Chapter 8

An Ancient Evil

Part I

Nauto's body had barely hit the ground before lines of Clone Troopers rushed from the darkened depths of the arches, almost a full platoon of twenty men armed with DC-15S blaster carbines. They moved with perfect tactical precision, surrounding the surprised crew and levelling their weapons, ready to fire.

Outnumbered, surrounded and outgunned the surviving crew dropped their blasters one by one, and raised their hands in surrender. All except for Aayla, whose eyes refused to leave the fallen body of her friend. Naruto lay on his side, facing away from them, hands unconsciously raised to his stomach and legs slightly curling in.

She was completely unaware of Dass silently urging her to raise her hands, unaware that the three nearest Clones had levelled their weapons at her. Then she heard it, the echoing inhaling and exhaling of a mechanical breather, and the thuds of boots hitting the broken concrete. The young woman forced her eyes to rise from her friend's body to the creature approaching her.

He was tall, dressed from head to toe in nightmarish black armour which seemed to gleam in the low light, a long black cape was draped over his shoulders and the circuit board displayed prominently on his chest made her aware that the armour was more for life support than protection. A dull silver lightsaber hilt was attached to a black utility belt at his waist.

She sensed nothing but emptiness and anger from him, not aimed at her but seemingly at the whole galaxy. He was a cesspool of hatred and anger in the force, so much so that she felt queasy from the near proximity. This was him, one of the Sith lords whose actions culminated in the war that claimed so many of her brothers and sisters, her friends and family. This was one of the people who ripped her world asunder, and the leader of the Platoon who had shot her friend.

She was barely aware that she was moving until she was upon him, lightsaber gripped hard in her hand. She activated the azure blade and brought it down in a diagonal slash, barely aware of her scream of anger and sorrow. There was a crimson flash and a red blade intercepted her azure, crackles of electricity assaulted her ears.

She put all of her weight behind her blade, but her opponent was heavier and stronger and she was forced back when he lashed out, using the momentum to perform a backward somersault and land in a crouch, free hand pressing against the broken concrete to keep herself upright. Two Clones opened fire at her with their carbines, but the beams were quickly intercepted.

"No," the Sith spoke in a voice amplified by his mask, so mechanical that it didn't sound human. "This one is mine."

He was upon her in an instant. Aayla blocked another slash, but was forced back a few footsteps as her enemy put his weight into the strike. She ducked a follow up swipe and backpedalled, azure blade moving deftly in her hands as she blocked and intercepted strike after strike.

She was against a pillar now, back pressed against the cracked and worn marble, barely able to keep her enemy's blade in a deadlock with her own. Slowly she was being overwhelmed, locked lightsabers so close she could feel the searing heat on her skin. He leaned in close; masked face just a few inches from her own.

"I know your face," he said, mechanical voice dousing out the continuous hisses of his breather. "Aayla Secura, it has been a long time."

Aayla grit her teeth as she put all of her weight into her blade, and was barely able to keep the crimson and azure blades from burning her skin. "Who are you!"

"Hmm," the giant hummed. "I suppose you wouldn't recognise me, not with this armour on. I thought you were strong enough in the force to sense the presence of someone you're familiar with."

Aayla blinked before submerging herself in the force, timidly reaching out with her sixth sense to identify this mysterious Sith Lord. He felt so familiar, like they were friends once, a long time ago. She frowned, before remembering when she first felt this presence, on the cloner's world, just before the First Battle of Kamino.

"Something wrong, Padawan?"

He looked up from his place, on his knees beside a table. There were tools and pieces of machinery scattered across the floor of his room, and in his hands was a small utility droid, a scarab shaped construct designed mainly for cleaning duties. He had been tinkering at the thing for quite a while she realised, perhaps a way to forget about his argument with his master.

Anakin Skywalker wasn't that much younger than her, maybe four years. His hair was a dirty blonde, cut short with a Padawan's braid dangling from his right ear. His blue eyes, so full of emotion, were stormy and frustrated, both at the droid he was trying to fix and at his master for not trusting him to watch his back when the Separatists finally arrived.

"Master Secura," he greeted with a little surprise, before glancing down at the small utility droid, set it down on the table and rose to meet her, preparing to bow if she hadn't raised a hand to stop him.

"Having trouble," she asked with a smile. Aayla could have felt this young man's emotions from across the floating city. So frustrated and hurt he felt.

"No, well yes," Anakin sighed as he scratched the back of his head. "I was just trying to calm myself, so I decided to repair this droid."

She smiled as she knelt down beside him, studying him while he continued to fuss over this small machine, who refused to work no matter what the young Padawan did. "Ah, a type of physical meditation, I do that sometimes as well."

He frowned, "I can't understand why it doesn't work, and I've checked everything."

She offered him her outstretched right hand, and hesitantly he handed her the utility droid. "Let me try."

She set the small machine down and studied it for a moment, noticing how well the young man had repaired it. There was no discernable reason why it shouldn't work. With a smile she probed its metal skin with her fingers, found the spot she was looking for and gave it a light smack. The droid buzzed to life in her hands, lights flickering on and little legs spindling.

Anakin stared wide eyed at the small machine, dumbfounded, before a grin spread across his youthful features. "What – How did you do that?"

She herself grinned at his curiosity and amazement. "Old mechanics trick, sometimes it's best to leave a machine alone than to tinker with it."

"Anakin," she asked, half in hope and half in fear. "Is that really you?"

"It is," was his simple reply, putting more weight on his lightsaber.

She remembered the vision she received on Felucia, of the massacre in the Jedi Temple and the Younglings who were mercilessly cut down by this man's blade, this man, who liked to build and tinker with droids in his spare time, who during the Clone Wars was one of the bravest and most daring people in the galaxy, who saved her life on many occasions, and whom she had once been proud to call friend.

This man who cut down an entire clan of Jedi younglings in the Jedi High Council chambers, over a dozen children who were barely a decade old, and he killed them. Aayla lashed out with her right foot, impacting against Anakin's side. It didn't do much, just made him back up a step, but it was enough for her to roll out of his path. She was on her feet and upon him in a heartbeat, eyes ablaze with fury and when she screamed at him the voice didn't seem to belong to her.

"No," she shouted as she lashed out again and again, frustration growing as he keenly intercepted every slash and strike. "You can't be him. The Anakin Skywalker I knew was kind, smart and brave, willing to put his life on the line for a friend in need. You aren't him!"

"And how do you know him, the real him?" the monster in front of her asked.

"I fought beside him, when you fight beside a person you get to know him very well," she replied bitingly as she continued her relentless assault. "The Anakin Skywalker I remember wasn't a coward who went to a madman for power, he wasn't a man who stabbed friends in the back and he wasn't a murderer of children incapable of defending themselves!"

He ducked a slash and sent her flying across the courtyard with a powerful force push. Aayla flew through the air, spinning before hitting the ground hard. She slammed into the concrete with bone jarring force and skidded to a halt. Aayla coughed up a gob of blood, reaching up to wipe away the crimson dribbling from the corner of her mouth before flipping to her feet and reactivating her lightsaber.

He was walking towards her like a shadow out of a nightmare, lightsaber in hand, gleaming blood red in the low light.

"Why did you do it, Anakin?" she asked in a suddenly small voice.

"To save that which I loved the most," he replied as he continued his approach.

"To save which you loved most," she repeated angrily. "Tell me, did you save that which you loved most? Was it worth it?"

He was within arm's reach now, lightsaber held over his head for a downward stroke. "No."

The crew of the Uhumele could only watch on, helpless as the Sith lord continued his relentless assault, attacking her with powerful blows which sent her continuously stumbling and backpedalling backwards. Bomo looked from the duel to Naruto's body, and then to their second Jedi. Dass was standing beside him; fists clenched so tight the skin turned white.

"Aren't you going to help her," Crys whispered sharply.

"She needs help," Ko growled before leaning close enough to the Captain to whisper. "Just give the word sir, and we'll fight."

Dass was moving before the towering feline could finish. Lightsaber in hand and igniting as he jumped with a force propelled leap, deflecting several bolts from blaster fire before he brought his weapon down. Anakin saw it coming and sending Aayla flying with another well timed force push brought his lightsaber up to block.

"So, there are two of you?"

Jennir used the momentum to perform a somersault over his opponent, using the force as his feet made contact with the ground to propel himself back to where Aayla was groggily getting to her feet, hand reaching down to help her up. Anakin advanced a few steps, a half dozen Clone Troopers flanked him, carbines levelled and ready.

"Anakin Skywalker is dead Aayla," the neophyte Sith said as he advanced at a steady pace. "He died the moment he lost that which mattered most, all that is left is me."

"And who are you?" she growled, hand reaching out, lightsaber flying towards her with a telekinetic grip.

He reached out with his free hand, "You may call me - Darth Vader."

The lightsabers of both Jedi flew from their grasp with impossible force, landing with subtle grace in his outstretched hand. With almost perfect precision ten Clone Troopers rushed forward, surrounding the two Jedi and levelling their long barrelled blaster rifles right at them. Aayla and Dass were back to back, determined looks on their faces.

"Surrender," Vader spoke from behind his column of Troops. "Surrender now and I will spare both your lives and those of your compatriots."

Aayla turned her dark eyes to caste a glare at the Dark Lord, "We'll surrender on one condition."

Vader was silent for a moment, "You are in no condition to be bargaining."

"Hear me out," Aayla asked. "If you were ever Anakin Skywalker, my friend, then you will hear me out."

Vader was silent again, his hoarse breathing the only sound, "Very well."

"You take us," Aayla replied, casting a glance at the wide eyes of the Uhumele crew. "And let them go. They have nothing to do with this."

Vader looked right at her, and Aayla shivered. It was like glancing into the eternal blackness of the void. "Why should I do that?"

"Because if you ever were Anakin Skywalker you would never have put the lives of innocent people at risk," Aayla looked him straight through the visor, like her dark eyes were looking straight through to the charred flesh underneath. "And it's not them you want is it? You want what's in that coffin, and you want us."

"The Anakin Skywalker you knew is dead, Aayla," Vader said as he turned around, walking back to the arch. "However I commend you on your selflessness, something I've always respected about you. Release them but they leave their weapons here, and I want a squadron of fighters to escort them out of the system."

Aayla managed a sad smile before looking at the crew, matching gazes with each one of them, hoping that each one would see the pleading in her eyes. She saw each and every member of the crew looked ready to jump to her defence, and be mowed down as a result. She would not allow that. "Go; get on the ship and go!"

"Aayla," Schurk whispered, the old smuggler Captain looking more torn than any others, losing three members of his crew in barely a week would do that to a sentient being.

Her eyes met Bomo and she smiled softly, "You went through so much for what you've been able to save. Don't throw it away for my sake."

It was sceptical enough, but the Nosaurian understood the meaning behind her message. If he tried to save her and Dass here then he and the rest of the crew would die, and who would be left to guard Resa? Several Troopers backed away from the stricken crew, giving them a clear route to their ship.

"Take Naruto with you," she said to them as she looked at his body. "I don't want him left out here."

Ten Troopers surrounded the crew, and it became blindingly obvious that if they didn't retreat they would all die. The crew began to walk, their escort shoving any who were going too slowly for their tastes with their blaster rifles.

Vader didn't pay any further attention to the crew, looking at the two Jedi unflinchingly, "Stun them."

Two azure blaster bolts were fired by the nearest two Troopers, each one slamming into their chests. Aayla was sent falling backwards from the recoil, landing boneless on the hard rocky ground, consciousness lost in an instant.

"We can't just leave them like that," Bomo growled as he watched both Schurk and Crys sitting in the pilots and co-pilots chairs, flicking on switches to activate the Uhumele's atmospheric thrusters. "You know exactly what they'll do to them once they're no longer useful."

The crew knew this all too well. As far as they knew Order 66 was still in effect, meaning that once the black armoured creature was finished with them they'd become another two casualties on an already long list. Naruto had been left in the Medbay, blanket covering his form, another death to the crew, and another two captured by the Imperials.

"I understand how you feel my boy," Schurk replied with an irritated growl. "But we are in no condition to help them, not until we completely understand the situation. Crys, are the scanners online?"

"They are," she replied. "A squadron of fighters have been launched from the Imperial Cruiser, looks like our escort, and the Cruiser has a few of her Turbolasers trained on us."

"Meaning that if we try anything funny we'll be nothing more than a crater in the ground," Schurk finished. "We're not in a very helpful situation."

Bomo snarled before spinning around and stomping down the corridor towards the main ready room of the small freighter. The mood within the ship was sombre and defeatist, so palpable that it could be cut with a knife. He spotted the two other warriors of the crew, Ko and Mergraf sitting next to a table, defeated in every sense of the word.

The Nosaurian didn't know where he was going until he stood at the door to the Medbay, taking a look through the windows of the automated doors into the room proper. The ships Medical bay was a small room of clandestine white walls which constantly smelled of disinfectant. It's furniture and equipment were standard, with a stainless steel table at its centre, life support machines and cabinets full of supplies and medicines dominated the walls, there was even an empty Bacta tank in the back, though at the moment the captain couldn't afford the substance.

His body lay on the steel table, covered by a blanket and sitting next to the still form was his little girl. Resa had pulled up a chair and sat beside the table, hands covering her face as she quietly sobbed and sniffled for the dead form of her saviour on the table and the fate of the other still on the planet's surface. Bomo entered the room with a dejected sigh, fully aware that this would hit her as hard as anything else she had been forced to go through over the last few months.

Her people sold to slavery, the death of her mother, sold as a slave to a cannibalistic maniac and now the deaths of the two people who had saved her from that hell. All of these events were traumatic for a child, even for one who had wells of strength like his little girl. She turned her head, eyes rimmed red with shed tears.

"Daddy," she whispered pitifully, accepting his hug as he placed his arms around her and held her close. "Why did they have to die?"

"Aayla's not dead yet," he told her as firmly as he could. Resa nodded as she buried her face into his tunic, sobbing silently as he stroked her frilled head. "Can you leave the room for a little while sweetie? I need just a few minutes."

She looked up at him for a moment, nodded and half walked half stumbled out of the Medbay, the automated double doors closing behind her. Bomo looked at the entrance for a long moment, before sighing and grabbing the seat sat on it. The Nosaurian looked up at the covered body for a long moment before he spoke. "Who would have thought it would come to this eh? The way you fought and with what I saw you do I thought you would last forever, as stupid as that sounds." He reached out with his clawed hands, slowly pulling away the sheet covering his upper body. Naruto's face was serene, eyes closed and face relaxed. "I'll make you a promise, I owe you that much. I'll get her back or die trying."

He placed the sheet back over his dead friend's head, before standing up and turning around towards the doors. He made it two steps before he heard a pained moan, followed by a rustle of fabric. Slowly Bomo turned with wide eyes just as the body sat up, sheet falling away, azure eyes and tanned face set in a pained expression, "Sage, God and the Ancestors that fucking hurt."

Naruto opened his eyes to be met with the wide orbs of Bomo Greenbark. The two friends' stared at each other for the longest time before the Nosaurian did the most humiliating thing he had ever done in his life. He screamed like a little girl before falling backwards, unconscious before he hit the floor. Naruto stared after him, eyes wide in surprise and shock, "Uh, Bomo, why did you act like you've seen a ghost?"

He didn't get an answer.

"Oh hell," Naruto muttered as he swivelled around to dangle his feet over the edge of the table. A stab of pain hit his midsection and he let out a sharp exhale of breathe before rubbing the reddened flesh. "Why do I feel like I was just trampled by the Toad boss?"

His memories returned in a flash and ignoring the searing pain of the supposedly fatal blaster bolt he stumbled over to Bomo, grabbed him by the scruff of his tunic and hauling him to his feet. The sudden movement brought the smaller sentient around, who groaned in slight pain before his dark eyes met Naruto's blue. His eyes widened, but to the blonds relief he didn't squeal this time, or fall over unconscious, instead he just stared at him before speaking.

"You're alive, right?"

Naruto nodded.

"How the hell are you alive?"

"Explain later," he replied hurriedly. "What happened when I was taken out? Where is everyone else?"

It took Bomo a minute or two to get Naruto up to speed on what had happened since he was taken out, and just as he finished the last syllable of his finishing sentence the blond was out the door at a trot. Bomo blinked in his direction, before noticing the low hum of the thrusters, the ship was preparing to launch. He passed by a still sobbing Resa, patting her on the head as he passed. The tiny girl looked up to see him rounding a corner, giving her a reassuring grin and a wave before vanishing.

"Daddy," she asked in a shocked voice as her father trotted past her. "Was that?"

"It was, and I'll explain later sweetie," Bomo replied as he too rounded the corner and entered the ready room in time to see Ko and Mezgraf staring at the corridor leading to the cockpit. "Did you guys see a dead guy walk past here?" Neither of them responded, but the Blood Carver just pointed in the direction of the cockpit with a quivering clawed digit. "Thanks!"

Bomo was pleased when he saw that he wasn't the only one who had a bad reaction from their compatriot returning from the dead. As he entered the cockpit, Ko and Mezgraf on his heels he saw with slight mirth that Schurk was staring wide eyes, frozen in place as Naruto stood tall like an immovable statue, arms folded. Crys had jumped from her pilot's chair and hugged him, crying and sobbing as he returned her embrace.

"My boy," the Captain asked with an awed and terrified voice. "How could you have survived?"

"Bloodline limit," Naruto replied. He knew they knew what he meant. He had explained to them what bloodline limits were, specialised abilities passed down genetically through certain clans on his home planet, abilities only those clans possessed. Many of them didn't believe him when he explained it, but they seemed to believe now. "My family was known to be quite long lived, and capable of surviving wounds considered fatal to everyone else."

Cryz parted and looked him in the eyes, "Naruto, its Aayla-"

"I know," Naruto cut her off. "Don't worry about it. You guys go on ahead and get out of here."

"And what are you going to do?"

He grinned at the statement, "I'm going to get both her and Dass back."

Schurk looked at him, "You do know whose holding them, don't you? It's a platoon of veteran Clone Troopers and a Sith Lord, even then how are you going to escape if we're not here!"

He scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "Haven't thought that far ahead."

They looked at him as if he was crazy, and he probably was. Finally Ko spoke, "Let us help."

Naruto shook his head, "If anyone is seen leaving this ship then they'll blow it."

"Then how in the seven hells are you going to get off?" Mezgraf asked gruffly.

Naruto grinned, bringing his hands together to quickly make the sign of the tiger, "Meisaigakure no Jutsu."

To the men and woman of the Uhumele is seemed like their recently resurrected teammate faded away, becoming nothing more than a distortion before vanishing altogether. The crew continued to look on, seemingly wondering if they were looking at an actual ghost or not.

"Hey,"

Crys screamed and stumbled as his voice whispered into her ear, and after a moment Naruto reappeared with an apologetic smile. "Can I borrow a blaster?"

The first thing she became aware of was the residual pain in her chest, then sharp agony in all of her joints, like she hadn't used any of her muscles in a very long time. With a groan of discomfort Aayla forced her eyes to open, finding to her luck that her new environment was dimly lit. Slowly she took in her surroundings, noticing that she was lying on a floor of cracked concrete, a durasteel pole dug into the ground a few feet in front of her, chains led from the pole to stuncuffs secured a little too tightly across her wrists, biting painfully into her skin. A Clone Trooper stood a meter in front of her, armoured form stiffening as she returned to consciousness. His blaster carbine was trained on her a moment later.

"Aayla," she groggily looked over to see her fellow Jedi sitting on his knees to her left, head bowed and eyes closed. Another Clone Trooper stood a meter in front of him, blaster carbine levelled at his head. Dass didn't look much better than she was, but as she looked up at him he raised his head and offered her a pained, yet wry smile. "Welcome back."

She leaned against her elbows and pushed herself upright, trying and failing to ignore the sudden pain as it exploded in her head, groaning as a result. "Where are we?"

"Inside that old observatory I think," the master replied, seemingly more used to the pain than she was. He made a motion with his head, and she turned to see that they were in the remains of the observatories main observation deck. The telescope and majority of equipment seemed long gone. The domed glass roof was still there, but the shutters where the telescope aimed were down and bolted. What equipment within the chamber probably wasn't originally there, a stainless steel table where the coffin was placed and a number of computer consoles and old data storage devices, wiring snaked across the broken floor into the walls.

Vader stood at the far end with the historian, who was now dressed in some sort of old HASMAT suit. Nearly fifteen of the nineteen Clone Troopers stood guard at key points in the observatory, either guarding the exits or surrounding the Sith Lord in a protective circle.

"The crew?"

"He was as good as his word," Dass muttered, sending a look of barely kept contempt to the Sith Lords back. "As far as I know he let them go."

"And," she hesitated for a moment, taking a deep breath to calm and centre herself. Dass seemed to catch onto her train of thought, for he gave her a brave smile.

"They took his body with them Aayla," he soothed. "Don't worry."

Aayla gave nothing more than a solemn nod of her head before sending a truly hateful glare the Dark Lords way. "Why hasn't he killed us yet?"

There would be time to mourn later, and there would be time to avenge him later, code of the order be damned. Naruto was her friend, he had been there when she needed him, and in a heartbeat this bastards guard had killed him, she knew the code but right now she wanted nothing more than to kill the one who had killed those Younglings, who had helped massacre the Jedi Temple, whose turning spelt the deaths of so many friends and loved ones.

Dass shook his head, "I don't know, but it can't be good."

The two of them seemed to be talking in hushed tones, and even when she tried to centre herself in the force it was a struggle to hear the conversation. The stun bolt must have had a worse effect on her nerve endings than she thought. From what she could make out they were talking about the Jebble Box, and how they were certain that it was an ancient Jedi artefact. Aayla knew for a fact that she had been out cold and missed some pretty important information. "What are they going to do?"

He looked at her for a moment before sighing, "I only woke up a few moments before you did, but they were watching an old hologram recording, something which proves that the Jebble Box is an ancient artefact, mainly a Sith artefact, some old Sith Lord who wanted to live forever. It's a stasis chamber from what I was able to gleam."

"Shut it, both of you," Dass's Clone Trooper growled, making threatening gestures with his carbine.

Aayla wisely shut her mouth, and instead tried to listen in on the conversation between the historian and the Sith lord, barely able to hear his last sentence. "It also seems that only a Jedi is capable of opening the box."

Vader looked at the scientist for a moment before turning towards the Jebble Box, in a flash he activated his lightsaber and slashed a perfect horizontal arc, slicing through the box, leaving nothing but a hail of sparks and red hot metal where the crimson blade pierced hardened durasteel. The momentum of the slash sent a face of the box flying across the chamber, slamming into the ground with a great metallic thud and skidding to a halt.

The Dark Lord looked inside for a long moment before turning to one of the Clone Troopers, "Bring the woman to me."

The Clone saluted, and Aayla knew he was talking about her. Without a word the Trooper watching her mercilessly hauled her to her feet, fishing out a pair of keys to release the chains from her cuffs before forcing her across the chamber towards the Dark Lord. The man who was once Anakin Skywalker looked at her from behind his expressionless eye visors before pointing towards the recently sliced open Jebble Box, "Open it."

She looked down to see what was within the millennia old coffin, only to gasp in surprise, hidden away in that old rusted crate was another sarcophagus. Its surface seemed to be made of black marble, gleaming even in the low light. Even though it hadn't been opened yet she could feel the power thrumming from within, nonexistent before but now so strong she could have sworn she was looking at something which appeared to be made out of the force itself.

Vader seemed to notice this as well and a shove from one of the Clones nearly made her fall into the opened box. It was the scientist who spoke as he fearfully backed away from the sliced open casket. "Lord Vader! I beg you; do not open the casket yet. You heard what the Snivvian said in the recording – exposure to the Talisman can cause some sentient beings to transform into Rakghouls."

Aayla glared at the man, then at Vader before sighing in defeat. She didn't know what a Rakghoul was, and honestly she wasn't sure if she wanted to know, but what choice did she have. She took a deep, calming breath before placing her still cuffed hands onto the smooth surface. The moment her slender hands touched it the very surface gleamed and rippled, almost as if she had just placed her hands on the surface of still water. She felt the locking bolts release before their collective thuds reflected it, at least a dozen millennia old bolts slammed into position as they unlocked. A moment of silence passed before the sarcophagus clicked open, a hiss of steam and millennia old air released itself in the form of thick mist.

With a deep breath Aayla gripped the opened door and pulled up, prepared for death if it awaited her. What was within the millennia old box was something which she had never expected. Within the legendary Jebble Box was the body of a woman, a human woman. Her skin was pale with long black hair done up in a long braid, covered with tight white cloth. She wore a bodice like suit, skin tight, with slender armoured shoulder pads and long black gloves stretching from her elbows to her hands, a loincloth hung from her waist with skin tight black leather pants and knee high black leather boots with silver clasps, a lightsaber hilt was latched to her black utility belt, telling Aayla that whoever this was she was either a Jedi of a Sith.

There was one piece of jewelry on the woman's body, and compared to everything else she wore it looked gaudy. It was shaped like a scarab of some kind, latched around her slender neck, seemingly made of solid gold with a red ruby in its centre. Aayla stared at it, positive that she felt something unnaturally off about this decorative peace.

"Stars, it's true."

A black gloved hand grabbed her shoulder with enough force to bruise and threw her back, impacting hard against the concrete floor. A dozen clicks of armed blasters followed and Aayla slowly raised her hands in surrender, deciding to wisely back away for now. She was roughly picked up, dragged back beside Master Jennir, and rebound against the durasteel pole.

"No more than I expected," the old man said, returning to his regal composure, well as regal as a man in an old spacesuit can get. "Stasis casket or not no one could survive four thousand years."

She was more than just a preserved corpse. There was life in the body, a brief pulse in the force itself which grew stronger and stronger until it just seemed to boil over. A sudden and laboured gasp brought her attention back to the coffin as the human woman sat straight upright, gasping for air as if someone had tried to drown her in a lake. It was almost like she had just recently awoken from a dreadful nightmare.

"Zayne!" she half gasped, half screamed as she shot up, hand flying to grab Vaders right shoulder pad with a strong grip. The Dark Lord, seemingly not missing a beat held her steady as she continued to gasp for breath, leaning against his armoured chest as she slowly rose. She began to speak as she regained herself. "Have the Jedi come?"

She took one last deep breath before getting a good look at her supposed saviour. "Are you - ? Did you free me?"

Aayla was now only half listening to the conversation, using the distraction to begin using the force in one of the most subtle skills, with enough time she could pick and open the lock, all she needed was a few moments. By now the millennia old Jedi had been helped to her feet and was looking around, hand slowly reaching up to massage her temple. She had blue eyes, deep blue. "No, it's still there – I can feel – I can feel him."

"No!" her exclamation caught everyone off guard and everyone noticed it when her blue eyes contorted and bled until they were a bloody crimson. "No, you are still with me!"

Most of those present had already deduced that the young Jedi, millennium imprisoned Jedi, wasn't completely sane, but those within the chamber who were force-sensitive were able to deduce otherwise, something else was here, something old and vile. Aayla was barely aware of the young woman muttering something under her breath, as if something was talking to her. She reached up with both hands and placed them over her ears, as if trying to block out a great noise.

"How long – how long were we? How long was I – inside?"

"It's difficult to say for certain, but I believe you entered the Oubliette just before the bombardment of Jebble, midway through the Mandalorian wars if I remember," the historian explained with barely kept excitement. "It's truly a miracle that this device sustained you for so long."

"How long!" the woman asked with mounting frustration, grabbing hold of the old man's suit. She seemed to be lucid again at the least, and her eyes had returned to their natural blue, whatever had partially taken her over seemed to have receded, if just for the moment.

"Four thousand years," he replied fearfully.

"Four thousand, then Zayne failed," she repeated in shock, letting go of Peturri, but in a flash she was on him again, asking more questions. "What about the Covenant? Was it successful?"

The historian raised his hands up in an attempt to calm her, barely aware that Vader was descending the steps towards them, but stopped a few meters away. "I'm afraid I know nothing about a Covenant."

"Then what about the Rakghouls," she asked.

"Isolated and eventually wiped out on Taris,"

"And the Mandalorians, did the Mandalorians conquer the galaxy,"

Aayla frowned, Mandalorians? Conquer the galaxy? This woman was definitely from a very long time ago. The last time Mandalorians were a real threat was millennia ago, when they themselves had an empire which matched the Republic. A lot of information of that time was lost, considering the conflict almost brought the Republic to its knees and the first Jedi Purge began barely a decade after. If what she was hearing was right then there was no doubt that this woman was from that time.

"Then the Republic still stands?" she asked hopefully.

"No," the old man replied, pointing to Lord Vader. "The Republic was overthrown by the Sith."

The woman turned to look right at Darth Vader, and for a time afterward Aayla could have sworn she could have heard a pin drop, the chamber was so silent. Then she felt it, the ancient Jedi's very force sensitivity flickered before gaining strength, and both Jedi could feel her surprise through the force, then anger, then unnatural will. "Sith?"

Dass looked up from his imprisoned spot, "Uh-oh."

"I should have sensed it sooner!" the woman snarled before igniting her lightsaber.

"Lieutenant Stern we've lost contact with Sergeant Kol at the observation entrance," Clone Lieutenant Stern pressed a hand against the side of his helm to better hear his commanding officer. The Lieutenant was a veteran of two years on the frontline. He had fought against the worst the Separatists had to offer. He had stared down assassin droids and looked Dark Jedi in the eye.

"Acknowledged command," he replied into his comlink before motioning to two additional men and walking towards the exit. He checked the power pack of his DC-15S carbine, making sure for the umpteenth time if it was full before walking through the arch and down the cracked steps to the ground. His two Troopers flanked him, helmeted heads darting from side to side in search of their missing squad.

Stern waited for a moment before looking to the subordinate flanking his left and motioning him to check the left side, and copied the motion to the one on his right. Both Troopers nodded and moved about the task, disappearing around the corners. Stern clicked on his comlink and switched it to the missing squad's channel. "Stern to Sergeant Kol, do you copy?"

Nothing but static;

"This is Lieutenant Stern to Sergeant Kol. You missed your last check in, please respond, over."

Still nothing but static;

"Trooper Dallas," he asked over the channel.

"All clear sir."

He nodded, "Trooper Morgan."

No answer;

Stern frowned at the lack of acknowledgement, "Trooper Morgan, please respond."

Still no answer;

"Dallas, get over here."

The Trooper was around the corner in a heartbeat, carbine held at waist height as he flanked his commanding officer. Stern gave his subordinate a nod before moving to his right, where he had sent the now missing Trooper Morgan. "Command this is Lieutenant Stern, no contact with missing squad and I am now missing an additional Trooper."

"Copy that Lieutenant, sending a few more men out,"

"Will do, Stern out"

He pressed himself against the cracked concrete of the arch, nodded to his fellow Trooper and peeked to the side. What he saw made his eyes widen behind his helm. The entire squad was lying in a pile, blood pooling on the ground around them, and several feet away was the still form of Trooper Morgan lying on his stomach, hands clenched to his blaster carbine.

"Force me," he muttered, turning to his subordinate only to see that he was not there anymore, only an empty space where the man was supposed to be watching his flank. "Trooper Dallas, respond."

No answer;

"Command this is Stern, I've just lost Dallas, need rein-"

A kunai, imbued with wind chakra was flung from the darkness, slicing through the protective armour of his helm like a knife through warm butter and imbedding itself to the hilt in his temple. Stern fell back, dead before he hit the ground.

Naruto fell from his perch on the rooftop, releasing his stealth Ninjutsu before crouching to pull out his kunai, wiping the blood from the weapon on the dead Troopers armour. He stood and looked to the entrance, "Right that's six down, twelve to go."

"Hang on Aayla, I'm coming."

Author's Note 1: Naruto and Star Wars are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and Lucas Arts respectively. I make nothing from this story.

Author's Note 2: For those of you who don't know about Dark Times and don't have knowledge of the parallels series of the comics then please be patient, I will explain in detail this woman and her origins with time, so please be patient in that regard. In the next chapter it's a three-way-brawl between Darth Vader, the unknown Millennia old possessed Jedi and the last surviving and most powerful Shinobi in the galaxy.

Author's Note 3: I apologise that this chapter took so long to update, but I decided to take a break from writing with Christmas and the New Year around the corner, plus I have an exam for the 10th so expect updates to slow for a while. It's a little late, but from what I can tell its still New Year's Day, so Happy New Year everyone, here's your New Years Gift. Oh and sorry if this seemed rushed.