Alright, the end of a Arc that I admit, many are not keen to liking it. But was essential into building up the plot.
I hope you all will like this chapter, leave a review.
Enjoy
Coruscant
Jedi Temple
The power that was just felt across the Galaxy, the power of the Force that had been felt only a few years ago by the same source, was Yoda was enough to get him out of his meditation as he was seen walking down the hallway with his cane.
Just like the Ripple, the amount of it was enough to warn any Jedi who turned towards the Grand Master and saw him going towards the Council Chamber.
"Master Yoda."
Hearing who it was, Yoda continued as Shaak Ti approached him in a hurry as she was also making her way towards the Council.
"Master, you recognize this, don't you?"
"I do." Yoda responded quickly, as he continued walking."The Dark Side it was, young Naruto used. More focused, this was."
"You are saying he embraced it?" Shaak Ti asked.
Yoda shook his head at that immediately and spoke.
"No, he did not. Stronger he is now, unable to answer I am. Pain he is in."
Shaak Ti was confused. "I don't understand."
"I do, neither."
The two Jedi Masters proceeded to walk into the Council Chamber where it was already mostly filled with all the other council members who had arrived priorly. The silence present in the room was enough for all to come to a fast conclusion of what was to be spoken about.
"Master Yoda," It was Windu who broke the silence. "You felt it too, I can only assume."
Yoda nodded as he wasted no time.
"Contact Master Kenobi, we must. As with Master Vos."
Earth
Washington D.C
On the initial night of the Armistice's implementation, the city's fighting had ceased in most areas. However, the chaos had not yet subsided, with the relief forces still positioned far away, leaving the city in a state of disarray.
*VROOM!*
That however did not deter a procession of vehicles that was seen making its way through the city, with the US flag flying up high to show they were friendly as they drove through the destroyed streets. That convoy mainly consisted of Humvees and even a few IVF Bradleys, but the one that was leading the armored column was an M1200 Knight Armored Vehicle. With each one of these having the emblem painted on them.
The convoy belonged to the 101st Airborne Division, with these men being tasked to enter the government districts first, alongside the few Delta Operatives accompanying them with escorting some people.
The Jedi Knight Aalya Secura was seated in the front, observing the mass destruction of the city. As a member of the relief force, she had only come with the essentials, nevertheless, seeing the devastation she might need to put it for more.
But then she saw the long rows of surrendering Zygerrian regulars, mercenaries seen with their hands over their heads while being escorted by the local American forces who were still yet to be relieved, with some of those soldiers seen having bandages over their heads.
"Don't worry about them."
The Twi'lek Jedi turned towards her right and saw that her driver was speaking. Captain Walker of the Delta Force was speaking, in the back seat were his two other teammates, she was allowed to travel with them to the liberated city.
"Those guys are Marines, they're hard to crack." The black Delta operative named Adams said while joking. "They might give up on reading a book, but those jarheads don't stop until they're ordered to."
"We're coming up to the Capitol building." The other guy named Lugo then checked his comms and told them. "Cap, the others have already arrived."
Walker nodded. "Okay."
The convoy didn't take long before it arrived at the first open field between the White House and the Capitol building where the National Mall lay, and the formerly dubbed 'No-Man's-Land' that was unrecognizable to the local population.
The trenches, the destroyed earth, the leftovers of tanks and trucks lost in combat, and the bodies.
The uncountable amount of bodies that were still there. Mainly those of the Zygerrians who were not picked up and left to just rot there.
Aayla could only watch as she hadn't seen something like this.
"So much death…"
Nothing else was said in the car by the other men, the silence remained until Captain Walker saw that they were nearing their destination.
"Here we are."
The convoy started to drive up the remaining plains that had been turned into mud and earth, with a few people waiting there.
…
Two hands shook each other the moment they could with firm grips.
The waiting party was the wounded Captain Tarik Karim and a few others, like Sergeant Griggs of the Marines who was standing by, the man shook Captain Walker's hand as it was a relief for the men of the D.C Pocket.
"Nice to see you are still breathing, Captain Tarik," Walker said to him with respect "You should know your country is very proud of your service."
"Thanks but you don't have to be formal with me." Tarik said, seen limping. "I am glad to see some reinforcements finally arrive."
"What's the situation, sir?" One of the 101st Paratroopers came up asking but then noticed the leg. "You got hit?"
"I got hit, yes." Tarik did not hesitate by then pulling up his pants and showing his improvised prosthetic leg. "But I don't think you can repair it."
The Delta operatives and the paratroopers were shocked to see what they just witnessed, and it was Lugo who was about to get his medical gear.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Tarik said rolling the sleeve back down and continuing. "My men however need rest, they're exhausted, both my uniformed troops and the volunteers. We're running out of supplies as well."
"That will be no problem." Aayla approached with the intent to inform the man what she knew. "My name is Aayla Secura, Jedi Knight. And I've brought food and medical supplies with me."
The convoy in front of the Capitol building was seen unloading the large crates of essentials, in front of the military commanders who were watching it.
"I see you did, for which I am grateful," Tarik stated before he then asked her. "But excuse me asking, you said you were a Jedi, correct?"
Aayla noted. "Yes, why?"
"Ah, Aayla, I see you've arrived."
Coming down the stairs of the building was Aayla's former Master, Quinlan Vos, with Master Kenobi with his own Padawan Skywalker following up right behind him, but they also were being escorted by several Marines who were keeping an eye on them.
"Master Vos, Master Kenobi, am I glad to see you..." Aayla happily expressed before she noticed the armed men and looked concerned, "But why the armed guards?..."
"Well you see, there's a bit of misunderstanding here," Vos tried to explain in his carefree-like meaner. "These gentlemen right here and I came to a disagreement-"
"Not much of a disagreement, Master Jedi," Tarik remarked clearly as he turned to them with his arms crossed. "You decided to go against my orders and enter the Capitol building without permission. That's trespassing."
That didn't help Vos as he felt a bit embarrassed, as he was the main reason for getting caught wandering around. This even earned him a frown from not only the other two male Jedi but also his former padawan who was shaking her head at him.
"Forgive my friend's actions, Captain, but we are in a bit of a hurry." Obi-Wan tried to be diplomatic. "We are looking for a young man who we know is among your volunteer forces."
"That still is not an excuse for you to be going around government buildings, Master Kenobi. The building is off-limits for wanderers." Tarik said while addressing him. "You may have been allowed to enter the White House previously, but that does not justify you going around any building you see fit."
"No offense, but isn't this a bit hypocritical?" Anakin countered by pointing out. "In the building, we just walked out numerous other non-uniformed soldiers of yours are roaming there freely as well."
Finding the logic in that, Tarik was forced to concede and sighed.
"Who are you looking for?"
Potomac River
Providence Destroyer
The Providence destroyer ship that had crashed into the Potomac River, had hundreds of men from among the Ölüm fighters filling the hallways with full hands and packed backpacks.
Literal rooms of treasure were found on that ship. Credits, gold, artifacts, weapons, antiques, collections, and anything worth a dime were seen getting emptied from the shells and cages that were filled with stolen loot that the Zygerrians took from the Terran planet.
"UTINNI!"
Out of one of those cages came the Jawa named Teeka who was pushing three cargo crates of parts that she managed to scavenge, trade, steal, or even rip off, all while getting some weird looks from the others.
"I don't get it." One of the Ölüm fighters spoke. "There is so much stuff in there to loot, yet this little bastard steals this?"
"Who cares, more stuff for us." Another Ölüm volunteer said as he was seen coming out from another room with a bag over his shoulder. "Now let's go, I got what I need. Let her take what she wants."
"Wait - Teeka's a her?"
The Jawa said something to them in her native tongue before passing by them, with the group then passing by the big Wookie Chewbacca himself, hauling several weapons over his shoulder.
"GRAWL!"
Chewbacca turned to one of the open rooms, waiting for someone.
Again he growled at the person he knew was in the room.
"Alright, alright, alright. Big carpet." Tayuya said coming out of the room, seen only carrying some things she held onto something that caught her interest. "Hey Chewie, I found these in those rooms." She held up a few bottles with pink liquid in them. "Are those aphrodisiacs?"
Chewie took a closer look and responded with a growl and a nod.
"Nice, now that can be useful." Tayuya was satisfied as she put them away. "Better keep this for later."
Chewbacca roared and then shook his head at her, disagreeing with whatever she was planning.
"Hey, don't you dare fucking judge me, alright?" Tayuya pointed her finger out at him. "I saw you pull someone's arms off."
Chewbacca responded with another growl.
"I don't care if it was a droid, that was still brutal," Tayuya stated. "And it isn't the worst than what I got planned-"
"Got what planned?"
The girl and the Wookie turned towards the hallway and saw that it was Jango Fett and Sabine Wren approaching them, both with their helmets off and clearly with empty hands as they were not participating in the looting.
"Oh, just a small prank on someone, of course," Tayuya said as she came up with something before she asked. "Say, what are you two doing here? If you are trying to get something valuable then you are starting late."
Jango shook his head at her and replied. "We're not interested in that. It's Beskar we're looking for."
Both the Wookie and redhead looked at each other in confusion when that was mentioned, and it wasn't that they didn't know what it was.
"What makes you think those Zygs have Beskar plates on this ship?"
"Koska just hacked the database of the ship, and happened to find that whoever owned this destroyer, somehow managed to get his hands on a shipment of Beskar steel," Sabine said, showing rather annoyed by the fact some slaver managed to get his hands on it. "We don't know how they got it but now it is back in Mandalorian ownership as soon as we find it."
"Okay, did you find out where the Beskar is?"
"No, didn't get the chance - Sandman and his Delta Force guys ordered everyone out," Sabine explained, giving their reason. "Frost and his team are there on the bridge. The US government wants all the information for itself, but we can keep the loot for now."
"Hoo-fucking-ray." Tayuya sarcastically threw her hand up. "Good for those guys." she grabbed her bags of belongings and rifle. "Let's go find your Beskar before Teeka does it."
Chewbacca agreed and so the group of four began walking down the hallway with them, going on the search for the precious Mandalorian steel that needed to be found before the Jawa got her hands on it.
While walking, they saw the surviving crew of the ship being held in one room. These Zygerrian crew members were being watched by the Delta Force members who had their disguises up, but also their weapons ready in case one of them tried something stupid.
Jango kept eying these guys and knew from seeing them in combat that they weren't keen on holding back, seeing their country being destroyed in front of them. These Delta operatives were no joke.
"I want to know where the Prime Minister is."
It just then happened the group passed by another room, one of the detention cells where Sandman, the leader of his unit of Delta Force, was seen interrogating the Admiral of the destroyer flagship.
The Zygerrian looked exhausted as he had buried his face into his arms as he tried to not answer the man's questions, but knowing he now was a POW of the highest rank, it would have bad ramifications for him back home.
"I'm tired…"
"Then just tell us."
A woman came out of the shadow, Kate Laswell was also present there, handing him a warm cup of coffee.
"Tell me everything you know, and I promise I will make it easy on you."
The admiral was contemplating the idea, until he agreed by nodding his head, finally submitting to their wishes.
Laswell then looked towards the door and saw they were being watched, nodding to Sandman to close the metal door, making this interrogation private.
"What was that all about?" Sabine asked, confused at what she just witnessed. "And who was that woman?"
Tayuya shrugged and just moved forward, causing the others to follow her as they decided not to stick around here any longer. Then they entered the main hallway where more of the Ölüm fighters were seen going for the exit.
"What's going on?" Tayuya asked stopping one fighter. "Hey buddy, what's the hurry?"
"The Army has arrived, that's what's up." The human volunteer responded, hurling up his loot. "We have to go before they close everything off."
That alone is enough explanation for the foreign volunteers to grab their bags and get out.
"Let us go back to the rendezvous point," Jango said as he proceeded to walk, "I need to go check on Boba."
"Is he still there?"
Jango sighed as he replied.
"He still there with Naruto….at Yasser's side."
Capitol Hill
In the Rotunda, a session was taking place, where it was that of a somber one, with silent eyes watching.
Naruto was one of them, seen sitting in a corner and observing the last rites being spoken for a fallen comrade.
In the middle of the big room were dozens of men who surrounded the covered-up body of Yasser Hamid, the old man who had died just before the ceasefire came into effect. With his body covered up in a white shroud, he was being given his last rites by one of the volunteers who was of the same faith as him.
"Oh God, Please forgive every living and dead being, Please forgive every sinner whenever they repent. The Sky, The Void of stars, This universe all of them belong to your creation. The distance between you and us mankind is equivalent to heaven and earth. Forgive Yasser Hamid for whatever sin he has committed throughout his life and grant him paradise and a peaceful sleep in the afterlife. Amen"
"Amen." The other prayers repeated those words as they held their hands out.
Some were visibly seen holding back tears at seeing their commander, friend, and a good guide, whose life has now come to an end that they could only do justice by remembering him.
And they weren't the only ones as besides the thirty men surrounding his shrouded body, nearly the same amount of people were seen standing on the sidelines also paying their respects by being there in silence, primarily off-duty US National Guard, Rangers, and Marines who stood there.
Naruto just sat there and watched. He looked like he could've had better days. It can be seen with the bags underneath his eyes, the dried mud in his hair and the wounds still fresh on the left side of his face, from his cheek to his temple was a nasty-looking scar, it wasn't an easy one to heal by itself, even for Naruto's healing ability.
He found out the shrapnel of the Humvee that exploded had hit him and partly remained on his face as a reminder, something that was different from his usual wounds. One that will be remembered.
'I am trying, but this is harder than I thought,' Kurama said internally while frustratingly working. 'Whatever that metal was, it's taking me longer to fix that face of yours. The rest I can fix overtime.'
Not hearing or just not responding, Naruto just kept quiet as he still observed.
'Kid.'
And he just kept watching.
'Kid.'
Like nothing else mattered…
"Naruto…"
That voice he responded to by turning his head belonged to that of a familiar one, one he had just reunited with.
Offering a warm cup of tea with her white-skinned hands, the purple cloak-wearing healer who was helping him, was the girl of his world herself.
"Hinata…"
With a pained look, Hinata watched the state of the blond boy who had changed over the years. While he had grown to be good-looking on the one hand that made her want to smile, the other side was that now she was looking at an exhausted version of the boy who usually did not hesitate to give a big goofy grin, that now was overcast with the hollow look on his face.
The wrinkles, the bags, even his eyes had changed - and it was heartbreaking for her.
"Why are you so sad?" Naruto tried putting up a smile, "Forgive me for not looking alright, but I am doing fine. I'm just tired."
"That I can see."
The voice that was heard belonged to another person entering the conversation, forcing both Hinata and Naruto to raise their heads to who it was - revealing it to be Kakashi Hatake, alongside his team.
"Hey, Kakashi-Sensei…"
"Naruto," Kakashi responded, neutral as he looked at him with his one eye. "It has been a while, it's been more than a year since we've seen you."
"Two years, exactly." Naruto corrected, grabbing the cup of tea and taking a sip from it despite it being hot, sighing. "Two long years…."
"Hinata, may I be alone with Naruto for a moment?"
"Of course, Kakash-sensei…" Hinata agreed as she stood up and briefly left the former teacher and student by themselves.
With a long-needed conversation about to start, Kakashi sat directly next to the tired blond, who didn't even take the energy to look him in the eye…
So he chose to start with a charm offensive, in the form of a unopened cup he pulled out from his pocket.
"Want some ramen?"
That made Naruto slowly turn to his sensei, and he looked at him with the same expression on his face that he had before.
"I-"
"Naruto, please," Kakashi offered with a plea. "eat, you need it."
It took him a moment, but Naruto accepted the cup and opened it. With no utensils in it, he then got one offered by Kakashi.
"... Thank you…" Naruto began using the chopsticks to eat a small amount of it. "Sorry for the inconvenience."
"Do not worry about it, it's fine," Kakashi stated with a curious question. "I however am surprised with your use of words, you have changed, Naruto."
"War does that. Sensei," Naruto said. "I am in big trouble, aren't I?"
"As in?"
"Desertion to begin with?" Naruto brought up out of nowhere, turning his head towards him, not hesitating at what he mentioned. "I know what's awaiting me back in the village, Kakashi-Sensei. So please do not play around with me, please."
The tone alone was enough for Kakashi to know that he couldn't just extend the full reason for him being here.
"I'm sorry Naruto - but yes, you are wanted - for Desertion and you are also accused of Treason."
Hearing that from an ear distance got some of those around them to look at them, as such an accusation was shocking to hear.
Naruto, however, didn't seem impressed at all, just raising his eyebrow as he responded.
"Honestly, expected worst-"
"EXPECTED WORSE!?"
The scream that could make an eardrum shatter, caused Naruto to flinch as he didn't need to be reminded who was capable of that as he turned to the person who was approaching him,
"Sakura…"
"How can you speak so mildly about this as if it was nothing, Naruto?!" Sakura said while pointing her finger directly into his face. "Do you know what has been even happening in the village while you were out messing around!?"
"Sakura, lower your voice," Kakashi warned her. "There is no need for that-"
"Can you scream louder, Sakura?" Naruto asked her irritated at her, "Maybe you can repeat that with your god-damn voice a bit higher."
Sakura glared at him. "Excuse me?"
"You don't get it? Well, let me explain," Naruto went on sarcastically. "If you are trying to make me deaf, put a thermal detonator next to me, so that will be more helpful-"
*PUNCH!*
Sakura punched Naruto right in the face and he fell to the ground, causing a scene for everyone there to see what the pinkette medic just did.
Naruto just got back up and turned to the floor where he saw the spilled ramen, not minding he was bleeding from his nose again.
"What a waste of good food…"
"You idiot-"
"Sakura, enough!" Tenten and Neji came out of nowhere and held her back from trying to 'discipline' Naruto even more. "Not the time, nor the place!"
"Hey! HEY! What is the meaning of this?" Sgt Foley was seen walking up with an angered expression. "Break up or I will make you break up!"
"I don't care! He needs to be given a good bash on the head!" Sakura didn't care as she was trying to break out from her comrades restraining her. "We have been searching for him for years, and all this time he's been fooling around and-"
"AND WHAT, BITCH?!"
*PUNCH!*
This time it was Sakura who got punched, right in the gut that made her mouth gasping for air in tremendous pain that she was forced to go on her knees, turning up to see who it was who hit her in the gut.
It was Sabine who had hit her she had removed her helmet, and she saw it all.
"Wanna go at it, screecher? I'm not finished yet!"
"Bitch!"
"KNOCK IT OFF!"
And like that the Rangers came and broke up the fight before it could even begin, with Ramirez and Dunn holding back an angry Sabine while Neji and Tenten were trying to restrain Sakura even further who tried to get up from her knees.
Kakashi was even forced to come in and try to break up the skirmish, much to his dismay of trying to keep a low profile, now he needed to explain it all to these military men what just happened.
Meanwhile, Naruto was just getting up by himself as he was yet again whipping off blood from his face, making a chuckle at the whole debacle as he watched.
"You're quite the bleeder, aren't you?"
"Yeah, I get that often, more than you think," Naruto spoke while searching for a napkin or a tissue to clean up the blood before he got one offered right in front of his face.
"Oh, thanks." Naruto accepted the tissue and began cleaning himself up. "Appreciate it.
A chuckle was the response, a female one, it was Aayla Secura of all people who stood behind him and offered it to him.
"My pleasure, young Uzumaki."
Prime Raxus
In the hallways of the Separatist Parliament, the news of the war in the Terran sector was greeted with relief by its representatives, but not by the one person who was walking through these empty halls by himself.
Count Dooku was that one person who was making his way toward his private quarters after having just sat through a session that ended in a setback that he could not prevent.
Setbacks that will not be to the liking of his master who he now had to contact. Like for the fact now with overwhelming votes from everyone except for a core few of Dooku's supporters, voted to suspend all diplomatic ties with the Zygerrian, after the true extent of their crimes in the Terran planet was exposed.
With tens of millions perished with hundreds of millions more left wounded, it did not make up for the now billions of people who were internally displaced across that planet when the Zygerrians used weapons that made vast swaps of the human-populated planet uninhabitable.
Those actions that even he could not predict, made Dooku now be forced to answer as he bowed down to his knee in front of the holoprojector, where within moments the cloaked body of his master, Darth Sidious, appeared in his presence.
"My Lord…. I am unable to bring you good news."
"That I am well aware of, Lord Tyranus. The same sentiment is present within the Senate." Sidious spoke in botheration of the whole affair this war had brought in. "This war and its participants have seriously disturbed the needed timing of what is to come."
"What is to be done with Zygerria?" Dooku asked his master. "I am facing dissatisfaction from both the parliamentarians of Miss Bonteri and Nute Gunray and his allies. They demand action."
"The Zygerrians will deserve what they have started, there is no doubt about that, but they are only a secondary concern of mine," Sidious noted. "No, my concerns are with this group of fighters…we need to act quickly."
"Master?"
Sidious smiled underneath.
"For once - the Republic and Separatist Alliance will agree on something."
Washington D.C
Georgetown
With the war finally having ended, one road with two lanes was busy, with on one side multiple military trucks with supplies seen rolling into the city center, whilst it was being swarmed by dozens of people who were trying to celebrate their troops retaking the city.
The festivities were encouraging for the young senator from Pantora, Riyo Chuchi, who was glad to see the war had finally ended, even when that resulted in many more sacrifices than it should have.
But her heart sank once she laid eyes on the other lane. A column of trucks sat with the bodies of fallen soldiers laid in the coffins that were draped in American flags, lined up alongside each other, and there was not a small number of them.
Among those trucks were bodies without flags over their bodies, showing them to be foreigners, meaning they were either part of the Ölum volunteers or people from other countries who had also given up their lives for this fight.
A sight that caused the locals to salute them, for they had witnessed these foreigners fight and die, and they were compelled to pay their respects to them.
Turning around, Riyo then was facing her fellow Senators and a few of the local military commanders, all of whom were reading the latest reports of what was to be done, with the senators being given instructions from Coruscant itself.
And what instructions they were being given were astonishing.
Raxus Prime
"THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!" The slimy green figure of Viceroy Gunray shouted his anger out at the table where he sat. "This war was started by the Zygerrians and we are the ones who have to pay for it!?"
The table was being seated by all members of the Separatist Council, the governing body of the Confederacy that consisted of rich businessmen, corporate leaders, and politicians who held great power and influence over the Separatist cause, and every last member of this entity was angry.
Sitting on this council was the head of state himself, Count Dooku, who himself was not speaking as he watched the council members argue.
"I agree with Nute Gunray, these demands of reparations are unjustifiable," Wat Tambor as he read out Earth's demands from a data report. "100 Billion credits worth of damage to their planet, extradition of the military commanders, return of the stolen goods, total coverage of reconstruction, and the list continues."
The Viceroy started with the accusations, "I will not be paying the damages that those Zygerrians caused, Count. Nor will I be held responsible for their actions," Bringing up his previous experience in the courts, "Whatever was on the mind of Queen Miraj when she started the invasion, she can pay for her stupidity."
"Then let us have a vote on it, shall well?" San Hill, the Banking Clan representative raised the question, "Who here is in favor of financially covering the war debt of the Zygerrians?"
Out of the individuals who presented their opinions, only San Hill and Poggle of the Geonosians were in favor of the proposed action. Poggle had previously argued that it would be more advantageous to use the Zygerrians as financial targets to justify the fact that numerous individuals present at this table had provided military aid, including volunteers from Poggle's world.
But the credits were stronger than the facts on this one, with the majority voting no to help the Zygerrians.
"That is settled then, but now we need to discuss one more urgent subject," Dooku spoke up to the rest of the Council. "We now need to find a way to deal with the Ölüm group."
Before anyone could raise their opinion on the group that found no sympathy among these men, a holo report was pulled out from under the Count's cloak, placing it on the table for him to then activate it.
"This legislation will be all that is needed to have the Zygerrians compromise with our demands."
Back on Earth
Capitol Building
*Crack!*
Cracking her hand, Sabine was having her hand bandaged by now, with the help of Zeb and the very recently arrived Hera, who had come into a fight she just helped break up.
"You doing okay, Sabine?"
"Yeah, nothing to sweat about," Sabine said, seething over the stinging pain she was still feeling, "It hurts…"
"He-he," Zeb couldn't help but joke, "I don't think you can complain. Look."
Laying on a stretcher across the room was Sakura, who was still recovering from the gut punch that got her to be examined by the medic Dunn and even Tenten and Neji who had to keep her head up from falling.
"You did a number on her, Sabine." Hera told her friend, finishing the bandage, "You're lucky."
"I know, should've gone for her head."
Zeb couldn't help but laugh at that with Hera just shaking her head with a smirk, whilst turning to the middle of the room.
There Naruto was seen talking to the Jedi, while behind him was Jango Fett and his son Boba, with the Tusken Raider warrior Mutani. The Tatooine native, in particular, was staring at Anakin Skywalker, who for some reason was looking right back at him with his arms crossed.
"Gurk!-Gurk!" Mutani spoke to the Jedi Padawan in his tongue, but also used sign language to try and communicate with him, "Gork-Gurk!"
"I'm sorry, but I do not understand you," Anakin was confused by the sign language, "What are you trying to say?"
"I believe he trying to tell you that he knows you." Jango Fett said while holding his helmet, reading the hand signs, "Something about a pod race he said you won."
Blinking for a moment, Anakin was taking to the memory lane for a quick moment.
"I hope he wasn't one of those who was shooting."
Mutani continued with his hand signals to Jango, who then proceeded to translate his words.
"At the moment, I have to say I cannot come with you."
Boba however was focused on the other conversation that was taking place, that of his friend Naruto, who was speaking with the Jedi Masters and the Shinobi.
"Are you sure about this?" Quinlan Vos asked the young teen, "This is important, you know."
"An invitation to come to the Jedi Temple? Yeah, it sounds important," Naruto acknowledged but stood by his decision, "but as you can see, I have to help my comrades before I can leave."
"I admire your loyalty to your comrades, but you got problems of your own." Obi-Wan spoke, "Now that the ceasefire is in effect, you are now vulnerable to arrest for the charges Mr. Hatake stated earlier."
"The only reason why I'm accused of these charges is because I didn't report in after I escaped Kessel, which is obvious." Naruto responded to the Jedi, glaring at him, "And I know that the advisors and this Danzo person are the ones who put these charges on me, not Granny Tsunade."
"I agree with you, Naruto, but there is a problem there," Kakashi said, "Your association, however, isn't helping the case,"
Naruto asked. "What association?"
"I think one-eye is talking about me, shithead."
The focus turned to Tayuya and her small band of fighters, sitting on a table with her rifle, which happened to be aimed at the Jedi.
"It is clear to me your village hasn't forgotten about me,"
"No, of course, we wouldn't." Kakashi narrowed his eyes at her. "A subordinate of Orochimaru is not easily forgotten."
"Well at this point, he must've forgotten about me, and I forgot that snake freak," Tayuya replied to the Leaf Shinobi, "After my team got killed, I have no connection to him whatsoever."
Aayla Secura tried to ease the tensions. "There is no need for hostilities anymore."
"I believe that is already rising, Jedi." Jango said with his intention of standing by Naruto, "I will not allow young Uzumaki here to be brought into some trap."
"Rich coming from the person who kidnapped him from the village in the first place." Kakashi said glaring at Jango, coming out with a confrontation, "Do not think we've forgotten about what you did to our village, bounty hunter."
"You trying to start something, Hatake? Because I can smell the hypocrisy." Jango told him with a clear warning, "And do not start accusing me of doing mercenary work, since that is also part of the job volunteered, is it not?"
"Kidnapping Naruto-"
"Before I even knew who he was, there I will concede it was a mistake." Jango continued on with the full intention of finishing his point. "One that I reversed the moment I found out he was an Uzumaki and used every credit I could collect to get him and his friends out of Kessel."
*Click!*
That was the sound of Tayuya turning the safety off as she now aimed the barrel of her rifle at Kakashi, focusing on the Leaf Shinobi instead of the Jedi.
"And I very much doubt that I will be allowed to walk scot-free now that you found out I am still alive." Tayuya smiled and then turned smugly, "So, what is it going to be, Kakashi Hatake?"
Whether it was becoming a standoff or not was yet to be concluded, but then the Nite Owls entered in as it was Bo-Katan who was holding onto a piece of paper.
"Not to interrupt your politicking, but I got some bad news for everyone in here." Bo-Katan said without removing her helmet as she handed it over to Naruto, "Here kid, read it."
Naruto took the paper and began reading it, causing his demeanor to change for a bit like he was frustrated.
"Kuso… Great."
"What is it?" Kakashi asked him. "Naruto?"
"Looks like we're overstaying our welcome - we've got warrants."
Later
In a couple of hours the festivities had already ended within the US capital when the 'Damned' 33rd entered the city with the rest of the US Armed Forces having already secured the outskirts of the city, fully ending the Zygerria-Terran War in a victory for Earth in general.
A victory that was short-lived once the casualty rates across the globe were revealed - with hundreds of millions of lives lost, billions displaced, and large swaths of land deemed uninhabitable. The full scale of it all wouldn't be revealed until later, but those who knew? Couldn't even verbalize what they saw.
What was verbalized and even written was the armistice agreements, and the content of it that were negotiated by the backroom channels of the Republic and the Confederacy was more than enough for those two entities to be hated even more by the non-aligned nations, but the one agreement that they were more angered about, was nearly the last straw.
The immediate arrest of domestic members of the Ölüm fighters and immediate expulsion of the Foreign elements of the Ölüm fighters.
With the agreement having been signed by the governments of Earth, including the US, all senior commanders of this organization were to be arrested and trialed for crimes that the Zygerrians accused them of, including terrorism.
*Click!*
And agreed upon it was, with Tarik Karim, Adrik Yahontov, and other senior commanders of Ölüm getting handcuffed by members of the military police in full sight of the local garrisons who had just fought alongside them, with a few words being heard.
"This is bullshit. Look what we're doing."
"These guys helped us out and we repay them like this."
"This can't be happening."
Still in uniform, the cuffed Captain Tarik Karim was paraded up front by the MPs who were reluctant to escort him, something that the Texan man could see on them as he noticed the many grimacing faces on the troops he led for the past few weeks.
"Sarge, this isn't right." One of the Marines spoke out in protest to his superior. "We fought alongside these guys and now we are arresting them-"
"Shut it, corporal, nobody here likes it."
Once walked down the stairs, there waited the Damned 33rd's Colonel John Konrad with the rest of the Delta Force operatives who were ordered to transfer him to a secured location, but even these guys were less happy being tasked to do this.
"Sandman, Walker." Tarik addressed the men before turning to the highest rank, "Colonel."
"Captain Karim…so you know that I've got the best lawyer being prepared to defend your case. On my dime," John Konrad told him as if it was an assurance, "Just so you know we all appreciated your help, and we will stick by you. Every man, woman and citizen in this country will."
"And that we agree upon."
The Colonel and the former Captain turned towards the arriving senator Amidala and Riyo Chuchi who walked up. Causing some glares to be given by the other soldiers before the Naboo representative spoke.
"So you know, Mr. Karim, that we do not agree to this unjust agreement that the Senate has enforced on this armistice." Riyo voiced her opinion on it directly to the accused, "You are a patriot and such people like you do not deserve such a punishment."
Karim couldn't help but crack a smirk as he was confident. Turning then towards the other arrested commanders.
"Let's go."
Outskirts of DC
In the hundreds, the Ölüm fighters were seen entering their ships, making their hasty exit off of the planet the moment they got news of the arrests being made.
Naruto was one of those who was seen entering Jango's Slave I, one of the last as he turned back one more time to watch the view of the city. He had already made his decisions, and now he was going to live with it without regret.
"Are you ready, kid?"
Naruto turned to Jango, who with Boba were waiting for him.
He nodded.
"Let's go."