Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
A/N: The Shinobi poll of if Naruto should get a Devil Fruit or not is up and will stay up until the 1st (Jan 2023) so make sure you vote if Naruto should have one or not, The choices are of course Yes. Or No, his jutsu and Sage chakra/mode are enough plus no time to really train with it.
OK, here's a Christmas present for you all, an update of all my stories. I did think of doing this tomorrow (24th) But figured you all would be busy with company, or going to visit family yourself and decided to do it tonight instead.
So I hope you all have a safe Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or whatever you celebrate, and if I don't update a story you'll read by then (I'll try to get Shinobi up before the 31, and the next Hero Rising will be on the 30th.) I hope you have a safe and Happy New Year.
Beta: Chaos-PSD. Contributor: Kuronodono12.
Chapter XLIII: The Citadel.
Adaptation Is The Key To Survival.
Captured! Returning from a perilous assignment in the Outer Rim, Jedi Master Even Piell's cruiser has fallen under attack and been boarded. Seeking vital information he carries about secret hyperspace lanes called the Nexus Route, Separatist forces have taken him alive. Now, the Jedi are preparing a stealth mission into the heart of Separatist space in an effort to rescue Master Piell from the deadly prison known as the Citadel….
Coruscant, Jedi Temple
Naruto, Obi-Wan, Anakin, Hevy, Echo, Fives, Cody, Rex via hologram, and Plo Koon are standing in a meeting room before Pl Koon spoke. "As you are aware, the Citadel is their most isolated and impenetrable detention facility. No one has ever escaped.
"There's a first time for everything," Anakin said, crossing his arms as Naruto nodded.
"Indeed there is."
Plo Koon then continued. "Their security has prevented our probes from obtaining recent reconnaissance, so we've been forced to construct a crude map based upon data from the archives." He said having maze-like halls come up on the holo table as BD jumped on it before Obi-Wan picked up.
"And since the data is extremely old, the map will be difficult to rely on."
Naruto sighed at that as he leaned on the table to look at the hologram. "So we're essentially going in blind."
"Beg your pardon, General," Rex spoke up, getting their attention. "But how do we know Master Piell is still alive?"
Obi-Wan turned to him to answer. "The Separatists won't dare kill Master Piell until they have what they need."
"He obtained the coordinates of a secret hyperspace lane known as the Nexus Route which travels into the heart of both the Republic and Separatist home worlds." Plo Koon explained before Obi-Wan continued.
"They could prove vital in maneuvering our forces deep into remote Separatist sectors."
"Or the enemy could use them to slip through our defenses and attack Coruscant," Anakin said before Naruto looked up.
"These hyperspace lanes are of immense interest to both our sides and could tip the scale of the war to whoever owns them."
Plo Koon nodded at that before clasping his hands behind his back. "That is all."
They walked out with the Jedi lagging slightly with Naruto having his hands behind his head as BD hung off his back as Plo Koon turned to look at them. "Based on the archive schematics, we've narrowed it down to three possible locations they could be holding him at."
"My greatest concern is infiltrating their outer security," Obi-Wan said as they turned to walk down another hall. "The life-form scanners will not be easy to fool."
Naruto smirked at that. "I've got a thought about that."
"Master!"
They turned to see Ahsoka, Zule, and Barriss walk up. "I'm sorry we're late. We just heard about the briefing. We're going to rescue Master Piell, right?"
"We are, but no Padawans allowed," Naruto said with a grin.
"What about girlfriends?" Barriss asked Naruto who kept his grin.
"No girlfriends either."
"Ahsoka, I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but you won't be coming along on this one."
"Not coming?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "But you're breaking into the Citadel! No one's ever done it."
"The Citadel wasn't designed to hold common criminals," Naruto explained, turning to her before they walked down the hall. "It was created to hold Jedi if any of us lost our way. It's not a place for Padawans."
"You're just being protective again."
"Ha! Anakin is, but I'm sure I have thrown Zule into worse stuff. This order came from above." Naruto said as Ahsoka sighed in irritation.
"That's not fair. How am I supposed to learn if you won't let me share the risk?"
"This isn't a mission for learning. You either do or die. And that's not a risk I'm willing to share." Anakin said before walking ahead.
Later, in the hangar, R2 led three B1 droids with blue pant accents on them up to a ship where C-3PO stood.
"R2! Lookout! Behind you! You're being followed by battle droids!" He said as R2 stopped by him and beeped.
"These are your troops? They're battle droids!"
"(Beep-Trills!)"
"What do you mean, they've been reprogrammed to follow your orders?" 3PO asked before one droid looked down at R2.
"We are awaiting your word, Commander."
(Beeps!)
"You heard him. Move out!" The droid said having them walk to a ship.
"Don't you go thumbing your gears at me just because you have a bunch of dim-witted droids following you about!" 3PO said before walking away.
Ahead, Echo, Fives, and Hevy stood with Cody and watched the exchange. "We're trusting those droids to get us into the Citadel?" Fives asked the two before Cody turned around to face them.
"It's the only way. We're flying right into the heart of Separatist territory. Droids won't be detected."
By the ship, Naruto, Obi-Wan, and Anakin walked up to the droids. "R2. Make sure they don't stray from the flight plan."
"It's all under control, sir." The B1 droid saluted at that.
"I was talking to R2."
"Hey, come on Anakin, I have no problem with Bats or Rusty," Naruto said before kneeling and had BD walk down on his arm. "Ride with the droids. Carbonite probably isn't good for circuits."
"(Trills)"
Naruto stood and saw the three Padawans talking to Plo Koon before walking on the ship.
"I've never been carbon-frozen before, General."
Naruto turned to see Rex talking to Anakin as they got to a large circular machine with glowing parts. "It's the first time for us, too."
"This is your idea? Carbon freezing?" Obi-Wan asked Naruto who shrugged.
"It'll shield us from the life-form scanners."
"Are we sure this thing is safe?" Fives asked, holding his helmet." I don't want to end up as a wall decoration."
"Try to relax. We'll be unfrozen as soon as we arrive." Obi-Wan said as they all got into place on a circular platform. "May the Force be with you."
They were then lowered before steam came out of the hole and shortly, a crane picked everyone up frozen in a rectangular block of carbonite.
They were then loaded in a ship before it started taking off as Zule and Barriss watched. "Where's Ahsoka?" Zule asked Barriss as they looked around but didn't see their fellow Padawan.
Lola Sayu.
When the shuttle entered Lola Sayu's orbit, it was spotted by the Separatist blockade fleet surrounding the planet. They were immediately contacted by the Citadel.
"Citadel Command has contacted us." One of the B1 droids spoke as BD looked at the speaker.
"This is Central Command. Please identify yourself." They heard another droid before the B1 replied.
"This is cargo shuttle 81572, requesting access to Citadel prison."
"What is your cargo?" The other droid asked after a moment.
"What is our cargo? Supplies and frozen rations." The B1 replied before the other droid spoke.
"Do not deviate from your current course until we have confirmed your cargo." The droid explained as the B1 looked back at R2.
"They're scanning us for life forms."
"(Boop-Whistles!)"
"I don't think this is working." The other B1 droid spoke up as they slowly flew to the planet.
"Quiet! You're gonna blow it."
"Scan complete. You may proceed."
The droids then fly and land the ship in a cave near the prison tower and thaw out the Jedi and clones. Naruto stretched as he rolled his shoulder before hearing Anakin.
"Hey, Snips."
He looked to see Ahsoka standing beside Anakin who blinked. "Hey, Master."
"I must have carbon sickness because I could swear that's Ahsoka," Obi-Wan said as he rolled his shoulder.
"Your eyes are fine. It's Ahsoka's hearing that needs help." Anakin said to Obi-Wan before Ahsoka spoke up.
"I received orders to join the team. I thought you knew."
"Orders? From who?" Anakin asked Ahsoka who looked over at him.
"I discussed it with Master Plo."
"He didn't tell me."
"You were already in carbonite." She explained with a shrug.
"Well, I gave you a specific order not to come!"
"If there's one thing I've learned from you, Master, it's that following direct orders isn't always the best way to solve a problem." She said, crossing her arms.
"I see Anakin's new teaching method is to 'Do as I say, not as I do.'" Obi-Wan said as the others were thawed. "Welcome aboard." He finished as BD ran up on Naruto's back.
They then got ready to leave packing thermal detonators in backpacks "Guard the shuttle, R2. We'll contact you when we're ready for take-off." Anakin ordered the droid who beeped.
They then made their way to the first waypoint which was an isolated entrance in a cliff face, which the team was forced to free-climb as the wind conditions were too strong for jetpacks, and electromines dotting the cliff made the use of ascension cables too dangerous. When Kenobi, leading the way, reached the platform, he was forced to drop down when a patrol of droids exited.
They did not notice his hand holding onto the edge of the platform but sealed the door with a ray shield upon re-entering the prison. "They locked the door! It's ray-shielded!" Naruto said as he got on the deck.
"Ray-shielded? That wasn't the plan!" Anakin yelled as Naruto was helping the others up.
"Well, it's in the damn plan now!"
"There's an opening up there," Ahsoka said as they looked to see a vent.
"We know. They're ventilation ducts." Anakin yelled up as he was under the deck. "But they're far too small for us to gain access."
"Too small for you, maybe, but I think I can squeeze through," Ahsoka said looking down as Naruto glanced up.
"Well, we hadn't planned on Ahsoka being here. Perhaps she's right." Naruto said before using the Force to push BD to the vent. "Take BD in case you need to splice something."
"Got it, come on Sparks," Ahsoka said after getting to the vent and opening it.
"(Trills.)"
They went in the vent and a moment later appeared on the other side. "See? I can handle myself after all."
Naruto helped the other clones up before the last one slipped when a rick he stepped on gave way.
"Charger!"
Naruto dived to grab the clone, only to miss before throwing his other hand down and caught the clone before he hit one of the large mines. He pulled him up and had one of the detonators fall out of the clone's pack and had it hit the mine, having it go off.
Inside the prison, the warden, Sobeck grew suspicious when a security droid reported that the cargo shuttle had never arrived, despite having permission to land before an alarm went off. This caused Sobeck to be certain that there were intruders in the facility, leading him to order all security protocols activated and summon his special commando droid units.
With the rescue team, they ran in and hid from droids looking for them before Naruto saw commando droids run down another hall. "Clear."
They ran to the next hall before Anakin looked back.
"Take out their surveillance."
The clones shot cameras around them as they ran before they were shot at via turrets on the walls. The Jedi deflected the shots as the clones shot back, Hevy using a mini-gun behind them before taking them out. Hearing a noise, Naruto turned to see an electric field move. "The walls are electrified. Go! Go, go, go!"
Naruto yelled having the others run ahead before he followed and used the Force to push them forward after he would catch up several times. Getting to a four-way intersection Naruto threw out his hands and had them go on the left and right halls before diving to the right as the field went past them. "We must keep moving," Hevy said, picking up his gun.
The team ran down the hall and located the cell where Piell was being tortured. The interrogator droid was just about to gouge Piell's one remaining eye before being destroyed by the group. "Master Piell, are you all right?" Obi-Wan asked as Even panted.
"Obi-Wan. What took you guys so long?"
"At least your sense of humor is still intact," Anakin commented, helping him up.
"It takes more than they got to break me, young Skywalker."
"So you have the coordinates for the Nexus Route?" Naruto asked looking out the door for any more droids.
"I got them, all right. Half of them, anyway. My captain's got the other half. I erased the computers when we were boarded and had both of us memorize part of the intel. That way, if somehow I cracked, the information would be useless to them without the other half." Even explained as Obi-Wan looked down at him.
"Where's your captain?"
"Being held with the other officers, I assume." Even replied as Naruto looked back.
"We're gonna need a new plan for getting out."
They then walked down the hall avoiding the droids that were looking for them.
"We need to keep moving," Naruto said, walking around a corner before commando droids with orange chests jumped out on each end of the hall blocking their exits.
The droids fired having the Jedi deflect the shots before the droids ran down and hit the clones. "Take this Clankers!" Hevy yelled, shooting his minigun as the droids got near him.
Suddenly, a high pitch whine hit their ears before their weapons were shot up to the ceiling to stick. As well as Anakin's right arm as Naruto used the Force to pull BD down and hold the droid who folded up before Anakin was shocked. "Anakin!"
"Master!"
"You fools! I hope you enjoyed the reunion with your fellow Jedi because you're going to be my guests for a very long time!" They heard a male voice over the speakers.
The whine stopped as more commando droids ran at them before the Jedi threw their arms out to push them back. Only for their feet to stick to the floor. "They're magnetized."
A moment went by before the weapons and Anakin fell, having Naruto catch his pistol and shoot at the droids to have everyone get their weapons and make short work of them.
"Are you all right, sir?" Rex asked Anakin as the others put their weapons away.
"Yeah. Let's get out of here."
They ran to another cell, opened it, and sliced the heads off two commando droids before looking to see clones in uniforms as well as one man with fair skin and short graying hair.
"General."
"Captain Tarkin." Even said to the human
"I never thought I'd see you again. And you brought friends." Tarkin said as they walked inside.
"Tarkin, this is Obi-Wan Kenobi, Naruto Uzumaki, and Anakin Skywalker."
"Well, now that you've found us, how do you expect to get us out?" Tarkin asked as Naruto walked to the door to keep watch. "If they've locked this fortress down, there are at least ten squads on their way. It's going to be impossible to escape."
Obi-Wan rubbed his chin before speaking. "What if we split up? My team will create a diversion, while Anakin leads the others away. That way, if one of us is captured, the enemy will only have part of the information and not all of it."
"General Kenobi, I think it's better if we stick together. A stronger force would have a better chance of protecting the information." Tarkin spoke up before Naruto looked over his shoulder.
"Not in this situation."
"But surely we'd have more strength in numbers, rather than divide us."
"Obi-Wan has a point. I'll go with him, you go with Skywalker." Even said as Naruto walked out with Obi-Wan, Even, his clones and Cody, and another clone.
They ran down a hall planting the bombs before Naruto saw B1 droids in front of him. Picking up his shoto, he threw it, having it spin, turn on, and slice the droid's heads off. As they got down the hall, Obi-Wan set the bombs off.
BOOM!
With the others, Anakin cut through a hall to a tunnel. "Everybody in."
Ahsoka jumped through the hole after Rex and Fives pushed the metal off and ran down the tunnel as Echo looked up. "This is one of the original fortress tunnels."
"The advantage of old archive data," Fives said as Tarkin walked out with Anakin.
"The tunnel's clear!" Ahsoka yelled, running back.
"Looks like Obi-Wan's distraction worked. Things seem to be going as planned." Anakin spoke up before Tarkin looked over.
"It's when things do not go as planned that concerns me. What then?"
"It's when things don't go as planned that we Jedi are at our best. Trust me." Anakin said, walking forward.
"I reserve my trust for those who take action, General Skywalker."
Anakin stopped and frowned before looking over his shoulder. "Then let me remind you, we rescued you back there. And I reserve my trust for those who understand gratitude, Captain Tarkin."
To Be Continued.
A/N: Thanks for reading and let me know of any mistakes.
Beta: Chaos-PSD. Contributor: Kuronodono12.
The Shinobi poll of if Naruto should get a Devil Fruit or not is up and will stay up until the 1st (Jan 2023) so make sure you vote if Naruto should have one or not, The choices are of course Yes. Or No, his jutsu and Sage chakra/mode are enough plus no time to really train with it.
OK, here's a Christmas present for you all, an update of all my stories. I did think of doing this tomorrow (24th) But figured you all would be busy with company, or going to visit family yourself and decided to do it tonight instead.
So I hope you all have a safe Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or whatever you celebrate, and if I don't update a story you'll read by then (I'll try to get Shinobi up before the 31, and the next Hero Rising will be on the 30th.) I hope you have a safe and Happy New Year.
Again, the Next to be updated will hopefully be Shinobi but maybe Hero Rising next Friday.
Nothing else to say.
Talk To You Later,
Lone Wolf Out.🐺