact that her interest in the offer seemed to have more to do with the owner or person making the offer than possibly the work itself.

"You're one to talk, you couldn't even give me a name for your company." She defended with and before Naruto could say anything else, she added, "How suspicious is that? And you're what, thirteen?"

"Fourteen." Naruto corrected and was getting slightly angered by her defensiveness and comments. Especially the look she just gave him which was a frown, given as if to say, 'like it matters.' Deciding to hold back a retort about a fake apology for what was possibly her future husband, Naruto decided to enhance his calm and take the moral high-ground.

"Can I at least make a counter offer?" He asked and though he had exchanged the Aurodium for Republic credits, and brought a fair amount with him, he wasn't sure he had enough or that he wanted to spend so much more than her normal fee.

"I'm afraid this offer is more than just about money." She informed him and Naruto gave a slightly surprised look, his mind wandering slightly, 'I guess he did more than simply charm her with an offer of work. Perhaps my held-back remark wasn't far off.' he thought and his look garnered a quick response from Dr. Motacc, "It's not like that!"

'Then what is it like?' wondered Naruto as he gave her a questioning look but said nothing. "In addition to accommodations and pay, the offer included a payed vacation to the floating city of Rorkee, also on Genarius. Dorumaa, one of the gas giant's moons has an archaeological dig site that supports the existence of an ancient species that predates the discovery of the Cularin System. Though no one is allowed access to the site on Dorumaa, using the reports, a simulated dig has been created as an attraction on Rorkee and I am very interested in seeing it." she explained and Naruto tried to wrap his head around what she had said.

"A simulated dig?" he said out loud, questioning both her interest and the words themselves because he wasn't sure what the attraction would be to such an...exhibit.

Slightly affronted by the comment, Shilaea responded, "I'm not an archaeologist and therefore don't have access to any of the interesting sites. I've had some experience as an amateur during my university years but that was related to extra classes that I was taking and field trips associated with them. If you don't have the right degree, then no one will let you see anything really significant when it comes to archeology. You can read about it and then later perhaps see the exhibit in a museum, but that's all. A simulated dig is therefore the best that I can come by without going back to school or trying to sneak my way onto a site. I'll therefore be going to the Cularin System and you can find someone else to help with your designs."

Naruto was extremely surprised at the new information and ignored how angry she was with him. 'I didn't know that she had such an interest in archeology. That would have been very helpful during my initial visit, but perhaps it still is.' Naruto considered as he thought of a better plan to garner the Doctor's help on his future projects.

"I really wish you had mentioned your interest earlier." Began Naruto as he tried to steer the conversation towards what he had in mind.

"It would have made a difference?" she responded and was on the verge of asking him to leave. "Perhaps it would have. Tell me, what particular field of archeology are you interested in?" He said and inwardly hoped that her answer was something that he could use.

Slightly wary of why he was suddenly so interested in her hobbies, she relented and said, "Xenoarchaeology."

It was all Naruto could do to keep the triumphant smile off his face. He knew exactly what that word referred too. Xenoarchaelogy was the study of extinct or vanished civilizations, specifically through examining what they left behind. It included both humans, humanoids, and alien species. One of the narrower fields of archeology as the Galaxy contained a few different sites of ruins from former civilizations. 'A few of which I know about and can now use to my advantage.' Naruto thought as he tried to figure out the best way to catch her interest.

"So, you would be willing to accept room, board, and an archaeological dig in lieu of a higher amount of credits?" he inquired and tried to remain confident but calm about his intentions.

"Are you trying to tell me that you have access to an archaeological site?" she asked with obvious skepticism, believing perhaps that he was lying.

"If your primary interest is xenoarcheology, then yes, I have access to several such sites." Revealed Naruto and he leaned back slightly as the statement caused Dr. Motacc to jump to her feet, with both hands on her desk, and yell, "Bantha shit! Don't lie to me!."

Remaining calm after her outburst, Naruto offhandedly explained, "If I had known about your interest, I would have mentioned it earlier and have offered you unfettered and extended access to one of the sites that I know about."

Scrutinizing him to an incredible degree, Dr. Motacc eventually demanded clarification, "Are you trying to tell me that suddenly and inexplicably you have access to a site related to xenoarchaelogy? A site that is the remains of a vanished civilization which is more than several thousand years old?"

Naruto merely nodded in response and then gave her a big smile before saying, "I would wager that either of them is far more interesting than any simulated dig that the...whatever..company is offering you."

'Two sites!' Shilaea raged internally as he couldn't detect any lie from him. 'How does some vineyard owner from Naboo get access to two archaeological sites?' she wondered and forgot about packing for the other job, wanting more information about what he was offering.

"Let's say for a moment I didn't think you were lying, just what kind of site do you have access too?" She asked, humoring him but waited on bated breath for a response. If he wasn't able to at least give her the name of a site or civilization that she had ever heard about, then he was going to be thrown out her front door.

"Seoularians and Sarafurians." Naruto simply answered and he could tell that the words had an affect on the doctor. She hadn't expected him to have an answer that showed at least some knowledge of extinct civilizations.

"I've never heard of Sarafurians." She quickly admitted and decided to sit back down in her chair instead of standing.

'She said nothing about Seoularians.' Naruto noted and knew that she was interested in them. "Well I guess it can't be helped that you haven't heard of them. They only existed on a single planet in the Moddell sector before it became tidal locked and they died out, in addition to likely other factors that played a role in the downfall of their civilization." Explained Naruto and he could tell that the Dr. Motacc was becoming much more interested, despite that she was trying to hide it.

"Well, regardless of your possibly made up civilization, I know definitively that you can't get me any site access to a Seoularian dig site. They were wiped out thousands of years ago and all that remains are the foundations of their ruined cities on a handful of planets in parts of the Mid and Outer-Rim. The sites that have been discovered are strictly monitored and regulated. I've tried to at least be able to see them and I have contacts in the archaeological community but haven't been able to. You'd be arrested if you even tried to break into them. " She told him and watched as the boy smirked in response.

"You can get me access to one of these sites?" she questioned from the smirk but Naruto informed her, "No, I can't get you access to one of those sites." Her response was a sharp inhale and before she could try and toss him out of her workplace and home, Naruto added, "I discovered my own site that is related to their civilization."

Stopping in her tracks, she eyed him before contesting, "I haven't heard about any recent discoveries. The last one was a decade ago."

"I haven't announced anything concerning the discovery that I made a few months ago. I'm the only one that knows about it. You wouldn't need to be granted access because I would simply take you there myself and no one would try to stop me, or you for that matter, from having complete access to everything that is there." Revealed Naruto and he watched her eyes widen at the information before adopting a wary expression

"How do you know it's Seoularian? It could be any of a number of destroyed remains which don't even begin to date to the pre-Republic Seolarians." she questioned and Naruto started taking out his datachip case while he informed her, "I know because I found old star charts that specifically name it as such. The system is identified as the Seoul System and the site is on the fifth planet from the sun, Seoul 5."

"Putting the inconclusive labeling aside, it takes months for expert archaeologists to properly identify a site as belonging to the Seoularians. They have to sift through tons of soil and debris before finding some kind of artifact that wasn't destroyed which relates to their still undecipherable language or culture." She informed him and Naruto removed a single datachip from his case before responding.

"Well I certainly didn't do any of that. There was no digging or sifting involved because all of the structures in the city are still perfectly intact." He said as he set the datachip on her desk. Shilaea took one look at the chip and back to Menma before she grabbed it and put it in the data slot on her desk. The holoprojector activated and numerous files were displayed, opening some of the files, she first looked at a readout or telemetry, likely from a survey ship going over the site. She looked at recordings of the city in question from above and then detailed holographic imaging done of the entire city. It showed numerous buildings that were much smaller than the immensely tall skyscrappers of Byblos.

'The overgrowth is immense.' she thought as she focused on the huge trees and areas where nature had gone unchecked for obviously several hundred years, if not more. The structures were all unique and didn't look that familiar to any architectecture from the reports and holovids concerning ancient civilizations that she had looked through. Moving through other images and holorecordings, she finally came to street by street surveys done by probe droids.

The probes had gone through the streets and digitally captured all of the buildings, surfaces, and imagery with their sensors for the purpose of rendering detailed holographic images. 'With this much, he could create his own simulated dig.' she thought right before stopping on one of the views that showed lettering on a building.

'Definitely not Basic.' she noted and expanded the image as well as tried to get a better picture and detail of the writing. It was well-worn but could still be made out. The writing also seemed vaguely familiar. 'Calm down and don't jump to any conclusions.' she told herself and looked away from the recording, trying to find a datapad.

Moving pads aside, she finally found the one she was after concerning professional papers that she had collected over the years. Finding the ones about Seoularians, she sifted through many digital documents before finding one that presenting examples of the writing system discovered on a few artifacts from Seoularian sites. Despite looking through so many sites, archaeologists had not been able to compile the entire writing and only had partial letters. Looking between the hologram and the datapad, she noted many similarities. The artifact on the datapad was small and merely a portion of a larger piece of building but they definitely appeared related as a few of the letters used matched.

Taking a few deep breaths, she remember that she wasn't the only person in the room. Waiting patiently before her was the blonde haired young man that suddenly brought up the information which still seemed a little too good to be true. 'He still could have made all this up.' she thought but something in the back of her mind told her that the site he found was still important.

'Even if it isn't Seoularian, it still could be a significant find. Can I pass up a chance like this? My own site to examine without anyone looking over my shoulder or commenting on my methods and theories. And if it turns out to be the real thing...' she considered and had a hard time not showing the emotions she was experiencing. Her heart was beating rapidly and she could hardly sit still in her seat.

"If this is a hoax, I'll..." she began but wasn't sure exactly what she'd do and simply clenched her fists and glared, implying the possibility of strangulation.

"Since you already seem to be packed..." Naruto commented while looking to her bags that were on the floor and ready to head to the job offer in the Cularin System. "I'll take my bags but there is no guarantee that I will accept your offer. If I don't, I expect you to drop my off in the Cularin System. I'm just going to see this site that you've found." She told him and Naruto said, "On the way, we can stop and I'll show you our operations and facility."

Giving him a questioning look, Naruto decided to remind her, "You did want to see my company, didn't you?" he asked and Dr. Motacc realized that she had been so caught up in the information he had presented, that she had forgotten about her earlier suspicions.

x-x

Forty-Two

In travel to Mustafar

x-x

Moving to the captains cabin, Naruto locked the door and moved to a scroll that he had specially packed. Unrolling the scroll on the floor, he used a cross shaped seal to create a shadow clone. Taking a kunai, Naruto pricked his finger and spread the blood on the fingers of his shadow clone. Pulling out his communicator, he then contacted his clone on Naboo.

A familiar and indistinguishable face soon appeared in the hologram and Naruto asked, "I trust there have been no problems." The clone shook it's head and confirmed, "First day of duty went fine and I have nothing else to report." Naruto already knew that everything was likely fine considering that the clone he left hadn't dispelled or contacted him but he still wanted to make sure that nothing else had come up.

"Then I'm ready on my end." he said and waited to be summoned while leaving the communicator on but setting it on the floor of the cabin.

x-x

Naboo

Rudshar Estate

x-x

Naruto arrived in his workshop level and looked around as he steadied himself from the summoning. Looking to the clone that was crouched beside him over a similar looking scroll as the one he had back on the ship. He nodded before closing his eyes and bracing himself for the flood of information. The clone dispelled itself and Naruto used the Force to ease the sudden influx of an entire days worth of information.

Shaking his head slightly and opening his eyes, he made a cross-seal and created a new shadow clone to stay on Naboo and continue with his public service. "Contact me if anything out of the ordinary happens." he ordered and the clone nodded before it picked up the communicator for him. Looking to another hologram of himself, Naruto informed his clone back on Forty-Two that he was ready to leave. A second later, he was obscured in a poof of smoke and gone.

x-x

Forty-Two

x-x

Waiting a second or two to let the smoke of the summoning clear, Naruto looked to his clone that had it's hand face down on the scroll and nodded, letting it know that it could dispel. Picking up the scroll, Naruto rolled it back up and stored it in his locker. It was the best way that he had found to be able to be in more than one place at a time. He replenished the clone every day on Naboo and could put in more hours while he was gone. Nothing ever seemed to happen during his duty assignments so there was a small chance of the clone dispelling. He had to leave some blood in his workshop so the clone could use it to summon him back.

'If I had someone stationed on Sarafur that could use chakra, then I could travel back and forth between it and Naboo, or anywhere else for that matter, in the blink of an eye. Though I would have to keep drawing blood and leaving small quantities of it.' he thought but it was a very insignificant downside for near-instantaneous travel. It did however require some careful forethought and planning. 'I also don't really like experiencing almost twenty four hours of memories in a second.' he thought as usually he didn't keep his clone around for that long.

Exiting his cabin, Naruto went to the cockpit as he knew that they would soon arrive on Mustafar. He was surprised to find Dr. Motacc in the co-pilot seat but refrained from commenting as he moved to the captains seat.

Assuming that he had gone to the refresher, Dr. Motacc waited for him to sit down and examine the controls before asking, "So what is Mustafar like?" It took a few moments for Naruto to come up with a good descriptive word for the planet and he ended up replying, "Volcanic."

The curious look that had been on her face changed instantly to a frown. Such a world did not sound like a nice trip or a place for a corporation. "What exactly do you do there?" she inquired.

"Mining mostly but we are in the process of expanding into the energy industry." Naruto answered as he took the ship out of hyperspace and Dr. Motacc got her first look at Mustafar. Despite having an ash covered sky, the world was just as Menma had described it to her, volcanic. Reddish-orange rivers of lava were clearly visible from space and the world had an eery glow to certain areas, while others were pitch black, whether because of dark rocks or ash in the atmosphere, she couldn't be sure.

"Why would you start a company in a place like this?" She said as she put on the harness to prepare for landing. Smiling slightly before answering, Naruto responded with shrug before saying, "It all just sort of happened after I crashed landed here."

Ignoring the exclamation from the Doctor, Naruto entered the atmosphere and followed a path which would help him escape detection by the Black Sun fortress. Because of his comment to Dr. Motacc, he remembered his first visit to the planet and his first crash landing but put such thoughts out of his mind. Coming out of the ash-filled clouds, Naruto spotted his small landing zone and noted a stark difference in the landscape from the last time he visited.

An area of Tulrus Island had been dug out to allow a place for the warship to sit and be partially hidden while it was worked on and repaired. 'It should be close to once again being operable. The only thing it needs is a crew.' he thought as he remembered that a crew of about three hundred was needed to properly operate the ship.

Maneuvering the ship to land at the sunken area by the facilities main entrance, Naruto found that the area had been expanded slightly, 'Probably to accommodate the larger freighter that we'll use to transport the mined material.' he realized and set the ship down close to the door.

Powering down the ship, he noted that his passenger was feeling confused and looking around. At first he wondered what for but soon realized that she was had apparently been expecting a building or at least a visible structure. "This is your company and facility." she commented while removing the harness and peering out the window to get a better look at the only identifiable sign that something was there, a large pair of double doors.

"It's all underground." Naruto informed her and went for the landing ramp.

x-x

The very large lift continued it's slow descent into the facility and the large room which had once been filled with storage containers came into view. The containers were almost all gone with only a few similar types remaining. One side of the room seemed to still be relegated to storage, or perhaps temporary storage as it contained a large number of various model construction and mining droids. The droids were all lined up in single-file rows and ready to be shipped.

'I saved a lot of money just buying one droid of a particular line and then copying the design. Purchasing the raw materials and producing my own droids using the lower level of the facility doesn't allow the same numbers as if I purchased them from the original company but it's still cheaper.' Naruto thought as he looked over the droids. 'He's far ahead of schedule again. I'll need to send transports from Sarafur in order to ship all these droids.' he quickly realized and took out his datapad to jot down the thought for later.

The opposite side of the room was a commotion of noise and fabrication as numerous Mustafarian workers assembled copies of the large energy collectors that powered the facility. They were an old design, no longer produced but apparently good enough for the Republic thousands of years earlier and seemed reliable and efficient.

"Energy collectors?" Commented Dr. Motacc and Naruto was unable to respond to her as right when the lift finally stopped, another voice answered, "Indeed. We intend to get into the energy market and start selling energy to many of the various planets in the Outer-Rim. Similar to Sarapin in the Core World."

Walking towards them down the center of the cavernous room was Gato. The short man was dressed in a suit similar to what the Southern Mustafarians wore, only without the helmet. The blueish material was made to journey outside and provide some protection from the heat of the planet while also likely being space-worthy when paired with the helmet. A pair of gloves and boots completed the ensemble and Gato stopped right before them in order to introduce himself.

"My name is Gato and you must be Dr. Shilaea Motacc. I am saying that right, aren't I?" He quickly asked, holding out his hand to shake hers and she quickly replied that he was pronouncing her name correctly.

"Well then, seeing as you've already met my business partner and primary investor, Menma, I'd like to show you around our facility." Gato announced and taking the lead, he followed the center path down the large room and headed deeper into the facility while speaking about their operation.

"This underground structure was a failed mining outpost, abandoned when we found it and in the last year we've made great strides at expanded and have started mining nearby lava flows for minerals. Right now we're only on Mustafar but plan to expand within the next year into the Moddell Sector. I understand that you've completed the hyperdrive ring designs?" he asked and when she nodded yes, he smiled before saying, "Good, those will help a great deal for the salvage and mining operations that we're looking to get into."

Moving slightly behind the pair, Naruto only partially listened to the lies and truths that Gato was telling Dr. Motacc and instead focused on seeing for himself what had changed in the facility.

x-x

Moving outside along a catwalk between the mining apparatus, Gato continued the tour of the mining portion of the facility. They had traveled the length of Tulrus Island to one of surrounding lava flows that erupted on the opposite side of the protective mountains which kept the flat plateau of the island safe for the Tulrus to nest. Gato had chosen the lava flow that showed the most promise and had the highest mineral concentrations. Several hundred feet beneath them was the flow and he could see the blueish outline of the protective heat shield that kept the lower mining equipment safe from the constant heat coming off the lava.

Naruto was rather surprised with how far work had come as he looked over the newly installed equipment. Some of the items were pilfered from Plagueis' former hideout and no one, neither Sidious or his apprentice, had visited Mustafar in order to find out what had happened to the facility. They had simply written it off as a power or repulsorlift failure.

They had already been shown the small droid production level which had nearly doubled in size since they had first found the facility. After the droid level, Gato had taken them to the space reserved for energy farming once the collectors were finished being built. 'As soon as we find a good buyer and have enough collectors built, I can set up transports to keep a constant flow of charged collectors heading out while the spent collectors are returned. A few collectors can supply power to entire cities of the more urbanized Outer-Rim planets and would be much more economical than other options.' Naruto thought as he slowed his pace to jot down a few more notes on his notepad.

Just up ahead, he could hear Gato conversing with Dr. Motacc and mentioning the status of their company. "Well, there's a good reason for that. Mustafarians don't really have a government structure like you may be familiar with. They just have a council that makes most decisions and there's really no way for me to register a company because they don't care for written agreements. There's no taxes here and I don't need any kind of license to operate a business. They have no use for Republic Credits nor do they really have their own form of currency. We have an arrangement for pay in the form of imported supplies.

I've been given permission to operate this facility but I have no documentation, just a verbal agreement with the Mustafarians council. That's all they wanted. We're not doing anything illegal, mind you but as you can see, we don't really have a company. Our mining product gets sold to an intermediary on Naboo and our energy collection business my go through them as well or be sold direct. I can tell anyone I want that I've decided to call the company Gato Corporation but there won't be any record of it even existing. This will all change once we expand into the Moddell Sector as we'll have to properly register and pay taxes to operate there." Said the short man while idly touching his mustache.

Seeing the understanding on Shilaea's faced, Gato asked, "He didn't explain any of this to you?" and he motioned back to the following blonde behind them.

"No, he didn't." she replied and also glanced back, as if expecting Naruto to comment or speak up.

"I'm not surprised, he doesn't communicate with people very well. A fantastic pilot and scout, but not good with people. Can you image in a few years when he starts having wine-tasting parties on Naboo and will be expected to talk with guests?" Gato joked and started laughing while Shilaea also joined in.

Still within earshot behind them, Naruto was growing more agitated by the minute. 'I never should have told Gato that. Just calm down and let the human-ugnaught make her think that he's running things.' Naruto told himself as he put away the datapad and increased his pace to catch up.

As the conversation died down a little and they moved back to the main entrance of the facility, it was clear to Shilaea that Gato was the real business person behind the company. From what she could tell, they had a very good operation going. Most business people only dreamt of having such an arrangement with a local government. Menma seemed to be the backing behind the company and likely the person that discovered the abandoned mining facility. They were an odd pair but ultimately seemed to work rather well together.

'If they've managed to create this in only a year with nothing to start with, I wonder how much they'll accomplish in three or five years?' she wondered and remembered all of the big plans that they had. What Gato had told her, mostly concerning the seemingly isolated and overlooked Moddell Sector, involved tibanna gas collection, asteroid and planetary mining, and a shipping company. Certainly they were thinking big and were determined to make it happen.

Despite that the man had glanced at her breasts several times during their conversations, she was feeling a bit more comfortable with the idea of working on future designs for Menma and seeing them come to fruition.

'Now I can't wait to see this city.' Shilaea thought and she absently moved a bit faster as they neared the large lift that led up to the facility entrance.

x-x

Outer-Rim

Seoul System

Seoul 5

x-x

After an uneventful trip from Mustafar, Naruto spoke very little to the seemingly ecstatic Dr. Motacc. She was very anxious concerning their arrival and seemed to be in her own little world, staying mostly in her cabin and pouring over information from her datapad and his datachip.

The Seoul System contained eight planets that orbited a yellow sun. All save for the fifth planet, dubbed Seoul 5 in the Rakatan Star Map, contained nothing of interest. A few were barren rocks while two were gas giants and the rest were somewhere in-between and none could support life. The fifth planet had a Type I atmosphere and close to standard gravity.

Taking the ship into the atmosphere, Naruto looked upon and still wondered exactly why the majority of the planet's soil was orange. Aside from the strangely colored soil, the surface was dominated by a single continent with lakes and rivers but no real ocean. Aside from mountainous areas and forests, the planet didn't have swamps but did have several deserts and flat plains.

Heading towards the only city on the planet, Naruto piloted the ship just outside the city limits and towards the prefabricated outpost that he had installed months previously. Upon finding the planet listed in the Star Map, he had managed to make time for a visit. It was about a days travel along the special route that he had navigated and was considered part of Wild Space, not being part of the explored Outer-Rim and also not close to the Known Region but near the edge of the Galaxy.

As he landed the ship, Naruto accessed the outpost's computer and looked over the sensor logs to see if anything had happened while he was gone. The logs were empty of any contacts or detection and he let out a breath that he didn't know he had been holding. There was the potential for the site to have great value to them and he wanted to keep anyone else from finding it. Leaving the cockpit, he went to the one of the unused cabins and retrieved two environmental suits. The planet's atmosphere and conditions did not warrant it but there were other things to consider as well.

A nearby cabin door opened and Dr. Motacc stepped out, asking, "Are we here?" Naruto found her looking slightly disheveled from her normal look but he guessed it was from spending all her time researching all the information she could in the hours it took to get from Mustafar to the Seoul System.

"We've arrived and I'd like you to put this on." He confirmed and handed her one of the suits.

"Is there something that I should know about?" she inquired after taking the suit and looking it over. 'This is good quality and made for pretty dangerous conditions.' she thought and none of the material she looked through pointed to the planet requiring such measures.

"You'll know soon enough. This is merely a precaution for the worst case scenario." Naruto tried to explain and for the moment, Shilaea complied and leaned against the wall to put on the suit.

x-x

Stepping onto the hard rock surface, Dr. Motacc was confused as she only saw a single story building that certainly did not look that old. Before she could comment, Naruto informed her, "Should you accept the offer, this will be the building that you'll be staying in. It is fully stocked for at least a year and is made for level two decontamination as well as being protected from radiation. It has it's own solar panels on the roof, dedicated well with filters, and multiple portable reactors. There is a single person ship with programmed coordinates for the nearest safe planet as well as two speeders for travel to the city in the small hangar. All the equipment that you should need, scanners, some probe droids, and an assistant droid are waiting inside."

Shilaea nodded in response, surprised at how well prepared he seemed to be. She hadn't expected an entire small facility being provided, nor equipment. 'I was preparing a list of the items I'd need during the flight from Mustafar.' she thought and decided to follow him into the facility to see what was there.

Activating the control panel for the door, Naruto stepped into the airlock, followed closely by Dr. Motacc. As soon as the door shut, all of the air in the small interior room was removed and replaced before the other door opened and they proceeded into the decontamination chamber. As they walked, numerous devices completely sterilized the outside of their suits and cleaned their boots.

Coming out of the chamber, they walked into a small locker room where Naruto started removing his suit and Shilaea quickly did the same. Setting the suit into an empty locker, she noted that the small facility was likely made to house five to ten people for long periods and had seen similar prefabricated buildings, 'Though this seems to be more of a military version.' she thought and followed Naruto into the main room of the facility.

The room was about ten by twenty meters and had several doors to other rooms, which she was positive were for storage, cabins, and the hangar Menma had mentioned. Inside the large room was a transparasteel encased work room with numerous tables and equipment that she recognized. It also had access to outside so large samples could be brought in and decontaminated for study.

Next to the lab area she looked through an open door to a small medical bay with powered down medical droid. In front of the two room was a small living area with kitchenette, table, and seating. Looking all around the room and taking it all in, she was impressed with the setup. 'He's definitely serious about examining the city.' she thought and moved into the living area, crossing the floor towards a large transparasteel window, the only one in the facility.

She stiffed a gasp as her eyes widened at the view from the window. Looking out the window, she had an amazing view of the city that she had spent hours viewing during the journey. The holoprojections were all very scaled down and so she hadn't fully realize the size of the city. 'It must be several hundred square kilometers and able to house a few million people.' she thought, examining all of the building that were interspersed with the overgrowth of huge trees.

The ship had evidently been parked in the back of the facility as she hadn't been able to see any of the large city she now looked down upon. The sheer size of it was larger than any other Seoularian ruins ever discovered. 'If it could be verified that the Seoularians had once lived here, then this would be the greatest discovery of their civilization ever and even if it's not them, it's still a significant xenoarchaeological discovery. It's exceedingly rare to find a whole city and even rarer for it to look so intact.' she thought as she kept her gaze upon the yet unknown city.

"I guess you could refer to it as the city hidden in the leaves." Naruto joked despite knowing that Shilaea would not understand the reference. So captivated in looking upon the city, he wasn't even sure she had heard him.

"Dr. Motacc..." he said, trying to get her attention and ended up poking her in the arm before she came out of her thoughts and recognized that he was there and speaking to her. "Sorry, Menma." she offered and Naruto tried to give a reassuring smile before motioning that he wanted to show her the rest of the facility.

"The doors over hear lead to the bedrooms, this one over here is all storage, communications and sensors room, and the hangar." Naruto said as he walked with her around the room and pointed out each door as they went.

"This is maintenance and other storage." Naruto said, coming to last remaining door. Touching the control panel, the heavier door opened and Shilaea found the assistant droid that she would be working with, along with two others. It took a few moments before she realized that the powered down droids were not assistants but appeared to be a type of battle droid, at least their orange frames and heads looked intimidating enough to be battle droids.

"If for any reason you find yourself in trouble, you can activate these droids. Those containers over there have a small collection of weapons." He said and she gave him both a worried and confused look, asking, "Am I going to need all this?"

"The planet does have a few small predators but nothing that should warrant you needing these droids. They are here in case of the worst possible scenario, which entails someone else discovering the site and your life being in danger. We are after all in what is considered Wild Space, though no ships have come to the planet since I discovered it. I would keep a blaster with you when you go out, just in case.

If you need anything else, the building has a powerful communications array and I can be here in just over two days or have someone else come in just over a single day." Naruto informed her and she nodded while still a little surprised at the measures he was taking. 'Wow, he doesn't mess around with security and precautions.' was the thought going through her mind

"Perhaps you should look around the workroom and see if everything is in order or if you will require anything further." Naruto suggested and she nodded before heading to the transparasteel enclosed room.

It had been set up for either Kabuto or himself before the teen had decided to go to medical school and his own schedule had prevented him from spending any time there. Though he'd considered using shadow clones and summoning, remembering to switch out each day and dealing with the continuous intake from a long-term clone was not something he had wanted. So he had ended up not informing the rest of the group and leaving the planet alone until he could find someone else.

Besides Kabuto, only Karin had the aptitude and possibly interest to examine the city but her focus had turned to nursing. The end result was that he had a prefabricated building that was fully stocked, but there was no one to use it. Droids were also considered but most droids simply did not have the kind of programming required for such independent operation. He would have to keep checking in on them and likely would receive more reports than he would have time to read. What he needed was someone to examine the site that had great interest and that would report to him anything that was discovered.

Waiting for her to finish looking through the area, Naruto also waited for the inevitable question that she would ask. Walking back over to him, Dr. Motacc inhaled slightly before asking, "Everything seems to be in order and I can't imagine needing anything else at the moment. I do however want to know why this building has decontamination protocols and why we wore environmental suits?"

Motioning for them to take a seat on the nearby chairs and couch, she moved to sit down across from the blonde, expecting to get a full explanation of everything she was getting herself involved in. "I will certainly answer your question and then I would like to go over the offer and touch on a few things that I would like you to look into while you are here." he said and she nodded, waiting for him to continue.

"I would first like to say that I have great interest in this site and for several reasons. The archaeological importance of the site high on my priorities list. I don't want to damage anything here, nor do I intend to change any of the buildings or turn it into some kind of tourist site.

Now, the reasoning for the decontamination and suit surrounds the fact that the city was abandoned. Normally there is a good reason to abandon a perfectly good city. People don't just leave without a reason, whether it be war, famine, disease, natural disaster, and so on. The problem here is that my initial investigation produced no reason why the millions of people that once lived in that city should leave.

There is no evidence of a battle, no signs of a disaster, and probably the oddest aspect of the exodus is the fact that not a single body or any remains can be found in the city streets or seen through the windows. Though I was not able to have the probe droids check the majority of the buildings, they weren't able to find any evidence of the species that once lived here. It's simply an empty city and as if they all just decided one day to get up and leave. That in and of itself is very disconcerting and my primary reason for the decontamination and environmental suit.

I understand that you may not share this concern and I'm not telling you or ordering you to wear the suit or go through the decontamination. If you are the least bit cautious, then I would hope that you do follow these procedures, despite the annoyance and them being a hindrance." Naruto said and he gave a few moments for Dr. Motacc to digest all that he had just told her. After about a minute of thinking it over, she nodded and replied, "If...I do accept the offer, then I will follow the procedures and I admit that having the droids and weapons is a little comforting, especially considering how far away I am from Byblos and most civilized planets. And the fact that I'm all alone except for that assistant droid."

Naruto nodded at her statement and continued, "Now, the offer. I will tell you that I don't plan to bring anyone else to this site, at least not in the near future and therefore you have free reign of the site. You can go anywhere and examine anything that you wish. Your schedule is your own and any papers that you write concerning this site belong to you.

My name or company need not be featured on anything you write but the discovery of the site will be credited to me. I would like to keep anyone else from coming here in the meantime and therefore do not want you to publish your papers anytime soon or at least the location of the planet. At least until I am able to make sure that no one else will be able to come here. Though I am interested in the site as a whole, I am however very fascinated with a particular aspect of the city. This is due to the fact that when I initially explored part of the city, I touched one of the panels next to a door, out of habit, and it proceeded to open.

You see, despite the site being centuries, and if my thoughts are correct about the former inhabitants, thousands of years old, the power is still on. After numerous scans and overhead passes by drones, I was unable to find solar panels, wind turbines, any hydroelectric evidence, a visible or identifiable power building, and certainly not sufficient power readings coming from a reactor or power plant somewhere in the city. This is quite an interesting conundrum and I am therefore extremely interested in where the power is coming from and what type of source t is. I would like for you to examine this mystery while you are here.

The only exception to this previously stated rule about publishing papers concerning this discovery, is the power source for the city. I would like to be informed when you find it and able to look it over before you publish anything concerning it as well as have final say over it's inclusion in anything that you write. Perhaps you think badly of me because of this, thinking that I intend to exploit this information for my own gain, but I did discover the site and am running a business.

I am paying for all of this and would like to get something back out of it. Whatever is powering the city could be of great importance and help a lot of people that don't have access to a proper power source. I didn't need to include anyone else in this endeavor and could have kept it to myself, coming here to investigate in my spare time. Your involvement, however will certainly speed things along and you are much more qualified and knowledgeable than I am concerning xenoarchaeology. Please remember that I don't want this rule to create a problem between us and our business relationship.

This arrangement will last for three months with the option for renewal. In exchange for this opportunity and during those three months, I would like for you to work on another design for me at the same fee as before. This is the offer that I am putting on the table, so to speak. You don't have to decide right away, we can take a short ride on speeder to the city so you can get a better look but I would like a decision in the next hour or so. Is this acceptable?"

x-x

'Books.' Shilaea thought as she walked down the street of the city and looked at everything she could. 'Not just papers...I could write am entire series of holobooks on this place. If it really is Seoularian then this is probably the greatest xenoarchaeological discovery of the century and I could spend decades discovering everything about them. And it would all be mine. I'd be at the forefront of this discovery and people would be reading my papers and theories.' she thought while walking through the tall grass that had sprouted up in-between the gaps of the large street stones.

Most of the buildings were a few hundred feet tall and nothing over twenty stories. The sites and thoughts she was having were almost overpowering her reasoning ability. The city was certainly playing on her sense of wonder and making her more excited than she had been since her first archaeological field trip for one of her classes.

Looking through windows, she could see that everything was left where it was. 'It truly is as though they just got up and left. Nothing is even knocked over or shows that they were in a hurry.' she noted and it did seem very eery. The offer was incredible, the city was incredible, but she wasn't keen on his rule concerning the power source of the city, 'Could I really pass up this opportunity over that? Is it a deal-breaker?' she wondered but looking upon the huge old trees that had once been small saplings which aesthetically lined the road, she thought perhaps that it could be overlooked.

Turning around, she walked up the waiting Menma and asked, "What's the design?" The enviro-suite wearing teen smiled and asked, "What do you know about interdiction field and theory?"

x-x

Moddell Sector

Kuna's Eye System

x-x

Quickly leaving the Seoul System, Naruto left everything to Dr. Motacc and would have to wait before getting her first report or update concerning her progress. Though he had told Gato that he didn't have enough time for the meeting, now he wasn't so sure. 'Though I am looking at it through hindsight.' he realized as nothing new had come from Narees and his clone had nothing to report concerning Plagueis.

'Now I find myself in the Moddell Sector but for something completely different than a meeting with the Ayrou.' he thought and was nearly ready to exit hyperspace at the coordinates of one of his other projects.

The Kuna constellation consisted of eight systems and were all given names of the body parts which corresponded to whatever a 'Kuna' or the 'Kuna' was, which he could only guess at. There was a horn system, an eye, tooth, tail, fist, heart, scale and finally gullet. Kuna's Tail III was another name for Sarafur and it was in the Kuna's Eye system that he was currently travling too.

Given that only Sarafur was populated, the remaining systems were not only devoid of life but also for the most part unexplored or at least no one really cared about them. Their names existed on star charts but when he first looked at the constellation as a whole, he couldn't actually find out any details about each system and how many or what type of planets they contained.

Naruto had however been very busy in the sector and using a slew of probes, had explored and documented most of the sector. It was one of the reasons why both he and Gato had such interest in the Moddell Sector. He had better charts, knowledge, and records on the sector than any of the inhabitants did or likely that anyone else in the Galaxy did. One of the interesting discoveries had been the Kuna's Eye system, which was different than all the other systems in the constellation.

Instead of planets, a protoplanetary disk surrounded the blue giant known as Kuna's Eye. No planets had formed in the system and all of the material was still surrounding the sun in a very large and flat disk. Unlike an asteroid belt, the disk was not chaotic and everything stayed relatively stationary as it slowly rotated around the sun. The disk was comprised of small to medium asteroids, gases, and contained numerous metals, alloys, and minerals. It was therefore the perfect location for Project Foundry.

Exiting hyperspace, Naruto arrived above the plane of the disk and sent out the required signal as he approached the largest asteroid in the disk. As the multi-kilometer rock got larger and larger in the cockpit windows, Naruto aimed for the side of the asteroid that showed part of an artificial structure and small docking area that jutted out from the partially constructed facility. The rest of the asteroid looked normal but it was obvious that the portion he was heading for was a base or facility of some type which was being built into the asteroid. Rotating the ship and extending the side docking tube, Naruto felt the ship lurch slightly as the docking procedure was completed.

Putting back on the environmental suit, he headed for the airlock. The space station was still being built and was exposed to the vacuum of space. The main focus had been on the interior production levels and not the outer superstructure or making sure the facility was airtight. While mining droids cored out the asteroid to make room for the facility, they gathered much of the raw materials for the construction droids to build the facility.

Seeing as he had provided the proper signal, no guards were there at the airlock to greet him and instead a single, familiar looking droid waited for his arrival. HK-F1 was the prototype of what he hoped would be a successful line of construction foreman droids. The droid retained the sadistic personality of the original HK but featured specialized construction management and analysis software taken from a slew of other droid models. The combination allowed for a harsh construction foreman that could keep track of every aspect of the project and it also extremely disliked falling behind schedule. If it continued to work as well as it had been, then there would be many more of it's line built and they would oversee all of his future construction projects.

The black and gray colored droid nodded slightly to his presence and spoke to him through a commlink because of the vacuum, "Greetings, Rasen. Your arrival was not previously scheduled or expected, is there a problem?" Inquired the droid and Naruto inwardly smirked because the usually distinct speech pattern of the original droid was purposefully absent on the prototype.

"No, Eff-one. I was merely in the area and wanted to stop in to check how things were going. It has been some time since my last visit." Explained Naruto as they walked down the docking area towards the heavy double doors that sealed the main facility. As they went, Naruto could look through uncompleted sections and view space as well as portions of the disk.

"Indeed. I have noted that you prefer to see for yourself the completion level of a project rather than being satisfied with the updated reports I send." Commented the droid and Naruto wasn't sure if it was simply speaking or an observation or annoyed with him about not being content with the information in the reports and wanting a visit.

Making their way to the end of the hallway, the large blast doors slowly opened for their arrival. The thick doors revealed a long entry way into the facility that had been carved into the asteroid and was mostly covered with a more protective material for the walls, floor and ceiling. Lining the entry way were tall pieces of untouched stone that had not been left by the mining droid and equipment.

The original plans for the Rakatan space station known as the Foundry, called for large statues in the image of the Rakata to be carved and adorn the wide entrance to the facility. There were also original pieces of asteroid that had been left along the walls for a purpose. He had been looking through his Master's collection of ancient Sith texts, specifically ones concerning the building of tombs and other structures.

The research was so he could get some ideas about how to properly decorate such an important entrance, what Sith Runes to use, and also see what defenses he might use that didn't actually appear that dangerous but actually were. He had never been able to chose the décor before as the estate on Naboo was already built and decorated.

After walking through the unfinished hall, the droid led him to the main operations room for the facility which was completely finished, unlike the rest of the facility, and where all information from mining and construction droids was relayed. Moving to the center of the room, a large holoprojector activated before them and Naruto watched as the entire asteroid which housed his incomplete Foundry was displayed on the screen in color as well as with great detail.

"We are currently at fifteen percent completion of the facility." Stated the droid and it manipulated the image so it changed to an x-ray view of the asteroid, showing the key areas and the progress made by mining crews. Seeing all the tunneling which was done to acquire the most significant metal and alloy deposits in the asteroid, Naruto then looked over the construction areas and imagined what the facility would look like when it was done.

The original foundry had over twelve production levels and was designed primarily as a droid fabricating facility. Unlike the Star Forge, it took in nearby asteroids, breaking them down and extracting the necessary resources to build whatever it's user wanted. In addition to droids, it could build just about any mechanical part or device up to the size of a starfight in vast quantities and in minimal time.

"Current completion time?" Naruto inquired and HK-F1 quickly responded, "At current speed and with current droid workforces, it is estimated that completion will take four standard years. However, in three months and fifteen days, the facility will reach a level of self production and the project completion time will rapidly decrease." the droid added and Naruto understood what it was saying.

When that time arrived, his foundry would be able to start droid production, probably as the first production level of the facility was completed. At that time, the facility would have the capability to build it's own workforce as well as itself. This would drastically lower production time and free up Mustafar's droid production facility to focus on expanding their operations there.

"After the facility becomes self-producing, how long until it is at one hundred percent production?" Naruto then asked and the droid took a moment to calculate before responding, "Approximately one standard year." Naruto smirked at the result but moved on to more pressing concerns that he had over security.

"Have their been any incursions into the system since my last visit?" He asked but believed that he knew the answer, "Negative, no unidentified ships have been picked up by continuous sensor sweeps." Stated the droid and Naruto nodded at the answer. He was very thankful that no one had come to the system. There was always the chance of prospectors entering the system because of the presence of profitable materials in the disk. Even though rumors had been spread on Sarafur of a dangerous pirate group taking up residence in the system, he doubted that would keep everyone away.

"What is your analysis of the facilities current defensive abilities?" asked Naruto as he wanted to know the droid's opinion and compare it to his own.

"The external defenses are non-existant and internal defenses are not complete. There aren't enough ships to make regular patrols of the space surrounding the facility, much less the system." the droid informed him and Naruto frowned as the problem had existed since they started construction and would likely persist until the faculty was completed.

The Rakata weren't big on protecting their facilities with weaponry. The Foundry, like the Star Forge, relied more on it's production ability to protect itself rather than defensive weaponry. 'Apparently the Rakata simply just didn't think they would ever be attacked.' he thought. Despite having rotating patrols from his growing fleet on Sarafur, they weren't enough to cover the system and if someone got wind of what he was doing, 'Then I may not be able to stop them from taking it.' Naruto concluded and he didn't like the idea of losing such a valuable site or having his plans set back.

"I've recently acquired additional funds and plan on purchasing several small ships that will become dedicated to the defense of this facility.. I also have someone working on interdiction technology, so if anyone does find this facility, they won't be getting away with their hyperdrive." he informed the droid and made notes to look into purchasing some droid controlled or automated defense ships.

The droid tilted it's head to the side and looked slightly confused at his statement. Knowing what part it didn't understand, Naruto explained, "An interdiction field has been historically used to prevent ships from entering hyperspace. It could target specific ships or an entire area and disable a hyperdrive from opening a hyperspace window. The technology, however, has not been used for centuries, possibly even several thousand years and most have never even heard of it.

I only discovered the technology by accident while looking through the Rakatan computer's database. It recorded every design that the original Star Forge produced and one such design was a six hundred meter long cruiser that bore the same name as the technology; the Interdictor-class cruiser.

Unfortunately, the computer predicted that based upon it's scans of my transport ship and hyperdrive configuration, that the technology may no longer be efficient or particularly effective. It wasn't able to suggest how to make it effective because it doesn't have the detailed knowledge required concerning modern hyperdrives or interdiction technology. However, I now have someone working on it and will hopefully be able to build a device in the near future." The droid nodded in understanding and proceeded to add the information to it's memory, for future application or addition to the facility.

Looking over the image of the incomplete space station, Naruto compared what he was seeing to his memory of the facility that Tanmatsu had showed him. There was still much to be done. Despite it's amazing production abilities, the completed Foundry would have a difficult time helping to build the Prototype, given how small the pieces were that it could produce.

Instead, he planned to cater toward it's strengths and have the Foundry relegated to build all the droids that he would need. This amounted to the production of hundreds of thousands of droids and possibly even millions given what he required to complete construction of his miniature Star Forge and for his other projects. 'I'll need various construction droids, mining droids, salvage droids, labor droids and likely battle droids.' he thought and knew that he still wasn't sure as to the exact number of each. He also had to decide which models to use out of the many choices available to him or come up with his own designs.

x-x

Naboo

x-x

Appearing in a cloud of white smoke, Forty-Two sat quietly in the hangar on Naboo before Naruto lowered the boarding ramp and exited the ship. Naruto looked at the clone that had summoned the entire ship back to the estate and nodded that it could dispel. It had been six days since leaving and heading towards Byblos and he headed up to his lab in order to put his datachips away in a safe place.

Stopping at the railing by the lake, he took in a few breaths of the familiar smell. He also closed his eyes and listened to the small waves brushing against the foundation of the building . It was both relaxing and far better than days of recycled air and sounds of a working a spaceship.

There had been no messages from the Black Sun about a mission, though he wasn't sure if that was good or bad. They were either biding their time for a strike on the Tenloss Syndicate or looking into the next target for him to attack. 'Either way, I'm not feeling that up to do anything.' he thought and idly wondered how long it had been since he had actually trained.

'Do the others train more than I do? He wondered as he entered the lift but wasn't sure. They all had access to the storage area with all the jutsu scrolls and were encouraged to use them but he never really checked to see if they were, or brought it up at meetings. His excuse concerning training had to do with the various construction and mining droids that he was testing out. They were in the nearby mountain, creating a hidden training room and hangars. But the excuse only went so far.

'Maybe a vacation or training trip.' he thought but knew that such a luxury wasn't really feasible. Running around the Galaxy had become what he did most of the time. If there was any free time, it was spent going over his datapad, adding to it, looking into more ways to help Tayuya, or working on one of the may projects that currently surrounded him as he stepped out of the lift and entered his lab.

The obvious solution was to use clones and have them train for him but that just meant an even larger drain and more mental fatigue. 'At some point I simply need a break.' It was at that moment that he felt Plagueis stir above him. The Sith Lord moved for the lift and Naruto could only think, 'Don't stop on my level,' over and over again as Plagueis entered the lift and only moved one level in the lift, stopping at level ten.

'Shit.' thought Naruto as he currently felt like falling into a bed more than heading out into space again. 'I need to get a couch in here or something.' he considered as even a few moments of laying down after falling onto a comfortable couch seemed better than anything else at that moment. As the lift door opened and Plagueis stepped into his work area. "Good, you're here. Has the Black Sun messaged about a mission?" He questioned and Naruto shook his head. "Then we have a scheduled meeting with Popara Anjiliac Diresto."

Naruto nearly responded with a harsh comment or told Plagueis off but refrained and simply asked, "Where?" He hoped that it wasn't where he thought it would be but he quickly felt that his hopes were being washed away, "Nar Shaddaa." Answered the Sith Lord and he quickly turned to leave, but Naruto was left with the implication that he was to prepare the ship for takeoff.

'The last thing I need is a trip straight into Hutt Space. I'll probably end up killing Popara instead of forming a business arrangement with him.' Were Naruto's thoughts on the matter and he walked to a nearby window, leaning forward so his forehead touched the cool transparasteel. Taking a few deep breaths, he calmed himself and felt a slight pain in his seal.

Though it could have been a great source of power, if he could control it, the Kyuubi was becoming more and more of a hindrance than ever before. 'More of a hindrance than the Black Sun and more than public service. If I could get rid of it, then I would.' he thought and knew that it wasn't an exaggeration. Pushing aside such thoughts, he looked down to the hangar through the window and found the Vulture was available for use.

'I don't even remember how much fuel Forty-Two has left. It's better just to take the Vulture.' Naruto thought as he moved to the lift.

x-x

Hutt Space

Nar Shaddaa

x-x

"All social and political circles have a linchpin, an individual within that group that can influence the whole or just the most important members." stated Plagueis to Naruto as they sat in the cockpit and prepared to exit hyperspace.

Naruto was terribly bored and tired from the four day journey on uncharted routes that took them deep into Hutt Space. It bypassed the heavily traveled lanes in order to keep themselves a little safer. The Hutts may have controlled the area but that didn't prevent infighting and piracy. His prayers for a call from Narees had gone unanswered and he was stuck with Plagueis on what seemed like a foolish errand to a place he didn't want to go.

"Popara is one that I have identified which will allow us to influence a large group of wealthy individuals that are associated with the Hutt. Once we have solid financial backing and the reputation of Popara, then we can start gathering others from the Republic." the Sith Lord informed him as he reviewed and explained the reason for his choice.

'It was a mistake to ask that question.' thought Naruto as he took the ship out of hyperspace and the larger Nal Hutta as well as the smaller moon of Nar Shaddaa quickly came into view. Though it was the seediest place in the galaxy and seemed likely to only produced pollution, crime and illegal substances, it was surprisingly a developer of many technologies. Because of the lack of laws concerning testing and regulations on products, it produced some of the most advanced and likely dangerous, technology in the galaxy. Numerous companies had design and testing labs located in the lower levels of the Vertical City, one of the moon's many names.

Taking them into the atmosphere of the city covered planet, Naruto followed the ship's sensors to the location that Plagueis had given him of Popara's spire. The amount of platforms and refueling spires was dizzying. Not to mention the bright, multicolored displays that he passed were giving him trouble staying on course and moving through the heavy traffic of the overpopulated planet. Though correct signals and lanes existed, many ships were simply following whatever route they wanted and it was an extremely chaotic journey just to the spire.

Looking out the cockpit windows, Plagueis suppressed a frown at having to once again journey to Nar Shaddaa. It wasn't his first trip and he hoped it would be his last. While Coruscant had an undercity and many levels that were run down, nearly every level of Nar Shaddaa was worse than that. Only select spires, usually Hutt-owned or owned by other wealthy individuals were nicer than the rest of the city.

Identifying the correct building, Naruto signaled his approach and was allowed to dock at one of the many zones along the tall yellowish spire that was owned by Popara. The pair entered the airlock of the Vulture and departed the ship into a narrow waiting room with only a pair of heavy doors at the opposite end. An automated voice spoke what was likely the same phrase in a variety of different languages and it wasn't until the voice changed to Basic that Naruto was informed to stay where he was and that someone would be there shortly.

Numerous surveillance devices adorned the walls, watching their every move and Naruto was positive that a few turrets or other weapon systems were hidden and waiting to be used. A single flip of a switch or push of a button from some kind of security or control room was all that was required. However nothing transpired and they proceeded to wait a few minutes before the large door opened.

Moving behind a few guards, a brown colored Hutt came out from the door and looked them over before asking, "So you're the afternoon appointment?" Naruto was very surprised to meet a Hutt that spoke Basic and it was Plagueis that answered, "Indeed we are."

Hutts were hermaphrodite, so they could choose to become either gender but it was Naruto's first time meeting one that had chosen female. Outwardly, there were no signs that showed any difference between the Hutt he was looking at the other Hutts he had met. Only the voice was different and he wondered how many Hutts ever took the time to learn to speak basic.

"Then I bid you greetings on behalf of his Excellency Popara. I am Vago, Majordomo of for Popara." The brown Hutt said to them. Pushing something on her datapad, a part of the nearby wall started moving out. The segment was waist-high and revealed a collection of empty bins, "Relinquish all weapons and you can have them back when you return." the newly named Vago said and neither produced any weapons or devices. Pushing something else on her datapad, Naruto could feel that he was being scanned in some way and Vago examined the result on her datapad until she was satisfied that they posed no threat.

Giving a look the surrounding guards, they moved to stand along the wall, providing a path to the doors. Naruto and Plagueis moved to follow Vago and they entered what Naruto quickly realized was actually a large turbolift. 'Made for several Hutts to fit comfortably.' he thought as he could feel them moving up..

'A Hutt as a majordomo?' Naruto mentally posed to Plagueis as the idea of a Hutt acting in such a capacity seemed strange to him and he therefore questioned it. While there was a semblance of a hierarchy in each clan, he pictured them more as operating separately and following but not serving the clan leader.

"I'm not sure this Vago is from the Anjiliac clan. It's possible that she is adopted into the clan or works for a smaller subordinate clan to the Anjiliac.' Stated the Sith Lord telepathically. Both remained silent for the short remainder of the lift-ride up to the uppermost levels.

Exiting the lift, they found themselves in a wide and very decorated hallway. Red draperies adorned parts of the walls and red carpet with various designs adorned the floor. The walls were either a rock facade with metal or actual stone mixed with metal. A few guards were stationed at various points ahead of them but they appeared to be fewer and not as well armed as those that Borvo employed. Moving down the hall and passing a few doors, they eventually came to the last and largest door.

Vago moved ahead of the group and input something into the more sophisticated control panel. An audible unlocking sound was heard and the heavy doors slowly opened. Being ushered into the room, they walked into a meeting area of sorts. Three flat platforms were arranged in a u-shape around an open area of the floor, presumably an area for those that wished to speak with the three present Hutts sitting on the platforms.

From Naruto's right hand side, he found a young looking green Hutt that was eying them with interest but remained silent upon their approach. He had a few guards standing near him and they too watched though more because it was their duty than interest. Directly ahead was a much older looking light purple Hutt. It had much more wrinkles than the others and was surrounded by three green colored female Twi-leks that appeared to be in the process of washing him. He sat in a lounged position on pillows and Naruto guessed that he was Popara.

The last Hutt on his left-hand side was a darker purple and not that concerned with their presence. Several guards were surrounding the Hutt but they were drinking and appeared to all be playing some kind of card game and gambling. While the sight of so many Hutts in a single room was slightly overpowering for Naruto, what really got to him was the smell. 'Someone needs to wash the entire room and not just Popara.' Naruto thought before he noted Vago's movement.

Moving to the center of the room, Vago stood before the elderly Hutt and announced, "You are in the presence of his Excellency Popara as well as his two offspring, Mika the Hutt.." and she motioned to the green Hutt, "..and Zonnos the Lesser." she finished, motioning to the dark purple one.

Before Plagueis could say anything, the elderly Hutt spoke and it was quickly translated by Vago, "Who has the runt Borvo brought before me this time?"

'Well this is starting off well.' Naruto commented internally before saying to Plagueis, 'I guess Borvo doesn't have as good a relationship as he told you he did?' Though he kept his face from showing any concern at the words.

'Relax, I can handle this.' the Muun replied back before saying, "Great and Mighty Popara, I have come to meet with you through Borvo in order to discuss a business opportunity."

Something about what Plagueis had said, instantly caught the elderly Hutt's attention as he leaned forward to eye them, specifically Plagueis, with renewed interest. The Hutt squinted with what were likely diminished eyes before he started laughing.

'A look of recognition.' Naruto wondered before the Hutt made a motion with his hand which was accompanied with a grunt. The guards in the room instantly reacted and bowed slightly before they began to leave.

'Something's up.' thought Naruto to himself as he had tensed with the motion of the guards but wasn't sure what was going on. He glanced to a tense Plagueis to see if the former Muun would say anything or urge him to act, but the Sith Lord said nothing. Once the guards had left, Popara looked directly at Plagueis and began speaking. The majority of the words were gibberish to Naruto but he did recognize a pair that he had heard before, 'Hugo Damask.'

Though trying to remain from showing any recognition, Naruto began to prepare himself and thought about which jutsu would be effective against the Hutt, should he need to kill all three of them. Plagueis on the other hand was surprised more than anything and ignored Vago as she repeated Popara's words in Basic, "Did you not think my old eyes and ears would recolonize you in that disguise, Hugo Damask?"

It was at that moment that Plagueis realized what had happened, He had attuned the vocabulator to something close to his original, mostly so that when he spoke, it at least sounded similar to his old voice. Bad hearing combined with poor eyesight of the tall form before him had led Popara to guessing Plagueis's identity. They previously knew each other and had done business on several occasions but he never thought it would be Popara that would recognize him. Even Borvo had no idea who he was. The last thing he wanted was to be recognized.

'I suppose it makes sense, especially with my voice alteration and the fact that this Mustafarian body greatly mirrors my Muun form.' thought the Sith Lord before he messaged to Naruto to remain calm and not try anything.

"I'm afraid this is no disguise Popara. Though I will congratulate you on recognizing me. Even Borvo did not suspect who I was but I suppose that is what comes with almost nine hundred years of experience." revealed Plagueis and his statement was met with surprise from all but Popara, who laughed a deep laugh in response.

'What exactly are you doing?' inquired Naruto and Plagueis told him to follow his lead.

Able to understand Huttese, Plagueis listened to Popara's response, "Not a disguise? How long has it been and who have you brought with you?" inquired the Hutt and Plagueis took no time in forming his response, "I have been through a great deal since our last meeting at my Gathering on Sojourn, I believe it was. As to the boy next to me, I am currently acting as his advisor."

The Hutt seemed both surprised and curious by Plagueis' answer and he soon elaborated, "Not long after our last meeting I was nearly killed in an assassination attempt. Hanging on to life, I went into hiding in order to recuperate. Unfortunately my attackers proved extremely capable and sabotaged my ship. I ended up stranded on an unknown planet for the next fifteen standard years. During that time, I encountered this boy. Though young, he is an accomplished scout and pilot, having saved me from being stranded. I in turn vowed to help him regain his ancestral estate on Naboo and increase his standing in the Galaxy."

"Always with a scheme or backing someone influential. You've come to do business with me yet my memory is still quite intact, Damask. I remember our last meeting and the problems that followed. You didn't follow through with our arrangment and then disappeared. Why should I trust you again?" Demanded the Hutt in a louder and more forceful voice than before.

"I do not deny the problems that I have likely caused you but again, I was unable to do anything as I clung to life and remained stranded. I apologize for causing you financial grief and ruining the arrangement." said Plagueis as he thought about what to do next.

He noted how the Twi'leks were looking at him and Naruto, then one of them went to Popara's side and whispered something into his unseen ear. At first Plagueis thought perhaps they had some influence over him but neither offspring of Popara found it strange. It wasn't hard for Plagueis to extend and amplify his hearing with the Force and he instead found that the Twi'leks were informing Popara about him and his intentions.

Realizing what was going on, he opened the mental walls around his mind and told Naruto, 'Open your mind to them.'

'What? I don't even know everything that's going on right now.' Naruto admitted and so Plagueis quickly explained, 'The Twi'lek's washing him are force-sensitive and reading into our intentions as well as determining if either of us is lying to him. Open your mind so they can sense our truthfulness.'

Though hesitant, Naruto relented and he could barely feel the three passively reading him. He hadn't even felt it before, likely because they weren't properly trained and his mental defenses were solid but now he noted that they apparently possessed quite a bit of natural skill and subtlety at it. 'I didn't even consider that they were force-sensitive.' he thought as he pushed certain thoughts to the back of his mind and only allowed them to glean what he wanted of his true intentions.

Actively monitoring the Twi'leks, Naruto could see that things were going south and that Popara was still wary of them. Having seen that Plagueis was willing to go so far as to reveal his hidden identity, Naruto decided to step in and felt that he could tip the scales for them. "Since my adviser has wronged you, in order to make up for this your Excellency, I propose a task or some method or repayment through which we may garner or regain your trust. Then we can move past former dealings and hopefully into the opportunity that we are bringing to you." suggested Naruto and both Master and student watched the Hutt as much as the Twi'leks in order to see if the suggestion would work.

'An interesting tactic.' Plagueis thought concerning his student, 'Though reluctant, I would even be willing to part with one of the funeral urns to make sure I keep my identity hidden and make this deal go through.'

Popara laughed deeply and smiled slightly at the teen's suggestion as well as what presumably one of the girls was telling him. He spent almost a minute thinking over his decision before finally speaking. While Plagueis understood the words, Naruto had to wait for Vago to translate, "The Great Popara agrees to the terms presented and wishes for you to obtain an item for him. Such a task will be sufficient to repair the damaged and regain Popara's trust, help him forget about the financial loss and harm to his reputation. He would therefore like for you to obtain for him an operational lightsaber."

The revelation was met with surprise around those still present in the room. Even the majordomo Vago was surprised at such a request. Naruto raised an eyebrow and he could feel similar emotions coming from his Master at such a request. Seeing that all eyes had turned on them, Plagueis bent down and pretended to converse with Naruto about the decision and task given. "This will be relatively easy for us to accommodate but risky after it leaves our possession."

Naruto nodded and replied, "I don't even understand why they want it. Simply because it's so difficult to acquire one? You must have really caused him problems." Plagueis ignored the last comment and stood to his full height before saying to Popara, "The task that you have asked of us is acceptable. We will acquire this item for you and I will not ask who it is for or what you intend to do with it, but I do ask in return that you do not use my name or inform anyone else that I am still living. I still don't know who wanted me dead and do not wish for them to come and finish the job."

Popara's eyes, along with everyone else's, widened at the task being accepted. This told both Naruto and Plagueis that it had likely been given to them because Popara did not think it could be done. An impossible task to get them to decline and leave. It wasn't until the Twi'lek whispered to him that the statement was truthful that the elderly Hutt smiled and nodded to them, apparently very pleased that they could do actually do it. Speaking again, Vago quickly translated, "If you acquire this for me, then all is forgiven and I will listen to what you both have to say. Is one month enough time?"

"Yes, one month should be enough." Responded Plagueis and Popara motioned to Vago, who made a note on her datapad, likely scheduling another meeting in exactly a months time. After that, the Sith Lord took the hint and bowed before leaving and Naruto quickly followed suit before commenting to his Master, 'You didn't even give my name or allow me to introduce myself.'

'Perhaps that is for the best right now. We must discuss the outcome of this meeting and determine what is best to do.' Stated the Sith Lord as they headed back to the lift.

x-x

End

AN: Just to clarify, Bail Antilles is not the same person as Bail Organa. They are both from Alderaan and both have the same name, and even are related through marriage but are not the same person. Antilles is Organa's predecessor in the Senate.