Hey everyone and yes I know before you set me on fire I have been gone for the longest time. However I do come bearing gifts, Updates are on their way and a new story is inevitably coming soon.
Also, expect some 40K stuff in the pipeline at some point. Thanks to that Bastard Mustard and I hope you enjoy it.
Begin
"The Mandalore is down. I repeat the Mandalore is down."
This message echoed across The Statesman, the crew while being highly experienced still sat in shock at the sheer audacity of the Message.
Their Mandalore, a man who seemed almost unbeatable and could rally the masses with his mere appearance, was someone who embodied Mandalorian culture. He had fallen in combat, they weren't sure if he was actually dead or heavily injured but it didn't matter.
They had to recover their Lord.
"Commander Taneel has command over the Mandalorian expedition" the speakers on the Bridge of the Statesmen uttered. However, this went unnoticed by the crew of the large warship, who were currently overlooking the rescue of their Lord.
"Sir the support gunships have arrived at the Mandalore's Location. He's still alive and the medics are requesting for him to be transported to one of the smaller frigates for immediate evac to Mandalore. The new Squadron of Basiliks have arrived and are prepared to be deployed where necessary. The 3rd Squadron Winged Hussars." the Comms officer reported to Taneel.
The Man nodded his eyes, never moving from the large screen and panel showing both the land and space battles.
"Good Deploy fighters and parts of the Totenkopf in Combination with the 3rd as well as any other forces in the area to aid the rescue effort," he ordered the officer who immediately got to it.
He turned his attention to the space battle, only hoping that the Mandalore could hold out. Long enough that aid could be sent to secure him.
With the Mandalore.
Naruto was on his deathbed.
His fight with Dooku had left him beaten and broken, and the Medics who surrounded his body relied solely on their Veterency to ensure that they didn't simply throw up at the sight of his mangled body. As they scanned over his body they could see the sheer amount of Internal damage which wracked his body.
Shattered ribs, lacerated organs. By all reports had this been an average person they would've been killed. But their Mandalore was No simple human. But that wouldn't matter if they couldn't save his life.
The Sergeant in charge removed a Bacta syringe from his backpack, he quickly injected it into the side of his commander. The warmish liquid flowed into his body and began working hard to repair the wounded flesh. The Sergeant turned to one of the other Medical personnel who were working alongside him.
"Private Anathem. Pass me the Laser scalpels." One of the privates handed him the said Scalpels and he got to work Cauterizing what was left of the man's wounded arm.
A single shot sang over his helmeted head hitting a crumbled Duracrete pillar. He looked over his shoulder and glimpsed large contingents of battle droids heading towards their position.
He began to work faster as the Small support unit of Mandalorians which had come with Naruto had set up defensive positions. Those who could fight grabbed blasters and began to fire at anything that approached, mowing down the approaching tide of Machines.
The Medical sergeant placed a ventilator mask on Naruto's face, ensuring that he was as stabilised as possible he grabbed a Long-range Comlink device from one of the nearby soldiers.
"This is Medical Sergeant Dubois. Medevac requested. Position, 50° 0'38.20″N 110° 6'48.32″W Immediate pick-up, Multiple casualties X band Pick up. FYI LZ is hot over." He shouted into the device hoping that it would get through.
"Message received Loud and clear Sergeant. Gunships and support inbound, ETA 20 Seconds. Send up a flare, our weasels will clear the area. Over." A voice responded.
"Acknowledged." The Sergeant responded as he turned to the Sangheili Captain who was currently leading the defence.
"Captain, get one of your men to let off a flare we've got Birds in the air." the Sangheili nodded, understanding most of the jargon used by the Fett clan member. He removed a flare gun from his belt and handed it to the medic.
"Fire it as soon as possible, before we get overrun." His translator worked to give the correct message to the medic, who in return nodded.
He took the flare gun and aimed upwards, nodding to the Sangheili he fired the red flare high into the sky and held the comms waiting for a response,
"LZ spotted coming in hot." The voice came again, this time followed by a thunderous humming sound which seemed to reverberate around the parliamentary square.
Then they saw them, dozens of missiles struck the advancing droid divisions. Blaster fire rained down from above and cleared the area of the Mechanical menaces, Overhead Arc-170s sped past followed by a dozen basilisks their support ensuring nothing got close to the wounded.
A couple of meters ahead of the group four Gunships touched down, the doors quickly opening and allowing extra medics to spill out. They moved around heading off and helping the medics who were already on the ground, a handful moved over to the Mandalore's position they brought with them a hover bed they set the bed down beside Naruto and prepared to move him across.
"He's been stabilised the best we can, but we must go." The Sergeant said as he helped the medics move their lord over onto the bed before quickly pushing him onto the gunship and connecting him to the life support systems.
The Sergeant looked back at the body of Count Dooku. He usually would've left the man's body, especially seeing as the man had wounded their king so horribly but…. Something was compelling him to have it collected. He signalled to two Commando droids who had accompanied the gunship landing force, the twin droids moved quickly grabbing the older man's corpse and rolling it within his cloak before quickly moving him to one of the other gunships.
Both ships lifted off quickly, their engines burning hot as they pulled themselves upwards, CIS fighters clamoured to get their claws into such bountiful prizes but the Mandalorian forces refused to allow them anywhere near.
A dozen Vulture droids soared towards the heavyset gunships aiming to tear them from the sky, only to be ripped in half by a triad of Basilisk riders, their white pennons flashing and fluttering as they sped through the air. They wielded powerful heavyset laser lances and easily danced through the sky with as much grace as their Totenkopf contemporaries.
The Triad formed around the group of Gunships, followed by the two Arc-170s and two squadrons of Mandalorian Vulture droids. They acted as a shield around the wounded covering them from harm. They moved quickly heading straight towards one of the Frigates at the edge of the slowing-down combat. The frigate was prepping its engines even as transports buzzed around it.
"This is Ver'alor Sigismund, Pegasus squadron. Requesting emergency docking at Hangar B we have a VIP Patient in critical condition. We need immediate medical assistance." The pilot spoke into his communicator, and the warship acknowledged this as his landing lights turned green, he pushed the ship into the hangar where almost 30 nurses and doctors awaited the wounded. soldiers and more specifically the Mandalore himself.
Sigismund's Gunship touched down and without a moment wasted the nurses moved Naruto's body onto one of their hover beds attaching him to a bacta tank they whisked him away from the hangar, two large guards clearing the paths ahead of the large group ensuring they would be able to reach his personal hospital room.
Sigismund turned to one of the officers who had arrived to ensure the Mandalore's safety. "Has anyone notified Lady Katan about the Mandalore's disposition?"
The medical frigate shuddered as it entered hyperspace
Unknown
Eyes snapped open.
Naruto took a sharp breath, his eyes darting around trying to take in his new surroundings. His hot breath was visible, he was surrounded by nought but darkness. Naruto didn't know what had happened, one moment he was lying on the ground his body numb and slowly cooling his fight with his apparent grand uncle had been a monstrous one and he was certain he was going to lose.
But then something had happened, he'd felt stronger and more powerful but most importantly he didn't have control. It was as if Kad Ha'rangir had inhabited his body, pushing it to its absolute limits.
But that's all that he had remembered up until now, he continued to look around and finally in the distance he spotted a galaxy of bright multicoloured lights that seemed to draw him in. He slowly began to walk towards the lights.
"You truly are a conundrum."
Naruto gripped his ears tightly, a voice had spoken. No not one voice but many pierced the veil of his mind and seated itself deep in his brain yet his ears still registered. The voice was so ancient and esoteric that simply hearing italmost shattered his mind.
"My apologies child, it has been some time since I have spoken to mortals in such a way." There was some mirth within the voice as the splitting headache which had plagued Naruto since it first spoke died away.
He spun to find where the voice came from, his eyes bulged as he spied the gigantic figure. It had the body shape of a woman yet it had none of the features of one.
Its body was as black as the void of space yet within this featureless darkness Naruto could see a panoply of stars and supernovas as well as nebulas the building blocks of life itself within this being framing and brightening its body by a tremendous amount. Then he noticed the long white hair which fell in droves from its head and pooled around her feet.
"Hello there child. It has been an age since someone has visited me, much less one of your kind." Its voice was still ethereal and simply incomprehensible but somewhat softer as if it had understood its earlier mistake.
Naruto stared up at it in sheer awe and confusion. "My kind?" he whispered quizzically.
The being simply nodded, "Yes, of course, one who tries to seep themselves within the force. Embracing the created concepts of light and dark. They exist within everyone for the Light cannot exist without the dark."
"However one who without even knowing tries to balance the two is something I have not seen in Eons."
"You are an Anathema to the chosen one, his opposite. Where he is to bring balance through destroying both you do not. You simply exist as an entity on which Fate no longer has an effect."
Naruto's eyes widened somewhat as its words sunk in. His destiny was never to become the Mandalore, it had happened by mere coincidence and had changed everything.
"So what was my destiny if it was not to become the Mandalore?" he asked in dreaded curiosity.
The being reached down a single finger about to tap his forehead. "Let me show you….."
Deep within Kamino
Cad Bane truly hated this planet.
Kamino was truly a shithole. Ever since he'd been sent to this godforsaken watery planet he'd been truly close to simply shooting himself and being done with it. But his debt to the Mandalore kept him here.
A Godforsaken debt he had gotten from his former master.
The bounty hunter slowly stood from the small stool which he had taken and placed in the corner of the room he and the others had occupied. A medium-sized abandoned storehouse at the bottom of one of the many stilt structures which formed the large Tipoca City.
With him were about thirty Mandalorians. Some wore their distinctive clan armour whilst others wore the grey and white armour that was assigned to the clone regiment guarding Kamino, they had infected the regiment to such a degree that not even the Jedi stationed on the planet could actually tell the difference.
And this was all to get close and kidnap their targets.
One of the Mandalorians stood, the Markings on his armour showed him to be Clan Wren and a captain within their forces. A black Balaclava covered most of his face bar his eyes, the man approached the now-standing bounty hunter.
"We're good to go whenever you are. Commander Sevatarion has given his go-ahead." Cad Bane nodded and began to move towards the end of the warehouse. As he moved through the Mandalorians they began to get ready placing armour on and checking blasters.
"Tell Sevatar to Launch the surprise and we'll get our end done. Then let the others know and have them prepare for our operation," he told the trooper who nodded and moved to complete his orders. Cad Bane drew his blaster and waited for the signal.
Kamino Defence fleet.
Six Venators and countless other ships sat above Kamino, the large spread of warships forming an almost impenetrable shield. The fleets combined scanners flashed across the open space every couple of seconds ensuring that none could escape their sight or senses.
However, even with this powerful fleet's detection capabilities they still did not have the ancient star maps which showed routes once thought lost.
And it was through one of these routes that Jago Sevatarion Sprung his trap.
Four massive Separatist vessels fell from Hyperspace. The ambush was perfect.
As soon as the ships exited hyperspace swarms of Vulture droids and Hyena bombers dashed towards the Republic fleet. This caught the Admiral thoroughly off-guard as he scrambled to draw together his crew and the other ships within the fleet.
"Where the hell did these separatist bastards come from" the Admiral spoke out loud as his ship shook from some light damage.
"Unknown sir, the known Hyper routes are mined except for the official one," he responded.
"Well we need to check again, it seems these bastards have a bit more life to them than the last ones. Tell the planetary defence guns to open fire." They did so with blue bolts blazing through the cloud cover and filling the space with layers of blue plasma.
This did nothing to slow the massive ships though as their heavily armoured bows shielded the ships from the hot plasma that arced towards them. The crudely modified ships continued to press towards Kamino even as the Venators and their escorts closed ranks swatting the swarm of vultures and Hyena droids which seemed to crawl across their surfaces.
The lead separatist vessel ploughed into the fleet destroying a small frigate and practically lodging itself within one of the Venators, the other ships backed off maintaining a good distance and began opening fire although light and sporadic it was still enough to gather the full attention of the Kamino defence force. Portions of the destroyed ships began to fall away towards the planet only intercepted by the light anti-air fire.
Jago sat deep within the belly of one of the rearmost warships, he and his crew were controlling the ship from a shuttle within ensuring that they could leave the half-dead ship at any point.
"It seems they've fallen for the ruse. Send the confirmation signal and prepare, they'll be along soon." Jago shifted his midnight blue armour making no sound as he moved. His scared ashen face morphed into a shark-like smirk as he prepared for what was to come.
Kamino
Nala Se was annoyed. Heavily so.
The Mysterious benefactor behind the Clone Army had been pressing her for answers for months now. He had been pushing for her to create something for him. Something they hadn't done before and something they even thought impossible.
Cloning force sensitives.
As far as she was aware it hadn't been properly done. But she wasn't one to give up on a challenge even if it did have only a 0.0025% chance of success. So it was for this reason that she was currently within one of the more secretive parts of Tipoca city within the lower levels surrounded by her most trusted scientists.
"I have those samples you asked for, Mistress.'' a familiar yet distinctly female voice called out, from one end of the lab came a young woman, her features were similar to that of the clones who surrounded them but softer and defensively a young woman.
This was Omega. Nala Se's personal assistant. A genetic clone akin to those who fought for the Republic but made somewhat differently unlike her brothers she was unmodified yet enhanced. Currently, she helps around the lab learning what she can and being used as an effective lab assistant.
As Nala Se collected and studied her samples a squad of grey-armoured clones entered the room. She stared down at them, her frog-like eyes narrowing slightly as she examined them. They seemed odd whilst most of the squad was correctly proportioned and one seemed slightly taller.
An aberration perhaps. One which could be overlooked.
The captain of the group stepped forward, snapping off a sharp salute. "Lady Nala Se, we've been ordered to move you and your scientists to a more secure facility."
Nala se's eyes narrowed slightly, while she was sure that her benefactor would want her moved so her work wasn't interrupted, sending clones to do that job was not something she had actually expected. She recognised their armour idents of course their leader was one of the many Captains who helped keep security on the lower levels.
"Very well Captain, my scientists will gather up our things and follow you. Give us 10 minutes." The clone nodded and marched outside his squad following behind diligently.
Omega turned to Nala Se who'd begun giving out orders and putting away important chemicals and information.
"My Lady, there was something odd about those clones, they didn't seem totally correct." Nala Se nodded understandingly. They did seem a bit odd, but then again these were odd times.
After around 10 minutes of packing away and preparing to move, Nala se and her group of aides began to move out, they were quickly surrounded by the clones and began to march swiftly through the white halls taking an almost dizzying amount of turns.
Nala Se's eyes began to narrow again, this was not the way to the security bunkers. And while her benefactor might have wanted them off-world it was highly unlikely.
So why were they taking her group to the lower-level Hangars?
"What is your CT number Captain?" she asked bluntly, this must've caught him off-guard as there was a slight pause before he answered.
"CT-66-3555 Ma'am."
"Well CT-66-3555 Why are you taking us towards the low-level Service Hangar?" She asked. her voice taking a different tone.
However, it was a bit too late for her question because, by the time she'd had some thought of something going on, they'd already reached the door to the service hangar.
The squad of 'clones' now turned their guns onto the small group of scientists, they did not fire but they made sure to show them that they were not going to let them escape.
The Captain took off his helmet, revealing the well-known face of Jango Fett yet the small tattoo beneath his eye showed him to be slightly different to his brothers who served.
The tattoo was that of the Fett clan Sigil from Mandalore.
They were Mandalorians.
"I thought Mandalore and the Republic came to a peace accord. Why are you here?" She asked, there was a slight uncharacteristic quiver to her voice.
A second voice made itself known to answer the question. "We're here because you have something we want, and your abilities, good doctor, is something the commonwealth needs." Cad Bane spoke up.
He had appeared from the left side of the now open doorway, his well-renowned wide-brim hat dripping from the usual lashing rains outside, now that the door was open the scientists could hear the distinct sounds of the anti-air batteries firing.
It seemed that they were well and truly under attack.
"Get in the shuttle and make this quick before we have to get violent." Cad Bane said as they began to push them through the door and into the driving rain.
Through the slight Haze, she spotted the outline of a large NU class shuttle, That was probably how they'd managed to get onto Kamino. If it had been taken from Kamino then it would've had the correct landing codes.
She and her group were startled as a large piece of a warship streaked down from the sky and smashed into the ocean that surrounded them.
The entire group was quickly forced onto the shuttle by the Mandalorians; however, Omega noticed that one of them held something in his hand, something square and boxy.
It almost looked like a…
As the shuttle began to lift off, the sky exploded with light and licks of flame, one entire section of Tipoca city began to slowly collapse, its legs sheared from under it as flames licked the outer edges of the other platforms' smaller less devastating explosions rocked the other sectors of the floating city crippling its shield generators and power generators.
Emergency claxons began to blare and sound off. Even from this distance, Omega could see the small teams of droids and clones rushing around trying to put out fires and stabilise the structure.
Omega's eyes began to tear up as she witnessed the sheer carnage they'd unleashed on her home.
Space.
Jago was bored.
The battle had been progressing slowly, which by all means was meant to happen. His escorts took the brunt of the damage and gave back their own in kind. In fact, a number of the smaller charger and command ships had been turned to dust on impact with his warships' reinforced bows.
To his left one of the manned consoles began to flash with a green pulsing light.
He knew what that meant.
"Sir The signal has been confirmed the advance party is on their way back." One of his men called out to him. The former justice Minister nodded before quietly yawning, showing off his almost vampire-like fangs.
"Well then let us prepare to leave. Set the reactors to critical and get us off this stricken vessel," he responded almost lazily. Around him, his men hurried to carry out his orders.
He wasn't worried though. Not even the slightest.
His eyes darted over as the sensors picked up a hyperspace jump. Evidently, the advance team had completed their objectives. He gave the signal to the pilots and they began their pre-flight checks; as they began to lift off and leave the rearmost hangar the practically dead capital ship began to shudder as its reactor began to go supercritical.
There were only droids onboard; they would ensure that the ships hit their targets and that the only evidence would point to the separatists.
The republic warships stopped firing on the stricken vessel once they saw that it was sufficiently pummelled, three of the six Venators got in closer aiming to reduce the enemy to ash.
The last thing Jago saw before his shuttle entered hyperspace was a bright corona of light.
Mandalore
The medical frigate had successfully arrived back in the Capital system, which was buzzing with ships of all types.
The Mandalore system had fundamentally been changed, it had gone from a semi-busy back-end system in the outer rim which had practically isolated itself in its pacifism to a shining Capitol system, the crowning jewel of the Commonwealth.
The smallest of Mandalore's two moons, Luminosa was being converted into a Fortress moon in which some of Mandalore's best would be stationed. Concordia on the other hand had been returned to its heritage, being used as a mining and Agriculture moon, its lush landscapes allowing for the perfect growth of crops.
The frigate streaked past these celestial wonders and aimed for the planet itself, slowing down as it approached the defence arrays. The said defences were numerous, put in place just after the intended invasions of Mandalore proper they consisted of numerous batteries of heavy lasers and enormous slug throwers these were then linked with further defensive batteries and emplacements positioned on the massive space stations which now orbited Mandalore.
There were three of these behemoths, large gothic-like battle stations which ensured the Capitols' Security. Even in their unfinished state, they made the frigate look small in comparison.
The frigate gave the correct security codes and moved past the defensive ring, heading towards the large Haven-class Medical station. The Station had been taken when many of the clones had defected, the station had simply been tugged into place and it served its purpose well.
The frigate finally docked with the station, after a couple of moments its large bay doors opened wide allowing the wounded to be shuttled off the large warship. The first off was Mandalore himself, a full team of Medical staff went with him quickly moving him deep into the station, where teams of surgeons were awaiting to help their lord.
An hour Later
Shaak Ti burst through into the room, quickly followed by Aayla and a small number of guards. The two women's eyes scanned the room before quickly locking onto their friend.
He was in a better state than before but it was still rocky.
Both women fell to his bedside, the entire room was quiet bar the slow beeping of his heart monitor.
Then something odd happened.
The force began to grow heavy and then began to swirl within the room. It was almost like they were being dragged out to sea by a raging hurricane.
It seemed to flow and ebb with no true destination.
Then it stopped.
And his eyes opened.
Below the city
Deep within the city of Mandalore, the great forges belched out smog and soot, the massive furnaces were things of ancient creation yet as hardy and as tough as those who'd built them.
Even after being relit for just a couple of weeks the massive foundries had already begun pumping out weapons, vehicles and armour. Even a few new designs were being trialled on them.
The masters of the Forge, Clan Vartek kept the foundries at peak performance and ensured that Mandalore would remain an immense juggernaut. However, the Master of the clan was busy, within his personal forge he had an epiphany.
All the clan Heads had heard of the Mandalore's injuries and most respected him for the battle, they saw it as an honour that he had bested such an almighty foe. He did too which was why he had been slaving away for days creating a masterpiece of technology.
The designs for it had been taken from ancient manuscripts, its multi-function use was imperative and as such it had been created with force users in mind. Giving them the ability to channel the force through it.
He placed the sigil of the Mandalore upon the creation and looked in awe upon his work. Snapping out of his revelry he placed it into a box and quickly began to make his way to the nearest spaceport his clan guards in tow.
Fin
I hope you guys enjoyed it. I'm sorry it took so long and I won't go on hiatus for that long again, we hope. But I've started a new job and I should have some more time to write. Well, that's all and keep your eyes peeled for the next update.